Yakuza Storylines That Are Based on Real Life

Yakuza/Like a Dragon is a pretty grounded series. Through all the drama and melodrama, goofy comedy and flights of fancy, it’s still set in the real world. RGG Studio goes out of its way to make its locations, while technically fictional, resemble their real-life equivalents as closely as possible.

The same goes for the series' stories, substories, and themes. They’re not 1:1, but they hit close to the mark. The hype for Dragon Quest 3 in 1988 was as real as it was for ‘Arakure’s Quest’ in Yakuza 0. The lives of pop idols are as grim, if not grimmer, as they appear in Yakuza 5, and these Yakuza storylines are based on real life events.

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9 The Battle of Sekigahara

The Largest Battle of the Sengoku Era

• Ryu ga Gotoku: Kenzan!

Ryu Ga Gotoku: Kenzan never came out in the West, but gamers are likely familiar with Japan’s Sengoku period. It has appeared in plenty of other games, like the Samurai Warriors series, Sengoku Basara, Total War: Shogun 2, etc. They may also be familiar with Miyamoto Musashi, the famous samurai who got his start in the Sengoku era’s last battle. Fought between Ieyasu Tokugawa's forces and the Western clans under Mitsunari Ishida, the Battle of Sekigahara was the largest one fought in the feudal era.

Over 170,000 men fought, including some of the most famous leaders of the time, like Tadakatsu Honda and Sakon Shima. Originally, it was thought that Musashi fought for the Western clans. Now people believe he fought for Tokugawa, as his father’s name appears on a list of vassals to the Tokugawa-aligned Kuroda clan. It's not the only detail about Musashi's life that's hard to pin down. Many of his deeds are as much folklore as they are history.

8 Bakumatsu

The End of the Prosperous Edo Period (1853-1867)

The Battle of Sekigahara led to the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, or Bakufu, and the beginning of the Edo Period, the longest period of peace and prosperity in Japanese history. But after two and a half centuries, things declined. The lack of upward social equality, as well as the country’s forced trade with the rest of the world in 1853, set tensions high. It came to a boiling point in the Bakufu’s final years, known as the Bakumatsu, as seen in Like a Dragon: Ishin.

Though not 100% accurate, many of its plot threads are based on actual history. The anti-foreigner extremists, the dancing protesters, and the Shinsengumi’s hunts for Ryōma Sakamoto and future modern Japan founder Takayoshi Kido (née Katsura Kogoro) are just some of the historical events covered. Still, there's some artistic license here and there. For example, Ryōma Sakamoto and Saitō Hajime were actually separate people.

7 Abashiri Prison

Japan's Alcatraz

The original Abashiri Prison has become an infamous landmark in Hokkaido. It has appeared in manga like Golden Kamuy, and was Saejima’s penal home in Yakuza 5. Since 1890, it has held some of the country’s most notorious inmates, including Yoshie Shiratori, the only man to escape the facility. That said, its depiction in Y5 is a little off.

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The main prison is still operational, and sits within Abashiri town. The game’s version reflects its older facilities, which were moved to the base of Mount Tento to become a museum. The old buildings are more famous, but even if they weren't a museum in Y5, they still would have been away from the mountains. Saejima wouldn't have had to go into the woods to hunt — according to Google Maps, it's across the river from a convenience store and a seafood restaurant.

6 Kabukichō Scams

Kamurochō's Sketchy Aspects Are Based In Real Life

• Yakuza 0-6
• Yakuza: Dead Souls
• Kurohyō 1-2
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Judgment
• Lost Judgment

Kamurochō, the Yakuza series’ main city, is a close recreation of Kabukichō, from similar landmarks (big red sign, giant skyscraper) to layouts. There are plenty of bars and clubs in the area, and it's also a good place to get scammed. Many of the series’ substories are based on real schemes that local con artists used to trick unsuspecting patrons.

One recurring scheme in Kabukichō (and thus Kamurochō) is bottakuri. A barker invites someone into an establishment for free drinks. They neglect to mention the exorbitant cloak room fee, additional drink prices, or other charges until the customer is indoors, where they're locked in until they cough up. Law enforcement has since cracked down on these scams, making Kabukichō safer than its fictional counterpart. Still, visitors and locals should be wary.

5 The Japanese Asset Price Bubble

Economic Boom & Recession

The 1980s were already a rich time for yuppies. Japan got a boost when its real estate and stock market prices bubbled up in the latter half of the decade. The poor got really poor, but the rich triumphed, which is why Yakuza 0 is all about money. When Kiryu isn’t using it to level up his punches, he’s using his own real estate business to beat the billionaires at their own game.

Real estate tycoons would also inspire Akira Toriyama to create his own amoral expansionist in Dragon Ball Z’s Frieza, and US media would joke about (or fear) Japanese corporations taking over. But the bubble burst in the early 1990s, leading Japan into a recession. In the real world, there were multiple reasons for the burst. In Yakuza 0, it’s because Goro Majima gave a politician tax advice. Nice going, Mad Dog.

4 The End of the Yakuza?

The Japanese Mafia is On The Decline

After seven games spent trying to save the Tōjō Clan from one crisis or another, Yakuza: Like A Dragon saw Daigo Dojima formally dissolve the organization in favor of forming a legitimate security company in Osaka. Their biggest rivals, the Omi Alliance, did the same. Like in real life, lack of funds, increased anti-yakuza laws, and rapid departure of members made the clans unsustainable.

Real yakuza families are still around, but their numbers were on the decline way before the first Yakuza game. Their rigid hierarchy and rules aren’t as appealing to criminal gangs who could make their own in-roads in the underworld. Despite their fame in the media, and their online advertising jingles, this could be the end of the yakuza as people know them.

3 Getting Self-Referential

Yakuza Breaks the Fourth Wall

The Yakuza games don’t break the fourth wall often, but they have their meta references. For example, voice actors usually land some curious roles early in their career. Takaya Kuroda, the voice of Kiryu, was no different, as he played roles in Boy’s Love drama CDs. So, Yakuza Kiwami 2 added a substory where Kiryu ends up giving voice acting a go, only to end up being the uke in a BL story.

YK2 also had a substory where Kiryu has to help the director of ‘Yakuza Sunset 3’ not to lose hope after its poor reception, and press on with 'Yakuza Sunset 4'. It’s generally accepted to be an allegory for Yakuza 3’s reception as, while it was an award winner, it was considered a step down.

2 Tokuryu

Japan's Newer Brand of Criminals

With the yakuza’s fall, there’s a power vacuum in Japan's criminal underworld. The yakuza would occasionally work with the cops to maintain order, but the random punks, biker groups, and hangure (organized crime gangs unaffiliated with the yakuza) don’t bother. They operate whenever and wherever their misdeeds can turn a profit, even in broad daylight.

One notable gang on the rise in Japan is the Tokuryu. These masked criminals arrange petty crimes by phone or internet before splitting the proceeds. Sugiura in Judgment is one example. He turned to crime in the wake of his sister’s death, working under the name ‘Jester’ with the similarly pseudonymous ‘Crow.’ Once he formed different ideals, he left to do his own thing, no finger-chopping or expulsion letters required.

1 Bullying Crisis

It's Especially Brutal In Japan

The Judgment series spins off from Yakuza, but takes place in the same universe as Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Detective Takayuki Yagami and his buddy Kaito have to investigate the murder of a teacher in Yokoyama, only to find the school is rife with some particularly cruel bullying.

It’s a global issue, but it has picked up in Japan at serious rates. Bullying was said to be the cause of at least 514 confirmed suicides in 2022. LJ’s plot deals with its ramifications as two bullying-induced suicide attempts (one fatal, the other leading to a coma) lead to multiple homicides, elaborate revenge plans, and parents let down by the schools as the police take the law into their own hands.

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