The OG Yakuza Godfather, Kazuo Taoka

The Underworld Podcast · Feb 10, 2026 · 1h 2m

Orphaned and kicked out of work, Kazuo Taoka was an unlikely candidate to become one of postwar Japan’s most important characters. But by combining violence with a talent for legitimate business and corruption, the immaculately-suited gangster would lead the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza syndicate from a ragtag Kobe dockworkers’ gang to one of the world’s richest underworld forces, spreading from Japan into Southeast Asia and even the United States. That won Taoka plenty of enemies, which he almost always vanquished. But when a young rival yakuza saw Taoka celebrating at a Kyoto nightclub, the…