Jo Sawashiro

Jo Sawashiro (, Sawashiro Jō) is a recurring character in the Like a Dragon (formerly Yakuza) series introduced as the main antagonist of The Legend of Ichiban Kasuga in Ryu Ga Gotoku Online and as a secondary antagonist in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. 
In Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, he is the former captain and second patriarch of the Arakawa Family, a former lieutenant of the Omi Alliance, and the founder and first chairman of the Tokyo Omi Alliance. In Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, he is a member of the Seiryu Clan.
In Ryu Ga Gotoku Online, he is the captain of the Arakawa Family, the patriarch of the Sawashiro Family, and a lieutenant of the Omi Alliance.
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Sawashiro's face is modeled after his voice actor, . He is tall with a solid build fitting of a skilled martial artist and tan skin. 
In his teens and twenties, his short dark brown hair is left unstyled, but it is slicked back from his thirties onwards. In later years, his hair is graying and longer in comparison. His eyes are brown and become clouded with cataracts as he ages. He has a faint scar on the left side of his forehead.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online: Sawashiro is tall, with a lean, muscular build and very pale skin. In his twenties, his unkempt, black shoulder-length hair is worn pulled back with bangs parted in the middle. His eyes are gray.
By 2017, his hair is partially graying and slicked back except for some loose pieces of short gray hair swept to the left of his face. He also has a large forked scar on his face going through his left eye and a smaller scar on his left cheek. There are three scars on his torso; across the right side of his chest, across his stomach, and over his left hip. Additionally, he is missing part of his left ear.
==== Tattoo ====
Jo Sawashiro never removes his shirt in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, exclusively doing so in Online.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online: Sawashiro's tattoo covers most of his back and ends just above his thighs. It depicts a grinning dragonfish (, ryūgyo) swimming up a waterfall. It is predominantly white with black-and-white fins and scales, golden eyes, teeth, and horns, and a red underbelly.
A dragonfish is the in-between state of the koi in the legend of a koi that swims up to the top of a waterfall and is rewarded for its tenacity by being transformed into a dragon. The tattoo represents his devotion to Masumi Arakawa, who he views as the 'dragon' he aspires to live up to. 
==== Attire ====
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Sawashiro's signature attire between 1993 and 2001 consists of a dark gray suit worn over a violet shirt, a burgundy patterned tie fastened with a gold tie bar, and light brown dress shoes.
By 2019, his attire consists of a dark gray double-breasted crocodile-skin suit worn over a light gray snakeskin waistcoat, a black shirt, a violet and bluish-gray patterned tie, and worn out dark brown dress shoes. The Arakawa Family crest pin always adorns his lapel. He is also sometimes seen wearing black leather gloves.
As a teenager, Sawashiro wears a dark gray bomber jacket over a black sweater, jeans, and black sneakers. In his twenties, he wears a patterned button-up shirt, dark dress pants, and dark brown dress shoes, as well as a necklace with a rectangular black and silver pendant.
Ryu Ga Gotoku Online: Sawashiro's signature attire consists of a white suit with light gray snakeskin patterned lapels worn over a gray-purple dress shirt, a dark blue paisley patterned tie fastened with a gold tie bar, a dark blue snakeskin belt, and dark brown dress shoes. His more recent appearances add a white pocket square, gold diamond-shaped cufflinks, and an Omi Alliance crest pin adorning his lapel.
=== Personality ===
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Sawashiro is a militant and volatile yakuza who places duty above all else. Ruthless in retaliation to conflict and quick to take the offensive, he represents the Arakawa Family's "dark side." To him, the yakuza is a world of violence where the strong rule the weak.
He is an old-school yakuza in this sense, but as the Arakawa Family's "fervent treasurer," codes of honor come second to the family's advancement in his eyes. A hard worker and harsh disciplinarian, failure to meet his exacting standards is summarily met with verbal and physical abuse. His subordinates fear him as a "boss from hell" and a "demon drill sergeant" for his "conservative, old-fashioned ideas of discipline."
Rather than greed or ambition, he is motivated by a desire to atone for the suffering his actions caused for Masumi and Masato Arakawa. As a reserved individual whose "every word [feels] like it might have something more to it," he has a habit of denial and avoidance instilled by his abusive upbringing. He conceals his inner thoughts and refuses to acknowledge inconvenient truths, even the guilt that drives his actions.
As a result of turning his debt of gratitude and his atonement into his purpose in life, however, Arakawa's death and Masato's loss of faith in him leave him with a bleak outlook on his future and little regard for himself or what happens to him. By the events of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, he seems to have mellowed somewhat, appearing outwardly friendlier and more open. 
== Background ==
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Sawashiro was born in 1961 in Kamurocho to unnamed parents. Subjected to physical abuse at home by his father, an alcoholic, he spent most days on the streets of Kamurocho getting into fights. Around 1976, at age fifteen, he left home and moved into a small apartment with Ikumi, a girl who came from a background similar to his. 
Sawashiro learned Ikumi was pregnant the same year. Already in a bad financial situation, unable to provide for a child, and knowing it was too late to terminate the pregnancy, they neglected medical care in hopes it would lead to a miscarriage. Even so, while Sawashiro worked road construction on New Year's Eve, Ikumi gave birth to their son.
With no adult guidance at their age, they saw no options left except what their dysfunctional backgrounds had taught them. Anxious to sweep everything under the rug and move on, they decided to abandon their newborn. Sawashiro shut the baby inside coin locker number 0099 at Shinjuku Station.
He and Ikumi got into an argument later that night. Sawashiro wanted to put the whole thing behind them, but Ikumi insisted on going back for the baby. He eventually gave in to Ikumi's change of heart, but when the two returned to the station, they were stunned to see a yakuza force the locker open and leave with their baby.
Sawashiro was relieved and tried to reassure Ikumi, but they were both troubled by the yakuza's unexplained motives and remained at the scene. A few minutes later, they saw two men retrieve a second baby from the adjacent locker 0101 and overheard them say a woman named Akane had hidden her newborn there. Sawashiro realized the yakuza had mistaken their baby for his.
While he and Ikumi separated sometime later, Sawashiro remained in Kamurocho. Five years later, at age twenty, he encountered the yakuza and his son again. Investigating them further, he learned the yakuza was Masumi Arakawa, patriarch of the Arakawa Family, and had named his son Masato. As for Masato, he had always required the use of a wheelchair due to organ failure caused by hypothermia suffered at birth.
From a distance, he observed Arakawa's efforts to soothe Masato, who resented his disability. He felt ashamed his actions led to his son's condition, later describing the scene as "[haunting him] for who knows how long." This guilt drove Sawashiro, who felt "fated" to end up a yakuza, to join the Arakawa Family. He pledged absolute loyalty to them to atone for their hardships and repay his gratitude to Arakawa.
Sawashiro earned Arakawa's complete trust and was appointed captain and treasurer. His militant stance also drove their notoriety to new heights, which peaked in the Bubble era. At the same time, he was caring and attentive toward Masato to the point of being described as "following [him] around like a lost dog." Masato, in turn, placed much of his faith in Sawashiro and favored him over Arakawa.
He rejected each of Ichiban Kasuga's attempts to join the family after Arakawa performed yubitsume for the Shinomiya Family in exchange for Kasuga's life, resorting to beating him whenever he approached Arakawa. These beatings continued even after Kasuga joined. Sawashiro later stated he always wondered when he would get the chance to kill Kasuga whenever he hit him.
Over time, he began to theorize one of the men he and Ikumi saw at the station may have been Jiro Kasuga, as Akane had been a former employee of his and he spoke as if he had been aware of the plan, which would mean Kasuga was Arakawa's biological son. He kept his suspicions to himself and continued to conceal the truth, believing he would never reveal it to anyone for the rest of his life.
== Involvement ==
=== Yakuza: Like a Dragon: 2000-2019 ===
On December 31st, 2000, Sawashiro tasks Ichiban Kasuga and Mitsuo Yasumura with collecting Hirotaka Ushio and Koji Hiratsuka's dues. The Arakawa Family had received complaints Ushio was selling counterfeit pornographic tapes to high schoolers on family territory, and they had bought Hiratsuka's debt from another family struggling to collect from him. In Hiratsuka's case, Sawashiro instructs Yasumura to use whatever means necessary to make him pay.
While counting money, he relays this information to Arakawa in response to his confusion at Ichi's absence from the office. When questioned on having them work on New Year's Eve, he explains and New Year's "aren't holidays" to him as long as there is money to make.
He calls Kasuga to check in, but is quick to anger when Kasuga fails to respond within two rings. His mood worsens as Kasuga makes it clear he forgot he was supposed to escort Masato on an outing after collections. Berating Kasuga for making Masato wait, he ends the call with a warning: if anything happens to Masato, "killing [him] a thousand times would be insufficient."
That evening at the office, he debriefs Kasuga and Yasumura. Despite admitting to returning Ushio's money to the high schoolers, Kasuga claims they successfully collected Hiratsuka's debt with interest. Noting the strap on the stack of bills Kasuga gives him, however, Sawashiro realizes the money is Masato's. 
He pretends to praise them on a job well done before beating them savagely as punishment. Suspecting Kasuga of hiding something, he accuses him of begging Masato for the money. Sawashiro escalates, responding to Kasuga's attempts to defend himself with more violence. The situation comes to a head when Sawashiro attempts to force Kasuga to commit . However, he freezes when Arakawa walks in on their altercation, hiding the knife with an embarrassed look. 
At midnight, Sawashiro receives a call from Masato, who tells him he has killed someone. He later learns it was Chikao Suzumori, a member of the rival Sakaki Family. Sawashiro informs Arakawa, and the two devise a plan to keep Masato out of prison, as the body has already been found. They fabricate a story in which Sawashiro shot Suzumori in the middle of a heated argument. Under the pretense Sawashiro is too valuable to the family to lose, Kasuga is expelled and sent to the prison in his stead.
Three years later, Sawashiro and Arakawa help Masato fake his death and move to America under the alias of Ryo Aoki so he can start a new life as somebody unconnected to the yakuza. However, "Aoki" eventually returns to Japan and forms Bleach Japan, an NPO targeted at eliminating the "grey zones" in Japanese society. Aoki goes into politics and manages to get elected Governor of Tokyo, after which he blackmails his father into helping him dismantle the Tojo Clan to advance his political career. Arakawa complies and the Tojo Clan is quickly dismantled thanks to the insider information he provides. Afterwards, the Arakawa Family defects to the Omi Alliance, helping them takeover Tokyo's underworld to keep its stability under Aoki's direction, becoming one of its leading families. Sawashiro personally participates in this, loyally serving Aoki's efforts.
In 2019, the Arakawa Family organizes a dinner for the Omi's Tokyo-based families and Sawashiro is put in charge of overseeing its security. While the dinner takes place, a recently released from prison Kasuga tries to disrupt the dinner with aid from Koichi Adachi. Kasuga finds Sawashiro outside the dining hall where the dinner is taking place and demands to be let in to confront Arakawa about his betrayal of the Tojo, but Sawashiro refuses him entry, leading to a fight which he ultimately loses. Kasuga enters the dining hall and faces Arakawa, who ends up shooting him and instructing Sawashiro to dump his body at a homeless camp in Isezaki Ijincho. Unbeknownst to Sawashiro, Arakawa had deliberately inflicted a non-fatal wound on Kasuga.
A few weeks later, Aoki asks Sawashiro to accompany him to Otohime Land for a meeting with Kasuga, who's discovered his new identity. Aoki instructs Sawashiro and his men to lie in wait out of sight and intervene to kill Kasuga only if the negotiation fails and Kasuga refuses to stay away from him. When that exact scenario transpires, Aoki leaves the building and Sawashiro and his men spring their trap, surrounding Kasuga, but he's saved due to the intervention of his friends. The group escape the soapland but they're stopped in an alley outside by more Arakawa Family men, who delay them long enough for Sawashiro and his thugs to catch up to them. Sawashiro prepares to leave and orders his men to kill them, which makes Kasuga criticize him for delegating the dirty work instead of doing it himself like Arakawa would've done. An angered Sawashiro berates Kasuga for always venerating Arakawa and then departs, telling his men to finish the job.
After Arakawa, Daigo Dojima and Masaru Watase engineer the dissolution of both the Tojo and the Omi, a furious Aoki orders Sawashiro to murder Arakawa in retaliation, but Sawashiro refuses. Nevertheless, another Omi patriarch kills Arakawa to get into Aoki's good graces. Given his refusal, Sawashiro correctly assumes that Aoki no longer considers him reliable and will likely soon dispose of him.
The day following the dissolution, Sawashiro (who has now become the Arakawa Family patriarch following his predecessor's murder) meets with multiple other patriarchs of Tokyo-based Omi families to prostrate himself in apology for his Family's role in the dissolution. The patriarchs berate him for failing to see what Arakawa was planning, but they change their tune and consider the matter settled when Reiji Ishioda gives them briefcases full of money as compensation and proposes to start a new yakuza alliance, the Tokyo Omi Alliance. Sawashiro stands up and mocks the patriarchs for being so easily swayed by money, saying they don't deserve to call themselves yakuza. He then says that he will unite this new Tokyo Omi Alliance and lead it in securing its territory in Tokyo, scolding the other patriarchs for so easily turning their back on the Tojo a few years back and now turning their backs on the Omi; all for money.
When informing Aoki, he orders Sawashiro to kill Ryuhei Hoshino to verify his chairmanship, citing Hoshino's support of Kasuga's political campaign as a reason to kill him. He leaks the danger to Hoshino anonymously, hoping to be stopped. 
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth: By the time he gets to Hoshino, Sawashiro discovers that his target is already dead. He receives a phone call from Aoki, who states he had sent another assassin ahead of Sawashiro, and that Sawashiro never had his trust to begin with.
Kasuga arrives too late, and after a fight with him, Sawashiro reveals to him the secret that Aoki is his biological son, and that Kasuga is most likely Arakawa's biological son, as they were swapped when they were placed in coin lockers. Feeling he has no future left for him, Sawashiro accepts being sent to prison. He is given a life sentence, receiving news some days later of Aoki's death.
=== Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 2023 ===
Sawashiro is freed from his life sentence by Masataka Ebina, acting Chairman of the Seiryu Clan, who was able to prove that Sawashiro wasn't Hoshino's killer. He is given a high position in the Seiryu Clan.
Sawashiro reveals to Kasuga that Akane Kishida, Arakawa's lover and Kasuga's biological mother, is still alive and living in Hawaii. He asks Kasuga to go to Hawaii and go meet her. He gives a postcard with her address in it, but doesn't want him to read it.
== Fighting Style ==
Yakuza: Like a Dragon: Sawashiro is proficient in various martial arts and excels in the use of weapons in particular. His primary fighting styles, are Vile Blade (, zanki-ryū, lit. "Shame Style"), a hard-hitting style which utilizes sharp-edged weapons to inflict Bleed on his opponent and Cane (, sutekki), a more defensive, retaliatory fighting style based off of a Western martial art. 
Sawashiro is also a vicious bare-handed fighter, though Kasuga states he does not take his opponent seriously when fighting unarmed. He appears to be a left-handed fighter like his Ryu Ga Gotoku Online equivalent. In both of his fights, he emits a pink aura, and is weak to Slash attacks and all forms of Lightning damage.
In the first fight, his moveset consists of: 
=== Boxing ===
* his basic attack, which is a left jab, a right cross and a right uppercut
* Punishing Strike, a combo of a left jab, a right cross, a left hook and a right hook
=== Glass shard ===
* his basic attack, which is a gut stab followed by an overhead slash
* Ridicule, where he mocks Kasuga (effectively does nothing)
* Cold Fury, where he coldly stares at Kasuga as his attack increases
* Vile Blade of Stealth, a jumping stab
In the second fight, he uses the following movesets for each third of his life bar, whose transitions are required to progress the fight:
=== Katana ===
* Vile Blade of Enmity, a charging sheath slash that hits all party members in range
* Vile Mutilation, a powerful overhead slash
When using the Katana, Sawashiro will always counter regular attacks and all item usages (the latter if they are too close to him, including non-offensive items). This counter also hits all party members in range. He does not reposition himself for Vile Blade of Enmity, occasionally causing it to miss.
=== Cane ===
* His basic attack, a double spinning bash that hits all party members in range
* Opportune Strike, a push to the chest using the end of the cane
* Cane Strike, where he flicks up a ball and hits it with the cane towards a party member, potentially causing a stun
* Cane Blocker, a cane twirl with a chance to stun that damages all party members in range and allows him to retaliate against all non-AOE attacks
Opportune Strike only occurs if his basic attack is not guarded or Perfect Guarded against. Usually, he will distance himself for Cane Strike, causing the first hit to miss, but if he is close, Cane Strike will hit twice for massive damage. Cane Blocker only aesthetically retaliates against Essences; it deals no damage to the attacker and does not block any incoming damage, though it does knock down the attacker and allow for a free Opportune Strike if he performs his basic attack. Cane Blocker's damage can also be extended if a party member gets stunned or knocked out and the text is not cleared fast enough.Yakuza Like a Dragon - Chapter 13 Coin Locker Baby Walkthrough [4K]
=== Blade and broken cane ===
* His basic attack, a left gut stab and a right overhead slash
* Vile Enlightenment, where he regains 1000 HP per turn for 4 turns
* Vile Blade Stance, where he takes an open stance, allowing him to retaliate against all non-AOE attacks with 2 double overhead slashes
* Vile Demon Ripper, a combo of a right stab, a left overhead slash and a double outward slash
Vile Blade Stance works the same way as Cane Blocker.
== Trivia ==
* The katana Sawashiro uses is identical to Okita Soji's.
* Sawashiro's primary fighting style, Vile Blade, shares its Japanese name, Zanki-ryū, with a school of techniques first featured in Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan!.
* Sawashiro's secondary fighting style, Cane, is described as a more refined version of Yu Nanba's style. 
== Gallery ==
=== Yakuza: Like a Dragon ===
YLAD - Character Render - Jo Sawashiro (2000).png|Full-body Yakuza: Like a Dragon render of Sawashiro (c. 2000)
YLAD - Character Render - Jo Sawashiro (2019).png|Full-body Yakuza: Like a Dragon render of Sawashiro (c. 2019)
jo sawashiro promo image.jpg
Yakuza Like A Dragon 20201205010704.jpg
Yakuza Like A Dragon 20201205005352.jpg
Yakuza Like A Dragon 20201205005128.jpg
Yakuza Like A Dragon 20201205005055.jpg
===Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth===
LADIW - Character Render - Jo Sawashiro.png|Full-body Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth render of Sawashiro
LADIW - Character Gallery - Jo Sawashiro 01.png|Sawashiro in disguise
=== Ryu Ga Gotoku Online ===
Jo Sawashiro tattoo.png|Dragonfish tattoo
RGGO - Card - SSR Jo Sawashiro.png|SSR [Of the Omi's Four Kings] Jo Sawashiro
RGGO - Card - SSR Jo Sawashiro (Decisive Battle).png|SSR [He Who Has Arrived at the Dragon Gate] Jo Sawashiro (Final Battle)
RGGO - Card - SSR Jo Sawashiro (Black).png|SSR Jo Sawashiro (Black)
RGGO - Card - SSR Jo Sawashiro (YLAD Fighting Spirit).png|SSR [No Matter how Thankless the Task] Jo Sawashiro (Y:LAD Fighting Spirit)
RGGO - Card - KSR Jo Sawashiro (Kiwami).png|KSR [Where the Smoke Settles] Jo Sawashiro
RGGO - Card - KSR Jo Sawashiro (Decisive Battle).png|KSR [Fist of Conviction] Jo Sawashiro (Decisive Battle)
RGGO - Card - KSR Jo Sawashiro (YLAD Kiwami).png|KSR Jo Sawashiro (Y:LAD Kiwami)
== Notes ==
== References ==
Category:Arakawa Family
Category:Sawashiro Family
Category:Tojo Clan
Category:Omi Alliance
Category:Tokyo Omi Alliance
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Characters
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Antagonists
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Bosses
Category:Yakuza: Like a Dragon Sujimon
Category:Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Characters
Category:Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Characters
Category:Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Bosses
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Characters
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Antagonists
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Bosses
Category:Ryu Ga Gotoku Online Final Bosses