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Yakuza vending machines coming to real-world Tokyo neighborhood that inspired Like a Dragon games

Casey Baseel Nov 21, 2024
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Do you love Kamurocho?

One of the best parts of Sega’s Like a Dragon video game franchise, until recently known as Yakuza in the west, is the sense of place it creates for its in-game environments. In particular, Kamurocho, the fictional downtown Tokyo neighborhood in which the majority of the games take place, is a dense mix of elegant private clubs and dive bars, glittering skyscrapers and dank alleys, making it the perfect setting for Like a Dragon’s tales of ruthless ambition, tearful revenge, and business-savvy chickens.

However, Sega did get a pretty big head start on designing Kamurocho, because it’s heavily modeled after the real-world Kabukicho, an entertainment district located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. Now the cycle of art imitating life and life imitating art is starting another round as official Like a Dragon vending machines are going to be installed in Kabukicho, stocked with official tourist souvenir-style “I love Kamurocho” T-shirts and other merch.

Each of the machines will feature a member of the games’ cast, with original protagonist Kazama Kiryu represented, naturally. Other machines will be graced by new leading man Ichiban Kasuga, serial scene-stealer Goro Majima, periodic prison inmate Taiga Saejima, and organized crime scion Daigo Dojima.

The machines will be stocked with “I love Kamurocho” T-shirts (3,900 yen [US$26]), which feature the Kamurocho gate motif on the back…

…character key chains (1,100 yen)…

…and acrylic art blocks (1,500 yen).

Note that the T-shirt is available only in large and extra-large sizes, so you’ll have to take Like a Dragon’s bombastic tone to heart and live large for the best fit, it seems.

The machines will be installed on December 8, with their locations to be revealed soon through the official Ryu ga Gotoku Twitter account.

🐉『龍が如く』グッズ自販機登場！

先行販売となる聖地記念グッズや既存人気商品の購入ができる自販機を、12/8(日)より新宿・歌舞伎町に設置します📢

※自販機で販売する新作グッズは、2025/1/8(水)よりECサイトで販売予定です
※設置場所、期間、ECサイト等の詳細は追って告知させていただきます… pic.twitter.com/U60QR6FQHJ

— 龍が如くスタジオ公式 (@ryugagotoku) November 15, 2024

The collection is also scheduled to be available for purchase online starting January 8, but there’s an added incentive to make the rounds of the vending machines. On the front of each of them will be a QR code which you can scan with your phone’s camera, and scanning all five will let you enter a drawing for a special, as-yet undisclosed prize.

Oh, and if you’ve got your heart set on one of the acrylic art blocks but don’t manage to snag one before they’re gone? We can show you how to make one yourself with just a few items from the 100 yen store.

Source: PR Times via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Twitter/@ryugagotoku
Insert images: PR Times
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