Timeline / Like a Dragon

Spoilers for all Like a Dragon entries including the newest entries will be left unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

The timeline of the entire Like a Dragon series as it stands.

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1950's

• 1951:
  • Unspecified Date: Ryuzo Genda is born.

• 1953
  • Unspecified Date: In Hawaii, the Sage of Palakena and his wife are in a car discussing their plans, in particular what to do about Bryce Fairchild. The passengers are soon later gunned down by an assailant on the road, who claims a necklace from them. The gunman is later approached by Bryce himself, who "rewards" the assassin with a bullet to the chest.

• 1957:
  • Unspecified Date: Masumi Arakawa is born.

1960's

• 1960:
  • Unspecified Date: Koichi Adachi is born.

• 1962:
  • Unspecified Date: Jo Sawashiro is born.

• 1964:
  • May 14th: Goro Majima is born.
  • Unspecified Date: Makoto Date is born.

• 1965:
  • Unspecified Date: Taiga Saejima is born.

• 1968:
  • June 17th: Kazuma Kiryu is born.
  • October 8th: Akira Nishikiyama is born.

1970's

• 1971:
  • June 30: Yumi Sawamura is born.

• 1975:
  • Unspecified Date: Tatsuo Shinada is born.

• 1976:
  • Unspecified Date: Daigo Dojima, Ryuji Goda and Yoshitaka Mine are born.

• 1977:
  • January 1st: Ichiban Kasuga and Ryo Aoki/Masato Arakawa are born. In an unlikely twist of fate, both are Switched at Birth when they find themselves locked within the same row of coin-op lockers in Kamurucho.
    • Masato's father, Jo Sawashiro, had intended to leave his newborn son in a locker, while Ichiban's father, Masumi Arakawa, had heard that his son had been hidden away by his mother while she was on the run from a rival yakuza family. In his haste, Arakawa had broken open the wrong door and took Masato away to raise as his own, unaware that he had left behind his true biological son one locker away from him. The managers of Shangri-La notice that the hand-off had not gotten through, and adopt Ichiban in his stead.

• 1978:
  • Unspecified Date: Shun Akiyama, Yu Nanba, and Jin Kuwana/Yu Kitakata are born.

1980's

• 1980:
  • Unspecified Date: Masaharu Kaito is born.
  • December 25th:
    • The Jingweon Massacre takes place. The Dojima Family, helmed by Shintaro Kazama, Futoshi Shimano, and Sohei Dojima, carry out a massacre that kills 33 of the Jingweon Mafia's members in Kamurocho, killing most of its leaders. Several of its survivors adopt Japanese identities and spend the next several years preparing to take revenge on the Tojo Clan. On that same day, Jiro Kawara saves Suyeon Jung from killing herself and her son, and the two start a relationship a couple of months after.

• 1981:
  • Unspecified Date: Masayoshi Tanimura and Kaoru Sayama are born.

• 1983:
  • Unspecified Date: Takayuki Yagami is born.

• 1985:
  • March 17th:
    • Mikiko Natsume is born.
  • April 20th:
    • Majima and Saejima are tasked with assassinating key members of the Ueno Seiwa Clan so that their patriarch Sasai would mediate the conflict and thus earn a promotion within the Tojo Clan.
  • April 21st:
    • The Ueno-Seiwa Hit takes place. Saejima is forced to do it alone after Majima no-shows, and succeeds in the hit. He is then imprisoned, with his execution date set for 25 years later, in 2010. Unbeknownst to Saejima, he had not actually killed anyone during the hit; his guns were outfitted with rubber bullets which merely knocked out his intended targets. The real killer was the Ueno Seiwa's Isao Katsuragi, who killed everyone save for the chairman in a bid to attain more power within the organization.
  • After being tortured to near-death, Majima is banished to Sotenbori under the watchful eye of Omi Alliance lieutenant Tsukasa Sagawa, oath brother to Futoshi Shimano.
  • Unknown Date:
    • Police detective Junji Sugiuchi - Katsuragi's blood brother and a mole for the Ueno Seiwa within the police - submits a falsified report detailing information about the Ueno Seiwa Hit. However, faulty details about the report are caught by his superior, Seishiro Munakata. Connecting the dots about Sugiuchi's identity, Munakata accepts the false report but uses it as leverage against Sugiuchi as a way to keep him under control for his own machinations.

• 1986:
  • Unspecified Date: Yeonsu Kim/Joon-gi Han, Saori Shirosaki, and Toru Higashi are born.

• 1987:
  • Unspecified Date: Kazuki Soma is born.

• 1988: Yakuza 0.
  • December: In Kamurucho, Kazuma Kiryu is framed for a murder committed in the Empty Lot, a valuable piece of property that holds interest to the Dojima Family. In seeking to prove his innocence and that of Shinatro Kazama's due to their relationship, Kiryu is expelled from the Tojo Clan while learning more about the Dojima lieutenants' own struggles to acquire the land. He soon finds himself an unexpected ally with real estate broker Tetsu Tachibana, who claims to be an ally of Kazama and hopes to acquire the Empty Lot to prevent it from being bought out by Sohei Dojima. Alongside Tachibana's right-hand man Jun Oda, Kiryu works to help Tachibana pursue leads pertaining to the owner of the Empty Lot; in doing so, he does battle with the Dojima Family multiple times. Kiryu's repeated skirmishes force him to renounce his bonds with oath brother Akira Nishikiyama, who finds himself increasingly torn between his loyalty to Kiryu and his duties to the Tojo Clan. Eventually, Tachibana discovers that the owner is his half-sister Makoto Makimura, and sends Kiryu and Oda to meet Masaru Sera of the Tojo Clan's Nikkyo Consortium to bring her to Tokyo.
  • Elsewhere, in Sotenbori, Goro Majima continues to live out his exile as the manager of the Grand, Sotenbori's most prominent cabaret club. To earn his way back to the Tojo Clan, he is tasked with assassinating a person named Makoto Makimura, now an assistant to an acupuncture clinic owned by Wei Han Lee. Instead of finishing his task, Majima works with Lee to figure out the reason why Makoto is a person of interest for both the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance. Suspicious of Majima's whereabouts, Sagawa kills Lee with a car bomb when he suggests that Makoto leave Osaka for her safety, but is stopped from finishing the deed by Sera, who kidnaps Makoto to hand her off to Tachibana. Majima and Sagawa work together to pursue Sera, picking up a trail through an audience with Omi lieutenant Homare Nishitani, who is later assassinated in front of Majima, but not before pointing him towards Sera's headquarters. After learning of Makoto's location, Sagawa allows Majima to return to Kamurucho to pursue Makoto.

• 1989:
  • Unknown Dates:
    • Masaru Sera becomes acting captain of the Tojo Clan, eventually becoming its third chairman.
    • With his name cleared, Kazuma Kiryu is allowed to return to the Dojima family, now inheriting the title of "Dragon of Dojima." Similarly, Goro Majima is reinstated as a lieutenant of the Shimano family, and has adopted a more unhinged public persona inspired by both Sagawa and Nishitani, setting him down the path of becoming the "Mad Dog of Shimano." Both men soon meet each other for the first time, marking the start of their decades-long friendship and rivalry.
    • For failing to secure the Empty Lot for the Omi Alliance, Tsukasa Sagawa is assassinated by their hand in Kamurucho.
    • Majima encounters Makoto Makimura again in Kamurucho, now noting that her eyesight has come back thanks to treatments from her doctor. Noticing that he has feelings for her, Majima encourages him to act on them and departs, with Makoto unaware of his true identity.

1990's

• 1991:
  • Unspecified Date: Issei Hoshino, Makoto Tsukumo, Yui Mamiya, Yoko Sawa, Mitsuru Kusumoto, and Yasushi Akaike are born.

• 1992:
  • Unspecified Date: 15-year old Ichiban Kasuga, now a delinquent who hustled people down for their money following the death of his father, was kidnapped by a yakuza family after he attacked one of their members. In a last-ditch gambit, he falsely claimed to personally know Masumi Arakawa, who in turn surprisingly came to his aid when the family called him to verify. Arakawa negotiated for Ichiban's freedom, even going so far as to personally cut off his own pinky finger unpromoted.

• 1993:
  • Unspecified Date: Fumiya Sugiura/Terasawa is born.
  • Unspecified Date: After a year of waiting outside the Arakawa family office in hopes of joining as thanks for his aid, Ichiban is formally sworn in by Arakawa, becoming a member of the Tojo Clan. Aside from helping the family's day-to-day operations, he becomes the caretaker to Masato Arakawa, helping him around due to his disabilities.

• 1995:
  • October 1st:
    • Sohei Dojima is killed by Akira Nishikiyama and Kazuma Kiryu takes the fall for the murder, landing him in prison for 10 years.

• 1996:
  • Unspecified Date: Yumi Sawamura gives birth to her daughter, Haruka.

2000's

• 2000:
  • December 31st: The first half of Yakuza: Like a Dragon's first chapter, "Light and Shadow" takes place.
    • Masato Arakawa shoots Suzumori after having collapsed outside a building without his wheelchair.

• 2001:
  • January 1st: The second half of Light and Shadow takes place.
    • Ichiban Kasuga goes to prison to take the fall for Jo Sawashiro, who had murdered a yakuza patriarch named Suzumori. Or rather, he takes the fall for Masato, as Chapter 11 would reveal.

• 2002:
  • Summer: Ichiban gets into a fight with some prisoners who mock him for being a member of the Arakawa Family. He beats all of their teeth out in response and gets placed into solitary confinement, with his sentence getting extended in the process.

• 2005: Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami.
  • December 5th:
    • Kazuma Kiryu is released from prison.

• 2006: Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2.
  • Unknown Dates:
    • While paying respects to their deceased loved ones, Kazuma Kiryu and Haruka Sawamura are approached by Yukio Terada, who asks for Kiryu's help in settling a growing dispute between the Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance. Kiryu initially refuses, but when Terada is fatally shot during an assassination attempt, he agrees to it as fulfilling his successor's last request.
    • Before leaving for Osaka, Kiryu returns to Kamurucho, not just to bring the Tojo Clan's officers to speed, but to find the man he believes should become the new chairman: Daigo Dojima, son of Sohei and the Tojo's current interim matriarch Yayoi. Despite initial resistance, Daigo agrees to accompany Kiryu to Osaka to broker peace with the Omi.
  • Unknown Date: Mikiko Natsume breaks into the Matsugane Family office in Kamurocho to rescue her sister Maho from being press-ganged into working at a cabaret club to pay off a debt. Masaharu Kaito is called in and defuses the situation.

• 2008: Lost Judgment
  • September 17:
    • Kurokawa Academy student Mitsuru Kusumoto jumps off his school roof in response to the relentless bullying he has suffered at the hands of his classmates, including Shinya Kawai, Yui Suzuki and Yasushi Akaike. Mitsuru survives his suicide attempt, but is rendered comatose. In response, Kawai is expelled after his fellow bullies testify against him to save themselves, and their homeroom teacher Yu Kitakata is fired due to his negligent attitude towards the situation. A remorseful Kitakata adopts the alias "Jin Kuwana" and moves to Ijincho to become a "handyman" with aid from his uncle, a former member of the Seiryu Clan. Unbeknownst to all but himself, Kuwana had filmed the bullying incident that occurred on that day, holding it as leverage against his former students to help him for his future endeavors.
  • Unknown Date: Jun Sadamoto is born.

• 2009: Yakuza 3.

2010's

• 2010: Yakuza 4.
  • March 1:
    • Shun Akiyama intervenes in an altercation between members of the Tojo Clan's Kanemura Enterprises and the Ueno Seiwa Clan, and is arrested after taking the fall for a murder committed by Hiroaki Arai.
    • The murder leads to a meeting between Tojo Clan heads, and the Ueno Seiwa's chairman Isao Katsuragi, who wants to keep the truce between the two clans but needs penance for the death of one of his men. He personally pitches to Daigo Dojima that he can either give up one of his men in return, or surrender control of the Kamurucho Hills project.
    • With his execution date fast approaching, Taiga Saejima is transferred to an offshore prison facility specialized in hiding away the most dangerous of criminals. There, he is approached by Goh Hamazaki, imprisoned for his attempt on Kazuma Kiryu's life a year ago. Hamazaki reveals that Saejima was set up on the day he committed the Ueno Seiwa hit, and proposes that both escape to unveil the truth behind the matter. The two are able to successfully break out of jail, becoming sworn brothers in the process.
  • March 2:
    • Upon being released from confinement after proving his innocence, Akiyama is visited by a woman named Lily, who resembles an old flame of his. She requests a loan of 1 million yen, to which he counters with one of his specialized tests: she must make 3 million as a hostess working in a club he owns. While Lily works to fulfill her end of the loan, Akiyama's investigations into her background show that she had committed several murders, including the head of Kanemura Enterprises. He questions Lily about her complicity, with the added bonus that if she came clean about why she needed the money, she would not need to return any of it back; however, she declines. Akiyama is later approached by Goro Majima, who admits to knowing Lily - or rather, Yasuko Saejima, the younger sister of his blood brother Taiga.
    • Saejima winds up on the front shore of the Sunshine Orphanage, being taken care of by Haruka Sawamura. He is eventually introduced to Kiryu, and while he makes an initial attempt to hide his identity, Saejima's true motives are revealed. The two battle as a way to test Saejima's resolve; later that same night, Kiryu provides him with everything he needs to return back to Kamurucho and confront Majima over his no-show on the day the Ueno Seiwa hit occurred.
  • Unknown Dates:
    • As the police are out for him due to his breakout, Saejima is given a place to lay low by Takeshi Kido, a subordinate of Arai's who is aware of Saejima's reputation in Tojo Clan history. He soon learns of the Florist, and believes he has information that can bring him closer to the truth about the Ueno Seiwa hit. After fighting in Purgatory's coliseum and sparing an opponent during a deathmatch - meant to be a test of his moral character, Saejima is put into contact with Majima, and the two blood brothers battle. Majima later admits that he did not no-show willingly, and that he was captured by Kazuo Shibata, a senior Tojo Clan official and the man responsible for gouging his eye out.
  • March 8:
    • Masayoshi Tanimura learns that a woman matching Yasuko's physical description is in Kamurucho, and seeks her out to learn the truth behind his father's last case; according to his notes, she was the last witness he was set to interview, but had pulled out at the last second. Tanimura discovers that she was kidnapped by Shibata and Arai, and fights his way to the docks to save her. Yasuko is rescued shortly after Arai kills Shibata, and she returns with Tanimura to explain her role as well as her connection to Shibata and Arai. Seeking to learn more about the truth, Tanimura convinces her to give him the 1 million yen she had requested from Akiyama to meet with Katsuragi himself. Yasuko later makes plans to travel to Okinawa in order to spend time with her brother Taiga before he is supposedly set to be executed, unaware that he had escaped.
    • Katsuragi admits to his reasons behind why he stood to profit from the Ueno Seiwa hit, and also comes close to revealing the truth behind the murder of Tanimura's father: he had come close to exposing corruption within the Tokyo PD. Tanimura tries for more answers, but is interrupted by a scuffle between the police and the Ueno Seiwa. Police Chief Hisai assists him in learning more about the truth by directing Tanimura towards information which reveals that senior detective Junji Sugiuchi was the partner of Tanimura's father, which surprises the younger policeman as it was information he had been unaware of until recently.
    • Tanimura later meets with Akiyama to trade information about their mutual acquaintance in Yasuko, and for Tanimura to return the initial loan she had taken from him. A chance call from Kido to Akiyama provides Tanimura with some bait to lure out a traitor within the police who may be in league with the Ueno Seiwa. This "traitor" is revealed to be Sugiuchi himself, who Tanimura had suspected for quite some time. After an extended chase and battle, a defeated Sugiuchi admits that he was the one that killed Tanimura's father, amidst his ties as a yakuza working within the system. Feeling at peace with himself, Sugiuchi moves to inform Tanimura of Munakata's plans with the Ueno Seiwa, but is assassinated; with his dying breaths, he admits to knowing of just one more traitor within the police's ranks.

• 2012:
  • Yakuza 5
  • Yakuza 6 Prologue

• 2013:
  • Haruka disappears.

• 2016:
  • December: Yakuza 6

• 2017:
  • Unspecified Dates:
    • Yakuza 6 Epilogue
    • Ichiban gets a letter from Arakawa at the crack of dawn, being the first time he's heard from his patriarch in 16 years.

• 2018: Judgment.
  • January 10: Toshino Ehara commits suicide as a result of bullying received from another student, Hiro Mikoshiba. The resulting investigation reveals no evidence of bullying, but Toshino's father finds this unacceptable and sues Seiryo Academy for compensation. The school wins the suit as no further evidence of bullying is presented.

• 2019: Yakuza: Like a Dragon/Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
  • Unknown Dates:
    • Ichiban Kasuga, now 42 years old, is released from prison but finds the outside world different from when he last walked as a free man. He is filled in on current affairs by Koichi Adachi, a former detective turned DMV clerk. Upon returning to Kamurucho, Ichiban crashes an Omi Alliance meeting headed by Masumi Arakawa, now the acting captain of the Omi. Without getting an explanation, he is shot by his former boss and wakes up in a homeless camp in Isezaki Ijicho, Yokohama.
    • After having his wounds tended to by ex-nurse Yu Namba, Ichiban learns to adapt to his new surroundings and start over again despite the odds stacked against him. Alongside Adachi and Namba, he finds work at a nearby soapland; its owner Nonomiya quickly tasks the three of them with investigating a girl named Nanoha Mukoda, who has been dragged into a criminal scheme facilitated by the Seiryu Clan. Despite their success, Nonomiya is found dead upon their return, starting their interactions with the Ijin Three: the Yokohama Liumang, Geomijul, and Seiryu Clan. The group is later joined by barmaid Saeko Mukoda, Nanoha's older twin sister.
    • The Heroes of Tomorrow learn that the supposed conflicts between the Ijin Three were a facade and that their leaders - Tianyou Zhao, Seong-Hui, and Ryuhei Hoshino - have all been collaborating on a money printing scheme to support Citizen's Liberal Party chairman Yutaka Ogikubo, who has in turn been secretly protecting their activities. As they explain, the supposed "cold war" they upheld was meant to keep outside interference from criminal organizations based outside of Yokohama, and that due to the recent events that have threatened the status quo, it has paved the way for the Omi Alliance to invade Ijincho. In their attempts to defend the city, the party is joined by two more members: the Geomijul's Joon-Gi Han (or rather, his body double Yeonsu Kim), and the Liumang's head, Tianyou Zhao.
    • Upon further investigation, the Omi's invasion is due to the machinations of Tokyo governor Ryo Aoki, who is also propping up the right-wing activist group Bleach Japan to control Yokohama and pave the way for Aoki to run for prime minister. Ichiban is able to somehow identify him as Masato Arakawa, who he heard had passed away during his stint in prison. Upon confronting Aoki, who confirms his identity, Ichiban proposes to run a candidate against Bleach Japan's Sota Kume during the election to foil their plot.
    • The Heroes learn that Masumi Arakawa will be in Sotenbori to attend a meeting at Omi Alliance HQ, and travel to Osaka to confront him. In doing so, they are forced into a fight with two surprising figures: Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima, later revealed to be allies of Arakawa and the exiled Tojo Clan chairman Daigo Dojima. Arakawa's loyalties are finally made clear: he was tasked by Daigo to be a double agent within the Omi to weaken it enough for the return of the Omi's true chairman, Masaru Watase. He and Daigo have had a long-term plan to jointly announce the end of both the Omi Alliance and Tojo Clan, meant to ensure that their organizations would not be used as pawns of the government; as part of his cover, Arakawa could not inform Ichiban of his actions and made a deliberate attempt to include him in his plans by shooting him non-fatally.
    • As expected, Watase's announcement upon his return was met with a violent response, forcing the Heroes to fight off the insurrectionists the following day. They receive help from an unlikely source; Watase had managed to recruit Kazuma Kiryu - long thought to have been dead, but in reality, still adhering to his deal with the Fixer and remaining underground - as a "bodyguard" and help their escape. Ichiban and Arakawa formally reconcile, but the latter is found murdered the next day. Meanwhile, Kiryu, Daigo, Majima and Saejima put down a last-ditch effort by Kosei Shishido to assassinate Watase, with Shishido later detained by Daidoji agent Yoshimura to be a government asset along with Homare Nishitani III.
    • Now suspecting Aoki as the one responsible, Ichiban - under advice from Chairman Hoshino of the Seiryu Clan - runs against Kume in the local elections, and manages to pull a strong following despite his criminal background. In response, Aoki orders Jo Sawashiro to assassinate Hoshino, and the Heroes are too late to prevent it. Upon his defeat, Sawashiro agrees to surrender himself to the police but discloses a secret before leaving: Masato Arakawa is actually his biological son, with Ichiban being Masumi Arakawa's true child.
    • The revelations begin to wear Ichiban down, and he comes close to murdering a few Bleach Japan loyalists before being stopped by Kiryu. The Dragon of Dojima had initially come to provide information about Aoki, but upon seeing Ichiban's temperament, challenges the former Arakawa family member to a battle to test his resolve. Ichiban is unable to defeat Kiryu, but earns his respect and information; the Heroes soon intercept an attempt on Sawashiro's life by Aoki's men and then travel to Kamurucho to confront him.
    • The Heroes of Tomorrow implant an idea in Aoki's head that incriminating evidence linking him to the Omi Alliance and his yakuza ties are located in his office within the Millenium Tower, and then raid it themselves. In Aoki's office, they find Omi Alliance lieutenant Yosuke Tendo - the man responsible for killing Masumi Arakawa - and defeat him. Aoki himself quickly returns to the Millennium Tower upon news broadcasts exposing the truth reaching the masses, and the Heroes are able to trick him into admitting his misdeeds and streaming the rest for the whole world to see. With nowhere left to go, his plans in ruins, and finally defeated by Ichiban in one last battle, Masato threatens to commit suicide in front of the very lockers where he and Ichiban were switched at birth, only for Ichiban to tearfully talk him down and realize the error of his ways. He relents soon enough for a delusional Kume to fatally stab him and escape, leaving Ichiban to keep his former master company in his final moments.
    • Masato's ties to the corrupt members of the government are exposed, causing many of his conspirators to face justice. At his funeral, Ichiban is offered by Watase and Daigo to join a private security firm meant to supply legitimate jobs for former members of the Omi and Tojo, but he declines - choosing to stay in Ijincho with his new friends and protect the city.
  • Unknown Dates:
    • Upon learning of the Tojo Clan's plans to disband, Kazuki Soma exits the organization to continue his work for Public Security by establishing the hangure group RK. It successfully attracts the attention of many former civilians and even several ex-Tojo personnel, such as Daimu Akutsu, who becomes RK's second-in-command and public face.

2020s

• 2021: Lost Judgment.
  • Takayuki Yagami and Masaharu Kaito are summoned by Fumiya Sugiura and Makoto Tsukumo to Ijincho in order to help them out with their newly founded detective agency, Yokohama 99. Their first major job has them recruited by the chairman of Seiryo High School to investigate rumors of bullying in their campus. This case is subsequently linked to the murder of student teacher Hiro Mikoshiba, whose decomposed body was discovered by Kanagawa Police; furthermore, Akihiro Ehara, an active duty policy officer declared guilty of groping a woman in public, reveals his knowledge of the body's whereabouts. Despite this, he is ruled to not have any involvement Mikoshiba's death due to being in policy custody and thus unable to actually commit the crime.
  • Yagami's infiltration into Seiryo High causes him to become the advisor of the school's Mystery Research Club, allowing him to integrate himself within the student body. He also develops a working relationship with homeroom teacher Yoko Sawa, who has a link to Ehara through his son Toshiro, whom she taught before his suicide in 2017. Upon learning of Ehara's case, Yagami investigates it further, later coming to the conclusion that Ehara had murdered Mikoshiba himself and staged the groping incident to establish an alibi for himself. He ends up being drawn into conflict with the Yokohama Liumang's White Mask faction and their leader Tesso, but soon becomes a blood brother of theirs.
  • Yagami Detective Agency, Genda Law Office and Yokohama 99 are able to piece together the connection between the school and Ehara's case: he sought to not only personally punish Mikoshiba for his actions, but to also humiliate the legal system for their failure to find any wrongdoing in Toshiro's suicide when he sued Seiryo High earlier in the year. His ally through this entire endeavor was Jin Kuwana, who had secretly been blackmailing his former students into helping him kill any bullies who have forced their classmates into suicide as penance for letting Mitsuru Kusumoto nearly kill himself more than a decade ago. The case becomes more personal to both men when Sawa is killed by RK, who have arrived in Ijincho in search of Kuwana; despite their differences, Yagami and Kuwana agree to dispatch of RK first and uncover what their true motives are.
  • Kuwana is forced into hiding when he is framed for Sawa's murder in addition to the RK manhunt. Seeking to find out why Kuwana is the main person of interest despite RK being Sawa's true killers, Yokohama 99 uncovers that Kuwana has ties to Mitsuru's mother Reiko, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health, and the one in charge of a 160 million yen pension fund coveted by Public Security officer Hidemi Bando to jumpstart Japan's failing economy. They and Kuwana come to the conclusion that RK - through their leader Kazuki Soma - is indirectly attempting to exploit this connection in order to coerce Kusumoto into cooperating with them as they are aware of how Kuwana had assisted her in killing Shinya Kawai; she refuses to do so until Mitsuru miraculously wakes up after a 17 year long coma, which forces her into betraying Kuwana to spare Mitsuru from the reputation of being the son of a murderer.
• 2022:
  • January: Yagami and Saori Shirosaki appear in court to expose the connections between Ehara and Kuwana; in doing so, they manage to force Ehara into confessing to the murder of Mikoshiba. Soon after, Yagami and Kusumoto are contacted by Kuwana, who has Kawai's corpse and intends to go public with it to force a confrontation with RK. Yagami, Kaito, Sugiura and Higashi trace Kuwana to a warehouse in Ijincho, where they work with him to supress and capture Soma and the rest of RK. Kuwana later threatens to bomb the warehouse to prevent Kawai's corpse to be used as evidence against him, but Yagami counters by challenging him to one more battle, intent to find justice for Sawa. Kusumoto arrives to inform Kuwana that she intends to surrender herself to the police and confess to Kawai's murder, while Kuwana leaves to escape possible retribution from Public Security. While he claims to continue his work of showing the flaws of the justice system, he later submits an anonymous tip detailing the locations of his previous victims.
• 2023: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.