Character-Specific Pages: Kazuma Kiryu | Goro Majima | Akira Nishikiyama | Ichiban Kasuga
Yakuza | Yakuza 2 | Yakuza 3 | Yakuza 4 | Yakuza 5 | Like a Dragon: Ishin! | Yakuza 0 (Dojima Lieutenants | Kamurocho Residents | Sotenbori Residents) | Yakuza 6 | Yakuza: Like a Dragon (The Heroes of Tomorrow) | Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name | Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
Judgment (Takayuki Yagami) | Lost Judgment
Sotenbori Residents
open/close all folders
Makoto Makimura / Xiao Qiao
Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro
- "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry ..."
An employee of the massage parlor, Hogushi Kaikan, located near the edge of Sotenbori. Although blind, she uses her skills as a massage therapist to overcome her handicap and make a living. She lives quietly on the edge of Sotenbori, untouched by the modern and fast-paced city. However, she soon finds herself caught in the bloody back and forth of the yakuza, for reasons unbeknownst to her...
Half-Chinese, Half-Japanese, she's Tachibana's little sister. She and her mother were repatriated to Japan when found by her Japanese grandfather. When she ran from home she went to Sotenbori, Osaka to search for her brother. She was then conned by Oda, the "Man with a bat tattoo" and sold to a Korean syndicate, causing her psychogenic blindness from trauma. She was however saved by Wen Hai Lee, who decided to take her under his wing and protect her. She became a target of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance because she inherited the Empty Lot from her late grandfather. Her brother, Tachibana, is killed by the Dojima Family moments before she can be reunited with him. Swearing revenge upon the Dojima Family, she goes to negotiate with them, her demands being the heads of the three Dojima lieutenants in exchange for the Empty Lot. Unfortunately she gets shot by Lao Gui for her troubles and falls into a coma. She survives due to Shibusawa secretly ordering Lao Gui to shoot her non-lethally and eventually recovers, giving ownership of the Empty Lot to Masaru Sera.
She makes her return in Yakuza Kiwami 2, the remake of Yakuza 2, for Majima's story, now going by the name Makoto Tateyama.
- All for Nothing: Everything she's done throughout her time in Japan was to reunite with her long-lost brother, Tachibana. This means having to leave her home country, completely relearn how to speak, surviving through poverty after her mother's suicide, being kidnapped and forced into slavery - something so traumatic that she lost her eyesight - and being hunted down by the entirety of the Dojima family. In the end though, her brother is already murdered by the time she finds him, and she can do nothing but helplessly cradle his dead body in tears.
- Apologises a Lot: She has this habit when she thinks she puts other people in danger, directly or not.
- Broken Bird: Geez, where does one even start? She came to Japan to search for her brother, only to be conned and sold off to the Korean mob before being rescued by Lee, the trauma of which left her blind. And to lay it even further, she's targeted by the yakuza for reasons unknown to her, Lee is killed, and her brother is murdered before they can meet again. She attempts to take revenge by going after Dojima and ends up getting shot by his hitman, which lands her in a coma.
- The Bus Came Back: She returns in Majima's sidestory in Kiwami 2. She's put back on the bus when her family leaves the country due to her husband's career, but not before finally thanking the man who protected her years before.
- But Not Too Foreign: She and her brother, Tetsu Tachibana, are the child of a Japanese war orphan and a Chinese farmer.
- The Cutie: The least that can be said is that she is very easy on the eyes. She's also possibly the kindest and most sympathetic character in the game.
- Damsel in Distress: Justified, since she is blind and requires help to get away from the yakuza chasing after her. But she doesn't like the idea of standing around doing nothing while everyone else protects her.
- Didn't Think This Through: She expected to be in a position of power against Dojima, because she had the Empty Lot. She gets shot instead, remembering too late that these were the same people out to kill her and destroy her claim to the lot in the first place thanks to being so focused on revenge for her deceased brother.
- Disability Superpower: She can recognize who people are based on the sound of their voice. It's what tips her off that Oda is the same man who sold her to the Korean mob and isn't on Kiryu's side. Picking up on this, when she meets Majima in the game's ending after regaining most of her sight, he remains completely silent so she doesn't recognize who he really is.
- The Dog Bites Back: Two instances:
- The first has her stab Oda's leg as he's pointing a gun to her head, knowing he's the very man who conned and sold her to the Korean mob years ago.
- The second has her attempt to confront the very man trying to have her killed, after his men murder her brother no less. It doesn't end well for her.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Kiwami 2 reveals she had gotten married and started a family, and she tells a certain customer that she never dreamed she would have found that kind of happiness after everything that happened nearly 20 years before. Majima even slips her a secret gift (replacement bands for her beloved wristwatch to match the broken originals) so she can get closure on the mysterious assassin that saved her life all those years ago.
- Expy: To several characters.
- First to Yumi. Both women suffered from some kind of major mental trauma, causing Yumi to lose her memories and Makoto to become psychologically blind. Both of them would marry someone other than their love interest and have a child with, but only Makoto found true happiness while Yumi was nearly killed by Jingu's assassins, and was ultimately fatally wounded by the MIA leader himself. Both of them were also key to a major sum of money through an vault with a locket as its key and the Empty Lot respectively. Fittingly, the vault was built into the Millennium Tower, which is what became of the Empty Lot.
- Second was Yasuko/Lily, the sister of Taiga Saejima. Both of them lived under an alias for their whole lives after their brother went missing. Like Yasuko, Makoto slowly loses her innocence towards the end of the game as she was hellbent on seeing her brother's killers dead unaware of the path she was going to take. But whereas Makoto was able to be pulled back, Yasuko/Lily was not so lucky.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: The doctor helping with her rehabilitation at the end of the game starts to fall in love with her, with Majima pushing him to confess his feelings. By Kiwami 2, the two of them are Happily Married and have a child.
- Gender-Blender Name: Majima mistakes Lee for her. This is because Makoto is a common, unisex name in Japan.
- The Greatest Story Never Told: By the end of the game, she never gets a chance to thank the mysterious stranger who protected her. When she finally regains her sight and meets Majima, she just sees him as a silent gangster with a sad look in his eye. She does get some closure when they meet 18 years later in Kiwami 2, and Majima covertly slips her a gift to remind her of that time to let her know who he is.
- Half-Breed Discrimination: Faced a lot of discrimination in China for her half-Japanese heritage. And her grandfather wasn't much kinder due to their lack of a common language.
- Happily Married: She's married with a child by the time Kiwami 2 rolls around, and is clearly happy with her new life. But she also tells her special customer that she keeps some secrets from her husband, but understandably so.
- Heroic BSoD: Poor girl suffers from one following the death of her brother. Kiryu and Nishiki lose track of her as she suddenly vanishes, and when Majima finds her, she's ready to go off the deep end out of revenge.
- Internal Reveal: Every Yakuza 0 player knows that Makoto's "Mysterious Protector" is Majima. But when Majima accidentally meets her again in Kiwami 2, not knowing who he is, she tells him that she lost the original red straps of her watch. As she is leaving Japan to live abroad, she opens a present that was left to her earlier only to find a pair of red straps, like the originals. Only then she finally understands the eyepatched yakuza was her "Mysterious Protector".
- In Love with the Mark: Majima was originally assigned to assassinate her, but ends up falling for her.
- It's Personal: To Dojima and his three lieutenants. It doesn't get more personal than killing your brother under torture.
- I Will Wait for You: Why does she work at the same massage parlor 18 years later? Despite finding happiness with a husband and child, she regretted not being able to properly thank her mysterious protector from 1988, and hoped that by working at the same place they first met, he would one day return and she would make things right.
- Like a Daughter to Me: Her relationship with Lee. He decided to take her under his wing because her blindness reminded of his own sick daughter, who died very young. He's also willing to go to very extreme lengths to keep her safe, like kill a girl and use her as a body double to throw off Yakuza.
- Made a Slave: Was sold as a slave to the Korean mafia, the trauma of which caused her psychogenic blindness.
- Morality Chain: For Majima and Lee. When she gets shot by Lao Gui, Majima goes on a rampage and crushes the Dojima Family's goons. He only refrains from killing Lao Gui and Dojima because Sera told him that their blood will indirectly be in her hands if he does so.
- Nice Girl: Makoto is peaceful, gentle and hospitable. She'll make doubly sure that her customers walk away satisfied.
- Despite all the terrible things that happen to her personally, she often shows more concern for the people around her. She feels bad for Majima losing an eye because her own blindness is merely psychosomatic and could still return one day which it does. She also Apologises a Lot due to the constant risks and threats her protectors face.
- Older Than They Look: She's 38 in Kiwami 2, but looks no different than she did back in the 80s.
- Plot Coupon: She possesses the rights to the Empty Lot. She doesn't realize it until much later and wants nothing to do with it.
- Protectorate: Practically everyone who isn't on Dojima's payroll are determined to protect her from him; Lee, Majima, Sera, Kiryu, Nishikiyama, etc.
- Revenge Before Reason: After her brother's death, she directly goes to negotiate the Empty lot with Sohei Dojima, in exchange for the heads of his three lieutenants. It goes as well as you would expect.
- Sins of Our Fathers: The Dojima family wants her dead in 0 all because after her grandfather died, the Empty Lot that he owned got willed to her.
- Sword Cane: Sera gives her a white cane with a concealed dagger for protection before leaving her in Kiryu's care. She uses it to stab Oda in the leg when he has her at gunpoint.
- Tragic Keepsake: She has a broken watch from her brother that was meant to play a song. In The Stinger, she finds it buried in the Empty Lot, having been repaired by Majima. She still has it in Kiwami 2, but had to replace the original bands which she was fond of. Majima gifts her bands resembling her old ones by the end of his campaign, which leads her to realize he was her protector throughout 0's events.
- Throwing Off the Disability: Downplayed. Makoto begins to regain her sight after Tachibana's death, but it's very gradual. In The Stinger, her sight has improved, but she's still recovering. She's fully regained her sight by Kiwami 2.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Takoyaki. She asks Majima to get her some in Sotenbori, and they visit a Takoyaki stand together in Kamurocho.
- Unwanted Assistance: She rejects Majima's help when she decides to take revenge against Dojima for her brother's death, and tries to take matters into her own hands. It...goes as well as you might expect.
- Walking Spoiler: As much of Yakuza 0 heavily revolves around her involvement in the Tojo Clan business both Kiryu and Majima are wrapped up in, she's incredibly difficult to talk about without bringing up the game's biggest reveals. This also extends to her appearance in Kiwami 2, as her fate post-Yakuza 0 isn't brought up until after the main story wraps up and the player unlocks the last chapter in Majima's substory.
Wen Hai Lee
Voiced by: Kazunari Tanaka
- "Have a taste of the power of the God Hand!"
Owner of Hogushi Kaikan, a medical office specialized in massages. A masseur and acupuncturist touted as having "God Hands" with impressive muscles to boot.
Of Chinese descent, he used to be a hitman for the mainland mafia. He met Makoto during a raid against a rival organization six months before the events of the game and decided to hire her to look after her. When Makoto becomes a yakuza target, he tries to secretly move her out of town and assumes Makoto's name to keep her safe. That causes him to be targeted by multiple parties going after her. After losing a couple fights with Majima, Lee eventually forms a partnership with Majima out of a mutual desire to keep Makoto safe, but this relationship is incredibly short lived as Lee falls victim to a bomb in his car planted by Sagawa almost right after it is formed.
- A Father to His Men: Lee seemed to have genuinely cared about the community of Chinese people he has lived with and was saddened to see one of them (a doctor) having sold him out - said doctor reveals that Lee himself told him how life for Chinese people was hard in Japan, showing Lee had concern for him. After the doctor was severely injured at the hands of the hitmen to whom he sold out Lee, Lee was adamant about ensuring he got proper medical treatment, unwilling to let him die.
- Bald Head of Toughness: He was formerly a Pro Assassin, which helps his masseur and acupuncturist job considering that he knows pressure points, which helps him overcome his Mighty Glacier fighting tactics by being a Strong and Skilled Genius Bruiser. He's also huge enough to be humorously titled by the game as MASSIVE MAN and has a shaved head.
- Baritone of Strength: His huge, muscular build is well-complemented by a coarse, gruff voice.
- The Big Guy: A notably tall and very muscular man. The game's interface simply refers to him as "Massive Man" when you first fight him. That said, he's a lot smarter and more skillful than he looks since he's a masseur and acupuncturist.
- Butt-Monkey: Lee has it pretty bad in the game. Right after he first appears (his first boss fight with Majima), he gets shot multiple times by Kijin Clan thugs (acting on Shibusawa's behalf). He's able to recover well enough that he can put up another fight with Majima, only to get beaten by him another time. He's then killed not long after by a car bomb, without so much as being able to give a proper farewell to Makoto. His one saving grace is that Makoto, the girl he cared for so much, survives, but even this is mitigated by the fact that she must deal with the devastating loss of her brother, Tachibana (as detailed in Kiryu's story).
- Counter-Attack: He may strike a distinctive defensive stance. Attacking him will have him grab you, pull out some acupuncture needles to thrust into your chest before tripping you off your feet. Also, he may roll back to his feet when getting knocked down and rush at you with a haymaker. It's identical to a move Kuze has.
- Degraded Boss: Generic enemies sharing his fighting style appear as random enemies but in 6 rather than the game Lee actually appears in. Specifically, they tend to be members of the Saio Triad and they lack Lee's unique throwing needle attacks.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Lee gets unceremoniously offed by a bomb planted by Sagawa in his van at the end of the game's first act.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While he's not above resorting to murder in order to fake Makoto's death, he went out of his way to target a doppelganger who deserved it instead of any innocent civilian.
- Gender-Blender Name: Downplayed. While "Makoto" can be used as a male name (for example, Makoto Date), Lee takes his pseudonym from a young woman.
- Genius Bruiser: His muscles are backed up by his profound knowledge of human anatomy. Putting those together will result in plenty of pain for those on the receiving end.
- Hitman with a Heart: After his last job, he's taken Makoto in after saving her from Korean mafia.
- I Am Spartacus: He pretends to be Makoto in order to protect her.
- In-Series Nickname: Known as the "God Hand" due to his remarkable skills as a chiropractor, skills that are actually deadly to his enemies.
- Interface Spoiler: When you're first introduced to the man, you believe that he's Makoto Makimura, the one Majima's been assigned to assassinate. However, the boss introduction text simply calls him the "Massive Man" and even his health bar is labelled as such. Sure enough, he's quickly revealed to not be Makoto.
- Improvised Weapon: While he mostly fights with his fists, he can use his acupuncture needles as weapons and will pull them out to impale Majima or throw them at him. Apparently, he even carries them around on the go since he's still using them for attacks during your second fight against him outside of the Massage Clinic.
- Knight Templar Parent: He cares for Makoto as if she is his own daughter, and he's willing to kill and mutilate a girl that looks like her and lie that the corpse is Makoto so that the yakuza won't be looking for her. When he reveals his plan to Majima, he has Makoto knocked out with a drugged drink so she doesn't hear it.
- Made of Iron: A few shots point blank doesn't kill him. He's rather adamant that he doesn't have time to feel the pain. He even manages to put up a solid fight the second time Majima fights him even though he definitely hasn't fully recovered yet. That said, this trait doesn't quite save him from a car bomb.
- Mighty Glacier: A lot of his attacks are on the slow side, but they still hurt like hell. The way he occasionally incorporates unblockable needle attacks into his fighting style further adds onto the pain.
- Neck Snap: If you don't break out of his Grapple Move, he'll pull this. Also the result of failing the 2nd Quick Time Event input during Majima's 2nd fight with him. That one's particularly painful looking based on how much blood Majima coughs up.
- Papa Wolf: Threaten Makoto, and you're in for a world of hurt!
- Pressure Point: As a chiropractor and acupuncturist, he has great knowledge of the human body and its pressure points. Failing any Quick Time Event during his boss fights will have poor Majima suffer the consequences of this.
- Punch Catch: The Quick Time Event during both of his boss fights begin with Majima throwing a punch at him only for Lee to effortlessly catch it with his left hand and slowly move Majima's fist down whilst smiling wryly. He then painfully twists Majima's arm and tries to drive his right thumb into a sensitive pressure point behind Majima's forearm and below the elbow.
- Recurring Boss: He's fought twice in the game. He's first fought in the Hogushi Kaikan Massage Parlor before he's properly introduced ("Massive Man"), and is then fought for a second and final time in the Odyssey's warehouse.
- Red Baron: He's known as the "God Hand".
- Retired Monster: He used to be a notorious hitman for the Triad, but quit six months before the story begins.
- Reused Character Design: He looks a lot like Majima's sworn brother Saejima (post Yakuza 4 anyways). His grey Alpha Industries parka particularly resembles the pale olive colored one Saejima wears in 5 though Saejima's was longer. Interesingly enough, Saejima would start wearing a shorter version of the parka from 6 onwards furthering the resemblance a bit.
- Sacrificial Lion: The game presents Lee as a powerful potential ally for Majima, but he dies without warning just before the story shifts towards the second act.
- Satellite Character: The majority of his on-screen characterization and motivations revolves around how dedicated he is to taking care of Makoto. Downplayed since he's still a skilled ex-hitman turned acupuncturist who cares about both the Chinese Community in Sotenbori as well as lost girls in desperate need of guidance and protection.
- Strong and Skilled: He's clearly a Massive Man, but his obvious knowledge in martial arts, using throwing needles, and pressure points make it clear that his past as a hitman has provided him with all sorts of deadly skills.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: A mild case, while he isn't a complete copy nor replacement of Saejima, he bears an awfully striking resemblance (at least to Saejima's Yakuza 5 look) to Majima's oath brother. Even wearing a similar olive pale, grey-ish lined with brown fur.
- Tattooed Crook: He's a former hitman for the Chinese mainland mafia and he's packing a lot of ink. While he never gets to properly reveal his back tattoo in full, as his bandage obscured it partially while recovering, it is meant to be Guan Yu, a general of the Three Kingdoms period who was later deified as the God of War after his death.
- Warmup Boss: Majima's first real boss fight but unlike Kuze, he's only got one bar of health and you don't have to go through a gauntlet of mooks to face off with him. It's not too difficult to deal damage and avoid attacks and the room he's in provides furniture to use for easy heat moves to bring his health down quickly. He's a lot more threatening the 2nd time Majima fights him though.
- Worf Had the Flu: He's obviously a very large, strong man and his skill in battle and knowledge of pressure points makes him even more of a threat. However, while Majima's first fight with him gets interrupted with the implication of the two being evenly matched beforehand, the second fight has him decisively lose the fight with his new gunshot wounds likely weakening him enough to be unable to keep up with Majima.
Yamagata
Voiced by: Kazuya Nakai
Manager of the Odyssey, The Grand's rival cabaret. His establishment fell on hard times, so he works with Majima to stay afloat.
- Advertised Extra: He appears on the game's website as part of the main cast on Majima's side, but only appears in a couple of cutscenes and has little impact on the overall plot. He grudgingly provides Majima with a safe hideout, then later informs him about Cabaret Clubs. Afterwards, he completely disappears from the story.
- Continuity Cameo: He makes a brief appearance in Kiwami 2 as part of Majima's campaign. He appears when Majima is looking for the Odyssey, which has closed and finds Four Shine nearby. Yamagata complains about its service before bumping into Majima, thinking he was dead and helps him with his search for Kawamura. With their rivalries behind them, he no longer sees Majima as an enemy but a friend.
- Enemy Mine: He accepts working with Majima because without each other their businesses will crumble.
- Friendly Rival: Both he and Majima are determined to outdo each other, but they conduct their business amicably and seek to help each other out for their mutual benefit.
- Older Than They Look: Kiwami 2 shows that he hasn't aged much in 18 years.
- The Rival: Majima's business rival, anyway. The Odyssey's popularity is only rivaled by The Grand.
Billiken
Voiced by: Ryohei Nakao
A cop in the Osaka Police Department. Said to be Nishitani's liason with the force, this unassuming old man holds several dark secrets.
- Blood Sport: He runs the Bed of Styx, an underground arena where criminals who successfully evaded the law are forced to fight for their freedom.
- Dirty Cop: He's not above taking bribes and turning a blind eye to some of the dirty business happening in Sotenbori.
- Friend on the Force: To Nishitani, keeping an eye on him since he was a kid.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He takes a bullet from Shibusawa's assassins trying to save Majima and Nishitani.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His daughter was murdered by an underaged criminal who got off easy. Nishitani later stabbed the guy to death, earning Billiken's eternal gratitude.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He's a cop using an alias who helps out the protagonist but only after introducing them to a shady underground coliseum he runs and having them win a few matches for him. Which is to say, he's essentially 0's equivalent to the Florist of Sai from the rest of the series.
- Undying Loyalty: To Nishitani for avenging his daughter's death.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: He's introduced part of the way through Chapter 11, and is killed at the end of the chapter.
Trainers
Fei Hu and Long Hua
Fei Hu and his wife Long Hua
A Taiwanese arms dealer and acquaintance of Komeki, Fei Hu teaches Majima the Slugger style and how to use other weapons. He runs "The Dragon & Tiger" restaurant along with his wife Long Hua, who can send out agents to search for equipment for her husband to craft weapons with.
- Aborted Arc: Komeki suggests that Majima look after Fei Hu and Long Hua, implying that they may run into some terrible danger in which Majima could intervene to help them. He doesn't share any details though and merely asks that Majima keeps visiting them and taking part in their services. Ultimately, asking Majima to use their services is all that conversation amounts to. Neither engaging in equipment searches nor completing all of Fei Hu's weapon training will lead to any sort of trouble happening to them as Komeki had implied.
- Ancient Conspiracy: He and his wife belong to a group of weapons masters who scour the world looking for exotic weaponry.
- The Blacksmith: He can craft weapons for Majima and his wife can send out operatives across the world to find various exotic weapons and resources.
- Call-Forward: After completing his training and then talking to him later, Fei Hu may mention his twin disciples who also work as agents for his weapons dealership. Said twins are the Weapons Fanatic and the Weapons Master, one of whom is most definitely Renji Kamiyama of Yakuza 2, a weapons dealer Kiryu meets in Kamurocho.
- Chef of Iron: He owns and operates a Chinese restaurant as a front for his arms dealing business.
- Defeat Means Friendship: He's initially distrustful of Majima, believing him to have "an air of danger about him" but comes around after being defeated in combat. He recognizes Majima's abilities and sheer potential and is eager to provide him with more weapons and equipment.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Fei Hu has a large rather jagged scar over his right eye that's pretty indimidating but aside from his fascination with weapons and skills with them, he's a fairly reasonable guy.
- Katanas Are Just Better: He's from Taiwan, but he moved to Japan due to his admiration for the katana and his desire to smith them perfectly.
- Leitmotif: "Tiger Flute" plays when training with Fei Hu, while "We're Long Hua Expedition" plays when arranging Equipment Searches with Long Hua.
- The Man Makes the Weapon: He is introduced beating up a scimitar-wielding yakuza with a simple piece of lumber.
- Multi-Melee Master: All of his tutored skills are weapon styles, weapon styles he displays mastery of each time you train with him.
- Carry a Big Stick: His usage of a simple piece of lumber on a rowdy customer is what inspires Majima's Slugger Style. Oddly enough, When Majima fights him to demonstrate his new ideas on fighting with a baseball bat, Fei Hu's using a much simpler fighting style with his stick though he's clearly holding back much like Komeki was earlier. Still, it's notable that Majima never gets a chance to fight against him going all out with his one-handed stick-based fighting style.
- Martial Arts Staff: Uses a long piece of lumber to teach Majima how to use pole weapons
- Dual Wielding: Uses wooden Kali Sticks to teach Majima how to dual-wield certain weapons.
- Tonfas: Wields a single wooden Tonfa to teach Majima how to use them.
- Nunchaku: Uses wooden nunchaku to to teach Majima how to use them.
- Katanas Are Just Better: For his final lesson, he uses a wooden katana to teach Majima swordfighting.
- Tiger Versus Dragon: Subverted: the "Hu" in Fei Hu's name can be translated into "tiger", while the "Long" in Long Hua's name can be translated into "dragon", but the two are Happily Married. The name of their restaurant, "The Dragon & Tiger", also invokes this.
- Token Minority: Fei Hu's Taiwanese and Long Hua's Chinese unlike Majima's other trainers being Japanese natives.
- You No Take Candle: Long Hua is not as fluent in Japanese as her husband, and as a result her dialogue has hints of this.
Areshi
Areshi (middle) and his brothers
"HEY YO!"
The last of Majima's trainers, he is a break dancer that teaches Majima the Breaker style and the techniques for it with the assistance of his siblings.- Aborted Arc: Doing enough Breaker Battles will reveal that Areshi's been saving up money so he and his brothers can go abroad and be recruited by an agency because of their dancing talents. Then a group of con artists masquerading as a talent agency run into them but they're only interested in Majima. Once they reveal they're not a talent agency, Majima promptly beats them up. Dialogue from after the fight implies that doing more Breaker Battles will make it actually happen eventually, but nothing else happens from that point on.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: They all wear differently colored tracksuits to help distinguish between them.
- Dance Battler: He's a breakdancer who decides to incorporate fighting techniques into his style.
- Freudian Slip: After getting most of the share of the money Majima earned successfully in a Breaker Battle, Areshi will sometimes say how he's gonna spend his money on things like "boomboxes" before correcting himself that he meant to say something related to medical bills.
- Gonk: He is both short and somewhat monkey-like in appearance.
- Leitmotif: "Breakin' Showcase" plays during the Breaker Battles.
- Made of Iron: Areshi and his brothers can take all the punishment in the world and still keep going, a remarkable fact recognized by Majima.
- Mirror Boss: Naturally, Areshi himself fights like a fully upgraded Breaker Majima. His brothers inherit this moveset for Proving Grounds 6, combining this with Wolfpack Boss.
- Same-Sex Triplets: Areshi looks exactly like his two brothers, who are both simply taller versions of him.
Substory Characters
Doll Girl
A young girl Majima befriends who he can win toys for from the arcade crane game.
- Disappeared Dad: Her father died a while back, leaving her mother to constantly work to support the two of them, meaning the girl doesn't get to have a lot of time with family.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She always stands around the arcade peering at the crane game prizes, and Majima can befriend her by winning said prizes for her. She states how she always feels left out around girls her age whose families can afford to get them cute stuffed toys, so she wants her own to be able to share around.
- No Name Given: She never gives her name or is given an actual one by any of the other characters.
Etsuko
- Abhorrent Admirer: She falls head-over-heels for Majima after he saves her from being attacked, something he's not at all enthused by.
- Dirty Old Woman: She openly flaunts her sexuality to get a rise out of Majima, and then tries to advance on him at the end of the quest. She does the same thing to Kiryu in Gaiden, and ends up blowing his cover.
- The Gadfly: At least some of her behavior towards Majima is intentionally teasing in order to annoy him.
- Lethal Joke Character: It seems absolutely absurd hiring an old woman with such tacky fashion sense for the cabaret club, but she's considered gold-ranked and has one of the highest Talk stats in both 0 and Kiwami 2. You're bound to be surprised by how good she is at raking in the dough. She even brags to Kiryu in Kiwami 2 that she used to be Club Sunshine's "secret weapon"
- Spanner in the Works: To poor Kiryu in Gaiden. She keeps showing up on his mission to tail some yakuza and holds him up with her incessant yelling each time. In the end, Kiryu completely blows the mission because of her (but the reward is still paid out for it).
- Red Baron: Played for Laughs. She's known as the "Obatarian", which is a sterotype of an old, selfish woman with little social awareness and who presents in a particular manner (short, having a perm, unfashionable clothing tastes, etc.).
- Rescue Romance: Played for Laughs. Majima saves her after she pisses off a thug with a knife, uniwttingly earning her affections as a result. Years later, History Repeats with Kiryu in Kiwami 2.
- Vague Age: She already looked quite elderly in 0 but hasn't changed much by Kiwami 2. It gets even sillier when she reappears in both Gaiden and Infinite Wealth, and still looks no different from how she did 35 years ago. It raises the question of how old she really is or how she's even still alive.
Naoya Kawahashi
- As Himself: Named and modeled after his voice actor.
- Bad Liar: Claims he has 25,000 men at his beck and call, the same number as the Tojo Clan, which Majima is quick to point out.
- Boots of Toughness: Wears combat boots and like with most "Mr. Shakedowns" those stomps will hurt.
- Determinator: Absolutely adamant about not relying on anyone, at all, to the point of turning down Majima's offers for free service at the Grand and sustaining himself strictly through shaking people down. It's his motive for getting strong enough to defeat Majima, as well.
- Dual Boss: Fights alongside fellow Sotenbori Mr. Shakedown Oe in the Sixth Millionaire Battle against Majima.
- Friendly Enemy: Relative to the others, anyway. He's a lot more jovial and easy going in his interactions with Majima over time, but he still attempts to mug him whenever they cross paths.
- The Hedonist: He seems to spend the money he steals on petty pursuits like cabaret clubs and pachinko, though it's later revealed that he needs it for food and rent, as well.
- Red Is Violent: Kawashi sports a red tanktop and he's just as violently strong as the rest of the "Mr. Shakedowns" although somewhat downplayed as he's a bit friendlier.
- Self-Made Man: The reason he shakes down Sotenbori. After his father kicked him out of the house and told him not to rely on anyone any more, he took the statement to heart (although misunderstood it) and decided to support himself by (much to people's dismay) taking other people's money. Were he to work for someone, he'd be relying on them for income, in his mind.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: Mixed in with Red Is Violent, he wears a large red tanktop, which shows off his muscles easily.
Kenji Oe
- As Himself: Named and modeled after his voice actor.
- Baldness Angst: His entire motivation for robbing other people is to get over his by gathering enough money to purchase a ludicrously expensive hair growth formula.
- Bald Head of Toughness: One of the strongest Mr. Shakedowns because of his super strength and durability as a Mighty Glacier. His baldness is actually his motivator for attacking Majima: he's jealous of his long hair.
- Bald of Evil: One of the most antagonistic Shakedowns.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Claims he'll shave Majima bald the next time he beats him in one instance, although obviously he doesn't do it even if he does.
- Dual Boss: Fights alongside fellow Sotenbori Mr. Shakedown Kawahashi in the Sixth Millionaire Battle against Majima.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's so sensitive about his baldness that even just using words like "scalping" or "receding" is enough to set him off.
- Sleeves Are for Wimps: As befitting a "Mr. Shakedown" he wears a green tank top and is one of the more tougher members of the "Mr. Shakedown" pantheon.
Munan Suzuki
Voiced by: Issei Takubo (6, Infinite Wealth), Junichi Goto (ONLINE)
The founder of the Order of Munan Chohept Onast, a Scam Religion exploiting the emotionally vulnerable for cash. Majima is recruited by an old woman whose daughter has recently joined the cult to infiltrate the Order and deal with their leader.- The Atoner: After getting his ass kicked by Majima and going to prison, he's turned over a new leaf. In 6, he has Kiryu help him deal with one of his old associates attempting to resurrect the cult. In Infinite Wealth he's started an online channel dedicated to showing cult tactics and how to properly deal with them, with him stating that it was Kiryu himself who inspired him to do what he can to make amends for his past.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Despite the bizarre and quirky nature of his cult as well as the many Inherently Funny Words they use, he's still exploiting the emotionally vulnerable for money and even uses it to have sex with his female followers, on top of him being a surprisingly dangerous fighter.
- Cool Old Guy: Absolutely not at first, being a creepy old con artist who had relations with women far younger than him. But after he fell in love once he served his jail sentence, he came to oppose the very cult he once led, infiltrating it in 6 in the name of not letting it deceive anyone else. He's even shown to run an online channel dedicated to dealing with cults as of Infinite Wealth.
- Distinguishing Mark: He has a prominent mole on his face.
- Dirty Old Man: Among the things he did as a cult leader was having "private sessions" with young women. He gave this up after turning against the cult.
- Dramatic Irony: He once founded and lead the Order of Munan Chohept Onast, a cult as a means of exploiting people, but after turning Face, he not only fought against the very cult he once lead because of The Power of Love, as he fell in love with a woman who ended up becoming a victim of the cult he once ruled and wanted to save her, but he ends up rallying against cults entirely by spreading knowledge of their tactics and how to deal with them properly.
- Heel–Face Turn: After his stint in jail and falling in love with Mie, he reforms completely, infiltrating the cult with Kiryu's help in 6 to strike a blow against it, and in Infinite Wealth, he's using his knowledge as a former cult leader to run an educational channel on how to spot and deal with cult tactics.
- Love Redeems: After being released from prison, he considered restarting the cult only to fall in love with a woman named Mie. Her getting suckered by the cult is what spurred him to oppose it.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Based off of infamous cult leader Shoko Asahara
. Fortunately, unlike Shoko, he does eventually find redemption and doesn't try to gas a station.
Cabaret Club Czar
Club Sunshine
A local cabaret club on the verge of closing down for good thanks to the Five Stars cabaret alliance cornering the market. Majima decides to partner with the club manager Youda to bring down the Five Stars and restore the district's club scene. General
- As Herself: Barring Yuki, all of the platinum hostesses play fictionalized versions of themselves.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Many of the hostesses you can recruit through substories have stats that are reflective on their personality.
- Yuki is socially awkward and was only hired as a hostess because Youda felt sorry for her. She starts off with fairly low stats but as she levels up, her stats grow phenomenally, reflecting her character development.
- Ai was bullied a lot as a child and had to deal with infighting and cliquish behavior from the other girls at Club Mars, but fought through it by remaining cheerful and caring regardless. Party and Love are her highest stats.
- Chika speaks both traditional Japanese and Kansai dialect fluently. Talk (representing conversational ability) and Skill (representing intelligence) are her biggest strengths.
- Hibiki is an ill girl who is also raising her little brother alone. She has the lowest HP of the platinum hostesses and is the most likely to call in absent for a shift.
- Saki is an amateur athlete who received the in-universe nickname of "Busy Bee Saki" for her work ethic. She has the highest HP on the roster and is very unlikely to be absent.
- Mana is the #1 hostess in all of Sotenbori and the headliner of its top club. She has high stats all around and no significant weaknesses.
- "Dolly" is a mother to a little girl who's had to work to provide for them both after her husband died. Appropriately for the broad skillset such circumstances would demand, she has above-average stats in everything except Party.
- Etsuko is an unfashionable and abrasive old woman who's very good at manipulating social situations to her benefit. She has low stats all around except for an extremely high Talk skill, capable of keeping even the pickiest customers entertained.
- Ms. Isobe is the charismatic disco queen of Sotenbori's local Maharaja club, and she's got the sky-high Party stat to match it.
- Ms. Fanservice: The platinum hostesses are all fictionalized versions of gravure models that can be dressed up in any which way the player desires, so this is to be expected. You even unlock videos of their real-life actresses upon completing their substories.
- Running Gag:
- Yuki asking Majima to buy her vinegar, only for vinegar to be sold out or he just forgot to buy any.
- Majima (and occasionally Youda) doing the Scooby Stack and looking ridiculous doing so. Yuki lampshades this when Majima tries to hide behind a pole when observing Club Jupiter while she and Ai are standing in clear view.
- Virtual Paper Doll: The makeover section allows you to dress up your platinum hostesses. Doing so also shifts their "looks" stats so that they can cater to different customer tastes.
Youda
Voiced By: Takeshi Maeda
The owner of Club Sunshine, a cabaret club that is floundering against the competition of the Five Stars.- The Apprentice: Formerly this to Mizumura. The two of them fell out once the latter joined the Five Stars.
- Benevolent Boss: Easily the most amicable, kindhearted club owner around the area. He treats every hostess under his employ like they're his own daughters and, like Majima, always looks out for their well-being. He hasn't lost any part of this in the Cabaret Club Grand Prix storyline, despite all initial appearances.
- The Lancer: To Majima during the events of the Cabaret Club Czar questline in 0.
- The Mole: Eventually revealed to be this toward the end of the Cabaret Club Grand Prix in Kiwami 2. While it initially appears that he's fully against Yuki and Kiryu, he only joined up with Kanzaki just to wait for the right moment to turn against him.
- Older Than They Look: Much like Majima and Yuki, he appears in Kiwami 2 as part of New Nightlife Island and he hasn't aged much at all in the nearly two decades that have passed.
Yuki
Voiced by: Manami Sugihira (Japanese), Erica Lindbeck (English)
Yuki as she appears in Yakuza 0.
Yuki as she appears in Kiwami 2.
Click here to see Yuki as a hostess in Kiwami 2.
The Number One girl at Club Sunshine back in 1988. A plain and unassuming girl with untapped potential as a hostess.
Yuki makes a return appearance in Kiwami 2 as the owner of Club Sunshine's successor, "Four Shine", whose business is being threatened by a company called the Kanzaki Group. To save the club, Yuki participates in a contest called the "Cabaret Club Grand Prix" for the number one cabaret club in Japan, which could also cost Yuki her reputation and the club. Touched by Yuki's drive and conviction, Kiryu decides to help her out.
- Brutal Honesty: She has trouble telling lies, but boy she doesn't know when to hold back the reins.
- Butt-Monkey: Tends to be picked on by Majima and Youda, in addition to having a somewhat unlucky streak.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: She gets slightly angry when Majima ogles Hibiki.
- Damsel in Distress: When Majima targets the Venus area, Kanehara has her kidnapped during the Cabaret Club battle. Played for Laughs because, unlike most instances of this trope, Majima and the others end up forgetting about her in their excitement upon having Chika join their team. The poor girl eventually manages to free herself and returns to work on her own.
- The Ditz: Bit of an airhead, she wanted to be a hostess because she has trouble speaking to males and has no idea on how to hold a conversation.
- I Am Not Pretty: By Kiwami 2 she's convinced she's no longer attractive, and initially feels awkward and self-conscious when becoming a hostess again. Take a look at hostess photo on the side; she even leaves Kiryu floored.
- Innocently Insensitive: Occasionally and unconsciously snarks at Majima.
- Lethal Chef: In Shoko's substory in Kiwami 2, she's shown to have baked a cake for a regular's birthday. Only problem? She used salt instead of sugar. The resulting cake is said to taste like hatred, as poor Aika learns firsthand.
- Somewhat averted in Infinite Wealth; she's the owner of her own sushi restaurant. She wanted to run her own place with the best dish she could make...although her business ended up struggling due to the fact that it's in the middle of the Bar District in Ijincho.
- Letting Her Hair Down: Her transition from club owner to hostess in Kiwami 2 speaks for itself. Just look her photos!
- Living Legend: By Kiwami 2 she's instantly recognizable as a legendary hostess among people in the industry. Even Kiryu can't help but admit it when she comes out of retirement. In Infinite Wealth, Saeko is starstruck upon meeting her and Koyuki, having read a book written by Yuki on Host Club Management and is shocked that Kiryu was once the manager of Four Shine.
- Magikarp Power: She starts off with high HP but low stats. But by the time she's maxed level, all her stats are above 70, with her Talk stat being capped at 100.
- Master of All: By the time she she's at the maximum level in 0 her stats are all above 70, giving her some of the strongest stats in the game. When she returns as a Diamond Hostess in Kiwami 2 her stats are already very high and only get higher as she levels up.
- Mistaken Identity: How she meets Kiryu in 2006. She mistakes him for a new hire, Kiritani, who had just been offered double the salary of what Four Shine offered. Despite Koyuki telling her that Kiryu looks nothing like Kiritani (who sports a mustache), Yuki insists otherwise until she gets a closer look. Whoops.
- No Social Skills: She went to all girl schools and had no interaction with boys, and couldn't land a job even in the booming economy because she kept blowing the interviews. She's introverted and not very good at interacting with others.
- Odd Name Out: The only one of the platinum hostesses to not be named after her voice actress and said voice actress is the only one who isn't an AV actress.
- Older Than They Look: When Kiryu meets her in Kiwami 2, Yuki is 39 years old. If you couldn't tell by the pictures on the right, the girl doesn't look like she's aged at all in nearly 20 years. And she's older than he is by a year! Taken to even more ridiculous heights if she's recruited via DLC in Like A Dragon for Ichiban holdings, which would make her 53 and yet again in Infinite Wealth where she's still able to be a Hostess at the age of 57.
- Old Maid: By Kiwami 2, she's reaching 40 and has yet to find a boyfriend. She's evidently still single by her late-50s.
- Old Master: 39 is ancient for a cabaret club hostess, and Yuki's looks might have faded a little with age, but what she lacks in youth, she more than makes up for in grace, poise, charm and skill. In spite of being nearly twice the age of her employees, she can run circles around them when she works the floor. By the time of Infinite Wealth, she's still able to perform as a hostess despite pushing 60.
- Pink Is Feminine: In Kiwami 2, she wears a pink business shirt and pink glasses.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: In Kiwami 2, she calls out Majima for continuing his sarcasm with a biting critique when he shows up as a host for the Cabaret Grand Prix finals:Yuki: Shut up, Majima-san! Your daily look is downright looney now! And what did you do to your hair!? If "walking crisis" is the fashion statement you're going for, then congrats!
- Running Gag: Throughout the Cabaret Club Czar story, Yuki tasks Majima with getting her vinegar, but it's sold out throughout town. But whenever he does find some, he simply forgets about it.
- She's All Grown Up: In Kiwami 2 once she becomes a Diamond Hostess, her beauty truly shines. So much so Kiryu is left stunned. Majima on the other hand doesn't think so.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Once she becomes a Diamond Hostess, she shows why she's a former legendary hostess.
- Shrinking Violet: She's painfully shy and thinks lowly of herself when Majima first becomes manager at Club Sunshine, but eventually becomes more confident as she trains with him.
- Snark-to-Snark Combat: Strangely for a Shrinking Violet, she's surprisingly pretty snarky when interacting with her boss Majima. She's even more snarky in Kiwami 2 when Majima returns, catching him off guard.
- Starter Mon: She's the first Platinum Hostess you have at the beginning of the Cabaret Club Czar subplot.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: She's the first Platinum Hostess the player can use, but the poor girl goes through so much. In Kiwami 2, when Yuki finally decides to participate in the Cabaret Club GP as a hostess, she's given the exclusive rank of a Diamond Hostess, outranking the Platinums.
- The Dog Bites Back: A much lighter example than most but but when Majima continues to throw mild insults at Yuki in Kiwami 2 like he did back in 0, she snaps back by insulting Majima's whole... situation, even calling him a "walking crisis".
- True Blue Femininity: In Kiwami 2, she wears a light blue dress under her business shirt. When she's later convinced to be a hostess again, she sports a different but stunning blue dress.
- Vitriolic Best Friends: Tends to show her snark when around Majima, which he reciprocates even after they've not seen each other for decades. It's very affectionate all the same, as she credits Majima as being one of the first men she can have a straight conversation with given her upbringing, and someone who helped maximize her potential as a hostess.
Ai
Voiced by: Ai Uehara
- All Love Is Unrequited: A comment she drops during her substory heavy implies that she has a crush on Majima. But Majima fails to notice and Ai quickly covers it up with a Verbal Backspace.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: An indirect version. Ai is won over almost immediately by the camaraderie of Sunshine Cabaret and Majima's Benevolent Boss attitude, in stark contrast to what a hateful asshole Hino is. Small wonder that she jumps ship to work for Majima at the first opportunity.
- Friendless Background: She was bullied a lot when she was younger and had a hard time making friends. Even being the number one hostess at Mars only made the other girls there determined to bring her down, all of which has made her incredibly lonely. Majima helps her realize that she's surrounded by people at Sunshine who consider her a friend, who she can consider her friends as well.
- Ms. Exposition: After joining Sunshine, her primary role in the story is to give information about platinum hostesses of rival clubs to Majima and Yuki.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Ai Uehara, whose video is unlocked upon completion of her substory.
- Nice Girl: Ai genuinely cares about her customers and hates badmouthing. Despite her background, she always maintains a cheerful and optimistic mood.
- Stepford Smiler: She's almost always cheerful and cordial, but admits during her training session that it's mostly an act, and that she can get depressed sometimes and had grown weary of the cattiness and bullying her former colleagues engaged in.
- Verbal Tic: Her laugh. "Eheheh!"
- Also, a long and drawn-out "Haaaaaaai."
Saki
Voiced by: Saki Hatsumi
- All Amazons Want Hercules: She is the most tomboyish of the hostesses and prefers manly man. It's probably why she likes Kizuka so much.
- Contralto of Strength: She has the deepest voice amongst the Platinum Hostesses and has the best stamina, able to work for an incredibly high number of consecutive days without getting tired and suffering stat penalties like most of the other hostesses. She's also in the best physical shape, engaging in a variety of sports, claiming to win multiple arm-wrestling matches with the waiters, and even personally handling drunken troublemakers back in Club Jupiter.
- Didn't Think This Through: In her substory, she tries to hold her own against a group of thugs much stronger than her, but Majima intervenes, earning her a scolding from him about putting her life in danger and how it would affect those closest to her if anything serious ever happened. He convinces Saki that she doesn't have to take everything into her own hands, and that it's okay to ask others for help.
- Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: She has great stamina because she practices a lot of sports. This also bothers her since it's not really lady-like for a hostess. She even tells Majima she was able handle some of the rougher customers at Club Jupiter herself.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Saki Hatsumi, whose video is unlocked upon completing her substory.
- Red Baron: Just about everyone refers to her as "Busy Bee Saki".
- Workaholic: She's known throughout the cabaret scene as "Busy Bee Saki", as she can work for several days straight without losing too much energy. When most of the other hostesses couldn't, she was more than willing to work their shifts in addition to hers for the sake of helping Kizuka. At the end of the Caberet Club Czar story, she realizes she just starts feeling tired after working for 20 days straight. Gameplay-wise, this means it's really, really hard to get her mood to drop (which causes stat penalties and eventually leads to the hostess calling in absent for a day.)
Hibiki
Voiced by: Hibiki Otsuki
- Delicate and Sickly: She was ill a lot as a child for unspecified reasons and this has left her with delicate constitution. Accordingly her HP stat is exceedingly low, and she will likely have to take a day off after just a single shift.
- Guilty Pleasures: She admits to Majima that she enjoys reading Shōjo manga, although she feels she might a bit too old for it.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Hibiki Otsuki. Her video is unlocked after completing her substory.
- Promotion to Parent: Her mother is also ill and hospitalized, requiring Hibiki to work in order to support her little brother Yuta as well. Although he doesn't listen to her, she also hesitates to tell him what her profession is fearing what he'll think of her. Yuta actually tries getting a job at the club to help her despite being a kid in elementary school.
Chika
Voiced by: Chika Arimura
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: She has a thing for self-centered men, which is why she fell in love with Kanehara.
- Zig-zagged with Majima who she falls for because of his kindness, but also likes that he's a little selfish.
- Brutal Honesty: She's a fan of these dialogue options. If Majima skirts around her relationship with Kanehara, she chastises him for treating her like a fragile object.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: Only barely touched on, but she mentions wishing Majima didn't have to talk to the other girls.
- Don't You Dare Pity Me!: If Majima tells her he hired her because of what happened with Kanehara, she'll be upset that it was because he felt pity for her.
- Extreme Doormat: She admits her relationship with Kanehara is due to her love for self-centered men — she likes feeling like she's the only one who could love him, and would be happy to change her entire personality, hobbies, cooking, etc just to service him.
- Good Old Ways: Despite being attracted to selfish men, she dreams of being a bride and having a family. She's also the most formal and well-mannered of the hostesses.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Chika Arimura. Completing her substory unlocks her video.
- No Sense of Direction: She tells Majima that one of her talents is getting lost, and has to have him escort her back to the club when they go out together. He can also bring up this "talent" to liven her spirits when she says she's also emotionally lost from her earlier breakup.
- On the Rebound: She takes her harsh breakup with Kanehara pretty badly, but quickly falls for Majima.
Mana
Voiced by: Mana Sakura
- The Ace: The best hostess in Sotenbori, both story-wise and stat-wise.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Despite her professionalism, she's the biggest oddball out of all the platinum hostesses. She's introduced sneaking up behind Majima and the others when they were checking out Club Moon. At the end of the storyline, she makes a snowman outside that looks like Majima. Chika points out it wasn't even snowing, and realizes Mana used the ice from the ice machine instead. During her training, when instructed to ask some questions of Majima as if he were a customer, the ones she comes up with are rather off-the-wall (such as asking his opinion on the current state of the Japanese economy) and take him by surprise. She also starts out completely incapable of understanding love to the point that she initially thinks her feelings for Majima are some medical condition that makes her chest hurt.
- Consummate Professional: As the number one hostess in Sotenbori, she's the most professional of all the hostesses but also the most playful. Majima points out that her playful ways have men eating out of her hands, and he nearly falls for it himself.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Despite her skills and status as Sotenbori's number one, she wants hostesses and cabaret clubs to be taken more seriously and accepted as a serious profession.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: A non-villainous variant. She tells Majima that she was a completely plain and unremarkable girl, until Tsukiyama recruited her and she tried improving herself little by little. Next thing she knew, she became Sotenbori's number one hostess.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Mana Sakura. Like the others, her video is unlocked after completing her substory.
- Married to the Job: While the rest of the girls have other dreams of their own, Mana wants to continue being a hostess even at old age, and jokes with Majima about starting a cabaret club filled with grandpas and grandmas.
- Master of All: She's an all-rounder with all of her stats really high and very rarely will the customer be unsatisfied having her at his table, which makes sense for the #1 hostess of the biggest cabaret club in Sotenbori.
- Older Than They Look: With her petite, roundish features and sunny, childlike personality, Mana could easily pass for being the youngest among the Cabaret Club girls, but she's actually older than Goro Majima himself!
- Ridiculously Average Gal: She said used to be this, back in her adolescence. While not ugly, her looks were rather unremarkable, and while her grades weren't terrible, they were on the lower end of the class-average.
- Slut-Shaming: Mana's on the receiving end of this during her substory, where she's harassed by "misogynist pricks" who repeatedly call her a whore solely due to her profession, even though she's never fallen for anyone with one exception. That one-eyed exception hears the whole thing and he's pissed.
- Smarter Than You Look: She may be a Cloudcuckoolander hostess, but Mana is the only other person besides Majima who realizes Japan's economic boon is temporary, and when it comes crashing down it's going to cause problems for everyone.
- What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: She wonders why her chest hurts whenever she is around Majima. She initially suspects it might be some kind of disease, but comes to understand her feelings at the conclusion of her substory, "Of Love and Ramen".
The Five Stars
A group of cabaret club owners who seek to control the entire entertainment scene of Sotenbori for themselves, having already driven several local clubs out of business. In General
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Also a Shout-Out, the Five Stars wear the same colors as their corresponding Scout from Sailor Moon.
- Theme Naming: The Five Stars are named after the Alternate Character Reading of their respective planets. Again, similar to Sailor Moon.
Hino
Voiced By: Hayato Horiuchi
The owner of Club Mars and one of the Five Stars. He is notorious for swindling money out of his customers and using that money to buy out the top girls from rival clubs.- Bad Boss: Ai claims that he doesn't treat his workers like people.
- Beef Gate: Challenged him immediately after reaching the required amount of fans? Didn't recruit a decent amount of Gold and Silver-level hostesses? Neglected your best hostesses' conditions? Be prepared for this guy to crush you with little chance of victory until you learn not to do these things.
- Fat Bastard: This tub of lard doesn't deserve any lick of sympathy for his actions.
- Greed: Completed fixated on money and making as much of it as possible by any means necessary. He's especially upset when a regular customer is unable to continue paying out the big bucks and tells Ai that they won't be allowing him back into Club Mars if he can't even offer much money for their top girl.
- Hate Sink: He's a classist prick who swindles money out of his customers and treats everyone (including his workers) like shit.
- Jerkass: See above.
- The Napoleon: He's notably shorter than Majima is, and is a huge jerk who pushes others around.
- Non-Standard Character Design: He stands out for his cartoonish appearance, as he has big, wide, squinty eyes, a thin slit of a mouth, and a cherubically round face with literal rosy red cheeks to match.
- Rich Bastard: Shown best when Majima challenges him to a Cabaret Club Battle and he can't stop bragging about how much wealth and luxury he enjoys and how those without money are losers.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Essentially tries to completely buy out the cabaret club industry with money he swindles from his customers.
- Sore Loser: Takes his loss to Majima very poorly and even starts blaming poor Ai for it.
- Token Evil Teammate: Hino and Kanehara are the only members of the Five Stars without a Freudian Excuse or any redeeming qualities. Hino's simply a rich Fat Bastard.
- The Unfought: He's not a fighter, and runs off after he loses the club challenge.
- Villainous Breakdown: When he's beaten and is kicked out by the other Five Stars, he flees fearing for his life.
- Warm-Up Boss: He is the first of the Five Stars that Majima squares off against in a Cabaret Club Battle, and is said to be the weakest of the Five Stars.
- Your Little Dismissive Diminutive: Constantly uses insect names like "buzzing flies" and "antfarm" to dismiss the efforts of Club Sunshine.
Kizuka
The owner of Club Jupiter and one of the Five Stars. A former biker and convict, he is in charge of the Five Stars' dirty work, working as the group's muscle.
- Boisterous Bruiser: His true self before he became Tsukiyama's enforcer and a cabaret club owner. He is actually glad to lose even if it put his life into jeopardy.
- The Brute: The toughest and scariest-looking of the Five Stars and tasked with handling the dirty work. Ironically, he's actually the weakest fighter amongst the Five Stars with any combat skill.
- Graceful Loser: After losing both the Cabaret Battle and a regular fistfight, he accepts his loss and decides to retire.
- Hot-Blooded: Is easily the most fiery of the Five Stars and even challenges Majima to a street fight after being bested in a Cabaret Club Battle.
- Moveset Clone: To Rikiya Shimabukuro or more specifically when he's fighting Kiryu as "Ricky Mask" during their wrestling match in Yakuza 3.
- Pet the Dog: He may be violent, but he does genuinely care about Saki, which is why he asks Majima to hire her when he is defeated.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: The very first member of the Five Stars to challenge Majima to physical combat, but he's not a push-over. He has as much health as Kuze, Oda, and Lee in earlier story fights and his pro-wrestling skills grant him some quick, aggressive attacks with most of them easily bypassing blocking. He also introduces the fact that all of the Cabaret Club Czar Boss Fights except the very last one take place in the confined alleyway outside of Club Sunshine limiting Majima's offensive and defensive options.
- Wrestler in All of Us: He busts out all sorts of pro-wrestling techniques during his boss fight.
Mizumura
The owner of Club Mercury and one of the Five Stars. He is among the old guard of Sotenbori's entertainment industry, but after joining with the Five Stars, became notorious for overcharging customers for subpar service.
- Cool Old Guy: Is an older gentleman who ran a cabaret in his hayday.
- Deal with the Devil: He remarks on his partnership with Tsukiyama being this, saying that joining forces with him might have saved his club from bankruptcy, but he considered it a deal that cost him his soul.
- Face Death with Dignity: While it's never confirmed if Tsukiyama ever successfully disposed of any of the Five Stars for their failures against Club Sunshine, his final remarks reveal a desire to reach heaven and apologize to his late wife for the awful things he did for the sake of his promise to her and he seems to believe that he likely won't see Youda or anyone else at Club Sunshine ever again.
- Graceful Loser: Upon losing, he expresses pride in the fact that Youda has managed to surpass him and accepts that it's time for him to retire.
- Love Makes You Evil: He ran Club Mercury along with his late wife, and had promised her that he'd keep running the place and wouldn't close it down no matter what. Once financial troubles rolled in, he was approached by Tsukiyama and lost his way since.
- Meaningful Name: Should we be surprised that the guy who waters down his drinks has "mizu" (water) in his name?
- A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: Inverted. He used to mentor Youda in how to manage clubs before joining the Five Stars.
- So Proud of You: He remarks this to Youda after losing the club challenge, saying that he is the only one of his apprentices who have actually managed to surpass him.
- The Unfought: Justified given his age, and he takes his club challenge loss in stride.
- Token Good Teammate: Of The Five Stars. He's easily the most polite out of all of them, treats his workers well and doesn't sink to foul play or intimidation. Really, the worst thing he does is overcharge his customers. Other than that, he comes off as a decent person in a bad situation.
- We Used to Be Friends: Youda doesn't like to talk about him, given that their former mentor/student relationship went sour.
- You Remind Me of X: He says Youda reminds him of himself after his defeat, advising him to try and hold on to his youthful optimism and spirit as long as he possibly can.
Kanehara
The owner of Club Venus and one of the Five Stars. He is a devilishly good-looking man who uses his charm to woe over girls from rival clubs, and is even rumored to be in a relationship with his club's number-one girl.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Yuki. He tries to charm her the moment he lays eyes on her, but to his astonishment, she promptly turns him down. Being the first girl to not get swayed by his shallow bravado, it only makes him more determined to win her over. He even has her kidnapped during the duration of the club challenge.
- Alternate Character Reading: Kane in Kanehara is one for the Kin in Kinsei (金星, "gold star"), the Japanese name for planet Venus.
- Big "NO!": Delivers one when he's defeated.
- Boxing Battler: Relies primarily on punches and boxing techniques in a straight fight surprisingly enough with a life bar befitting that of a late game boss.
- Delinquent Hair: He has a giant pompadour.
- Domestic Abuser: He abuses Chika and cheats on her, but she doesn't mind.
- Dragon with an Agenda: He is the second biggest club owner and plans on overthrowing Tsukiyama.
- Hate Sink: Manages to be one of the most unpleasant and detestable characters in a game full of vicious criminals. He's certainly the most despicable of the Five Stars, being willing to resort to kidnapping to try to beat Majima.
- The Hyena: Spends quite a bit of his screentime smugly laughing at others.
- It's All About Me: Doesn't give a damn about anyone except himself.
- Jerkass: Can barely go a sentence without insulting the employees of Club Sunshine to their faces.
- Light Is Not Good: Dresses in yellow and white clothing and is a real scumbag.
- Moveset Clone: To Yahata from Yakuza 5.
- Mighty Glacier: Surprisingly tough with some heavy hitting punches, but he's not a very mobile fighter. It doesn't really burden him much though since you have to fight him in a rather confined alleyway.
- Never My Fault: Blames Chika for his loss.
- Pretty Boy: A former host who uses his good looks to manipulate women for his own benefit.
- Sore Loser: He angrily refuses to accept his loss to Majima. It is first when Tsukiyama appears and tells him to beat it before he makes him really mad, that he scurries off with his tail between his legs.
- Token Evil Teammate: Hino and Kanehara are the only members of the Five Stars without a Freudian Excuse or any redeeming qualities. Kanehara's simply a vainglorious asshole.
- Villainous Breakdown: Once he's beaten and confronted by Tsukiyama, like Hino, he flees fearing for his life.
Tsukiyama
The owner of Club Moon and the leader of the Five Stars.
- Arc Villain: Of the Cabaret Club Czar questline.
- The Atoner: At the very end of Cabaret Club Czar, he decides to turn himself in for the many crimes he's committed. He convinces Kotomi to do the same, and hopes the two of them can create an honest cabaret club when they get out.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Probably the best-dressed of the Five Stars and their strongest member both physically and financially.
- Climax Boss: Statistically the single most formidable person fought in the Cabaret Club Czar questline, but not the last threat faced. Instead, defeating him reveals Kotomi to be the pulling his strings.
- Contractual Boss Immunity: He's got a semi-immunity to Majima's Thug Style since he can avoid your Thug light combos and even managing to land light combos from behind will have him recover quickly rendering the style borderline useless against him offensively though basic heavy attacks and grapples are marginally more reliable. This encourages you to rely more on Majima's other style or weapons which Tsukiyama's not quite as skilled at dodging.
- King Mook: His Muay Thai fighting style is a souped-up version of one of the Men in Black enemy variations. From a series-wide perspective, he's possibly the strongest version of a fighting style that's common amongst random enemy encounters and Elite Mooks.
- Freudian Excuse: His true reason for founding the Five Stars was to drive the Grand out of business because its previous management wrongly accused his mom of thievery and blacklisted her, which led her to commit suicide.
- Heel–Face Door-Slam: After his defeat, he realizes that he's become just as bad as the men who fired his mother, only to be betrayed and shot by his secretary Kotomi. He barely survives and falls into a coma. However, this is subverted when he quickly recovers and shows up to help Majima talk down Kotomi.
- Lightning Bruiser: Fairly quick on his feet with his Muay Thai skills, he has one of the biggest life bars in the game and can royally screw up an unprepared Majima.
- Moveset Clone: Uses a modernized version of Gaowayan Pramuk's Muay Thai fighting style from the very first Yakuza game.
- Meaningful Name: "Tsuki" also means "Moon" in Japanese. Fitting for the owner of a Club called Club Moon.
- Pet the Dog:
- Despite coming off as a cold jerk, Mana speaks highly of him, and can tell Majima that he treated her well and genuinely believed in her potential.
- He also tries to reach out to Kotomi after she betrays him. He insists on helping her even after being used and shot by her, and not because of money.
- Rank Scales with Asskicking: He's the leader of the Five Stars and is incredibly tough. To drive the point home, unlike his counterparts in Kiryu's sidequest, "Misery Comes On Beat" plays during the fight against him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Whenever the other stars are beaten, he has his secretary Kotomi make arrangements to have them disposed of. He ends up on the receiving end of this once he's beaten, and by Kotomi no less.
Kotomi
- Attempted Suicide: Once her bodyguards are beaten and refuses to go back to Tsukiyama, she pulls her gun on herself and pulls the trigger, but Majima knocks it out of the way just in time.
- The Atoner: After her Attempted Suicide, she realizes she was wrong about believing money was everything. She joins Tsukiyama in turning herself in, and wants to create a club like Sunshine when they get out.
- Didn't Think This Through: Even if she managed to kill Majima, her plan to take over the Grand would have failed since she'd have to deal with Sagawa and the Omi Alliance afterwards.
- Easily Forgiven: By Tsukiyama. Even though she used him and even shot him, for him it pales in comparison to everything she's done for him over the years.
- Freudian Excuse: When she was a child she lost her sister due to her family being unable to afford the expensive surgery needed to save her, convincing Kotomi that money is the only way to achieve security and happiness, and joined Tsukiyama for that purpose.
- Greater-Scope Villain: She's the true antagonist of the Cabaret Club Czar questline, having pulled Tsukiyama's strings from behind the scenes.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Based on AV actress Kotomi Asakura. Beating the Cabaret Club Czar storyline unlocks her gravure video.
- Moveset Clone: Just about all of her bodyguards share fighting styles with major bosses from past games with the exception of the brown-suited bodyguard Tomita who has a newer judo-based fighting style that's sometimes used by beefier generic enemies in 0.
- Her purple-suited bodyguard Yamagishi uses the same moves as Daisaku Minami from Yakuza 4, specifically combining the attacks he uses whilst sober and while drunk
- Her yellow-suited bodyguard Nishio uses the same kung fu fighting style as Bruce Enashima, a Coliseum opponent and tag team partner who first appeared in 3.
- Her dark green-suited bodyguard Kaai has the same karate fighting style as Joji Kazama from 3 though he lacks the distinct counter stance.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Although she's armed with a gun, she has Majima fight against the elite bodyguards she hired instead.
- Only in It for the Money: She only joined Tsukiyama to use him as revenue stream. Once he's taken down and won't be raking in the dough, she considers him useless and almost literally stabs him in the back, except using a gun.
- The Starscream: She was using Tsukiyama and the Five Stars the entire time, and intended to betray them all once she realized how poor their business sense was. When the Five Stars go down, Majima serves as her final obstacle in her plan to dominate the cabaret scene to rake in all the yen they're worth.
- Walking Spoiler: It's extremely difficult to talk about Kotomi beyond her surface details without spoiling the big twist of the Cabaret Club Czar storyline.
- Wolfpack Boss: While she's not personally participating in the fight, facing her nonetheless has you face off against four powerful henchmen. In terms of health bars, they're all on par with Wen Hai Lee when you first fight him. Though that makes them individually weaker than any of the Five Stars with fighting capabilities, collectively they will be more than enough trouble to play the role of the Cabaret Club Czar questline's Final Boss.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Tsukiyama is beaten and loses Club Moon, she shoots him from behind as she no longer considers him useful to her now that the money won't be pouring in. She also laments that she should've finished off the others much sooner.
