One of the strongest pillars of the Chihara-kai group has fallen in the previous episode of Tokyo Vice season 2, a continuation of the HBO Max series, after Ishida was shot to death by an unknown assassin in the club Polina. The Chihara-kai gang, a significant part of the Yakuza, is a feared group of criminals led by Koichi Tanaka, whose right-hand man was Hitoshi Ishida. Hitoshi Ishida worked as the de facto leader of this group and made a huge number of enemies within the organization because of his strong principles that set him apart from the other members. However, after his tragic death in episode 6, a void is created in the gang, which can only be filled if Sato takes up the leadership, but it would be a bumpy ride for Sato as there are many obstacles on his path. Especially because someone from the Chihara-kai gang might have had a hand in Ishida’s death. Let’s try to decipher who could be the mole in the gang responsible for Ishida’s murder.
Spoilers Ahead
How Was Ishida Killed?
Ishida had always been a loyal member to the Chihara-kai gang, and he believed Sato could be the potential oyabun after his passing. That’s why he gave Sato permission to take up the leadership of the gang, but Ishida’s tragic death left Sato utterly confused. Ishida wanted to grab the government land, Shimabashi property, and therefore wanted to trick the real estate agent, Ohno-san, who had been working on this property, into stealing the blueprints of the land. Samantha, whose club was under the Chiahara-kai’s supervision, was hired by Ishida to keep an eye on Ohno-san. But Samantha got caught by Ohno-san, who realized she had been snitching on him. Both Samantha and Ohno-san came up with a plan to help Ishida get his hands on some private property, which wouldn’t be a big deal for Ohno, but unfortunate events unfolded when Ishida came to meet Ohno and Samantha at the club Polina to strike the deal with them. Ishida almost agreed to the plan, but suddenly, out of nowhere, two assailants broke into the club and shot Ishida. It seemed like the assailants were hired by someone in a higher position to kill Ishida, despite the fact that they killed Ohno-san as well. Ishida was gravely injured, and he finally succumbed to his injuries. Ishida’s loyalty to his group and his strong principles were the reason even Detective Katagiri used to respect him. Ishida was strongly against the members of the gang keeping firearms with them, but despite the rules, Sato hid some in Samantha’s club. However, Sato later admitted his wrongdoing, which impressed Ishida as Sato could be everything but a disloyal or dishonest member of the group. Now it is a big responsibility for Sato, as he is the potential oyabun, but Hayama wouldn’t let him have the throne so easily.
Who Is The Culprit Behind Ishida’s Death?
First of all, only Tozawa’s name can appear in our minds when it comes to taking revenge on Ishida and killing him, because Tozawa was back in Tokyo with a bigger plan. We have already seen him getting into an argument with Ishida, who lost his temper and told him that if Tozawa wanted to start a fire, it would burn him first. Tozawa might have kept that in mind, and in order to assert his authority over the entire Yakuza, he decided to eliminate Ishida, who could have been a great problem-maker in his pursuit of power. He had also killed Nakahara, giving us a clear idea of his voracious appetite for power and that he would do anything to quench it. So Tozawa is definitely a prime suspect who might have ordered Ishida’s killing. But, to dig deeper, we can say that it would have been impossible for Tozawa to know where Ishida was without an insider informant working for him in the Chihara-kai. But who is this snitch?
Well, Hayama could possibly be a snitch working for Tozawa in Ishida’s gang, and he had his reasons to want the oyabun dead. First of all, Hayama had always been a problematic guy who never listened to Ishida. He had no reason to kill Ota, the weapon supplier, but he did after getting drunk with him. Not only that, he also set his house ablaze and decided to hide everything from Ishida. Regarding this, he even got into an argument with Sato. Realizing that Sato had already impressed Ishida, Hayama decided to cause this damage. He was already impatient enough to become the next oyabun, so he might have wanted to bring harm to Ishida to secure his own position as the new leader of the gang. Although in the previous episode, it was shown that Hayama had hired Kaito, Sato’s brother, to attack Tozawa, it might have been a trap planned by him to drag Kaito into the mess. Therefore, if Hayama is the one to rat on Ishida, there will be a confrontation between him and Sato in the upcoming episodes of the series regarding their potential as the next oyabun.
What Can We Expect From The Upcoming Episode?
In the concluding scene of episode 6, we saw the assassin with the red-eyed tattoo on his wrist show up at Katagiri’s house, asking for help from the detective. This is confusing as we still don’t know who this guy might be working for. Is this guy’s sudden arrival in Katagiri’s house just a part of Tozawa’s elaborate plan or will this assassin decide to help Katagiri to catch the real culprit behind Ishida’s death?
Furthermore, in the upcoming episode of Tokyo Vice season 2, we might expect Sato to try to take leadership of the gang to honor Ishida’s last wish, but that is going to bring a lot of turmoil into his life. Hayama, if backed by Tozawa’s power, will create a perilous situation for Sato, which would be hard to tackle. Moreover, Tozawa had been planning to turn his criminal organization into an enterprise led by him, which could also spark several conflicts among the Yakuza. Meanwhile, the detectives, especially Nagata, are vehemently trying to gather proof against Tozawa to put him behind bars, and Katagiri is also helping her with this. Let’s see what Sato as well as the Chihara-kai’s future in Ishida’s absence will be in the upcoming episodes of Tokyo Vice season 2.
