Yakuza 3 (PS3, 2009)
Developed and Published by Sega
This post contains spoilers for Yakuza 3.
There's so much I could say about the Yakuza franchise, and by the end of March when I've played the newest game in the series, "Yakuza 6: The Song of Life", I hope to say a lot more about the story through the life of Kiryu Kazuma. I watch a lot of anime and play a lot of video games made in Japan, and something that I'm always interested in is seeing whenever an American character shows up. Foreign media allow us to experience life through the lens of another culture, and whenever that lens focuses on our own culture we get to see ourselves in a new light. This is why one of the characters introduced late in Yakuza 3's story caught my interest.
Yakuza 3 introduces us to Kazama Joji, the younger brother of Kiryu's foster father Kazama Shintaro. Shintaro was a high-ranking yakuza member in the fictional Kamurocho, a district of Tokyo. Though he appears only in the series' first game (and its prequel Yakuza 0), the actions and ideals of Shintaro have lasting effects on both of the later games in the franchise that I've played so far.
This includes the life of his younger brother Joji, introduced to us as an agent of the American CIA. Where Shintaro devoted his life to the criminal underworld, Joji elected to pursue a career as a police officer - a choice that would permanently sour the relationship between the two brothers. Ultimately Joji was shunned out of the Japanese police force for having a criminal brother, leading to his expatriation to the United States.
Joji's place in the story allows us to explore both the good and bad of America's culture. The good is stated clearly in dialogue: In America, no one cares about your family or your background, they only care that you're good at what you do. The American Dream allows Joji to succeed not only as an officer of the law, but as an agent of the CIA. He is afforded opportunities in the US that he's not given in his home country.
But there is a darker side to it as well, hidden in the subtext of one of the game's later scenes. Joji is tasked by his superiors at the CIA with killing someone who could jeopardize the operation they're running. Kiryu, as the protagonist of the series and avatar for the player, must stop Joji as his allies believe that the man doesn't deserve to die. When Kiryu confronts Joji, Joji reveals that he doesn't really think his target deserves death either, and he takes no joy in killing. But he has to fulfill his mission, because, as he says, "the CIA only cares about results."
Even though the Yakuza franchise takes place in Japan and is created by Japanese developers, this is a plot point that strikes me as familiar in the American world. There's no shortage of essays and journalistic thinkpieces online about the value of productivity in western society, but I prefer to let Alec Baldwin's character in Glengarry Glen Ross do the talking for that.
That watch cost more than your car. I made $970,000 last year. How much you make? You see, pal, that's who I am. And you're nothing. Nice guy? I don't give a shit. Good father? Fuck you, go home and play with your kids! You wanna work here? Close!Baldwin's monologue is abrasive, antagonistic, and - most surprising of all - inspiring and motivational. This monologue speaks to the harsh realities of American work culture: You're only as good as what you've succeeded at. Who you are doesn't matter if you're not producing results.
Joji found success in America because of his skills, but found that this sometimes comes at the cost of his conscious. He later tells Kiryu that he regrets that his duties prevent him from personally giving his regards to another character who has been injured over the course of the mission. Shintaro Joji's status in the CIA allows Yakuza 3 to showcase a Japanese perspective on American work culture, coming to the conclusion that America is a land where you can succeed at anything, but you're not worth anything if you can't succeed.
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