Originally named the Tosei-kai (東声会, Tōsei-kai, "Voice of the East Gang"[1]), with its historic leader Hisayuki Machii, the Toa-kai was deeply involved in the history of Tokyo's South Korean community and Japan's anti-communist circles in the 20th century.

[1] The Tosei-kai was originally a reported far-right organization of anti-communist activism[2] led by Machii as a sympathizer of Kanji Ishiwara,[3] which was in conflict with the North Korea-associated General Association of Korean Residents in Japan.

[6] The Toa-kai is a member of a bakuto fraternal federation named the Kanto Hatsuka-kai, along with four other Kanto-based yakuza syndicates, the Sumiyoshi-kai, the Inagawa-kai, the Matsuba-kai, and the Soai-kai.

[11] The origin of the Yoshimi-kogyo reportedly traces back to the late 20th century, when Toshio Gibo, an ethnic Okinawan mobster, formed an anti-left nationalist organization named the Makoto-kai in Okinawa under influence of Yoshio Kodama.

The reason why the Toa-kai has been able to be active on the island may be because the group has historically been more oriented to legitimate businesses, and of its gentle stance, in contrast to other yakuza syndicates which have attempted to expand their influences into Okinawa with heavy violence, such as the Yamaguchi-gumi and especially the Dojin-kai.