CIVILIAN . WATANABE, KEIJIRO

MALE

BISEXUAL

NINETEEN

JULY 19TH, 1992

JAPANESE, ETHNICALLY CAUCASIAN

JAPANESE
ENGLISH
SPEAKS WITH A JAPANESE ACCENT

渡辺 恵次郎
KEI
KEITH WILLIAMS

0.5

Civilian

N/A

MIRROR OF PLACEMENT

08/20/2013

REITGERTE

DARRIN "MOOSE" MOORE
LANCE BISHOP
LUCIEN MARGAUX
KEIJIRO WATANABE
MIKHAIL USENKO

VERY LOW

MELLO FROM DEATH NOTE

Keijiro is a professional session musician, with a specialty in traditional Japanese instruments. Since he's playing on authentic instruments with true Japanese teachings, he's in high demand. He's also attending the University of Southern California to attain his degree in musical performance, with an emphasis on strings.

Keijiro is one of the few students lucky enough to get a full ride scholarship, and he's even luckier considering he's a full ride student. A few factors helped him out. For one, he's still legally a US citizen, even if he hasn't been there since he was six months old. For another, he's going into a very specific degree for a job that's in fairly high demand within the US. The scholarship pays for more or less everything, but his family has money anyway, so he's no starving college student. He's attending the University of Southern California to attain his degree in musical performance, with an emphasis on strings. He'll be starting out in the fall of 2012, a year late compared to most people.

Keijiro had hoped to move into the dorms, but they simply weren't an option with his schedule. Instead, he found a small apartment not far from the main campus. Money wasn't a major concern, and neither was size. The apartment was a particularly small one, and most people stayed away due to the size. Keijiro jumped on it instead. It was small enough there was no need for a roommate to get into his things, and it's essentially two rooms--a bedroom and a living area that doubled as a kitchen. So far the apartment is particularly sparse, decorated in earth tones but with little beyond the functional furniture he purchased on his first day in the country. He had a desk at the side of his room, which is where he spends a good amount of his time. His shamisen is kept in it's case in the living room, and is treated particularly carefully.

He's not much of a chef, but he does do some of his own cooking. By and large, his cooking is done with a rice cooker, but he is trying to branch out a bit beyond that.

Keijiro plays several instruments at varying levels of proficiency. When it comes to western instruments, Keijiro plays the piano. When it comes to Japanese instruments, he focuses on stringed instruments. His main instruments are the yamatogoto, the biwa, koto, and shamisen. He was also learning to play the ichigenkin in Japan, but has had to put that pursuit on hold.

The yamatogoto is the most obscure of his instruments, and he doesn't have one with him in LA. It's used almost exclusively in Shinto ceremonies, and it was his part time job in Japan to play it.

The Biwa is a short necked lute. His own specific biwa is a chikuzen-biwa with five strings and five frets. It is played with a plectrum made out of boxwood with ivory tips. Of the three instruments he has in LA, the biwa is his least favorite. When learning to play, he had to sing accompaniment, and his decreased lung capacity made such a task difficult. He does enjoy the sound, but to play it properly generally requires a singer, which isn't available to him in LA.

The koto is the national instrument of Japan, and of all the instruments he plays, the koto is his favorite. The koto is a thirteen string zither made out of paulownia wood, and his particular Koto is quite old. It's intricately decorated, with ivory bridges and silk strings (which are a huge pain to replace), and has been well taken care of. It's his treasure, but because of the large size (about six feet long), it has to be specially transported. The college stores it for him with great care, as one of his professors is also from Japan and is aware of the significance of the instrument. Keijiro follows the Ikuta tradition, which has him sitting at a forty-five degree angle from the instrument itself.

The shamisen is a three stringed instrument played with a plectrum. While Keijiro has a high quality shamisen, he left it back in Japan on the advice of his tutor. While the sound quality isn't as high, the nylon strings and synthetic membrane are far more durable and less likely to break. The one he has with him is a chuzao, which is considered an average between thin necked and fat necked styles. He had intended to bring his ivory bachi with him to play on the newer instrument, but the ivory isn't old enough to be legally brought into LA. Instead his family purchased an aged wooden one to work with.

The most obvious thing about Keijiro, by far, is his scar. It's the first thing anyone is going to notice about him. It covers most of the left side of his face, his left arm and shoulder blade, and goes down his left side to his hip. With clothes on, the only obvious part is the scarring on his neck and his face, as the scar doesn't go far enough down his arm to be visible even with short sleeves. He's had several surgeries to remove scar tissue, but there's only so much that can be done considering the large area. He also has concerns about surgery restoring the look but keeping the loss of expression, which would just make him look odd.

The second most obvious thing about him is that he's very, very caucasian. Despite his name, Keijiro is of northern European descent ethnically, and was particularly obvious in Japan when growing up. In LA, most people don't think it's that odd--until he starts speaking with a heavy Japanese accent.

Keijiro stands 5'8", and has an average build. He has dark blue eyes and light blond hair, that he keeps shoulder length to help hide his scar.

Keijiro has two primary medical conditions, one of which is primarily positive, and the other of which is primarily negative.

Keijiro is a sound to color synesthete. Synesthesia is a neurological condition believed to be the result of cross wiring in the brain. In Keijiro's case, the part of his brain that processes sound also interacts with the part of his brain that handles visual input. For Keijiro, this happens primarily with musical sounds, although normal sounds that sound similar to musical notes can have the same effect. To him, it's as if he has a colorful overlay. When there's no sound or music, it's see through. When music exists, he can 'see' patterns of color and hue, reacting to the music. Primarily, the color he sees is determined by the pitch of the sound.

Keijiro spent most of his life unaware that this was odd. He simply assumed that everyone saw the same thing he did, and it wasn't until he was twelve and taking music lessons that the whole thing came out. His synesthesia has no negative consequences beyond being slightly distracting at times, so while his family doctor has made a note of it, he doesn't feel the need for any treatment, even if such a thing were possible.

The second half is significantly more negative. The house fire when he was eight left him alive but significantly scarred. The scarring is primarily on his upper left shoulder and neck, but runs from just beside his left eye down to his left hip. He had several surgeries when he was younger to lessen the scarring, but considering the severity, there was only so much that can be done. He has lessened sensation where the scars are, but can occasionally get phantom sensations as well. At times they'll itch in ways he can't scratch, or feel stiff and dry. He uses moisturizer to lessen the sensation when it gets too bad, but otherwise he simply has to live with it.

The scarring went close to his eye, but the eye itself wasn't terribly damaged. It was never was burned directly, but he did suffer slight ocular damage. Because of that, the vision in his left eye is worse than the vision in his right eye. All things considered, he should be wearing a monocle, but as it stands he simply goes without.

The other side effect of the burns was his significantly decreased lung capacity. Smoke inhalation left his lungs with light scarring, which means heavy physical activity isn't a thing for him. He can still swim and run, but his stamina is considerably diminished. This also meant that singing wasn't much of an option either--he ends up breathless if he tries.

While not a true medical condition, it almost goes without saying that Keijiro has a fear of fire. He's nervous around even small flames, and something as small as a campfire is enough to make him retreat for cover, unable to deal with it. It's not to the point of a true phobia--he could, for example, stay in a room with a small candle going--but it makes him intensely nervous. He prefers to cook in ways that don't have open flames when he gets the option, and stays out of sight of most restaurant kitchens.

Respectful: Keijiro was raised fairly traditionally. He has plenty of respect for his elders, and in general gives respect to everyone. You start out respected, and it's only through your actions that you can lose it.

Outgoing: Keijiro is a fairly outgoing person. He seems full of energy much of the time, and it takes a whole lot to wear him down. This doesn't extend to physically, as he has terribly low stamina, but he can spend hours working on a task without flagging.

Creative: He's a creative person. Even if he wasn't creative to begin with, he's a sound to color synesthete. Essentially, his brain is cross wired, and he sees sounds as colors and patterns. It can be distracting if he's exposed to distinct music, but it does give the nice perk of being able to draw music. He loves learning new pieces, and dabbles in making his own, even if that isn't the path he's chosen in life.

Kind: He's a fairly relaxed guy, and he goes out of his way to be nice to other people. He believes in treating others as you expect to be treated, so he's always trying to be nice to everyone, in hopes that they'll return the favor.

Detached: For all his enthusiasm for being in a new place, Keijiro is still new, and it's only made some of his problems even worse. In Japan he found himself feeling forever apart from those he should have been friends with. He was different, and mentally, he struggled to get past that, even if other people did try and reach out. In Japan, he was too Caucasian to fit in well. In LA, he's too Japanese to fit in well.

Skeptical: For all his niceness, Keijiro doesn't expect people to be friends with him. He feels genuinely surprised when people show any real interest in him. He has some self esteem issues tied to his detached nature, and getting over that isn't something he can just do. Even if he treats everyone kindly, he still thinks of it as a surprise when someone returns the favor.

Thin-Skinned: While he's fairly mature and can look the other way for most things, he can't handle some very specific issues. Comments about his scar make him retreat almost immediately. You could be having a good natured conversation, and then a single mention of his scar would be enough to shut him down completely. He doesn't want to talk about it,;he doesn't want it mentioned.

Defensive: Keijiro has a very specific thing that people like to pick on him about. Most people won't openly pick on his scar, after all--but people will insult him over the fact that he's very, very white, despite his name. People (especially those online) have a tendency to assume that he's some weaboo otaku, jumping on Japanese culture because it's 'cool'. The truth is anything but, and he'll argue right back if someone tries to claim or insinuate those were his intentions.

Keijiro was born as Keith Williams in the United States of America. He was less than a year old when his father was transferred, his high status job requiring a very, very long distance move. Rather than just being moved across the country, the William's were moved out of it entirely. The company moved the whole family to Japan, and the Williams were well aware of the fact that they'd be there for years and years. They did their best to raise Keith with that in mind. They spoke Japanese at home, and while he did speak English growing up, they made sure he spoke Japanese just as well. They integrated him into the community, trying to get him out and involved in activities. They had him playing sports and having friends over, eager to help him fit in.

And he did, for the most part. They went so far as to give him a 'Japanese name', in the way that many foreigners to English speaking countries will give their children 'English names'. Largely ignoring the meaning, Keith became 'Keijiro' to his friends, and the only time his full English name was used was when he was in trouble and his parents were trying to sound intimidating.

Everything might have gone well enough if not for the fire. The house they lived in was small and cramped, lacking many of the modern amenities. There was no heating system for the house save a ceramic heater, and one night his parents simply forgot to turn it off. It ended in tragedy, the house catching fire overnight. There were no alarms, and both of his parents perished in the fire. Keijiro himself was pulled from his room by a firefighter as the roof caved in, suffering severe burns to the left side of his body.

Keijiro himself remembers very little of the next few months. The first while was spent in the ICU, the doctors working to stabilize him. After that, he was taken for more surgeries, trying to lessen the damage. Even with the surgery, there was too much to fix completely. The scar is still there, and the sensation is lessened considerably on places where he was burnt. It was almost three weeks after the fire before Keijiro was lucid enough for someone to deliver the news about his parents.

Only eight years old, Keijiro rapidly found himself alone. He was barely old enough to understand the concept that they wouldn't ever be coming back, and his only relatives were back in America, estranged and foreign to him. The thought of moving to a different country to stay with people he'd never met was terrifying, and it was then that the Watanabe's stepped in.

Mr. Watanabe had been Keith's father's best friend and coworker. Of all the people aside from Keith himself, he'd been the most hurt by the loss. The couple were empty nesters, their own children having grown up and moved out on their own, and their house was certainly large enough to accommodate a young boy. So when it came time for Keijiro to leave the hospital, it was to their house he went.

He certainly knew them well enough, even if they were older than his own parents had been, and it was vastly preferable to living with relatives or going into the foster system. It was initially intended to be temporary, a quick solution to a long term problem, but as the weeks passed into months, it became more and more obvious that Keijiro wouldn't be going anywhere.

His burns left him in need of physiotherapy to improve the movement in his left side, and the vision in his left eye was slightly worse than the right. Smoke inhalation meant that his lung capacity was significantly reduced, and a medical exemption meant that he was no longer obligated to do sports. Instead, Keijiro found himself drawn to art and music, and since he was a synesthete, the two were forever linked for him. He saw music and sound in a way that most people didn't, and so the act of sketching out a drawing was the same as writing music formally. His first instrument was the piano, his adoptive mother believing that it suited him, but he didn't stay with the piano long.

Instead, unable to participate in sports or other recreational activities, his mother signed him up for music lessons. He was lucky enough to get an instructor who exposed him to a wide variety of instruments, and instead of taking to the more common western instruments, Keijiro flocked to the more traditional Japanese ones. He picked at traditional kotos and shamisens, and was allowed to focus on them before long. He spread out, diversifying, and they became his main hobby.

When Keijiro was sixteen, he was formally adopted by his new parents. He took their last name, and formally changed his first name to Keijiro rather than Keith. While he still had memories of his real parents, they had faded in time, and the Watanabe's were just as much his parents as his real parents were. He had grown to accept them, in time, even if not everyone accepted him. His aunts and uncles frowned upon him, and his adoptive older siblings--who he considered cousins--weren't sure what to make of him.

He found he enjoyed the latest electronics, his phone being an almost always annual birthday gift. It was always a phone, always the latest and greatest, and he used it for most of his communication. He wasn't quite so interested in computers, preferring to focus on his music instead. When others were playing the latest games, he was plucking away at his koto.

It was music that took him to LA. In the aftermath of world war two, Japans march to westernization had left it's traditional instruments in the dust. They fell out of favor, and few played them. In the end though, westernization slowed down, and traditional instruments came back into favor. They weren't just in favor within Japan, however. Every movie, video game, and television show that was set in ancient Japan wanted an authentic Japanese soundtrack, and there simply weren't enough Japanese musicians playing traditional instruments.

So when Keijiro expressed his intention to make his living playing them, his parents, while initially wary, were supportive. There was good money to be made if you were good and willing to work at it, and Keijiro had plenty of money. His parents insurance had paid into a trust he'd have access to when he turned twenty one, and he had limited access to it already. Money wasn't a major concern for him, and when the scholarship came in--from USC, a school with one of the top music programs in the world--it was a full ride. International full ride scholarships were rare, and Keijiro seized upon the opportunity. He spent a few months within Japan, getting everything sorted out, and then moved to LA at the start of April.

With his family's support, he arranged for an apartment near the campus. He got into contact with the woman who would be one of his main professors, arranging to have his koto housed over the summer. The instrument was large and unwieldy, and having it in a standard apartment would only end badly. Within a few weeks of moving, his teachers from Japan had already arranged work for him--sessions with traditional instruments were in high demand, and there was plenty of work for him. In the fall, he'd be starting his degree, and he's eager to work with other musicians.