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There are big Pirate Yakuza plot spoilers ahead, so don’t read on if you don’t want to ruin the game for yourself.
During your adventures in Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, you’ll soon find yourself on the trail of the legendary Lost Treasure of the Esperanza as it is believed to hold the elixir of eternal life. As Majima wants to help Noah, the boy who saved his life when he washed ashore, this elixir is the key item he’s after.
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Eventually, the team learn that the fabled elixir of eternal life is called the Heart of the Dragon, and by the end of the game, they have a firmer idea of what they believe it is, ambergris. Does this stuff really exist? Let us explain.
What Is The Elixir Of Life?
As far as Pirate Yakuza goes, it’s revealed the elixir really does exist. It’s only at the very end of the game that the characters surmise it sounds similar to ambergris, which is used in Chinese medicine to “revitalise the nervous system and the heart”.
Masaru explains the Chinese word for it means “calcified saliva expelled from the mouth of a benevolent dragon”, and that it naturally forms in the intestines of sperm whales, with each ambergis selling for millions of dollars.
Masaru suggests that the elixir may have been a form of ambergris in its purest form, which is why they believed it was an elixir that would grant immortality.
Is Ambergris Real?
Interestingly, ambergris is a real thing, and much like Masaru said, it’s formed in the intestines of sperm whales. It’s extremely rare and is found within less than five percent of sperm whale carcasses.
What Do We Know About Ambergris?
According to Britannica, it tends to wash ashore on the coasts of China, Japan, the Americas, and Africa, and is generally found in smaller pieces. It’s believed to be a “substance protective against intestinal irritation caused by the indigestible horny beaks of squid and cuttlefish that the sperm whale feeds upon”, but no one actually knows how ambergris is formed, or whether it is vomited out, or passed along with faecal matter.
There is fossilized evidence of ambergris that dates back 1.75 million years, and for a long time it was unknown where this mysterious substance came from, with tales of mythical creatures producing it, as well as more mundane theories that it was hardened bird droppings. The Natural History Museum states that it was only when large-scale whaling began in the 1800s that people realised it was created within sperm whales.
What Do We Use It For?
Ambergris initially has a rather foul odour, which eventually fades into a nicer musky scent. It contains a sought-after compound called ambrein, which makes the scent of perfumes last much longer. As a result, it was very popular for making the finest perfrumes in the world, though due to how rare it is and the protective laws that prevent the hunting of sperm whales, synthetic chemicals are mostly used instead these days.
The original Chanel No. 5 perfume created by perfumer Ernest Beaux in 1921 contained ambergis.
Ambergris has also been used to create incense and medicine in Eastern cultures, though don’t go thinking you can go out and buy yourself an elixir of eternal life.
According to British Sea Fishing, Ambergris trading is banned in the USA, Australia, and India, but in the likes of the UK and some European countries, you can legally own and sell ambergris providing it was found naturally and not forcibly removed from a whale. Ambergis is very expensive, for example, one lucky fisherman in Thailand found a large clump worth £250,000.
The quality of ambergis varies as does its colouration, ranging from black, to more yellowly, and whiter samples. Darker samples contain the least amount of ambrein, while the paler, white samples contain the purest amounts of ambrein.
The rocks shown in Pirate Yakuza are very pale, which goes to show that Masaru’s theory that it was ambergris in its purest form was correct.
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