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Tsuneo Iwami (厳見 恒雄, Iwami Tsuneo) is the main antagonist of Yakuza 6. He is the CEO of Iwami Shipbuilding and the son of the company's original president, Heizo Iwami.

Profile[]

Appearance[]

Tsuneo is middle-aged man who stands at average height. He has thick black hair that parts at the right side, with his fringe covering the left side of his forehead. Despite his average appearance on the surface, underneath his suit lies a well-built, muscular body.

Tattoo[]

Bai Ze (6)

Tsuneo bares a tattoo of Bai ZeWP, or "hakutaku," a chimerical beast that originates in ancient Chinese mythology. While not much is relatively known about them, in Japanese mythology, a hakutaku is described as a being capable of predicting calamities, as well as devouring bad dreams and ill experiences. In Iwami's case, it's the reverse. He is directly causing calamities, devouring the dreams of others to empower himself, and inflicting ill experiences onto them.

Attire[]

Tsuneo's general attire consists of a standard two-piece gray pinstripe suit, a black belt and dress shoes, a black pinstripe waistcoat, a white shirt and a dark-blue tie with white and red stripes. He also wears silver frame rimless wayfare glasses. At Heizo's funeral, he is dressed in a buttoned-up black suit with a Yomei Alliance pin, over a white shirt and black tie.

Personality[]

Despite putting on a façade of being a simple, level-headed businessman, Tsuneo is a ruthless man with violent criminal ambitions. Underlying that ambition is a massive sense of entitlement, as he views his father's decision to not let him inherit control over the Yomei Alliance as well as his billion dollar company as a violation of his "birthright."

To satisfy that entitled ambition and claim control over his father's full inheritance, Tsuneo is willing to craft a vast conspiracy that entails murdering multiple people. He deliberately instigates a war between the Tojo Clan and the Saio Triad in order to remove the Tojo leadership and install his own puppets. He is also very disloyal; using people and discarding them as benefits his plans. After the Saio have fulfilled their purpose in his plans, he betrays their leaders and tries to have them murdered, since sharing Kamurocho with them would've meant compromising on his desire for control. He also goes as far as killing his own father once he thinks he's ensured his control over the Yomei Alliance.

Tsuneo is also an extremely cowardly man. He carries out all of his crimes through proxies and henchmen, and he only exposes himself to danger when he believes he has unbeatable advantages over others. The only instance where he fights anyone directly is when he beats up Kiryu while holding his daughter hostage. Once Kiryu's allies have rescued Haruka from danger and Kiryu is sufficiently enraged, Tsuneo is beaten easily and immediately starts crying and begging for mercy.

Kiryu describes Tsuneo as a "pathetic fool bringing civilians into yakuza conflicts" which reflects his ruthless but cowardly nature. Kiryu also famously calls Tsuneo 'little baby' because of his cowardice and reliance on his father's power to move forward in life.

Background[]

When he was a child, during 1976, Tsuneo was told of the Secret of Onomichi by a man named Matsunaga, who feared for his life after Yomei officers with knowledge of the secret were being murdered. He also asked Tsuneo to convince Heizo to spare him, but Matsunaga died that evening. Tsuneo would feign ignorance of the secret in front of Heizo, who had put his son on the path to a legitimate career. This only made Tsuneo resent his father, and he would conspire to join the underworld and take control of the Yomei Alliance.

Involvement[]

Yakuza 6: 2015-2017[]

Along with Katsumi Sugai, Tsuneo sets in motion a plan to have him take over the Tojo Clan. He has Sugai stage a war with the Saio Triad after convincing Jimmy Lo to follow along. In a suite at Kamurocho Hills, Tsuneo is joined by Sugai, Jimmy, and Big Lo in watching Little Asia burn to the ground. He overhears Big Lo's disapproval of Jimmy's actions that led to this point, and tells Lo he has no choice but to comply due to learning from his son that the two of them do not know the truth of the Secret of Onomichi.

The fire leads to the arrest of Tojo leadership, allowing Sugai to become acting chairman. Tsuneo hires Joongi Han and the Jingweon Mafia for his schemes and orders Big Lo and Jimmy Lo killed after no longer finding them useful, but they only kill Jimmy after being unable to locate Big Lo. Shu Tatsukawa, who feared retribution from the Saio for his mistake of allowing Haruto Sawamura's birth, comes into contact with Tsuneo. In order to have Big Lo's illegitimate son assassinate him, Tsuneo has Tatsukawa kidnap Haruto for him, but the plan goes awry when Tatsukawa accidentally runs over Haruka Sawamura, which causes the infant to fall in Kazuma Kiryu's care.

After Kiryu's showdown with Takumi Someya at their Hiroshima lodging, Tsuneo is introduced by Heizo Iwami. They go on a boat to have Kiryu act as a witness to a pact between Someya and Kanji Koshimizu, but Kiryu refuses. Later, he has the Jingweon attempt to kidnap Haruto again, but they fail.

He confronts Heizo after the Secret of Onomichi is revealed. Tsuneo tells his father that he had been hiding what he had known about the Secret of Onomichi in order to reach his goal, then orders Koshimizu to kill Heizo. Tsuneo is tasked by Minoru Daidoji to kill Kiryu to be granted the name "Takeru Kurusu", as Kiryu revealed the Secret of Onomichi. To that end, Tsuneo orders Someya to kill Kiryu in exchange for the life of his ex-wife, Kiyomi Kasahara.

When Kiryu enters the Millennium Tower hoping to kill both Sugai and Tsuneo, the two watch him from a television screen, having already fled. After Someya fails, he demands Kiryu kill Someya instead to spare Kiyomi before he finishes counting down. Someya stabs himself when Kiryu cannot do so, but Tsuneo had already counted down to zero. They both leave and have Koshimizu shoot Kiyomi, preparing for Heizo's funeral the next day as Someya bleeds out. He also has Haruka and Haruto abducted through Jiro Honjo.

Kiryu and Tsuyoshi Nagumo then confront Tsuneo and Sugai at Heizo's funeral. After Kiryu and Nagumo defeat Koshimizu, Tsuneo immobilizes Kiryu by revealing the capture of Haruka and Haruto. He beats and seemingly renders Kiryu unable to fight back, and explains why he began his motives and entry for the Yakuza world: to be Takeru Kurusu. After the two hostages are saved by the Hirose Family, Tsuneo engages Kiryu in one final fight in an attempt to silence and kill him once and for all, but he is ultimately defeated and he begs for his life. Kiryu, having enough, refuses and is about to kill him, but Tsuneo orders Sugai to shoot the hostages before Kiryu punches Tsuneo unconscious to save them. After the battle, he is arrested and incarcerated.

Fighting Style[]

As a mixed martial artist, Tsuneo displays a base-level aptitude in a number of different martial arts techniques. However, he is not skilled enough to use any of them with much effectiveness, as his moveset consists of rapid but poorly put-together punch and kick combos, and some weak grapples.

He has three separate combos, including:

  • one made up of a left jab, a right knee strike, and a left diagonal downward elbow strike;
  • another consisting of a left jab, a right low roundhouse kick, a left haymaker, and a right reverse punch; and
  • a third combo, consisting of a right front snap kick, a rapid right backfist-low right backfist, a triple punch, and a hopping right side kick.

The rest of his moveset is comprised of:

  • a right reverse punch,
  • a lunging right outward hammerfist,
  • a right front snap kick,
  • a command grab where he stuns Kiryu with an right upward elbow strike, before throwing him backwards with an inner-thigh grab,
  • a right shin-kick that doubles as both a basic and downed attack, and
  • a taunt where he drops his stance and makes a beckoning sign with his left hand while stepping forward.

When he enters Heat Mode, Tsuneo begins using a number of extra attacks, which are listed below:

  • a combo consisting of an overhand right, a right backfist, an overhand left, a right backfist, and an overhand left;
  • two damage reversals — both of which can stun Kiryu — including:
    • a left uppercut-jumping right downward roundhouse kick when hit from the front, and
    • a flying right side kick when hit from behind; and
  • a running tackle where he roles on top of Kiryu and punches him twice, followed by him getting in a mount position and performing a ground-and-pound.

His Heat Mode aura is red like all the other bosses in Yakuza 6, but his attack trails have white accents which are unique to him.

Trivia[]

  • Tsuneo is shown to be fluent in Chinese.
  • In Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, a robot with the name "M-IWM" with Tsuneo's moveset and theme music can be fought in the Coliseum's "Minamida Grand Prix". Unlike the other robots in the tournament, which display their respective character's likeness on their screens, M-IWM only has a blue pair of glasses displayed.

Gallery[]

Yakuza 6[]

Ryu Ga Gotoku Online[]

Notes[]

  1. Tsuneo was "just a kid" when he was told of the Secret of Onomichi 40 years prior to the main events of Yakuza 6.
  2. The given height of 175 cm (5′ 9″) is based on the character model's scaling factor within Yakuza 6's data.[4] For Dragon Engine games, this method is believed to be very accurate (±2 cm). However, this is intended as an estimate, not a substitute for an official statistic.

References[]

  1. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “Finale: The Unforgiven”, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2016), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One.
    The legendary yakuza name Takeru Kurusu... is rightfully mine!
    — Tsuneo Iwami, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
  2. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “Finale: The Unforgiven”, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2016), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One.
    If I'm going down... I'm dragging you to hell with me. Little baby Iwami.
    Kazuma Kiryu, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
  3. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “Finale: The Unforgiven”, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2016), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One.
    It was 40 years ago. When I was just a kid, a Yomei officer named Matsunaga came to me. At the time, those with knowledge of the secret were being slaughtered one by one. Matsunaga feared he was next. So, he chose to entrust me with the secret. He also asked that I beg you to spare his life. Tragically, Matsunaga died that very evening.
    — Tsuneo Iwami, Yakuza 6: The Song of Life
  4. Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, “character_model_model_data” (.BIN file), Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (Tokyo: SEGAWP, 2016), PlayStation 4/Windows/Xbox One.
  5. Yong Yea (@YongYea), “Thank you bro!! You sounded awesome as Iwami in the flashback btw!, ” Twitter, December 16, 2023, 1:21 a.m. UTC, https://twitter.com/YongYea/status/1735832613552824370.
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