Yutaka Yamai (山井 豊, Yamai Yutaka) is a supporting character and antagonist featured in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. He is the patriarch of the Yamai Syndicate.
Profile[]
Appearance[]
Yamai is a tall man with a gaunt, wrinkly face and dark circles under his eyes. He has unkempt, shoulder-length black hair, as well as a mustache and goatee.
Attire[]
Yamai wears a charcoal, double-breasted pinstripe suit, a black turtleneck sweater and black dress shoes; underneath a grey, herringbone-pattern trench coat that he drapes over his shoulders.
Background[]
Yamai was once a member of the Tabata Family, led by Shuji Tabata. He and his fellow members would "bleed and kill" to make money for their family, only for Yui Tabata, the wife of Shuji, to "[toss] it away like paper." Despite this, he fell madly in love with her, and Shuji was also willing to look past her faults. One day, at some point around or prior to 1993, twenty-year-old Yamai was spoken to alone by Yui, who stated she was having an affair with his captain. Believing it to be his only chance with her, Yamai agreed to kill Shuji with the promise that she would keep him safe from the police or the family. That night, he accompanied her to Shuji's office and attacked him. As soon as Shuji stopped breathing, Yui ripped her clothes and ran to Shuji's subordinates, claiming Yamai killed him then went after her. Yamai managed to flee to safety.
He saw Yui one more time after, seeing her "living happy and openly" with his captain, and he began getting shivers from that point on. Banished from the Tojo Clan for the murder of Shuji and hunted down by its members, he made the decision to flee the country. He later resurfaced in Hawaii, founding the Yamai Syndicate. Despite not being intended as a yakuza group, it was seen as such and he rejected the label as "patriarch," but later stopped caring about it. Around 2017, he took in Eric Tomizawa, a man who owed debt to the Yamai Syndicate, who would become his "errand boy."
Involvement[]
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: 2023[]
Yamai orders Tomizawa, whose taxi was impounded, to track down the man responsible for it. Led to a motel, Yamai, along with Tomizawa and other subordinates, head inside to find Ichiban Kasuga and Eiji Mitamura. Realizing Kasuga doesn't appear wealthy enough to pay for the taxi, he decides to attack him instead. Defeated, he seems to take an interest in Kasuga. At some point, Yamai learns that other criminal organizations are searching for a woman named Akane Kishida, and he begins searching for her to find out why she is so valuable to them.
Yamai and his men head to Akane's house to see if they can find anything pointing to her location, only to reunite with Kasuga alongside a grey-haired man. Upon seeing his face, Yamai recognizes the man as Kazuma Kiryu, a man he greatly admired and who supposedly died 7 years ago. Tomizawa, having been convinced to join their side, almost shoots Yamai but misses. The three flee before they can have a proper fight against Yamai.
Yamai follows them to Kiryu's hotel, not caring at all about getting revenge on Tomizawa, but instead to ask for a fight with the Dragon of Dojima. Though Kiryu keeps denying his identity, Yamai doesn't budge and attacks anyways. Despite losing the battle, Yamai says he expected more out of the legend, being unaware of his condition. He leaves, hoping their next fight will be worth it.
After Wong Tou's defeat, he later arrives after finding out that Ichiban has been hiding Wong Tou inside the forest during their escape from Ganzhe. In order to draw them out, he lights the forest on fire, forcing the team to be drawn out in the open.
A fight ensues between Ichiban and Yamai along with a few of his syndicate. After desperately holding off both Yamai and the Syndicate, Tomizawa shortly arrives in a vehicle and Ichiban and Chitose assist Wong Tou inside the van. Kiryu advises the team to flee, and becomes weakened by his illness shortly after their departure. Yamai states his disappointment towards Kiryu becoming weaker, and incapacitates him.
Later, when Ichiban and the others decide to raid Yamai's hideout to rescue Kiryu. Upon reaching the top of the building, they confront Yamai and shortly engage in a fight with him. Once he is defeated, Tomizawa threatens Yamai and nearly attacks him before being interrupted by one of the women Yamai was sitting with, stating he is safe and sound. They then come to see Kiryu, laid onto a bed, passed out.
Fighting Style[]
Yamai has five boss fights in Infinite Wealth, and is accompanied by goons in all except the first. His weapon of choice is a crowbar, and attacks by swinging at opponents with it, or even by using it to hook them — or nearby objects — and fling them around. In his calm state, he simply stands upright with his crowbar rested on his right shoulder, similar to Kasuga's Hero Job stance. His moveset is listed below:
- Taste Steel (1st - 3rd fight) — an upward diagonal left swing and a rightward horizontal swing.
- Feral Lunge (2nd & 3rd fight) — tapping the ground with his crowbar twice before performing a dashing downward diagonal left swing.
- Bite the Dust (3rd fight only) — hooking a flaming log with his crowbar before spinning around and throwing it at a party member. This attack inflicts 'Burn'.
- Iron Will (3rd fight only) — a charge-up stance where he taps the ground with his crowbar twice and holds it up behind him while crouched down, accompanied by a pale pink aura.
- Iron Squall — a spinning upward diagonal right swing and a leftward horizontal swing.
- Keelhauler (2nd & 3rd fight) — clinching a party member's left thigh with his crowbar after knocking them down, before throwing them off to the left. This attack has a chance to inflict 'Silence'.
- Cruel Sneer (2nd & 3rd fight) — a taunt where he bends over and leans on his crowbar, beckoning with his left hand.
He will always take two turns in a row.
Yamai enters Heat Mode in his fourth fight, when his health has been reduced to approximately 80%. This causes his moveset to change drastically, altering his already available attacks while granting him a couple of extra ones too. He also takes a new, bent-over stance with his arms hanging down, contrasting against Kasuga's Hero stance. These include the following:
- Taste Steel (4th fight onward) — a running downward diagonal left swing, a crouching rightward horizontal swing, and a leaping downward diagonal left swing.
- Feral Lunge (5th fight only) — passing his crowbar between hands before performing a dashing upward diagonal left swing.
- Keelhauler (4th fight onward) — flooring a party member by slamming his crowbar down on them, before hooking them with his weapon and executing a 720° giant swing.
- Hit Me (4th fight onward) — a counter stance where he leans over and taps his left cheek twice, indicated by a bright pink aura. If attacked by a party member, he will execute a charged downward swing.
- Satisfied? — breaking his stance, standing upright and wiping his lip with his left thumb.
- Iron Will (4th fight onward) — a charge-up stance where he clutches the end of his crowbar before swinging it leftward and upward, accompanied by a pale pink aura.
- Iron Squall — two low leftward horizontal swings and a twirling jump followed by another low leftward swing. This attack inflicts 'Stun'.
- Wrecking Wave (5th fight only) — holding his crowbar up and twirling it thrice before executing a downward diagonal left swing, an upward diagonal right swing, and an upward diagonal left swing. This attack projects shockwaves and inflicts 'Burn'.
- Insult to Injury (4th fight onward) — an upward vertical swing, performed after knocking a party member down.
- Go Batshit (4th fight onward) — a taunt where he plunges his crowbar down to the ground, lowering all party members' 'Defense'.
Yamai automatically enters Heat Mode in his final boss fight. His aura is neon purple.
Trivia[]
- In the Story Demo of Infinite Wealth present in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, Yamai could be fought outside Akane's house, even having his own intro. This fight was removed from the final game.
- In his 2nd fight, Yamai will always attack Kiryu as long as he's alive.
- Yamai's fights have bases on which theme plays for him.
- In his 1st and 3rd fight, he initiated the fights with Kasuga and his party. "Slugfest" plays for those fights.
- In his 4th and final fight, Kasuga and his party initiated the fights instead. "Kooky" plays for those fights.
- Finally, in his 2nd fight, Yamai is solely fixated on Kiryu. "Sanctions" plays for this fight, signifying the fact that Kasuga and his party is out of the picture for him at that moment.
- Amongst all the characters throughout the franchise, Yamai is tied with the Man in Black and Daisaku Kuze for having the most boss fights in one game with 5 (excluding Hub boss mechanics such as Mr. Shakedown and Majima Everywhere).
Gallery[]
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth[]
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online[]
.png "RGGO - Card - UR Yutaka Yamai (LADIW).png (384 KB)")
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “Like a Dragon: Dragon Calendar,” Ryu Ga Gotoku, SEGA, accessed September 17, 2025, https://calendar.ryu-ga-gotoku.com/en/.