Shenmue Dojo

Master Kyodai wrote:Putting 4 cups of tea in front of you in a tea shop doesn't just look stupid it also draws attention.

Well, it really does in the game. With all the instances where you can do the sign in the wrong places it always draws in trouble with some random goons. So it is reflected in a way at least.

About that Kenji manga: in Volume 11, Chapter 5, the protagonist enters the Kowloon city.

Giorgio wrote: About that Kenji manga: in Volume 11, Chapter 5, the protagonist enters the Kowloon city.

huh, no way.. i might have to go and read all these now. it seems beyond doubt that this was a strong influence on the shenmue story.

johnvivant wrote: huh, no way.. i might have to go and read all these now. it seems beyond doubt that this was a strong influence on the shenmue story.

The more I read Kenji, the more I realize that the Shenmue series' plot bears many similarities with and is heavily influenced by it; (not on a 1:1 ratio, of course).

Update:
In Kenji, there are also secret question and answer codes called "Black Words", somewhat similar in fashion to the "Heaven, Earth, Dragon, Comrade" password as found in the Shenmue series. You can find this in the manga, at Vol 12, Ch 2, p. 27-30. See the pictures below for an easy reference:

In fact, there is more historical references of chawan sign except Kenji. But them were almost all written in Chinese or Japanese.

The oldest one is 清稗类钞(Qingbai leichao/Qing Petty Matters Anthology), an unofficial history of the Qing Dynasty by Xu Ke. In Qingbai leichao, you can find chawan sign and Black words in the chapter of 会党 Huidang.
Chawan sign and black words were traditions of the Chinese secret society, like 哥老会 Gelaohui and 洪门 Hongmen.

Chawan sign and black words were also mentioned in 洪门志 Hongmen Annals and 中国秘密社会史 The history of Chinese secret society.

There is a japanese manga store next to me here in new york city. I will go and look for Kenji there