- Not to be confused with James Tomitake.
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This article is about a character in Higurashi When They Cry. |
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Jirou Tomitake (富竹 ジロウ Tomitake Jirou) is a photographer from Tokyo who comes to Hinamizawa a couple of times a year.
Profile[]
A freelance photographer who visits Hinamizawa for the purpose of shooting wild birds. He seems to visit every year, and it's shown that he's on friendly terms with Mion and Rena. He seems to be interested in Takano, and he's always asking her to date and form a relationship.
A freelance cameraman who leaves Tokyo a few times a year to go visit Hinamizawa. He mostly photographs wild birds, but for some reason, he seems rather interested in Hinamizawa and shows up during the Watanagashi Festival. He is surrounded in mysteries.
Appearance[]
Tomitake has short brown hair, red eyes, and glasses. He wears a brown cap, a green sleeveless shirt with a pair of dog tags, and green pants with green bags around his waist. Tomitake is always carrying a yellow camera.
In Minagoroshi, Tomitake wears a green military uniform during meetings.
Personality[]
Tomitake is calm and easygoing. He supports Takano's hobbies but is still creeped out by them and worries about her doing something weird.
Comedic arcs and scenes featuring Tomitake as part of the Soul Brothers portray him with a determined and manly yet perverted side.
Background[]
Tomitake's photography is just a hobby. Mion will sometimes tease him, asking when he's planning on going pro. Tomitake mostly specializes on taking pictures of scenery and wild birds, and he hopes to be able to take pictures of Hinamizawa from every season.
During one of his trips to Hinamizawa, Tomitake met Takano, and he began giving her photography lessons, though her obsession with Oyashiro-sama and occultism still scares him a bit.
Matsuribayashi reveals that Tomitake served as a sniper in the army. After he suffered from an eye injury, he was moved to the position of sniping instructor. He holds the rank of First Lieutenant in the JSDF. Tomitake is an auditor for the secret organization Tokyo and acts as a liaison between them and the Irie Clinic for Hinamizawa Syndrome research. Tomitake visits Hinamizawa several times a year to check on their progress and to relay status updates. Tomitake's deaths in every arc are manipulations by Takano as part of her plans to enact the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.
Relationships[]
- Miyo Takano (lover)
- Keiichi Maebara (friend)
- Kyousuke Irie (colleague, friend)
Story[]
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Question Arcs[]
Onikakushi[]
Tomitake is first introduced when Keiichi visits the junkyard with Rena and takes a picture of him. Keiichi makes a joke about Rena checking a dismembered corpse she found in the junkyard, and Tomitake ominously mentions a incident where the victim was dismembered, and that they still haven't found one of his arms. Tomitake leaves soon after.
A few days later, Tomitake attends the Watanagashi Festival and joins the club in their stall games. Tomitake manages to hold his own during the shooting gallery, but he ultimately loses. Keiichi later sees Tomitake talking to a woman. Tomitake sees that Keiichi must be feeling left out and then tells him all about the dam project and Oyashiro-sama's curse.The club reappears and writes on Tomitake's shirt for a punishment game. Tomitake sets off for the night with his lady friend.
The next day, Tomitake is found dead by the police, having apparently clawed his own throat out after the festival. Ooishi interviews Keiichi regarding this since his name was written on Tomitake's shirt.
Watanagashi[]
Tomitake and Takano meet the club and Shion after festival preparations. Tomitake talks with Keiichi and Shion about the dam project and Oyashiro-sama's curse.
During the Watanagashi Festival, Tomitake helps Takano break into the ritual storehouse by picking the lock and stands guard outside as Keiichi and Shion join her. After a while, Tomitake steps inside to warn the group that the festival's over and people are heading toward the stream. Tomitake asks if Takano was fooling around in there, getting worried when he heard someone jumping up and down inside. Keiichi has no idea what he's talking about.
Later that night, Tomitake found dead by the police with his throat clawed out.
Tatarigoroshi[]
Tomitake runs into Keiichi and asks for directions to the Furude Shrine. Later, they talk about the curse and dam project.
Tomitake is found dead after Watanagashi with his throat clawed out.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai[]
Meakashi[]
Tomitake does the same things he did in Watanagashi. Shion hears the banging sound that Tomitake complained about but doesn't say anything about it.
Tomitake is found dead after the festival by the police with his throat clawed out.
Tsumihoroboshi[]
Tomitake is found dead after Watanagashi with his throat clawed out. Irie helps police with the investigation.
Minagoroshi[]
Tomitake and Takano inspect the ritual storehouse with plans to break into it later. Rika meets them and decides to let them inside so she can gain their cooperation in stopping her future death. As they gaze at the torture tools inside and Takano goes on about Hinamizawa's horrible past, Hanyuu starts angrily jumping on the floor. Tomitake notices Hanyuu's stomping but is unable to actually see her. Rika assuages his fears.
Tomitake attends a budget meeting with Takano and Irie, wishing them luck in finding a cure for Hinamizawa Syndrome. He talks to them about Rika's fears that she'll be killed in the future.
Tomitake joins Keiichi's protests to save Satoko from her uncle.
Rika warns Tomitake that he and Takano will be killed on the night of Watanagashi, with Tomitake clawing his throat out like from the terminal symptoms of the syndrome. Tomitake thinks he'll be fine since he's vaccinated against it. Rika also informs Irie and Ooishi about it, telling the detective that Tomitake's body will be found on the road leading to Okinomiya from Hinamizawa. Ooishi has a cruiser patrol the area.
During the festival, the club tries to talk to Tomitake as much as possible to keep him occupied and prevent his death, but he soon leaves with Takano. At the clinic, Tomitake gets worried about Rika's mental state and suggests to Takano that they examine her to make sure she's not going into the terminal stage. Takano then shifts the tone of the conversation. She tries to seduce Tomitake and wants him to join her plans in betraying Tokyo and setting off the Hinamizawa Syndrome "bomb". Okonogi and several Mountain Dogs enter the room and show they're on Takano's side, but Tomitake refuses.
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The Dogs overpower Tomitake and pin him to the ground. Takano asks again if he'll join her, but he remains defiant. Takano then procures a syringe of H173, shocking him since he thought they were all destroyed. Takano explains that Tomitake is already an L3 patient of Hinamizawa Syndrome, having been given the disease during one of his regular vaccinations which he failed to notice; and will eventually kill himself once he reaches L5. Tomitake struggles and the Dogs knock him out with a chemical. Takano gives the injection and has Tomitake placed inside her car's trunk.
Due to the police car patrolling the area between Hinamizawa and Okinomiya, Takano instead dumps Tomitake in a rice field near Okinomiya. Tomitake eventually wakes up and kills himself after suffering from L5 symptoms. The police find his body later, with Ooishi and Irie conducting an investigation.
Matsuribayashi[]
The Connecting Fragments section details Tomitake's involvement with the Irie Institute and his developing relationship with Takano.
Tomitake cooperates to uncover Takano's conspiracy
Tomitake and Takano tend to Hanyuu when she suddenly falls down a hill while with the club. Later, Rika talks to Tomitake and Irie in private at the Furude Shrine to tell them about her suspicions regarding Takano. Rika reveals the knowledge about the Emergency Manual and the budget cuts the Irie Clinic got, and that Takano may be planning something involving Rika's death. Tomitake slowly begins to accept her words may have credence and promises to look into Takano and the Mountain Dogs. Rika also warns Tomitake to be careful, as he may be killed in a few days. Akasaka and Ooishi suddenly arrive, and Rika gets them involved in the plan as well.
Tomitake begins his investigation and frequently calls some Bloodhounds for updates. He gets told that they received an emergency order to investigate the Irie Institute regarding some suspicious finances. Tomitake sees that because of Takano's relationship with Koizumi, she's amassed a massive of money for private use. He realizes that Takano really is planning to go out with a bang in honor of her grandfather's research and regrets that he didn't notice her sorrow.
Tomitake spends his time in a hotel room while the investigation goes on. A Bloodhound informs him that the Mountain Dogs have made a move, and that Rika's body was found by Okinomiya police; they claim she's been dead for 48 hours. Tomitake calms himself and understands this must be part of Rika's plan and asks the Bloodhounds to stand by.
The Mountain Dogs meanwhile try to track down Tomitake's location to capture him for Takano's plan. They eventually discover his hotel room and blockade the area. Tomitake sees the Dogs from his second floor room and tries to make a heroic escape by jumping out his window and running on foot, but he gets captured anyway.
The gagged and bound Tomitake is taken to the Irie Clinic, and Irie manages to escape and inform the club about his predicament. Takano talks to Tomitake alone about her plan, and Tomitake asks if she really considers the Mountain Dogs and her mysterious benefactor allies. Takano asks Tomitake to join her and offers to become completely submissive to him, but he says nothing in response.
Takano and Okonogi leave to deal with the club while several Dogs are left at the clinic to watch Tomitake. A group consisting of Irie, Akasaka, Kasai, and Shion is sent to the clinic to rescue him. Tomitake says he has enough evidence to call the Bloodhounds and stop Takano and the Dogs, but he needs to get out of the village since they disabled communications into and out of it, and may have blockade the roads. Akasaka and Tomitake get into Kasai's bulletproof car and successfully break through the blockade, but a Dog van starts chasing them. Tomitake uses his skills with a sniper rifle to shoot the pursuing van and make them retreat.
Tomitake calls the Bloodhounds from a phone booth in Okinomiya and tells them to take action, then goes back to Hinamizawa. At Satoko's trap mountain, the Bloodhounds descend and prepare to arrest a defeated and downtrodden Takano, however Tomitake asks them to let him take care of things. Tomitake demonstrates that Takano has been developing symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome this entire time and needs to be taken in for psychological evaluation and treatment. The Bloodhounds defer their authority, and Tomitake embraces Takano. He tells her that together, they can atone for Miyo Takano's sins and she can be reborn as Miyoko Tanashi. Tomitake forgives Takano and hands back her scrapbook.
Trivia[]
- In the original story, it was intended for Tomitake to be a lot more mysterious and possibly turn out to be a private detective.[3]
- Tomitake had a nickname among Japanese fans as "Jihou" (時報). Jihou means "announcement of time", as a reference to how Tomitake's death in each arc marked impending tragedy.[4]
- There have been numerous references to Tomitake in Ryukishi07's later works:
- Several characters with similar names and appearances have appeared.
- In Umineko When They Cry, George Ushiromiya wears a "Tomitake Flash" t-shirt at one point.
- Also in Umineko, the quiz tournament in Twilight of the Golden Witch contains a prize named after Tomitake that is unobtainable in normal gameplay. The player can receive the Tomitake prize if they have more than 18 medals, which was inserted into the code to prevent the game from breaking if medal acquisition were to be bugged.[5]
- Tomitake makes a cameo appearance in the School Festival stage in Golden Fantasia.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "作品紹介 — ひぐらしのなく頃に" on the Official 07th Expansion website https://07th-expansion.net/hig_gensaku
- ↑ Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei
- ↑ Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Famous Scene Investigation File 100
- ↑ Umineko Episode 1 Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon page 103
- ↑ Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon Episode 8