Makoto Date

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Makoto Date
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If there's someone that's really precious to you... then you have to do whatever it takes to protect them. There's no running from that. Otherwise, all you'll end up doing is leaving behind regrets. For yourself and your loved ones.

— Date, Yakuza 3

Makoto Date (伊達 真, Date Makoto), also known as Mako Date in the western version of the first Yakuza, is a supporting character that appears in the Yakuza series.

Appearance

Date has a tall face with sunken cheekbones and thick eyebrows. He has a pulled-back hairstyle and wears a trenchcoat over a regular business suit.

Background

Date joined the police force in 1991 and originally worked with Jiro Kawara, who he lost respect for after watching him single-handedly murder a number of illegal immigrants. He investigated a fellow detective for exchanging information for bribes, leading to his expulsion from the force. This detective then became a private information dealer known as The Florist of Sai

He has a wife and a daughter. His wife left him due to Date choosing to pursue his career.

Yakuza/Yakuza Kiwami

Date interrogating Kiryu.

After Dojima's murder, 41-year-old Detective Date was the only one not fully convinced of Kiryu's guilt. He continued to investigate the case even after Kiryu's incarceration, which earned him an unwanted transfer to the Organized Crime Unit. He is the father of Saya Date. After Kiryu is arrested, he chooses to forsake his career in the police (justifying it by saying that his time was limited anyway) to spring him from jail.

He helps Kiryu throughout the game, becoming one his closest friends. At the end of the game he appears with Sudo in a helicopter, trying to arrest Jingu. Eventually, Sudo has to pull away because of Jingu's men shooting at the helicopter, but they return to the top of the tower on foot after Nishiki blows up the 10 Billion Yen, killing Jingu in the process. In the end, it is his words that encourage Kiryu to keep going after the deaths of Yumi and Nishiki.

Yakuza 2/Yakuza Kiwami 2

After the events of the first game he chose to retire from the police to live with Saya. However, during the second game, he is recruited, along with his old mentor Kawara, by Sudo in a secret mission to uncover the truth behind the Jingweon mafia. During a shoot-out with a fake Kazuki, an illegal immigrant who is shot and killed, he is falsely accused as the killer.

Yakuza 3

Date becomes a reporter, and continues to assist Kiryu with information about the Tojo Clan and the incidents. He is shown to have a crush on the Mama of New Serena, and when she is kidnapped by the same man who killed her first husband, a detective, years before he saves her. Due to the memories of this incident she refuses to enter into a relationship with Date, but by the end of the game suggest that someday she might change her mind.

Yakuza 4

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but do you really owe him THAT much for a kidney?

— Date to Yasuko

During Yakuza 4 Date takes care of New Serena for the Mama while she is at home, due to a bereavement in her family, though he continues his activities as a reporter. He also meets Saya's boyfriend, though at first he disapproves of him. After the fight with Munakata, Date distributes copies of a newspaper article he has written detailing the truth about Munakata from a helicopter above the Millennium Tower. In the epilogue he is shown to have been reinstated to the police force, working with Sudo and Tanimura.

Yakuza 6

Somewhere between the events of Yakuza 5 and Yakuza 6, Date and the owner of New Serena get married. Date informs Kiryu that Haruka was protecting someone during the accident that put her into coma. He also helped Haruka by transporting her to another hospital to keep her safe.

He's also seen during Someya's visit to New Serena. Someya, aware of Date's occupation as a cop, initially refused to talk to Kiryu at New Serena, but Date turned a blind eye and told him that he'll consider the dialogue as an off-the-record event.

Yakuza: Dead Souls

Date is an AI partner in Yakuza: Dead Souls. His weapon of choice is the "Date Special" submachine gun.

Trivia

• Date is a playable character in Yakuza Kiwami, but only available in the Ultimate Challenges.
• Date's voice actor Kazuhiro Yamaji is known for his gritty voice, doing the Japanese dubbing for actors like Jason Statham, Hugh Jackman, and Russell Crowe.