Masaru Ihara (伊原 勝, Ihara Masaru) is a character featured in Yakuza 4. He is a lieutenant of the Ueno Seiwa Clan.
Profile
Appearance
Ihara stands at above-average height. He has a small mustache and eyebrows, and dyed-brown hair that he styles in a pompadour, with bangs hanging over his forehead.
Attire
Ihara wears an unbuttoned, double-breasted, pale purple jacket and trousers, over a tan-colored dress shirt and a gold chain around his neck. He also wears a pair of sunglasses on his head, a black belt, and brown and cream, oxford dress shoes.
Involvement
Yakuza 4: 2010
In a setup orchestrated by Isao Katsuragi, Hiroaki Arai, and Kazuo Shibata, the plan is for Arai to murder Ihara and then be concealed by Shibata, in order to force the Tojo Clan to turn over Kamurocho Hills. To that end, Katsuragi promotes Ihara to the position of assistant lieutenant, then orders him to cause a disturbance at the hostess club Club Elnard that was owned by the Shibata Family, along with his oath brother, Yutaka Mishima. There, he fights and is defeated by Shun Akiyama, before Hiroaki Arai appears. Ihara shoots Arai when the latter tries to restrain him; afterwards, Ihara carries Mishima away and the two flee. Arai catches up to Ihara after he drops Mishima off, and shoots and kills him in the alley behind New Serena, while Mishima is able to escape.
Due to Ihara's recent promotion, Katsuragi uses his death as negotiating room to demand that the Tojo Clan either forfeit the highly lucrative Kamurocho Hills project, or Arai's head, to the Ueno Seiwa as amends.
Fighting Style
Ihara is a fairly basic fighter, relying mainly on boxing techniques with some kick attacks as well. His moveset is listed below:
- a Rush Combo consisting of a left jab and a right cross, followed by:
- a left shovel hook, or
- a right calf-kick;
- Tetsuo Tamashiro's left-right uppercut combo,
- a right cross,
- a ducking right hook,
- Tsuyoshi Kanda's stomping headbutt,
- Tamashiro's high push kick as a basic attack,
- the Yakuza 3 and 4 generic enemies' grab attacks,
- Kazuma Kiryu's Knockdown Reversal, which can stun Akiyama;
- a ducking right hook after quickstepping forward, which can stun Akiyama;
- a left foot stomp as a downed attack, and
- a taunt where he leans over and sways his arms before hopping backward.
Ihara can also pick up objects from around the room and use them as weapons.
His attack trails are amethyst purple.
Trivia
- A photograph of Ihara can be obtained in Yakuza 6. After obtaining the photograph, taking pictures in certain parts of Kamurocho can reveal Ihara's ghost within the photos.