Ichiban Kasuga

Ichiban Kasuga (Japanese: 春日 一番, Hepburn: Kasuga Ichiban), also nicknamed Ichi (一), is a main character from Sega's Like a Dragon video game franchise, formerly known internationally as Yakuza, taking over as the main protagonist of the franchise following Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, initially announced to be the final title with Kazuma Kiryu as the main protagonist. Kasuga was first introduced in the 2018 mobile game Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE, a freemium collectible card game spin-off which is exclusively released in Japan. Kasuga is the protagonist in the 2020 video game Yakuza: Like A Dragon, the first main series Yakuza title which does not feature the former series lead Kiryu as a playable character. Kasuga is voiced by Kazuhiro Nakaya (who previously voiced Akira Nishikiyama) in Japanese, and by Kaiji Tang in English.

Within the series, Kasuga is originally a low-ranking member of the Arakawa Family, a subsidiary yakuza family of the Kanto-based Tojo Clan. He willingly goes to prison for a murder that he did not commit at the turn of the 21st century, having acquiesced to the request of his clan patriarch, Masumi Arakawa. Upon his release 18 years later, Kasuga discovers that Arakawa has apparently betrayed the rest of the Tojo Clan to the Omi Alliance, a rival yakuza organization based in Osaka, and finds himself stranded in the city of Yokohama. In the sequel Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Kasuga travels to Hawaii to find his mother Akane who is connected with Arakawa and meets several allies and enemies who have their own agenda for wanting to find the same person.

Kasuga was designed by franchise developers Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio for Ryu ga Gotoku ONLINE, though a decision was later made by executive director and franchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi and his team to position Kasuga as the lead character of future mainline entry games. Despite sharing certain traits in their backstories, both characters have little in common with each other in terms of personality, as Kasuga is written to be more emotive and outspoken in temperament. The character has received a generally positive response from critics and players in the video game community, with praise going towards his character arc and the vocal performances by Nakaya and Tang, as well as the consensus that he is a suitable choice to succeed Kiryu's role as the lead character in future games.