Makoto Date

Makoto Date
Developer	Toshihiro Nagoshi
Publisher	Sega
Platforms	As noted below
Released	2005-present
Added to Museum	See Makoto Date category

Makoto Date (伊達真, Date Makoto) is a character that is part of a multimedia series consisting of video games, a film, and magazines.

He is a non-playable character in most games in the Like a Dragon series, however, he is playable in Yakuza Kiwami and Like a Dragon Online.

Date's likeness was used to portray the historical samurai, Nakaoka Shintaro, in Like a Dragon: Ishin!.

Fictional character biography

Makoto Date is a detective for the Tokyo police department.

After Kazuma Kiryu is arrested for murder, Date is sure Kiryu was taking the blame for someone else since he was about to get his own yakuza family in the Tojo Clan.

After Kiryu was released from prison ten years later, Date became his unlikely ally.

He temporarily left the police force and became a reporter before he rejoined the force and became a detective again.

Video games with Makoto Date as a playable character

Title	Developer	System	Release	Notes
Yakuza Kiwami	Sega New Entertainment R&D Dept.	PS3, PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2013	Remake of Yakuza: Makoto Date becomes the unlikely ally of Kazuma Kiryu to help him discover a conspiracy.
Like a Dragon Online	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	Android, iOS, Windows	2018	Makoto Date is one of the fighters that can be part of Ichiban Kasuga's team.

Video games with Makoto Date as a non-playable character

Title	Developer	System	Release	Notes
Yakuza	Sega New Entertainment R&D Dept.	PS2	2005	Makoto Date becomes the unlikely ally of Kazuma Kiryu to help him discover a conspiracy.
Yakuza 2	Sega New Entertainment R&D Dept.	PS2	2006	Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu when the latter goes against Ryuji Goda, the Dragon of Kansai.
Yakuza 3	Sega CS1	PS3	2009	Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu uncover a conspiracy involving a man who looks exactly like the man who raised the latter.
Yakuza 4	Sega CS1	PS3	2010	Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima discover a plot around Akiyama's vast fortune.
Yakuza: Dead Souls	Sega CS1	PS3	2011	Zombies have appeared in Tokyo, and Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Shun Akiyama, Goro Majima, and Ryuji Goda stop them.
Like a Dragon 1&2 HD Edition	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS3, Wii U	2012	Japanese-exclusive remaster of Yakuza and Yakuza 2. Known as Like a Dragon 1&2 Wii U Edition on Wii U: Makoto Date becomes the unlikely ally of Kazuma Kiryu to help him discover a conspiracy. The following year, Date helps Kiryu when the latter goes against Ryuji Goda, the Dragon of Kansai.
Yakuza 5	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS3	2012	Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima, and Tatsuo Shinada investigate a plot surrounding the Tokyo police department and the Tojo Clan while Haruka Sawamura strives to become a singer and an idol.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2016	Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu as he tries to keep his adopted family at Sunflower Orphanage safe.
Yakuza Kiwami 2	Sega New Entertainment R&D Dept.	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2017	Remake of Yakuza 2: Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu when the latter goes against Ryuji Goda, the Dragon of Kansai.
Yakuza 3 Remastered	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2018	Remaster of Yakuza 3: Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu uncover a conspiracy involving a man who looks exactly like the man who raised the latter.
Yakuza 4 Remastered	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2019	Remaster of Yakuza 4: Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima discover a plot around Akiyama's vast fortune.
Yakuza 5 Remastered	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2019	Remaster of Yakuza 5: Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Shun Akiyama, Taiga Saejima and Tatsuo Shinada investigate a plot surrounding the Tokyo police department and the Tojo Clan, while Haruka Sawamura strives to become a singer and an idol.
Yakuza Remastered Collection	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, Windows, Xbox One	2019	Remaster of Yakuza 3, Yakuza 4, and Yakuza 5: Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu uncover a conspiracy involving a man who looks exactly like the man who raised the latter. The next year, Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Masayoshi Tanimura, Shun Akiyama, and Taiga Saejima discover a plot around Akiyama's vast fortune. Two years after that, Makoto Date helps Kazuma Kiryu, Akiyama, Saejima, and Tatsuo Shinada investigate a plot surrounding the Tokyo police department and the Tojo Clan while Haruka Sawamura strives to become a singer and an idol.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Series X/S	2020	Makoto Date can assist Ichiban Kasuga and his team via Poundmates.
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth	Ryū ga Gotoku Studio	PS4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, Series X/S	2024	Makoto Date covertly takes Kazuma Kiryu around Japan to check in on his friends.

Film featuring Makoto Date

Title	Production company	Distributor	Release	Notes
Yakuza: Like a Dragon	Art Port	Toei	2007	Based on Yakuza.

Magazines featuring Makoto Date

Title	Publisher	Release	Notes
Kamutai Magazine (December 2006)	Sega	2006	Preorder bonus for Like a Dragon 2.
Kamutai Magazine (February 2009)	Sega	2009	Preorder bonus for Like a Dragon 3.
Kamutai Magazine (March 2010)	Sega	2010	Preorder bonus for Like a Dragon 4.
Hot•Dog Press (March 2015)	Sega	2015	Preorder bonus for Like a Dragon 0.