Hiroki Awano (1945-19 December 1988) was a Japanese yakuza crime boss who served as a lieutenant of the Dojima-gumi family of the Tojo-kai clan and patriarch of the Taihei Association. He played a central role in the Empty Lot dispute of December 1988, during which he initially led the manhunt for the rogue Dojima-gumi member Kazuma Kiryu, and later sacrificed his life to protect a former enemy, Goro Majima, from Sohei Dojima's hitman Lao Gui after experiencing a change of heart about his hedonistic lifestyle.
Biography[]
Awano dancing with Okimi Yoshiya
Hiroki Awano was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1945, and he became a violent thug during his youth, joining the yakuza because he enjoyed violence and sought to live a hedonistic lifestyle full of golfing, women, wealth, and fine liquor. He became a lieutenant of the Dojima-gumi alongside his sworn brothers Keiji Shibusawa and Daisaku Kuze, and he was given command of the Taihei Association, the "public relations" (extortion) wing of the Dojima-gumi. In 1988, he and his fellow lieutenants competed over who could be the first to obtain the "empty lot" of Kabukicho for their boss, Sohei Dojima, who promised the most successful of his lieutenants control of the Kazama-gumi, whose captain Shintaro Kazama was concurrently in prison due to a conspiracy of the lieutenants to remove him from power. Awano had believed that there was no room for his advancement as long as Kazama was in charge, and he went along with Shibusawa and Kuze's plot to sell out Kazama to the police. Awano became enemies of Tetsu Tachibana's rival real estate company, which was aided in its quest to prevent the Dojima-gumi lieutenants from taking the empty lot by Kazuma Kiryu, a former Dojima-gumi gangster who was determined to ensure that his adoptive father Kazama's organization was not taken over by an ambitious lieutenant who would inevitably expel Kazama from the family. Awano persistently attempted to find Kiryu and force him to hand over Tachibana; once, he confronted Kiryu in a nightclub and shot his own dance partner Okimi Yoshiya in order to intimidate Kiryu, who still refused to help Awano.
Downfall[]
Awano's death
Awano became jealous of Keiji Shibusawa when he received the coveted promotion to captain after capturing the empty lot's new owner, Makoto Makimura, who was the sister of Tachibana (who had, in turn, been captured and tortured to death by Shibusawa and Kuze's men). After Makoto was shot and wounded, her guardian, Goro Majima, confronted Awano on the top floor of the Dojima-gumi headquarters, where Majima vowed to kill Awano and all the members of the Dojima family for the pain they inflicted on Makoto. Before the fight, Awano questioned Majima's motives for leaving his comfort behind to go to war with the Dojima-gumi, causing Majima to explain that a yakuza who tried to stay safe and comfy was a fool. When Awano expressed his love for the wealth that came with being a yakuza member, Majima insulted Awano for living his life obsessed with money, and the two of them proceeded to take off their shirts and ready for a showdown, as Majima still intended to seek revenge for Makoto. Majima beat Awano down in the ensuing fistfight, and Awano lamented that, had he lived his life like Majima, he might have had the power he so desired. When the assassin Lao Gui arrived to kill Majima, Awano - having become sympathetic with the honorable Majima's cause - shielded him from seven of Lao Gui's gunshots before charing Lao Gui and being impaled by his six throwing needles, sacrificing his life to protect his former enemy.