Joji Kazama[note 2] (風間 譲二, Kazama Jōji) is a supporting character in Yakuza 3. He is an agent for the American Central Intelligence Agency's East Asia Division.
Profile
Appearance
Joji is the spitting image of his brother Shintaro with the only difference being the former's graying hairs. He has a considerably fit physique given his age. He has black (going gray) slicked back hair and a moustache.
Attire
Joji wears a black three piece suit over a royal blue dress shirt, black leather oxfords, and a black and gray regimental striped necktie.
Personality
— Joji Kazama, Yakuza 3 RemasteredWhen your chairman tells you to do something, you damn well do it. And the CIA is my "chairman." They say I need to kill someone, no matter the target... I'm going to kill them.
Joji is a no-nonsense, result-oriented man, as he wants to get the resort deal to go smoothly. He seems very similar to his brother in terms of personality, having no qualms about even killing people if he is given such an order, and is loyal to his organization above all else.
Background
Joji lost both of his parents at a very young age, with his only surviving relative being his older brother, Shintaro Kazama. As an adult, Joji joined the police force in the Foreign Affairs division.[note 3] During this period, Joji met and became friends with his colleague, Ryuzo Tamiya, and the two rose through the police ranks together.
Around 1979, Joji emigrated to the USA to avoid persecution due to his brother's status as a Tojo Clan officer, earning a fresh start as a CIA agent working in their Far East Intelligence division. Though it is unknown to what extent the brothers kept in touch, Joji had learned from Shintaro that one of the orphans the latter took in, Kazuma Kiryu, had "beautiful eyes."
Involvement
Yakuza 3: 2009
On command from the CIA, Joji enters the Ryudo Family Office alongside his partner, in order to steal the deed for Morning Glory Orphanage's land. Entering the office, Joji encounters Shigeru Nakahara, and the latter pulls out his gun, forcing his partner to shoot him first. About two hours later, Joji and his partner enter Daigo Dojima's office and begin waiting for him. When Daigo enters, Joji hands him the deed and attempts to negotiate for help with the military expansion deal. Joji reaches into his pocket, however is mistaken for reaching for a gun by Daigo, and Daigo pulls out his own gun, causing Joji's partner to shoot him first.
Days later, Joji tracks down Lau Ka Long and shoots his subordinates, then shoots him in the head, protecting Kazuma Kiryu and Rikiya Shimabukuro. While walking away, Joji is called out by Kiryu, and is asked if he is Shintaro Kazama or not. Joji simply remarks about Kiryu's "beautiful eyes" before walking away.
Joji is instructed to shoot Shoyo Toma in Okinawa, and Kiryu is sent by Tamiya to stop him. Due to Kiryu's intervention, Toma is able to escape, but Joji is still dead-set on killing him, resulting in the two engaging in an unarmed duel. Kiryu and Joji are both exhausted after the latter is defeated, and Kiryu remarks that he would not have won had Joji been in his prime. After Joji regains consciousness, he explains to Kiryu the situation regarding Black Monday and the two are later interrupted by Taichi, who rushed to find Kiryu to tell him Yoshitaka Mine and the Tamashiro Family had destroyed Morning Glory Orphanage. Before Kiryu leaves, Joji tells him he will arrange for transportation to Kamurocho.
Later on, Joji heads to the bullring attempting to save Kiryu and his friends from Tamashiro. Arriving at the bullring, Joji shoots Tetsuo Tamashiro in the head to protect Kiryu, however, is too late to save Rikiya from being shot.
Kiryu travels to an Okinawa airfield with Haruka Sawamura, Joji having prepared a high-speed jet for them. Kiryu offers to shake Joji's hand before his departure, but Joji declines, saying he will wait until the mission is complete. Later on, Joji calls Kiryu's phone, and alerts him that the CIA will protect him, as they have the goal of apprehending Andre Richardson.
Joji co-pilots a helicopter with a CIA agent, with Haruka accompanying them, and lands on the top of the Touto University Hospital, rescuing Kiryu and Daigo there.
He is presumed to have returned to the United States afterward, as his mission was accomplished.
Fighting Style
Joji is an exceptional martial artist. He is a practitioner of Shotokan Karate, capable of striking with incredible speed, power, and finesse. He also proves to be an effective marksman, as shown when he shoots Tamashiro in the head with his pistol at long-range. His entire moveset is comprised of animations from that of Jean Kujo from Virtua Fighter 5.
His combos include the following:
- a Rush Combo made up of a left jab, followed by:
- a right cross and a left uppercut,
- a right cross and feinting a left body hook for a low left roundhouse kick, or
- a high right roundhouse kick and a right backfist;
- another combo consisting of a right knee strike, a high left roundhouse kick, and a mountain punch; and
- a ducking left inward knifehand-kneeling right reverse punch combo.
The remainder of his moveset is listed as follows:
- a left front snap kick,
- a stomping left hammerfist (Heat Mode only),
- a flying left side kick as a running attack,
- grab attacks, including:
- a large outer reap-left gut punch as a front grab attack, and
- a spinning right elbow strike-left downward knifehand as a rear grab attack;
- grab reversals, including:
- a wrist grab-right backfist-left gut punch as a front grab reversal, and
- a wrist grab-left arm twist-right push kick as a rear grab reversal;
- a left knifehand as guard reversal, followed by a right front kick-right lunge punch;
- a jumping right front kick-high left roundhouse kick as a falling attack,
- a right downward knifehand as a downed attack, and
- a taunt where he executes a karate kata (unused).
He can also shift into an open-handed parry stance — in which he can remain mobile — dragging Kiryu behind him and executing an aikido body drop throw if he attacks him.
In Heat Mode, Joji can execute a QTE Heat Action when Kiryu is down, in which he grabs him as he is trying to pick himself off the ground. Should the prompt be failed, he will hit him with a right knee to the head, a left knee to the abdomen, and another right knee to the head.
His Heat Mode aura is bright orange.
Joji's moveset is reused by the Media King in Yakuza 0, and many of his attacks are reused for Osamu Kashiwagi's moveset as well.
Trivia
- Joji is shown to be fluent in English.
- In Yakuza 6, one of the cards that can be used when talking with a hostess states "I'll say 'Beautiful Eyes'... in English." This is likely a reference to Joji.
Gallery
Yakuza 3
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online
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Notes
- ↑ The given birth years of 1948/1949 are an estimate based on Joji's age and are not intended as a substitute for an official date.
- ↑ In the original Western release of Yakuza 3 on the PS3, Joji was renamed to Joji Fuma, which was done in keeping with Yakuza and Yakuza 2's decision to localize the name Kazama as Fuma. This is speculated (but not confirmed) to have originally been a translation error, as the kanji for Kazama (風間) can also be read as "Fūma." It may also have been a deliberate change to prevent confusion from arising due to the similarity between the names "Kazama" and "Kazuma," which is what Kiryu was typically referred to as in these releases.
- ↑ Tamiya describes that "Foreign Affairs" was known under a different name at the time.