Yoshitaka Mine (1976-2009) was a Japanese businessman and yakuza who was Chairman of the Hakuho-kai subsidiary of the Tojo-kai from 2007 to 2009. Mine, originally the founder and chairman of a startup company, was invited into the Tojo Clan by Tsuyoshi Kanda and became the captain of Kanda's Nishikiyama-gumi, later rising to be a lieutenant, and acting chairman of, the Tojo-kai during the 2009 Tojo-kai civil war.
Biography[]
Mine as a child
Yoshitaka Mine was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1976, and he was orphaned at a young age. Raised in an orphanage by an adoptive father, Mine was an intelligent child, and, on his deathbed, Mine's adoptive father urged him not to let his brilliance go to waste. Mine was bullied as a child for his poverty and for being an orphan, but he dedicated himself to acquiring money and status, becoming a successful businessman through insider trading and the real estate industry. Before the age of 31, he founded a successful venture capitalist company which allowed him to emerge from his solitude and work in a team environment. In 2007, he was ousted from the management of his resources and development department by his colleagues, leaving him the company's chairman in name only; at the same time, he witnessed a failed assassination attempt on Tojo-kai chairman Daigo Dojima which left four of his bodyguards dead. Mine grew determined to meet Daigo, in whom he saw great and inspiring leadership, so he bribed Tsuyoshi Kanda to introduce him to the Nishikiyama-gumi under the guise of expanding his business. He acquired property for the Nishikiyama-gumi and aided in its expansion, resulting in Kanda making Mine Captain of the Nishikiyama-gumi. Dojima was aware that Mine was the secret behind Kanda's success, and, while he warned Mine that his methods went against yakuza traditions and would get him killed, Mine believed that his status as the Tojo-kai's main breadwinner would keep him alive. Kanda later abandoned Mine when the former second acting patriarch of the Nishikiyama-gumi attempted to ambush and kill the two men, but Dojima intervened and bribed the second acting patriarch with 1 billion yen to save Mine's life. Mine came to love and respect Dojima, who gave Mine command of his own Hakuho-kai.
Mine devoted himself to ensuring that Daigo and the Tojo-kai remained in a strong position, and, in 2009, he backed Osamu Kashiwagi's faction of the Tojo-kai against his former ally Kanda and the ambitious Goh Hamazaki after Daigo was critically wounded in an assassination attempt. Mine had Kanda killed after Kanda trashed Mine's apartment in retaliation for Mine refusing to loan Kanda money for his planned war with the Kazama-gumi, and he delivered Kanda's severed head to Kazuma Kiryu as an apology for financing Kanda's earlier warmongering. Kiryu was angered at Mine's brutal murder of Kanda, which he argued went against Daigo's will, but Mine said that Kiryu was a hypocrite and a coward, as Daigo's refusal to permit the construction of a military base on the site of Kiryu's Morning Glory Orphanage on Okinawa had led to Daigo's near-death.
Mine was later approached by Defense Minister Ryuzo Tamiya's former secretary Shoyo Toma to acquire land for a resort deal on Okinawa, and Mine destroyed the orphanage to further the project. As Kiryu proved capable of fighting against the resort and military base plans on Okinawa, Mine resorted to extreme measures, flying back to Tokyo and intending to mercifully kill Daigo in his vegetative state and become Chairman of the Tojo-kai, as well as kill Daigo's right-hand man Kiryu. Kiryu traveled to the hospital and confronted Mine before he could execute Daigo, defeating him in a climactic fistfight on the roof. Mine then received a call from his secretary, and, while he attempted to express his feelings to her, she insisted on discussing business, causing Mine to hang up, depressed at the realization that he had no true friends apart from Daigo, whom he had just attempted to kill. Kiryu told Mine that, as long as one was still alive, they could still start anew. Just then, Andre Richardson and his "Black Monday" team of rogue CIA agents arrived, and Daigo emerged from his coma to shoot Richardson's lackeys as Mine tackled Richardson and dragged him to the edge of the building. Mine said that he was not worthy to be beside Daigo and that he wished he had met Kiryu sooner, and he proceeded to hurl himself and Richardson from the rooftop as Kiryu and Daigo called for him to stop.