Satoshi Houjou

	This article is about a character in Higurashi When They Cry.

Overview

Gallery

Sprites

Satoshi Houjou
Identification Details
Japanese	北条 悟史
Nicknames	Nii-Nii (にーにー) (Satoko)
General Information
Born	June 16
Gender	Male
Blood Type	A
Likes	Reading, school, fried food
Dislikes	Bugs, his own weakness
Occupation	Student Baseball Player (Hinamizawa Fighters)
Affiliation	Hinamizawa Branch School The Club (former) Hinamizawa Fighters (former)
Portrayal
First Appearance	Meakashi
Japanese VA	Yuu Kobayashi Mitsuki Saiga (Drama CD)
English VA	Darrel Guilbeau (2006 anime) Casey Mongillo (Gou/Sotsu)

Satoshi Houjou (北条 悟史, Houjou Satoshi) is Satoko Houjou's older brother, who had gone missing on the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. He first appears in Meakashi as part of a flashback.

Profile

He is Satoko's older brother and a member of the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team.
He has a quiet and timid personality, but he is brave enough to get himself hurt for Satoko.
He disappeared a few years ago due to being demoned away.

(Translated from the official 07th Expansion website.)

Appearance

Satoshi's baseball uniform

Satoshi has blond hair and usually red-violet eyes, though like his sister their color changes depending on the artist. He is one year older and slightly taller than Keiichi. For his school uniform he wears a white collared shirt with a light blue shirt underneath, a brown belt and black uniform pants.

At other times he wears a Hinamizawa Fighters baseball uniform or a hospital gown in the Irie Clinic.

Personality

Satoshi is very quiet, often just going along with things. He likes to give people headpats, especially Satoko and Shion. When it comes to protecting Satoko, he gets very defensive and assertive. Satoshi is not very good at expressing his feelings due to having to mature over a short period of time because of his mother's constant remarriages.

Background

Satoshi and Satoko's mother was always getting married and remarried, with their surname of Houjou coming from their fourth father. Satoko had a bad relationship with her stepfathers, and Satoshi was always stepping in to protect her. During the dam war the Houjou family faced ostracization from the villagers because of their parents supporting the dam project. In 1980, Satoshi and Satoko became orphaned when their parents died on the second year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. The siblings were taken to live with their aunt Tamae and uncle Teppei, who were very abusive. They were beaten, verbally assaulted, and sometimes starved, and Satoshi did his best to shield Satoko from the abuse. Though Satoshi's friends called the child consultation center to do something about the Houjou situation, it didn't work since the social workers found no real evidence abuse was occurring. Satoshi himself became ill because of Teppei's abuse.

Satoshi joined the Hinamizawa Fighters baseball team run by Irie to relieve some tension, however he eventually quit and started many part-time jobs with Mion's help to buy Satoko a teddy bear for her birthday. In 1982, Satoshi's aunt was found murdered on the night of the Watanagashi Festival while Satoshi mysteriously disappeared a few days later, marking the fourth year of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Satoko did her best to become a strong girl in Satoshi's absence, with many of Satoshi's friends claiming he "transferred" to preserve Satoko's feelings.

Matsuribayashi reveals that Satoshi developed terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome due to his aunt's abuse and murdered her with a baseball bat on the night of the festival in 1982. A few days later, he went to Okinomiya to buy Satoko the teddy bear and was picked up by Irie, who noticed he had terminal symptoms. Satoshi hallucinated seeing nearby people as his aunt, and Irie took him to the Irie Clinic for treatment; Satoshi's disappearance was assumed to be the fourth year of the curse. As of 1983, Satoshi has remained in the clinic's basement in a comatose state as Irie searches for a cure. Research performed on Satoshi progressed towards a cure for Hinamizawa Syndrome; Satoshi has indirectly helped Satoko get medication and treatment for her own Hinamizawa Syndrome symptoms.

Relationships

Overview

• Satoko Houjou (younger sister, classmate)
• Teppei Houjou (uncle, legal guardian)
• Tamae Houjou (aunt, former legal guardian, murder victim)
• Kyousuke Irie (coach, friend)
• Shion Sonozaki (friend, love interest)
• Mion Sonozaki (friend, classmate)
• Rena Ryuugu (friend, classmate)
• Rika Furude (friend, classmate)
• Rumiko Chie (teacher)
• Kisaku Kimiyoshi (brother-in-law)
• Sakiko Kimiyoshi (niece)

Satoko Houjou

Satoko depended on Satoshi for a long time. Satoshi was said to be unreliable, and Satoko nagged him a lot. Satoshi cares about Satoko a lot and even sacrifices his free time to help her.

Satoshi's disappearance encourages Satoko to become a stronger person, however she goes about this the wrong way and thinks that withstanding abuse is what will improve things.

Shion Sonozaki

Shion loved Satoshi and devoted a lot of her time to helping him through teaching him how to shop effectively and supporting him in his baseball games. Shion seems to have a single-minded affection towards Satoshi however, blaming Satoko as the reason for his suffering at one point and attacking Mion under the belief that the Sonozakis demoned him away at another. As Meakashi shows. Shion's desire to discover what happened to Satoshi sends her spiralling into insanity as she murders the perceived people responsible.

Role in the Story

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Question Arcs

Onikakushi

Satoshi is first mentioned as a former student at the Hinamizawa Branch School who had "transferred" and left behind a baseball bat. Keiichi takes Satoshi's bat to use for self-defense.

Tatarigoroshi

Keiichi learns about Satoko's relationship with Satoshi and resolves to become a replacement for him.

Keiichi obtains Satoshi's bat and plans to murder Teppei on the night of the Watanagashi Festival. Satoshi's spirit seems to support Keiichi when Teppei draws near his hiding spot.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

Meakashi

Satoshi makes his first proper appearance in 1982 and tries to save Shion from some delinquents, thinking she is actually Mion. Satoshi gets beat up a little bit but the delinquents are chased off by bystanders. Shion thanks him and banters with Satoshi some. Satoshi still thinks she's Mion and bids farewell. Over the next few days and weeks, Shion develops a relationship with Satoshi and hangs out with him in baseball practice and grocery shopping.

Satoshi stops showing up to baseball practice and quits the team, getting some part-time jobs raising money for a big teddy bear for Satoko's birthday. Satoshi also stops coming to club activities and Rena relays that Satoshi is feeling tired of watching out for Satoko all the time. Satoshi also told Rena about nightmares he'd been having, that Oyashiro-sama was watching him and he could hear extra footsteps.

Satoshi attacks Shion and asks why the Sonozakis need to persecute the Houjous

At school, Shion disguises as Mion and tries to ask Satoshi about his situation, but he gets angry and refuses to say anything. Later, "Mion" beats up Satoko and yells at her for always monopolizing Satoshi and contributing to his poor mental state. Satoshi himself arrives to stop Shion, grabbing her and asking what she really knows about their situation and asking if the Sonozakis think it's fun to bully people. Rena intervenes and gets Satoshi to calm down.

The night before the Watanagashi festival, Satoshi calls "Mion" and apologizes for the incident at school. He asks her to take Satoko to the festival for him, claiming he has business at work to attend to. Satoshi says he'll leave Satoko to Mion and ends the call. The next night, Satoshi's aunt is murdered, with some scenes prior suggesting that Satoshi was the one to kill her. Shion meets Satoshi in Okinomiya a few days later and helps him reserve the giant teddy bear. Ooishi shows up after, interrogating Satoshi about his alibi for the aunt's murder. Shion defends him by claiming that she and Satoshi were eating at Angel Mort at the time of the murder, revealing that she is Mion's twin sister and not actually Mion. Satoshi is confused about Shion's presence but accepts it. Ooishi brings the two to the station for questioning.

A few days after, Shion sees that the teddy bear is missing from the store window, meaning Satoshi must have bought it. Ooishi drives up and explains that Satoshi's been missing since yesterday, last seen coming home from the toy store. Shion investigates and thinks Satoshi was actually saving his money to buy a train ticket and run away from the village, hearing that someone looking like him was present at the train station.

Matsuribayashi

The Connecting Fragments section details Satoshi's relationship with Satoko and their various stepfathers over the years. After they're sent to live with Teppei and their aunt, Satoshi eventually succumbs to Hinamizawa Syndrome and kills his aunt, keeping it a secret. A few days later, Satoshi goes to buy Satoko the teddy bear and is eventually picked up by Irie when he begins to show symptoms in public, being driven off.

When Shion and Irie go to the clinic to rescue Tomitake, Shion discovers Satoshi sleeping comatose inside the clinic's basement, with the teddy bear sitting in the corner. Irie explains that Satoshi is at a critical stage of Hinamizawa Syndrome and has become very aggressive, attacking anyone he sees and requiring the staff restrain him to the bed. Though Satoshi may not recover completely, he shows signs of recovery. Irie asks Shion to have faith in Satoshi's recovery and to keep this a secret from Satoko.

The afterword shows that Shion continues to visit Satoshi at the clinic on her days off.

Other Appearances

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei

Saikoroshi

Rika travels to an alternate world where Satoshi and Satoko's parents never died, and they were able to live happily in school together. At Rika's request, Satoshi agrees to form a games club at the school.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei

Showa Part 2 has Kazuho traveling to an alternate 1983 world where Satoshi is not comatose and living life happily with Satoko, however they're going to leave Hinamizawa with their family soon because of the dam project being finalized.

Higurashi Gou and Sotsu

Satoko becomes a looper due to Eua's power. In one Fragment she sneaks into the Irie Clinic's basement and gazes at the comatose Satoshi, bidding farewell soon after.^{(Satokowashi)}

Irie and the Bloodhounds look at Satoshi

In an alternate world where Okonogi and the Mountain Dogs are arrested due to Takano's change of heart, the Bloodhounds investigate the Irie Clinic. Satoshi is shown in the basement in a similar manner to what is shown in Matsuribayashi.^{(Nekodamashi)}

After Rika and Satoko's final battle, they end up in a world very similar to the Matsuribayashi world. Satoshi manages to wake up in 1987 and wonders where he is before stumbling out of bed.^(Kagurashi)

Higurashi Gou (manga) and Meguri

Satoko becomes a looper and sees Satoshi's condition for herself.

Satoko becomes a looper due to Eua's power and is forcibly given the memories of Rika's own journey through the Fragments. She returns to 1983 and, during a regular checkup at the clinic, confirms with Irie that Satoshi really has been kept in the basement for a long time. Irie takes Satoko to see Satoshi and apologizes for deceiving her, but Satoko understands his reasons.

Satoko is content with her redone life, making regular visits with Shion to see Satoshi. A few years later, Rika goes off to St. Lucia by herself while Satoko stays behind. Satoko and Irie drive to the clinic after seeing her off, but when they get there Irie is told that Satoshi's condition has worsened. Satoko later hears from the receptionist that Rika was killed in a car accident.

Eua helps Satoko loop into more worlds to try again. In one world, Satoshi disappears from the clinic when Irie has him relocated. In another, Satoko convinces Rika to stay with her in Hinamizawa so they can wait for Satoshi to wake up together, but it also results in tragedy. Another world has the Irie Clinic burning down.

After looping through so many worlds that all end in tragedy (and Eua's amusement), Satoko gets fed up and decides to loop forever in 1983 to play with her friends despite the tragedies that will inevitably occur. She decides she doesn't need to practice being happy for Satoshi when he comes back and bids farewell.^{(Satokowashi Chapter 4)}

Higurashi Rei (manga)

Oniokoshi

An adult Satoshi, Shion, and Rena advertising yukatas for the Watanagashi

By 2019, Satoshi has woken up.

Trivia

• Ryukishi07 intended to give Satoshi a design that looked chubby, but he changed it since many fans didn't see him the same way.
• In 07th Expansion All Character Settings Collection:
  • The design of Satoshi (悟史) is said to be inspired by the character Masashi Satou (佐藤 雅史, Satō Masashi) from the Leaf sound novel To Heart.
  • Shuuichi Arimori is referred to as the "Satoshi-kun of the Higanbana world."