Restoration Years
The Meiji Restoration, starting in 1867, gave Japan a rebirth and its first of many transformations into an industrial nation. Political parties and a parliament were created, as well as a powerful military.
The yakuza also began to modernize, keeping in pace with a rapidly changing Japan. They recruited members from construction jobs and dockworkings. They even began to control the rickshaw business. Gambling, however, had to be even more covert, as police were cracking down on bakuto gangs. The tekiya, unlike the bakuto, thrived and expanded, as their activites were not illegal, at least not on the surface.
The yakuza began to dabble in politics, taking sides with certain politicians and officials. They cooperated with the goverment so they could get official sanction, or at least some freedom from harassment.
The government did find a use for the yakuza --- as aid to ultranationalists, who took a militaristic role in Japan's adaption into democracy. Various secret societies were created and trained militarily, trained in languages, assassination, blackmail, etc. The ultranationalist reign of terror lasted into the 1930's, consisting of several coups d'etat, the assassination of two prime ministers and two finance ministers, and repeated attacks on politicians and industrialists. The yakuza provided muscle and men to the cause and participated in "land development" programs in occupied Manchuria or China.
Things changed, however, when Pearl Harbor was bombed. The government no longer needed the ultranationalists or the yakuza. Members of these groups either worked with the goverment, put on a uniform, or were put into jail. (Kaplan, p31-40)
Occupation Years
The American occupation forces in post-war Japan saw the yakuza as a primary threat to their work. They began investigations into yakuza activities. In 1948, their work stopped, as the forces thought their investigation was over and the threat was at an end, or at least diminished.
However, the forces had rationed food, thereby giving the black market business to keep the gangs in wealth and power. The gangs were able to act unhindered since the civil police was unarmed. Some occupation officials even aided the yakuza.
The gurentai began to form during the occupation, as there was a power vacuum in the government, as the occupation swept away the topmost layer of control in government and business.
The gurentai could be seen upon as Japan's version of the Mob, its leader similar to what Al Capone was to the Mob. They dealt in black marketeering, for the most part, but also they went so far as to use threat, extortion and violence in their activities. Their members were the unemployed and the repatriated. The goverment used one gurentai as a controller of Korean labor, even though he was apprehended with criminal items.
The occupation forces soon saw that the yakuza was well organized and continuing to operate under two oyabun supported by unidentified high-level goverment officials. They admitted defeat in 1950, as they realized that they could not protect the Japanese people from the yakuza. (Kaplan, p43-52)
In the post-war years, the yakuza became more violent, both on the individual and collective scales. Swords had become a thing of the past, and guns were now becoming the new weapon of choice. They chose ordinary citizens, not just the other vendors or gamblers or specific group targets anymore, as their targets for shakedowns and robberies.
Their appearances also changed, taking American movie gangsters (a la Guys and Dolls) as their influence. They started wearing sunglasses, dark suits and ties with white shirts, and began to sport crewcuts.
Between the years of 1958 and 1963, the number of yakuza members rose by over 150%, to 184,000 members, more than the Japanese Army. There were some 5200 gangs operating throughout Japan. Yakuza gangs began to stake out their territories, and bloody and violent wars began to break out between them. (Kaplan, p89-99)
Kodama
The man who brought peace between many of the yakuza factions was named Yoshio Kodama.
Kodama was in jail for the early part of the occupation, placed in the same section as cabinet officers, military, and ultranationalists. He himself was part of the ultranationalist group Kenkoku-kai (Association of the Founding of the Nation). In the late 1930's and early 1940's he worked as an espionage agent for the Japanese government, touring East Asia. He worked on a major operation to obtain strategic materiel needed for the Japanese war effort.
By the end of the war, he had obtained the rank of rear admiral (an impressive feat at the age of thirty-four), and was advisor to the prime minister. He was rounded up with other government officials in 1946 and placed in Sugamo Prison to await trial. The occupation forces saw Kodama as a high security risk, should he ever be released, due to his fanatacism with the ultranationalists.
Kodama had made a deal with the occupation forces G-2 section, and upon his release, was working for the intelligence branch of G-2. He was the principal go-between for G-2 and the yakuza by 1950. (Kaplan, p63-9)
In the early 60's, Kodama wanted the yakuza gangs, who were now fighting one another, to join together into one giant coalition. He deplored the warfare, seeing it as a threat to anticommunist unity. He used many of his connections to secure a truce between the gangs. He made a fast alliance between Kazuo Taoka, oyabun of the Yamaguchi-gumi faction, and Hisayuki Machii, a Korean crimeboss in charge of Tosei-kai. The alliance broke the Kanto-kai faction for good. Kodama continued to use his influence to mediate the alliance between the Inagawa-kai and its Kanto allies and Yamaguchi-gumi. The truce that Kodama had envisioned was now at hand.
Yoshio Kodama was then referred to as the Japanese underworld's visionary godfather. (Kaplan, p93-99)
Modern Yakuza
Yamaguchi-gumi
The oyabun to the Yamaguchi-gumi from the mid 1940's until his death in 1981 was Kazuo Taoka. He was the third oyabun of the faction.
Taoka had survived many assassination attempts, including one in 1978, when he was shot in the neck by a member of the Matsuda (a rival yakuza clan who had sworn vengeance on the Yamaguchi-gumi for the death of their oyabun) during a limbo dance exhibition at the Yamaguchi-gumi household. (Kaplan, p127-9)
The Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's most powerful syndicate. Their symbol is a rhombus-shaped pin worn on the lapel of their suits. The combination of the pin plus the showing of their tattoos could get them anything they wanted.
However, the pin was not always as powerful as they seemed. In 1980, when the Yamaguchi-gumi attempted to expand their territory into Hokkaido, they were met at the Sapporo airport by 800 members of local gangs who united to keep the Yamaguchi-gumi out of their area. Nearly 2000 anti-riot-equipped police kept the two groups apart. The Yamaguchi-gumi were prevented from opening their headquarters in Sapporo. (Kaplan, 129-30)
In July 1981, Taoka suffered and died from a heart attack, ending his 35-year rule as oyabun. His death was celebrated by his yakuza underlings in the finest yakuza style. Police raided Yamaguchi-gumi homes and offices across Japan, arresting 900 members, and taking such contraband as firearms, swords, and amphetamines.
The funeral was grand indeed, bringing in members from nearly 200 gangs, singers, actors, musicians, and even the police (who attended dressed in riot gear). (Kaplan, p130)
Taoka's successor was to be his number-two man, Yakamen. However, he was in prison and was not due to be released until late 1982. During the absence of Yakamen, everyone (including the police) was surprised to see that the new temporary leader was Taoka's widow, Fumiko. However, Yakamen did not succeed Taoka, for he died of cirrhosis of the liver. The entire structure of Yamaguchi-gumi was now in chaos.
The Yamaguchi-gumi controlled over 2500 businesses, sophisticated gambling and loan-sharking, and invested heavily in sports and other entertainment under Taoka's 35-year rule as oyabun. They operated under the same patterns that had existed for the yakuza for over 300 years, basically depending upon the oyabun-kobun relationship that controlled the day-to-day management of the syndicate. The syndicate was grossing well over {\$460} million per year. Their management style was envied by such organizations as the Mafia and General Motors.
The Yamaguchi-gumi had 103 bosses or various rank from well over 500 gangs. Each of these bosses fared well, making over {\$130,000} annually. A syndicate head would make {\$43,000} per month ({\$360,000} annually after deducting \$13,000 per month for entertainment and office expenses). Of course, this would depend upon the number of soldiers the boss had under him. (Kaplan, p131-2)
The Yamaguchi-gumi began to deal in narcotics now, primarily amphetamines. Other fields of choice brought in a high capital: moneylending, smuggling, and pornography (hard pornography is illegal in Japan). Rigging baseball games, horse races, and public property auctions were commonplace for yakuza. Seizing real estate, entertainment halls, hospitals, and English schools were also done by the yakuza. (Kaplan, p133-4)
During Fumiko Taoka's rule, the membership of Yamaguchi-gumi rose to 13,346 members from 587 gangs by the end of 1983. Their control stretched to 36 of Japan's 47 prefectures. A council of eight high-ranking bosses took control, under the guidance of Fumiko Taoka, in 1983. However, the syndicate had to select a new godfather. Masahisa Takenaka became the new oyabun, as everyone preferred his militant style over Hiroshi Yamamoto's (his opponent) interi (intellectual) yakuza.
Yamamoto, in a fit of anger after losing, took 13,000 men from the Yamaguchi-gumi and created the Ichiwa-kai, one of Japan's top three syndicates. In 1985, Ichiwa-kai assassins slaughtered Takenaka, creating a bloody gang war. (Kaplan, 136-7)
Kazuo Nakanishi became the new oyabun for Yamaguchi-gumi and declared war on the Ichiwa-kai. Police interfered and arrested nearly a thousand mobsters and confiscated many weapons. The Yamaguchi-gumi was desperate to win, so they turned to operations in the US to fund their war. They had obtained many highly illegal weaponry, including rocket launchers and machine guns, in exchange for narcotics, however the conspirators were arrested, including Masashi Takenaka, Masahisa's brother, and Hideomi Oda, the syndicate's financial controller. The Yamaguchi-gumi was thrown back into chaos. (Kaplan, p137-8)
Yakuza Structure
The structure of the yakuza is easy to follow, once the oyabun-kobun relationship is understood.
As an example to explain the structure of command of a yakuza clan, the Yamaguchi-gumi (as of November 1991) will be used.
The oyabun, Yoshinori Watanabe, is the head of the clan, residing at the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters in Kobe. He obtained the position of the fifth oyabun (or kumicho, supreme boss) in 1989. His original gang was the Kobe-based Yamaken-gumi.
Kazuo Nakanishi remains as a saiko komon, or a senior advisor. He resides in Osaka, with 15 sub-gangs under his control, giving him 439 members.
Saizo Kishimoto is the so-honbucho, the headquarters chief, with 6 gangs (108) members under his control in Kobe.
Masaru Takumi is the wakagashira, or number-two man. He controls 941 members in 41 gangs in Osaka.
Testuo Nogami is the fuku-honbucho, an assistant, with 8 gangs (164 members) in Osaka.
Under the kumicho are various komon (advisors), Shingiin (counselors), kumicho hisho (kumicho's secretaries), kaikei (accountants), and wakagashira-hosa (underlings of the second-in-command).
Keisuke Masuda is the number three man (shateigashira), residing in Nagoya with 4 gangs consisting of 111 members under his care. He also has severeal shateigashira-hosa to aid him.
There are 102 senior bosses (shatei, "younger brothers") and numerous junior leaders (wakashu, "young men"), making up then 750 gangs with 31,000 members in the Yamaguchi-gumi. (Delfs, p 30-31)
The Yakuza and Today's Japan
Today's Japan does not appreciate the "noble" workings of the yakuza. In fact, on March 1, 1992, the Japanese goverment passed the Act for Prevention of Unlawful Activities by Boryokudan (yakuza or criminal gangs) Members.
This act designates the term boryokudan as a group with more that a certain precentage of membership having a criminal record. It also identifies organizations with strong violent or criminal tendencies.
The act mainly prohibits the boryokudans from realizing profits made from forms of extortion not covered in previous existing laws, i.e., protection rackets. (Shinnosuke, p353-4)
The yakuza is avoiding being called a boryokudan, mostly by trying to hide behind actual businesses they use as fronts. They have also published a book as of late, entitled "How to Evade the Law," which was distributed among the members of the Yamaguchi-gumi. In fact, 77 gangs affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi are registered as businesses or religious organizations. (Ormonde, p48)
In March of 1992, wives and daughters of yakuza members marched in protest of the new laws through the Ginza. The following month, high-ranking yakuza argued that they are not truly evil; their code of chivalry (similar to bushido, the Way of the Warrior) and samurai values calls upon them to defend the interests of society's weaker members, and their conduct expresses their noble values, not violence. (Shinnosuke, p356)
However, these arguments were proven wrong in the public eye, when members of the yakuza ambushed and stabbed filmmaker Itami Juzo over an anti-yakuza movie entitled "Minbo no Onna" (A Woman Yakuza Fighter). A boryokudan defector commented on the attack, and was later found shot in the leg. (Shinnosuke, p356)
Even outsiders of the yakuza have protested the new laws against them. Over 130 lawyers, professors, and Christian ministers proclaimed that the yakuza countermeasures were unconcitutional, basically on the grounds that they infringed basic rights, such as the freedom of assembly, the choice of occupation, and the ownership of property. (Shinnosuke, p358)
In fact, even ordinary citizens are against the yakuza.
Citizens of the neighborhood of Ebitsuka, a neighborhood of Hamamatsu, 130 miles SW of Tokyo, did not want yakuza activity in their backyard. The yakuza were operating out of a green building, that the neighbors quickly termed as burakku biru ("black building"). The citizens videotaped everyone who went in and out of the building, noting specifically the ones wearing flashy suits, dark glasses, short hair and hints of tattoos on their arms. The yakuza retaliated against the citizens, smashing windows of the local garage mechanic, stabbing the town's lawyer in the lung, and slashing another activist in the throat.
However, after police arresting half of the gang, the Ichiri Ikka, led by Tetsuya Aono, abandoned the burakku biru in an out-of-court settlement, as they did not want to stir up trouble for gangsters elsewhere. (Chua-Eoan, p42)
Yakuza in Business and Politics
The yakuza has always been involved in politics and business right from the start. The groups are always hungry for more power and money, wherever they can find it.
In 1987, Noboru Takeshita was elected prime minister in Japan. There were always suspicions of gangster ties in the election. When questioned on the accusations in 1992, Takeshita denied knowing at the time that the yakuza were involved.
What happened was this: during one of his speeches, a group was blaring comments against Takeshita. Some other group of people had silenced the commentators.
The Liberal Democratic Party kingmaker was made to resign from politics in October 1992 when he admitted to receiving Y500m ({\$4}m) from a delivery firm, Sagawa Kyubin. The owner of the firm, Hiroyasu Watanabe, paid the kingmaker for trying to help save his business. Watanabe admitted to asking Ishii Susumu, the late head of the Inagawa-kai, to silence the group. Susumu called in a gang from Kyoto, the Aizu Kotetsu, to do the job. Aizu Kotetsu had a grudge against Takeshita due to a confidence job (paying Y4 billion for a Y500m gold screen). Takeshita denied the screen deal, although money from it was given to his secretary.
Shigeaki Isaka, who was very close to the leader of Aizu Kotetsu, would help Takeshita win the election, in order to have a hold over him, possibly for future blackmail. (Economist, p33)
There is another yakuza incident that hits closer to home. West Tsusho, a Tokyo-based real estate firm, bought two American companies with help from none other than Prescott Bush, Jr, President Bush's elder brother.
What wasn't known at the time was that West Tsusho is an arm of the a company run by the Inagawa-kai's leader, Ishii Susumu.
Tsusho purchased Quantum Access, a Houston-based software firm) and Asset Management International Financing \& Settlement, a New York City-based company.
Bush received a {\$250,000} finder's fee for Asset Manangement, as was promised another {\$250,000} per year for three years in consulting fees. Bush was unaware at the time that he was being a middleman for mob activity. (Time, Jun 24, 1991, p25)
A Bleak Future?
With the anti-yakuza countermeasure act in place, the future for the yakuza seems bleak, at least in Japan. The North American expansion could do very well, as they channel nearly {\$10} billion into legitimate investments not only in the US, but in Europe as well.
The FBI is gearing up to handle the new threat from the yakuza, now that their handling of the Mafia is nearly complete. However, their investigations will be difficult, as they can operate through shell corporations without the close scrutiny that hampers crooks in other companies. Also, money laundering is not a crime in Japan, so the investigations into the money angles of the yakuza will be extremely difficult. (Castro, p21)
1932 - Brazil has outbreak of 'Hepatitis' - blamed on vectors from Gambia
1935 - Max Theiler (from S. Africa) begins work on Yellow Fever vaccination
at The Rockefeller Medical Institute
1936 - Theiler uses Pasteur's Process to pass Yellow Fever through Mice
brains, rather than rabbits. (rearrangements in RNA genomes PMID: 7596811)
1937 - Japan's Ishii begins Unit 731 south of Harbin, Heilongjiang
(Manchuria)
1938 - 1 Million Brazilians now infected with Rockefeller's/Theiler's Yellow
Fever/HBV vaccination. Program was funded by Rockefeller foundation and a
very interesting book reporting this was published. The mosquitoes were thought to have been
introduced by a ship traveling from the West Coast of Africa.
1939 - Japan's General Ishii's Aide comes to NY and Rockefeller to obtain
"sample" of Yellow Fever/HBV virus. Japanese Army doctor, Dr. Ryoichi
Naito, visited the laboratory with credentials from the Japanese military
attached in Washington to obtain a sample of that strain of the Yellow Fever
virus.
1939 ~ 1945 WWII - A series of outbreaks after vaccination for measles and
yellow fever.
1940 - Rockefeller funding Medical experiments with humans in both Germany
and Japan, involved with Russians.
1941- Dec. 7th, Pearl Harbor attacked. Allied Troops to be deployed in high
Yellow Fever areas- S. Pacific, N. Africa, etc..
1942 - US begins "Defensive Biological Warfare Program".
1942 - Rockefeller's Yellow Fever/ HBV vaccine given to US Army Soldiers and
Allied Troops. 330,000 infected.
(Note from Tricia: It was later learned blood samples from the infected troops also had Hep C and it is the first record of the disease.)
1942 - Ft. Detrick's 'Defensive' Biological Warfare Program begins.
1942 - Schering taken over by the US Government.
1943 - Acute Hepatitis causes a few deaths in the Military
1943- Through sophisticated testing, the researchers pinpointed 1943 to 1949
as the years in which HCV initially spread in Japan
1944 - E.J. Cohn begins to develop first generation 'Immune Serum Globulin',
ISG. More are contaminated.
1945 - Nuclear Testing conducted in areas now high in HBV rates.
1945 - WWII Ends in Europe and Asia. Veterans go home and donate blood in
all 50 States.
1945 - Thorotrast used as a treatment for TB in England. (alpha particles
cause cancers decades later) Same trail that has the hep infected blood
also has the Thorotrast trail.
1940's - "A containment effort would seek to prevent outbreaks" (hence:
immunizations of the population..like with Yellow fever vaccination
contaminated with HBV) "successful Brazilian Anopheles gambiae effort of the
1930s...was repeated around Aswan during the 1940s" Note: Aswan is in
Egypt.....highest HCV rates in the World today. Want to bet what vaccination
they used in Egypt during the 40's and in Italy to fight Yellow Fever?
1940's - A similarly intensive post-WWII effort against endemic An.
labranchiae on Sardinia (Italy) "almost eradicated" the target insect on
that island, but did eliminate malaria. Although that extraordinary effort
did not attain its goal, it influenced anti-malaria policy profoundly. I
know of no other elimination effort that attained
its stated goal and none against an endemic vector or pest.
1946 - German War Crimes Trial
1947 - Rockefeller Manufactures 28 Million Doses of the Yellow Fever/HBV
vaccine by this date. No record of any destroyed. All used?
1947 - Mac Callum (1947): classified viral hepatitis into two types, Viral
hepatitis A - Infectious hepatitis, Viral hepatitis B - Seum hepatitis
1948 - Japan's War Crimes Trials
(Note from Tricia:
1948 Experimentation with Hepatitis
April 5, 1948 letter from C.J. Watson, M.D., Army Epidemiological Board to Dr. McLeod, with a copy to Dr. Stokes and others
Dear Dr. MacLeod: I have given careful consideration in the past few weeks to the matter of using volunteers in penal institutions for experimentation, with particular reference to hepatitis.)
1949 - Japan's Ishii shares work with US and German George Merck
1950 - Korean War begins- massive blood drives in the US.
1951- Polio push. Thorotrast used as a radioactive injectable dye- cancers.
1951 - Max Theiler wins Nobel Prize in Medicine for his work on a Yellow
Fever Vaccination at the Rockefeller Institute.
1951 - German George Merck appointed to head US's, Ft. Detrick's,
'Offensive' Bio-Warfare Program.
1952 - Occupation of Japan ends.
1952 - Adenovirus magically appears only in Military basic training
recruits from the mid west- meet the "new" 1918 Spanish Flu. Half mammalian
and half avian- or bird.
1955 ~ 1956 - Massive epidemic of water-borne hepatitis occurred in Delhi,
India.
1958 - Interferons first used in cell research.
1959 - Test developed to measure elevated liver enzymes.
1962 - Cancer research begins with Adenovirus on mouse cell
1960's - Variants that cause 'serum jaundice' emerge in the research
1963 - Mass smallpox vaccinations in Poland in 1963 and the epidemic
situation of
viral hepatitis (PMID: 5858724)
1964 - Treatment of Chronic Hep (Germany) in literature.
1965 - International collaborative assay of the international reference
preparation
of anti-yellow-fever serum. (PMID: 5294595)
1965 - Blumberg discovered Australia antigen (later known to be HBsAg) in
aborigines and showed that the antigen was present at high frequency in
patients with leukemia and in children with Down's syndrome.
1965 - Blumberg reported "Australia antigen" in Australian aborigines.
1965 - "chronic hepatitis caused by serum hepatitis" - Japan Symposium on
Serum Hepatitis, PMID: 5894570
1966 - Treatments for Chronic Hep discussed (German)
- looking at ways to reduce incidence of serum hep
(Serbo-Croatian)
- Literature on Iron levels with Chronic Hep (Soviet)
1966 - Mass inoculation with Yellow fever vaccination from the Rockefeller
Institute and given by pet-o-jets.
1969 - Literature looking at Lymph involvement (Italy)
1970 - Dane discovered Dane particle (complete HBV particle).
1970 - Krugman and co-workers reported on the Willowbrook hepatitis studies
in
which live hepatitis virus injected was injected into mentally retarded
children in order to study the course of the disease process (Krugman, 1971;
Krugman & Giles, 1970).
1971 - Literature looking at Chronic Hep in Hemodialysis (Eng)
1971 - Literature looking at the pathogenesis of arthritis associated with
viral hepatitis.
Complement-component studies.
1972 - Magnius discovered HBeAg
1972 - Viral hepatitis abroad. Incidence in Catholic missionaries. PMID:
5066870
1973 - Feinstone, Purcell identified HAV.
1974 - CDC claims to have determined a Non-A, Non-B, hepatitis exists.
Begins to track it as a "non specific" hepatitis.
1975 - Antibody to the hepatitis B surface antigen in immune serum globulin.
A collection of 1,278 lots of immune serum globulin (ISG) prepared by 19
United States manufacturers between 1962 and 1974 were tested for the
hepatitis B surface antigen (HBSAg) and antibody (anti-HBS). Ten lots
(0.8%), all of which were produced between 1962 and 1965 by two different
manufacturers, were weakly positive for HBSAg (by radioimmunoassay). Seven
hundred and seven lots (55.3%) were positive for anti-HBS (by passive
hemagglutination). PMID: 1198681
1975 - Vietnam War officially ends in March- Siagon falls by May.
1975 Jul-Aug - Literature about Antibody to hepatitis B core antigen.
1975 Sep-Oct - Va cooperative study of post-transfusion hepatitis,
1969-1974: incidence and
characteristics of hepatitis and responsible risk factors. PMID: 1235478
1975 - Literature about Dental infection with hepatitis B.
1975 - Literature about severe viral hepatitis type B in infancy;.
1975 - Stated: "Unlikely that immunization against HBV will ever provide
absolute immunity" (Sierra Leone = has one of the highest HCV rates today in
the World today) Some considerations regarding active immunization with
HBsAg. Krugman has demonstrated that injection of heated serum containing
HBsAg
conferred some protection against subsequent challenge with live hepatitis B
virus (HBV). Thus newly imported animals may be incubating HB infection, and
could give rise to false positive results in inactivation trials, unless
quarantined for a four to six month period prior to use. We have therefore
established a laboratory for chimpanzee trials in West Africa, and plan to
utilize only animals captured by trapping and held in strict isolation from
the time of capture. Three chimpanzees who received a massive transfusion of
infective
plasma one year after resisting challenge with aliquots of the same plasma
inoculated intraperitoneally, all developed severe hepatitis, accompanied in
two cases by HBs antigenemia, despite strong anamnestic anti-HBs responses
in all three animals. PMID: 1204972
1975 - Ten with HBV e antibodies were blood donors- 95 units of blood. PMID:
45864
Mid
1970's - Liver Cancer rates begin to skyrocket in the US
1976 - Blumberg reported "Australia antigen" in Australian aborigines in
1965. Awarded Nobel prize in 1976.
1977 - HDV Discovered in 1977 by Rizetto, in nuclei of hepatocytes from
patients with
chronic HBV infection, and originally was thought to be HBcAg.
Superinfection: HDV infection occurs in persons with chronic HBV infection.
1977 - Rizzetto described delta antigen (HDV).
1977 - Application of a screening test for antibody the hepatitis B core
antigen.
1979 - GRID, or AIDS first described in National Media
1980's, HBV vaccinations given some attention because of AIDS
1980 - 1984, Dr. Koop Surgeon General- never speaks on hep
1981 - Literature describes patients who developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
1982 - 500 with AIDS in NY and San Fran.
1982 - PPSB = pooled human clotting preparation. "cardiac surgery (56%)
developed hepatitis"
"all cases were of the non-A, non-B type." "frequency of carriers of the
causative virus is apparently not different from that with B virus."
(because TTV = HBV lite.)PMID: 6816565
1983 - Balayan recovery of HEV.
1983 - Cutler and Baxter settle out of court in 1988 for contaminated blood
1980's - HBV vaccination contaminated with HIV here and in France. Wolf
Smuzness (Ft. Detrick) involved- now there is the Smuzness NY Blood Center.
Coincidence? Not likely.
1984 - Nation-wide vaccination on newborn babies launched in Taiwan.
1988 - HCV Discovered, Chiron group (Choo, Kuo, Houghton) cloned and
identified HCV.
1988 - HDV discovered (found only with HBV)
1988 - Cutler and Baxter settle out of court for 1983 contaminated blood
products
1988-1992 A. Novella Surgeon General (now NY Health Commissioner). Never
speaks on hep.
1989 - Literature about the prevalence of serological markers for hepatitis
B virus infection in
Australian Naval personnel.
Before 1989 - HCV diagnosis was made only by "exclusion diagnosis" ---
non-A, non-B hepatitis. Over 90 % of post-transfusion hepatitis in Taiwan
was HCV hepatitis.
1989 - HCV isolated
1989 - 1989 - First HCV generation reagent for detection of anti-HCV was
developed, containig recombinant and synthetic antigens --- C100-3 (NS3 and
NS4, NS:
non-structure)
1990 - Enomoto: HCV-K1-PT, HCV-K2a, HCV-K2b
1990 - 1st Test developed for HCV detection
1991 - Second HCV generation reagent --- C22(core), C33c(NS3), and
C200(NS3+NS4)
1991 - Reliable test developed for HCV detection in Commercial Blood
1991 ~ 1992 - Investigators in Japan reported the discovery of a new
hepatitis virus and called it as hepatitis virus F, but failed to be
substantiated in the subsequent research.
1992 - Reliable test in place to test blood supply and other blood products
1992 - Rockefeller Foundation's campaign against yellow fever in Mexico
sought "to advance the economic and political interests of U.S. capitalism"
1992 - Early 90's...AIDS Community wants Ribavirin. FDA says no.
1992 - 1993 Jocelyn Elders Surgeon General
1992 - Houghton (1992): HCV-I, HCV-II, HCV-III
1992 - Okamoto (1992): I, II, III, IV 9 major groups, and 30+ subtypes
Implications of viral factors: (genotypes, level of viremia, quasispecies
nature) controversial severity of liver damages, response to interferon
therapy, transmission from mother to infant
1993 - Uchida of Japan reported by PCR study that the so-called hepatitis
virus F might be a mutant of HBV, just could not be verified by commercially
available reagents because of the defect pre-C gene, mutation of core gene
and S gene, which come to be HBsAg (-) and anti-HBc (-) in serological
tests. (Uchida T: Microbiol Immunol 37: 425 ~ 439, 1993; J Hepatol 18: 369 ~
372, 1993)
1994 - Simmonds suggested classification system: major groupings (Arabic
numerical in order
of discovery), subtypes designated by lower-case letters previopus
classification:
Enomoto (1990): HCV-K1-PT, HCV-K2a, HCV-K2b, Houghton (1992): HCV-I, HCV-II,
HCV-III, Okamoto (1992): I, II, III, IV, 9 major groups, and 30+ subtypes,
Implications of viral factors: (genotypes, level of viremia, quasispecies
nature) controversial severity of liver damages, response to interferon
therapy, transmission from mother to infant
1994 - 1998 No Surgeon General. CDC, NIH, FDA, HHS, all left to guide
themselves. AIDS funding dominates and all large Academic Institutions get
a piece of the funding prize.
1994 - Deka reported an isolation of a virus named HFV (Hepatitis
French [origin] Virus) on intravenous inoculation of stool extract from
sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis, in New Delhi, India, however, no follow-up
report was noted. (Deka N; et al.:J. Virol; 68:7810~5, 1994)
1995 - A model for rearrangements in RNA genomes. Theiler's (mice) murine
encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV). PMID: 2436048
1995 - Third HCV generation reagent --- C22(core), C33c(NS3), C200(NS3+NS4),
and NS5.
1995 - Genotype I (1a) found in China near Unit 731 activities and 98% in
Moldova, Russia.
1995 - Simons (Abbott) identified new novel virus termed GBV-C.
1996 - Linnen (Genelab) identified another novel virus termed HGV.
1996 - GBV-C and HGV are identified to have the same/or very similar
structure and contain two flavivirus sequences related to, but far distinct
from the HCV.
1996 - Chang's group at NTUH reported (JAMA) successful prevention of HBV
infection by nation-wide vaccination on newborn babies launched in 1984 in
Taiwan.
1997 - Chang's group at NTUH (1997): reported (NEJM) decrease in annual
incidence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma in children ascribed to
nation-wide
vaccination against HBV on newborn babies launched in 1984 in Taiwan.
1997 - Dr. Foster withdraws nomination after bruising battle for Surgeon
General Nomination
1997 - TTV--Transfusion Transmitted Virus is a new virus first reported in
Japan in 1997 by T. Nishizawa in patients with fulminate hepatitis and
chronic liver
disease of unknown etiology.
1997 - Dec. No awareness or info about HCV anywhere but on Internet.
1998 - Merck and Company earns $900 Million in HBV Vaccine sales. School
Boards and State Legislatures begin to practice Medicine and mandate HBV
shots by statutory requirement. No long term studies available. Research
says "caution" may be nervous system involvement.
1998 - Dr. Sadler appointed and confirmed Surgeon General- 1st one in 5
years.
1998 - March House VA Congressional HCV hearings with ALF, VA-Roselle,
NIH-Seeff, Koop, and Surgeon General Sadler - about a week into the job as
SGOUS. Dr. Koop not asked how many children he infected as a Surgeon in
Philly, or their health status today. Also not asked why he never spoke up
when he was
Surgeon General and instead focused on a much lesser issue- AIDS.
Deliberate?
1998 - Dr. Seeff (from S. Africa) appointed by Congress to oversee HCV
Internationally. Spends his career studying the 1942 Yellow Fever and HBV
'accident'- now will advise all on matters of HCV.
1998 - Schering granted unprecedented monopoly by FDA over only current HCV
therapy that still has only a 30% overall rate of slowing the virus'
progression in the liver: Bundling Ribavirin and Intron-A. Surprise! AIDS
Community now has the drug they wanted but FDA would not let them have years
earlier. Coincidence or a real treatment for HCV? AIDS Community will
conveniently supply Riba through their Drug Network, beginning with
Fisher's in Penn.
1998 - Proposed Veterans with Hepatitis Laws first introduced into the 105th
Congress
1998 - Naoumov, N. detected TTV-DDN in 18 (25 %) of the 72 patients with
chronic liver disease. The majority of TTV-positive cases had no biochemical
or histological evidence of significant liver damage. TTV-DNA sequencing of
nine isolates showed the same genotypic groups as in Japan: three patients
were infected with genotype 1, which showed 4 % nucleotide divergence, and
six patients were infected with genotype 2 with 15-27% divergence. Naoumov
suggests that TTV, similar to HGV, may be an example of a human virus with
no clear disease association according to the results -- the high prevalence
of active TTV infection in the general population, both in the UK and in
Japan, and the lack of significant liver damage.
1998 - FDA says only Riba (AIDS Drug) with Interferon can be used. AIDS
activists (ACT UP) rename themselves HAAC- (Hep advocacy and Awareness
Coalition) but do all they can to still the Hep message and the result is
that HCV leaders are lead to believe the combo is the way to go- with less
than 30% success rates the HCV Community is charged up to $20,000 a year for
treatments that do not work and genetically harm. AIDS Community is now
funded by HCV Community.
1998 - Superinfection of hepatitis viruses --- (Vento et al.) --- Although
most patients with chronic hepatitis B who acquired HAV infection had an
uncomplicated course, patients with chronic hepatitis C had a substantial
risk of Fulninant hepatitis and death associated with HAV superinfection.
Our data suggest that patients with chronic hepatitis C should be vaccinated
against hepatitis A. (N Engl J Med 1998;338:286-90.)
1999 - Rockefeller Health Grants - not a penny for HCV.
1999 - Proposed Veterans with Hepatitis Laws reintroduced into the 106th
Congress
1999 - Animal Serum, advised not to use in testing.
1999 - HGV, HGV-GB, Silent HBV, TTV, etc...all begin to emerge in the
research and around the Globe. Media only sees AIDS. 35 Million Worldwide
with AIDS, 3.5 Billion now, at least, with a hep virus- and growing more
rapidly as it branches.
1999 - Research emerges to show HCV not so much as a Liver Disease but a
Lymphatic tissue and Bone Marrow/Blood disorder that has wreaked havoc on
all organs and organ systems of the body for decades- liver is the first to
show effects of tissue injury, and liver is the only thing we look at and
that we fund with our research when looking for a cure. HCV is a slow
motion hemorrhagic.
1999 - less than 250,000 people with AIDS (700,000 with HIV) in the US
receive $7.11 Billion in fed NIH research funding involving every major
Academic Institution. Harvard, Rockefeller, Stanford, etc... all have AIDS
Institutes for Research.
1999- 11 Million Americans with HBV/HCV/HGV, receive $30.9 Million for fed
research. NIH explains that continued massive AIDS funding will eventually
help HCV.
1999 - Reported, 1 in 10 vets in the US have HCV. (ALF Congressional test.
6/9/99). Veteran population = 26 Million. Therefore, 2.6 Million vets have
HCV today - many are homeless.
1999 - The fix is in! CDC releases to media a 6 year old study conducted
from 1988-94 saying 2.7 Million in the US have HCV, not including any
institutions like vets or prisons... media runs with 2.7 number and only
that number. 3.9 has now been chiseled into 2.7. Simply math by their own
numbers say at least 5 Million today with HCV alone.
1999 - NEJM publishes that children with HCV can be managed early on
(interpreted as cured by the public) only if drug companies can be brought
in to profit. Koops, the AIDS poster boy, becomes our poster boy! For a
price of course.
1999 - FDA is blind deaf and dumb. No where in site. Front door left wide
open.
1999 - HHS last reported seen with Surgeon General and Red Cross- leaving
town at dusk! Driven By Rep. Chris Shays and Donna Shalala.
1999 - NIH has been bought and paid for by America's AIDS Institutes...which
needs NIH's support for continued massive funding. After all....careers are
only 10 to 15 years in the making, another 5 or 10 years of massive AIDS
Research ought to do it....... AIDS as a threat? Never was! Not a medical
issue either...political opportunity to make millions of dollars all in the
name of minority civil rights..... welcome to the year 2000! Where you now
place your life in the same hands that placed you there.
1999 - Institute of Human Virology's head, Robert Gallo, declares in mission
statement that AIDS is their top priority.
1999 Fall- ALF deliberately slashes HCV numbers in half in NY and begins a
process to blame behaviors and Drug Abuse for Liver cancer rates. ALF NY
Medical Director (Dr. Di Biscaglle- St. Louis School of medicine) blames
liver cancer rates on drug abuse and behavior from last 30 years- not on
contaminated blood and blood products that their funders initiated over 60+
years ago - and now sit in positions to educate the population and
physicians. Both they have have not done.
1999 - WHO, UN, CBS, AP, CDC, all major medias, report that AIDS is a
growing threat at 33 Million worldwide with HIV (10 Million will have AIDS).
More than 3 Billion have hep......still no message from the media except
AIDS and needles and AIDS and liver problems are an issue.
1999 - Organ Transplant laws, Nationally, will soon be changed to help Liver
Centers, not sick people. Contributors come first- not common sense.
1999 - Reported that 100% of Commercial Pig Stock is infected with Hepatitis
E (HEV) a DNA virus.....but, as usual, no matter. We'll still use pig
organs- just do not educate Americans about it.
1999 - No where can the research be found to point to an AIDS threat- not
now, not a decade ago. Africa? 5-10% infected with AIDS in Africa.
200-300% infected with hepatitis. Focus will be AIDS.
1999 - Between 5.2 Million and 8 Million Veterans have HCV- how many already
dead?
1999 End of Millennium - Patients left to educate themselves, families, and
communities, while those who are to help and are heavily funded- will not.
Hep patients are left to pay their physicians in order to educate them about
an illness they were not taught about in Medical School. Half the time hep
patients pay to educate their physicians and are told it is in their head.
Research has been public - yet the media and gov agencies have deliberately
ignored up to 155 Million American with a previous or past virus, so that
less than 250,000 with AIDS can obtain Civil Rights- or so it's claimed.
Every major Institution is being paid by the US Taxpayer for AIDS research.
People with hepatitis are now funding AIDS and the AIDS Community by means
like, Texas Prisons will now buy their Riba from Fischer's Pharm in Penn
(Aka The AIDS Community). People in Texas are paying people with HIV in New
York and San Fran. Texans with HCV are now funding AIDS, thanks to their
Politicians.
2000 - The truth? Some assistance? A Cure? Don't bet your life on
it............
Up to 20% - 31% of 26 Million US Vets have HCV. 5.2 - 8 Million that have
served have
been trashed, name called, and now the research emerges showing HCV 1b was
in the blood products they were given. Their families shamed, all to hide
the past and advance civil rights for less than 250,000 with AIDS.
Only the Drug Companies and Koop have the answers, we are told by the ALF
and others, and the Transplant Centers have a greater right to make a
financial killing- than we do to live.