Jiji's Father

A bespectacled man, he is recognized most by the dense, full beard framing his jaw, paired with a head of spiky dark hair. His wardrobe shifts with circumstance. Confined to a hospital, he was seen in a plain patient gown. Once recovered enough to collect his son from the Ayase home, he turned up in a coat layered over a light shirt and black tie, jeans, and dark footwear. A later visit found him in a utility jacket lined with pockets, trousers, and shoes.

Where his wife is loud and irrepressible, he is the opposite: relaxed, soft-spoken, and content to hang back while she carries a conversation. He speaks up only occasionally, and usually just to nudge her toward a quieter tone, a request she almost never honors.

His study of volcanoes drove the relocation to Byakuja Village, where a nearby university gave him a post close to the mountain he wanted to examine. When their son Jiji grew anxious about the house and warnings of paranormal activity reached them, both parents brushed the claims aside. Their skepticism collapsed after Jiji's run-in with an evil spirit left the couple ill, prompting them to bring in spirit mediums to purify the property. The cleansing ended in catastrophe, with several of the mediums killing themselves. Jiji later came home to find his parents hanging from the balcony and cut them down in a panic. The pair were hospitalized, and Jiji, acting on a medium's parting advice, turned to Seiko Ayase.

During his recovery, Jiji visited the hospital and was overwhelmed to see his parents alive, though the reunion baffled them because their son was inhabiting the body of an anatomical model and moving oddly at Momo's prompting. After the Evil Eye was subdued, he and his wife arrived at the Ayase residence to retrieve Jiji and thanked Seiko warmly before departing. The next morning the family returned hoping to help repair the wrecked house, only to find it already rebuilt, with the father gently trying to hush his wife's enthusiastic announcement.