Miyamoto-gumi

Miyamoto Suna/Sunao, Matriarch of the Miyamoto-gumi, a Direct Family of the Amaya-kai

Rumors about the Miyamoto-gumi becoming a Second-Tier Family under the Kumai-gumi were plentiful, but never actually realized.  It’s almost unheard-of for a Captain to not have a Family of their own, but, so some theories went, it was done to keep the collar on the haiena.  Even though the Kumai-gumi was relatively recent as Direct Families go, it was large enough it should have had at least one subsidiary Family by the time it was dissolved, and out of all the possible choices, the most loyal, hardest worker would be the one to choose.  Instead, the formation of the Miyamoto-gumi happened in the most unconventional way possible.  It would have been one thing to have the Captain take over the Kumai Family—it happens often enough, and the Kumai Family had been a Direct Family.  And it couldn’t be the promotion of a Second Tier family to Direct Family, which happens often enough, since the subsidiary Family didn’t even exist.  Entirely new Direct Families aren’t usually created, never mind by the Chairwoman herself—but also, it’s the Chairwoman, so while there might be some complaining, no one’s going to seriously argue.  And the excuse of taking responsibility for your Matriarch’s sins is a pretty good one.  ‘Ending the curse of the Hisamatsu’.

For her part, Miyamoto-san realizes the current situation of ‘might makes right’ mentality is untenable.  She’s trying to train them out of it, at least instill some sense of loyalty, respect, hard work, anything that might stop more power plots and disloyal scheming, which seems to be working, but how much of that is the fact that she’s a strong leader is unknown.

The Miyamoto-gumi, like many of the Amaya-kai families, is shaped by its Matriarch, and as such is eclectic, eccentric, and unpredictable.  Well, so it appears.  There’s actually a method to the madness.  Contradictory rumors abound, from seeming grudges or unwarranted violence to recycling efforts and helping pay for a starving kid’s bento.  Those who pay attention understand more deeply, while others are simply used to the usual system and can’t understand the differences.  (Hattori-san is one of those, but then, she might be arguing in bad faith.)

A big part of the yakuza code is to try to avoid getting civilians involved, though some Families obviously take this more seriously than others.  The Miyamoto-gumi are both more and less serious about it.  Basically, don’t bother other civilians, or do other nefarious things, and the Miyamoto-gumi will do even better than leave you alone—they’ll help you out.  Prey on others, and they’ll hound you.  Still, the opinion of the Miyamoto-gumi is overall positive (many other Matriarchs don’t force subordinates to apologize to civilians, for one thing).  The duty isn’t exactly a stated one, but this is considered good PR for the Amaya-kai.  They can even use Miyamoto-san in situations where a civilian is causing problems for the Amaya-kai (such as Abe) since it can easily be written off as the Miyamoto-gumi running wild again.  It’s not quite at the level of secrecy that the Natsukawa-gumi can provide, but it can also send a message as to exactly who you’ve ticked off (and maybe discourage further infractions).

One stated duty, however, is foreign deals and PR.  Yet another advantage of the unconventional nature is that they can send Miyamoto Sunao to countries where women aren’t taken as seriously.  Mostly, this has to do with import/export deals, but there’s always the possibility Kumai escaped outside the country, so they’re also paying for information about the former Matriarch.

As a strong Family, the Miyamoto-gumi is useful when either fighting akuma or yokai or trying to negotiate with those of the Underworld who only respect strength.  They can serve as ground troops, too, if the Oni ever invade.  The main stated goal is hunting down Kumai Atae once and for all.