Ex-gangster held after beating customer to death in Thai restaurant in Tokyo

Tuesday 10th November, 08:15 AM JST

TOKYO —

A 32-year-old man was arrested on Monday for manslaughter, after he allegedly punched a man more than 10 times in his face causing his death, police said.

Toshiyuki Kanazawa, an unemployed resident of Fussa City, was drinking with a group of about 10 people in a Thai restaurant at around 9 a.m. on Sept 26, when the group began having an argument. A 60-year-old male customer at a nearby table told them to quiet down, and Kanazawa got angry and punched the man repeatedly in the face.

The manager of the restaurant looked after the man but his condition deteriorated in the evening, and the manager called for an ambulance. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead later that night, police said.

Kanazawa, who told police he was a former member of an organized crime syndicate, said he was a regular at the restaurant but has denied assaulting the man.

Wire reports

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 46 Total Comments Show All

elbudamexicano at 01:37 PM JST - 10th November

I know Fussa, and well, it is full of scummy, lower class Japanese, so this gangster fits right in and nobody goes to Thai restaurants at 9am! Unless they have been drinking out all night, or in this case, this Japanese yakuza was also maybe doing drugs, went nuts on the 60 year old and ended up killing him. I really hope they close down this Thai restaurant to teach the owner a lesson, if you let yakuza beat people up in your establishments and do not call the police, you are also liable to this murder. Now Yokota Airforce base does not allow any of it military nor non military folk hang around bar row there in Fussa after 9 pm from Friday to Sunday, to try and keep the airforce guys from getting into fights with idiots like this Japanese yakuza.
Tahoochi at 01:37 PM JST - 10th November

No respect for a 32 year old guy with 10 friends that beats on a 60 year old. And he's a murderer. Scum.
thomyorke at 01:44 PM JST - 10th November

Poor old man....
southsakai at 01:53 PM JST - 10th November

Coward! Punches a 60 year old man 10 times. This Gangsta should roll up on a real man who will fight back. Hm!
dolphingirl at 02:00 PM JST - 10th November

Chunks of information missing and too many unanswered questions. First, this happened September 26 so why was this guy just arrested Monday? Why were they drinking at a Thai restaurant at 9am? And the obvious question many people have already pointed out: Why did the manager wait so long to call an ambulance? Were there other customers in the restaurant at the time? Anyway, I hope this 'ex'-gangster doesn't get away with this.
AEROCASTER at 02:00 PM JST - 10th November

And the restaurant owner? This guy witnesses the whole thing and keeps the old guy there until evening when he starts to die. I suppose if pop stars can get away with criminal negligence so can the owner of the Thai restaurant.
khemet at 02:05 PM JST - 10th November

He beat up an elderly person, whom possibly was on an oygen tank and needs a walker to get around. Yes, he is definitely a "gangsta." I am guessing he he hit the old man from behind and caught him off guard or else there would have been a struggle for the "Ex-Gangsta."
nandakandamanda at 02:08 PM JST - 10th November

This ex-yak can deny it because he knows there will be no witnesses. The witnesses all know they will have no future if they are not super careful to say they saw nothing.

Another reason they say "ex-gang member" is that Yakuza gangs are illegal now, so they are all technically ex-members.
thepro at 02:14 PM JST - 10th November

The guy may have recovered fine if he had gone to hospital. But the manager tried to take care of it himself so we wouldn't get into trouble, and the guy died. Hope the manager gets the book thrown at him too.
nandakandamanda at 02:20 PM JST - 10th November

It sounds like the whole noisy group in the above restaurant was Yak, so any foregn intervention would have been extremely unwise, IMHO.
salarymanblues at 02:21 PM JST - 10th November

Methinks 9AM is a typo and it should be 9PM.
Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land at 02:39 PM JST - 10th November

nandakandamanda at 02:08 PM JST - 10th November Another reason they say "ex-gang member" is that Yakuza gangs are illegal now, so they are all technically ex-members.

It's pretty funny that the gangs were once legal entities but, at this point wouldn't the individual yaks just be considered members of an illegal orgination, instead of ex-members of a formerly legal orginization? Whether or not they admit to membership is irrelevant, of course.
PepinGalarga at 07:18 PM JST - 10th November

thanks mike for the clarification. It said that the guy lived in Fussa, but i guess the restaurat is near there. Not easy to find good thai food, even if risks getting one's face bashed in.

If the ambulance did arrve quickly, i wonder why they waited so long. If the guy had internal bleeding, or a concussion with internal hemorrhage of the brain, emergency surgery is neccesary to remove any accumulation of fluid or blood and patch up those broken blood vessels. That's what hospitals are there for.

I pray that no one i know has a serious accident or illness while in Japan. Medicine here is medieval.
mindovermatter at 07:41 PM JST - 10th November

timorborder

On the other side of the car park was a car with 4 young men inside. Unfortunately, our eyes met for a second and these young toughs thought they would beat up a foreigner (there was nobody around). Anyway, they came charging across the car park.

Man, you are so lucky!!!

I wish I could run into a car load of scum bags like that at 6:30 in the morning! You are soooo lucky! I would pay good money for that kind of opportunity... Usually they just bow their head's after I turn around and run after them.... Only one time, did I have to back off, after about 15 or 20, came out from around the corner, I almost followed them into the elevator, but my there were just too many of them, and my ASP is only the 16-inch model.... Real Bummer....

Never take crap from a bunch of 2-bit punks...Keep your whits about you, and always be ready!
Ke11iente at 06:26 AM JST - 11th November

Death penalty.