Toru Higashi

Toru Higashi (東 徹, Higashi Tōru) is a supporting character featured in Judgment and Lost Judgment and a minor character in Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. He is a former member of the Matsugane Family as well as the current manager and owner of Charles.

Profile

Appearance

Higashi has a relatively slim and tall, muscular build that is ideal for a Muay Thai fighter. His short, naturally black hair is worn slicked back. Once he adopts his signature look, he begins dyeing his hair dark brown and shaping his eyebrows. He has faint facial hair in the style of a goatee, with the hair above his upper lip being the most prominent.

Attire

Higashi's signature attire consists of a light grey pinstriped suit worn over an untucked purple and gold patterned dress shirt with the collar worn over the lapels of his suit, a gold chain necklace, and oxblood cap-toe oxfords. He is nearly always wearing gold half-frame sunglasses, even at night, and has two earrings in his left ear; a black stud as his anti-tragus piercing and a smaller white earring in his upper lobe. The Matsugane Family crest pin adorns his lapel, though he is not seen wearing it after the disbandment of the Tojo Clan.

In flashbacks, he has a less garish appearance, wearing a light grey suit with a light stripe pattern buttoned up over a white dress shirt, black dress shoes, and clear prescription glasses.

While boxing, Higashi wears a lavender-colored crewneck sweatshirt, teal athletic shorts, and navy blue high-top boxing shoes and boxing gloves. His shirt has a red box logo across the chest with white lettering which says "3a2t.eAsT." On the back, it has red lettering which says "3a2t.eAsT►" above a red compass. The print is a reference to the fact that the kanji the name Higashi is comprised of (東) directly translates to "east." His shorts have a white crown printed on the left leg and gray stripes on the sides, which each have white borders and multiple pairs of small white crowns going down the middle. He does not wear glasses while boxing.

Personality

You said it yourself. I look like a real yakuza now, right? Funny, I was thinking the same thing.

— Higashi to Yagami, Judgment

Despite his outwardly tough and cool nature, Higashi is highly affable and charming, and he is a good-hearted individual, as seen throughout.

Higashi is also shown to assist others when needed, such as getting Matsugane Family members out of trouble or attempting to locate Matsugane after Yagami requested him to do so.

As the manager of the gaming arcade Charles, Higashi enjoys spending time with and entertaining children, and also prefers for the kids to have fun at the arcade rather than for his own profit. The previous manager of Charles, Masaharu Kaito states that Higashi is even better with kids than he is.

Higashi is well-respected in the Matsugane Family, and is rather popular among the newer members of the family. Higashi shows this respect to his former superior Kaito, and remains fully loyal to him even when he is not in the family anymore.

Background

Higashi had joined the Matsugane Family by 2006, and was Masaharu Kaito's subordinate at this point in time.

Higashi was present alongside Kaito on the day one hundred million yen was stolen from the Matsugane Family Office, though Higashi's involvement was never made known as Kaito claimed sole responsibility for the incident. With Kaito's expulsion weighing on him, Higashi decided to get the money back by any means necessary, believing Kaito would be allowed back into the family if the hundred million were returned.

A tip from Kazuya Ayabe and some digging of his own lead him down to the sewers of Kamurocho and the thief, a homeless man nicknamed Red Nose. There he stumbled across a meeting between Red Nose and Kyohei Hamura, who had hired Red Nose to stage the robbery in order for Kaito to take the fall. Higashi was forced to kill Red Nose then and there to prove his loyalty to Hamura and save his own life.

Though unable to negotiate Kaito's return, Higashi retrieved the full hundred million for the Matsugane Family and earned Hamura's favor. He quickly rose through the ranks as a result and later ended up as Charles' manager, a position previously held by Kaito. With his newfound influence within the family, he made it his mission to protect Mitsugu Matsugane in Kaito's absence, though by all appearances he was loyal to Hamura.

Involvement

Judgment: 2018-2019

In 2018, Higashi and his men raid the Yagami Detective Agency on Hamura's orders to deter Takayuki Yagami's investigations into The Mole. They attack Kaito in the process, and Higashi warns Kaito that the Matsugane Family is looking for Yagami and to avoid him if he wants to stay out of Hamura's line of fire. He appears to have undergone a personality shift and comes off as hardened and abrasive.

After his men are defeated by Kaito, he decides they have gotten the message across and orders them to fall back, leaving shortly after Yagami arrives at the scene. On the way back to Charles, he takes a detour to help one of his men get out of a situation involving some thugs. When a little boy at the arcade complains of having lost change to a faulty arcade machine, he chastises the Charles Clerk for dismissing him. As compensation, he gives the boy some money before retiring to his office.

He soon learns that Yagami has followed him there at Kaito's request, but his initial hostility appears to subside as Yagami makes it clear that he is not looking for a fight. The two reflect on the last time they saw one another, one year ago on the day of Kaito's expulsion. Higashi explains that with Kaito out of the way, Hamura has taken near-complete control of the family, leaving him no choice but to follow Hamura orders. However, he becomes aggravated and uncooperative once more at mentions of the robbery or of his personality shift, which leads Yagami to conclude that the two circumstances are connected.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name: 2019

Higashi follows Kaito to Sotenbori to assist in his search for a "gorilla-built" man attacking homeless people.

Lost Judgment: 2021-2022

Following the dissolution of the Tojo Clan, Higashi has taken full ownership of Charles and given former members of the Matsugane Family jobs there, and now has an overload of free time. Higashi saves Saori Shirosaki and Mari from two RK thugs that were about to assault them for trying to gain info on Shinya Kawai, initially not recognizing Saori in her hostess outfit. Saori calls Yagami to inform him of what she learned, but he does not answer. Higashi notes it is odd, which causes her to contact Kaito, leading to Yagami's rescue.

To Higashi's annoyance, Yagami brings Yui Mamiya to Charles for interrogation. He is told the purpose of the interrogation is to look into Akihiro Ehara and Jin Kuwana, and learn how they were able to orchestrate a groping to provide a murder alibi, and that Kaito was hospitalized during the investigation. Mamiya tells them Kuwana had blackmailed them using footage for her and her conspirators bullying Mitsuru Kusumoto, then footage of them abducting Kawai to force them to hunt bullies across the nation. Higashi expresses his pleasure with Kuwana's methods. Yagami is called by Kuwana to negotiate Mamiya's freedom. Higashi and Sugiura release her when Yagami gives the signal, and do not tail her.

Mamiya needs to be brought in again after an attempt on Yagami's life is made, and Higashi calls Genda Law Office so they can also hear the truth behind Ehara's groping and murder. He also tells Yagami that he received intel of RK's main operations being performed in Isezaki Ijincho. After this second interrogation, Mamiya is allwed to go free. Higashi is in disagreement, but Yagami says they have no concrete evidence to incriminate her.

Higashi attempts to locate Daimu Akutsu and Kazuki Soma though his ex-Tojo connentions in RK. Eventually, Akutsu's location is found in Kamurocho, and he is tasked with being on standby for when Saori meets him through his hostess network. Akutsu is aware of Saori's motives, causing Higashi, Yagami, and a recovered Kaito to step in and take the RK thugs out. They ask Akutsu of Soma, and deduce Soma is an undercover agent for Public Security based on his actions around the time the Tojo Clan dissolved. Higashi moves out of the way to avoid being shot when RK members in police uniforms arrive to silence Akutsu.

At Charles, Higashi tells Yagami of Soma and Akutsu's history in the Nikkyo Consortium, and directs him to its last president, Irie, to learn more. He later hears of a raid at an underground gambling hall and joins Kaito and Yagami in searching the building for Soma, as its raiders are RK. At one point, he and Kaito imitate the sounds of a catfight to allow Yagami to sneak past some RK members. When they clear the building, they learn from Kosuke that Soma is giving commands from Ijincho.

To gather info on incriminating Ehara for murder, Higashi and Hoshino visit Ehara's wife, but they learn nothing and pay their respects at her son's altar.

The Kaito Files: 2022

Higashi is offered an opportunity to own a new arcade in Ijincho. Due to related business meetings, he is unable to accept Kaito's invitation for drinks. The next day, Kaito hires him to serve tea to his new client, Kyoya Sadamoto, who plans to give Kaito a big payout. After Kaito declines due to not wanting to open up old wounds after learning the case is related to Mikiko Natsume, Higashi accepts his job having been an unpaid one. Later, he informs Kaito of a punk kid causing trouble at Charles.

After Kaito is taken to a hospital following his battle, Higashi watches over him with Jun by his side. They play several rounds of card games, but Jun ends up winning.

Higashi is mentioned in a memory point as well.

• In Memories of Higashi, Kaito examines Charles and reminisces. He recalls that some yakuza were picking on Higashi and showing off their boxing skills. Higashi refused to defend himself since they outranked him. On behalf of Higashi, Kaito beat them into submission. This makes him remember a time during an attack on the Matsugane family where Kaito grabbed ahold of a professional boxer, who was pummeling him with punches, and beat him senseless.

Fighting Style

Judgment

Higashi has two boss fights in Judgment: one where he fights unarmed, and another where he wields a tantō. He fights alongside other Matsugane goons in both encounters, while Yagami is backed up Kaito. He also joins the aforementioned detectives, and Sugiura, as an AI partner at various points later on in the game.

While not on the same level as Yagami or Kaito, Higashi is a capable fighter in his own right, and can keep up with his teammates easily enough. His aura in Heat Mode is electric indigo in the original Judgment, and azure blue in Judgment Remastered.

Unarmed

Used by Higashi in his first fight, the latter half of his second fight, and as an AI companion. His fighting style is based around Taekwondo with some elements of Muay Thai, including his stance. It places a heavy emphasis on swift, smooth kicks. His moveset is as follows:

• a Rush Combo made up of a right roundhouse kick-right inverted roundhouse kick-right roundhouse kick, followed by:
  • a right cross and a left roundhouse kick, or
  • a spinning left heel kick and a running right downward tornado kick;
• a left jab-spinning right back kick combo
• Gaowayan Pramuk's flying knee strike,
• Kanji Koshimizu's spinning horizontal slash,
• a command grab where he holds Yagami in a double wrist and performs a body slam, before throwing a left hook at his chest;
• Andre Richardson's unarmed downed attack, and
• a taunt where he leans over and beckons Yagami with his left fist.

For his Deadly Attack, he makes an anti-clockwise circular motion with his left arm before throwing a right cartwheel kick.

Tantō

When using a dagger, Higashi borrows Koshimizu's knife moveset, except for his command grab and Heat Mode run. He loses his weapon after the mid-fight QTE and reverts to his bare-handed fighting style, regardless of whether the button prompt is performed correctly or not.

Lost Judgment

In Boxing, his stance often shifts from orthodox to southpaw, but in the actual match against him, he is prominently southpaw, using the same moveset as Chizuru Sakuma.

Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

As an arena fighter, Higashi uses a watered-down variant of the Tantō style.

Gallery

Judgment

Lost Judgment

The Kaito Files

Notes

References