Wen Hai "God Hand" Lee (1940-December 1988) was a Chinese immigrant professional assassin and acupuncturist who lived in Osaka, Japan during the 1980s. He owned and operated Hogushi Kaikan and served as the protector of Makoto Makimura until his murder in 1988, after which Goro Majima took over that responsibility.
Biography[]
Early life and career[]
Wen Hai Lee's portrait
Li Wenhai was born in China in 1940, and he fathered a daughter during his youth; his sickly daughter was blinded by her medication and ultimately died of her illness, causing a heartbroken Lee to emigrate to Japan and seek a new life. He worked as a professional assassin, sporting a Guan Yu tattoo on his back and working for a mainland organization in Osaka before rescuing a shipment of sex slaves from the Jingweon Mafia in June 1988 and taking in Makoto Makimura, a blind Chinese girl, who reminded him of his late daughter. Lee, who had operated the Hogushi Kaikan massage parlor in Soemoncho as a legitimate business, employed Makimura at his business as a massage therapist, and he assumed her name in order to protect her from the yakuza, which sought to kidnap Makimura and force her to sell them an empty lot in Kabukicho, Tokyo which she had inherited from her maternal grandfather. Lee, as "Makoto", became a widely-respected figure among Dotonbori's sex workers, as he often came to their aid whenever they were in need, including scaring off hostile johns and providing them with places to sleep. He also took house calls from clients at his parlor.
Protecting Makimura[]
On 14 December 1988, yakuza hitman Goro Majima was sent to the massage parlor to kill Makimura, whom he was told was a male sex trafficker. Majima, unaware of Makimura's identity, let her massage him until Lee entered the parlor, upon which he grew suspicious of Majima from his yakuza tattoos. The two men slowly inched towards a showdown as suspicions were raised on both sides, and Lee had Makimura run an errand as he and Majima engaged in a fistfight. Majima beat down Lee, only for their confrontation to be interrupted by the arrival of Omi Alliance hitmen led by Ryobe Oishi. Oishi had his men kidnap Makimura when she returned from the store, and Lee convinced a shocked Majima to rescue Makimura, whose identity had become clear to Majima. Oishi shot Lee several times with his silenced pistol, but Lee saved Majima's life by throwing an acupuncture needle through Oichi's palm before he could shoot Majima. Majima then beat down the yakuza and ultimately rescued Makimura, taking her to a warehouse owned by the Odyssey nightclub.
Not long after, Majima tracked Lee down to a mahjong parlor, where he beat down the Chinese men who attempted to kill him; Lee still did not trust Majima. Ultimately, Majima gained Lee's trust and took him to the warehouse where he kept Makimura safe, and Lee suggested a plan to Majima, ensuring that he was on board before he shared the plan. He proposed that they kill a lookalike of Makimura to save Makimura's life, but this disgusted Majima, who refused to go along with the plan. Lee declared that Majima could not be allowed to leave with the knowledge of the plan, so Majima beat down Lee after a second fight. Ultimately, Homare Nishitani of the Kijin-kai killed the lookalike and faked Makimura's death, angering Lee, whose idea was stolen.
Death[]
Wen Hai Lee's death
Lee then worked with Majima to help Makoto escape the yakuza after some of Lee's associates, including the local Chinese doctor, betrayed Makimura's location to the Omi Alliance. Lee arranged for a van to be present at the massage parlor to serve as a getaway vehicle, but the Omi Alliance rigged it with a car bomb which killed Lee when he readied the van for the trio's getaway. The Omi Alliance nearly succeeded in kidnapping Makimura, but she was instead taken by the Tojo-kai's Nikkyo Consortium after Masaru Sera wounded Tsukasa Sagawa with a gunshot and took Makimura to safety in Tokyo.