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Shu Tatsukawa 2

Shu Tatsukawa (died December 2016) was a Chinese-born Japanese ex-yakuza who was affiliated with the Yomei Alliance's Hirose-gumi and the Saio Triad. He served as a Saio mole within the Yomei, serving as a secret retainer to Saio boss Big Lo's illegitimate son Yuta Usami and helping give him the skills needed to lead the Saio in case Jimmy Lo was unable to. He defected from the Saio in 2016 out of fear that Yuta's parentage of a half-Japanese illegitimate child would reflect a failure on Tatsukawa's end, but he was tracked down and murdered by Ed Zhang.

Biography[]

Shu Tatsukawa

A photo of Tatsukawa

Shu Tatsukawa was born in China, a heihaizi (second-born child) born in contravention of the communists' one-child policy. He was smuggled to Japan by the Saio Triad and raised to be one of its members. He and Koji Masuzoe were sent to infiltrate the Onomichi-based Yomei Alliance and become secret retainers to the infant Yuta Usami, with Tatsukawa befriending the young backup heir to the Saio and teaching him Chinese, ostensibly to impress an attractive Chinese girl, but truly to prepare him for his succession to the Saio leadership in the case that Yuta's responsibilities and origins needed to be made known to him.

In 2015, Yuta impregnated a Japanese girl, Haruka Sawamura, threatening the perceived purity of the Saio bloodline. Tatsukawa tried to get Haruka to abort her child, but Haruka, insistent on having the baby, fled Onomichi with the help of Toru Hirose. Tatsukawa and Masuzoe, reasoning that Yuta was not needed to lead, decided to ignore the unborn child for the time being and keep it a secret from the Saio leadership. Tatsukawa then quit the Hirose-gumi and moved to Kabukicho, Tokyo, where he planned to become a host and make it big. After Jimmy Lo's death in 2016, however, Tatsukawa and Masuzoe realized they would not be able to keep Yuta's child a secret anymore as the Saio leaders looked into Yuta's past in preparation for him becoming the new heir.

Tatsukawa tracked Haruka down to a small village near Onomichi, and he reported the baby to Big Lo, who ordered the child killed. Tatsukawa still feared retribution from the Saio for his failure, so he approached Tsuneo Iwami and agreed to sell the infant to him through the Jingweon Mafia so that Hirose could use the child as leverage; if he revealed to Yuta that he had a son who was supposed to be killed by Yuta's triad father, Yuta might turn against his father and kill him. Unbeknownst to Tatsukawa, Lo retracted the kill order against Haruto, as he figured that his son would never lead the triad if his own son was murdered.

Still, Tatsukawa was able to persuade Haruka to come to Tokyo, saying that he would disobey orders to help her and Haruto. In crime-ridden Kabukicho, Tatsukawa attempted to have Haruka and her infant get in his car, but her suspicions stopped her, causing Tatsukawa to follow her in his car before losing control and running her over. Thinking that she and her infant were dead, he continued on his way, leaving Haruka in a coma, while Haruto was rescued.

Shu Tatsukawa dead

Tatsukawa's body

The Saio Triad soon learned of Tatsukawa's treachery, and the Saio officer Ed Zhang tracked Tatsukawa down to his Ouka Building apartment. There, Ed tortured Tatsukawa's girlfriend to death in front of him before slitting his throat. The accidental hit-and-run lured Haruka's adoptive father Kazuma Kiryu into the fray, and, after Kiyomi Kasahara suggested that Tatsukawa might be Haruto's father, Kiryu tracked him down with Joongi Han's help and found his corpse at his apartment. Almost immediately, the TMPD identified the Saio as the perpetrators.

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