December 19, 2013
TOKYO (AFP) - The charismatic boss of a well-known dumpling restaurant chain was shot dead on Thursday in the ancient Japanese city of Kyoto, a hotbed of the country's yakuza mobsters, the company and local media said.
Takayuki Ohigashi, 72, was found bleeding and unconscious in a parking lot in front of the company's headquarters in Kyoto at about 7:00 am, the Ohsho Food Service company said.
He was later confirmed dead at hospital, a spokesman for the company told AFP.
He was bleeding from at least three wounds, suggesting he had been shot multiple times, with spent cartridges left at the site, Jiji Press and the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported.
Ohigashi was president of the "Gyoza no Ohsho (King of Dumplings)" chain, operating more than 650 restaurants throughout Japan, as well as a handful abroad.
"He is not the type of a person who would make enemies or incur resentment from people," company spokesman Koji Uchida said.
Ohigashi was reputed to be a popular businessman who turned around the once-struggling restaurant chain.
"He would come to work early and clean the entrance of the headquarters building himself every morning," Uchida said.
Shares in the victim's company dropped 3.21 percent to 3,010 yen by the break in Tokyo trading, as the broader Nikkei index added 1.60 percent.
Gun crime is rare in Japan, and criminality involving firearms usually has a connection to yakuza organised crime groups.