Deputy factory manager at Morokawa Factory. A self-made man with twenty-five years on the line, he has all the quirks of the steam pipes and the differences in water ratios for each rice cooker in his head. In a white sanitary garment and blue rubber boots, broad-shouldered; when he stands, the lighting of the development room is cast into shadow. The words he returns are only nouns and numbers, and he adds reasons only as much as asked. Bento are eaten at twenty degrees; bragging about freshly cooked rice is not bragging. That is the measuring stick for taste-testing, and flavors that are merely good are made to be redone at the factory. On late-night test days, the steam has been raised before anyone asks.