When you get your friendship gauge up to about half way, the shopkeeper talks about a suspicious man who keeps showing up in his store. Then, after you build it up some more, the suspicious man shows up again and the shopkeeper asks Ryoma if he'll keep an eye on him while he leaves. The suspicious man then takes something and runs. Ryoma runs after him, starting a chase battle. After Ryoma catches him, the shopkeeper thanks him and rewards him with a Crystal. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

When you get the gauge to around half way (/slighlty above half way), Ryoma notices the greengrocer is troubled by something. After buying more stuff from him, he tells Ryoma that the guy who regularly comes by to distribute vegetables to him to sell has not arrived yet. He's worried that his stock is going to run out soon, if he doesn't show up.

After building up the gauge some more, he says the distributor apparently had an accident. Ryoma asks how his stock is holding up and he says he's fine for now in all areas except with carrots - apparently carrots are popular, so not having that in stock is going to disappoint a lot of customers. Ryoma asks how many he needs and he says he says 10. Ryoma says he'll get 10 carrots for him. Note that you can't buy any more stuff from the greengrocer until you get him the 10 carrots. You can grow carrots in your field in Another Life.

When you have 10 carrots, speak to the greengrocer and select the TOP OPTION to give him some. He thanks Ryoma for helping him out and gives him Robust Wood. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

When you get the gauge up to about 70%-ish full, Kiryu asks the guy if he'll have a drink with him. He's reluctant at first, but says okay, as long as it's a quick one. After the guy has a drink, he starts crying, saying Ryoma is a cruel man for forcing him to drink! Ryoma thinks to himself that this guy is one of those people who get emotional when they get drunk. After that, the bar manager says he has a headache. Ryoma apologises for encouraging him to drink. The manager says it's shameful that he's runs a pub yet is a weak drinker.

After this, you have to leave the area and then come back later (I went all the way over to Komaki's dojo, went inside, then came back to Fukufukuya). When you get here, Ryoma sees a couple of guys talking. One says the manager completely changed as soon as he had something to drink, the other says they should go and drink somewhere else. Ryoma then sees the manager drinking. Talk to him and Ryoma asks what's going on, but then notices that the man isn't crying like he was when he drank with Ryoma - instead, he seems so happy! He invites Ryoma to drink with him. Ryoma then wonders if he's one of those people who gets merry when they're drunk. He says he should drink some water, but he's not interested - he just wants to drink sake. Now he's quite angry, leading Ryoma to think that now he's one of those people who gets aggressive when they're drunk. Ryoma refuses to drink with him, then he goes back to being an emotional drunk. The manager starts saying that maybe he shouldn't run a pub if he's such a weak drinker. Choose the TOP OPTION to select "It doesn't matter if you're a weak drinker". He thanks Ryoma for his kind words, then says he'll drink for a little longer. Choose the BOTTOM OPTION to select "Water is nicer than sake". After this, the manager gives Ryoma Nada Refined Sake. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

When you get the gauge up to about half way (/slightly above half way), he says he's close to achieving something soon, but he won't tell Ryoma yet because it's a secret.

When you are close to maxing out the gauge (about 90%ish?), he tells Ryoma he managed to achieve that "secret thing" already. He tells Ryoma he achieved his sales target. Ryoma congratulates him and the owner says it's because of Ryoma's help. He said he was thinking of setting up a second restaurant in a faraway place after he hit his target, but he feels it's still too early to do that. But he said when he does set up a second restaurant, he'd love Ryoma to be the manager of it. Ryoma says he appreciates it, but he won't be able to. The owner tells Ryoma not to worry about it. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Keep singing at the Singing Bar in Fushimi to build up the friendship gauge with the owner. Note that the amount of songs you sing makes no difference to the amount the gauge goes up - for example, singing one song there builds up the gauge the same amount as doing all 6 songs! The gauge will only go up after you choose to quit after singing a song (BOTTOM OPTION when talking to the guy after a song). So you can save yourself time by doing one song at a time.

When the gauge gets to half way, he tells Ryoma about how one of the higher-ups (who doesn't think too highly of the place) is putting pressure on him. This guy doesn't want to allow "commonfolk" to enjoy culture - He says if the commonfolk have the time to mess around singing and dancing then they should be out working for the sake of the country. Then he apologises to Ryoma, saying he shouldn't really be talking about this to a customer.

After doing another song, the guy tells Ryoma that things are out of control there at the moment and he needs to clean up! Leave and come back later (go across to the other side of the map, then come back).

When you get back, Ryoma sees the owner outside being confronted by the higher-up he was talking about - the guy is telling the owner to shut down the bar. He tells the owner how singing and dancing are luxuries for high class people, not to be enjoyed by the commonfolk! The owner refuses to close the bar. Ryoma steps in to help the owner. This leads to a fight against the guy and his men.

After being defeated, they run off. The owner thanks him and invites him inside, saying he wants to give him a reward. He gives Ryoma a Fenghuang Feather. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Keep playing Mahjong at the Mahjong Parlour in Mukurogai to build up the friendship gauge with the guy there. The amount of times you play doesn't make a difference to the gauge - just play mahjong once, then as you leave the guy will talk to you and the gauge builds up, then repeat. You don't have to win games to build the gauge.

When you're close to filling the gauge, leave the parlour, then come back in again. The guy asks Ryoma if he wouldn't mind playing on the "Advanced Table" (the one furthest from the door).

Thankfully, you do not have to win at the Advanced Table to fill the friendship gauge, so if you're not good at Mahjong you don't have to worry.

After playing at the table, the man reward you with a Sultry Doll. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

To begin the friendship gauge with her, perform a dance for the first time AFTER completing the "He Who Dances like a Butterfly" substory from chapter 3. Keep performing dances to build up the gauge.

After building up the bar to a little over half way, she tells Ryoma he's doing well and if he keeps it up she may give him his debut!

After performing another dance and talking to her and she says she wants to give him his debut and she wants him to perform the "Blizzard Ballad". She says she's ready to go ahead with it when Ryoma is, but if he wants to practice first then he can. Now you can choose the TOP OPTION to have the debut, or the SECOND OPTION to continue practicing. Note that the gauge won't build up anymore by practicing - you have to perform the dance to continue.

Be warned that you are forced to perform the dance on the "Geisha" difficulty, so you might want to practice on that difficulty beforehand.

After performing the dance (and getting above the pass mark - indicated on the top right of the screen with the score), she gives Ryoma a Good Quality Piece of Wood and tells him to come again to dance any time. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat at the Hanamaru Udon Restaurant in Rakunai to start the gauge.

When you get the gauge to somewhere around 60-70%ish, the shopkeeper says he's thinking of making a new udon dish for him, to show his gratitude.

Then after building it up a little more, the shopkeeper says he's finished the new dish for Ryoma - he calls it the "Hanamaru Deluxe Dragon Udon"! After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat at Uji Tea House in Rakugai to start the gauge.

After getting the gauge up a little, new food and drinks become available at the tea house.

After getting the gauge up to over half way, Ryoma notices something wrong with the tea girl (Sumire). She says her relationship isn't going smoothly at the moment. His name is "Shinsuke" and apparently he often comes to her for money. Shinsuke says he can't afford the medicine prices for his parents and he has no one else he can turn to. But Sumire says she saw his parents mountain climbing, so she's a bit suspicious. Ryoma says it's not "suspicious"; she's being tricked. She says she's going over to him to break up right away.

Come back again later (leave and come back) and Ryoma sees Sumire and Shinsuke arguing. She tells him she's seen him gambling and that she knows the money isn't for medicine. He tells her she's hurt his feelings by dumping him, so he's demanding she pay him consolation money or he'll destroy the tea house! Ryoma steps in and a fight against Shinsuke starts. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Buy at the Don Quijote store in Rakunai to start the friendship gauge.

When you are close to filling the gauge, he says he's out of change, so Ryoma says he'll come back again some other time. As you are about to leave, a customers asks Ryoma where she can find bags of rice (thinking Ryoma works for the shop). Ryoma is about to tell her to ask the shopkeeper, but notices he's busy, so Ryoma says he'll find a bag for her. Ryoma thinks they might be outside the store. Leave the store and go to the side of the store (to the left of the entrance) and Ryoma finds bags of rice. He brings the customer outside to the bags and she thanks him. Now go back into the store and speak to the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper says he heard someone helped a lady find a bag of rice and asks if it was Ryoma. Ryoma says it was and the shopkeeper thanks him and rewards him with a Gold Plate. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Buy from the Arms Dealer in Rakugai to start the gauge.

When you get the gauge up to about half way, the shopkeeper asks Ryoma what it means to live - he says he wants to know Ryoma's thoughts. You get a choice of 3 answers, but it doesn't make a difference what you choose.

After building up the gauge some more, he asks Ryoma what his number 1 weapon is. Again you get a choice of 3 answers but it doesn't make a difference what you choose.

After being asked the second question, Ryoma asks why he's asking him stuff like this. The shopkeeper says he's well-informed about all the weapons he has, but he's actually never even used a weapon before, so he says he doesn't know how people like Ryoma feel about things. He thanks Ryoma for answering his questions and rewards him with a Dragon Fang. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Watch or participate in a Chicken Race in Rakugai to start the gauge. You do not have to participate in races to build the gauge; simply watch a race and then leave to build up the gauge.

After 3 races, when you go inside Ryoma notices something wrong with the receptionist - he says he was just deep in thought about something and it's nothing important.

After the next race, Ryoma sees something wrong with the receptionist again. He says he's not ill - he bet all his money today and lost it! Ryoma asks what he was going to if he'd won and the man says he was going to spend it with courtesans. Ryoma suggests he should have been more careful and gradually build up the money through more careful bets, but the guy says he wanted to win it in one go. He says he'll keep trying to hard to get the money he needs.

When you next enter the building, Ryoma sees the man on the floor. Turns out he had a massive win today! Ryoma asks if he has enough for what he needs, but the man says he's he needs to win one more race and he'll be ready. The man then asks Ryoma which chicken he thinks will win the next race. He says he feels if he leaves it for Ryoma to decide, he'll get the win. It makes no difference which option you pick - the chicken you pick will win. He thanks Ryoma and rewards him with a Broken Compass. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Play the "Odds and Evens" dice game in the gambling den in Rakugai. You need points to play - when you enter the gambling den, on the left hand side there are 2 men. Speak to the one on the right to exchange money for points. When you have points, go into the big room where loads of people are sitting and speak to the dice roller to play (TOP OPTION).

After playing, leave the building - as Ryoma is leaving, the dice roller comes out to speak to him and she invites him to keep coming back to play Odds and Evens. This begins the friendship gauge. If she doesn't speak to Ryoma as you leave the building, try going back inside and playing the Odds and Evens dice game some more - I played quite a lot of rounds before I finally left, so it may require more than one play to trigger the friendship gauge.

After you start the friendship gauge, you can just play one single round of Odds and Evens and then stop playing and the gauge will build up each time.

After building up the gauge to over half way, she asks Ryoma if he wants to do a big gamble - betting 10 Ryo! She says if she wins, she gets the 10 Ryo, but if Ryoma wins he gets his 10 Ryo back, plus an additional 10 Ryo, as well as a prize more valuable than money. Ryoma says he'll get the 10 Ryo prepared and come back. When you have 10 Ryo, go back to her and agree to do the 10 Ryo gamble (SECOND OPTION). You might want to save before doing this, or you'll have to keep paying 10 Ryo to play again until you win.

After you win, she gives Ryoma the 20 Ryo and then she kisses him, saying when customers come here to gamble it makes her heart pound and there's nothing more to it (this was apparently her prize "more valuable than money"). After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Play Shogi at the Shogi Parlour in Rakunai to begin the friendship gauge. You do not even have to play shogi to build the gauge if you don't want to - simply begin a game and then press select and then choose the option on the left (twice) to quit out of the game. This will build up the gauge. So if you either aren't good at Shogi or don't feel like playing loads of Shogi games you can do this to speed up the process. You can either do a ranking battle (second option) or a practice/training game (third option) to build the gauge.

When you're close to filling the gauge, the guy tells Ryoma there is someone who's always wanted to compete against him and asks if he'll play against him. Speak to the owner of the Shogi Parlour again and select the TOP OPTION to play against the guy - turns out it's the owner himself who always wanted to compete against Ryoma! Again, you do not have to play if you don't want to - you can quit out of the game after starting. The owner thanks Ryoma for playing against him and rewards him with a Dragon Tear. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat at Sushizanmai in Rakunai to begin the friendship gauge.

After getting the gauge to about half full, he mentions he has got hold of a freshly caught tuna and will be preparing it soon and wants Ryoma to try it out.

Leave the restaurant and then come back inside. The owner says he finished preparing it and Ryoma tries it out - Ryoma says he's never tasted such delicious tuna! After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Shop at Ecchudo pharmacy in Rakunai.

After buying something from him, he talks about his "Pill of Long Life", asking Ryoma if he wants to try it out. You can now select the MIDDLE OPTION when you talk to the pharmacist to try the pill. Select the TOP OPTION to confirm you'll try the pill. Doing so takes a lot of health from Ryoma, but begins the friendship gauge with the pharmacist. After that, continue leaving the building, then coming back inside and trying his long life pill again to build up the gauge.

When you are close to filling the gauge, the pharmacist says if this is a failure as well, he'll give up on the Pill of Long Life. It turns out to be a success! He thanks Ryoma for his help and gives him a Pill of Long Life (Fully restores health and completely fills the heat gauge to it's maximum capacity). After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out. You can also now buy the Pill of Long Life from this pharmacy.

Buy or sell at the Pawn Shop in Rakunai to begin the friendship gauge.

After you get the gauge to over half full, a man comes in asking the shopkeeper if he sells any antiques, but the shopkeeper says they he doesn't have any antiques here. The man then leaves. The shopkeeper tells Ryoma there are always plenty of old antiques out there, but for some reason he never gets any at his store (no one sells that kind of stuff to him). Ryoma tells him if he finds anyone looking to sell an antique, he'll refer him to this store.

You can continue to build up the gauge a bit more, but when it gets to a certain amount you cannot buy/sell. When this happens, leave the store and look for someone who wants to sell an antique.

[1]

Go here and a man stops Ryoma, saying he's looking for somewhere to sell all his antiques (what a coincidence!). Ryoma tells him about the pawn shop and the man runs off towards it. Go back to the pawn shop and the shopkeeper thanks Ryoma for his help and rewards him with a Platinum Lump. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat at Hyakugawa in Rakunai to begin the friendship gauge.

After you get the gauge above half full, Ryoma notices 2 of the brothers having an argument over what's better - Chinese food or Western-style food. Then all 3 brothers end up arguing over what style of food they are going to serve here - Japanese style, Western style or Chinese style. Then they decide they'll let Ryoma decide what style they should go with! So they're going to have a cooking competition - all 3 will make a different dish (Japanese, Chinese and Western) and Ryoma will decide which is the best. After that, Ryoma leaves.

You can go back inside and eat again to build up the gauge.

Then the next time you go inside, their meals (for their competition) are ready for Ryoma to try. Select the TOP OPTION to try the food.

The first brother serves Ryoma a Japanese style meal. Next, the second brother serves Ryoma a Chinese style meal. Finally, the third brother serves Ryoma a Western style meal. After each meal, Ryoma (thinking to himself) heaps lots of praise on the dish and how delicious it is. Now you have to choose... Choose the top option for Japanese style, middle for Chinese and bottom for Western. It makes no difference what you choose or what order you choose them in. In the end, Ryoma says he can't decide which is the best because they were all so good!

Next it goes into a Japanese play on words... This is not making it into the English version (if one gets released), that's for sure. When Ryoma can't decide which is best, he says "Wakaran" ("I don't know" as in "I don't know which is best"). Eventually, the older brother realises something and merges the words for the 3 styles of cooking into one - Japanese cooking ("Washoku"), Chinese cooking ("Chuka") and the Western cooking, which used a style from Holland (the abbreviation for Holland in Japanese is "ran") - which leads to "Wakaran" (it's actually a pretty good play on words, lol). So now they are going to call themselves "Wakaran Cooking".

They thank Ryoma and reward him with a Broken Compass. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat/Drink at Aoba in Gion to start the gauge.

When you get the gauge to about half way, the owner says he's thinking about making a special dish just for Ryoma, to show his thanks to him for always coming here to eat. He asks Ryoma what kind of food he likes. It doesn't make a difference which one you pick. The owner then says he'll make something like that.

When you next speak to him, he says he's finished the dish and asks Ryoma to try it. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Eat/Drink at Haruhi in Gion to start the gauge.

When you get the gauge to about half way, she says she wishes all customers were like Ryoma. Ryoma asks if something is wrong, but she won't go into details about it. Then one of the girls who works there barges into the room and tells the mistress that a couple of other customers got drunk and started fighting. She tells Ryoma she has to leave to deal with it.

After building up the gauge some more, Ryoma and the mistress hear a customer shouting at one of the girls who works at the restaurant outside the room. The angry man barges into the room Ryoma is in and starts shouting at the mistress about the girl - he says all he did was grope her tits and she started complaining about it! After a while, the mistress points out that he's being a pain to other customers and he even made sexual advances on one of her girls, so he's not a customer. She then asks him to leave. Of course, he's not happy about this, but Ryoma asks the man to step outside and then they fight.

After the fight, Ryoma goes back inside and the mistress apologises for the trouble. She gives Ryoma a Beautiful Silk. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

Ride on a palanquin to start the friendship gauge (to locate a palanquin on the map - they are the pink and white circle icons. Its starting location is in Rakunai).

Keep travelling in a palanquin to build the gauge.

When you get the gauge to about 70-75% full, he tells Ryoma he's heard there have been a gang of thieves operating in the area recently - thieves that target palanquins, so he's worried about that.

The next time you travel in a palanquin, he has to made an unexpected stop because his partner hurt his leg. But then some thieves show up. They say if Ryoma hands over his belongings, they'll let him live. A fight against the group of thieves begins.

After the fight, Ryoma tells them not to target palanquins anymore. They apologise and run off. Suddenly the palanquin bearer's partner's leg is better and they get back on their way. When they get back, the palanquin bearer thanks Ryoma for getting rid of the thieves. After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.

You don't get any item for completing this friendship, however after completion you are now able to travel to Rakugai via palanquin.

Purchase from the Shinto Priest (Dharma exchange) at the Rakunai shrine to start the gauge. Keep buying from him to build the gauge.

When you get the gauge to about half way, the priest says the gods want to reward Ryoma - so he performs some ritual, then Ryoma receives 100 Dharma.

When you are close to maxing out the gauge, the priest tells Ryoma he's out of stock, so he should come again later. Leave the area, then come back to the shrine. Ryoma sees a man running away, then notices the priest on the ground. The priest says a man randomly showed up and attacked him, taking his money. Ryoma chases after the man, beginning a chase.

During the chase, Ryoma loses sight of the man and says he must be hiding somewhere. You must examine ALL the barrels indicated on the mini-map within the 1 minute time limit - he will always be in the last one you look at.

After catching the man, the Priest thanks Ryoma and performs another ritual - Ryoma then receives 100 Dharma.

After that, the friendship gauge is maxed out.