Nozomi Harasaki

Nozomi Harasaki is Ryo Hazuki's friend and love interest in Shenmue.

Appearance
Coming soon

History
Nozomi was born in Japan, but moved to Canada when she was younger. When she reached junior high age, she moved back to Japan to live with her grandma and help run Aida Flower Shop, attending school with Ryo Hazuki.

She was initially bullied for the clash in culture, having adopted more western ways of doing things, and her Japanese classmates would accuse her of being fake Japanese as a result. Ryo would often stick up for Nozomi during this time, and Nozomi found herself falling for Ryo as a result. Years later, the bullying has stopped but Nozomi's feelings for Ryo have not.

When Lan Di's black car drives past her on the day Iwao Hazuki is killed, she is splashed with mud. She is angry she didn't recieve an apology from the driver. When news of Iwao's murder comes to light, her parents insist she returns to Canada for her own safety, driving a wedge between her and Ryo. Nozomi wishes to respect her parents wishes, but also spends a good majority of the game worrying about Ryo, realising what he's planning to do is extremely dangerous, although understanding it's importance to him.

Nozomi will help search for the orphaned kitten if it goes missing, and checks in on it to make sure it's properly looked after, gathering medicine if it gets sick.

She'll also visit Ryo after he starts working at the harbour, and Eri Tajima will take two photos of the two together. The player can choose which of the photos to keep, giving Nozomi the other one. She reveals to Ryo she is planning to return to Canada soon, but tells him she's planning to visit Japan on vacation as soon as she can and that he should not do anything stupid in the meantime.

She is later kidnapped by the Mad Angels who have a connection to the Chi You Men and Lan Di, with them attempting to use her to force Ryo Hazuki into battling with Guizhang Chen whose father's antiques business is preventing their leader Terry Ryan from having the monopoly on the Yokosuka - Hong Kong shipping route.

Ryo rescues Nozomi from the gang and takes her for a motorcycle ride around town, whilst she holds on to him.

She gives Ryo a good luck amulet before he leaves for Hong Kong stating she wishes they had more time together. After Ryo leaves, Nozomi leaves Japan for good, returning to her parents in Canada.

Trivia

 * There's a secret scene in Shenmue where Nozomi can help Ryo fight Akio Enoki and Tetsuya Nagashima at Sakuragaoka Park. For this to trigger, Ryo must increase the kitten's affinity score above 500, which can be done by feeding her 5 sliced fish. Then after triggering the scene at Sakuragaoka Park, rapidly press Y Y B X A A A (△ △ 〇 ▢ ✕ ✕ ✕ for PS4) in sequence. This must be done within the first eight seconds of the cutscene. If successful, Nozomi will fight the two thugs off alongside Ryo using his moveset allowing the normally sweet flower girl to pull off some Hazuki style moves. Amazingly this easter egg was only found 20 years after the release of the game!
 * Nozomi is mentioned in Shenmue II when Ryo meets Shenhua and discusses his friends with her.
 * By the time Shenmue III happens Nozomi seems to have developed a mild jealous streak, getting panicked when hearing Ryo has recieved another good luck amulet from somebody on his travels and that he is travelling with Shenhua when Ryo phones her up. She still harbours feelings for him, but is trusting of him despite her concerns when he tells her Shenhua is a friend and that the amulet was from a kung fu teacher.
 * Tom Johnson when phoned up in Shenmue III will ask if Ryo is travelling with Nozomi, and suggests Ryo rings her up and tells her how he feels.
 * Nozomi, much like Ryo Hazuki, Shenhua Ling, Chai, Guizhang Chen, Ine-san, Ren Wuying, Xiuying Hong, Joy and Lan Di appears as a capsule toy in Shenmue III.