God Damn, RGG Really Nailed Its Representation Of Japan In Like A Dragon

As I started mapping out this article, I became hyper-aware that I would probably sound like that one Boss Baby tweet. But, after visiting Japan, I need to shout it from the rooftops — God damn, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio did a stellar job at nailing the minutiae of Japan’s look and feel in the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series.

Completely accidentally, or maybe subconsciously, my hotels in Tokyo and Osaka were in Kabukicho and Dotonbori, two of the main areas RGG has focused on in the Like a Dragon series to date. This meant, as I was walking around, I found lots (and lots) of similarities between the real world and the games, and I documented them for your pleasure.

Dotonbori (Osaka)/Sotenbori (Like a Dragon)

Okay, so this one is less about the minor details and more about how well RGG perfected the look and feel of Sotenbori in the Yakuza series.

Modelled after Dotonbori in Osaka, Sotenbori features two parallel streets separated by a large river and connected by two bridges, much like its real-world counterpart. The area, in real life, is well-known for its bright lights, similar to Kabukicho, and its overly exuberant building facades, all of which RGG lovingly replicates.

Related

Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Review

You can erase your name, but not your past.

You’ll notice from the first set of images that as you enter the main Dotonbori street, you’re greeted by a giant crab; you’ll also notice that the same thing is visible when you enter the main strip in Sotenbori. But it’s more than just the giant crab that RGG got right here; the signs on the building of the crab are almost identical, minus a few differing katakana/kanji characters. Both buildings also have bright red awnings, the signs in the distance are similar, and even the lamppost placement is the same. Of course, my photos aren’t as vibrant as I visited on a wet and cloudy day.

As I walked further down the main Dotonbori street, I was awestruck — not only by the dozens of eccentric shopfronts but also by how many I’d seen before in the Like a Dragon series. You can see from the gallery above that I picked out four examples in which RGG has replicated the vibrant street in Osaka, the most impressive of which is the dragon, in my humble opinion.

Yes, the actual statue of the dragon is pretty spot on, but once again, the minor details surrounding it really stand out. The sign the dragon shares a building with is replicated almost one to one, including the kanji and hiragana, there’s a tall sign in the background, which, although its colors are flipped, is frighteningly similar, and there’s even a sign at the top of the building, facing the opposite direction apparent in both images. The attention to detail is impressive.

Much like its interpretation of the main Dotonbori street, Ryu Ga Gotako also got the area’s canal just right. Two boardwalks straddling the water, with gray buildings and neon signs lining each side.

In Dotonbori one end of the canal is a building covered in brightly lit advertisements, including the famous Glico sign. Opposite that building is a giant advert for Japanese beer brand, Asahi. Product placement aside, although some real-world adverts do remain, RGG once again captured the look and feel faultlessly.

Kabukicho (Tokyo)/Kamurocho (Like a Dragon)

While Dotonbori is full of garish landmarks for RGG Studio to replicate, Kabukicho is less so. Sure, there are lots of bright lights and colorful buildings, but there aren’t really any giant octopuses hanging off the walls. This meant that RGG focused on the smaller details, and did so incredibly well.

That being said, the Don Quiote retail store has been a fixture in both Kabukicho and Kamurocho for quite some time, and, though the studio could have settled for just remaking the famous store, the street opposite has striking similarities, including the big red game center.

However, while the Don Quiote was the only real major landmark that I found given the full Like a Dragon treatment, Kamurocho shines with many of Kabukicho’s smaller details.

One of the first photos I took when I arrived in Japan was of a small car park, just because it reminded me of the Like a Dragon games, much to the bemusement of the Tokyo locals around me. I then stumbled upon a random coin locker in the middle of the street, once again taking a picture and once again confusing those around me. Stupid, I’m well aware, but the small details weren’t lost on me.

And those small details didn’t stop there. Darts Live, a (likely sponsored) feature within the Like a Dragon series, was found regularly in arcades up and down the country, so, of course, I had to throw some arrows like Kiryu and Ichiban. But more than the actual darts machines, which were replicated to perfection, sounds and all, were the adverts outside the buildings they were found in.

I used Yakuza Kiwami to capture a lot of my Like a Dragon Kamurocho screenshots for the article, which, when set in 2005, meant certain aspects were outdated. Back in the olden times of the 00’s, while still a major thing, host clubs were clearly advertised with small pictures of the hosts and hostesses outside the club. Nowadays, big brash screens represent the workers, with leaderboards displaying the top hosts of the month with explosive, heavily edited trailers rolling for each of them who worked there.

Finally, and possibly the wildest of all for me, was the fact that the medication I purchased in a Tokyo pharmacy for a headache I was nursing, looked exactly like something Kiryu might take after receiving an ass-kicking from a group of six men.

And, while I was only able to capture the visual elements of my trip, the sounds that echoed the streets of both Tokyo and Osaka were exactly like I’d become familiar with in the game. Bravo Ryu Ga Gotaku.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Released

November 8, 2023