Yoshio Sato

[Serpico*]

Name: Yoshio Sato
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12th Grade
School: Aurora High School
Hobbies and Interests: sports, football team, music, movies, cooking and word games.

Appearance: Particularly tall at six-foot-one and weighing at 104 kilos (230 lbs), Yoshio has a muscular build and is lightly tanned. His skin is dry and he has to use moisturizer for it sometimes. His face is slightly long; he has a pointed jaw, high cheekbones and a somewhat wide forehead. His nose is straight and his eyes are almond shaped and brown. His lips are thin and when he doesn't smile it tends to make him look very serious. He has short pitch black hair and sometimes uses styling gel to spike it up.

He often wears a brown short sleeved shirt, a black and white shemagh around his neck and a grey jacket. He wears simple jeans which are supported by a studded black belt and then simple black shoes. The most recognizable item in his wardrobe is his black baseball cap which has his name embroidered on it.

Biography: Yoshio hails from the Niigata district of Japan; his family is currently living close to Nagaoka city. His father works locally while making enough money for the Sato's to live a modest but comfortable life.

Yoshio is the eldest of four children. He has one brother named Jiro who is considered a trouble maker. Jiro often clashes with authority figures, much to Yoshio and his mother's dismay. His other siblings, twin sisters, are named named Miyu and Chihiro. Yoshio can't tell them apart from the back or in the dark and as such they are able to prank him easily. The twins are more responsible than Jiro despite being younger and can often be seen helping Yoshio with household tasks.

Yoshio's mother Kaeda is a strict woman. Yoshio follows her rules exactly while Jiro does not. Jiro is slightly resentful towards Yoshio because his mother always compares the two boys to each other. As for Yoshio's father, Souta, he is often working to support the family so it is rare to see him at all. Souta's relationship with his family is mostly a good one despite not seeing his children often. Yoshio and his father had a fishing trip before Yoshio left for America; this is very rare and Yoshio was grateful to spend time with him before he had to leave. Yoshio's father would not make it in time to say good bye at the airport.

As a child, Yoshio was outgoing and one of the most competitive at sports; his mother and father encouraged this and allowed him to join soccer groups. Later Yoshio would branch into football and settle in well amongst his team.

Yoshio did not excel at any theory subjects at school and the highest grade he ever got amounted to above average. His weakest subject is Science; however he gets high marks in Gym/P.E. He has a basic knowledge of first aid, knowing CPR and how to make simplistic slings and splints. This is something he learned from an extra course he did back in Japan. He was good at many sports, excluding swimming as all he can manage is a weak doggy paddle. His best sports are contact sports, his favourite one is football and he hopes that his time in America will open up opportunities for a sports career. Yoshio joined the football team. He serves on his team as a offensive lineman; specifically he is one of the offensive tackles.

He is currently residing with the Jenkins family during his long term exchange; they are a childless couple that treat him with love and respect. Every few days he will stop by a cake shop to pick up some sweets for them as his way of saying thank you even though they insist that it isn't necessary. Occasionally he will cook dinner for them if they are too busy; he says that it's good to practice for home economics even though he does not take such a class.

He has difficulty speaking sometimes and his accent is still very strong making him a little difficult to understand. When he speaks it may sound very formal and he does not understand most slang terms. Yoshio is slowly adjusting to life in America and as such is less outgoing than he would be at home. He generally keeps his opinions and criticism to himself, choosing to avoid confrontation. He can have very harsh opinions but he will very rarely express himself, opting instead to keep a polite attitude.

Yoshio's fears and anxieties relate to the ocean; despite living near it his whole life, he is scared of the deep ocean. At the beach he might go into the shallow water but when he gets too far he will simply turn around. His fear started when his brother Jiro started to drown at the beach. They were both small, but Yoshio jumped in the water to save him anyway. Jiro clung to Yoshio, and they both began to drown. After they were rescued, Yoshio never took to the water the same way again

Yoshio is single and wants a girlfriend but he has difficulty asking anyone out due to the fact that he lacks the confidence to do so and because of the language barrier. He also knows that when he returns home a long distance relationship will be too demanding and would rather not be a bother. When he interacts with others he is slow to make friends but careful to maintain good relationships. He tends to avoid people that he does not agree with.

Yoshio applied for a foreign exchange program because he wanted to see what America was like. It was his intention to find new experiences and meet interesting people. Though this meant that he would be separated from the family he was so close to, it would give him a nice change of scenery. Soon after he arrived he would get homesickness and call to see how his family was faring. He found his mother's voice very reassuring and would call at least once a week. Since arriving at the beginning of the year he would begin to adjust to his new lifestyle, and he found that he didn't regret making the choice to travel abroad. Since arriving from Japan his experience has been good enough for him to want to apply for further education in America, preferably in Seattle.

Yoshio enjoys a mixed range of media, film, music, animation, as well as some comics and manga. He'll happily talk about his favourite films and music but always ends up talking about the Beetles as they are his favourite band. Other hobbies include playing word games by trying to make as many English puns as he can, occasionally he will cross these over with Japanese puns. Though it helps him to improve his English he can be a little slow to pick up jokes and euphemisms give him the most difficulty. He carries a Japanese to English dictionary for when he encounters unfamiliar words.

Advantages: He has a muscular body type and is quite large; if he was ever in a hand to hand situation he would likely have the advantage. Due to playing football he is a good runner with a powerful tackle and his common knowledge first aid might be helpful, though he cannot perform miracles.
Disadvantages: He has a fear of large bodies of water and is a weak swimmer. He may have difficulty communicating with others. His social circle is small as he is less outgoing than he would be at home. Reading in English proves to be difficult and he sometimes requires the aid of a Japanese to English dictionary.