The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the head of the nation's largest crime syndicate to pay damages to the family of a police officer who was gunned down by members of an affiliated gang.
Upholding the Osaka High Court ruling, the court rejected the appeal by Yamaguchi-gumi boss Yoshinori Watanabe, 63, and ordered him and three members of the affiliated group to pay a total 80 million yen in damages for mistakenly killing Sgt. Tsuyoshi Fujitake, 44, in Kyoto in 1995 during a feud with a rival gang.
This is the first time that the top court has held a yakuza boss responsible for a criminal act in which he did not directly take part.