Bongo

Bongo is a haggard, broad-bodied old man, his disheveled grey hair bound up into a topknot. His clothing consists of a white-speckled kimono in dark purple, layered beneath a worn dark-green robe.

A corrupt and avaricious figure, Bongo arranged ruinous fires himself so he could turn a profit selling timber to those forced to rebuild their ruined homes. He took immense pride in his money yet was naive enough to surrender the whole of it, and the resulting downfall drove him to such desperation that he set out to murder Komurasaki in revenge. Now confined to the destitute Ebisu Town, he stays bitter and lashes out at his neighbors, unmoved even by Tonoyasu's generosity.

Bongo's wealth came from an arson racket he ran with Bungo and Bingo, the partners cashing in whenever scorched buildings needed rebuilding, until Komurasaki's trickery stripped him of everything. He carries little fighting skill: the knife he drew on the courtesan was swiftly turned aside by her bodyguard, though thirteen years earlier he had carried a sword. In those earlier days the trio plundered graves in Ringo before Kawamatsu and Onimaru drove them off.

When Komurasaki arrived at Orochi Castle for the shogun's banquet, the three men ambushed her seeking vengeance, only to be felled by her guard and scorned as she belittled them. The penniless thieves were then arrested by the Flower Capital police and banished, ending up in Ebisu Town, where they treated the residents with open hostility.