Shigeru Fujiwara (藤原 滋, Fujiwara Shigeru) is a recurring characters of Natsume's Book of Friends series.
He and his wife, Touko Fujiwara, are distant relatives of Takashi Natsume who have fostered him and now raise him in their home in the countryside.
Natsume keeps his ability to see youkai a secret from the Fujiwaras, fearing that this knowledge would get them involved in the world of youkai and bring them harm. Shigeru and Touko are aware that there are many things that Natsume is not yet comfortable sharing with them, but choose not to pry into his business. They assure Natsume that they consider him as a part of their family, and want to make their home a place where he feels that he belongs.
Appearance[]
Shigeru is a middle-aged man who has short black-gray hair and eyes. He has a stubble, along with rectangular glasses. He is usually seen wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants, but he also wears other attires. He is always seen quietly reading his newspaper at the dining table.
Personality[]
Shigeru loves pottery[1], where he asks for Natsume's help to get a pottery cup from his friend, Yasui. Later, Shigeru also brought Natsume along for pottery class[2].
Fujiwara Shigeru is a soft spoken and serious man, but he is also very kind and affectionate towards Natsume. Initially, Natsume was rather in awe of him, and not quite sure how to talk to him, but once they get to know each other better, Shigeru’s warm heart and sense of humour become apparent. Natsume addresses him as ‘Shigeru-san’.
Shigeru wants Natsume to feel more at ease with them, and to think of them as his real family. For this reason, when Natsume acts spontaneously, whilst Touko worries, Shigeru is pleased. When Natsume messes the house up exorcising an ayakashi, Shigeru waves away his stuttering apology and tells him, ‘This is your home.’
History[]
Reiko and younger Shigeru
Shigeru Fujiwara was the only child of the Fujiwaras, a family that seems to have lived in the same house and town for generations. As a kid, he had a big family constituted of his parents and grandparents. Not much is known about his family, but he seemed to have a good relationship with them, and got really worried and depressed when his mother got sick and his father was injured.[3] He also had a lot of friends as a child, and seemed secure enough in their friendship that he didn't fear they would leave him because he was spending time with Reiko Natsume. When he was younger, he befriended Reiko Natsume, but they only knew each other for a short time and eventually he has forgotten her face and name, so he never realized that she was Natsume's grandmother.
He recalled Reiko as someone beautiful and capricious girl. At the time, Shigeru's house was haunted by a malicious ayakashi, Karime. Reiko helped the younger Shigeru to exorcise the ayakashi. As a result, she wrecked one of the rooms in the house and Shigeru was scolded by his parents for the damage. After that, they never spoke again.[4]
Shigeru tells Takashi that he went to college and as such lived on his own for a while, so this is when he learned how to cook.[5]
At some point, it seems likely Shigeru's grandparents and parents died, though what happened to them has not been confirmed. He then met Touko possibly after college during his early to late twenties, and they got married, the two of them moving in in the old Fujiwara house. It seems to imply the two of them might have wanted to have children at some point, but for some reason were unable to.[6]
One day, Shigeru went to a funeral of his distant relative where he saw the skinny figure of Takashi Natsume. Hearing about his predicament, Shigeru decided to foster him and discussed this with Touko. Soon, he officially meets Takashi together with Touko to give a friendly invitation to stay with them. Overjoyed, Takashi accepted their invitation and has since lived with the Fujiwaras.[7][8]
Plot[]
Shigeru is introduced much early on in the anime than in the manga: in Season 1: Episode 2: The Dew-God's Small Shrine.
In the manga, he first appears in Volume 5: Chapter 19, which correspond to Season 2: Episode 10: Temporary Home of the anime.
Relationships[]
Touko Fujiwara[]
- Main article: Touko Fujiwara
Touko is Shigeru’s wife. It’s unknown, how they met or how long they’ve been married for. But they have a comfortable and loving relationship, as Touko is seen asking him what he wants for dinner and what kind of food.
Takashi Natsume[]
- Main article: Takashi Natsume
Takashi is Shigeru and Touko’s foster son. Shigeru first saw, Takashi at a family funeral, Shigeru saw how lonely and sad Takashi was. Shigeru cleaned out the spare room and approached his wife about taking Takashi in.
Reiko Natsume[]
- Main article: Reiko Natsume
Shigeru first met Reiko Natsume when he was a child. They were friends for a brief time before Reiko destroyed a room (same one Takashi comes to live in decades later) while chasing out a malicious youkai to protect him and his family.
Madara[]
- Main article: Madara
Trivia[]
- In the afterwords of Volume 5, Yuki Midorikawa said that originally she had no intention to introduce Shigeru as a proper character, and that he was supposed to be like "Columbo's wife"; only mentioned but never appearing concretely, which is why in the manga he first appears much later than in the anime. However, as the series gained in popularity and became a bit less episodic, she finally changed her mind.
References[]
- ↑ Episode 07
- ↑ Episode 34
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 5: Chapter 19
- ↑ Episode 23
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 27: Chapter 109
- ↑ Natsume's Book of Friends Volume 15: Special 13
- ↑ Natsume Yuujinchou San episode 12/ episode 38
- ↑ Natsume Yuujinchou Go episode 10