Characters and Cast

1:25 Stranger Than Heaven's official cast page names 17 characters, each "portrayed by" a performer: Yu Shirota plays the hero Makoto Daito, Dean Fujioka his friend and rival Yu Shinjo, Snoop Dogg the smuggler Orpheus, Ado the wartime Osaka singer Keiko Shirai, Tori Kelly the singer Suzy Day, and Takaya Kuroda, Kazuma Kiryu's Japanese voice, the craftsman Takeo Godai. Two roles are built in CG from archival footage rather than performed: the late Bunta Sugawara as the Kure boss Genzo Iwaki, voiced by Takashi Ukaji, and Tupac as Amaru, whose voice SEGA lists as TBA. The cast mixes Japanese film and stage actors with American musicians, because singing and show business sit at the center of the game, said RGG Studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama. As of Nov 3, 2026, SEGA has published no separate English voice cast. The clip is the trailer RGG Studio made with Toei, whose credits name Yu Shirota as its star, then Bunta Sugawara over his CG character, then Tupac among the cast.

Quick facts

Sources: SEGA: cast page; SEGA's Sep 25, 2026 character release on Worthplaying; Steam store page, Nov 3, 2026.

Who is in the cast of Stranger Than Heaven?

Every character SEGA has named, in the cast page's order, with what SEGA says of each (paraphrased from the cast page and SEGA's Sep 25, 2026 character release):

Sources: SEGA: cast page, undated; SEGA's character release on Worthplaying, Sep 25, 2026.

Previews of pre-release builds add two story characters who are not on the cast page: Oki, leader of the Oki Clan in Kokura 1915, and Shimura, a hulking boss with a huge melee weapon whom Makoto fights at the end of the Kokura chapter, as Game Informer described its three-hour session on Oct 21, 2026. SEGA has not named their performers.

Which characters belong to which era?

SEGA ties most characters to a city, and the five eras give the cast its order. Tae, Heigo Yashima, Tadashi Hataoka and the Oki Clan belong to Kokura in 1915; Genzo Iwaki and Tetsuya Hama to Kure in 1929, where Makoto joins the Iwaki Family; Keiko Shirai to wartime Osaka, the Minami 1943 chapter; Suzy Day to the Shizuoka segment, which Xbox Wire placed there on May 6, 2026 (Atami 1951); the Veiled Stranger to postwar Japan; and Kimura to Kamurocho, the Shinjuku 1965 chapter. Makoto, Shinjo and Orpheus meet on the ship from San Francisco 1915. SEGA has not said where Takeo Godai, Kiyoshi Otsuru, Takashi, Suekichi or Amaru appear.

Why these actors? Yokoyama's casting philosophy

9:58 Yokoyama told AUTOMATON on Jun 23, 2026 that Yakuza 0 taught him to cast on one test: "whether they suit the character you want to portray," and that he sometimes writes a role with a specific actor in mind (AUTOMATON). He chose Yu Shirota as a fit for Daito's estranged, ambiguous character, and Dean Fujioka for Shinjo partly for his musical background, since singing is a core theme of the game. In the clip IGN's Michael Higham recalls Yu Shirota on bringing his music and acting careers, and his own mixed heritage, to the role.

7:36 He also acknowledged how famous names can look from outside: "To the audience, it may seem like we're only doing it for attention" (AUTOMATON, Jun 23, 2026). In the same interview he said Tupac was not planned at first: he was added in the latter half of development after Yokoyama became close with Snoop Dogg, who introduced RGG Studio to Tupac's family. See Tupac Shakur as Amaru. The clip is IGN's Michael Higham after Summer Game Fest 2026, recounting what Yokoyama told him about Tupac and Snoop Dogg; the doubts in it are Higham's.

Four of the cast sing the theme song, "STRANGER THAN HEAVEN": Snoop Dogg, Satoshi Fujihara, Ado and Tori Kelly (SEGA, May 7, 2026), and Xbox Wire credits Kelly and Fujihara with writing it. See Music and Theme Song.

Who voices the characters in English?

Not known as of Nov 3, 2026. Steam lists full audio in English and Japanese, but SEGA's cast page credits each performer as "portrayed by" and names no separate English voice actors. The dialogue is mixed by design: director Mikinobu Abe said American characters speak English and Japanese characters speak Japanese, and Makoto shifts from English toward Japanese over the decades (Game Informer, Oct 21, 2026). Whether the English audio option dubs the Japanese-speaking roles, and with whom, SEGA has not said. See Languages and Age Rating.

Are Like a Dragon actors in Stranger Than Heaven?

Some are. Takaya Kuroda, the Japanese voice of Kazuma Kiryu, plays Takeo Godai (Final Weapon, Aug 28, 2026), but as a new character, not Kiryu. Kazuhiro Nakaya, Ichiban Kasuga's voice, was announced as not appearing (AUTOMATON, May 20, 2026). No character from the Like a Dragon (Yakuza) games has been announced; the link is the world itself, the Tojo Clan and Kamurocho. See Is Stranger Than Heaven a Yakuza Game?.

How were Bunta Sugawara and Tupac put in the game?

Both are CG characters built from archival footage and photographs, with permission. Sugawara, who died in 2014, appears with his family's consent and materials from Toei Company, and Takashi Ukaji, who was close to him, voices the role (Bleeding Cool, Sep 19, 2026). Tupac's Amaru is made with the permission and supervision of his estate, Amaru Entertainment, "without the use of AI," SEGA said on Jun 5, 2026. Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto repeated at Gamescom 2026 that no AI was involved (PCGamesN, Sep 4, 2026).

What is not known

As of Nov 3, 2026: the English voice cast, if any; who voices Amaru and in which era he appears; where Godai, Otsuru, Takashi and Suekichi fit in the story; the performers behind Oki and Shimura; and how many named characters the full game has beyond the 17 on the cast page.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the main character of Stranger Than Heaven? Makoto Daito, portrayed by Yu Shirota, the son of an American father and a Japanese mother who leaves San Francisco for Japan in 1915. Stranger Than Heaven follows him across fifty years and five cities.

Is Snoop Dogg in Stranger Than Heaven? Yes. Snoop Dogg plays Orpheus, a globe-trotting smuggler who finds Makoto stowed away on the ship to Japan, and he sings on the theme song. His son Cordell Broadus plays the Veiled Stranger.

Is Tupac in Stranger Than Heaven? SEGA says Tupac plays Amaru, "a man living in hiding in Japan," built in CG from archival footage and photographs with his estate's permission and without AI. Stranger Than Heaven's voice for Amaru is listed as TBA as of Nov 3, 2026.

Is Kiryu's voice actor in Stranger Than Heaven? Takaya Kuroda, Kazuma Kiryu's Japanese voice, plays Takeo Godai, a skilled craftsman of few words. Kiryu himself is not in Stranger Than Heaven's announced cast.

Who does Ado play in Stranger Than Heaven? Ado plays Keiko Shirai, the diva of wartime Osaka, and both voices her and sings her songs. Ado is also one of the four singers on Stranger Than Heaven's theme song.

Does Stranger Than Heaven have English voice acting? Steam lists full English and Japanese audio, and the American characters speak English. As of Nov 3, 2026, Stranger Than Heaven has no published English voice cast for its Japanese-speaking roles.

Sources

• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN: Cast, SEGA, undated
• Stranger Than Heaven Reveals New Info On Key Characters And Show Business Theme, Worthplaying (SEGA press release), Sep 25, 2026
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN on Steam, Valve, Nov 3, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven executive director talks about casting philosophy learned from Yakuza 0, AUTOMATON, Jun 23, 2026
• SEGA and Xbox raise the curtain on "Stranger Than Heaven", Game Developer (SEGA press release), May 7, 2026
• Xbox Presents: A Special Look at Stranger Than Heaven, Xbox Wire, May 6, 2026
• One Man's Story Of Biculturalism, Music, Fitting In, And Fighting, Game Informer, Oct 21, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven Gamescom Demo Walkthrough and Yokoyama Interview Released, Final Weapon, Aug 28, 2026
• Ichiban Kasuga's voice actor will not be appearing in Stranger Than Heaven, AUTOMATON, May 20, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven Drops Bunta Sugawara-Inspired Film Trailer, Bleeding Cool, Sep 19, 2026
• TUPAC SHAKUR JOINS SEGA'S "STRANGER THAN HEAVEN", SEGA, Jun 5, 2026
• Stranger Than Heaven dev says it isn't using AI to bring back Tupac, PCGamesN, Sep 4, 2026
• 『STRANGER THAN HEAVEN』×『仁義なき戦い』コラボレーション発表映像, RGG Studio (official), Sep 17, 2026 (video)
• Stranger Than Heaven Finally Won Me Over | Extended Hands-On Preview, IGN, Oct 21, 2026 (video)
• Stranger Than Heaven Hands-On Impressions: Yakuza, Like A Souls Game, IGN, Jun 16, 2026 (video)