You need a lot of yen to rise to the top.
Guide by Alan Wen Contributor
Published on
From shaking down innocent bystanders to bankrolling shady deals, making money is a big deal for the yakuza - something that the big-hearted Ichiban Kasuga doesn't inherently have a knack for when you're first introduced to him.
Nonetheless, finding ways to earn yen in Yakuza: Like a Dragon is crucial if you want to access all the activities in this huge game.
Sure, you can get a can of Boss coffee from the vending machine or go for a game of Virtua Fighter 2 at the arcade with a few hundred yen.
But soon enough, it's clear that more important features, whether it's crafting new gear, boosting your personality stats with Ounabara tests or summoning Poundmates all require a great deal more cash flow.
So, here's our comprehensive how-to on how to make money in Yakuza: Like a Dragon, including the best money making quests you can track down to get Yen early on in Yokohama.
On this page:
- How to make money in Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Making money in Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The best quests to make lots of Yen early
For more help on Yakuza: Like a Dragon, see our explainers for Ounabara test answers and Poundmate summon locations.
How to make money in Yakuza: Like a Dragon
There are various ways to make money in the game, some more lucrative than others, but a little can still go a long way in the early hours when you're broke and homeless.
Defeat enemies in battle: Just like any role-playing game, battles in Yakuza not only reward you with XP but also money. Naturally, the higher level the enemy, the greater reward, although you don't find this out until the battle starts.
Treasure hunting: You automatically learn this technique in Chapter 3. Approach any vending machine and when a yellow circle appears at your feet, you can activate this mechanic and basically scrounge for chump change - at best, you'll come away with 500 yen. Every little helps, right?
Collect cans in Can Quest mini-game: A little bit like Pac-Man, this mini-game unlocks during the first substory in the game. Collect cans while avoiding rival collectors and use those Eco points earned to redeem money or items.
You'll however realise that the money paid out is actually a pittance. Instead, you want to use those points to stock up on pocket tissues, all which will be explained later.
Sell unwanted items at Benten Pawn: Any unwanted items, such as old gear, can be sold at Benten Pawn, a pawn shop located near the starting area in Yokohama in the Commercial District.
To access the pawnshop, you just need to complete 'Substory 4: One Man's Trash', which should activate when you approach the pawn shop. You can't really miss it as the entrance is stacked with garbage bags.
Complete quests for Part-time Hero: this feature unlocks after completing 'Substory 12: How to be a Part-time Hero', which happens as part of the story near the beginning of Chapter 5.
This serves as the game's equivalent to fetch quests and 'defeat x specific enemies' missions familiar to other JRPGs, and they all come with their own rewards. More unlock over time as you complete requests.
But there are also a few specific ones you can do early on to get a huge cash reward, which we'll explain in more detail below.
Become a full-blown capitalist: Towards the end of Chapter 5, you'll automatically trigger a substory that introduces you to Eri, the owner of a struggling senbei shop in town.
Complete this substory and you'll have access to the management mini-game. This is by far the most in-depth mini-game of the lot that has you operating multiple businesses, recruiting and training staff, as well as taking part in ridiculous battles against angry shareholders.
It requires a considerable investment of time throughout the game, but in the long-term it will have you raking in millions in a matter of minutes.
Making money in Yakuza: Like a Dragon - The best quests to make lots of Yen early
This game takes its time before opening up Yokohama's Ijincho district to you but from Chapter 4, you'll have access to most of the whole map. However, in order to get quests that pay out, you need to activate Part-time Hero in Chapter 5.
Support quests are essentially fetch quests where you have to find a certain number of specific items and then deliver them to a relevant person, usually a Part-time Hero rep around the city, marked on the map with a blue Part-time Hero symbol.
The following support quests are available almost immediately and will also net you the most yen.
Special Delivery - Straight Outta Paper - For this quest, you have to find a man called Man Awaiting Salvation, who always finds himself stuck in a toilet without any paper.
You just have to find the toilet where he is stuck in (if you look at the quest in the Part-time Hero tab, it will pinpoint his location on the map) and then give him the number of tissues he requests.
This is where the Can Quest mini game comes in - just keep playing this on the highest difficulty to earn the most Eco points and redeem pocket tissues.
There five of these delivery requests, the number of pocket tissues requested going up each time (you'll need 21 in total). For your trouble, you'll be rewarded 97,000 yen altogether, as well as other useful gear and crafting items.
Please find my cat: This request comes from Hiro, the owner of Part-time Hero. However, you'll need to visit the Part-time Hero office in the North West of Ijincho to activate it (the cutscene when you're first introduced to him does not count).
When you first enter the office you'll see that Hiro has been taking in stray cats in the office. After you leave however, he immediately loses them all, so it's up to you to find them.
There's 9 cats in total scattered around Ijincho. Fortunately you'll have access to most of the map by then, so you can recover them all straight away. You'll hear the sound of a cat's purr as a sign that one is nearby, while there's also a small green indicator above them.
You just need to approach the cat, press the prompt button when it comes up and then Kasuga will call for a Part-time Hero rep to come and handle the rest.
Once you've found all 9 cats, just speak to Hiro again at Part-time Hero and he'll reward you with 1,000,000 yen, as well as a Fire God's Amulet, Mysterious Stone and Toughness Z.
If that wasn't enough, Hiro has a second cat quest for you, except this time you just need to find one cat called Robson. Despite him saying how difficult it will be to find him, this cat is actually just located in the most North East part of the map on the East side of Hamakita Park.
Once you find Robson, just return to Hiro and you'll get another 1,000,000 yen reward, along with a Reinforced Alloy and Tauriner +. Better still, you also unlock Robson as a powerful Poundmate!
Kappture the Kappa: You should come across a kappa statue early on by the river next to the homeless camp, where a kid nearby also mentions there's 10 of these statues altogether. Of course, this is another Part-time Hero request, which tasks you with finding and taking a picture of each statue.
A word of warning that the first statue can be misleading as you only one other kappa statue is displayed like with a sign next to it. The rest are in less conspicuous places so they can be easy to miss.
When you find a statue, bring up your smartphone camera then make sure the 'Take picture' prompt comes up first in order for it to count. A line of dialogue from Kasuga afterwards will also confirm you've done it correctly.
One thing to bear in mind however is that although this quest is available from Chapter 5, two of the kappa statues are actually located in areas you don't have access to until later on in the story.
Once you've taken pictures of all 10 kappa statues, just report to a Part-time Hero rep and you'll get a Water's God Amulet, Tempered Safety Glass, Staminan XX, and a whopping 2,000,000 yen!
You'll still need plenty more yen to unlock everything this game has to offer, from buying rare weapons to completing certain substories, but a few million in your pocket is not a bad way to start your rise to the top at all.
