The Watase Family (渡瀬組, Watase-gumi) is a yakuza group and subsidiary of the Omi Alliance introduced in Yakuza 5.
Background[]
The Watase Family was founded at an unknown date by Masaru Watase. In the last years of the 20th century, the Watase Family came to prominence within the Omi by crushing the Blue Dragon Syndicate, an international criminal organization that threatened the Omi's domination over Kansai.
After the fall of Ryuji Goda and the Go-Ryu Clan, the Watase Family became the most militant group in the Omi Alliance. With a strong charisma, Watase himself is well liked within the Omi Alliance, described as "too damned likeable" by Tsubasa Kurosawa.
Involvement[]
Yakuza 5 - 2012[]
In early 2012, upon learning that Seventh Chairman Tsubasa Kurosawa was dying of terminal lung cancer, Masaru Watase prepared for his imminent ascension to the Omi chairmanship by readying his family for war. Watase intended to lead the Omi Alliance into a third war against the Tojo Clan in order to finally conquer Tokyo. However, Watase believed that a victory over the Tojo while they were still led by Sixth Chairman Daigo Dojima would be a hollow one, since Watase considered Dojima to be a poor leader and an unworthy rival for himself. Instead, he wished for the Tojo Clan to be led by its legendary retired Fourth Chairman, Kazuma Kiryu, when he fought against them.
Thanks to a tip from his sworn brother in the Tojo, Minoru Aoyama, Watase learned that Kiryu had recently been living under the alias of "Taichi Suzuki" and working as a taxi driver in Fukuoka. The Omi Captain travelled to said city with a retinue of his men, hoping to find Kiryu and coax him into re-taking the Tojo Chairmanship for the upcoming war. As it so happens, Daigo Dojima had mysteriously vanished while staying in Fukuoka on the same day Watase arrived, prompting Kiryu to seek out Watase on suspicion that he'd been involved. Watase denied involvement in Dojima's disappearance and extended his challenge to Kiryu, stating that the war would proceed regardless of whether he accepted.
Later on, when Watase's rival within the Omi, Naoki Katsuya, mobilized his own family to invade Kamurocho, Watase had all his men mount a hasty invasion of Tokyo in order to prevent Katsuya from snatching control over that city right from under him. However, as it turned out, Katsuya's invasion had actually been part of a ploy to force Omi Chairman Kurosawa into revealing his own secret conspiracy to assassinate several high-ranking members of both the Omi and the Tojo. Kurosawa intended to assassinate Watase, Katsuya, Kiryu, Dojima, Goro Majima and Taiga Saejima because he personally hated them for their charismatic-style of leadership, which he viewed as inferior to his own more pragmatic, ruthless business-oriented style. Kurosawa would attempt to personally kill Katsuya, Watase, Kiryu and Saejima atop Kamurocho Hills, but his attempt was foiled by Daigo Dojima's intervention.
Despite his initial failure, Kurosawa rallied all his men, including several traitors within Katsuya's family and the Dojima Family, and made another attempt to take over Tokyo and assassinate all his rivals. However, Watase; infuriated by Kurosawa's betrayal, decided to make peace with the Tojo Clan in order to foil his boss' conspiracy. Watase rallied his family, the Tojo, and the Tojo's allies from Fukuoka and Sapporo, and led them in battle against Kurosawa's forces; defeating them all.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 2019[]
Prior to the events of the game, Captain Watase was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison on racketeering charges. Around the time of his arrest, Watase and Daigo Dojima had been discussing the possibility of dissolving their respective yakuza organizations, since they feared the government's increasing attempts to control them. However, the size of both groups made the prospect of a dissolution difficult, since both leaders feared announcing such a measure would lead to mutiny and their replacement with new leaders who wished to continue the organizations.
An opportunity to dissolve the clans arose when Masumi Arakawa approached Dojima with a problem: His son (now going by the alias Ryo Aoki) had become Governor of Tokyo and was pressuring him to provide inside information that would help his government crack down on the Tojo Clan. Daigo and Watase formulated a plan: Arakawa would provide the information as ordered and help the police dismantle the Tojo, after which he would collaborate with the Omi Alliance to help them takeover the former Tojo turf in exchange for his Arakawa Family joining the Alliance. This would take the Tojo apart and divide the Omi into two functionally separate groups in Kanto and Kansai, making it less likely that any single patriarch could muster enough support to overthrow Watase when the announcement of the dissolution came.
The trio set the plan into motion, but a complication was introduced when Watase was imprisoned in 2017 and given a two year sentence. To ensure the plan's continuity, Watase appointed Arakawa as acting Captain while he was in jail.
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name - 2019[]
In 2019, Patriarch Watase is fearful that the Kijin Clan is still too powerful in spite of the efforts to divide the Omi. As such, Watase determines he needs somebody powerful enough to either kill or incapacitate Kijin Patriarch Homare Nishitani III for the dissolution, but it also has to be someone completely unconnected to the Watase Family, to prevent backlash from other Omi families. Long suspecting that Kazuma Kiryu had faked his death, likely with the aid of the Daidoji Faction, Watase orders his Captain Yuki Tsuruno to track down Kiryu and enlist his help through any means necessary.
The Watase Family arrange a fake contract with the Daidoji to transport gold bullion out of Japan, planning to ambush them and capture Daidoji operative Kihei Hanawa so they can question him for information on Kiryu. However, during the ambush, Watase Family members recognize Kiryu among the agents present at the drop off site.
Now knowing Kiryu is working for the Daidoji, Captain Tsuruno tracks him down later to a stakeout job in Isezaki Ijincho and attempts to persuade him to come with them for a job. Kiryu refuses, leading to a series of brawls against Tsuruno and his Lieutenant Kosei Shishido, which culminate with Tsuruno kidnapping Hanawa and instructing Kiryu to await further instructions if he wants Hanawa returned alive.
Under duress, Kiryu takes part in a series of battles at the Coliseum in the Kijin run adult entertainment district known as The Castle, after which he receives Hanawa's location from Shishido. Kiryu travels to the place where his friend is being held hostage and battles Tsuruno and his men to free Hanawa. After being beaten, Tsuruno reveals Patriarch Watase's plans to Kiryu, but Kiryu refuses to return to his old life out of fear that the Daidoji will take reprisals against his loved ones.
Hanawa takes Tsuruno to a Daidoji safehouse for questioning. After the interrogation, Kiryu is instructed to kill Tsuruno to prove his loyalty, but he refuses and helps Tsuruno escape, leading to his own capture. After being freed, Tsuruno acts quickly to prevent Kiryu from being killed: He approaches one of the leaders of the Daidoji faction and offers to hand over most of the Watase Family's assets, totaling around 50 billion yen, in exchange for Kiryu's life and their permission to allow him to aid in Patriarch Watase's plan. The offer is accepted and Kiryu is given leave to aid the Watase.
With Kiryu's aid, the Watase Family takes control of The Castle, forcing Patriarch Nishitani to agree to a confrontation with Kiryu. Tsuruno urges Kiryu to kill Nishitani, but Kiryu refuses and only agrees to leave him badly injured so he won't be able to interfere with the dissolution. Kiryu and Shishido travel to the Kijin's on-land base and fight their way through the Clan's goons while Tsuruno and his men set fire to the building to create a distraction. At the Patriarch's office, Kiryu defeats Nishitani in battle and prepares to take him prisoner, but Shishido takes advantage of a moment of distraction to seemingly stab Nishitani to death. Kiryu angrily confronts him and Tsuruno over this, but they insist it was the right thing to do.
On the day of Patriarch Watase's release, Kiryu, Tsuruno and Shishido meet him with an escort of Watase men at a construction site. However, at this point Shishido reveals he never agreed with the plan to dissolve the Omi and has been plotting to expose the conspiracy for years, since he wants to use his reveal of the "traitors" to rise to the top of the Omi hierarchy. Immediately afterwards, Nishitani and a gang of Kijin thugs arrive, revealing Shishido had faked his murder and enlisted him to help stop Patriarch Watase's plan. In the ensuing brawl, Shishido, Nishitani and their men are incapacitated, but not before Watase and Tsuruno are seriously wounded. In spite of their injuries, they opt to continue with the plan and travel to the Omi Alliance headquarters.
At the Omi HQ, Watase and Daigo take the stage to announce the dissolution of the Omi and the Tojo in front of a gathering of Omi patriarchs, resulting in a violent brawl. In the ensuing scuffle, Watase Family members were aided in protecting Watase and Dojima by Arakawa, Goro Majima, Taiga Saejima, Yosuke Tendo of the Ryudo Clan, Ichiban Kasuga and his friends, and by Kiryu himself.
After leaving the main hall, Watase and his allies are confronted once again by Shishido, who rallies several Omi patriarchs to aid him in preventing the dissolution. While Daigo, Majima and Saejima fight the patriarchs, Kiryu duels Shishido and finally subdues him, after which Daigo and Watase are taken to city hall to make the dissolution official.
In the aftermath, Dojima and Watase partnered to turn their former yakuza families into a private security company based out of Osaka, hoping to leverage their reputations as skilled fighters to attract customers. All former members of the Dojima and Watase families were allowed to join this new company as employees, along with any other former Omi or Tojo member who wished to leave the yakuza life behind.
Notable Members[]
- Masaru Watase - Patriarch
- Yuki Tsuruno - Captain
- Kosei Shishido - Lieutenant
- Ukita - Member
- Yao - Member
- Sakuma - Member
- Kubota - Member