Haruka Sawamura (5 December 1996-) was a Japanese idol and the adoptive daughter of the legendary yakuza Kazuma Kiryu. The illegitimate daughter of Kyohei Jingu and Yumi Sawamura, she was raised in Shintaro Kazama's Sunflower Orphanage and taken in by Kiryu after her parents died amid the 2005 Tojo-kai civil war. While she was close with her "Uncle Kaz" during her childhood, Kiryu later persuaded her of the need for distance due to the endangerment that Kiryu's presence brought to Haruka and the other kids at the Morning Glory Orphanage. However, Haruka gave up her idol career rather than disown Kiryu and her family, and she continued to be wrapped up in Kiryu's violent struggles until he faked his death in 2016.
Biography[]
Haruka in 2005
Haruka Sawamura was born in Tokyo, Japan on 5 December 1996, the daughter of MIA Director Kyohei Jingu and Yumi Sawamura. She was born out of wedlock, and her father left his wife and daughter when he received a marriage proposal from the Prime Minister's daughter. He later ordered the death of a reporter who was threatening to reveal the truth about his secret family, and he later asked Tojo-kai chairman Masaru Sera to have an assassin murder Yumi and the infant Haruka. Shintaro Kazama thwarted this plot and had Haruka raised in his own Sunflower Orphanage, where she was gifted letters by Yumi, posing as her supposed aunt "Mizuki." In December 2005, she ran away from the orphanage to search for her mother after "Mizuki" stopped visiting, and the Omi Alliance, MIA, Snake Flower Triad, the Bloody Eye, and the Shimano-gumi each attempted to kidnap her in order to acquire leverage over Jingu or to help him. She was rescued from a massacre at the Bantam pub by Kazuma Kiryu, who later rescued her from the Majima-gumi's kidnapping attempt at the Yoshida Batting Center and the Snake Flower's captivity in Yokohama. Ultimately, Kiryu brought her to the Millennium Tower and reintroduced her to Yumi, whom she realized was her mother and Kiryu's old love. The reunion was short-lived, as Jingu killed Yumi before Akira Nishikiyama, Kiryu's onetime friend, Yumi's former lover, and Jingu's criminal ally, turned against Jingu and killed the two of them by shooting a bomb attached to a vault containing the Tojo's stolen money. Kiryu then decided to leave the Tojo and start a new life together with Haruka, living in Tokyo for a year.
Haruka praying at Yukio Terada's grave, 2006
In December 2006, Kiryu was called back into the fray after Yukio Terada - who had previously helped save Haruka from Goro Majima's kidnapping - supposedly died in an Omi Alliance hit. Haruka was sent back to Sunflower for the time being, but Sengoku-gumi boss Toranosuke Sengoku kidnapped her and brought her to Osaka Castle. Kiryu fought his way through the Sengoku-gumi henchmen and rescued Haruka, who also witnessed Ryuji Goda's bloody murder of Sengoku for his unsanctioned kidnapping. Kiryu made the most of their time in Osaka by showing her around Dotonbori, where they met the famed actress Sakura Fukunaga and her manager Tomokazu Takahata, who took an interest in Haruka due to her potential to become a great star. Kiryu intended to sign a deal with the producer to cultivate Haruka's talents, but Haruka refused to be alone and desired to be with Kiryu; Kiryu then recommended Oharu Miyano as an alternative to Haruka.
After the resolution of the 2006 Tojo-Omi war, Kiryu used his savings to buy the Morning Glory Orphanage on Okinawa, where Haruka and several other orphans were raised by Kiryu on a peaceful beach. Between 2007 and 2009, they befriended the yakuza Rikiya Shimabukuro and Mikio Aragaki of the Ryudo-ikka, as, even though the two men had initially been sent to serve Kiryu an eviction notice, Kiryu later secured their support in preventing the orphanage from being torn down so that the Tojo Clan could build a resort there. During that time, Haruka secretly began selling forged credit cards to raise money for the orphanage, but Kiryu put a stop to it after realizing that Haruka was getting herself in trouble with untrustworthy men. Haruka later witnessed Yoshitaka Mine's destruction of the orphanage, and Kiryu took her with him to Kabukicho ahead of his final confrontation with Mine at the Touto University Hospital, as Kiryu feared that he might die. While Kiryu was victorious, Haruka witnessed his stabbing by Goh Hamazaki, leaving her traumatized. When Hamazaki arrived at Morning Glory in March 2010, Haruka grew very protective of Kiryu and her fellow kids, but Kiryu assured her that Hamazaki may have changed. After Hamazaki's sacrifice to help Kiryu escape to Tokyo with Yasuko Saejima, Haruka expressed regret for having been so distrusting of him. Haruka also took care of Taiga Saejima when he washed up on Okinawa.
Sawamura on television
In 2011, Mirei Park decided to recruit Haruka into her idol company Dyna Chair on the condition that Kiryu hide his identity to protect Haruka's reputation. Concerned that the children would continue to be at risk as long as he lived with them, Kiryu agreed to move to Fukuoka and become a cab driver, while Haruka reluctantly joined Park's company. Haruka became an idol in the entertainment hub of Osaka, with Hiroshi Horie as her manager, Kan Ogita as her dance instructor, and Misa Yamaura as her vocal coach. During her time in Osaka, Haruka struggled with her schooling, as she did not get along well with most of her Osakan classmates due to her Tokyo roots; however, she befriended fellow Tokyo transplant Akari Natsukawa, whom she encouraged to become a dance choreographer. After the disciplinarian Ogita was fired by Park, she later persuaded the famous dance instructor Christina to take her under his wing, while the okama stylist Yoko-san helped cultivate Haruka into an Osaka-quality idol. Haruka became famous through frequent apperances on television shows like Ichiro Nomura's Love to See You Smile, Love Check Quiz, and Running Girl, engaging in public dance battles, holding handshake events (such as with Hisao Uda and the Merchants' Association), and even taking part in filmed games like fishing and pool. She also made the acquaintance of the famed palm reader Shuhei Shimada and the "Campus Festival" producer Isamu Takami, who attempted to force her to do him a sexual favor before Azusa Osawa - who publicly bullied her rival performer Haruka - defended her from Takami, who had previously harassed her as well.
As a result of her hard work, she became one of the finalists of the Princess League competition in December 2012. While she defeated the idol duo T-Set in the first round and strengthened her bond with Park, she later discovered Park's death from an apparent suicide, and Shun Akiyama later arrived to investigate. The two discovered that Ogita had murdered Park and forged her suicide note. She was later kidnapped by Kamon Kanai for information about Park's letter, but she was saved by Naoki Katsuya, who returned her to Dyna Chair. She proceeded to resume her training regimen, and she won the Princess League finals before going on to make her debut performance at the Tokyo Bowl as her friends prevented Baba from assassinating her on Tsubasa Kurosawa's orders. While she won the contest and debuted Dream Line's first song, she announced her premature retirement and revealed her past with Kiryu, unable to leave her family behind as she rose to success. She then reunited with Kiryu for the first time in two years and took a badly wounded Kiryu to the Touto University Hospital, where Kiryu was arrested. Haruka returned to Morning Glory alone, occasionally visiting Kiryu in prison.
Haruta holding Haruto
However, the media found where Haruka lived and directed the backlash against Kiryu at the orphanage as well. Haruka decided to go dark on social media and deactivate her phone plan to ensure that nobody could track her, causing the articles against Morning Glory to stop. Haruka then traveled to Hiroshima, where she was given a place to live by Kiyomi Kasahara and provided a job at Snack Kiyomi. She became popular among the townsfolk and the Hirose-gumi, and she also took a liking to Yuta Usami after he beat down a paparazzi stalker of hers in 2014. They conceived a child, Haruto, after a one-night stand, and Shu Tatsukawa and Koji Masuzoe pressued her into an abortion after learning that Yuta was the backup heir to the Saio Triad. Toru Hirose helped her escape to a small village, and she occasionally called home until Haruto was born. Tatsukawa later found her and lured her to Kabukicho after promising to help her. She arrived in December 2016, and she was accidentally struck by Tatsukawa's car while attempting to prevent Tatsukawa from taking her child. She was left in comatose state as Kiryu took Haruto in his care, and she was later moved to a police-owned hospital where she reunited with Yuta, Haruto, and Kiryu. She and Haruto were abducted by the Yomei Alliance after Kiryu and Yuta left, and the two were held hostage until Kiryu defeated Tsuneo Iwami and was severely injured by Katsumi Sugai. Kiryu then told Haruka to bring her new family happiness before passing out in Yuta's arms. Kiryu then faked his death, while Haruka fully recovered and bade farewell to Onomichi. She returned to Okinawa with her boyfriend and son, and the two parents continued their relationship for years. In 2023, a cancer-stricken Kiryu attempted to visit Haruka in Kabukicho, but he kept away after overhearing her tell Date that, while she would be happy if Kiryu was alive, she would be reminded of her own weakness.
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