“Do you get excited every time you see something pink?” Like a Dragon creator talks about his fight for freedom of expression 

Former chief creative officer of Sega and creator of the Like a Dragon series Toshihiro Nagoshi recently appeared as a guest on the live documentary show Weekly Ochiai. Discussing the beginnings of the series and how the first game Yakuza (2015) came to be, Nagoshi touches on some of the challenges that came with trying to be faithful to his vision and the game’s adult themes. 

Asked about how he managed to get Yakuza approved and released despite the depictions of hostess clubs, gambling and soaplands, Nagoshi comments that there were many occasions when the team had to “address ethical issues” in the game. He then recalls an “incredible episode” from his days at Sega. 

“With locations related to prostitution, it’s obviously out of the question to visually depict what goes on inside. So, I made it so that the character enters, meets the woman and the scene fades out to a completely pink screen,” Nagoshi explains. However, it seems his attempt at swapping the deed with a visual euphemism was unacceptable for Sega: “This ended up being pointed out as an issue, and when I asked why, I was told that it’s because the color pink is associated with sex. This escalated into a fight, with me going, ‘You may think pink is sexual, but that’s just your opinion. There are so many pink things in this world, do you get aroused every time you see them?’ It was quite an amusing fight.” 

Savage comebacks aside, Nagoshi explains that he had a good reason to fight for his decisions each time they were questioned: “But from my side, I wasn’t trying to push these things like a practical joke. These were things I considered to be acceptable after properly evaluating them based on my morals and values. That’s why I remained stubborn and fought to the end.” 

For more behind-the-scenes info about Like a Dragon, check out our article about how Sega initially rejected the proposal for the first game in the series.