Hanako Arasaka: Saburo's Daughter, a Netrunner and V's Arasaka Ally
The short version
Hanako Arasaka is Saburo Arasaka's only daughter, a self-taught netrunner and the head of Arasaka's Kiji faction, who offers V a deal in Cyberpunk 2077: testify against Yorinobu and she will save V's life. Alpha Takahashi voices her in English.
On this page
The short version#
Hanako is the Arasaka you can talk to. She grew up sheltered in the family compound, learned the Net on her own, and became a skilled netrunner. In the tabletop lore she is the head of the Kiji faction, a group of conservative technocrats who hoped for peace with the US.
She is also one of the few people who understood what Alt Cunningham's Soulkiller work really was.
Older canon#
Hanako's mother Michiko died shortly after her birth, which made her Saburo's favorite. He kept her inside the compound; she left about once a month, under heavy escort. Her closest family bond was with her brother Yorinobu, who met her in the Net while he rode with the Steel Dragons.
After her half-brother Kei's death, the Old Guard rallied around her as the Kiji faction. How much power she held is unclear. In a game series full of men with big plans, she is the person who actually spent her time on digital projects, including a revised Soulkiller aimed at moving engrams into clone bodies.
Her role in 2077#
Hanako sails to Night City with her father, along with her own bodyguard, Sandayu Oda. After Saburo's apparent death she gives the eulogy at the Japantown parade, where Goro Takemura abducts her to tell her the truth. She does not believe him until V backs him up, and then Adam Smasher's troops burst in.
Afterward she tasks V with getting a copy of Soulkiller, then meets them at Embers and makes the offer: testify to the board and she will save V's life.
Spoilers The Devil, and what happens to her
If V accepts, Hanako is held at the Arasaka Estate until V and Takemura (if alive) extract her. They fly to Arasaka Tower, and she shows V her father's engram in Mikoshi. At the board meeting Saburo's engram backs her accusation of Yorinobu, and V survives the assault by Taka troops with her. Then she sends V to detain her brother.
In the Devil ending Yorinobu's mind is overwritten by Saburo, and Hanako comforts him at the end. Hanako later calls V, asking if they want more work with her and Saburo.
She is the youngest of Saburo's children, so when V calls Yorinobu her baby brother in this ending, it is a slip.
In the other main endings, V refuses the deal, and Yorinobu says Hanako died in the fighting. In the Tower ending, she and Takemura try to oust Yorinobu without V; it fails, Takemura reports she is dead, and he is accused of her murder.
Her place in the family#
Arasaka's succession in the lore comes down to three factions: Kiji under Hanako, Taka under Yorinobu, and Hato around her niece Michiko. Of the three, Hanako's is the one that wants a quiet reconciliation with the US instead of a war.
She also looks after the faction's namesake animal: before 2070 she opened a preserve on Shikoku for the last Japanese green pheasants. It is a small detail, and it says more about her than her titles.
Fixer's notes#
Opinion: Hanako is the most honest character in the Arasaka family tree, and still the one pushing the dirtiest deal. Her offer is generous and perfectly sincere, and the price is your body. Read it the way Johnny Silverhand does: it is a death with better furniture.
A detail worth knowing: she has Raynaud's disease, and her golden cyberware fingers reflect that. She is the youngest of Saburo's children.
At the table, Hanako is your Arasaka patron: a corporate with a conscience who still has an agenda. Pair her with Saburo Arasaka in play, and with the endings guide for the consequences. The Arasaka page covers the factions.
Who knows who#
Connections as a table
| From | Link | To |
|---|---|---|
| Hanako Arasaka | father, favorite child | Saburo Arasaka |
| Hanako Arasaka | brother, confronts him | Yorinobu Arasaka |
| Hanako Arasaka | ally after the parade | Goro Takemura |
| Hanako Arasaka | offers a deal | V |
| Hanako Arasaka | rescued by his troops | Adam Smasher |
Explore#
- Official