Yorishima

"I... tried to stay away from him... because he could see. Those who can see yokai... only bring trouble." — Yorishima, Volume 26: Chapter 106.

Yorishima
Kana/Kanji	依島
Rōmaji	Yorishima
Characteristics
Gender	Male
Age	Around 50 or more
Hair Color	Pale Blond
Personal Status
Status	Alive
Appearances
Manga Debut	Volume 20: Chapter 80
Voice Actors

Yorishima (依島, Yorishima) is a main recurring character of the Natsume's Book of Friends series.

He is a former exorcist from the Yorishima clan, a family that used to be so powerful that it was considered to be on the same level as the Matobas. Despite still being strong himself, he is now retired and live alone deep in the woods. It is rumored that he is half-yokai.

Appearance

Yorishima has the appearance of a young man in his early twenties. He has narrow black eyes and pale, dusty blond hair. He is generally seen wearing traditional clothing, and has always his left arm in a sling.

Although he looks like a young adult, it is said that because of his yokai blood he is in reality much older. It is not known what his real age is, however because it did not seem odd to him that his friend from college of the same age had adult daughters, he must be at least fifty years old.

Personality

Yorishima is a very introverted man with a serious, impatient and irritable personality. Shuuichi Natori describes him as "a bit of an eccentric" and a "walking dictionnary."

Living alone deep in the woods, he doesn't seem to have any family or close friends and barely interact with anyone at all. Likely due to his usual isolation, he is also a bit uncomfortable and awkward in social situations, such as even just visiting an old friend's house and interacting with his friend's family seemed like a struggle to him. He even wanted to use Takashi Natsume as an "excuse to leave when things gets too awkward," and later on he thanked him as he felt he would've turned around at the gate if he'd been alone. He appears to get overwhelmed and feel exhausted easily by energetic people, like with Choko, Tsukiyo and Hanae.

He also seems to put emphasis on good manners and has a tendency to be critical and a bit patronizing towards others, like how he scolded his friend Takeru Kusakabe for talking while chewing. He is very blunt and generally in a bad mood, being very direct and open when he dislikes something or when he's annoyed, as when he was very explicit about wanting to have nothing to do with Natori when he showed to ask for advice.

As a young adult, he seemed to be a bit more open, as he went to college and actually used to have friends like Kusakabe. He could also do quite some impulsive things like challenging a senior he didn't like to a drinking contest and drank a whole keg, or helping out the judo team win the championship when they were short a teammate. Kusakabe also said that Yorishima is very perceptive, which is the reason why he stopped writing as he knew he would notice right away that he was sick because of his handwriting. This is something that can also be noticed when Yorishima observes right away that his words about the scarecrows yokai having been created through a forbidden spell condamning them to have nowhere to go have upset Natsume, despite the fact he's only just met him and that there wasn't much signs of him being upset. As said by Natori, he's also very knowledgeable, especially about yokai and exorcisms.

As such, even if he wasn't particularly social before then, it seems this is principally since his condition with his left arm that he really started to willingly isolates himself as much as possible. Yorishima seems to think of himself as a potential danger to others which is what led him to excludes himself, preferring to keep silent and cut ties rather than worry others, like he did with his friend Kusakabe.

Despite his grumpy and harsh nature, he does however genuinely care a lot about the people close to him and genuinely wishes for their happiness. He appreciated his friend Kusakabe's company quite a bit, pushing him to date the woman he loved; and when she died he became extremely concerned about him to the point that when he learned Kusakabe had a "family" he said he felt so happy he could cry. It also made him very angry at the idea that a yokai would be messing with his friend's family, stating that he would never forgive them if Kusakabe's daughters were to get hurt. And ultimately, he really regretted not having been able to truly tell his friend how concerned he was for him.

In that sense, Yorishima seems to make some gestures of kindness when he wants to, giving loquats to Natori and Seiji Matoba when they were teens just because he saw them staring at them, and although he keeps complaining about Natori he still always ends up helping him out. He seems to have a particuliar hatred of exorcists despite having been one himself, especially of the Matoba clan and its current head, although the reasons for why is unknown. He also heavily dislikes involving children in the exorcist world, as he harshly scolds Natori for it and gets angry when he learns Natori let Natsume comes at the old Yorishima estate, and as soon as he realizes that something yokai-related might be going on at Kusakabe's house he asked Natsume to leave right away.

History

Yorishima was born into the Yorishima family, a very powerful and wealthy exorcist clan who was once big and strong enough to compete with the Matobas, the current biggest name in the industry. He was blessed with the ability to see yokai and great spiritual power; although within the story it is never mentioned how strong he is exactly.

He presumably grew up in a big estate with loquat trees in the yard at the gate, which was nearby the old and abandonned Miharu exorcist family estate. Although it is not known how or when, but it is implied by Shuuichi Natori that the Yorishimas lost their power and influence at some point.

As he grew older, Yorishima became an exorcist like his family, although it is not known whether it was as a teenager or a young adult. However, considering the upbringing of other children raised within exorcist clans, he likely has gotten trained since childhood and started early on.

As a young adult, he started going to college likely when he was 18-19 years old, and there he met Takeru Kusakabe, another person who could see yokai. Presumably because of this, the two of them became friends and were even roommates in the dorm. He also met there another college student named Kiyoko; Yorishima's relationship with her is not clear, but they might have been friends as well as he called her by her given name. After somet time, Kusakabe and Kiyoko developped mutual feelings for each other. While in college, Yorishima once helped the judo team win the championship when they were short a teammate despite how skinny he appears, and another time he challenged a senior he didn't like to a drinking contest and drank a whole keg.

One day, as Kusakabe and Yorishima were eating onigiri in the dorm, Kusakabe told Yorishima about an amazing meteor shower he saw, that were like raindrops on a window pane and burts like fireworks. Yorishima chided him for talking and chewing at the same time, and added that meteors don't burst in the sky, so it must've been a tanuki's doing. Kusakabe realizes that that's why nobody reacted then, but then adds that's why Yorishima should've come even more, because then they could've enjoyed it together. Yorishima sighs and say that Kusakabe should just ask out Kiyoko already, because in reality he truly wanted to see the meteor shower with her. Kusakabe asks him since when he butts his nose into people's dating lives, and Yorishima just replies that it's too distracting when his roommates is so restless and that just needs to get this over with. However he also adds that Kusakabe is a nice guy, so there's no way Kiyoko would reject him; to which Kusakabe simply smiles.

After that, Kusakabe must have headed Yorishima's advice and asked Kiyoko out. The two of them dated until graduation; however, not long after that Kiyoko got into an accident and died. Kusakabe got very depressed for a long time, but because he knew it would make Kiyoko sad he forced himself to be his usual energetic self again; although he didn't go out with anyone after that.

Something happened to Yorishima after this that got his left arm injured. What exactly isn't known, but it is rumored that a yokai ate his arm and that it grew back the next day. So a yokai must have possessed and replaced it: turning Yorishima effectively into a half-yokai. This condition apparently stopped his aging process, making him look like a young adult in his twenties even after decades. It seems that it is at this point that Yorishima stopped seeing Kusakabe, worried that his condition would affect his friend and not wanting to burden him, so he never told him about his arm and only kept contact with him from times to times via letters or by exchanging books, but never meeting face to face.

It might be implied that before or around this period, he has heard of or even met Reiko Natsume.

Around six years prior the start of the story, Yorishima met both Seiji Matoba and Shuuichi Natori as teenagers. Back then, Matoba explained how he couldn't stop staring at the loquat trees from the Yorishima estate when they were fruiting, and that he'd always wanted to try one. Once, while both Natori and him were standing there, Yorishima came out and gave them a loquat each. Matoba's loquat was sweet, but Natori's was sour. Matoba feels that Yorishima wanted to give a loquat to Natori only, and that he himself got one just because he happened to be there. Yet Matoba's the one who got the sweet one, which made him think about how there's no winning even in such a small thing.

At some point after that, Yorishima retired as an exorcist and left the Yorishima estate to live alone deep in a forest in the mountains, where he completely stopped interacting with people, although he sporadically still was in contact with Kusakabe through their letters and books exchange. Kusakabe started talking about "his two girls," which led Yorishima to believe he had daughters, and the idea he managed to have a family and finally heal from Kiyoko's death made him immensely happy, "so much that he could cry." Finally, three years before present time, Kusakabe stopped writing Yorishima, and likely not long after that Yorishima learned that he passed away due to an illness.

Plot

Yorishima's first appearance.

Yorishima is first mentioned by Shuuichi Natori as both him and Takashi Natsume were investigating on a bunch of scarecrow yokai: as neither of them knew anything about them, Natori says he has an acquaintance who lives nearby who is "a bit eccentric who sees yokai and is a walking dictionary," so they could go ask his opinion. The two of them along with Nyanko-sensei and Hiiragi then set off to meet Natori's acquaintance, who lives deep in the woods. As Nyanko-sensei starts feeling bad, Natori explains there's a number of force fields and barriers around here, just like at Hakozaki's place.

He then finally explains who this acquaintance is: his name is Yorishima, and his family was an exorcist clan once powerful enough to be on the same level as the Matobas. He is now however retired from the business and has holed himself up in the forest, cutting contact with everyone, and that despite still having plenty of power. At that moment, they are suddenly stopped by a man with his arm in a sling who calls Natori an exorcist and accuses him of trespassing. Natori only smiles, saying it's been a while as Natsume ponders that this is then the famous Yorishima. Yorishima first says that he has nothing to talk about with an exorcist, and that he better leaves until he spots Natsume and asks who he is. Natori replies he's a friend who can see yokai, and Natsume introduces himself while thinking there's something strange about this man. Yorishima stares at him intensely in silence for a moment, until Nyanko-sensei calls out to him, calling him "kid" and demanding to be let in and have tea be served at once. This have Yorishima freaks out and asks what creature is this and if Natori is trying to harrass him. Natsume apologizes and says that this is his cat.

Yorishima, Natori and Natsume together.

Inside, as the four of them are sat at a table with tea, Natori says with a smile that they seems to have caught Yorishima in a bad mood, to which Yorishima just replies to him to drink his tea and leave. He then stares at Natsume again, and tells him he seems mysterious and that he must be powerful. He asks him if that "round thing" is his shiki, to which Natsume says he's just a freeloader and Nyanko-sensei loudly protests that he's his bodyguard; that Natori justifies by the fact Natsume get himself into "situations."

Yorishima explains he does indeed know what "Tokanya" is: a match between humans and yokai, where yokai in search of dwelling pick a house they like, and it begins when the human accepts the challenge. Once a day for ten days, the yokai threaten the family, and if they leave the house the yokai wins; at the contrary, if at least one person remains the humans wins, and the yokai must provide wealth to the household in returns. A match between humans and yokai makes Natsume thinks about his grandmother and the Book of Friends, and then asks if that means the human in this case accepted the challenge. Yorishima says that it's not always the case, as sometimes the challenge could just be accepted with the yokai calling the human's name and the human responding, and Natori comments on it being underhanded. Natsume muses that humans can't know yokai's rules and that accidental contact leads to a connection without one even realizing it. He remarks the scarecrows felt different from the yokai he usually sees, and Yorishima explains that's because they were probably created by a forbidden spell. If someone with power make a scarecrow they could accidentally make one that is enchanted, especially if they have intense feelings of gratitude and hope for the harvest.

Yorishima noticing Natsume being affected by his words and getting angry at Natori.

Yorishima talking about Natsume and Natori asking him about Reiko Natsume.

Yorishima smiling slightly after Natsume defended Natori.

Once again, Natsume thinks back about Reiko and wonders if that's what happened with her: it was originally just a game to her in order to pass time, but because of her powers it ended up binding lives. Natori stares at him silently as Yorishima echoes his thoughts by saying that forbidden spells binds a soul and that it's not something humans should dabble in; this leads to scarecrows created this way to have nowhere to go once they've fulfilled their purposes. Natsume looks affected at that comment, and Yorishima noticing this gets angry at Natori for dragging a kid into something like this, saying Natsume's "too emotionally caught up in yokai." Natori says he knows, but then Yorishima adds that he's starting to look more and more like Seiji Matoba. Natsume instantly reacts to this and defends Natori, telling to Yorishima that even though he has issues with him sometimes he's still different from Matoba, that he's trying to help others and that Natsume admires him for that. Natori looks surprised, and Yorishima apologizes and tells him he hadn't meant to speak badly of his friend. Natsume apologizes as well, then run off outside as Yorishima's watching him with a small smile. As Natori's about to go out as well, Yorishima tells him to go away and to never come back. However, right after he adds that Natsume is a mysterious kid; he says he seems "familiar" and that he feels many things from him, "like he's possessed by something... or he possesses something." Natori asks if Yorishima has ever heard of Reiko Natsume, and Yorishima, after hesitating, says no. Natori then inquires to him about the Book of Friends, but Yorishima denies knowing anything about this again. Lastly, Natori demands him to keep quiet about this and to tell him if he hears anything, but Yorishima replies he has no obligation to inform him. As Natori leaves, Yorishima appears thoughtful.

Yorishima appearing thoughtful after Natori and Natsume leaves.

After meeting with Natori's client Amasawa, Natsume and Natori are drawing spell circles to prepare for the scarecrows, and Natori thank him: he says Yorishima never talks freely like that. Natsume comments that he's a strange person: scary but familiar, kind of like how he feels when he talks to a yokai. Natori replies it's not too far from the truth: Yorishima is in reality much older than he looks because of him being supposedly half-yokai. According to some rumors, a yokai ate his left arm, but it grew back — the yokai possessing and replacing his arm. Natori confides in Natsume that when he's with people who works with yokai, his own worries seems small in comparison; yet some things are still hard for him and he still fell afraid — and the lizard yokai living on his skin pass in front of his face as he says so. Natsume simply replies that he understand that.

Matoba telling Natsume about when Yorishima gave him and Natori loquats.

Yorishima is mentioned again after that during the Miharu arc, although he himself doesn't appears. Natori invites Natsume to picks up loquats at the old Yorishima estate, where Yorishima used to live before he retired. The house is located in an area "dotted with mansions," and has large loquat trees at the gate. As Natsume arrives, he asks Natori if Yorishima was the one with the scarecrows, and Natori says yes and explains he's been "in communication with him ever since." He asked him to fetch some books and gave him the key, then added he could pick as many loquats as he'd like while he's here. Nyanko-sensei comments that Natori is like his gofer and Natsume asks why Yorishima didn't come here himself, but Natori doesn't answer and instead explains how he hadn't planned to invite Natsume at first; as even if the place is empty now it still belonged to an exorcist, so it's still inevitably linked to yokai. Natsume asks him if he likes loquats after that, but Natori answers he's not sure, given the first one he tried wasn't ripe, and as such he didn't get what the big deal about them was — which echoes an anecdocte that Matoba will tells Natsume later about Yorishima. Natsume comments the ones here look sweet, so he hopes they're good. Later on, as they come across Matoba at the desolate Miharu estate, and as Matoba realizes Natori and Natsume were at the old Yorishima house he says that he's heard Natori is working with Yorishima now and asks him what he's been up to. Natori replies this is nothing Matoba should worry about. After they managed to take care of the Miharu guardian spirits, Natsume offers a loquat from the Yorishima yard to Matoba who tells him an old anecdote: when he was a high school student, he couldn't stop staring at the trees from the Yorishima house when they were fruiting. Once, Natori and him were standing there, and Yorishima came out and gave them each a loquat. Matoba said he'd always wanted to try one and his wish had come true, and his loquat was sweet and delicious; however, Natori's loquat wasn't ripe and thus was sour. Matoba says he had the feeling that Yorishima wanted to give the loquat only to Natori, but ended up giving one to Matoba just because he happened to be there; and yet he's the one who got the sweet one, which made him think there's no winning even in such a small thing.

After that, Yorishima is briefly mentioned again at the beginning of the Homura village arc: the merchant Matsuzaki hired Natori for a job, and after completing it invites him inside. Matsuzaki then comments that he's heard about Natori frequenting Yorishima, and how he should stop seeing such a shady retiree. He continues saying that given Natori's power, Matsuzaki's family would do a better job at providing him support, but Natori decline.

It is not until after this that Yorishima will appears once again: once, as Natsume and Nyanko-sensei took a empty bus far away in the countryside to buy jelly cake, they came across Yorishima getting inside the bus.

Relationships

Shuuichi Natori

"He just doesn't have a good mentor. He keeps showing up with questions and things to look up. I shouldn't try to dictate who you're friends with... bu you shouldn't associate with exorcists... if you want to live a normal life between worlds." — Yorishima, Volume 26: Chapter 106.

An acquaintance of Yorishima.

Yorishima first met Natori when he was a teenager just starting out as an exorcist, though the circumstances of their meeting or what their relationship was like at the time are unknown. Natori seems to have spent quite some time around the old Yorishima house back then, sometimes alongside Seiji Matoba, and the two of them would often stop to stare at the loquat trees in the yard. One day, Yorishima came out and gave one loquat to each of them, although Natori got a sour one and Matoba a sweet one. According to Matoba, he thinks that Yorishima wanted to give a loquat to Natori only and gave one to Matoba just because he happened to be here. That seems to imply Yorishima might have been fond of Natori on some level when he was a teen, but didn't feel the same about Matoba.

However their relationship appears to have become more fraught throughout the years. Yorishima seems to have nurtured a dislike of exorcists in that time, and especially of the Matoba clan, so he seems to have a distate for the fact Natori sometimes works with them and started to adopts some of their methods and philosophy over time. When Natori came to visit him with Natsume for the first time, Yorishima was quite hostile to him, wanting to have nothing to do with him, trying to get the conversation over quickly and almost kicking him out. He also got particularly angry at him for dragging a kid around with him, and commented that he was "starting to resemble Matoba these days." However, as Natsume defended Natori right away against this accusation and declared that he's someone he admires, Yorishima seems first surprised then soften a little and even smiles a bit at seeing Natsume's reaction. Furthermore, even despite his hostility, he still let Natori in and accepted to help him with his job, implying that even if he doesn't like how Natori is in the present he might still cares for him on some level; although Natori commented later on that it might be thanks to Natsume's presence, as it is rare for Yorishima to speaks so freely.

After the scarecrows incident, as Natori called Natsume to proposes to him to pick loquats together at the old Yorishima estate, Natori explains that he's been "in communication" with Yorishima ever since, and that he's asked him to fetch some books at his old house, giving him the key, adding that he can pick as many loquats as he like while they're here. Later on, after hearing that Natori and Natsume were at the old Yorishima house, Matoba comments that he's heard that Natori has been "working with Yorishima now," and asks him what he's been up to; to which Natori simply says this is nothing he has to worry about. This means that they must've started to get on better terms now, which may be thanks to Natsume.

At some point after that, as Natori completed a job for the merchant Matsuzaki, he says that he's heard he's been frequenting the Yorishima house lately, and how he should stop relying on such a suspicious retiree. When Natsume and Yorishima came to visit hid late friend Kusakabe's daughters, Natsume told him about how he was with Natori when he came to fetch his books at his old house for him. Yorishima gets angry once again at the idea of Natori still dragging him around, but then Natsume comments he must be good friends with Natori. Yorishima denies it, saying Natori just "doesn't have a good mentor," and that he just keep showing up with questions and things to look up, while also adding that Natsume should not continue to associate with exorcists like this, not if he wants to live a normal life.

Seiji Matoba

An acquaintance of Yorishima.

Just like Natori, Yorishima has known Matoba since he was a teenager; although given both of their position as members of powerful exorcist clans, it is possible Yorishima has known him even before then. Not much is known about their relationship as they've never been seen interacting, but Yorishima seems to have a bad opinion of Matoba and the Matoba clan itself in general.

Takashi Natsume

"But that kid... he seems mysterious. He feels familiar... or maybe not. I feel many things from him... He's possessed by something... or he possesses something." — Yorishima, Volume 20: Chapter 80.

Yorishima first met Natsume when Natori brought him to his house in the woods to ask for his opinion on a job.

Takeru Kusakabe

"I wonder what he told them... but I'm a bit relieved. I'd been worried he didn't have any other friends, if he was spending time writing to me... I had other concerns... but if he had a good life, that's the most important thing." — Yorishima, Volume 26: Chapter 106.

Yorishima's college friend. Kusakabe met Yorishima in college, and the two of them being people with the ability to see youkai, they then became close.

Kiyoko

Kusakabe's girlfriend from college. Yorishima's relationship with Kiyoko is unclear; he didn't seem as close to her as Kusakabe was, but he still called her by her give name, so they might have been friends as well.

Choko, Tsukiyo and Hanae

The "daughters" of his late college friend Kusakabe.

Reiko Natsume

When Natori asked Yorishima if he'd ever heard of a Reiko Natsume before, Yorishima replied 'No'; however, he seems to have hesitated before answering. Added to this, he had quite a strange reaction to Natsume, staring at him and calling him "familiar." So this might indicates that he lied to Natori and does in fact know who Reiko is, and might as well know about the Book of Friends. With the knowledge that he is older than he looks and must be at least 50 years old, it is possible he's even met her; but so far nothing has been confirmed.

Etymology

• His family Yorishima means "rely on" (依) (yori) and "island" (島) (shima).

Trivia

• His given name and his real age are unknown.
• Although within the story it is never mentioned how strong he is exactly, Yuki Midorikawa described him in Volume 26's afterwords as "someone who has as much power as Natsume," which might implies that just like Takashi Natsume he is even stronger than Seiji Matoba. That would make him the only character known in the series that is as strong as Takashi and Reiko Natsume.