Kazumaji

Kazumaji is the slash ship between Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Majima from the Yakuza fandom.

Canon
Kiryu and Majima are former members of the now disbanded Tojo Clan, a yakuza clan which the game series' plot heavily focuses on. While Kiryu himself is the series' main protagonist, Majima has also appeared as a protagonist in multiple games. While Kiryu respectfully refers to Majima as "Majima-san" (or "Majima-no-niisan", due to their diference in ranks in the Tojo Clan), Majima treats the former way more casually and always calls him "Kiryu-chan".

Yakuza 0
Although they are both the protagonists of the game, they don't interact until the ending of the game, which takes place a month after the final chapter. They cross paths in Kamurocho, and Majima enthusiastically and proudly greets him with a "Yo, Kiryu-chan!" Kiryu returns his enthusiasm with a smile.

There is also a series of substories about Kiryu and Majima sending letters to radio host Dolce Kamiya in order to get them featured on his radio show. Kiryu uses the penname "Judgment Kazzy" while Majima went with "Gorogorogoro-chan". At one point if one of Kiryu's submissions gets chosen, Majima will think to himself "Who the fuck is this Judgment Kazzy asshole?".

Yakuza 1
In the first chapter, after Kiryu beats up the yakuza member that was harassing him, Majima makes his arrival to the scene while happily saying Kiryu's name. The yakuza member, who turns out to be part of the Majima Family, is shocked and Majima mentions Kiryu's nickname, The Dragon of Dojima. Kiryu bows and Majima carefreely tells Kiryu to stop being so stiff around him. He walks around and mentions Yumi before asking how he should punish his underling. The member in question apologizes and Kiryu tells him it's alright, but Majima disagrees and starts beating him up with his umbrella. Kiryu stops him from beating him up to a pulp and Majima, in a sad tone, remarks he was doing it for him [Kiryu]. Majima backs off and tells Kiryu that he needs to remember to discipline his own family members when he finally manages to become a patriarch himself. Majima then bids him a farewell and leaves the alleyway, also bringing the cutscene to an end.

In the fifth chapter, Majima kidnaps Haruka and Kiryu heads out to the batting cages where she is being held captive. Kiryu enters one of the arenas and watches one of the machines shoot out balls before Majima and his underlings show up. With a baseball bat in his hands, Majima exclaims how it fills him with joy to see Kiryu after such a long time and how the two can have a proper fight. While approaching Kiryu as he speaks, the same machine shoots a ball at Majima's face causing him to stop on his tracks. He starts cackling and then beats up one of his underlings for not laughing together with everyone. Kiryu demands Majima to stop and asks where Haruka is. Majima calms down a bit and points at one of the doors behind the arena, after which he giddily explains all he wants to do is fight Kiryu. Kiryu angrily asks if he's being serious and Majima clarifies he's always serious, leading to him pulling out his tanto and fighting Kiryu together with his underlings. After the fight, Majima falls to the ground and proceeds to compliment Kiryu's strength. When one of his underlings attempts to stab Kiryu, Majima jumps in front of the latter and gets stabbed in the stomach. When the same underling cries and asks why he'd do it, Majima kicks him and manages to rage that Kiryu belongs to him and only he has the privilege of killing him, before fainting.

Kiwami
Instead of Majima's introduction scene ending like in the original, Kiryu says he'll look after and discipline his clan members in his own way. Majima takes offense at Kiryu's words when Kiryu says he'll do it "the right way," and challenges Kiryu to a fight. Kiryu refuses to take his bait even after Majima slaps him, reasoning that he has no reason to fight Majima. Majima gets even angrier and starts beating Kiryu up with his umbrella, but Kiryu still refuses to yield. Majima proceeds to pull out his tanto and almost strikes Kiryu with it before calming down and asking why Kiryu is making things harder for himself by holding himself back. Majima tells Kiryu that if he only cares whether things have a point or not, he'll end up breaking himself in the process. When Kiryu says he won't back down on his ideals no matter what, Majima returns to his usual giddy self and proclaims he'll keep an eye on Kiryu. Kiryu agrees that he'll only fight Majima if he manages to come up with a logical reason for their fights, causing Majima to grin from ear to ear. Majima takes his leave with the rest of his clan members, hopping around in joy, with Kiryu silently wondering what he had gotten himself into.

Upon returning to Kamurocho after spending ten years in prison, Kiryu is greeted by Majima. The former tells him it's good to be back and Majima mentions he has been on the look for him as rumors said he would be released from prison soon. Majima jokefully tells him he was completely bored without Kiryu around and how he thought of comitting a crime as well so they could spend time together instead. Majima then challenges him into a fight and Kiryu declines his offer, reasoning that there's no reason for them to fight. Majima counters him, aggravating that if Kiryu were half of the person he used to be ten years ago, he would have noticed Majima, and how Kamurocho isn't safe anymore, especially for "a fool who's gone soft." Kiryu accepts the challenge and upon the fight ending, is left extremely confused over their difference in power. (If you manage to win the fight, Kiryu will still be out of breath and exhausted, but also thinks how he barely managed to get out of it.) Majima disappointedly but bluntly tells Kiryu he's nothing but a weak punk now, before mentioning Kiryu still hasn't lost the fire in his eyes. Majima promises Kiryu will become something even greater than he was before, and leaves the scene after telling Kiryu he won't stop until Kiryu has regained his old strength back.

Majima Everywhere
In one of the very first Majima Everywhere events, Kiryu is notified by Nishida, one of the Majima Family members, to head to Millennium Tower's entrance and remember to bring a weapon with him. There he is surprised and approached by Majima wearing a police officer suit who wants to inspect Kiryu. Majima proceeds to tease him, leading to Kiryu getting angry and playing along. When Majima discovers Kiryu is carrying around a weapon, he challenges him to a fight as "a punishment," and the two proceed to fight. If the player loses the fight, Majima will taunt Kiryu and demand he bring a stronger weapon with him next time. If the player encounters the police officer Majima without having a weapon, Majima chides Kiryu for not carrying one around despite Nishida's text message very clearly telling him to do so.

A bit later, Nishida makes another call to Kiryu, this time asking if anybody had celebrated his release from prison. He then mentions that Majima has decided to rent out and host a party for Kiryu at the bikini bar Asia. When Kiryu questions whether Majima had ulterior motives in mind, Nishida claims that it is nothing but a present for Kiryu. Upon entering the bar, Kiryu makes a disgusted face as Majima dances suggestively around the strip pole. Majima then excitedly asks if that got Kiryu pumped up, leading to Kiryu getting annoyed and the two arguing before engaging in another fight. After the fight, Majima contentedly asks if it was steamy enough for Kiryu, and the latter agrees, saying he'd "never get to enjoy that kind of a dance while he was behind bars." Kiryu then thanks Majima and they proceed to talk a bit before Majima bids him a farewell.

At one point, Nishida notifies Kiryu of a hostess who is "causing chaos" at one of the hostess clubs and how he needs to put a stop to it. Upon entering it, he is greeted by a cross-dressing Majima, who is now calling himself Goromi. Majima attemps to challenge him to a fight, trying to anger Kiryu but the latter stays cool and decides to treat Majima as if he were an actual hostess at the club. They end up drinking and talking about various things such as their past jobs from Yakuza 0. Regardless if the player fails or succeeds at the event, Majima will get mad at Kiryu and yell that he will punish and beat up Kiryu "in the name of every hostess whole world". After their fight, Majima compliments Kiryu's strength while Kiryu replies that he didn't expect Majima to be able to fight while wearing a dress and in high heels.

Aside from their fights, the two also compete in various games such as bowling, Pocket Circuit Racing, darts, pool and shogi.

Yakuza 2 Kiwami
The Yakuza 2 remake adds multiple Kazumaji scenes through the Cabaret Club minigame after its story has been advanced far enough, while the Clan Creator minigame's storyline is filled with them.

The two also have a karaoke song together called "Zetsubouchou Pride" (translated as "Pride From Depair"). Although Kiryu can sing it all by himself, if Majima is invited to sing with him, the latter will sing the beginning of the song and also complete their duet with rapping and ad libbing lines and background vocals. The cinematic for the song will also show story scenes between the two from the first Kiwami game.

Yakuza 3
Just before Kiryu leaves to Okinawa in order to run the Morning Glory Orphanage, he goes to the top of the Millennium Tower to bid his farewell to Majima, after Nishida mentioned about him being there and how he is sullen because of the news. Majima expresses how he'll miss Kiryu and that it'll be boring in Kamurocho without him. When Kiryu tells him to look after Daigo, Majima tells him he doesn't have the time to just "babysit" Tojo Clan's new Chairman, and he is highly curious about why Kiryu trusts him so much. After Majima's speech about how strength is everything to him, Kiryu manages to convince him by beating him a fight, and Majima promises to return to the Tojo Clan, before wondering what he got himself into.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon
As Ichiban and his party are beating up Tojo Clan members at their headquarters together with Majima, Saejima and other Omi Alliance members, a bloodied Tojo Clan member picks up a knife from the floor and plunges at Watase before being stopped by Kiryu with a punch on the face. Majima laughs whole-heartedly and cracks a smile, yelling out "I knew ya were alive!" and they then proceed to join forces.

Like a Dragon: Ishin!
In Ishin, a spin-off game in the series which takes place during the Bakumatsu period, Sakamoto Ryoma (Kiryu) assumes the identity of Saito Hajime in order to join the Shinsengumi and track down his adoptive father's killer. During his tryout for Shinsengumi, he manages to stand on equal ground with Nagakura Shinpachi (Saejima), the Captain of the 2nd Division, who gives him the permission to join Shinsengumi. After their fight, Okita Soji (Majima), the Captain of the 1st Division, dynamically joins them and exchanges a few words with Saito while also asking Nagakura why they weren't having a fight to death. Okita then asks if Saito wants a piece of his own tennen rishin style, before lunging himself on top of Saito. When he thinks he's won their little fight, Nagakura points out it's a draw instead, and Okita sees Saito had managed to outsmart him. They are interrupted by the deputy chief of Shinsengumi, who then talks with Saito. After their conversation, Okita compliments Saito's skills, before saying he doesn't feel like fighting anymore. Okita leaves and Nagakura mentions how he thinks Okita has taken a liking to Saito.

Quotes
"(As usual, he shows you a glimpse of someone serious and then goes right back to his usual self.)"

- Kiryu at the end of Majima Everywhere - Asia Encounter

Fanon
Kazumaji is one of the most - if not arguably the most popular - popular ships within the Yakuza fandom. Although the ship has been quite popular and widely appreciated throughout the franchise's history, its popularity was especially boosted thanks to the Yakuza 1 remake, Yakuza Kiwami and its new mode, Majima Everywhere, where Majima fights or challenges Kiryu in order to train him and/or awaken his dormant potential. As a result many fanfictions are what-if situations of the Majima Everywhere situations, usually with an added romantic or sexual twist.

However some have found their relationship dynamics toxic or unhealthy, mainly due to Majima's obsession with wanting to kill Kiryu in Yakuza 1, especially since there was no proper explanation for this and for the most part Majima's character could be boiled down to being just some crazy guy who does what he wants (including kidnapping Haruka in order to get Kiryu to fight him). This especially baffled many as the Majima Everywhere interactions and cutscenes from the original Yakuza 1 clashed together in terms of characterization.

Later on it is however shown that Majima wanting to kill Kiryu is in fact nothing but a running gag between the two and how they in fact care about and have deep respect for each other.

As the series went on, many fans felt disappointed about their decreased interactions and limited screen time together in the future games, especially as games like Yakuza 4 and 5 focused more on Majima's relationship with his sworn blood brother Taiga Saejima. However at the same time there are some people who have taken the middle way and ship all three of them in a poly ship.

In the fandom, there are also many fans of the series who dislike people interpreting Kiryu and Majima's relationship as romantic or sexual, something that has also happened with similar ships such as Otasune.

Aside from Majima's aforementioned ship, Kazumaji is mainly rivaled by Kiryu's other ships such as Nishikiryu, AkiKiryu and Saekazu.

Some also like to headcanon both Kiryu and Majima raising Haruka and later on the other orphans of Morning Glory together.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION


 * ART


 * TUMBLR


 * TWITTER

Trivia

 * Multiple official Twitter accounts, such as the Japanese SEGA branch, Xbox, and even the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio account, have expressed their support for Kazumaji multiple times.
 * Jon Riesenbach, a localization producer and editor who was in charge of localizing multiple Yakuza games, has also shown his support for the ship numerous times, such as tweeting out "Happy National Boyfriend Day" with a picture of Kiryu and Majima.
 * The Japanese Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Twitter account quote-retweeted Kazumaji fanart from known Kazumaji artist ThanatosOfNicte.
 * In Kirara Asuka's third dinner date in Kiwami 2, one of the choices Kiryu can pick for the 2nd question is "I'd like you to meet... Majima-san."
 * Kiryu and Majima's seiyuu, Kuroda Takaya and Ugaki Hidenari respectively, have been best friends ever since high school.