In Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Ichiban Kasuga’s journey isn’t just about beating enemies and growing stronger through combat—it’s also about personal growth. Kasuga has six personality traits: Passion, Confidence, Style, Intellect, Kindness, and Charisma. These stats play a vital role in unlocking new opportunities, such as accessing blocked locations, forming relationships, or recruiting employees for the business management minigame.

This guide explores every effective method to max out Kasuga’s personality stats—both through direct farming and by leveraging hidden mechanics that reward your time and curiosity.

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The Six Traits & Their Uses

Before we dig into the methods, here’s what the personality traits are used for:

• Access to locked NPC areas (many characters won’t let you pass unless you’ve hit a required level in a specific trait)
• Business Management recruiting (higher traits let you hire better employees)
• Unlocking substories, gear, or jobs that require a certain personality level

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Method 1: Ounabara Vocational School (Massive Gains)

The Ounabara Vocational School is the most efficient and consistent method for boosting personality stats. Once unlocked, you can pay to take multiple-choice exams that reward specific trait increases upon passing.

Each exam has icons indicating which personality traits they’ll increase:

• 🔥 Flame = Passion
• 🧠 Head = Confidence
• ☀️ Sun = Charisma
• 💗 Heart = Kindness
• 🎓 Cap = Intellect
• 🍾 Bottle = Style

Exams cover a wide range of topics—from sports to SEGA history—and you’ll be timed, with four answers per question.

Boost Your Odds:

You can also purchase items from Akari in the lobby:

• Divine Pencil: Eliminates two wrong answers (one use per exam)
• Hyperfocus: Adds extra time (one use per exam)

Both tools help maximize your exam success but come at a cost—so make sure your money situation is solid before grinding through these. If not, consider reviewing guides on fast money farming.

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Method 2: Sotenbori Looting Circuit (Efficient & Repeatable)

This lesser-known but highly effective method involves running a looting route through Sotenbori to collect suitcasesthat frequently contain:

• Personality Boosting Magazines (each boosts one trait)
• Stat Boosting Drinks (raise a core stat like Attack or MP by 5 points)

Personality Magazines:

• Between Thrill and Passion → Passion
• Think and Grow Confident → Confidence
• The Poor Zoo → Kindness
• You Unleashed → Charisma
• Special Theory of Relative Brutality → Intellect
• Street Dandy → Style
• Rise Up → All traits

Stat Drinks:

• Raise one of nine core stats (Attack, Defense, Magic, Healing, Agility, Dexterity, HP, MP, or all at once)

Each item is single-use, but the rewards from this circuit add up quickly. Most runs take about 3 minutes, and you’ll get multiple rewards per loop.

To reset the circuit:

• Take the taxi to the top-left corner of Sotenbori
• Make sure you collect every suitcase to refresh them properly

Optional Bonus: Check under vending machines for extra cash while running the circuit, though this will slow you down a bit.

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Method 3: Dialogue Choices (Passive Progression)

Throughout the game, you’ll occasionally get to choose Ichiban’s responses in conversations. These dialogue options subtly boost personality traits based on tone:

• Fiery → Passion
• Thoughtful → Kindness
• Logical → Intellect
• Charming → Charisma, etc.

While the boosts are minor, they happen organically as you play. This method is not farmable, but every bit helps—especially early on when traits require fewer points to level.

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Bonus: Stat Maxing Without XP Farming

Many players overlook personality traits as a valid method for stat maxing—but they directly feed into unlocking permanent boosts through exams, better party composition, and superior gear access. Combining personality growth with drink boosts from the loot circuit gives you an alternative path to improving your characters without endlessly grinding combat XP.

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Final Thoughts

While dialogue choices offer minor and organic growth, the Ounabara School and Sotenbori Looting Circuit are your bread and butter for stat maxing Ichiban’s personality. Whether you’re going for 100% completion or just want access to everything the game has to offer, these methods are your fastest and most rewarding routes.

For even more efficiency, check out guides on money farming, XP farming, and accessory-based XP boosters. Combining these with stat and personality growth strategies will fully unlock Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s depth.

Good luck—and may your Passion and Style always rise together.