Toshishige Usami

Name: Toshishige Usami

Gender: Male

Military Rank: Private First Class

Unit: 27th Infantry Regiment, later associated with the 7th Division under Tokushirō Tsurumi

Age: 14 years old in 1895 (Meiji 28)

Origin: Niigata Prefecture, Japan (same hometown as Tokushirō Tsurumi)

Era of Activity: Meiji period; participates in the Russo-Japanese War

Usami is a combat-oriented, highly aggressive youth who shows no mercy to anyone opposing Tokushirō Tsurumi.

He displays constant, almost pasted-on smiling expressions that contrast with his violent nature.

Despite his perpetual smile, Usami possesses sharp insight and a keen understanding of human psychology.

He can even comprehend the mindset of serial killers, treating such darkness with an unsettling calm.

He feels no regrets and no self-reproach for his actions, which Tsurumi interprets as proof that he is a "born soldier."

His loyalty is absolute and almost fanatical, with Tsurumi at the center of his emotional world.

Usami is described as a fair-skinned, handsome young man with large eyes and a well-defined nose.

His face is symmetrical, with long eyelashes at the outer corners of his eyes and two large, notable moles on his cheeks.

Those two cheek moles become one of his most distinctive features.

After a punishment from Tsurumi, they gain even more symbolic meaning for him.

Usami enjoys horses and Tsukisamu sweet bean buns, which add an oddly innocent note to his otherwise brutal personality.

He dislikes shiitake mushrooms, a small but clear preference that humanizes him amid his cruelty.

Usami was born into a farming family and lived with his father, mother, elder sister, and younger brothers.

His family life was harmonious, and they got along well.

However, Usami harbors a serious inferiority complex about having been born into a farming household.

If anyone mocks or teases him about his farming background, he flies into a rage.

This sensitivity becomes one of the emotional triggers behind his violent outbursts.

It also deepens his reliance on Tsurumi’s praise as a source of self-worth.

Usami and Tokushirō Tsurumi are from the same region of Niigata and share a long history.

They both attended the same judo dojo in Shibata, where Usami became utterly devoted to Tsurumi from a young age.

Even as a child, Usami clung to one thing: Tsurumi’s recognition.

Tsurumi told him that among all the children he had seen, Usami was the most talented and unmatched by any of his peers.

That single compliment became Usami’s emotional lifeline and the core of his identity.

From then on, his loyalty to Tsurumi took priority over all other relationships, including friendship and morality.

Later, Tsurumi describes Usami as highly aggressive, faithful, and incapable of regret or self-blame.

In Tsurumi’s eyes, this makes Usami the ideal soldier and a uniquely valuable subordinate.

When Usami was 12 years old, he committed a crucial crime that shaped his entire future.

Driven by jealousy related to Tsurumi, he murdered his friend Tomoharu Takagi.

The killing was not an accident but a deliberate act fueled by possessive devotion to Tsurumi.

Usami could not tolerate anyone else competing for Tsurumi’s attention and favor.

Tokushirō Tsurumi covered up the crime, claiming that his own horse had kicked Takagi to death.

By doing so, Tsurumi shielded Usami from punishment and bound him in a deep, secret complicity.

This shared secret made them de facto accomplices and tied Usami’s fate to Tsurumi’s forever.

However, there was a price: Takagi’s father held a higher position than Tsurumi in the 2nd Division, and the scandal forced Tsurumi’s transfer.

As a result, Tsurumi was demoted and sent to the 7th Division.

Usami thus indirectly caused Tsurumi’s reassignment, a fact that further intensifies his sense of devotion and debt.

Toshishige Usami serves as a Private First Class in the infantry and later operates closely under Tsurumi in the 7th Division.

He is fiercely combat-oriented, showing no hesitation in killing, especially when it serves Tsurumi’s interests.

He has a ruthless, efficient style of violence and little emotional hesitation.

Enemies who oppose or betray Tsurumi are dealt with swiftly and without pity.

Tsurumi views Usami’s constant lack of remorse as a practical asset in war.

This perspective reinforces Usami’s self-image as a perfect soldier.

At one point, Usami infiltrates Abashiri Prison as a rookie guard on an undercover mission.

His aim is to gather intelligence and serve Tsurumi’s goals from the inside.

However, his true identity is discovered by Toshiyuki Kadokura, a senior prison official.

Soon after, armed prisoners attempt to kill Usami in retaliation.

Usami turns the tables, defeating and killing the armed inmates and successfully escaping the prison.

He technically fails his original mission, but survives through sheer ferocity and skill.

For failing in his mission at Abashiri Prison, Usami is punished by Tsurumi in a strangely personal way.

Tsurumi draws a simple stick figure on Usami’s face, using his two cheek moles as the “head” of the figure.

What was meant as punishment becomes a form of reward in Usami’s eyes.

Instead of feeling humiliated, he is delighted that Tsurumi personally marked his face.

To make sure the drawing never disappears, Usami has the stick figure turned into a permanent tattoo.

This transforms a disciplinary mark into a symbol of pride and connection to Tsurumi.

The result is a distinctive and unsettling look: a symmetrical, handsome face framed by a childlike stick figure tattoo.

It visually captures how completely Usami embraces Tsurumi’s control and influence.

Usami is slightly older than Hyakunosuke Ogata, and both of them serve in the Russo-Japanese War.

Their shared experience places them within the same generation of battle-hardened soldiers under the 7th Division.

While Ogata is cold and calculating, Usami is openly aggressive and fanatically loyal.

This contrast emphasizes the variety of dangerous personalities surrounding Tsurumi.

Usami’s genuine family ties are overshadowed by the emotional bond he feels with Tsurumi.

The combination of his inferiority complex and Tsurumi’s early praise drives him to sacrifice morality, friendship, and self-preservation for Tsurumi’s sake.

Usami’s core traits are aggression, loyalty, and an absence of guilt.

He can commit murder without emotional turmoil and can rationally analyze others who do the same.

His farming background fuels a persistent sense of insecurity.

Any insult or mockery concerning his origins triggers instant rage, revealing a fragile underlying pride.

At the same time, his constant smile functions as both a mask and a signature expression.

It hides the depth of his violence, making him appear cheerful even in the midst of brutality.

Usami’s devotion to Tsurumi acts like a personal religion, replacing conventional ethics.

This combination of fanatic loyalty and emotional numbness makes him one of the most dangerous and unpredictable followers of Tokushirō Tsurumi in Golden Kamuy.