Shintaro Kazama[b] (風間 新太郎, Kazama Shintarō) is a recurring character in the Yakuza series introduced in the original Yakuza. He is the captain of the Dojima Family and the patriarch of its subsidiary, the Kazama Family, which later became a direct subsidiary of the Tojo Clan. He is the proprietor of Sunflower Orphanage.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Kazama had black hair and a mustache until around 1993 where his hairs turned gray. His hair is slicked back with the exception a few strands of hair near the right side of his face that hang down. According to Nihara, Kazama resembled Kiryu, especially in the eyes when he was younger.
Attire[]
In Kazama's younger days during the Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2 1980 flashback, he wears a gray suit over a navy blue turtleneck sweater, a pair of black leather gloves, and a pair of black leather oxfords. In Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami, he wears a three-piece gray suit with a light pinstripe pattern over a white dress shirt, a silver candy cane pattern striped necktie, and a pair of black dress shoes. At this point, he has been using a cane to walk due to an old injury. During Chairman Sera's funeral, he wears a plain black three-piece suit and a plain black necktie.
Personality[]
Like other yakuza, Kazama is brutal and violent, killing many of his opponents with deadly efficiency. Nonetheless, he is remorseful of murdering innocent bystanders who find themselves in the wrong place. As such, he financed the Sunflower Orphanage, where he cared for the children of parents he killed. He also showed mercy during the Jingweon massacre, an act ordered by his superior, Sohei Dojima. Kazama commands a great deal of respect, not just in the Tojo Clan, but even by his adoptive sons, Kiryu and Nishikiyama. He had even "beat the snot" out of his two adoptive sons during their teenage years, when they tried to join the yakuza out of fanatical admiration for Kazama.
He is also a well-known tactician, being able to orchestrate intricate schemes from well behind the scenes, in prison during Yakuza 0, and in Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami as he conspired with the then Tojo Clan Chairman, Masaru Sera, to thwart Jingu's plans to overthrow the Tojo Clan. He also served as a reliable informant for Kiryu and his allies.
Background[]
Kazama lost both of his parents at a very young age, and was left with his brother as his only surviving relative.
Kazama began his life in the yakuza around the age of twenty as a hitman for the Tojo Clan, gaining a reputation for being an incredibly skilled, cold-blooded assassin and accumulating a sizable body-count. This reputation caused his brother to emigrate in order to avoid persecution by association. Though it is unknown to what extent they kept in touch, Kazama would tell his brother of one of his later-adoptive children having "beautiful eyes."
Shintaro with teenage Kiryu & Nishiki.
Despite his infamy as a merciless killer, Kazama's regret over his killings eventually drove him to open the Sunflower Orphanage, where he would finance the upbringing and education of all the children of his victims. Kazama would also often visit the orphanage and spend time with many of the children, becoming like a foster father to them. One of his children was a boy named Matsumara. At some point after Matsumara grew up and moved out, Kazama took in orphans Kazuma Kiryu, Akira Nishikiyama and Yuko Nishikiyama, and Yumi Sawamura, and grew very close with them.
Within the Dojima Family, Kazama was constantly at odds with Futoshi Shimano. Kazama disdained Shimano for his brutish, thug-like approach to running his businesses, while Shimano despised Kazama because he saw him as an obstacle for his own ambitions within the family. This enmity between both men would outlast their years together in the Dojima Family and continue when both men started yakuza families of their own.
In 1980, while the Tojo Clan was in the midst of a violent war with the Jingweon Mafia, Sohei Dojima received a tip informing him that the Jingweon's leaders would all be at a Christmas party to be held in an office building behind one of their clubs. Aiming to gain prestige and power within the Tojo Clan by quickly ending the war in their favor, Dojima ordered Kazama and Shimano to attack the party with several of their men and assassinate every Jingweon member they could find.
Kazama shoots the Jingweon Mafia boss during the Jingweon Massacre.
Due to the scale of the massacre, Kazama did not want to carry it out. A twelve-year-old Kiryu, concerned for Kazama's safety after he did not visit Sunflower Orphanage for Christmas, followed him to the building where the attack on the Jingweon was to take place. Kazama snuck into the building before Shimano and his goons could attack it and tried to convince the Jingweon leader to let him escort him and the other leaders out of the city immediately, lest they all be killed. However, Kiryu burst in mid-negotiation, thinking that Kazama was in peril, and attacked the Jingweon leader. This prompted Kazama to shoot and kill the leader to save Kiryu. Hearing the gunshots, Shimano and his men burst in and commenced their attack on the rest of the Korean mafia members.
Ultimately, the attack resulted in the deaths of all the Jingweon's bosses and most of their bodyguards, however Kazama spared the lives of two teenagers in the hopes that they would integrate into a more proper life. One of the teenagers, Daejin Kim, eventually joined the Omi Alliance. Subsequently, on his hands and knees, Kazama begged Omi chairman Jin Goda to keep watch over Kim.
The massacre ended the war and catapulted the Dojima Family to a position of great power within the Clan, since most other families now feared Dojima's might. Horrified by his own actions and by his boss' ruthlessness, Kazama started to secretly undermine Dojima's organization from within to keep Dojima from becoming too powerful. Dojima noticed this and schemed to expel him and his family by any means possible.
At some point, Dojima and Kazama attacked Elder Chen's mafia. The resulting actions left many women and children killed, and the mafia was confined into Little Asia, which caused Chen and his community to be distrustful of yakuza.
In 1985, Kazama became captain of the Dojima Family. Kazama was informed by Kiryu and Nishikiyama of their desire to become yakuza. Furious, Kazama beat the two, knowing full well that yakuza life was not for them. Through persistence by Kiryu, Kazama reluctantly gave in, and the next day, introduced them into the Dojima Family.
In 1987, a gang member named Tetsu Tachibana set up a meeting with Kazama in his office. Upon learning how Tachibana's sister unknowingly owns a plot of land Dojima aims to acquire, Kazama suggested starting a real estate business to counteract Dojima. To unite and foster trust between Tachibana and Kiryu - part of his reasoning was for Kiryu to get a legitimate job - Kazama gave Tachibana a pendant he was previously gifted by Yumi.
Involvement[]
Yakuza 0: 1988-1989[]
Around June 1988, Kazama is imprisoned after having been arrested during a police raid on a gambling house he operated. It is possible that Dojima and his lieutenants had a role behind Kazama's imprisonment since Nishiki heard a rumor that Kuze sold Kazama out to the police for his illegal gambling house, presumably after he discovered the negotiation with Tetsu Tachibana.
Despite this, he pulls the strings behind the scramble for the Empty Lot, arranging for Kiryu to work for Tachibana Real Estate, the creation of it being the result of Kazama answering Tachibana's request to protect his sister Makoto - who unwillingly inherited the Empty Lot - from the Dojima family. This arrangement had two objectives: to secure the Empty Lot, thus upending Dojima's plan in annihilating the Kazama family and protecting Makoto; and to give Kiryu a real job in hopes of having him leave behind the yakuza life before becoming too ingrained in it.
In January 1989, Kiryu visits him in prison, confiding in Kazama that he plans to go back to the Dojima Family. Although having tried to dissuade him, Kazama assures Kiryu's suspicion that he already knew he would do this and gives his support.
1989-1995[]
Kazama assumes de facto control of Dojima Family following Sohei Dojima's appointment as a guardian to Masaru Sera.
In 1993, Kazama sustains a critical injury to his leg after rescuing Kiryu from torture at the hands of Lau Ka Long and the Snake Flower Triad.
Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami: 1995-2005[]
In 1995, Kazama plans for Kiryu to create his own family. Following the murder of Sohei Dojima at Nishikiyama's hands with Kiryu taking the blame, subsequently being imprisoned for the following ten years, the Kazama Family absorbs the remnants of the Dojima Family. Even though he finds Kiryu to be a better leader, he gives Nishiki a chance to create his own faction, the Nishikiyama Family, after Nishiki was mocked by ex Dojima family members for being inept. Five years later, there is a rift between the Kazama and Nishikiyama families and some of Kazama's men have deserted to the rival family.
Kazama meets Kiryu at Sera's funeral.
Prior to the day of Kiryu's parole, now 2005, Kazama sends him a letter informing him of the events that transpired during his absence.
Aided by Shinji Tanaka, Nishikiyama's lieutenant, planted in the family by Kazama, he and Kiryu meet secretly at Masaru Sera's funeral. There, Kazama confides to Kiryu about his despair over Nishikiyama "embracing his own demons". Coincidentally, Kazama was shot in the shoulder by Nishikiyama. Shimano enters the room and falsely blames Kiryu for the attack. He then chases him down whilst Shinji transports Kazama to a secret hospital. Eventually, he is left in the care of Yukio Terada, a member of the Tojo rival Omi Alliance, who is indebted to him.
Kazama is kept safe and recovers on Terada's yacht until Kiryu can meet him. As they do, and Kazama reveals the truth about Yumi and her sister to Kiryu and Haruka, the Shimano Family attacks the yacht before being defeated by Kazama Family reinforcements.
Kazama dies after admitting to Kiryu that he killed his parents.
However. when Shimano patriarch Futoshi Shimano throws a grenade, Kazama is fatally injured as he protects Haruka. Shortly before he dies, he reveals the truth of who stole the 10 billion yen as having been Yumi, Sera and himself, that the money belongs to Kyohei Jingu who used the Tojo Clan to launder money. He hands Kiryu Sera's will, which names the successor to Tojo's chairmanship. He admits to Kiryu and asks forgiveness for killing his biological parents, and tells him that Sunflower Orphanage is where he sent the children of the people he killed. Despite this, Kiryu forgives him and calls him his true father.
Fighting Style[]
Though Kazama is not a boss in any of his appearances, he was frequently seen wielding pistols. Depending on the game, these vary:
Yakuza[]
Kazama wielded 2 AMT Hardballers while rescuing Kiryu and a single Luger LP08 Artillery while saving Yumi from being assassinated.
Yakuza Kiwami[]
Anachronistically, Kazama wielded 2 SIG Pro's while rescuing Kiryu and a single SIG Pro while saving Yumi from being assassinated.
Yakuza 2[]
Kazama wielded the same Luger LP08 Artillery during the Jingweon Massacre.
Yakuza Kiwami 2[]
Kazama wielded a Colt 1911 during the Jingweon Massacre.
Notes[]
- ↑ The given birth year of 1945 is an estimate based on Kazama's age and is not intended as a substitute for an official date.
- ↑ In the original western releases of the Yakuza, Yakuza 2, and Yakuza 3, Kazama was renamed to Shintaro Fuma. This is speculated (but not confirmed) to have originally been a translation error, as the kanji for Kazama (風間) can also be read as "Fūma." It may also have been a deliberate change to prevent confusion from arising due to the similarity between the names "Kazama" and "Kazuma", the latter being Kiryu's first name and what he was typically referred to as in these releases.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Ryū Ga Gotoku | Kyasuto” 龍が如く｜キャスト [Yakuza | Cast], Ryū Ga Gotoku 龍が如く [Ryu Ga Gotoku], SEGA, accessed October 17, 2022, http://ryu-ga-gotoku.com/one/cast.html. (Archive)