Kazuma Kiryu

Kazuma Kiryu (桐生 一馬, Kiryū Kazuma) is the most recurring protagonist of the Yakuza series. He is featured as the main protagonist and playable character in Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2, Yakuza 3, and Yakuza 6. He is one of multiple main protagonists in Yakuza 0, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5.

Kiryu’s legendary accomplishments and ascent through the ranks of the Tojo Clan’s Dojima Family as well as the dragon tattoo on his back have earned him the nickname “The Dragon of Dojima” (堂島の龍, Dōjima no Ryū). He was the fourth chairman of the Tojo Clan and previously managed Morning Glory Orphanage.

Profile

Appearance

Kiryu has a muscular build, seemingly as a result of constant street fights and various other activities in his daily routine rather than any concentrated effort to achieve this physique. He has more upper body mass than lower, which can most likely be attributed to his frequent use of heavy weapons. Kiryu’s hair in Yakuza 0 is very short, being slightly longer at the crown and featuring his trademark sideburns. From Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami onwards, Kiryu’s hair is longer and put into a messily slicked back style, and his facial hair has grown into a pure goatee. He also has a handsome face, with brown eyes that are complimented with the phrase “Beautiful eyes” by Joji and Shintaro Kazama.

Tattoo

Kiryu’s tattoo covers most of his back and ends just above his thighs. It depicts a white, gray, black, and red dragon grasping a pearl, symbolizing power, wisdom, protection, and balance in Japanese culture. The pearl contains the Sanskrit character for the year of the monkey, relating to Kiryu’s Chinese zodiac year (1968).

Ferocious and brave protectors, dragons are typically associated with hot-tempered individuals, though Kiryu’s silver-colored dragon also suggests purity of heart. During the events of Yakuza 0, only the outlines of the tattoo are present, but it has been seen in its completed state since then. The colors of red, white, gray, and black mirror the colors of Kiryu’s iconic outfit.

Utabori is the tattoo artist who designed Kiryu’s dragon, and his signature (歌彫) is displayed on the left-hand side of the design.

Attire

Throughout most of the series, Kiryu is seen donning his trademark outdated suit, consisting of a light grey two piece suit and a maroon dress shirt with a popped collar. In Yakuza 0, Kiryu explains that the light grey suit jacket symbolized how he didn’t feel “black or white”, morally speaking. He wears white snakeskin loafers with a snakeskin pattern, and his belt is black leather with a silver buckle. In Kiwami 2, he wears a silver watch (likely modeled after the SARB and/or SARX lines of watches by Seiko) on his left wrist.

In Yakuza 0, Kiryu initially wears a plain black suit with an untucked white shirt, black oxfords, and a gold chain. Once he and Nishikiyama have shopped for a “civilian” outfit, he changes to a white pinstriped peaked lapel double-breasted suit over an orange, chain-patterned dress shirt, a black leather belt with a gold buckle, and white monk strap shoes. He also wears a silver watch with a black leather watch band on his left wrist. He is later given vanity glasses to appear non-threatening when working as a representative of Tachibana Real Estate.

While residing in Okinawa, Kiryu is typically seen wearing a red and orange Hawaiian patterned button-down shirt with cream pants and brown oxfords. In Yakuza 5, he is commonly seen wearing his taxi-driver uniform that consists of a charcoal gray waistcoat and red tie over a white shirt, with matching pants and a pair of black leather oxfords. When not at work, he wears a light grey utility jacket with double-breasted pockets and a zip collar over his uniform. While in his apartment, he wears a grey hoodie and matching track-pants.

During his stay in Hiroshima in Yakuza 6, Kiryu wears a variation of his standard attire that omits his suit jacket and has the sleeves of his dress shirt rolled up. During the end of Yakuza 4 and Yakuza 6, he wears a white dress shirt with a black tie, black two piece suit, black leather belt with silver buckle, and black oxfords. This suit is buttoned up in Yakuza 4 and unbuttoned in Yakuza 6.

Personality

Kiryu is the stoic and honor-bound dreamer of the dark yakuza world, living by a strict code of honor and a very strong sense of justice. He is not the type to judge others and is generally accepting of anyone who is friendly towards him. He tends to be the listening ear to the world, giving advice in response to his environment rather than seeking out conversations. He is wise (but certainly not all-knowing) and generally means well for those around him, which makes him surprisingly pragmatic and well-liked. He still considers himself a yakuza at heart, and although he views violence as necessary, Kiryu is disgusted by violent yakuza who are corrupted by revenge and power, like Nishiki and young Daigo, and urges them to snap out of it.

Kiryu loves working with kids and is a strong caretaker to the children at Morning Glory Orphanage. He is genuine and understanding, bonding with the children through shared experiences. He tries to treat them all as fairly as possible and goes out of his way to keep them all safe and happy, whether it means staging a wrestling match to cheer them up or refusing to sell the land even in the face of a large sum of money. He also shows fondness for arcade games and believes that nobody is too old for them.

Kiryu sees the world in a more idealistic sense than a realistic one, though his views become more sober especially once he is forced to leave the orphanage. He believes that man can master his own destiny and viewed fate as a negative force to be combatted, so that he could return to a time where he could hang out with his friends, like Nishiki and Haruka, peacefully.

Kiryu tends to open up significantly around those he is comfortable with, though the people who he considers “friends” are few and far between. He is extremely loyal to Kazama to the point of joining the yakuza in the first place, despite his otherwise kind-hearted nature and Kazama’s refusal of his demands.

Kiryu appears to be somewhat awkward when it comes to everyday situations, especially in romance. Aside from Yumi Sawamura and Kaoru Sayama, Kiryu does not display much interest in pursuing women like his colleagues. When faced with a potential relationship with Mayumi, he repeatedly turns her down. When asked about it by his employer, Yotaro Nakajima, he is unable to come up with a reason why.

Background

Born on June 17, 1968, Kiryu lost both of his parents due to Shintaro Kazama, Captain of the Dojima Family, at a very young age. Out of guilt, Kazama became his foster father and raised him at Sunflower Orphanage, where he met and befriended Akira Nishikiyama and Yumi Sawamura, whose biological parents were also killed by Kazama. Nishikiyama and Kiryu both had a crush on Yumi.

As they grew up, Kiryu and Nishikiyama admired Kazama and considered him to be their role model. Their admiration became so fanatical that they even tried to join the yakuza, prompting Kazama to beat them on a rainy night. However, Kiryu cried out that he “idolized him” and that “orphans deserve to dream too”. Kazama eventually gave in after seeing how brave and determined the two boys were.

One of Kiryu’s earliest criminal misadventures occured on Christmas Eve, 1980, when Kiryu – out of concern for Kazama – follows him to a raid on the Korean Jingweon Mafia. While there, Kiryu interrupts Kazama’s negotiations with two Jingweon members. In the confusion caused by Kiryu’s sudden appearance, Kazama is forced to protect Kiryu by killing one of the operatives.

Involvement

Yakuza 0: 1988

The year is 1988, and Kiryu is a low-ranking member of the Dojima Family working as muscle for a debt collector. While on a collection run, Kiryu roughs up a man in the Empty Lot, taking the owed funds after he’s laying beaten on the ground. Later, while out with Akira Nishikiyama, the two overhear that the man had been murdered. Kiryu is summoned to the Dojima Family office by Keiji Shibusawa, Daisaku Kuze, and Hiroki Awano (the three Lieutenants of the Dojima Family, and Kiryu’s superiors) who accuse him of the murder. Kiryu learns that the man had died from a gunshot wound, and not as a result of the injuries inflicted upon him, to his relief. This motivates Kiryu to attempt to prove his innocence and find the true killer, rather than simply taking the blame and turning himself in, as was demanded by his superiors.

During this time, Shintaro Kazama – who at the time is the Captain of the Dojima Family – is in prison for an unrelated incident. Taking advantage of Kazama’s incarceration, Sohei Dojima, the Dojima Family Patriarch, seeks to dethrone Kazama using his ties to Kiryu, blaming the murder on his incompetence.

However, Kiryu refuses to sit by and allow Kazama to take the fall for him, and instead travels to the Dojima Family office to request to be expelled from the family. He plans to continue his investigation into the murder as a civilian without having to worry about the politics of the yakuza. After winning a fight against Kuze – who wants Kiryu executed for what he views as rebellion- Dojima agrees to expel Kiryu.

At a loss about where to begin with his investigation, Kiryu decides to accept an invitation to meet with Tetsu Tachibana at the latter’s office. Tachibana informs Kiryu that his company, Tachibana Real Estate, and the Dojima Family are having an all-out war over the acquisition of the Empty Lot. The lot happens to be standing in the way of a major redevelopment project planned in Kamurocho – the building that would become the Millennium Tower. Despite commenting on how Tachibana was equally as ruthless as the Dojima family, Kiryu agrees to side with Tachibana in this war, and begins a new life as an employee of Tachibana Real Estate.

Kiryu works alongside Jun Oda – Tachibana’s right-hand man and a senior employee of the company – to attempt to locate the owner of the Empty Lot. A majority of the Dojima Family members are not pleased that Kiryu has begun to work with the enemy, and they begin to attempt to use intimidation tactics on Kiryu, from blackmail to attempted murder. The threat becomes so great that Nishikiyama attempts to kill Kiryu as an act of mercy in order to spare him from torture and an inevitably painful death. Unable to kill his sworn brother, Nishikiyama is left behind by Kiryu, who distances himself from Nishiki, saying that they can no longer be brothers now that Kiryu has been expelled.

Upon Kiryu’s return to Kamurocho, he finds his apartment burned down and Dojima’s men flooding the city searching for him. Kiryu is eventually cornered by Kuze and forced into another battle before being rescued by Tachibana and escaping to a wharf on the outskirts of the city.

Tachibana appeals to the Tojo Clan with the promise of handing over the deed to the Empty Lot along with an extra ¥1,000,000,000 (¥500,000,000 in advance, with the other half promised afterwards) in exchange for Kiryu’s safety. This allows Kiryu to travel to Sotenbori with Oda to meet with the owner of the deed at Camellia Grove.

There they meet with Masaru Sera who has Makoto Makimura under his protection. However, Shibusawa has discovered their whereabouts and he and his men attempt to kill Kiryu and Makoto while they are on their way back to Kamurocho. After throwing them off their trail and hiding in a warehouse, Makoto tells Kiryu that Oda is not to be trusted, which leads to him holding Makoto at gunpoint. Makoto stabs him in the leg with a blade concealed in her cane, leaving Oda vulnerable to an attack by Kiryu. After coming clean about the truth of the situation, Oda allows Kiryu and Makoto to escape while he stays back to hold off Shibusawa and his men.

Laying low back in Kamurocho, Kiryu meets up with Tachibana, who explains that Kazama, knowing Kiryu, had anticipated these very actions, and he and Tachibana had been working together to find the Empty Lot owner, with Kazama attempting to seize the Empty Lot to stop Dojima from obtaining more power, and Tachibana simply wishing to reunite with his sister, Makoto.

During their meeting they are discovered by the assassin Lao Gui – who Tachibana suspects is the true killer that Kiryu has been searching for – who shoots Kiryu non-fatally, and leaves the two with no other options, forcing Tachibana to surrender.

Kiryu wakes up in Little Asia, nursed back to health by Chen, who gives Kiryu information on where Tachibana has been taken. On his way there, Kiryu runs into Nishikiyama, who had been promised a promotion if he killed Kiryu. Nishikiyama, still unable to abandon his former brother, chooses to side with Kiryu, and the two face off with the Dojima Family members together.

It’s too late by the time they reach the building where Tachibana is being held captive, and find him half-conscious, struck in the head with a sledgehammer. Kiryu and Nishikiyama fight off Kuze and his men, and Kiryu rushes to Tachibana’s side, who in his dying words reveals that Dojima had been the true mastermind all along, framing Kiryu in an attempt to push Kazama into action. Kiryu tearfully tells Kuze that he’ll destroy every last one of Dojima’s men if Makoto comes to harm. He picks up Tachibana’s lifeless body and carries him outside to where his sister waits.

Not long after, he is contacted again by Sera, who relays to him that Shibusawa has found Makoto, and Dojima has awarded him with Kazama’s former position of captain. Shibusawa has begun to purge any of Kazama’s loyalists from the family; most notably Kiryu and Nishikiyama.

Kiryu faces Kuze one last time, who after being defeated, reveals that Shibusawa intends to raid the Nikkyo Consortium’s HQ, intending to kill Makoto – who is being held there – and cement his authority.

Upon arriving at the Consortium’s headquarters, Kiryu and Nishikiyama are met by Kashiwagi, who brings with him the rest of the family members still loyal to Kazama. Kiryu faces off with Shibusawa, who intends to make his mark by killing Kiryu. In a blind rage, Kiryu savagely beats up Shibusawa, infuriated at the pain and suffering he has caused, and nearly strikes a killing blow, but is stopped at the last moment by Nishiki.

Kiryu is finally cleared of all charges, and makes the decision to return to the Dojima Family under renewed oaths, much to Nishikiyama’s surprise. He did this because he wanted to find his own path as a yakuza, “different from Kazama’s”.

Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 0908603917

Circa 1993, Kiryu was held captive and tortured by Lau Ka Long for competing with his passport forgery business, before being saved by Shintaro Kazama.

In 1995, after completing his final debt collecting job from Peace Finance, Kiryu is informed that Yumi had been kidnapped by Patriarch Dojima. By the time Kiryu arrived at the scene, Nishikiyama is already there, already having murdered Patriarch Dojima to prevent him from raping Yumi. Knowing Nishikiyama’s younger sister Yuko was in a hospital bed, Kiryu voluntarily takes the fall for Nishikiyama, allowing the other two to escape.

10 years later, Kiryu returns to Kamurocho for answers and is directed to Kazuki and Yuya in Stardust to reunite with Kazama at the funeral of Masaru Sera following his assassination. However, the Tojo Clan is in disarray from losing 10 billion yen. Kiryu finds himself in the middle of the incident during the funeral, being accused of the attempted murder of Kazama. He escapes with the help of Makoto Date and is told to look for Yumi. While looking for her, he encounters a mysterious 9-year-old girl named Haruka Sawamura, who claims to be Yumi’s niece. She then comes to rely on him as they search for her mother Mizuki Sawamura, who is also being targeted by the Tojo Clan for unknown reasons.

Haruka leads Kiryu to Ares, where he learns from her of Yumi’s pendant, and from Hiroshi Hayashi that the forces at play are also targeting Haruka. For more information, Date directs him to Purgatory to seek the Florist of Sai. He passes the Florist’s test and learns that Nishikiyama is after the 10 billion yen, which is instrumental in deciding the Tojo Clan’s fourth chairman. Date arrives to let them know the Majima Family had kidnapped Haruka. He rescues her at the Yoshida Batting Center after defeating Majima.

After helping Date and the Florist with their familial issues, he learns that Mizuki may be dead. He keeps this information secret from Haruka and visits Utabori for more clues. The secrecy causes Haruka to run off, getting kidnapped by mysterious men in the process. Date and Kiryu rescue her and keep her safe in Purgatory before Kiryu heads to Serena to reunite with Nishikiyama.

The brothers’ attempt at reconciliation fails as Kiryu learns Nishikiyama had shot Kazama. Kiryu subdues the Nishikiyama Family members sent after him, and learns Haruka had been kidnapped by the Snake Flower Triad through Bloody Eye as a proxy. He heads to Yokohama and rescues her again, but is arrested by Junichi Sudo for a presumed kidnapping. Date breaks him out and he tells Kiryu and Haruka that Mizuki is in fact alive and the MIA are involved. They are then chased by the Snake Flower Triad but Kiryu fends them off.

Shinji Tanaka, who had kept Kazama in hiding, informs Kiryu that there is a mole. With help from the Florist, he learns Reina had betrayed them and leaked intel to Nishikiyama. He tries to confront her at Serena, but discovers Shinji had fled with her after she attempted to kill Nishikiyama. At the top of a parking lot where the two had fled, Kiryu arrives too late, as Shinji had been critically injured and Reina killed by Kazuto Arase. Kiryu defeats Arase, but Shinji is unable to survive and bleeds out.

Kiryu follows Shinji’s message and heads to Shangri-La, where he learns Kazama is waiting at Shibaura Wharf, but Majima arrives and sends the facility into disrepair for a fight. At Shibaura Wharf, Kiryu gets acquainted with Yukio Terada and learns the following from Kazama: Yumi is Mizuki, Haruka’s father is Kyohei Jingu, and Yumi was a participant of the 10 billion yen theft. Futoshi Shimano and his family arrive to kill Kazama, but Osamu Kashiwagi arrives with reinforcements. Kazama is mortally wounded by a grenade after Kiryu carelessly turns his back to Shimano, who is promptly killed in return. Kazama gives Kiryu Sera’s will and tells him he is the one who killed his biological parents before passing.

With Haruka, Kiryu reaches the top of the Millennium Tower and finally reunites with Yumi, but they are interrupted by Jingu. Kiryu defeats Jingu and his men, later confronting Nishikiyama and fighting it out after the latter declares his ambitions. Following Kiryu’s victory, Jingu returns to shoot him in the leg but before he can fatally shoot him, Yumi jumps in the way to take the bullet and Nishikiyama detonates a bomb to kill Jingu and himself. Yumi dies from her injury, and Kiryu is willing to go to jail after having lost seemingly everyone, but Date reminds him he still has Haruka. Kiryu, who became the fourth Tojo Clan chairman from Sera’s will, passes chairmanship to Terada in order to start a new life with Haruka.

Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2: 2006

It has been a year since Kiryu became 4th Chairman of Tojo clan, resigned from Tojo Clan on the same day, and decided to say farewell to his Yakuza life to live in peace with Haruka.

Now, Kiryu is 38 years old when the fifth Chairman of the Tojo Clan, Yukio Terada, is assassinated on December 15, 2006. To fill in the vacuum of power within the Tojo Clan, Kiryu wants Sohei Dojima’s son, Daigo Dojima, to take the clan’s leadership and prevent an upcoming yakuza families war between Tojo Clan of the Kanto region and Omi Alliance of the Kansai region, which was Terada’s wish.

But Daigo does not want such a responsibility. Kiryu convinces him to travel to Sotenbori, Osaka. Here he encounters a new enemy named Ryuji Goda, also known as the Dragon of Kansai who is none other than the son of the 5th Chairman of Omi Alliance, Jin Goda.

Ryuji’s father wants to avoid unnecessary bloodshed with war and makes preparations for a peace treaty. However, Ryuji does not wish for peace and neither does the majority of members of the Omi Alliance and decides to interrupt the treaty by starting a riot.

At the same time, the Osaka Police Department assigned Kaoru Sayama, an investigator from the police department’s fourth division to watch/protect Kiryu from escalating incidents, but got caught up in the riot herself.

The former Yakuza and a female inspector are now working together to prevent the war between two of the biggest Yakuza clans, as well as a mysterious shadow group who seems to be working behind the scenes for some other motivation.

In Yakuza 2, Kiryu works as a host at Club Adam for a side mission and helps to manage a Kamurocho Cabaret Club. In Kiwami 2 however, this was retconned to him managing Osaka’s Four Shine Cabaret Club in a side story with the same mechanics as Majima’s club management in the Yakuza 0, under Majima’s supervision.

Yakuza 3: 0908603917

Following the feud with the Omi Alliance, Kiryu and Haruka move to Okinawa to run Morning Glory Orphanage.

Their peaceful lives last only a few short months before Kiryu receives an eviction notice from the Ryudo Family, a local yakuza clan who owns their land. On his way to confront the group, Kiryu runs into Rikiya Shimabukuro and Mikio Aragaki, the former losing to Kiryu in a fistfight, and leads the way to see their patriarch, Shigeru Nakahara. Ultimately, he refuses to rescind the eviction notice, and Kiryu returns to the orphanage.

Several days later, Rikiya arrives at Morning Glory in order to ask for Kiryu’s help in rescuing Nakahara’s adopted daughter, Saki. Rikiya and Kiryu discover that Saki has been taken by the rival Tamashiro Family, intending to use her as a bargaining chip against the Ryudo Family, and confront the patriarch, Tetsuo Tamashiro. Saki is safely rescued and returned to her father, and Nakahara, overjoyed with the return of his daughter, insists that Kiryu officially become his oath brother.

They are interrupted by Daigo Dojima, now 6th Chairman of the Tojo Clan, who reveals that the Tojo had been in charge of the project responsible for the eviction of Kiryu and his neighbours. He tells the two men that he has arrived in Okinawa to put a stop to the resort/military base deal, and Kiryu and his family will no longer be required to leave Morning Glory.

Six months later, Nakahara is shot by a man resembling Shintaro Kazama, and the deeds to the orphanage and surrounding properties are stolen from the Ryudo Family’s office.

Kiryu is called back to Kamurocho by Kashiwagi, who informs him that Daigo has also been shot by a man resembling Kazama.

Yakuza 4: 2010

While still running the Morning Glory Orphanage, one day, Kiryu and Haruka found a man who washed up onto the beach of their home. The man has a tiger tattoo on his back and calls himself Suzuki and, after being nursed back to health, requests money to travel to Kamurocho. Kiryu suspected this man was an escaped convict and initially, resists his request. But after Haruka convinces him otherwise, Kiryu sends him with clothes and money to Kamurocho after learning the man’s true name is Saejima.

A few days later, another man washes up on the beach. This man was Goh Hamazaki, the man who stabbed Kiryu in the stomach with a knife one year ago. Despite their terrible history and strong protest from Haruka, Kiryu nurses him back to health. When Hamazaki recovers, he reveals that he and Saejima escaped together from prison, and the prison he was staying in is a stronghold of all of the underworld money laundering and corruption by using all of the top criminals as their pawns by making inside deals. In the document that Hamazaki had with him, it was revealed that there was a transaction from Kyohei Jingu’s account for a sum of 10 billion yen, the exact amount of money that was lost from Tojo Clan back in 2005. It was also revealed that the Ueno Seiwa Clan was planning on stealing the Kamurocho Hills project from the Tojo Clan and selling all of them to an unknown group.

Then Kiryu meets another person in town. Her name is Yasuko Saejima, who was looking for her brother who was transferred in Okinawa. Kiryu suspected something was at work in the Tojo clan, and before things got out of control he decided to leave for Kamurocho to figure out what was going on. Against the wishes of Haruka, Kiryu once again steps into the murky underworld of the Yakuza as he leaves Haruka behind to watch over the other children at the Orphanage while he and Yasuko return to Kamurocho to meet up with Date to protect Yasuko from people seeking her out. Heading to the Millenium Tower to seek an explanation from Daigo, he finds that Majima had been arrested and explains that the whole deal with the missing yen relates to the 1985 hit. Returning to find Yasuko, he returns to New Serena only to find Date knocked out by Yasuko and that she had gone to find Tanimura and Akiyama on her own. As they retreat into the sewers to get Yasuko to Purgatory in time, Kiryu faces the duo and defeats them only to learn that Purgatory has been compromised and Yasuko has been captured and Akiyama’s fortune taken by Kido who has now aligned himself with Katsuragi.

Using the audit stolen by Hamazaki, Kiryu agrees to a trade-off for the lives of the Saejima as he goes through a gauntlet of Katsuragi’s men. Encountering Katsuragi, Kiryu begins the exchange with Yasuko as he hands over the file to Kido. Kido then shoots Katsuragi and reveals his true allegiance was with Arai. However, Arai shoots as well as he suspects Kido is a plant because Kiryu calls him out on his treachery. After the two men take their leave, Taiga decides that it is time to decide the fate of Katsuragi and decides to spare him as he has no allies or assets left and is likely to be cast aside once Arai assumes control of the Tojo with Daigo as a puppet ruler. However, it is revealed Katsuragi had a bulletproof vest and a gun and wounds Taiga. As he attempts to make the killing shot on Taiga, Yasuko shields her brother and she is fatally shot. In one last attempt at redemption, she makes her final murder as she kills Katsuragi, avenging the Saejima siblings for 25 years of turmoil at the cost of Yasuko’s life.

Licking their wounds at New Serena, Kiryu and company are distraught at how despite Katsuragi’s death that the true mastermind has seemingly triumphed over them. With Munakata and Arai still alive and Daigo collaborating with the police, they feel like they could do nothing to stop Munakata’s ambitions. Kiryu then receives a phone call from Haruka of Hamazaki’s passing and his final message to Taiga to protect the clan at all costs. Inspiring Taiga to fight again with Kiryu and the others. They pay their respects to Hamazaki and Yasuko and begin their counterattack

At Millenium Tower, the whole truth was revealed. Kido was planted by Daigo as he suspected Arai was a police plant and sought to root him out only to be outwitted by Munakata who revealed his intention to arrest them all and take the money for themselves. Before they could do that, Kiryu and company descended upon them and Kiryu fought Daigo as payback for Majima’s arrest and his poor decisions and emerged victorious.

In the credits, Kiryu oversaw Saejima’s ceremony as a family head in the Tojo with Majima and Daigo welcoming him to the Clan.

Yakuza 5: 0908603917

In the summer of 2011, Mirei Park approaches Kiryu to scout Haruka, telling him he needs to leave and hide their connection so she can be a star. Kiryu refuses, saying the kids need him, but she convinces him that he is holding them back and he relents. As a result of this deal, Kiryu leaves Morning Glory Orphanage for Nagasugai, Fukuoka, where he lives alone under the alias Taichi Suzuki and works as a taxi driver for Nagasu Taxi after Youtaro Nakajima found him and offered him a job. He has very little contact with Haruka or the other children, though he sends nearly all of his paycheck to the orphanage.

He is taken care of by a hostess named Mayumi, who he had rescued from a brawl when he first arrived in Fukuoka. Despite her insistence, he refuses to take their relationship anywhere past casual friends, and Mayumi is frustrated by being treated like a caretaker. His life in Fukuoka is one of loneliness as he struggles to move on without the company of Haruka and his other children.

While Daigo is in Fukuoka negotiating a treaty with the patriarch of the Yamagasa Family, he finds himself in the back of Kiryu’s taxi. Daigo tells Kiryu about the current state of the Tojo Clan, saying that the current patriarch of the Omi Alliance is on his deathbed with terminal lung cancer and that the alliance between the two clans is likely to falter when his successor takes over. Daigo says that he’s doing the best he can as patriarch, but Kiryu remains silent, and Daigo takes it to mean that he has to learn to walk on his own instead of relying on Kiryu or others for support. He drops Daigo off on the side of the road and drives off.

After resolving an issue he had caused between rival companies, Kiryu and his boss, Nakajima head out for drinks. The two make their way to Club Olivier – the hostess club where Mayumi works – where Nakajima’s drunken protests rile up two members of the Yamagasa Family, ending with him being left unconscious. After the two head their separate ways, Kiryu heads back to his apartment to reflect on the events of the day.

After work the next day he is met by Yuu Morinaga and Masato Aizawa, members of the Tojo Clan who were running security for Daigo during his visit to Fukuoka. They inform Kiryu that Daigo has gone missing and that the last person he had contact with was Kiryu and asks him to help him find Daigo and return to the Tojo to help prevent a war between the Omi and Tojo which he rebuffs with a fight. Aizawa and Morinaga later show up at Kiryu’s house the following day, having gotten into a brawl with Yamagasa men. They learn Minoru Aoyama has taken up being the interim chairman of Tojo Clan and asks for his help fearing that Aoyama will attempt to usurp Daigo.

While going to retrieve his boss Nakajima from a diner Kiryu is met by Kazuhiko Serizawa, an Osakan detective from its Organized Crime unit. He warns Kiryu that he needs to meet with Omi Alliance Lieutenant Masaru Watase unless Aizawa and Morinaga act first and cause a war. Kiryu meets with Watase who reveals he has no interest in Daigo and thus doesn’t know where he is, but he does reveal a lot of information was leaked by Aoyama. Kiryu rushes to the hotel where Madarame and Aoyama are only to find Madarame stabbed after trying to shoot Aoyama. Aoyama was planning to take over the Tojo Clan and thus framed Kiryu for attacking Madarame and shooting Morinaga. Kiryu fights his way out, but Aoyama sets off the explosives in the hotel and eliminates any evidence.

The following morning, Kiryu finds Mayumi at his apartment as she attempts to consummate her relationship with him but he rejects out of respect for his relationship with Sayama and reveals that he knew the truth that she was spying on him. She reveals that she is Madarame’s daughter and was tasked with watching Kiryu as a favor to Daigo to keep Kiryu’s life peaceful and as gratitude. He reveals Daigo also was never abducted but has instead gone into hiding as he believed that Aoyama was making an attempt on his life. With Daigo sorting out affairs incognito, Madarame gives Kiryu a letter for Yahata. Kiryu meets with Yahata and shows him the letter ordering the dissolution of the Yamagasa Family. Yahata agrees but he’s still intent on fighting the Tojo. Kiryu tears up the letter, saying that the Yamagasa need to remain intact to keep the peace in Fukuoka. As such, he has Yahata call up Aoyama demanding to meet at the docks for a battle.

Instead of having the Yamagasa and Tojo fight, Kiryu proposes he take on Aoyama’s forces by himself as that won’t be a war and Watase agrees to the terms as a mediator, allowing the Yamagasa family to have Kiryu as their champion. He battles his way through Aoyama’s men and savagely beats Aoyama as a warning. Aoyama confesses his ploy wasn’t to take over the Tojo but to lure Kiryu out of hiding. Before Aoyama can reveal his master’s identity he’s shot in the head by Morinaga who was in on the plan from the start. He admits to murdering Aizawa and declares that Kiryu goes to Kamurocho for answers.

Two days later Kiryu meets with Serizawa who informs him they found Aizawa’s brutalized body and wonders if Kiryu is going to Tokyo. Kiryu refuses as he was assured that both Daigo and Majima will be to resolve the issue without him, but the detective tells him to listen to the news. On the car radio, Kiryu hears that a murder victim has been found in Sapporo and was identified as Goro Majima. Kiryu makes his decision to go to Kamurocho to confront Morinaga. Then Kiryu dons his grey suit and heads to Tokyo, bidding farewell to the photograph of the children at his orphanage.

As Kiryu arrives in Tokyo, he quickly realizes that he’s being followed by none other than Baba who admits that he’s an accomplice in the Omi Alliance’s plan and that the main objective of the plan was to draw out Saejima and Kiryu due to them being seen as the pillars of the Tojo Clan. However, Baba is not working with Morinaga whose actions in Fukuoka were the doing of him and Aoyama. Currently, three main families are vying for the Chairman position with the Watase, Katsuya, and one other person.

Then Baba and Kiryu see a broadcast saying Haruka’s concert has been canceled, making Kiryu even more certain of Katsuya’s guilt which Saejima and Aizawa also see. Kiryu tells Baba to relay a message to Haruka and heads off to the Kamurocho Hills. Kiryu and Saejima fight their way through the Omi Alliance members separately until they reach Katsuya in his suite with Watase following after. On the roof of the hotel, Katsuya admits he is not the mastermind, but had to trick Kiryu, Saejima, and Watase into showing up in order to lure out the culprit. Saejima fights Katsuya while Kiryu fights Watase. Both Kiryu and Saejima defeat Katsuya and Watase. Then Kiryu and Saejima fight and have a draw. They are then shot by Detective Serisawa who Watase and Katsuya say is Tsubasa Kurosawa, the Seventh Chairman of the Omi Alliance. Daigo shows up to intervene but is shot by a traitorous Kanai. Then later, Akiyama and Shinada then meet with Kiryu and Saejima at New Serena, Akiyama coming to the conclusion that Majima, Katsuya, and Park worked behind the scenes to draw out Kurosawa and that they need to cancel Haruka’s concert lest her life is in danger. Kiryu refuses to let that happen and the four plan a way to protect Haruka during her concert. Kurosawa is then met by Majima who was asked to perform one task for him to protect Haruka’s life.

Kurosawa’s men, disguised as members of the Majima Family, arrive at Millennium Tower and begin opening fire. With Majima at the top of the tower and Haruka’s concert underway, Akiyama and Kiryu stayed behind to fend off Kurosawa’s men, while Shinada and Saejima went through the tunnels to the Japan Dome with Shinada fighting Baba. Later, Kiryu gets a call and goes to the Tojo clan to find who is the culprit for taking over the clan and killing its members.

At Tojo Clan’s headquarters, Kiryu finds Aizawa who is Kurosawa’s son among the dead Tojo patriarchs, his legacy, and the culprit. Kurosawa, panicking after his terminal diagnosis returns, wanted to leave Aizawa the entirety of the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance as a legacy, though Aizawa is only interested in besting Kiryu in a battle to prove who’s stronger. After an arduous battle, Kiryu emerges victorious despite his wounds opening.

At the concert, Haruka confesses to her audience about her past and how Kiryu was previously a yakuza. She announces she’s retiring from the entertainment industry before running out of the Japan Dome. Kiryu collapses in the snowy streets of Tokyo but is found by Haruka, the two of them finally reunited.

Yakuza 6: 0908603917

After the events of December 2012, Kiryu is brought to the hospital after being severely injured and found by Haruka. Police arrive to arrest Kiryu for property damage and assault on yakuza in Kamurocho. At the rooftop of the hospital he is staying at, he has a chat with Daigo, who tells him that he can easily avoid going to prison if he hires a lawyer. Kiryu accepts his fate because he wants to clean his slate and try to wipe away his connection to the Tojo Clan so he can live peacefully with the children of Morning Glory.

In mid-2013, Kiryu sits in prison and Haruka visits him in order to talk about the situation at the orphanage and tells him she will try to endure things as best she can. In December 2016, Kiryu gets released from prison and returns to Morning Glory, where he learns that Haruka suddenly disappeared three years ago in order to keep the orphans safe from the paparazzi who were spying on her. Seeing the news article about her and lamenting that he did not notice Haruka’s worries the last time they talked, Kiryu tells the orphans he is to blame for her disappearance. Kiryu leaves the next day for Kamurocho after bidding farewell to the orphans.

Kiryu learns that Akiyama is hiding in the sewers in order to avoid the Saio Triad. Upon finding him, Kiryu was greeted with a bunch of Triad members and they defeat them. Kiryu gets a call from Date who tells him that the police had found Haruka, who is being hospitalized after an accident. Date tells him that Haruka was protecting someone who turns out to be her son, Haruto, much to Kiryu’s surprise. Kiryu asks for the identity of the father, but the detective says they have no leads.

Kiryu briefly visits the Tojo Clan HQ, where he meets Takumi Someya and the acting chairman Katsumi Sugai. At the hospital, Nojiri from Child Protective Services intends to have Haruto sent to an orphanage as he has no other legal relatives. Kiryu intends to take Haruto away with him, much to Akiyama’s disagreement. After Kiryu defeats Akiyama, the latter gives up and allows Kiryu to take Haruto away. At New Serena, Date reveals to Kiryu that the police managed to recover Haruka’s smartphone, and found a photograph that reveals she was in Hiroshima for the last three years.

Kiryu then heads out Onomichi with Haruto in hand to find his biological father. One of the first people he encounters are Tsuyoshi Nagumo, the captain of the Hirose Family, and Kiyomi Kasahara, the owner of a local snack bar. The next morning, Kiryu arrives at Kiyomi’s bar; she asks him to play baseball. Nagumo’s aggression starts a fight, and Matsunaga and Yuta team up with him to try defeating Kiryu.

Kiryu later saves Nagumo from Koji Masuzoe, earning him Nagumo’s respect. He is brought back to the Hirose Family office, where he is introduced to the patriarch and Naoto Tagashira. The next day, he goes to the Hirose family office to ask about Haruka. Kiryu notices them react strangely when he shows them her picture and realizes they are keeping a secret from him. Kiryu heads to Ryunan Shrine with Kiyomi, where he tells her he will wait until they are ready to talk about Haruka, as he has taken a liking to them. He leaves Haruto with her and fights Kanji Koshimizu to stop Matsunaga from getting into trouble. He then returns to his apartment, where Nagumo meets him. Outside, Kiryu at last learns that everyone knew of Haruka and her past but chose to keep the secret to themselves, but they don’t know who Haruto’s father is and directs him to Kiyomi, whom she worked for before she disappeared again. On the way to meet Kiyomi, he reminisces about Haruka. Before they can discuss Haruto’s father, they are interrupted by Someya. When he leaves, Kiryu decides to end their conversation as Kiyomi had been shaken up by the reunion.

When Kiyomi is kidnapped, the Hirose Family and Kiryu raid the Tojo Clan’s place of residence, where Kiryu clashes with Someya. Someya reveals he has no tattoo on his back, as it is a hindrance in this day and age, to which Kiryu states a tattoo should represent the person and be a symbol for others to follow. Following Someya’s defeat, he enters the room Kiyomi is in and meets Heizo Iwami and Tsuneo Iwami, and is taken on a boat to bear witness to an alliance between Someya and Koshimizu. Kiryu refuses, as doing so would be betraying the currently-arrested sixth chairman. Kiryu and the Hirose members return to the office, where they discuss the failed plan and Kiyomi states her suspicion of Shu Tatsukawa being Haruto’s father, as she overheard a phone call where he was talking about an abortion. Yuta and Nagumo choose to follow him to Kamurocho.

The three arrive in Kamurocho and meet Yuya who them that Stardust was bought out by the Jingweon Mafia, and he has no info on Tatsukawa. Joon-gi Han enters and invites them to Stardust. Han asks to fight in the new ring exchange for information on Tatsukawa. Kiryu steps in and defeats Han after Yuta fought in his stead and was effortlessly beaten. Han shows respect after being defeated and gives his info on Tatsukawa: that he is in Senryo Avenue. When they arrive, they find Tatsukawa’s rotting corpse. Kiryu, Yuta, and Nagumo meet Akiyama, who gives them masks and they sneak inside, eventually fighting the Saio Triad before Kiryu reaches and defeats Ed. Masuzoe arrives after Ed’s defeat and reveals his loyalty to the Saio before being joined by the triad’s leader, Big Lo. Lo orders his men to let them go and Kiryu is told to meet Lo alone in Shangri-La.

Back at Serena, Date reveals they have little information surrounding Tatsukawa and Yuta tells them he learned there is a secret in Onomichi that must be protected. Someya arrives, wanting to meet Lo, and they head to Shangri-La together. At the top, they meet Lo, and Someya leaves after being defeated by Kiryu for intending to kill Lo. Lo states he has information on Tatsukawa, which is unneeded as he is not Haruto’s father. Kiryu receives a call from Yuta who tells him Hirose has kidnapped Haruto.

They immediately return to Hiroshima, where Kiyomi fills them in on what happened. They do some searching and Kiryu learns that Hirose is at Ryunan Shrine. Kiryu, with the other Hirose Family members, head to the shrine, where Hirose reveals his involvement with Haruka’s second disappearance as well as Haruto’s father: Yuta Usami. Masuzoe walks in and reveals Yuta’s heritage and the reasons for wanting Haruto aborted or dead. The Jingweon Mafia and Joon-gi Han arrive for Haruto. Kiryu fends them off while the Hirose Family try to keep Haruto away from them. At the Hirose Family office, Nagumo arrives, informing them of Haruto’s abduction by the Jingweon, but Yuta is reluctant to go. Nagumo’s attempt at disciplining him is stopped by Kiryu, who punches Yuta through the door of the office and chews him out for his unwillingness to save his son.

At the docks, Yuta arrives, having changed his mind and begging to join them, and Kiryu accepts his apology. On the way, Hirose reveals how heihaizi were being smuggled into Onomichi and Matsunaga suspects Minoru Daidoji is involved with the secret of Onomichi. Kiryu and the other Hirose Family members fight through the Jingweon members. Kiryu is eventually defeats Han, who is killed by a hidden assassin after almost revealing the secret of Onomichi. Kiryu returns Haruto to Yuta and they all return to Onomichi.

Kiryu returns to his apartment, inviting Yuta along as he should be with his son. He states he wants to go to Kamurocho to settle things with Lo to put Haruto out of danger, and Kiryu tells him he was planning the same thing. The next day, they head to Kamurocho and meet with Date at Serena. Yuta sneaks out during their discussion. Kiryu fights through a burning building and confronts Yuta at the top, telling him he will not allow him to let Haruto grow without a father. They leave with Big Lo in tow, who tells them Tsuneo had ordered Tatsukawa to take the child even though he recalled the order, and Hirose is pulling the strings behind the secret of Onomichi. Kiryu joins Lo on the roof and is handed a memory drive with the information on the secret on Onomichi before Lo leaves. Back downstairs, Yuta asks to join Kiryu’s investigation at Onomichi, but Kiryu tells him he needs to be with Haruka. When Yuta insists, Date handcuffs him and takes him to the hospital.

Kiryu returns and convinces the Hirose members to help him investigate Hirose. They are led to a shipyard and split off to fight Yomei members, Kiryu and Tagashira arriving at an open space when Hirose confronts them. Tagashira heads deeper while Kiryu fights and beats Hirose, eventually revealing the secret of Onomichi: the Yamato Mark II. Heizo arrives and explains that, while not operational, it is evidence of Daidoji’s crimes and was used as leverage against him. Hirose is unable to kill his foster children and Heizo shoots him before departing. Hirose reveals he took them in after killing their parents and states he hoped they would be the ones to kill him, before he passes. Kiryu is shaken by Hirose’s similarity to his own foster father Shintaro Kazama.

Hirose’s death is being mourned when Kiryu receives a call from Yuta that Haruka has woken up. When Kiryu and the Hirose Family arrive in Kamurocho, he has them wait in Serena. He heads to the hospital and reunites with Haruka for the first time in years. He tells Haruka he thought he would lecture her for disappearing, but he is far too relieved to see her alive and well, and Haruka apologizes for her actions. He calls Someya afterward and learns that he should head to the Millennium Tower to face Tsuneo and Sugai. Kiryu tells Haruka he is taking Yuta, promising to bring him back safe, then expressing his pride in her and departing.

Kiryu heads to the Millennium Tower along with Akiyama and the Hirose Family. He reaches the top alone, facing Someya who has seemingly betrayed him and finding that Sugai and Tsuneo are communicating by TV screen as they had already fled. After defeating Someya, Kiryu learns he turned because they had Kiyomi hostage. Tsuneo says he will spare her if Kiryu kills Someya, who stabs himself after Kiryu hesitates. Nagumo arrives in time to witness Someya’s sacrifice being pointless, as Tsuneo has Koshimizu shoot Kiyomi. Someya bleeds out, entrusting his daughter to Kiryu and Nagumo.

They return to Serena and mourn Kiyomi before splitting. Kiryu joins Nagumo on the roof and they decide to head to where Tsuneo and Sugai are, alone. They return to Onomichi and reach the warehouse where their enemies are waiting. Kiryu defeats Koshimizu but is helpless as they reveal they had Haruka and Haruto taken hostage, but the remaining Hirose Family arrive in time to rescue them. Kiryu stands up and tells “Little baby Iwami” he is about to understand the fight he picked. He defeats Tsuneo and refuses to show any mercy to him, but he orders Sugai to shoot the hostages. Kiryu punches him out cold and runs in front of Haruto, Haruka, and Yuta to take the bullets, protecting the three of them. Kiryu lays in Yuta’s arms and tells him to protect his new family. Haruka begs him to not die, but he tells her with a smile to bring Yuta and Haruto happiness. Then, he passes out.

In a hospital, he wakes up with an unnamed politician by his side and Date looking in from outside the room. The politician introduces himself as someone mentored by Daidoji and tells him of the uproar the Yamato Mark II’s reveal has caused. He attempts to bribe Kiryu into silence, but Kiryu refuses. He leverages his position to make the politician accept his conditions: free Daigo from prison and forge his death certificate. Date barges in, attempting to dissuade him from this course of action as he will never see his loved ones again, but Kiryu affirms his decision. Near the end of 2016, Kiryu is officially declared dead.

In early 2017, Haruka has fully recovered and moved back to Okinawa with Yuta and Haruto, and Daigo is freed from prison, Kiryu having written him a letter to apologize for failing him as his father figure and telling him not to go to war with the Yomei Alliance. Daigo follows his wishes and approaches the Yomei with a pact of alliance. At Morning Glory Orphanage, Kiryu takes one last look at everything he built and quietly bids his loved ones a forever farewell before walking off to parts unknown.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 2019

Kiryu appears for the first time during the announcement of the dissolution of the Omi Alliance, where he fights alongside Ichiban Kasuga and his party to protect Watase from revolting members. When Daigo questions how Watase managed to find Kiryu, he just shrugs it off by saying Kiryu is nothing more than “a bodyguard he hired.”

He later tracks Kasuga down in Ijincho to deliver information about Ryo Aoki’s plans, stopping him from senselessly beating up and taking his anger out on an Omi grunt. Initially wanting to give information, he then refuses, confusing and angering the hotheaded ex-yakuza. He tells Kasuga to meet him at the Geomijul hideout, where Kiryu challenges Kasuga to a duel to see whether he and his friends are worthy of the information Kiryu has of Aoki. A lengthy fight ensues, and Kiryu emerges the victor. Despite Kasuga and his party losing the fight, Kasuga’s sheer resolve and pure heart earned him Kiryu’s trust, and he goes on to inform him that Aoki plans to kill Jo Sawashiro. Kasuga asks Kiryu to lend them his strength, but he refuses, unable to come out of hiding due to the deal he made, and according to Seong-Hui, Kiryu established a connection with Minoru Daidoji’s men in return for his deal, even though Daidoji already died in 2016. He leaves after telling Kasuga that although he has a long way to go, he can be great someday as long as he trusts in his peers.

After Kasuga and company defeat Shin Amon at the top of the Millennium Tower, Kiryu appears and expresses confidence in Kasuga’s potential as a new rising dragon, hoping that he will live an honest life.

Other Media

Yakuza: Dead Souls

In Kiryu’s chapter, he’s first seen walking towards a small rally in front of a bordering wall between the safe zone and quarantine zone. After a futile attempt at calling Haruka, two dump trucks charged past him at high speed and crashed into the wall, much to the anger of one of the riot police. He then walks past the damaged wall to the quarantine zone and finds himself a small mob of zombies and proceeds to fight them bare-handed. After defeating them, Kiryu instantly remembers Haruka’s words that Kamurocho is falling apart.

The next scene shifts to Okinawa, where Kiryu receives a letter which states that the headmaster of the school that Haruka attends is retiring and invites Haruka to her farewell party. Haruka heads for Tokyo to attend the invitation.

Returning to the zombie outbreak, Kiryu was surprised that the zombies were still pretty much alive after trying hard to fend them off. Not so long after, a female SDF soldier named Asagi took Kiryu to a safe spot at the Underground Mall, where she said that she was surprised to see Kiryu survived without a gun. She offered him a handgun, which Kiryu declined. Kiryu told her that he was looking for Haruka, and the soldier told Kiryu to investigate Kamurocho Hills, where a group of people was holed up and set a barricade. A short while later, a gunshot sound was heard and Kiryu promptly followed her to the underground car park complex to locate a civilian, who turned out to be Nagahama, who went to Kamurocho to look for Kiryu. Unfortunately, both were too late, and Nagahama turned into a zombie shortly after succumbing to his injury. Asagi initially tried to shoot the zombified Nagahama, but Kiryu prevented her from doing so and decided to fight him bare-handed with futile results. After knocking down the zombified Nagahama, Asagi pulled her gun again, but Kiryu stopped her and took her gun and performed what appeared to be a mercy kill to Nagahama before heading to Kamurocho Hills.

After exiting the basement car park, Hasegawa met Kiryu and told him a few things, namely the zombie outbreak and an arms dealer named Kamiyama. After meeting him, Kiryu received a message about a back door at Pink Street and the recently quarantined establishments.

Having been equipped with weapons from Kamiyama, Kiryu and Asagi now made their way to Kamurocho Hills. Inside, Asagi realized that the place was swarming with zombies, but Kiyu suggested going inside to see what was what. After reaching the supermarket on the 2nd floor, Asagi and Kiryu encountered a now-zombified Hiroshi Hayashi, a former Omi Alliance yakuza. Much to Asagi’s fear, there were also zombified SDF soldiers along with the zombified Hayashi. Asagi felt saddened after defeating the zombified SDF soldiers. Kiryu tried to approach her, but was interrupted by a suspicious noise that turned out to be Majima.

Outside the tower, Kiryu and Majima had a short talk, where Kiryu revealed that the invitation was fake and only meant to lure Kiryu out and that Haruka’s kidnapped at the moment. Majima told Kiryu that a man named Nikaido of the Omi Alliance took Haruka and caused the zombie outbreak in Kamurocho. A little while later, Asagi bid farewell to Kiryu and asked about the survivors. Majima told her that the survivors are evacuated to Purgatory and that Haruka might be there as well. Later on, Kiryu and Asagi made it into the Purgatory, where Kiryu met Akiyama, where Akiyama told about a man named Nikaido and that The Florist has a new lead about the zombie outbreak, which is a Japanese-American man who goes under the alias of DD and a popular figure in the arms trading business. He explained that DD’s busy weaponizing a certain bacteria that he recently found and that the Omi Alliance is on revenge against Tojo in general and Kiryu in particular. However, during the reveal, one of the Florist’s goons spotted zombies coming from the sewers. Kiryu and Akiyama managed to fend off the zombies while the Florist secured the Purgatory’s inhabitants and headed for the sewer’s exit with Asagi. Outside, the exit led them to a public park, where the three encountered a gargoyle-like prototype. After defeating the prototype, Daigo encountered Kiryu and told him about a master gunsmith in Kamurocho, located in Kurogane Building on Senryo Avenue. Along the way, they found an APC and used it to their advantage.

Inside the building, Kiryu met Ryuji Goda, who told Asagi that it was Kiryu who caused Goda to have a prosthetic arm. A short while later, the Florist phoned Kiryu, telling that Nikaido’s hiding in the penthouse in Millennium Tower, along with Haruka and DD. After the phone call, the gunsmith gave Kiryu a heavy rifle and proceeded to Millennium Tower with Goda.

At the tower, they faced Hayashi, now a zombified prototype. After defeating him, Kiryu’s surprised that Hayashi still recognizes him even in zombie form. The scene cuts to a flashback where Hayashi got shot by Nikaido and received the mutagen from DD.

At the penthouse, Goda and Kiryu faced Nikaido and prompted him to release Haruka, which he did. However, when Haruka was running towards Kiryu, two mutants approached both Kiryu and Goda, forcing both men to fight both mutants. After defeating the mutants, Nikaido admitted defeat and was about to be killed by Goda, but then DD turned and infected him with the mutagen, turning him into a mutant and making Kiryu and Goda have to fight him. Initially, the fight went well, with Nikaido showing signs of defeat, but then the mutagen evolved, causing him to transform into a gigantic mutant and destroying the penthouse in the process. In an attempt to save Haruka, Goda holds himself against the rubble while Kiryu proceeds to fight the mutated Nikaido once again. In the middle of the fight, Asagi aided Kiryu by dropping two crates to him, one containing a bunch of grenades while the other contained an anti-tank missile and killed Nikaido once and for all. As DD attempted to make his escape, it was revealed that Akiyama had commandeered his escape chopper as it was sent spiraling below with DD on it. With the crisis finally over, Kiryu sent Asagi off as she departed from Kamurocho.

Fighting styles

Yakuza

As this is the first game in the series, Kiryu’s moveset is much more limited than it would grow to become in future installments. He only has one fighting style available, which would later be known as his Dragon of Dojima style. His rush combo consists of a jab, right hook, left hook, and high roundhouse kick, though the final hit of the rush combo must be unlocked by getting Technique to level 3 to unlock “Kick Combo”. Finishing blows include the “Down Blow” which is a right haymaker aimed diagonally downwards that knocks most enemies onto the ground, the “Body Blow” which is a right hook to the body that may cause the enemy to hold their midsection before falling which provides an opportunity for follow-up attacks or grabs before they hit the ground, “Uppercut” which is a right uppercut that will send the enemy airborne and may cause collateral damage with other enemies in the way, and a spinning back kick which will launch enemies that is unlocked after getting Technique to level 3. For a heavy attack, Kiryu can perform a front kick. From a grab, Kiryu can perform a combo with the light attack button consisting of two headbutts before holding them in place for a full-force headbutt that launches the enemy, a singular right haymaker that will also launch the enemy (or Heat Hold Kick which is a left side kick that is used by holding the heavy attack button with an enemy grabbed while in heat mode after leveling up Technique to level 8), and an Ippon seoi nage that will deal damage to other enemies in the way. Kiryu can stomp on grounded enemies for additional damage or taunt with a beckoning for additional heat. Kiryu has access to many Komaki techniques in this game, though they have different names than they would later have. He teaches Komaki Swordsmanship though it is unnamed in this game, the Komaki School Reverse Strike is Komaki Roundhouse Attack, Komaki School Dodge Attack is Komaki Evade and Strike, Komaki School Ukemi is Komaki Cat-Like Reflexes, Komaki School Parry is Komaki Knockback (though it is triggered by blocking right before an attack hits you in this game and Yakuza 2), Komaki School Counter Attack is Komaki Tiger Drop, and Komaki School Ukenagashi is Komaki Parry.

Yakuza 0

Kiryu’s ability to switch between different fighting styles makes a return from Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! in a first for the main series. Mirroring Majima, he has four styles available to him: a default balanced style effective in most, if not all situations; a style focused on speed to hit enemies quickly while dodging just as fast; a style focused on power that relies on slow but immensely strong attacks and increases resistance to enemy attacks; and a secret, legendary style that serves as Kiryu’s main fighting style for the rest of the series.

Brawler

Dubbed “Chinpira” (チンピラ, Meaning punk or thug and often a term used to refer to low ranking Yakuza) in the Japanese version. It is Kiryu’s canonical style throughout Yakuza 0, a basic yet powerful style relying on simple brawling, hence the name. Fighting is somewhat flashy in execution and slow, especially in comparison to Majima, but it is quite powerful. Its simplicity can represent Kiryu’s status as a mere Yakuza underling and debt collector, shown by the very amateur skill and poor handling of his body weight while attacking. Despite this, Kiryu’s impressive physical ability proves itself whenever he takes on groups of foes by himself and coming out with only slightly ragged breath. Through sheer brute force, he can shrug off attacks and retaliate immediately as well as circumvent his opponents’ defenses with ease. Many attacks in Brawler style have a wrestling-like quality to them, which combined with his basic street brawling, complete the style with simple yet effective moves. His Rush Combo in this style consists of a right hook, left hook, right uppercut, and a high left roundhouse kick. Finishing blows include a left handed slap, a right uppercut to the midsection, a right backfist, and a right overhand puch. With one of his abilities, he also gets access to a double finishing blow for his fourth finishing blow that has a front flip kick following the right haymaker. His heavy attack is a right front kick that can combo into a left hook and a flying right kick with heat. Holding the heavy attack button will result in Kiryu using a flying knee, and locking onto an enemy while pressing the heavy attack button will result in his front kick being turned into a push kick. From a grab, Kiryu can either pummel his enemy with his right fist 3 times and end with a headbutt, haymaker his opponent with his right fist, or reap their legs with his right leg while using his right hand to slam their head into the ground. His taunt in this style has him drop his right hand and make a beckoning sign with his left hand and take a small step forward while mocking his opponent. This style, from the progression of its combos, to its stance, can be viewed as an unrefined, prototypical version of Kiryu’s Dragon style. Compared to Dragon style, Kiryu’s stance is more hunched over and his right fist stays near his chin while strafing instead of dropping down near his waist like his left fist.

Brawler is at its core, a dynamic, jack-of-all-trades fighting style. It does not punish newbies, while still rewarding skilled usage. It has a simple, yet versatile moveset, though some techniques are similar to those found in Judo and Professional Wrestling; such as the leg reap throw, fisherman suplex, and dropkick. It has two counters, one being unleashed from a successful block, and another from a neutral position. It also features a charged knee strike, two different drop-kicks; one being performed with just one leg at the end of a particular combo, another with two legs, available by running, and a hammer fist performed after a quickstep.

For unique heat actions, it has a knee breaker followed by a high kick to the head, an unorthodox attack that has Kiryu get off the ground after being knocked down, then charging the enemy, jumping onto them and using the momentum to deliver a savage headbutt and a face twist followed by a stomp. Kiryu can also unleash a powerful superman punch with a running start that is unleashed after a backfist finishing blow. This attack in particular emphasizes Kiryu’s lack of refinement, as he puts so much effort and weight into the punch that he flips and lands on his back before shortly getting up to his feet. Brawler-style emits a blue Heat aura.

Rush

Rush (ラッシュ, Rasshu) is the second fighting style that Kiryu learns in the game. It is a speed-oriented style that is inspired by kickboxing, shown by Kiryu’s upright stance with a high guard put up. The Rush style is best known for its ability to stun enemies with “Dempsey Roll” -like bursts of relentless blows, as well as its emphasis on Kiryu’s speed and footwork. His movement speed is greatly increased while using this style, and he can dodge three times in a row. This style represents Kiryu tapping into the upper limits of his movement speed and reaction time, seemingly on the level of advanced martial artists despite never having any proper training in boxing.

All attacks in Rush style are performed at near-instant speeds, with even the slowest and most powerful blows still fast enough to hit enemies before they could put up their guard. The blows performed in the combos themselves are that of boxing jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts, with very little kicking involved. The rush combo includes a left jab, right cross, left hook, right uppercut, left uppercut, right semicircular kick, left semicircular kick, and a jumping front kick. Finishing blows include a right hook during any of the rush combo that involves punching, and left semicircular kick during the kicks of the rush combo. Both of these can be charged, with the hook becoming more powerful and showing the after-images of many fists punching and the semi-circular kick becoming a roundhouse kick.This style doesn’t have a grab, but in place of it, a quick jump-kick. While he cannot pick up weapons while utilizing the Rush style, Kiryu is still able to use weapons from his inventory. It has one counter, where Kiryu parries enemy attacks in a manner strikingly similar to Tanimura’s parrying in Yakuza 4, turning their momentum against them in order to get behind them. It also features a feint punch, a charged punch, a charged high kick, a quick get-up that involves a tornado kick followed by a quick punch, and the ability to stun enemies when they have been struck a set amount of times. Rather than blocking, he instead uses a stationary bobbing and weaving dodge also typical of boxing, allowing him to evade attacks without compromising his position, though training will allow him to block as well. His taunt in this style has a shadowbox in place while mocking his opponent. Kiryu utilizes a traditional boxing stance, while constantly bobbing up and down when still to show his explosive, evasive energy.

For unique heat actions, it has Kiryu juke the enemy into punching a wall behind him, then follow up with smashing their face on the wall and kicking their leg spectacularly, intercept an enemy’s incoming uppercut with his elbow, then deliver an uppercut of his own, uppercut an enemy in the stomach with brass knuckles, to launch them upwards then deliver another stomach blow and finish off with an overhead punch that slams the enemy into the ground, stomping on an enemy’s face who is lying on their back, a quick kick to the face to launch an enemy lying on their front flying, a relentless barrage of feint punches on a cowering enemy that finishes off with a kick, identical to the combo Kamoji uses on Bruno when he is first introduced to Kiryu, a devastating punch to the stomach that sends an enemy flying, often times hitting two other enemies, and finally, intercepting incoming sword attacks with punches cased in brass knuckles, followed by a incredibly fast barrage that lives up to the style’s name, and finishing with a pac punch. Rush style emits a magenta Heat aura.

Beast

Dubbed “Destroyer” or “Crusher” (壊し屋, Kowashiya) in the Japanese version. The third fighting style that Kiryu learns in the game: A Power style that focuses on brute strength and use of immensely heavy weapons such as motorbikes, shown by Kiryu’s grounded stance with legs far apart to fortify his balance, and open-handed claw-like hands hinting at his focus on grappling. This style is mainly inspired by the striking aspects of Professional Wrestling, featuring attacks such as lariats, clotheslines and dropkicks while also featuring some grappling. Slow but powerful, Kiryu emphasizes his incredible tenacity and capacity to take hits. This style represents Kiryu using the full force of his impressive musculature, being able to pick up objects no normal human could realistically lift such as motorcycles, as well as throwing around full-grown men with only one hand. Each attack in Beast style is delivered with all of his body weight behind it, making for incredibly slow yet devastating hits that are capable of sending foes flying or breaking through their guards without much effort.

Each attack within the rush combos can be charged for maximum damage and range, making Kiryu the only character in the series with combos composed of entirely charged attacks. Pressing and holding Square near weapons and objects strewn around the environment can have Kiryu instantly pick them up and attack with that weapon with wide and wild swings; he can immediately start a combo from this, or transition from an attack combo into it. The damage he inflicts with stage objects is considered as well.Beast style can make heavy weapons much easier to use; these weapons are also included among those Kiryu can pick up and swing at opponents. Taunting in Beast mode can have Kiryu restore some health at Heat cost, provided a certain ability is acquired. As this style emphasizes Kiryu’s raw strength over speed, the Beast style’s dodging is slow; Kiryu is liable to get hit if dodges are incorrectly timed. Blocking, however, is unique among styles; Referred to as “Resist Guard”, rather than negating damage completely, the damage is simply reduced instead; this reduction can be upgraded even further with abilities. He also doesn’t flinch or get knocked down and can gain Heat while under attack. His taunt in this style will have Kiryu spread both his arms wide with his fingers bent similarly to claws and his body crouched down and shouting. This taunt has a hitbox, similarly to Slugger style’s taunt. Beast style emits a yellow Heat aura.

Dragon of Dojima (Legend)

The final, unlockable fighting style that Kiryu unlocks after finishing Real Estate Royale. Shortened to “Dragon” and “Legend”, this fighting style is what Kiryu eventually adopts in titles that take place chronologically later than Yakuza 0. It is a powerful combination of punches from Boxing, kicks from Karate, throws from Judo and grappling from Professional Wrestling, with a simple fighting stance deceiving the all-around massive power and impressive speed that few like Kiryu can properly possess to execute the style effectively. Compared to Brawler style’s stance, his posture is straighter and his right fist goes down like his left while strafing instead of staying near his chin. The best of Kiryu’s other styles, such as the speed of Rush, the strength of Beast, and the technique of Brawler meld into what is Kiryu’s one-and-only signature fighting style. His rush combo consists of a jab, right hook, left hook, and right roundhouse kick. His Double Finishers include a powerful right hook and left uppercut, a right hook followed by a right knee bash, a right uppercut followed by a downward double hammer fist swing, and a spinning back kick followed by a Kyokushin wheel kick. Finishing holds include grabbing the enemy by their leg and swinging them overhead, putting the enemy on his shoulders and breaking their back before tossing them forward, grabbing both legs and swinging them around before throwing them, and a powerbomb. While running, he can perform a dropkick and he will flip from the enemy and land on his feet if it lands. Similarly to the Beast style, Kiryu can grab enemies by their legs when they are on the ground and use the heavy attack button to kick them or the grab button again to slam them overhead onto the ground and possibly into other enemies, or force grounded enemies to their feet by grabbing them by their shoulders. Kiryu can also perform a leg sweep while getting up from the ground in this style by pressing the light attack button while on the ground. From a grab, pressing the heavy attack button will cause Kiryu to use a side-kick that may launch the enemy into other enemies or cause them to rebound off of a wall, tapping the light attack button will result in a three hit punch combo, and the grab button will cause him to use an Ippon seoi nage that can hit nearby enemies.

Dragon also possesses some of the most utilitarian Heat Actions to Kiryu of all his fighting styles, borrowing key Heat Actions from the others as well as offering completely new ones reminiscent of those found in later games. This grants him attacks in many situations where the other styles don’t, and coupled with its above-average ability to build Heat, allows Kiryu to not only inflict heavy damage in a short period of time but also to counter and reverse any disadvantaged state using his new Heat Actions, such as being grabbed or attacked from behind. Kiryu has his signature Ultimate Essence ’88, which has him use a knife hand block on an opponent’s punch before landing a right cross on their chest, followed by a quick jab and another right cross and grinding his enemy’s head between his closed fists before jumping in the air and crushing their head on his knee. He can also quickly close the distance between an enemy and catch them off guard with an open handed right slap, launching them into the air. This is followed by a left slap, left backhand slap, and final left slap that leaves the enemy on the ground. When an enemy attempts to take Kiryu down, Kiryu can put them into a standing guillotine choke and lift them into the air before landing a powerbomb. When grabbed from behind, Kiryu can elbow the enemy in the face, break the enemy’s right arm over his shoulder, and then slam them over his back. From a grab, Kiryu can transfer the momentum from swinging his leg into a powerful snap DDT throw. With an enemy grabbed from behind, Kiryu will slam them into a wall, hit a spinning backfist, and then perform a release suplex, slamming the enemy against the wall before throwing them. With a pole, Kiryu can hit the enemy in the face, bend their arm behind their back, knee them in the face, and use the tension from the twisted arm to launch them flying.

A unique passive ability for this style is “Yinglong’s Light”, which allows certain upgrades and abilities from Kiryu’s three other styles to be applied to Dragon. Exclusive to Kiryu are various augmentations to his combat, such as “Finishing Hold” which allows him to seamlessly grab and throw around enemies at the end of combos. Many moves that he would normally learn from Komaki have different animations and are under different names; the Komaki Parry where Kiryu parries an enemy’s attack is, instead, a reversal grab named “Twist Counter” where Kiryu grabs his opponent’s arm and violently kicks one leg out from under them. The Komaki Knockback where Kiryu counterattacks after a successful block is replaced with a flying knee attack named “Knockback Counter”, and the Komaki Tiger Drop, able to completely shut down any enemy attack with a high-damaging and instantaneous strike, is replaced with a elbow counter named “Iron Fist Counter”. His taunt in this style has him beckon his opponent with his left arm. Dragon style emits a white Heat aura.

Yakuza Kiwami

In the remake version of this game, Kiryu’s fighting style retains all of his moves from Yakuza 0. Beginning the game with all of his abilities intact, he unfortunately loses his powers during his 10-year prison sentence due to being out of practice. Upon his release, Kiryu is left with his most basic abilities in his Brawler, Rush, and Beast styles; he forgets everything he’s learned for the Dragon of Dojima style, and cannot even perform the basic rush combo beyond the first two punches. This requires him to have to relearn all of his combat abilities over the course of the story.

Majima is the first to notice Kiryu’s weakness during their first meeting since Kiryu’s release, and decides to take it upon himself to restore him to his former glory. In Kiwami’s Majima Everywhere system, Majima forces Kiryu to relearn his Dragon style abilities by attacking him at random intervals without warning, in a variety of situations. Though unorthodox, Kiryu’s only means of recovering the Dragon style’s lost strength is indeed through his constant battles with Majima.

New to Kiryu in his Dragon style is the ability to effectively wield weapons, learned from Komaki. Through proper training, Kiryu learns to use weapons such as swords, nunchaku, long poles, and batons with ease, much with the same level of technique that Majima does when wielding them in Yakuza 0. Eventually, Kiryu is even able to utilize knives during special Heat Actions in a manner not unlike Majima’s own knife fighting. This in turn allows his Dragon style to surpass what it once was in Yakuza 0, and Dragon style’s heat aura is now red instead of white like it was in Yakuza 0.

Furthermore, a new addition to this game are the Kiwami Finishers: moves that can be used against bosses, which can only be triggered by using the finisher of the style that matches the color of the boss’ aura when they begin to regenerate health ; For example, Kiryu needs to use “Essence of Extreme Brawler” against enemies whose heat glows blue. Essence of Extreme Brawler begins with Kiryu grabbing his enemy’s arm before delivering a backfist to their face with his right arm, grabbing his opponent’s head before kneeing them in the face, and then delivering a double hammer fist to the opponent while they’re stunned on their knees. Essence of Extreme Rush starts with Kiryu ducking low before striking his opponent in the jaw with a forceful uppercut, launching them into the air, where he delivers a fierce flurry of punches to the opponent’s midsection while they’re in the air, ending with a right cross and finally knocking them away with one last punch. In Essence of Extreme Beast, Kiryu grabs his opponent’s face, delivering a savage headbutt to their head which leaves them dazed as they fall to their knees. He then takes advantage of this by planting his foot right on their face, and slamming them to the ground with his foot, leaving their face crushed under his heel. Essence of Extreme Dragon is similar to Ultimate Essence ’88, though it omits the first few punches and simply has Kiryu crush the opponent’s head between his two fists and jump in the air to spike their jaw on his knee. Three more of Kiryu’s unique abilities are Time for Resolve, Time for Godspeed, and Time for Destruction which are all abilities that requires the user to be in Climax Heat Mode and exhausts the entire heat bar in exchange for a passive effect that persists in all styles for a short time. Time for Resolve can only be started in Brawler and prevents the user from being knocked down, Time for Godspeed can only be started in Rush and increases the speed of Kiryu’s attacks, and Time for Destruction can only be used in Beast and it increases the damage of Kiryu’s attacks.

Yakuza 3

Kiryu obtains a new heat bar called “red heat” which gives Kiryu more Heat actions associated with Red Heat. Red Heat actions do a huge amount of damage. Kiryu is also the only character to perform Super Finishers. His starting Super Finisher is Head Press, in which he knees a kneeling enemy in the head to get them to their feet before dealing a savage headbutt. Through a revelation, he can unlock Knock Down, which has him grab an enemy by the chest and midsection, toss them into the air, and utilize a standing dropkick to launch the enemy into a maximum of 2 additional enemies. The last Super Finisher, Hell’s Gauntlet, is also unlocked through a revelation. Kiryu gets behind an enemy and suplexes them into the ground, twists their body to put them into an armbar, lands a triangle choke, uses a neckbreaker slam, and a guillotine choke before landing a right cross to the face. This particular Super Finisher has heavy Brazilian Jiu Jitsu influence.

Yakuza 4

Kiryu doesn’t have the ability to do Super Finishers in this game. Although Kiryu still has his Red Heat, He can’t upgrade with a third Red Heat bar. When the player begins as him in a new game, he will have most of his abilities from Yakuza 3. The rest has to be unlocked with Soul Points. Most of the moves he had from Yakuza 3 are removed, such as Hell’s Gauntlet.

Yakuza 5

Kiryu’s Red Heat is removed but instead replaced with Red Dragon spirit, this ability can make Kiryu invincible as well as automatically knocking back enemy attacks. Kiryu doesn’t have to do a parry to do the Essence of Dragon King. His Drunken thrust also changed drastically, although the animation did not change. He has also gained some new Heat actions as well.

Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2

Kiryu has further honed his fighting style, unlocking Extreme Heat Mode which replaces the Red Dragon spirit in Yakuza 5. This new style still features Boxing punches but has an increased focus on Karate kicks in comparison to the Yakuza 0/Kiwami Dragon style, while also dropping Judo in favor of an increased focus on Professional Wrestling and featuring some Krav Maga-esque disarming techniques. Kiryu’s rush combo is a jab, followed by a right hook, left hook, and right cross. His double finisher after his first rush hit is an uppercut to the stomach followed by a superman punch (Body & Strike). From the second rush hit, he will use his right leg to sweep enemies off their feet and followed by another sweeping kick (Double Low). From the third rush hit, Kiryu will use a big right uppercut and a left roundhouse kick (Upper & High). From the fourth hit, Kiryu may land a right roundhouse kick followed by a side kick (High & Side). From a grab, Kiryu can pummel the enemy with his right fist or spin them around, hitting nearby enemies, before throwing the enemy.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Kiryu has 4 phases in his fight. He starts off by using his normal fighting style from Yakuza 6 and Yakuza Kiwami 2, then switches to the Rush style after losing a quarter of his health gauge. He switches to Beast style when he has half of his health gauge remaining, and finally switches to the Dragon of Dojima (Legend) style when a quarter of his health remains. He is weak to ice attacks. Each time he switches his fighting styles to a new phase, any negative status effects he has will be gone. Throughout the fight, there is a chance that Kiryu will take 2 turns in a row instead of only 1. Kiryu will never attack any female party members unless they attack him while he is using Dragon’s Gaze, and even then, he will deal no damage.

In his first phase with his Yakuza 6/Yakuza Kiwami 2 fighting style, his default attack is his heavy attack kick. His skills include Rush Combo, Body & Strike, Double Low, Upper & High, and High & Side. These moves are inspired by all 4 hits of his Rush Combo, and his Double Finishers after his first, second, third, and fourth Rush Combo hit respectively.

In his second phase with Rush Style, he gains a boost to his Evasion that will last until he switches to his next phase. His default attack is his Feint Punch. His skills include Stun Combo, which may inflict Stun if the fourth hit of the attack isn’t guarded, and Uppercut. These attacks are inspired by the first four hits of his Rush Combo and his Heavy Attack. Additionally, physical attacks that are not Heat Actions will be blocked by Kiryu, where he resists the damage and counterattacks with a Quickstep Strike, which may interrupt the attack. Attacks such as projectiles and bullets may also be completely dodged.

In his third phase with Beast Style, he gains a buff to Defense until he changes phases. His default attack is the first two hits of his Rush Combo, followed by the shoulder tackle Finishing Blow of his 3rd Finishing Blow (though he does not utilize the 3rd Rush Combo attack). His skills include Beast Throw, in which he picks up a barrel and swings it to attack, followed by a roar. This is from his Beast Style’s throw with a heavy object, in which he swings it around with both arms to toss it and then roars to the sky.

In his fourth phase with his Dragon of Dojima Style, he regains his buff to evasion. Physical attacks that are not Heat Actions may be blocked, resulting in less damage being inflicted and being attacked with a Komaki Tiger Drop, Komaki Parry, or Komaki Knockback. His default attack is his front kick heavy attack. His skills include Rush Combo, all four hits of his Dragon of Dojima Style Rush Combo, and Dragon’s Gaze, which will result in him countering every non-Heat Action attack with a devastating Komaki Tiger Drop, Komaki Parry, or Komaki Knockback, dealing high damage. The Dragon’s Gaze will end upon his next turn.

When using the Dragon of Dojima style, Kiryu can also Tiger Drop as a counter when being attacked by physical attacks.

Trivia

• Kiryu’s birthday, June 17, is the same as that of Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.
• Kiryu’s given name Kazuma had its etymology explained in Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan! The first kanji character 一 (kazu) means lone, while the second 馬 (ma) means horse. This refers to the single ridden horse that would lead a cavalry unit into battle. As such, the name suggests a courageous individual who likes to lead from the front and get things done, as befits Kiryu’s personality.
• Kiryu’s facial features from Yakuza 3 onwards are partly based on Takaya Kuroda, his Japanese voice actor.
  • This render was previously used for Miyamoto Musashi in Ryū ga Gotoku Kenzan!, and is also used for Sakamoto Ryoma in Ryū ga Gotoku Ishin!.
  • A 1-to-1 render of Takaya Kuroda appears as part of the Victory Road tournament staff in Yakuza 5, complete with his signature fedora and sunglasses.
• In Yakuza and its remake Yakuza Kiwami, Kiryu’s introductory title card uses a unique sound effect. He is the only character in the series with this distinction.
• In Yakuza 4, protagonists represent the 4 Eastern Gods. Kazuma Kiryu represents the Azure Dragon (or Seiryu), as he is the most balanced of the characters and also the most experienced and wise.
• The alias he uses in Yakuza 5 while in Fukuoka, Taichi Suzuki, may be taken from Taichi, the oldest boy at Morning Glory Orphanage, and Suzuki, the alias Taiga Saejima used after he washed up in front of said orphanage in Yakuza 4. He may also have used Suzuki because it is the second most common Japanese last name and thus not likely to stand out.
• If counting outfits available in Premium Adventure and outfit variants are counted as unique outfits, Kiryu has worn the most outfits out of any character from the Kiryu saga (including Yakuza: Dead Souls), with 33. A 34th outfit was shown in the Yakuza 6 demo, but it was never officially added.
• Kiryu’s weakness to Ice attacks in Yakuza: Like a Dragon can be attributed to any of the following, or a combination of multiple:
  • A reference to Dragon Quest, where dragons are weak to ice.
  • A reference to the ending of Yakuza 5, where he passes out in the snow and would have died had Haruka not found him.
  • Cold is an opposing force to “Heat”, a core mechanic from the games in his saga.
  • He is unfamiliar with ice attacks due to ice as a damage type not being present prior to Like a Dragon.
• Kiryu appears as a guest character in the following video games: Project X Zone 2, Binary Domain, Taiko No Tatsujin DX, Ramen Soul, Kyoutou Kotoba RPG: Kotodaman, LINE Rangers, SEGA Heroes and Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania.
  • His likeness was featured in Everybody’s Hot Shots Golf as a guest character.
  • His likeness was featured in the End of the Century Premium Edition of Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise as an alternate skin for Kenshiro.
  • His likeness was featured in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight as a DLC costume for Persona 5’s protagonist.
• Kiryu is one of the most requested characters for a guest appearance in fighting games such as Tekken 7 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. However, Nagoshi has expressed his refusal to allow him in fighting games. He stated, “fighting games usually have female characters, and I personally don’t really want to see Kiryu hit women.”^[5]
  • To that end, when fighting against Kiryu in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Kiryu’s AI is programmed to never attack Saeko Mukoda and Eri Kamataki, and even if in a countering state, he will deal no damage to them if they physically attack him. However, while this carries over to the Kiryu thought entity Shin Amon summoned in the True Final Millennium Tower, it can still use Essence of the Dragon God to hit them.
• Although Kiryu’s first official encounter with Majima occured in the post-credit scenes of Yakuza 0, he made indirect contact with Majima, via Mr. Moneybags, through an investment fund he set up whilst working at Tachibana Real Estate. Majima initially dismissed him as a “pencil pushing nerd”.

References