Onigiri-Sensei

Template:Appearances

Onigiri-Sensei
(小柄鬼斬斎, Kozuka Onigiri-sai?)
Biographical information
Residence	Dojo
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Male

It looks like I have an adorable lupine visitor. My name is Onigiri Sensei and this is my dojo.

Onigiri Sensei

Onigiri-Sensei is the owner of the dojos seen throughout Ōkami. He helps Amaterasu with her quest by teaching her useful techniques, but at a price.

History

Ōkami

Onigiri-Sensei's first dojo is in Shinshu Field. Amaterasu has the option of learning abilities from the dojo, though there are some abilities that must be learned. As long as she has the yen, she can learn the techniques that Onigiri offers. The techniques available range from each dojo. Most techniques are optional to learn, but they will make fighting and questing easier for Amaterasu.

Ōkamiden

In Ōkamiden, the Dojos are either inaccessible or ruined. Only the ruins of the Shinshu Field Dojo can be examined. If it is examined while Kuni is Chibiterasu's partner, it is revealed that Onigiri-sensei has moved away. It is unknown where he is or if he's even still alive, given his old age.

Characteristics

Onigiri-Sensei is an elderly man who owns three dōjō throughout the land. One is in Shinshu Field, another in Ryoshima Coast, and the last in Kamui. Though he doubts the abilities of his students, he tends to overlook them if they are able to pay the fees. He also overlooks who they are, be they human or wolf.

When teaching, he changes from an elderly, kind man to a fierce, strict teacher. As a teacher, he seems to have little patience for his students, and will roughly encourage them to try harder. He will not give up until the student has successfully learned the technique. Despite his "harsh" nature, he is a very dedicated teacher, doing his best to expand his lessons throughout Nippon.

Gallery

Concept art showing both Onigiri-Sensei's forms.

Onigiri-Sensei's kind form.

Trivia

• An onigiri is a riceball, which is often served in a triangular shape.
  • However, separating the word into "oni giri" changes the phrase to "demon slaying" (「鬼斬り」^?; 「おにぎり」), demonstrating the true meaning behind Onigiri-Sensei's name.
  • Onigiri-Sensei is one of the very few characters in the entire Ōkami series to have their names in the original Japanese versions written not in katakana, but entirely kanji. Naturally, this means that Onigiri-Sensei bears some sort of cultural relevance or importance, though this is not the case for the main characters who are based on real life mythology themselves.
• When changing his stance, he makes the same poses as Viewtiful Joe from the game with the same name, when he first transforms.
  • Viewtiful Joe is also a game of Capcom.
• Near Onigiri-Sensei's dojo in Kamui, there are two piles of snow. Power slash the bigger one and a random snow statue will appear; it will either be Issun x1000, Sakuya, or Amaterasu sitting. Going into the dojo and then returning to the pile of snow will cause it to reset and become covered over again; slashing it three more times will reveal a different statue.