Sugimoto, Saichi
Summary
Saichi Sugimoto is a former soldier who served in the 1st division of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese war, earning the moniker 'Immortal Sugimoto' due to his battlefield invincibility. After losing his best friend, who asked him to care for the man’s family, Sugimoto returned home following his enlistment. To earn the money needed to fulfill this promise, he traveled to Hokkaido to pan for gold. There, he encountered a man who recounted the legend of lost Ainu gold treasure, explaining that the hiding man was later imprisoned and left clues to the treasure on the skin of his fellow inmates. Sugimoto is a skilled warrior with instincts honed for survival, demonstrated when he overpower and killed a rogue bear using only a knife and bayonet. Despite his fierce combat prowess and the blood on his hands, he is neither cruel nor unkind, but rather valorous and kind. He explains that he is called 'Immortal Sugimoto' because he learned that the only way to survive is to not be killed, meaning he kills solely to protect his own life. His body is marked by numerous battle scars, including two perpendicular scars across his face and a third that deviates from the horizontal one like a tree branch. Throughout the year, Sugimoto wears a kimono with sleeves tied up by a tasuki and a back hem tucked in shirihashori style over a mandarin collar shirt. He also wears the military cap, trousers, and high boots that were part of his uniform during the Russo-Japanese War. In colder weather, he adds a dark blue trench coat and a foreign made scarf to his attire.
