Until his death, he was the second-in-command (wakagashira) and financial overseer of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi.

He was considered a likely successor to the Yamaguchi-gumi's fifth godfather, Yoshinori Watanabe,[1] but in August 1997, Takumi was shot and killed in a coffee shop on the fourth floor of the Oriental Hotel in Kobe by members of a breakaway Yamaguchi affiliate, the Nakano-kai.

[2] An innocent bystander was killed by a stray bullet in the attack, which led to the downfall of the Nakano-kai.

[3] The Takumi-gumi's head position was succeeded by Tadashi Irie.

[4] His mistress was the sister of Hideki Saijo [1] ,[5][6] a Japanese singer and an actor most famous for singing the Japanese version of the Village People's hit song "Y.M.C.A.