Hisamatsu-gumi

Ikemoto Akiho, former Matriarch of the Hisamatsu-gumi, a Former Direct Family of the Amaya-kai

The Hisamatsu Family used to be a Direct Family during the time of Chairwoman Natsukawa Kimiko.  The Matriarch Ikemoto tried to kill the Chairwoman and sell the Amaya-kai out to the Oni Alliance.  She would in return have asked to become Chairwoman of the Amaya-kai, with a permanent alliance between the two Clans.  After their dissolution they were absorbed by the Kumai-gumi, a second-tier family under them.  Several of the same characteristics continued down the lineage, such as the idolization of strength and their use as ground troops in matters such as fighting off Hellmouth invasions or fighting off the Oni.  However, once Matriarch Kumai also betrayed the Clan, the rumors of a curse began spreading, and suspicion also fell on the Miyamoto, since they were of the cursed Family “lineage”.  Many are still waiting for Miyamoto, or perhaps one of her subordinates, to betray the Clan as well.

The thing is, Ikemoto was a master of magic and curses.  So while the yakuza like to gossip and spread all sorts of rumors, this perhaps wasn’t entirely baseless.  A curse might, in fact, be involved.  At the time a curse might have even been rumored to be at fault, since the usual operating procedure is simply removing the Matriarch and any offending subordinates and installing a new, hopefully more loyal, Matriarch.  Family affairs, such as their creation and merging, is usually left up to the Matriarch.  Or, in some cases, lack thereof; if a Matriarch dies with no clearly appointed successor and the Captain(s) cannot make a clear case as to why they should be the next Matriarch, the Family usually fractures.  While this technically would not demote a Family or place them under a Family they weren’t previously, they might technically be a “Direct Family” without a seat in the Amaya-kai Headquarters as a minor family with few members.  Clan leadership stepping in to change organization is highly irregular, which, of course, did not help the rumors.

Given the deceased (and thus former) Matriarch’s interest in gambling, the Hisamatsu-gumi also operated a number of gambling spots and served as hired security for such spots.  Territory disputes often arose, as they had no problem sweeping in and forcing a rival Family out as protection.  Even before the betrayal this earned them a reputation for being troublemakers.  After the dissolution, though, most of this territory was ceded to other Families, and Kumai didn’t have much of a problem with that—she had more interest in the black market of stolen and smuggled goods anyway.  Miyamoto-gumi has once again picked up a few of the old spots, although their interests are much more eclectic and range from an old arcade to the theater (recently threatened by an arsonist who later mysteriously ended up in the hospital with several broken bones) to a few gambling spots.  On the whole, though, Miyamoto-gumi seems content to fill in gaps rather than muscle in on territory, no matter what Matriarch Hattori might try to say.