Overview
| Nickname | Tomi or Tomy |
|---|---|
| Risa(by Irie & Takano) | |
| Age | Around late 30s |
| Birthday | September 14 |
| Weapon(s) | Sniper rifles |
| Handguns | |
| Daybreak Weapons | Survival Camera |
| Spiritual Camera | |
| H&K MP5 Submachine Gun | |
| Catchphrase | Tomitake Flash! (富竹フラッシュ!) |
| First Appearance | Onikakushi-hen |
| Voice actor | Ōkawa Tōru |
| Kyle Hebert | |
| Masashi Taniguchi | |
| Image Song | Ai no Inazuma Senkou |
| Dear you -Neighbor- |
Tomitake Jirō is a character in the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series who appears to be an ordinary photographer that specializes in pictures of local birds at first.
Character Summary
He visits Hinamizawa about three times every year and is known by the villagers. Tomitake also seems to know a lot about the village and its history, although this may be in part due to his relationship with his girlfriend Takano Miyo, who has a deep interest in the subject.
It is unclear whether "Tomitake Jirō" is his real name, or simply an alias to complement his false image of a harmless photographer (as suspected by Furude Rika in Minagoroshi-hen). In the first game, Onikakushi-hen, The Investigation Memo TIP notes that "Tomitake Jirō" is only his pen-name.
Tomitake is an expert sniper, having previously been a professional sniping instructor for the JSDF up until an accident. He demonstrates his sniping abilities in Matsuribayashi-hen when he shoots the driver's seat of a closely-tailing Yamainu van in order to scare the driver and warn them of his capabilities. He is recruited by "Tokyo" to work as an auditor for the Hinamizawa Syndrome research project.
Death
In most of the arcs, Tomitake is found dead after the Watanagashi festival. It is the fifth Watanagashi festival in a row where someone in the village has been killed on the eve of or shortly thereafter. The cause of death appears to be him clawing out his own throat, although local officials view the death with some suspicion as to its "real" cause.
Affiliation With "Tokyo"
Tomitake was hired by "Tokyo" to act as an auditor for the research. He was likely hired due to previously being a sniping instructor; he is no longer one due to an accident. Tomitake is also sometimes involved in counterintelligence affairs, reflecting his previous background in the JSDF. He visits the village to evaluate the research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome and disguises himself as a photographer during his stay.
His death in the other arcs was caused by Takano, who injects him with a drug to induce Level 5, causing him to claw his own throat. In the final arc, Tomitake is able to avoid his death, thanks to Rika's warning.
Physical Appearance
Tomitake is a muscular man with short, light brown hair and eyes. He has bad vision so he is always seen wearing glasses. Tomitake's age is unknown, most likely he is in his mid-to-late thirties.
Whenever he visits Hinamizawa, Tomitake wears a dark green baseball cap, black sleeveless shirt, dark brown belt with three green belt bags, green military trousers and black boots. He also wears a dog tag neck cord and a watch on his left hand.
His "Tokyo" uniform is a green military style suit over a white shirt and a dark blue tie.
Trivia
•Occasionally Irie will refer to Tomitake as "Risa." It came about due to Tomitake's accent pronouncing "Lieutenant Colonel" (Nisa). Irie became embarrassed since with Tomitake's accent it sounded as though he was calling him "Lisa." Irie told him one day about it, and since then it has become a nickname.
•In the sound novels, Tomitake is a smoker, but in the anime/manga he is not shown to be one.
•Takano mentions in Matsuribayashi-hen that Tomitake has a bit of a belly. This is evident by the spilling over that his original sprite shows, but in all other versions and the anime he is not portrayed with one. The manga versions make some reference to this.
•Tomitake is not particularly good with women. Takano comments on this to herself in Matsuribayashi-hen that he told her that "the last time [he] had held a woman's hand was at a folk dancing camp." He has also been described as somewhat cold when it comes to comfort.
•Many former snipers are also suited to photography, as they already have experience in keeping their hands very steady and waiting for extended periods without fidgeting. It is possible that this is why Tomitake acts as a photographer; he does show proficiency with guns in later arcs and implies that this is connected to his cover story.
•In Ōgon Musō Kyoku, a fighting game spinoff for the Umineko series, Tomitake makes a cameo in The School Festival stage. He can be seen on the right side of the crowd kneeling and taking pictures of the band.
