A kakemawari who works at Tsuruya. He is Kiryu's senior in the role and showed him the ropes when he got started. It could be said the two have a very unique friendship.

He is very observant, often paying attention to his surroundings and eavesdropping on conversations. However, he is also ready to offer advice to Kiryu when he needs it.

It would seem Ito has a past he keeps hidden away and mentions to no one.

Working at Tsuruya, she holds the rank of "Tayu", the highest rank of yujo. She has a reputation for being the most beautiful and highest-earning woman in Gion.

She looks identical to Ukiyo, a woman who used to live with Kiryu in Omi, but will never talk about her past.

She watches out for Haruka at Tsuruya.

A young girl who came to Gion all alone after someone told her to see Kiryu.

Mistakenly believing that Kiryu will take on any job she asks of him as long as she can pay, she sells herself to Tsuruya for 1 Ryo.

The work she asks Kiryu to take on with that money is to avenge her family by killing Miyamoto Musashi.

An artist who lives in a big mansion on Kawara Street. As a frequent customer of Tsuruya, he has known Ito for a while.

Secretly, he is also an informant and has a large number of shinobi who help him gather information.

At first he only gives Kiryu information in exchange for something, but eventually he ends up cooperating with Kiryu and freely shares information with him.

Like Kiryu, he was also set up at Sekigahara, at the scene of the assassination. In the aftermath, the left side of his face was slashed by Sasaki Kojiro.

While on the run, he saves Kiryu by plunging their pursuers, along with himself, into a valley.

He hails from Omi and has a younger sister living there. He asks Kiryu to find her and give his sword to her.

A woman who lives in Omi. Majima claims she is his little sister, however it would seem they are not blood related.

She hails from a village called "Kiryu" in the Ueno province. Later, Kiryu takes on the name of that village as his own name.

She lived with Kiryu for about a year and, after Kiryu abandons the way of the sword, ends up encouraging him to take up the sword once again.

A top student of Yoshioka Dojo. Though he certainly has skill, he's quite a playboy and built up a lot of debt at Tsuruya. Kiryu took advantage of this and bribed him 2 Ryo for the opportunity to take the Yoshioka Dojo intiation test.

However, it would seem Toji has a secret reason why he wanted Kiryu to join the dojo.

He is the younger brother of the dojo instructor, Seijuro. He distrusts his brother, due to the latter's preference to focus on the family business rather than on the dojo.

An honest character, he receives a lot of respect from top students such as Toji and Ueda. However, he has no real talent with the sword compared to his brother.

He was opposed to the idea of allowing a samurai with a questionable background like Kiryu into the dojo, but reluctantly allowed it after being persuaded to do so by his brother.

The head of the Yoshioka family. He is a genius-level talent with a sword, but prefers to invest himself in the family's dyeing business and leave the management of the dojo to his younger brother, Denshichiro.

However, he took an interest in Kiryu when he came to take an initiation test and, after fighting him with real swords, he talked Denshichiro out of his objections and allowed Kiryu to join the dojo.

The second head of Hozoin. He is extraordinarily talented with a spear. It was in recognising this talent that Inei handed over leadership of Hozoin to him. However, Inei lamented that Inshun had lost sight of his duties as a monk.

He suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Kiryu, but it seems the defeat only increased his desire to fight.

The former head of Hozoin. He trained under the great swordmaster Kamiizumi Nobutsuna and developed the Hozoin style of spear combat.

However, for Inei this was nothing more than a hobby and he has become increasingly concerned with the current state of Hozoin, which is obsessed with martial arts.

He recommended Kiryu for entry to the tournament. It seems he has some reason for doing this.

Kiryu met this man on his journey from Omi to Kyoto. He is the one who helped Kiryu out and gave him a new life in Gion. He also gave Kiryu the name "Kazumanosuke" and the garment embroidered with a dragon on the back.

His true identity is a mystery, but at least we can say he is no enemy of Kiryu.

He is the fencing instructor for the Tokugawa army. Although he is responsible for setting up Kiryu at Sekigahara, you can see glimpses of his compassion for Kiryu in every word he says.

This is something Kiryu also noticed and he always addressed Marume respectfully, right to the end.

As you progress through the story, the mystery behind this compassion gradually becomes clear.

A samurai who uses a long-bladed sword, almost the length of his body. Even Marume seems to be a subordinate of Kojiro, as seen on the night of the assassination at Sekigahara.

His true identity is a mystery, but he serves the house of Tokugawa. It is safe to assume he has a deep connection with Tenkai.

Adviser to Tokugawa Hidetada, the current Shogun. The assassination of Hidetada's older brother, Yuki Hideyasu, was done under Tenkai's orders.

As a result of this assassination, he became an extremely powerful figure within the shogunate.

He now seems to be plotting something new, involving using Kojiro in some way.

The mistress of the largest brothel in Gion. She uses underhanded tactics, such as parading Yoshino on the streets in order to attract attention and buying Haruka for the cheap price of 1 Ryo.

However, she does also demonstrate her compassionate side towards Haruka.

An old man who devotes himself to the invention of strange and rare items.

His purpose in life is to invent new things, and he asks Kiryu to collect items for him to help him achieve this.

Incidentally, he is the one who invented the sake bottle knockdown game played at Yumejiya.

An artist who specialises in painting pictures of animals. His hobby is to investigate cat routes across Gion.

He recognised there was something laying dormant within Kiryu and gives him pictures in order to help him get revelations.

Someone who looks identical to Majima, who fell into a valley early on in the game.

He has made a cave down Forest Road his fortress and wreaks havoc within Kyoto with his henchmen.

An instructor who teachers Kiryu single-sword techniques. He has a dojo in the south-east of Rakugai, but at the time Kiryu came to him business was not going well, as he did not have a single student.

A shugendo practitioner who gives Kiryu mental training at Hozoin temple and River Road.

He teaches Kiryu special heat actions for use in boss fights.

A master of unarmed combat who runs a dojo at the south-east of Gion. He is from the Kawachi province.

He teaches Kiryu various techniques for use when not using a blade, such as when fighting within Gion.

A mysterious man who appears at Rendai field. In return for giving him a mysterious tengu mask, he will teach Kiryu a new two-sword technique.