Makoto Makimura (born 1968), born Xiao Qiao, was a Chinese-born Japanese massage therapist who lived in Osaka during the 1980s. She was the central figure in the criminal underworld's "Empty Lot dispute" of 1988, as she inherited an empty lot in Kabukicho, Tokyo from her late grandfather, and the feuding Dojima-gumi and Shimano-gumi families of the Tojo-kai clan, the Omi Alliance, and Tachibana Real Estate each sought control of the lot due to its importance to a major redevelopment project.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Xiao Qiao was born in Manchuria, China in 1968, the daughter of a Chinese father and a Japanese mother, and the younger sister of Li Hua.
Her family faced discrimination due to its partial Japanese heritage, and her brother emigrated to Japan during the early 1980s. Xiao Qiao decided to emigrate to Japan in 1986 to search for her brother, and she abandoned the home of her Japanese grandfather and her half-Japanese mother (who later killed herself) to search for her brother in Osaka.
She worked as a live-in hostess in Dotonbori before being kidnapped by the human trafficker Jun Oda (who claimed to know where her brother was), sold into slavery by a Korean crime syndicate, and viciously raped, the experience of which left her with post-traumatic psychogenic blindness. Because of her blindness, her work prospects declined, but Wen Hai Lee was generous enough to offer her a job as a massage therapist at his Hogushi Kaikan massage parlor in Soemoncho.
Assassination attempt and kidnappings[]
Makoto Makimura in 1988
Makimura became the object of envy from the criminal underworld when she inherited the deed to an empty lot in Kabukicho, Tokyo from her maternal grandfather. In 1988, the "Kabukicho 21st Century Revitalization Plan" was announced, leading to the Dojima-gumi family of the Tojo-kai seeking to obtain the lot for itself in order to sell most of Kabukicho to the government for an exorbitant price, while Makimura's brother - who had since become known as Tetsu Tachibana - led Tachibana Real Estate in acquiring the lot in a bid to prevent the Dojima-gumi from driving out the original residents of Kabukicho (as well as doing a favor for the imprisoned Dojima captain Shintaro Kazama, whose family was to be given to the Dojima lieutenant who could obtain the lot for their boss, Sohei Dojima). On 14 December 1988, the Omi Alliance's Kijin-kai subsidiary tracked down Makimura to the Hogushi Kaikan massage parlor; that same day, Tsukasa Sagawa's hitman Goro Majima also followed Makimura's trail to the massage parlor, although he mistakenly believed Makimura to be a male (as he had confused Wen Hai Lee for Makimura).
Goro Majima helping Makimura escape the yakuza
Makimura offered to give Majima a massage after he convinced a startled Makimura that he was no thief, but a customer, and they talked about her interests and life for a while. This was interrupted by Wen Hai Lee's arrival, and Lee noticed from Majima's tattoos that he was a yakuza, putting him on edge. Lee sent Makimura to run an errand for him as he confronted and fought Majima, who revealed himself to be a hitman sent to kill Makimura.
Makimura returned not long after, only to find that several Kijin-kai hitmen led by Ryobe Oishi were waiting for her to return. Oishi had his men seize Makimura, who was dragged out of the building as Oishi shot Lee with his silenced pistol and then fought Majima. A gravely wounded Lee convinced Majima to rescue Makimura, and Majima rescued her as Tsuramatsu Sugiyama prepared to shove her into a car, before leading her to safety after dodging several Omi Alliance patrols and making it to his apartment. He then found a suitable hiding spot for her at a warehouse nominally owned by the Odyssey nightclub, and he kept her there until Lee could rejoin them.
Makoto reuniting with her late brother
Unfortunately, the Chinese doctor who had previously been an ally of Lee betrayed Makimura's location to the Sagawa-gumi, and Majima helped Makimura escape to the massage parlor, where their getaway van exploded, killing Lee. Sagawa himself then attempted to capture Makimura, but Masaru Sera incapacitated him with a shot and then incapacitated Majima with the butt of his gun. The Tojo-kai took Makimura into its captivity, and she was taken to Kabukicho by Jun Oda and Kazuma Kiryu with orders to keep her safe until she was able to meet with Tachibana to discuss the sale of the empty lot. However, they were intercepted by Keiji Shibusawa's Shibusawa-gumi along the way, and they were forced to stop at a construction site. Oda attempted to murder Makimura after she recognized his voice and realized that he was her attacker, but she stabbed him in the leg and told Kazuma about Oda's role in her kidnapping and sale. Shortly after, Oda redeemed himself by holding off the Shibusawa-gumi pursuers as Kazuma and Makimura escaped, and Makoto was kept at a love hotel. She was later taken to see her brother, only to find that he had been tortured to death by Gengyo Yoneda of the Kenno-kai, and she broke down crying and told her brother's lifeless corpse that she was finally home.
Makoto in Kabukicho.
After her brother's death, Makimura's vision began to return, allowing for her to move around on her own. She decided to run away from her rescuers Kazuma and Akira Nishikiyama, as she had her own plan of revenge, and she reunited with Majima at the Empty Lot and offered him ¥1 billion to kill the Dojima lieutenants who had murdered her brother. Majima exhorted her not to seek revenge, but she refused, and she escaped after asking Majima to purchase her more takoyaki. She then met with Sohei Dojima himself and offered to give him the Empty Lot in exchange for the deaths of his lieutenants, only for Dojima to say that he would rather have her silenced. She was shot by Dojima's Chinese assassin Lao Gui just as Majima burst through the doors to rescue her, and Majima and Sera's Nikkyo Consortium men took Makimura to the hospital. Sera made sure that he became the new owner of the Empty Lot, and he had Makimura cared for aboard his ship.
Later life[]
Makoto in 1989.
After the downfall of the three lieutenants and the collapse of the Dojima-gumi's plot to acquire the Empty Lot, Makimura fully regained her vision, although she was unable to recognize the men who had earlier saved her. She formed a relationship with her doctor, Kiemon Tateyama, who went on to date and marry her after encouragement from Majima during a random street encounter in January 1989. In 2006, Majima briefly reunited with Makimura after coming to her massage parlor in search of Ryota Kawamura, and she told the customer (whom she did not recognize) that she was waiting for Majima to return so that she could properly thank him for his help eighteen years earlier. As Majima left, Makimura asked if she knew him; while Majima said that they did not know each other, he told her that she had worked out some knots he had for 18 years, hinting that he was Majima. She later found that the customer had left her a gift, a replacement for an old pocket watch Majima had once given Makimura, and she realized that Majima had been her customer, and that she had been able to thank Majima for looking out for her.