Akira Nishikiyama (Japanese: 錦山 彰, Hepburn: Nishikiyama Akira), often shortened to Nishiki, is a fictional character from Sega's action-adventure game series Yakuza, previously titled Yakuza outside of Japan. He is the sworn brother and childhood best friend of series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu, who insists on taking the blame for Nishiki after he murdered their boss, which resulted in Kiryu's expulsion from the Tojo Clan, the dominant yakuza organization in Tokyo, and his imprisonment for ten years. Nishiki establishes the Nishikiyama Family as a "subsidiary" of the Tojo Clan, and later triggers an internal power struggle for the clan's leadership shortly after Kiryu's release, leading to the two men becoming mortal enemies. Nishiki also appears as a supporting character in the prequel inst