Solomon enters into a business partnership with Yoshii Mamoru, a man with a past connection to Mozasu. In Pachinko, Louis Ozawa plays Mamoru.
At the age of fifteen, Mozasu started working at a pachinko parlor, where he first met a young Yoshii Mamoru and his grandfather, Yoshii Isamu.
Due to his experiences with the Yoshiis, Mozasu does not want his son, Solomon, to get involved with Mamoru, but he fails to stop Solomon.
Partnership with Solomon
After Solomon is fired from Shiffley’s, Mamoru, now a businessman, approaches him with an offer. Mamoru wants Solomon to partner with him in the pachinko business.
Unlike Solomon, Mamoru sees Mozasu’s business as highly profitable and plans to set up pachinko parlors in countries like Korea and Thailand.
Solomon is well aware of Mamoru’s family history, including Yoshii Isamu’s links to the yakuza and involvement in illegal businesses.
Mamoru is not ashamed of his grandfather’s work, as his grandfather was the one who saved him from his father, a drug addict.
However, Mamoru does not want to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps. He claims to have severed ties with his grandfather’s businesses, which convinces Solomon to join him.
As expected, Mozasu protests. He warns his son, having personally suffered the consequences of involvement with the Yoshii family, but Solomon ignores his father’s warning.
Mozasu’s concerns prove justified, as working with Mamoru marks the beginning of Solomon’s moral decline. Solomon asks Mamoru to intimidate Geumja into selling her house to him.
He hopes to have leverage against Abe, who wants to build a hotel there. Aware that Tokyo’s land value is set to drop, Mamoru agrees to Solomon’s plan in order to profit before that happens.
Mamoru’s influence on Solomon
Mamoru fails to pressure Geumja into selling, but Solomon, determined to take revenge on Abe, finds another way to use that land to his advantage.
He convinces Geumja to sell to Abe, gets his commission, and then spreads rumors about the military burying bodies on the land during the Second World War, making it impossible for Abe to proceed with his hotel plans.
Solomon takes Mamoru’s help once again. He asks him to bid on the land that Abe bought after Shiffley’s cancels Abe’s loan and offloads the property.
Together, they plan to develop an elite golf course on the land, a legitimate business that promises significant profits for Mamoru.
However, Naomi stands in the way of their project. Mamoru pressures Solomon to get Naomi on their side, threatening to handle it himself if Solomon fails.
Although Mamoru claims to have cut ties with the yakuza, he still resorts to underhanded methods. He digs up dirt on Naomi, leading to her breakup with Solomon.
To ensure the project’s success, Solomon betrays Naomi’s trust and gets her fired. Under Mamoru’s influence, Solomon shows no remorse as he ruins lives.
Mozasu, desperate to protect his son, tries once more to distance Solomon from Mamoru, but Mamoru refuses to let go of their profitable partnership.
Mamoru’s henchman had warned Solomon that Mamoru would only keep him close as long as he was beneficial. At the first sign of doubt in his abilities, Mamoru would not hesitate to cut him off.
Worse yet, if Solomon compromised Mamoru in any way, the consequences would be far more severe than just being cut off.
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