Yakuza Merchandise

Known as Ryu ga Gotoku in Japan, the Yakuza series of games created by Toshihiro Nagoshi and developed by Sega for the PlayStation focuses on the life of gangsters involved with Japan’s organised crime syndicate.

There are currently six games and one prequel in the main series with a handful of spin-offs including the zombie-themed game Yakuza: Dead Souls. The series is centered around protagonist Kazuma Kiryu who is released from a 10-year prison sentence at the beginning of the first game. Subsequent games focus on the fate of his organization, the Tojo Clan, throughout the turbulent times to follow.

Inspired by classic yakuza movies like those of Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike, the stories for the first two games were written by novelist Hase Seishu. The series has also produced a wide range of merchandise from figures, to jewellery, books, and even a movie directed by Miike himself titled Like a Dragon: Movie Version released in 2010. There are also three soundtrack albums available featuring the work of Hidenori Shoji and Hideki Sakamoto as well as the popular Japanese bands Crazy Ken Band, Zeebra, Ketsumeishi, and musician Eikichi Yazawa.