Grand Theft Auto – Japan
Prologue
Welcome to the Future
Over twenty years have passed since Japan's bubble burst. The economy has been torn into shambles and the country's unemployment rate has risen to cataclysmic proportions. The country is cursed with light years of unpaid debts and a severe overcrowding. This has given rise to Japan's skyrocketing crime. Japan no longer has the reputation as being a "safe" country. In the urban areas, there have been rising cases of murder, rape, and robbery. Japan's organized crime element has also taken advantage of this, with the police powerless to stop the Japanese crime syndicates.
In Japan's Kanzen region, crime is at its worst. The crime syndicates from each city battle each other for complete control of the Kanzen region.
Tojo – The Heart of Kanzen
Tojo is the capital of Tojo Prefecture, one of the two prefectures of the Kanzen region. It lies on the eastern side of the region, and is the largest city in Kanzen, as well as one of Japan's largest cities. With its neon-washed avenues and its rampant consumerism, Tojo gives the world a false impression that Japan's economy is okay.
The Phone Call
Miya Yoshihara, a cute, petite 20-year-old college student, just finished her class for today, as she walked down the campus of Tojo University. It was the early evening when she was steadily walking down the deep, eerily green marble buildings of the university. She saw some announcements on the wall asking students to be cautious about a gang called the Mad Wolves, who have been recently attacking the campus. She thought nothing of the announcement, and kept walking.
As soon as she arrived in her apartment, she found her answering machine had a couple unanswered messages. She pressed the Play button and heard the messages.
"Hey Miya, remember our date tonight at eight. This is a fancy place, so be sure to dress nice. I'm introducing you to the people I work for. See you there."
That message was from her boyfriend, the 28-year-old Tsuyoshi Hamada. Tsu-chan, as Miya affectionately called him, met her at the infamous Shintate disco, Club Deco. Shortly after they've been dating steadily, she has been noticing that Tsuyoshi had been meeting with rather shady characters, and it wasn't until Miya and Tsuyoshi had their first intimate moment, that she discovered the tattoos that covered Tsuyoshi's body. Her boyfriend was a gangster.
She got used to this, though. She didn't care about the people that Tsuyoshi beat up or possibly killed, all that mattered was that Tsuyoshi treated her better than any other man she's ever had. It was natural that she had lots of love for her gangster boyfriend.
She pressed Next on her answering machine.
"Hey, its Tsuyoshi again. I'm just letting you know you're on the guest list. Come meet me inside the club."
The notorious Club Deco. It used to be a fashionable gay disco back by the turn of the century, but over the years, as the Taniguchi gang tightened their grip on Tojo, Club Deco has become a haven for the scum and bile of Tojo. On regular days, it was just a regular disco with dance music and a hip young crowd. But on certain weekday nights, the club was strictly Taniguchi exclusive.
She proceeded to catch her last message…but it was a rather unfamiliar voice.
"Hey, is this Miya's house? This is Masayuki Toshimoto, Hamada's boss. We have sort of a problem with your boyfriend. Please come to the Club Deco as soon as possible, and we'll talk about our situation."
This message shocked Miya. What happened to Tsu-chan? Toshimoto's tone was calm and polite, so she was sure that nothing bad happened to him. She went to her bedroom to change into her nice clothes—a sequined midriff top, a hip-hugging pair of pants, and a pin in her hair. She headed over to Ueda Train Station to catch a train to Tojo's Shintate borough.
Shintate Borough
Shintate was, by no doubt, Tojo's largest and most populous borough in the Uptown sector. Tojo City Hall was located in Shintate, as was Tojo Times Square. Outside Shintate Station, one of Japan's busiest stations, Shintate was seperated into two parts: the glitzy West section, known for their shopping and, of course, the upscale shopping mecca known as Times Square; and the seedy East section, which was where most of the Tojo gangs call home. There were brothels, casinos, and nightclubs, most of which the Tojo Metropolitan Police were paid to turn a blind eye to. Despite much of Shintate being drowned in neon lights and the honks of taxicabs, the crowdedness of Shintate gave the visitors some sense of security. This was not so for the East section, which was where Miya was headed. She can never walk out Shintate Station without getting harrassed by pornography recruiters, or "Catch Boys", as the Japanese called them. As she walked through the sordid alleyways of the East section, through the red lights of all the brothels that employ, or rather exploit, controversially young Southeast Asian women, she felt rather uneasy. She also walked by several young boys in white hoodies asked if she "needed anything."
She finally made it past the dangerous alleys, not having to use the knife that she concealed in her purse. She was in the East section's most reputable place: Bunraku Plaza. The name was quite deceptive; this was not a place to find Japanese puppet plays. The name, however, had historical value. In Tojo's old samurai days, this section was actually known for puppet plays, but over time, the crime syndicates took it over and made it a red-light district, but managed to pay respect for the Plaza's old days. In this glitzy plaza of bars and discos, her final destination was the disco right across from the bowling alley, known as Club Deco. A burly bouncer guarded the elevator. She came up rather nervous.
"What do you need, little girl? This is a private engagement." The bouncer told Miya.
"I'm Miya Yoshihara." She introduced herself, "I was invited here by Toshimoto."
"Oh!" The bouncer said, apologetically bowing, "How foolish of me! You must be Tsuyoshi's girlfriend. We have been expecting you."
The golden doors swished open, as the attendant eyeballed Miya. He pushed the 4th floor button, which was the floor Club Deco was on. After a short elevator ride, the doors swung open, showing a thriving disco. There was a central, elevated dance floor with a lit-up mosaic floor. Surrounding it on the lower levels were all private booths. On the upper mezzanine, there were private rooms for the VIPs—in this case, Taniguchi lieutenants. The clientele in the club were all Taniguchi gangsters. She recognized the type: tan suits, pompadours, and Ray Ban sunglasses…these people enforced the stereotype about Japanese gangsters. However, despite the pulse-pounding house music playing in the background, nobody was dancing. The guests all looked super-rich, and had stunningly beautiful women by their sides. She wondered if Tsuyoshi's comrades ever teased him for having such an ugly girlfriend.
One of the staff members attended to Miya, politely bowing to her and smiling courteously.
"Please follow me, Yoshihara-san."
She followed the staffer up the mezzanine and into one of the private rooms, where a balding man with an expensive tan pinstripe suit and a goatee was enjoying a cocktail and the company of a possible supermodel. After taking a sip of his cocktail, he observed Miya closely.
"If Tsuyoshi's fucking you, then he's got better taste than I thought."
Miya cringed at the man's chauvanistic remark, which she readily identified as Toshimoto. She reluctantly bowed at this disgusting excuse of a man.
"I'm Miya Yoshihara." She said, "Where's Tsuyoshi?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Toshimoto said, "You see, Tsuyoshi works for me, and tonight was to be the night that he was promoted to a lieutenant, but you see, he's not as good of a gangster as I thought he was."
"What happened to him?" Miya asked nervously, "Did he get killed?"
She swallowed hard after she even fathomed the possibility of Tsuyoshi being dead, but Toshimoto just laughed.
"No, he is very much alive." Toshimoto said, "Let's just say, he fucked up, and we're holding him hostage until we recover from this slip-up."
Miya let out a sigh of relief, but still had a gullet of worry.
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"That incompetent bastard was supposed to do a simple job—A SIMPLE JOB—and he fucks it all up. He's made us lose face all over Kanzen, and now you must repay his debt."
She feared the worst. She reached for her knife, but before she could, Toshimoto had a Glock pointed at her.
"Not too fast, little girl." He said, "Remember, you're in my club, and this club is filled with people that want Tsuyoshi dead, so I recommend you don't do anything stupid. I can tell you're angry. How about I offer you a drink to take some of that edge off?"
"No thanks." Miya said, rather aggravated, "I'm fine. And just to let you know, I'm not going to sell my body in one of your sleazy whorehouses. You know I am better than that."
"Do you think I'd put you in one of my massage parlors?" Toshimoto laughed, "Show me a little more face than that, sweetheart. You want to save Tsuyoshi's life, so you have to work for me if you want him alive."
She was still very irritated but relieved at the fact that she didn't have to be a whore. She misjudged the Taniguchi severely.
"Fine." She said to him.
"Do you know how to use a gun?"
"Of course. Tsuyoshi taught me."
Toshimoto took out his checkbook, wrote a check, and handed it to Miya.
"Just because you owe me Tsuyoshi's debt, doesn't mean you're working for me for free."
She looked at the check, which was made to her and was worth 500,000 yen.
"Consider that a contract fee." Toshimoto told her, "You must be very upset at me. Please understand that while Tsuyoshi has disgraced us, he is still a member of our organization. You will be paid for everything you do for us. Please, go home and get some rest. You must be tired."
Miya put the check in her pocket and reluctantly bowed at Toshimoto. Although he never made it clear what they did to them, she still had a sense of relief that he's okay.
