If you haven’t played anyYakuza/Like a Dragongame, you might think that Kiryu Kazuma is the series’ main protagonist. Or Ichiban Kasuga, if you only heard about the later titles. While those answers would be technically true, the real deal of RGG studios is the recreation of Japanese cities.
Kamurocho is one more character, and some would argue that the most important one. We have explored this and other cities for years throughout each Yakuza release, with many changes from entry to entry, so why don’t we check some of our favorite real spots, which you may actually visit?
10Kabukicho Red Gate (Entrance) / Kamurocho Red Gate (Entrance)
You Have To Make A Good Entrance
Let’s start with the classic. If you go to Kabukicho and you don’t take a picture at the entrance, below the red neon gate, why did you go in the first place? This little part of the city represents so much in the Yakuza series, especially for Kiryu, who comes and goes to Kamurocho for plenty of different reasons.
For you, it can be the symbol of your arrival in the red light district of Kabukicho and an exciting night. If you travel with your friends, you must ask them to take a picture of you going through the gates in your most bad ass walk. Just don’t fight anyone on the streets, please.
9Shinjuku Golden-Gai / Champion District
Looking For A Drink?
The eastern side of Kamurocho has a series of alleys with bars and cafes. Throughout the series, you visit this area regularly while exploring, but also for story reasons and some hilarious substories. You can have a few drinks with Kiryu and different bars, like Earth Angel and Drama Queen.
The real-life Champion District is called Golden Gai, and it’s located in Shinjuku, Tokyo. It’s also full of restaurants and places to have a drink.
8Any Karaoke Bars
We Are Breaking The Law, Breaking The World
You can find dozens and dozens of mini-games throughout the franchise, but if I have to bet which one is the most popular among fans, Karaoke might be the winner. Every main entry has at least one karaoke bar where you can go with Kiryu and company and be the star of the night.
The games have many fictional karaoke bars, and you’ll find many real-life counterparts in different parts of Tokyo. But if you want the real Like a Dragon experience, you may sing in any of the famous KaraokeKan places, located in Shinjuku.
you’re able to actually find karaoke bars with songs from the series. You need to check that the place uses the Joysound library. Whichever song you choose, please practice Baka Mitai a few times beforehand.
7Fukuoka Food Stalls
Fantastic Food, Just Don’t Lie To Your Boss
Walking around and grabbing a bite of some delicious food is a great part of the Like a Dragon experience. While there are several food stalls recreated in the games, we believe that the ones in Fukuoka, Kyushu, are a fantastic spot to try some dishes and enjoy a beautiful view.
Fukuoka is the main location of Kiryu’s story in Yakuza 5, and you spend a good chunk of the chapter visiting these food stalls with your boss, Nakajima. Nakajima doesn’t know of Kiryu’s true identity, but this doesn’t stop them from creating a wholesome bond.
6Dotonbori’s Canal / Sotenbori’s Canal
One Of The Most Striking Places In Osaka
While playing as Majima in Yakuza 0, you get to know the character by discovering the streets of Sotenbori. A location with a strong nightlife and plenty of places to eat, perhaps its most iconic spot would be the canal: two parallel streets connected by bridges, huge signs, plenty of stores and people, and, if you’re lucky, you might find an undercover coliseum in a boat.
This spot exists in real life with almost every attraction you may find in the game — we don’t know anything about the secret coliseum, sorry. It’s a canal in Dotonbori, one of the most important neighborhoods in Osaka.
While it’s arguably a popular location in the series thanks to Yakuza 0, it’s worth mentioning that you can also explore Sotenbori in Yakuza 2, 5, 7, and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name.
5A Beach In Okinawa
Yakuza 3’s Location Rocks
Yakuza 3 might be one of the less-liked entries in the series, but whatever issue you have with it, we can’t deny that its first part with Kiryu in the Morning Glory Orphanage is a highlight in the entire series. Here is where Kiryu raises many kids as their ‘uncle’ (at least when he’s not dealing with other problems, that’s it).
The orphanage might not be a real place, but do you know where you can go? The beaches on the Okinawa island, which is where the orphanage is located in the game. They are as beautiful as you could expect.
4Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street
Don’t Expect To Find Ono Michio
Kamurocho is present in Yakuza 6, but you’ll spend most of your time in that game in another location: Onomichi, Hiroshima. As usual, the virtual version of this city is jaw-dropping and very faithful to the real place.
The Senkoji temple, the Misode Tenmangu sanctuary, the Fukuzenji graveyard, Senkoji park, Neko no Hosomichi (cats alley!), and Onomichi’s port are only a few of the spots you can visit both in-game and in real life. But if we have to pick one, it would be the shopping street (Shotengai), located on the west side of the city. How many replicated stores can you find?
3Noge District / Bar District
The Best Place To Share Your Past
Jumping into the newer generations, the Bar District is one of the most popular locations you’ll visit as Ichiban and his friends in Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Infinite Wealth. As its name implies, you may find many bars to spend the night and other interesting stores. In Like a Dragon, here’s the bar Survive, which is the main gathering spot for your party and where you can have some of the most memorable dialogue with your companions, as you discover more about their lives.
This district exists in Japan, and it’s in Noge, Yokohama. You won’t be able to enter Survive and listen to some tragic stories, or fight as a JRPG character in these streets, but the rest of the location won’t disappoint.
2Chinatown
Especially Lovely During The Chinese New Year
One more spot for Yokohama. Instead of going with the obvious and charming Isezaki Mall, why don’t you pay a visit to Chinatown? It’s the biggest Chinese neighborhood in all of Japan, and it’s a historic location that has been populated by Chinese immigrants since 1859.
Restaurants, stores, and a few attractions like the shocking Zenrin-mon gate will be waiting for you in these streets. Funnily enough, you may find a Sega Arcade in Chinatown’s real-life counterpart.
Yokohama is also the main location in Lost Judgment, the sequel to the series’ spin-off.
1Bonus Track: Anaconda Shopping Center / Ala Moana Center
Just Don’t Wake Up Naked On The Beach Like Ichiban
We have been showing you Japanese locations so far because that’s where almost every Like a Dragon game takes place. But we didn’t want to end this article without presenting one more distant location: Hawaii. More specifically, the Anaconda Shopping Centre.
Featured in Infinite Wealth, you can visit several stores, participate in an annoying but hilarious trivia show called The Anaconda Escape, and it’s also where your Sujimon journey (LaD’s parody of Pokemon) begins. You can visit this shopping center if you are in Honolulu, Hawaii: it’s Ala Moana Center.
