This article comes from the BBC News website today.

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Japan mafia gang ‘names new head’

Japan’s largest organised crime syndicate, the Yamaguchi-gumi, is reported to have appointed a new head.

Sixty-three-year-old Kenichi Shinoda was named as the new leader during a ceremony in the western town of Kobe, the Kyodo news agency said.

The change is believed to be the first shift in the group for 16 years. Police could not confirm the report.

The Yamaguchi-gumi is thought to have some 40,000 members, almost half of Japan’s total number of gangsters.

Gang members reportedly exchanged cups of sake during the handover to symbolise the creation of family bonds.

Kyodo reports that Mr Shinoda, who spent 13 years in jail for murdering a rival gang boss with a sword, will lead one of the most prominent crime syndicates in the country.

Although police have tried to crack down on the underworld gangs, Japan’s yakuza - or mafia - remain among the world’s richest, correspondents say.

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First of all, this piece of news is definitely the most interesting Ive read in a while! It’s like a movie script, or something out of a novel! Especially the parts about the rituals in the handover and the new boss’s history, spending 13 years in jail for murdering a rival gang boss with a sword!! How Tarantino is the whole thing?!

Second of all, does this mafia send a press release to the newspaper and agencies announcing the change?! Is there some sort of press conference?!

I can’t get Kill Bill out of my mind!