You're standing in the middle of Showa-era Kamurocho. It's 1988. The neon lights are blinding, the disco music is thumping from Maharaja, and Kiryu Kazuma—a man who looks like he's never smiled in his entire life—is suddenly responsible for managing a massive property portfolio. If you’ve spent any time in the Five Billionaires arc, you know it’s not just about punching people in the face. Well, it is, but it’s mostly about buying the right Yakuza 0 real estate locations so you can stop being broke.
Money is everything here.
Most players get overwhelmed because the map is a mess of icons and the game doesn't exactly hold your hand through the zoning laws of a fictional red-light district. You start small. A snack bar here, a sketchy video booth there. But honestly, if you aren't strategic about which properties you snap up first, you’re going to spend twenty hours just waiting for progress bars to fill up. That's a waste of time.
The Grimy Basics of Buying Up Kamurocho
Before you start dropping billions, you have to understand that the game divides the map into five distinct zones. Each one is controlled by a "Billionaire" who is, frankly, a terrible person. You’ve got the Leisure King, the Electronics King, the Pleasure King, the Gambling King, and finally, the Media King.
The flow is simple. You buy a property, you assign a manager to protect it, and you hire a security guard to make sure the local goons don't break the windows.
But here is where people mess up: they think they can just buy everything at once. You can't. Some Yakuza 0 real estate locations are locked behind "friendships." This means you actually have to talk to the NPCs. I know, it’s a hassle. You have to eat at their restaurants or play their weird minigames until they trust you enough to let you buy their building.
Take the Leisure King's area. It's your starter zone. It’s mostly around Tenkaichi Street and the southern part of the map. You’ll find places like the Sugar Hill Coffee shop or those tiny little "Poppo" convenience stores. If you ignore the friendship-based properties, like the one tied to the clerk at the Poppo on Tenkaichi St, you’ll never hit 100% area share. And without 100%, you can’t fully humiliate the Billionaires.
Why Some Locations Matter More Than Others
Let's talk about the Electronics King. This guy is a jerk. His territory is centered around Pink Street and the Champion District. The properties here are expensive, but the payout is massive.
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The Champion District is a nightmare to navigate. It’s a maze of tiny alleys. You’re looking for tiny bars with names like "Earth Angel" or "Shellac." Some of these are easy pickings. Others? You’ll need to complete specific substories. For instance, you can’t just walk into a real estate deal for a building if the owner is currently being harassed by a rival gang or dealing with a personal crisis that only Kiryu can solve by hitting someone with a bicycle.
Why bother with the hard ones?
Because of the payout multipliers. Certain Yakuza 0 real estate locations have higher growth potential. When you invest in them using your "Financial" advisors, the grade of the building goes from D to S. An S-rank property in the Electronics King's zone pays out way more than a dozen D-rank snack bars in the Leisure zone.
Honestly, the Pleasure King’s area—located around the Hotel District and north of Shichifuku Street—is where things get spicy. We’re talking about "tele-clubs" and soaplands. These locations have a high base income. If you’ve been neglecting your business empire to go sing karaoke, this is where you realize you need a few billion yen just to upgrade your basic combat skills.
The Friendship Grind: The "Hidden" Properties
This is the part everyone hates. You see a grayed-out building on your real estate map. You walk up to it. No prompt. Nothing.
That’s because that specific location is tied to an NPC relationship.
- The Sushi Gin Property: You have to eat there. A lot. Eventually, the chef starts recognizing you.
- The SEGA Hi-Tech Land Locations: You need to become buddies with the clerks by playing OutRun or Super Hang-On.
- The Mach Bowl Location: You have to bowl. If you're bad at bowling, you're going to have a hard time owning that piece of the map.
It's a weird loop. You're a hardened yakuza, but you're spending your Friday night trying to get a high score in a crane game just so you can buy the building the arcade is in. It’s absurd. But it’s the only way to get the Dragon of Dojima style. That’s the real prize. The real estate game is just a very long, very lucrative path to becoming the strongest fighter in the game.
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The Final Stretch: Gambling and Media Kings
Once you hit the Gambling King (around Theater Square) and the Media King (the northernmost part of the map, including the area around the Kamurocho Hills construction site), the prices get stupid.
We are talking about properties that cost 1 billion yen just to look at.
The Media King’s Yakuza 0 real estate locations include huge office buildings and nightclubs. By the time you get here, you should have your staff sorted. If you’re still using "Miracle Johnson" (the game's legally distinct Michael Jackson parody) as just a bodyguard and not a consultant, you’re doing it wrong. His stats for investing in certain property types are top-tier.
The "Media" zone is where you finalize your empire. It’s the densest part of the game. You'll find that the "Disco" properties and high-end restaurants here provide the bulk of your late-game income. If you can collect from this zone twice an hour, you'll have more money than you know what to do with. Seriously, you'll be throwing money in the air just to avoid random encounters on the street.
Managing Your Staff (The Secret Sauce)
Buying the buildings is only half the battle. If you don't have the right managers, your "Collection" phase takes forever.
Managers have two main stats: Money and Safety. A high money stat boosts the income of your Yakuza 0 real estate locations during a collection cycle. A high safety stat prevents the Billionaires from sending a "Troubleshooter" to stop your collection.
If a battle starts in your territory, the income stops. You have to run over there and beat up a group of guys in suits. It’s a distraction.
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Pro tip: Use the "tax" advisors for the initial investment phase to pump the property grade up to S as fast as possible. Once a zone is at 100% and you've defeated the King in a final battle, you don't really need to worry about safety anymore. At that point, it’s just a money printer.
Actionable Strategy for Real Estate Dominance
If you want to finish this side-story without losing your mind, follow this sequence.
First, focus entirely on the Leisure King. Don't even look at the other zones. Get your share to 100%, beat him in the karaoke challenge (or don't, you can still win the fight later), and take his territory. This unlocks better staff.
Second, go to the Shrine. Spend your CP (Completion Points) on the "Business" upgrades. There is one specifically that makes the collection bars fill up faster. Get this immediately. It turns a 10-minute wait into a 5-minute wait. Over the course of the whole questline, that saves you hours of real-world time.
Third, don't forget to check your properties after every few story missions. The income doesn't automate until you trigger the "Collection" button in your office. It’s easy to get distracted by the main plot and realize you’ve left 500 million yen sitting on the table.
Finally, keep an eye on your "Advisors." They have limited stamina. If you overwork them, their effectiveness drops. Switch them out. It’s like a sports team; you need a deep bench.
When you finally own every single one of the Yakuza 0 real estate locations, you'll trigger the final encounter. It’s satisfying. Not just because of the story, but because you went from a low-level thug to a man who literally owns the streets he walks on. And more importantly, you'll have the funds to buy every single upgrade in the game, making Kiryu an unstoppable force.
Your Next Steps:
- Check your map: Look for any gray buildings in the Leisure King's zone and talk to the nearby NPCs to see if a friendship quest is required.
- Visit the Shrine: Ensure you've spent your CP on the "Business" speed upgrades to minimize downtime.
- Assign Miracle Johnson: If you've completed his substory, set him as a consultant for your highest-earning properties immediately to maximize your ROI.