How am I supposed to figure out the ingredients for bitter-melon juice?

Question

One of the side-missions (or as they are called in-game, "substories") in Yakuza 3 has you collecting ingredients for making bitter-melon juice. Some old lady is making the juice and she tells you to bring her the following:

• Goya - bitter melon (though this possibly appears as "Balsam Pear" in the American version of the game, based on this FAQ. Search for "Ryuukyuugai no Nanafushigi Sono4")
• Kuruzata - brown sugar ("black sugar" in the American version)
• Dugwai - aloe
• Basanai - banana, you can replace it with the more expensive "island banana."
• Lemon - well, it's a lemon, though you can replace it with a Shikwasa

The only reason I knew which word meant what is because of the FAQ I linked to. Is there any way for me to have figured this out in-game, or does the game expect me to be Japanese/look it up?

Answer

Technically, you're suppose to get each ingredient one by one. I believe that every time you give her a correct ingredient (assuming you have not collected them all), she'll tell you she doesn't have enough to make the juice and gives you a description of one that you are missing. (e.g. if you are missing the bananas, she'll go "Basanai, silly. You know, yellow and sweet?")

Since the shopkeeper speaks in an Okinawan dialect, it's supposed to be hard to understand what she means. Kind of like how people from the Midwest/NW (of the US) call carbonated beverages "pop," while people in the NE call them "soda," and Southerners refer to them, generically, as "coke."

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Have I missed my chance to finish Rikia's tattoo?

Question

Right after defeating Kanda, you get a chance to wander around Kamurocho with Rikia.

While you show him around the town, it is hinted that you should probably take him to a specific tattooist located off a back alley in Pink street, so that he may get the viper tattoo on his back finished. However, I simply ended up going with Rikia to wherever he wanted to go and didn't make the detour. You eventually go your separate ways, though apparently Rikia will meet up with you again later.

My question is, have I missed my chance to take Rikia to the tattooist, or will I have another opportunity?

Answer

After playing some more, it turns out that you do get another chance to finish Rikia's tattoo.

After defeating Kanda, your next plot-line goal is to return to New Serena and update Date. Once you get there, Rikia shows up and you have another chance of wandering around town with him before advancing the plot. One of the things you can do while showing him around town is getting his tattoo finished.

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What can I do with all these items I pick up?

Question

I haven't been playing Yakuza 3 for too long, and already I have come across a wide variety of completely unrelated and seemingly useless items.

There are of course items with very clear use, such as weapons and health increasing items, but also: A coral reef, a broken watch, a multi-purpose thumbtack, a nail made out of platinum, a squishy ball and a myriad of other nonsensical things.

Do all of these items serve some purpose? If not, can I perhaps sell them somewhere, or do something entirely different with them that I am yet unaware of?

Answer

From what I've been able to tell some you can just sell (Gold/Platinum Plates, for example), but a large number can be used to create weapon modifications.

I've personally found that Yen was never an issue (normal playthrough), and your hideout can stock seemingly unlimited quantities of items, so if I were you I'd just put everything in stock (save healing items, of course) until the end game.

(Some story missions, as well as side stories, also require certain items, so if you find them that saves a bit of Yen. Tuna and Catnip sticks, for example.)

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In Yakuza 3 does the Tokyo Ishun magazine become unavailable?

Question

I'm in chapter 12 in Yakuza 3 and am trying to access the hidden menu options in restaurants and bars. However while I may have once seen the magazine necessary to unlock these items I seem to be unable to find the magazine at any of the M stores I've visited.

All I can find online is that I should be able to purchase it, but all I seem are two magazines that don't seem to help. I've checked the items in storage and there's nothing there that I can see.

Is the purchase of this time sensitive, or can I still find it somewhere else?

Answer

While the M Stores should seemingly have a copy, I ended up finding a copy in the Poppo store in Chapter 12. Still nothing in the M store.

I picked up 5 (the total number I had room for), just in case, but thankfully these are not used up when you purchase a special menu item.

Looking further online I did find a thread that later on said you could find them in Poppo marts as well, but the first half-ish was solely talking about M stores having them. Since I rarely had to purchase healing items in my normal playthrough, I'm sure I stopped in there once when I first arrived and then never went back.

If I pick up Yakuza 1 and 2 and decide to replay the story in this one from start to finish I'll be sure to see if a copy ever shows up in the M stores.

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Does Haruka ever get tired?

Question

I just picked up Yakuza 3 and at the very beginning of the game there is a segment where you wander around Kamurocho with Haruka with the goal of letting her have a good time by visiting various restaurants/attractions.

Eventually, you're supposed to leave her at Emoto's clinic so that you can go somewhere on your own and advance the plot, but whenever you try and leave her there she says she wants to hang out with you some more.

While you can always politely refuse, I wonder, does she ever get tired and straight out agree to stay at the clinic for a while?

Answer

Based on my experience later in the game, when she would catch up with me after I effectively ditched her, and she'd be breathing really hard, I'd say no, that girl never seems to really get tired.

Seriously, if it's possible to max out her trust at that point in the game, and complete any side stories that require her to start, that might trigger it. But from what I've seen she's more than happy to walk around with you, and find things to do, as long as you let her.

(Since people who have played the first/second seem to like Haruka, requiring you to say goodbye might be setup that way to trigger an emotional feeling. Or just to keep you guessing. Am I going to miss something if I say goodbye now? Should I walk around town just one more time?)

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