The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift sees Han stealing money from the Yakuza, even though he’s already rich – why? Han mentions in the film that he has plenty of money – a line that makes sense given the heist in Fast Five – so why would he risk his business and his life for a little extra cash? There are a few possible explanations for Han’s questionable decision.
By the time Sean Boswell meets Han in Tokyo Drift, the veteran drifter has been through a lot. His run with Dom Toretto’s crew brought fortune, trouble with the law, and at the end of Fast & Furious 6, the death of his partner, Gisele Yashar. That last cruel twist of fate sent Han on a bit of soul-searching, eventually winding up in Tokyo and starting his own garage. The money from Fast Five should have been plenty to keep Han going indefinitely after that, so why does he start stealing from the Yakuza?
There are several possible explanations. The first and most obvious is simply that the money may not have gone as far as Han would have liked. Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world, and his lifestyle there – full of luxury, clubbing, and performance car parts – likely made a severe dent in the $10 million Han made off with in Fast Five's heist. A good portion of that money was likely already used up by the time he arrived in Japan, and a lot more would have been spent on the business of the garage itself. With so many expenses piling up, Han may have been more strapped for cash than he made himself out to be.
Another possible, sadder explanation is that Han went on something of a self-destructive path after the death of Gisele, which led him to engage in more dangerous behavior. When he appears in Tokyo Drift, Han doesn’t really race anymore, and he’s essentially alone. Sure, he goes to the clubs and drifts for phone numbers and has a posse of racers and mechanics at his beck and call, but his fire seems dimmed from his earlier days. Has he completely given up hope, or up on life? Absolutely not. But in the wake of Gisele’s death in Fast & Furious 6, and after everything else he’s seen, Han may have instinctually reverted to his traditional pattern of behavior – a pattern that puts him in harms way, even when it isn’t necessary.
The best explanation for Han stealing from the Yakuza is probably a combination of the two. The lavish Tokyo lifestyle likely sapped more of his money than it may have seemed from the outside, and his aimlessness after Fast & Furious 6 may have pushed him back to his former life of crime. Fortunately, with Han miraculously coming back from the dead in Fast & Furious 9, it looks like his Tokyo Drift decisions won’t be as fatal as they once seemed.
