Chouan Kumagishi

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**Chouan Kumagishi** (熊岸長庵, *Kumagishi Chōan*) was an artist from Kabato Prison.

## Appearance

Kumagishi is a middle-aged man with a round face, light hair swept to the side and gaunt cheekbones with a toothbrush mustache. He wears round glasses and due to being a prisoner, wears prison garbs with his hands cuffed together tied by a rope that goes around his waist.

Sometime later after breaking out of prison, Kumagishi's hair had grown longer to shoulder length and he now sports a small goatee. He also began to wear the Ainu clothing as a pretender.

## Personality

Kumagishi is a timid man who does not seem to know much about prison life, specifically why prisoners should not escape during the daytime. He is willing to work with others if it benefits him and is not afraid to ask for help. Unlike the other escaped convicts in the Ainu village, Kumagishi is not as cold-hearted as he did not want to kill Asirpa and asked her to go get help for the women who were forced to be the convicts' wives.

Kumagishi says that he did not make counterfeit money because he enjoyed it but rather because he was asked to do it. He reveals that he was frustrated with not being able to earn enough money with his regular painting. He wanted to make a real piece of art that with just one look, would be able to change somebody's life forever.

## Background

Kumagishi made a name for himself as a money counterfeiter, but he also produced many different kinds of counterfeit artwork. He met Kano Ienaga sometime in a past due to her interest in art and through connections with an art dealer. He was arrested for making counterfeit money and was sent to be imprisoned at the Kabato Prison in Tsukigata with a life sentence.

Sometime during his stay in Kabato Prison, he met a nun known as Sister Miyazawa who often came to provide religious counseling services for the prisoners, and became infatuated with her. He was eventually put into a communal cell with Yoshitake Shiraishi and Zenjirou Shibukawa.

One day, when the guards called out all the prisoners to show them the corpse of a prisoner who had killed a guard and attempted to flee, Shiraishi comments that only an idiot would try to escape during outside labour. After he had been stripped search and returned to his room, Kumagishi asked him why he said that to the guards. Shiraishi tells him that the guards are more watchful during that time and the best time to escape would be at night. Kumagishi then asks him that if he ever tried to escape, that he take him with him. When Shiraishi asks what he can offer for him to help, Kumagishi says that he is a good artist and makes a shunga of Sister Miyazawa for him. However, the drawing is of bad quality and Shiraishi quickly dismisses it but changes his mind and keeps it to feel comforted.

Afterwards, Kumagishi worked with Shiraishi to make a key that could help them escape. However, the guards had been tipped that Shiraishi had a key and when they found it in his mouth, Kumagishi expressed dismay. Unbeknownst to him, Shiraishi had asked another prisoner to make the report on him, as he had intended to escape alone.

Sometime later, about a year before Shinpachi Nagakura and Kano Ienaga visited Kabato Prison, Kumagishi was able to escape the prison as the warden Matasuke Ooshima believed that he had died attempting to flee during outside labour. His escaped was engineered by a man named Kiyohiro Suzukawa who allowed a large number of convicts to run free. They came to an Ainu village where the other men killed all the men and forced the women to be their wives as Suzukawa forced Kumagishi to make counterfeit money for him.

## Plot

### Con Artists Arc

When Sugimoto's Group came to his kotan, they are welcomed by Ekurok and his family. However, Asirpa attempted to investigate the bear cage and is captured by Ekurok's Brother. He then bound and gagged her and took her to Kumagishi's location. When he asked why the girl was here, Ekurok's Brother told him to keep an eye on her. Asirpa was able to release the cloth on her mouth to ask why they all were pretending to be Ainu.

Asirpa began listing off evidences of how she knew that the men weren't real Ainu people and asks him why they are pretending to be Ainu. Kumagishi covers her mouth and tells her to be quiet as they would not hesitate to kill her as they had killed other visitors too. He reveals that they are escaped convicts from Kabato prison who had taken over the village. Kumagishi says that they were helped by a man named Kiyohiro Suzukawa and that he broke out of Abashiri Prison recently. He unties the rope on Asirpa and pleads her to get help for the women of the village. Once he had finished, they hear a loud roar which Asirpa notes as being the long-eared monster.

As Sugimoto's yell could be heard throughout the whole village, Kumagishi says that he cannot stop the convict and that he feels sorry for Sugimoto. However, Asirpa says that since Sugimoto is angry, that he should feel more sorry for the fake Ainu. They hear Sugimoto calling for Asirpa, but before she could leave, one of the convicts come in and sees that Kumagishi is letting her go. The convict was then knocked out by Monoa who has rallied the village's women to strike back.

Kumagishi looks out and sees that it is total chaos and that they should take this opportunity to escape but Asirpa refuses, saying that they need him alive. She tells him that they have a tattooed skin that they needed him to look at and asks to confirm if he really is the counterfeiter Chouan Kumahishi. Kumagishi reveals the reason why he became a counterfeiter and is about to give Asirpa some information before Sugimoto runs nearby. When Kumagishi pokes his head out, Sugimoto aims his rifle to shoot him but is stopped by Asirpa who reveals his identity to him. Suddenly, an arrow flies past Sugimoto and hits Kumagishi who lets out a groan of pain.

Kumagishi falls to his knees as Asirpa shouts out his name and Sugimoto shoots the convict that had shot him. They realize that the arrow had been coated with poison and that there is nothing that they can do to save him since the poison is now in his stomach. He tries his best to tell them clues on how to find evidences on counterfeit pieces and bemoans that he could not make something real that would change somebody's life forever as he passed away.

Once the fighting had ceased, Kumagishi was buried alongside the other escaped convicts. As Sugimoto poured the dirt on him, he exclaimed that he cannot believe that Kumagishi was pretending to be an Ainu and that he was hiding out in an Ainu village. He also says that Hijikata's Group must've realized that Kumagishi isn't in Kabato and that they would never imagine that he is burying Kumagishi's corpse.

## Abilities

* **Artistry.** Kumagishi is an artist that has made many different kind of works, although most of them were counterfeit of many famous pieces or currency. However, he was unable to earn enough money with his regular paintings, and he turned to making fake money instead.
* **Counterfeit.** Kumagishi has the ability to replicate any piece of art, including paper money. He also has the ability to distinguish whether certain pieces are authentic or not.

## Trivia

* In 2018 Golden Kamuy All-Stars popularity poll, Kumagishi ranked 100th, gaining 141 votes.
* Kumagishi is likely based on Kumasaka Chōan, a Meiji era Japanese painter who was accused of producing counterfeit bills in the Fujita Gumi Counterfeiting Case. Real life Kumasaka Chōan was sent to Kabato Prison, where he later died.

## References

1. ↑ Golden Kamuy Manga: Chapter 90
2. ↑ 「ゴールデンカムイ北海道オールスターズ総選挙」
3. ↑ Golden Kamuy Central, @KamuyCentral, Twitter