Police rescue Japan gangster's hostage in standoff

NAGAKUTE, Japan, May 18 (Reuters) Police rescued a woman held hostage for nearly 24 hours by a former Japanese gangster who had holed up in his home after shooting a policeman dead and wounding his own son, daughter and another police officer.

Television footage today showed a policeman carrying out the woman, apparently unharmed, while other officers protected them with shields. A police spokesman said the woman came out of the house herself.

The spokesman said she was the ex-wife of the gunman, who was still in the house in Nagakute, a residential suburb of the central city of Nagoya.

In the latest shoot-out to rattle Japan, a policeman who was a member of a special assault unit was fatally shot yesterday evening while his colleague who had been hit earlier was being rescued.

About 170 officers, including riot police and special units, were mobilised around the gunman's house, and local schools were closed today.

The stand-off comes a month after a gangster shot a fellow mobster in a Tokyo suburb and hid in an apartment before shooting himself, and another gangster shot dead the mayor of Nagasaki, shocking a country where gun control is tough and shootings rare.

''We must push ahead with effective measures to control firearms, including steps against gangsters, so that such an incident won't happen again,'' Kensei Mizote, cabinet minister in charge of the police force, told reporters.

TV footage earlier showed helmeted police with riot shields rescuing the first policeman, who had been left lying in front of the house for hours because of threats from the gunman, a former member of the Yamaguchi-gumi, Japan's largest crime syndicate.

During that rescue, the gunman shot at police from the house and a bullet fatally hit the special unit officer in the neck, which was not covered by his bullet-proof vest, Mizote said.

GUN CONTROL Last month's shootings prompted calls for even stiffer gun control in a country where legal firearms are mostly in the hands of police and hunters.

Illegal guns tend to be owned by members of the ''yakuza'', crime syndicates whose mainstays include prostitution, drugs, extortion and even finance operations.

The recent shootings have revived international interest in the yakuza, whose members have been known for their elaborate tattoos and missing little fingers -- cut off to apologise for mistakes or show loyalty to the boss.

The tattoos and the missing fingers are no longer trademarks among contemporary gangsters, who have attempted to blend into society and invest in legitimate businesses.

Official yakuza membership stood at 41,500 in 2006, slightly down from 2005, while the number of hangers-on rose marginally to 43,200.

Gang membership in itself is not a crime in Japan.

Gun-related crimes are rare in Japan and on the decline. The number of shootings fell to a record-low 53 last year, with most involving members of organised crime. Of those, 36 were thought to have involved gangsters. Only two resulted in deaths.

REUTERS DS PM1330