Yoshinobu Mikami

In December of 2002, Mikami is the Superintendent, Inspector, and Press Director for Administrative Affairs at the Prefecture HQ in City D. He is 46-years-old and had been transferred from his post as a detective in Criminal Investigations. He misses this other job, still feeling like a detective, and feels pride for his old title. He is now involved in relations between the police force and the press.

Mikami is self-conscious about his appearance, noting his "thick nose," "harsh cheekbones," and "exposed rock face" (42), and the press at one point takes to calling him "Gargoyle." He also chain smokes. His daughter has gone missing somewhat recently.

Mikami had participated on the Six Four case, 14 years earlier, as the appointed sub-leader of the Close Pursuit Unit. In the novel, Mikami is assigned the task of visiting Amamiya (14 years later, in 2002) in order to secure his permission for a home-visit...