''The Sixth Yamaguchi-gumi Complete Databook 2008 Edition'' : "Tadamasa Goto" (p.137–138), February 1, 2005, Mediax, is a retired

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

. He was the founding head of the Goto-gumi, a Fujinomiya-based affiliate of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's largest yakuza syndicate, the

Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest ''yakuza'' organization. It is named after its founder Harukichi Yamaguchi. Its origins can be traced back to a loose labor union for longshoreman, dockworkers in Kobe before World War II. It is one of the largest organized cr ...

."Characteristics and Tendencies of the Goto-gumi Organization (from Japanese Government Agency Files)"
''Japan Subculture Research Center'', by Jake Adelstein Goto, who has been convicted at least nine times, was a prominent yakuza and at one point the most powerful crime boss in Tokyo, even being dubbed the "

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 ( , ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American '' mafioso'' and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambin ...

of Japan"."FBI helped Japanese gangster to have life-saving transplant in US"
May 31, 2008, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' Goto was once claimed to have been the largest shareholder in

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

, but this was disputed by stock exchange filings. He had been barred from entering the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

until 2001, when he got a special visa deal from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

for a life-saving

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...

at a time of pronounced organ scarcity.
"Japanese gang figures got new livers at UCLA"
May 30, 2008, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' *https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-ucla31-2008may31-story.html *https://www.japansubculture.com/yakuza-and-livers-and-the-history-of-organ-transplants-in-japan/ *https://www.tokyoreporter.com/japan-news/national/tokyo-vice-author-was-offered-500000-to-cut-liver-transplant-scoop/ *https://www.cbsnews.com/news/yakuza-japans-not-so-secret-mafia/ Goto allegedly retired from criminal activity in 2008. Nonetheless, the US Treasury department put him on a watchlist in December 2015 and he is still engaged in criminal activities.

Career overview

According to his autobiography, Goto was born in Ebara, Tokyo, as the youngest of four brothers. After the beginning of the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

, of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he moved to his father's hometown Fujinomiya, Shizuoka at age two when his mother died. He was raised by his grandmother and grew up in poverty. After a period as a street thug in Fujinomiya, his yakuza career officially began in 1972, at age 28, when he joined a tertiary Yamaguchi-affiliate based in Fujinomiya. Goto was rapidly promoted, and in 1985 he formed his own yakuza group, the Goto-gumi, in Fujinomiya as a secondary affiliate of the Yamaguchi-gumi. He entered the Kobe headquarters of the Yamaguchi-gumi in its 4th era (1984–1985), and had been in the headquarters until 2008 when he was expelled."Habakarinagara"
2011, '' Takarajima Channel''

FBI scandal

In 2001, after dealing with the

, he entered the United States to receive a

, and gave a $100,000 donation to the UCLA Medical Center in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Goto got his new liver, from a queue-jumping transplant, in a year when 186 people in the Los Angeles region died waiting for a liver. The Los Angeles hospital provided altogether four Japanese gang figures with liver transplants over a period when several hundred local patients died while awaiting transplants. According to Goto's Tokyo-based lawyer, Yoshiyuki Maki, Goto continued to receive medical care from his world-renowned liver surgeon Dr. Ronald Busuttil in Japan. Busuttil flew to Japan and examined Goto on more than one occasion, even whilst Goto was in custody in 2006. Although the FBI would want some crucial information about the Yamaguchi-gumi's activities in the United States, Goto provided little useful information, according to a retired chief of the FBI's Asian criminal enterprise unit in Washington. His information included a clue about some activities of Susumu Kajiyama, the "Emperor of Loan Sharks".

Retirement

Goto began disappearing from the yakuza scene in 2008 after allegedly being forced into retirement by the Kobe headquarters' ruling faction led by Kiyoshi Takayama of the Kodo-kai. His expulsion from the Yamaguchi-gumi was officially confirmed by the headquarters in October 2008. After retirement, he became a Buddhist priest, with his Buddhist name "Chuei" (忠叡).

Literature and television

Autobiography

Goto released his autobiography, ''Habakarinagara'' (lit. "while hesitating", roughly analogous to the western phrase "with all due respect" ), in May 2010. ''Habakarinagara'' had sold over 225,000 copies and went to number one in sales on various book-sales charts in Japan, by early 2011. All book royalties were donated to charity,

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

's "Angkor Association for the Disabled" and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

's two Buddhist temples including "Mogok Vipassana Temple". Angkor Association for the Disabled's official website has listed Goto as a major donor, with his Buddhist name "

The Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

Chyuei otou., 8 February 2012, ''Angkor Association for the Disabled''

Tokyo Vice

Goto was a major antagonist in reporter Jake Adelstein's 2009 memoir '' Tokyo Vice'', which extensively details Goto's liver transplant and alleged criminal activity. In it, Adelstein claims that his police and yakuza contacts warned him that Goto intended to kill him for exposing his activities. In the HBO television series of the same name, Goto was the basis for the character Shinzo Tozawa (played by Ayumi Tanida).

US Treasury sanctions

In December 2015, Goto was named by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's

Office of Foreign Assets Control The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the United States Department of the Treasury, United States Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade economic sanctions, ...

as an individual with ongoing associations with the Japanese yakuza. Sanctions were imposed to effectively freeze all known assets held by Goto in the United States and to prohibit all U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with him.