Who Stole the 10 Billion Yen (& Why Did They Do It) in Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1.

Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1’s second batch of episodes clears up the mystery surrounding the Ohmi Alliance’s missing 10 billion yen. So, who stole the 10 billion yen in Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1, and why did they do it?

Who Stole the 10 Billion Yen in Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1?

Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1 Episodes 1-3 strongly imply that Aiko Sawamura stole the Ohmi Alliance’s 10 billion yen, and Episodes 4-6 confirm it. Yumi’s wayward sister didn’t act alone, though. Her shady boyfriend (and Ohmi Alliance member) Katsumi Oishi was an equal participant. We see the robbery unfold during the cold open of Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1, Episode 4, “Betrayal / Promise.”

Here, Aiko and Oishi jack a truck carrying a billion yen’s worth of merchandise. However, they soon discover that this is a front for the truck’s true cargo: 10 billion yen in shrink-wrapped stacks of cash! But Aiko and Oishi don’t share their unexpected windfall long; the former eventually betrays the latter, sneaking off with the money – and making herself the Japanese underworld’s most wanted person. Meanwhile, Oishi winds up killed by his and Aiko’s boss: the Devil of Shinjuku!

It’s all very dramatic – and decidedly different from how things shake out in the 2005 video game Yakuza and its 2016 remake, Yakuza Kiwami. In the games, the theft is a three-way effort orchestrated by Yumi, Shintaro Kazama, and the Tojo Clan’s chairman Masaru Sera. Their motivations are also far more benevolent than Aiko and Oishi’s. Yumi, Kazama, and Sera don’t pilfer the 10 billion yen to line their pockets, but rather to thwart crooked politician (and Yumi’s ex) Kyohei Jingu.

Related: Why Did Kazuma Kiryu Go to Prison in Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1?

Why Did Aiko and Oishi Steal the 10 Billion Yen?

As noted above, Aiko and Oishi didn’t set out to score 10 billion yen. They were acting on a tip from their enigmatic employer, the Devil of Shinjuku, who didn’t reveal the Ohmi truck’s real value. Why did the Devil want the 10 billion yen? Because he knew stealing it would spark a gang war fierce enough to destroy both the Tojo Clan and Ohmi Alliance – and quite possibly the Kamurochō district itself.

Related: Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1: What Does Gokudo Mean?

If that seems a tad extreme, it makes sense when you consider who the Devil of Shinjuku really is. Like a Dragon: Yakuza Season 1, Episode 6, “Fate / Showdown,” unmasks the Devil as Akira “Nishiki” Nishikiyama – a guy with a justifiable grudge against his gangster peers. After all, his sister Miho died because of yakuza skullduggery, so it’s easy to see why Nishiki’s so keen to burn it all down!

All six episodes of Like a Dragon Season 1 are currently streaming on Prime Video.