Shinji Tanaka (1972-December 2005) was a Japanese yakuza who served as a lieutenant of the Tojo-kai's Nishikiyama-gumi subsidiary from 1996 to 2005.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Shinji Tanaka in 1989
Shinji Tanaka was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1972. His father attempted to make money from the real estate industry in Kabukicho during the 1980s, but, when Tanaka's father began to struggle financially, the yakuza stepped in and offered him a loan. His father unwisely agreed, and, when he became unable to repay his debts, the yakuza took everything from him; his wife decided to abandon the family rather than share in his suffering. Tanaka's father became an abusive drunkard, but his abuse stopped when Tanaka hit him back. Tanaka then ran away from home and joined a bosozoku biker gang, and he harbored an intense hatred for the yakuza.
In January 1989, he lured a Dojima-gumi yakuza, Kazuma Kiryu, into a dark alley with the goal of mugging and killing him with a lead pipe. However, Kiryu beat down the masked Tanaka and unmasked him, and he was shocked that the assailant was a young man. When asked, Tanaka insisted that he acted alone, and that Kiryu was a random target, as he hated all yakuza. He then told Kiryu about his life story and his motive for becoming an enemy of the yakuza, but Kiryu warned Tanaka that he owed his survival to "dumb luck" and warned him to quit his vendetta against the yakuza. Shortly after, Tanaka was sold out by a fellow gang member to the Jinsei-gumi, but Kiryu rescued the young Tanaka, who changed his views on the yakuza and strove to follow and be just like Kiryu.
Tanaka and Kazuma Kiryu taking Kojiro Hirata's debt money
Over the next few years, Kiryu took Tanaka under his wing, and Tanaka collected debts alongside Kiryu and became a trusted associate of Shintaro Kazama. Tanaka was well-liked for his loyalty to his friends and was also known for his love for soaplands. On 1 October 1995, Kiryu was arrested after taking the fall for Akira Nishikiyama's murder of Sohei Dojima, and Shinji was tasked with delivering a letter of expulsion to Kiryu from Chairman Masaru Sera shortly after; he also went against Kazama's orders and revealed that Yumi Sawamura had gone missing and had lost her memory as a result of Dojima's attempted rape of her. A year later, Nishikiyama was granted the privilege of forming his own family, the Nishikiyama-gumi, a privilege which would have been extended to Kiryu had he not taken the fall for murdering a direct Tojo Clan affiliate. Kazama had Tanaka join the Nishikiyama-gumi as a Lieutenant Advisor to monitor the family, as he did not trust the ambitious Nishikiyama.
Shinji in 2005
On 5 December 2005, Shinji reunited with Kiryu at Club Stardust, where he saved Kiryu from the Shimano-gumi enforcer Tsuyoshi Takahashi by shooting Takahashi's hand before the latter could shoot Kiryu. He then told Kiryu of the nature of his assignment to the Nishikiyama-gumi and warned Kiryu that Nishikiyama was not the man Kiryu once knew. When Kiryu asked where he could meet Kazama, Tanaka reluctantly agreed to take him to Sera's funeral to meet with Kazama, although the Tojo-kai would be there in force, and there was no telling what might happen there.