Legacy: Yagami Yamada

Unwritten spoilers will be whited out.

Name: Yamada (Daniel) Yagami 

(Yamada's mother gave him a middle name as she expected this would be what his American father wanted. Typically Japanese names don't have middle names but Yamada's children and their children have continued this tradition)

Year Born: 1960

Hair Color: blond

Eye Color: blue
Height: 6'1" 1/2 (185 cm)

Ethnicity: 1/2 Japanese, 1/2 American

Career: Neurosurgeon

Introduced in: Steps Toward the Future

Parents: Yagami Atsuko (mother) and James Johnston (father)

Girlfriend/Spouse: Yagami (nee Kobayashi) Dana

Children: Shin, Koji, Nerimaru (Nelly), Tony, Jill, Shaun

History:  In the case of Yamada, ALL of his history will be a spoiler. Beware. Yagami Yamada was born to Yagami Atsuko in lower Wasaba, a poor neighborhood first mentioned in Street Corner. Atsuko worked as a waitress within the restaurant James Johnston happened to visit on a business trip. The two carried on an affair until James returned to the U.S. to his own wife and family. During the affair, Atsuko became pregnant with Yamada but never informed James of his existence, deciding to raise her son as a single mother.

Yamada was bullied frequently growing up, ridiculed and judged for his foreign attributes due to his father. His mother worked two jobs to support them so he spent most of his young life by himself. He attended school where he was often top of the class and was offered scholarship into an excellent high school. Nonetheless, Yamada finished middle school and started to work odd jobs to help support his mother. As Yamada grew older, he was still targeted by bullies but took on an offensive nature to the attacks compared to his prior younger complacency, gaining a reputation in his teenage years as violent. 

Sengoku Soseki

Although he was unpopular amongst a majority of the males in his old neighborhood, he was very popular amongst the women. Yamada was a flirtatious womanizer, spending most of his free time getting into some sort of mischief be it street racing with his friends cars, drinking, smoking, or picking up women. It was during this period he hung out with later revealed characters such as Sengoku Soseki, a very distant cousin of his and Elli's father, and Yamachi Mariko, Elli's, his later daughter-in-law's, mother.

It was by chance and during a "relationship" he carried on with a rich girl named Hachiko that he met Kobayashi Dana. Hachiko pretends to be older than she is and brings Dana and other friends to the park to meet Yamada. He discovers they're younger than him, seventeen at the time, as they're only in junior high, revealed due to their uniforms but isn't particularly bothered by it. Dana is disdainful of him and the two carry on an antagonist relationship for a while because she finds him to be a playboy pretty boy and he thinks she's a prudish busybody, only coming to meet him in the first place because of her sense of honor and knowing Hachiko already has an arranged marriage set aside.

All the same, the two end up spending time with one another because of Hachiko and Yamada starts to see that it's perhaps not Dana who is the problem in the girl's group. When they plan to take some of their male classmates and a group of them to a popular beach, they purposefully leave her out. Yamada ends up accidentally inviting her and the other girls are dismayed. He discovers that despite being just fourteen, Dana had a blossoming figure that caught a lot of male's attention, including his. Hachiko and the other girls proceed to ignore her the rest of the trip so she keeps to herself until Yamada lightly chastises his pseudo-girlfriend that she's being petty and keeps Dana company himself. 

As time goes on, Yamada starts to discover Dana's personality bit by bit. She had goals and dreams and desired to work for them despite that being something he didn't attribute to her upper class. He first discovered that he liked her when she desired to sneak out and see David Bowie perform in Tokyo, a plot very against her nature but depicting her tenacity. Although he recognized his feelings, Yamada grew uncertain how to particularly flirt with Dana as her nature was unlike most of the women he picked up so he often times grew flustered and nervous around her. Dana had a falling out Hachiko whom had grown jealous over the attention they paid to each other. Yamada was irritated when Hachiko ended up calling Dana a floozy and a whore, calling the whole thing off. Hachiko declared that he was just a poor half-breed anyway to which Dana took offense and ended up instigating the relationship with Yamada.

The days they spent dating, Yamada became aware of his social standing in comparison to Dana. She was from a very old and prestigious rich family that lived in Subami, one of the richest neighborhoods in this universe's Japan. He figured she too might just be having a rebellious phase and wanting to dabble with him a bit. However, Dana spent a lot of time with Yamada in the small apartment and never seemed bothered by their smaller dates. While she was there, she revealed her talent for fashion design and sewing by spending a week producing Yamada a suit to wear to an event she wished to sneak him into. 

At the ritzy party, Yamada was further disgruntled by the wealthy and how low he was in social status. He thought he'd never fit in with those people but also believed he'd be worthier of Dana if he was wealthier. It's here where he meets Izumi Craig, his future son-in-law's father. The man asks him if he has a cigarette that isn't "fancy" and that he'd trade him the expensive one he's expected to have. The two hit it off and even hang out after the party, Yamada and him often goofing off and racing around in Craig's '69 Ford Mustang convertible. One particular night, Yamada and him were drunk and Yamada ends up wrecking the car. While Craig's irritated, he's not quite as upset as Yamada figures he should be. Craig once again reminds Yamada of the difference in their classes when he waves it off, stating he could just get another car at his own convenience. While walking home, Yamada is completely disillusioned when Craig reveals that Dana is engaged to another man named Kamaishi Domo, a renown young business man. He calls Dana to ask if this was the case and when she admits it, he declares he never wants to see her again and they break up.

Yamada ends up back in the same parties he used to be in, having angry rebound relations with Mariko after an insane night of drinking. On his way home though he realized that that wasn't what he wanted anymore and that he missed Dana. When he gets back to his apartment, he discovers his mother had allowed Dana into the house when she left for work. She insists that she cares about him and doesn't have any desire to be with Domo. In spite of maintaining a desire to wait to have sex, her and Yamada end up sleeping together and he begins to reevaluate his goals. He remembered thinking in his youth that he wanted to help the sick after featuring many people in their apartment complex grow ill and die. He decided he'll become a doctor and takes the steps to try to get into school while Dana and him maintain their relationship.

Dana was fifteen when it was discovered she was pregnant with his child. Although horrified at first, worried for providing for his impromptu family, Dana's excitement was enough to still his concerns. Her family kicked her out of the house after she refused to abort and they lived together, Dana even getting a job hemming pants to help pay her way in the household. Atsuko was also not pleased Yamada had taken on such a thing so young but he was further determined by his girlfriend's vivacity. Through a long series of exams and tests, he was accepted into a college and he thought everything was going well. Alas, Dana's father, Kobayashi Atsuhiro, came to the apartment when Dana was eight months pregnant and informed her if she didn't give up the child and return home to marry Domo that he would turn Yamada in for statutory rape. While being of the age of consent, Atsuhiro had Hachiko's "evidence" that she'd been carrying on the relationship since she was thirteen. Dana, not wanting to ruin Yamada's endeavors, asked that she have her child first. Yamada insists that he'll raise it and makes the bold proclamation to Atsuhiro that the man would regret this and that he'd be worthy of his daughter. Dana gives birth to Yagami Shin and marries Kamaishi Domo in the following months.

Yamada struggles through college and raising his son by himself with little help from his mother. Balancing school work and a job, he eventually moves closer to his school and has a neighbor watch Shin during the day. Unbeknownst to him, Dana would often come by and see Shin while he was away until one night he came back and found them together. By this point he was worn out by the effort and irritated by her walking in and out at her own convenience. For whatever reason, Dana attributes his mean words to stress and frustration so they once again have sex, cuddling up afterward. Dana informs him of her life in the Kamaishi Mansion where Domo is often away on business and is not above just having his numerous affairs in their bedroom. Yamada wonders why the man even wanted to be married and angrily notes that Dana has bruises. She doesn't want to go but has to, crying for the first time before him. Yamada is once again resolved, allowing her to leave with the remark that she tell her husband he'll kill him if he puts his hands on her again.

The following year, Yamada shadows in the Subami Hospital, at the top of his class and gaining special attention. There he finds Dana giving birth, heartbroken that she's having Domo's children. She ends up having twins but one of them is very sickly and ends up staying in the hatch. The hospital is confused and distraught because for whatever reason the other healthier baby won't stop weeping no matter what they do. Dana is upset because she thinks both of her children are going to die. Yamada came to a realization, however, that they were looking at the case in a purely medical viewpoint. Taking the crying baby into the room and placing him next to his twin, everyone was startled to find he'd calmed and that even the sickly one started to perk up a bit. Yamada was moved more into his calling and Dana asked him to name the twin boys. Reluctant to name children that weren't his, he suggested Koji and Nerimaru for them. 

Five years passed and Yamada managed to graduate top of his class, gaining an internship to the Subami Hospital. He'd seen Dana the year prior when the woman came by to give Shin a birthday present. He begins to wonder if their relationship is based on anything except sex after it occurs a third time. Doing better for himself but still far from the status he knew he needed to be accepted by Dana's family, he starts to consider dating other women just to avoid the pressure. Before he could play with the idea, in a bit of randomness, Nerimaru, four-years-old, shows up at the hospital with a stroller. In it he has his twin Koji and two infants. Yamada was shocked they were all by themselves, Koji also ill and needing attention. He's further alarmed to see that the infants, blond and blue eyed, are most likely his. Yamada comes to the realization that most likely all four of them are his children.

Yamada examines Koji and makes a disturbing discovery. Koji wakes long enough to tell him that the bruises and other physical damage are a result of Domo raping him. He expresses that Domo said he'd rape Nerimaru if he ever told anyone but figures that Yamada is a magical being because of his unusual attributes that are like his younger siblings so he might be able to do something about the situation. Enraged, Yamada calls Dana and screams at her for allowing Domo to rape his children. Dana has no idea what he's talking about, forced to live in another house while the children were cared for by nannies. In despair, she calls her parents and the police. A report is filed and Domo is quickly ushered off to jail, not able to buy off his crime. Dana swears off her parents whom don't seem very concerned with it and are in fact angry she turned her husband in. Dana takes their children to live with Yamada.

Yamada tries his best to take on having a rather large family, making money through interning but hardly enough to feed his children. Dana wants to work but insists she stay with the kids to tend to their emotional state. He agrees and takes on extra jobs to further his income. Finally, one of his teachers recommended him to stand in on a surgery and he gains acclaim for the effort. He's offered a position as a surgeon at the hospital and finally is able to buy a house for them, an old style one in Subami. The couple discovers Dana is pregnant again and he realizes that she's basically been with him this entire time. He asks her to marry him and the two wed before Shaun was born.

Atsuko, whom had been uninvolved in Yamada's life for some years by this point, brings James by to meet him. Yamada isn't particularly interested in meeting his MIA father, having created his image in his head of a negligent philandering man. Surprisingly, James is very upset about not knowing about his son, insistent that he'd have wanted to be involved in his child's life. Against Yamada's wishes, James gives him a substantial check for all the years he wasn't there. Though he wanted to refuse, his father wouldn't have it and asked that in return Yamada, if he ever had the time, just call him once a year. Yamada accepted and used the money to sponsor a small business for Dana to start a fashion design firm which with time bloomed into a world renown business known as Yagada. When being honored for his upstart in the medical field, Yamada ran into Atsuhiro who still maintained he wasn't good enough to have married his daughter. Yamada retorted he was always good enough compared to what Atsuhiro considered the best and the two have never spoken again.

Personality: Yamada in his teenage years was abrasive and blunt, sometimes temperamental and sometimes very apathetic. Koji's current personality mirrors his greatly. He felt he had a lot to prove for having foreign blood, something that got him picked on and abused for a majority of his life. He was quite reckless and often times gave very little regard to his life. On top of that, he was a notorious playboy in the old neighborhood, dating and carousing with women frequently.

In Yamada's older years, he is very mild-mannered, very polite and courteous in comparison. He's always out to help those in need and is a workaholic when it comes to his job, much like his wife. There are rare circumstances when his snark and less refined behavior resurfaces, such as when Dana declared he was a manwhore to Elli during the resolution chapter Answers to which he responds sulkily that he "was a manwhore" or growing angry when Kyo hid having cancer from the family in Lessons in Life, using chemotherapy when far better treatments had been found, saying that it was "bull".

Relationships: While Yamada has a very strong relationship with Shin, having raised the boy longer than having had a family, he's got a slightly lesser relationship with Koji and Nelly. He finds the boys often behave a lot like he used to and that worries him. Alas, he's usually the first to advocate for them if Dana is being too nagging and grows angry when Soseki insults Nelly in Answers, proclaiming that regardless of his opinion, that's still his son. He has a good relationship with the rest of his children as well but frankly he's away so much there's hardly much interaction between them within the realms of the story.

Yamada and Dana aren't the most lovey dovey couple in the series but the two are extremely loyal and respectful of each other. They're often off doing their own thing but Yamada's not above dropping something to cater to his wife though the same might not be applicable to her. In a future short, Yamada finds himself at a fancy affair on their anniversary and wonders when the last time they'd celebrated it alone. With Craig's provocation he has a shot of brandy despite not having had a heavy drink in years. Finding the brand is quite good, he has a few more before dissolving back into his almost teenage behavior, demanding a cigarette and speaking informally. Disgruntled when he sees Dana speaking with another group, promoting Yagada, he marches over and promptly tells her how he feels about it. Though she's annoyed he's taken to drinking and smoking again suddenly, she becomes a lot more permissive with him, causing Koji and Nelly to remark that perhaps their mother does prefer his rebellious side.

Trivia:

Yamada has a tattoo curling around his bellybutton that reads 'rebel'. Why he hasn't thought to have it removed is up to question (Mentioned in This Love).

Yamada briefly taught at his former alma mater which is where he met the late Doctor Tsumaru whom was killed in Step Towards the Future by Yamachi Rick, Popuri's brother.

As it is, Yamada was friends with three of his children's future spouse's parents when he was younger (Mariko as Elli's mother), Soseki, and Craig (Cliff's dad).

In the first rendition of the story, Yamada nor Dana were all that particularly wealthy. The two just happened to meet one day when she was arranged to marry Domo and had a continuing affair. As with this story, all of the children were his except Shaun, then Shawn, who was Domo's only child.

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