Japanese bar owner sues yakuza boss over protection money

A woman is reportedly suing the head of Japan's biggest yakuza crime group, seeking a refund of protection money she paid to gangsters who threatened to torch her bar in what is believed to be the first case of its kind.

The plaintiff is claiming Kenichi Shinoda, don of the Yamaguchi-gumi, bears "employer's liability" because the mobsters were affiliated to his syndicate, broadcaster TBS said.

She is demanding about 17 million yen (HK$1.32 million) in compensation and reimbursement for payments she was forced to make to protect her bar in the central city of Nagoya, TBS said, citing her lawyers.

The woman, whose name has not been made public, said she paid 30,000 to 100,000 yen per month between 1998 and 2010 to a member of Inabaji Ikka, a local yakuza group connected to the Yamaguchi-gumi, said Kyodo.

On one occasion in 2008, when she tried to refuse to pay she was warned that her bar could be burned down, it said.

The Yamaguchi-gumi makes up more than 40 per cent of the nation's organised criminals, with about 27,700 members, the National Police Agency says.