Kaneko Hiromasa
Character Profile[edit]
| Name: | Kaneko Hiromasa |
| Date of Birth: | Unknown |
| Service: | Lady Arikawa, Japanese Empire |
| Rank: | Official |
| Nationality: | Japanese |
| Billets: | Unknown |
Biography[edit]
Kaneko Hiromasa is a Japanese official, or country-gentleman, who saved William Laurence's life after Laurence was found, nearly dead, after the shipwreck of the Potentate. Kaneko was also the master of Junichiro.
Laurence could not work out Kaneko's exact ranking, but he judged that Kaneko was a reasonably wealthy man of some position, due to his numerous servants, the size of his estate, and Kaneko's engaging in important affairs due to the quantity of papers in his study.
Kaneko had sworn a vow to the kami Jizo for the sake of his (recently deceased) wife and son, promising to protect and aid any person in need he encountered; Laurence became the beneficiary of this vow. The Japanese official also took an interest in Laurence's jeweled Chinese sword, confiscating it and telling Laurence that the Japanese government officials had decreed that "only a samurai may bear a long sword".
Kaneko is also the companion of the dragon Lady Arikawa.
