Mr. Saito (佐藤氏 Saito-Shi) is the husband of Yukie Saito, the father of Shuichi Saito and the first to be killed by the Spiral. His first name is never mentioned in the manga and is given as Toshio (俊雄) in the movie.
Appearance[]
Mr. Saito is rather thin, and appears to be past his middle-ages. He has age wrinkles all over his face, a cleft chin and greying, slicked hair. He wears rounded square glasses with a thick black frame and, like most of the characters, dresses somewhat formally.
Plot[]
The Spiral Obsession: Part 1[]
Mr. Saito staring at his spiral collection
Mr. Saito, in this chapter, is revealed to have developed an unhealthy obsession with the Spiral pattern. He begins to collect things that have spiral patterns on them; everything from kimonos to drawings to snail shells to lightshades. According to Shuichi Saito, he eventually shuts himself up with his spiral collection, refusing to go to work and simply sitting there staring at the spirals. Eventually, his wife Yukie Saito decides that he needs to go to work and throws away his spiral collection, infuriating him, in which he retaliates with physical and verbal abuse. Mr. Saito refuses to eat anything that does not have spirals on it, becoming angered when there are no spiral-patterned fishcakes in his miso, but resolving the problem by stirring a whirlpool in it. Eventually, he begins to create spirals with his own body, by curling his tongue like a chameleon and making his eyes spin in separate directions. Ultimately, he dies by breaking his bones when curling his entire body into a spiral inside a large, shallow barrel.
Etymology[]
- The surname Saito means "religious purification/purification, Buddhist food, room, worship, avoid, alike" (斎) (sai) and "wisteria" (藤) (to).
Movie[]
- The name Toshio means "talented, handsome" (俊) (toshi) and "hero, manly" (雄) (o).