Ushijima the Loan Shark

During the past decades, Japan has become the shining star of Asia, with its noteworthy achievements in the fields of science, technology, medicine, quality of life, and many others.

Yet, while there are a great number of rich and successful Japanese people, there are even more of those engaged in a furious struggle for something as simple as earning to cover their day-to-day living expenses; all the while battling dangerous and money-consuming addictions such as gambling and alcoholism.

What would these poor and not-so people do when they require the money to fulfill their never-ending desires, the desires that are part and parcel of being human? Just how miserable and dangerous might their lives become were they to fall into traps laid by yamikin, the loan sharks of the Japanese financial world's dark side, whose only goal is to ensnare such weak-willed souls?

Adapted into film and a J-Drama.

• Won the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award for General Manga in 2011
• Won the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival Social Impact Award in 2020