Satoko Houjou

Satoko Houjou 北条 沙都子
Character Information
Classification	Human
Gender	Female
Also Known As	Satoko Hatake Satoko Yoshizawa Satoko Matsūra
Age	11
Birthday	June 24, 1972
Height	137 cm (4'6")
Hair Color	Blonde
Eye Color	Red-Violet
First Appearance	Onikakushi-hen
Relationships	Satoshi Houjou (brother) Teppei Houjou (uncle, legal guardian) Tamae Houjou (aunt) Rika Furude (friend, housemate, clubmate) Keiichi Maebara (friend, clubmate) Rena Ryuuguu (friend, clubmate) Mion Sonozaki (friend, clubmate) Shion Sonozaki (friend) Kyousuke Irie (friend) Miyo Takano (friend)

Satoko Houjou (北条 沙都子, Hōjō Satoko) is a main character in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and the protagonist of the anime-exclusive Yakusamashi-hen. Satoko is an orphaned member of the Houjou family that is widely despised in Hinamizawa.

Profile

Background

Satoko is one of the foremost victims of Hinamizawa Syndrome. As a result of her parents' feud with the Sonozaki family, Satoko was the subject of widespread abuse throughout Hinamizawa. Her abuse at the hands of the villagers combined with her frequent fights with her parents accelerated the symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome. Eventually, Satoko came to the conclusion that both of her parents hated her and became paranoid that the two were planning on killing Satoko on their trip away from Hinamizawa. On the day of the Watanagashi Festival, 1980, Satoko became consumed with her paranoid delusions and pushed both of her parents off of a cliff. Following this, Satoko was admitted to the Irie Clinic as a terminal victim to Hinamizawa Syndrome. Initially, she was to be dissected in order for the Irie institution to study the pathogen inside her brain. However, Kyousuke Irie tests the experimental C103 medicine on Satoko with positive results, and Satoko returns to a stable condition. In order to maintain that stable condition, Satoko must take several shots of C103 every day as well as come into the Irie Clinic every week for checkups.

After her parents' death, Satoko's aunt and uncle took custody of both Satoko and her brother Satoshi. This worsened Satoko's symptoms as she was frequently abused by her aunt. On the night of the Watanagashi Festival, 1982, her brother Satoshi succumbed to Hinamizawa Syndrome and beat their aunt to death with a baseball bat. Shortly afterwards, Satoshi disappeared. Having lost most of her family members, Satoko moved in with Rika Furude and lived together with her for a year.

Appearance

Satoko appears as a very young girl with warm eyes and blonde hair. Depending on the adaptation, Satoko's eye color varies from orangish to red-violet. She typically wears a green school uniform with a yellow tie and black leggings. She also wears a black headband. While working at Angel Mort, Satoko wears a blue maid outfit.

Personality

Despite her bleak past, Satoko generally maintains an energetic and playful attitude. She takes great pride in pranking her using various traps that she devises. Satoko is fairly intelligent; aside from her aforementioned traps, Satoko demonstrates a great capacity for critical thinking during the events of Tsumihoroboshi-hen.

Plot

Tatarigoroshi-hen

Satoko serves as the primary focus of Tatarigoroshi-hen and acts as a muse for Keiichi's actions during the story. She ends up pushing Keiichi off of a bridge, knocking him out and saving him from the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.

Meakashi-hen

Satoko plays a fairly minor role in Meakashi-hen as she rarely actually appears in the story, instead she is mentioned several times by Shion and Satoshi. Satoko is tricked into going to the Sonozaki household where she is strapped to a cross and stabbed to death.

Minagoroshi-hen

Satoko's abuse at her uncle's hands becomes a major plot point of Minagoroshi-hen and acts as a turning point in Rika's determination to either solve the mystery of Watangashi or give up.

Matsuribayashi

Satoko's love for traps becomes a major part of an escape plan in Matsuribayashi-hen; while escaping from the Yamainu, Satoko sets up several traps on a mountain that manage to incapacitate several of the Yamainu soldiers.

Trivia

• Satoko has great difficulty distinguishing between broccoli and cauliflower. Many speculate that this is due to colorblindness.
• Satoko hates pumpkins.
  • Shion Sonozaki once made Satoko eat a full course pumpkin meal.