Sojiro Sakura

Sojiro Sakura is a character from Persona 5. He is the manager of Café Leblanc in Yongen-Jaya. He is Futaba Sakura's adoptive father, and oversees the care of the protagonist during his probation in Tokyo.

Appearances

 * Persona 5 / Royal: Supporting Character; Hierophant Confidant
 * Persona 5 (Manga): Supporting Character
 * Persona 5: Mementos Mission: Supporting Character
 * Persona 5 The Animation: Supporting Character
 * Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight: Cameo
 * Persona 5 Strikers: Supporting Character

Design
Sojiro is a middle-aged man. He has slicked-back dark hair with a receding hairline, gray eyes, a chinstrap beard with a goatee that flares out and wears glasses.

His usual outfit consists of a pale pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, pale khakis held up with a white leather belt and white loafers. While working at Leblanc, he wears a black apron with a white pinstripe design on it and has his pants legs folded up to mid calf. During his off-time, he wears a white two-button blazer and a white trilby with a red-white-and-blue striped hat band.

His winter outfit during the third semester added in Persona 5 Royal consists of his usual outfit, but with his pants cuffs completely rolled down, a black double-breasted jacket, a salmon pink scarf, and a black trilby with a solid dark red hat band.

Personality
Sojiro is cold and strict to the protagonist upon first meeting him, begrudgingly taking him in as a favor to a friend. Like many characters in the beginning of the story, he is cautious of him due to his probation, even stating that he will do very little if the protagonist gets himself into trouble and threatens to kick him out if he violates his probation. He is a rather cynical person, warning the protagonist that he should be careful who his friends are and chastising him for getting involved in the affairs of others, even if he was trying to do the right thing. However, Sojiro seems to have a soft spot for cats, as he instantly changed his mind about throwing Morgana out of the house, after hearing him meow, claiming that he was just too damn cute. He also made him something to eat right away, despite claiming that feeding him was the protagonist's responsibility.

However, as the protagonist continues to live with him, Sojiro slowly builds trust in him, allowing him to go outside at night, first around the area then anywhere around Tokyo and even beginning to teach him to make Leblanc's signature coffee and curry. He also begins to joke around with the protagonist more, seeing that the protagonist is not the delinquent that his probation makes him seem like. Eventually, he opens up to him about his past with Wakaba Isshiki and her daughter, Futaba, up to and including why he took in the latter after the former's death.

Sojiro is a very smooth talker and often charms women with choice words, stating that he was "quite the ladies man" in his youth. He takes an immediate liking to Ann Takamaki, commenting on her kindness and even asking if she has a boyfriend. Despite this, Sojiro has never been married and has only truly loved one person ever: Wakaba. Wakaba's "suicide" became one of his biggest regrets in his life, due to the fact that he took her warning that she may die soon as a joke. It is also part of the reason why he adopted her daughter, Futaba, though he considers this a selfish reason since it's just his way of atonement. Despite the life she lives as a shut-in, he allows her to do so knowing that her mother's death haunts her and to atone for doing nothing even after Wakaba foresaw her impending death. At times, he wonders if he really is the best person to raise her.

After the protagonist helps Futaba to leave the Sakura residence and learning of both of their involvement in the Phantom Thieves, he begins to stand up for the protagonist and becomes supportive of their efforts due to their goal of taking down Masayoshi Shido, a man responsible for Wakaba's death. Once he finds out that the protagonist and Futaba (along with all their other friends) are part of the Phantom Thieves, he accepts it and promises to keep their secret, despite them being some of the most wanted people in Japan at that point. This is largely due to the fact that he always suspected that there was something more behind Wakaba's death, but kept his nose down because he didn't have any real evidence.

Persona 5
Sojiro is a former government official who was in contact with the research center Wakaba Isshiki worked for. After Wakaba died in a traffic incident, which was supposedly a suicide, Sojiro took in Wakaba's daughter Futaba. He became particularly concerned with Futaba's safety and avoid anyone from approaching her because Wakaba sent him an SOS message just before the fatal incident. To hide from Wakaba's potential enemies, Sojiro left his job and became the owner of Café Leblanc.

Through a customer who knows the protagonist's parents, Sojiro promised to look after him during the protagonist's probation period as a favor. He warns the protagonist not to get into trouble in school and avoid getting into further trouble with the wrong people. As his legal guardian during his probation, he gives the protagonist the top floor of Café Leblanc to live in the year and hands him a journal for him to record his daily activities throughout the probation. When being asked privately by Yusuke Kitagawa the actual reason he took the protagonist in, he confesses that he saw his younger self in the protagonist.

Sojiro was initially neither aware nor interested in Phantom Thieves of Hearts' heists until Futaba became involved. He is asked by a public prosecutor, Sae Niijima, regarding Futaba as she is trying to investigate about Wakaba. Sojiro refuses to answer any of her questions including letting her meet Futaba until she threatens to remove his custodial rights over Futaba. The protagonist, who received a request from Futaba under an alias, tries to ask Sojiro about her as well, but Sojiro also refuses to tell anything and tells him to concentrate on school. After the protagonist and his friends enter Sojiro's house to give him sushi as a means to talk to Futaba, he is forced to reveal Futaba's existence to them and asks him to keep her out of their business.

After Futaba's heart is healed and her Palace fades, Sojiro is surprised and pleased that Futaba has finally left her room and is socializing with the protagonist and his friends. However, Futaba's sudden change makes Sojiro suspicious that her heart was stolen by the Phantom Thieves. His suspicions are ultimately confirmed when he discovers the Calling Card for Futaba in her room when he was cleaning it. He immediately confronts the protagonist and Futaba about the calling card where he learns that not only is the protagonist a Phantom Thief, but also their leader. He is initially angered by this revelation but Futaba calms Sojiro down and explains that the protagonist saved her and is ultimately the reason why she is outside and no longer haunted by her mother. Sojiro then reveals the truth about his past, and how he had realized that the Thieves' methods have some similarity with details of Wakaba's research. Hearing Futaba's wish of wanting to find her mother's killer, Sojiro immediately rejects the idea. However, after seeing how determined both Futaba and the protagonist are, Sojiro promises to keep their secret and allows them to continue their activities under the condition that if it gets too dangerous, they must stop acting as the Phantom Thieves.

Following the protagonist's arrest, Sae, under Futaba's instruction, helps the protagonist escape after he fakes his death and brings him to Leblanc, telling Sojiro to hide the protagonist for a while. Despite not knowing the full story, Sojiro did as he was told, hiding him for a while. He then brings the protagonist back to Leblanc where Sae and his friends are waiting. After hearing the full story, Sojiro shows his support by allowing the Phantom Thieves to discuss their plan downstairs instead in the protagonist's room upstairs. When the Thieves realize that a man named "Shido" is the leader of the Conspiracy, Sojiro immediately realizes that it is Masayoshi Shido. He also reveals how he had suspected Shido being behind Wakaba's death and how he had kept it as a secret to prevent the Thieves from going after him, fearing for their safety.

When the Thieves hijack the airwaves to announce their plan to steal Shido's heart instead of using a calling card, Shido's subordinates arrest Sojiro, knowing that he knows the identity of the Thieves. However, he is released immediately after Shido's Treasure has been stolen, both due to a lack of evidence and their inability to get a confession from him.

Persona 5 Royal
Sojiro's role in Royal is largely identical to the base game, although he was seen being harassed by debt collectors on the 9th of April. During the traffic jam the next day, he also talks about a 15-year old girl who died because of a car accident. Sojiro also texts the protagonist, which does not happen in the base game.

He would also happen to have Takuto Maruki visiting his shop while the protagonist and his friends are on their school trip to Hawaii. Asking about the book Maruki brought with him, the councilor revealed that he is studying a book about cognitive psience. Disturbed by the topic he recognized, Sojiro attempted to make Maruki leave until Futaba intervened and entered into a discussion with the doctor about their thoughts on the subject as well as Futaba's feelings in coping with the loss of her mother.

Taking Back Reality
Should certain conditions be met to unlock the third semester, the protagonist has the option to hang out with Sojiro and Futaba at Leblanc on Christmas Eve (unless he is not in a relationship with anyone at that point, in which case it becomes a mandatory event). In that event, Sojiro would continuously deny Futaba's demands for turkey due to expenses needed to cover the damages to the shop caused by Shido's men. As a joke, he gives Futaba a small amount of money that would not be enough to buy a turkey, but was surprised that she returned with both the turkey and a cake for them to eat, having apparently won them in for free.

On Christmas Day, Sojiro would go shopping for food for the protagonist's friends' party at Leblanc. He found Morgana who returned in his cat form after the battle with Yaldabaoth, and carried him back to Leblanc as a surprise for the group. Later on New Year's Eve, he serves toshikoshi soba to the group, Sae Niijima and Kasumi Yoshizawa to celebrate the coming of the New Year.

As soon as the New Year started, the protagonist notices signs of how something is not right with Sojiro and Futaba. This includes them eating breakfast together with Wakaba Isshiki, who was supposed to be dead, and their recognition of Morgana in 'human form'. After Goro Akechi arrives at Leblanc, Sojiro treats him like another customer, seemingly not recognizing his face.

It is soon revealed that Sojiro, like the entire general public, is under the influence of Takuto Maruki's ideal reality. He is seen being happy with Futaba and Wakaba while shopping in Akihabara.

Eventually, Futaba would deny Maruki's reality on her own. This made the Wakaba of the altered reality disappear and restored Sojiro's memories to adhere to the original reality, without remembering what happened in the past few days, aside from a strange sense of deja vu.

Should the protagonist accept Maruki's reality instead, Sojiro is seen at Leblanc while the protagonist's group are enjoying themselves in their party. Afterward, he offers the protagonist to stay in the café until he graduates from Shujin, as the protagonist's parents had allowed him to do so, offering to live with him like a father and son. In the altered reality ending credits, he is seen with Wakaba and Futaba, now attending Shujin as a first-year student, seeming to be content with the family he has.

After the Phantom Thieves succeeded in defeating Maruki and restoring their original reality, they sought Sojiro at Leblanc to ask for the protagonist's whereabouts. Sojiro wondered about why he felt he saw him recently but soon explained to them that their leader is in jail in order to testify against Shido as a witness and picks them up from jail once their innocence is proved.

Sojiro would later participate in a meeting with the Phantom Thieves as per Ryuji's request, where he listened to them talk about needing to split up for their future (even encouraging Futaba to reveal her plans for the future as well). Praising everyone for their growing maturity, Sojiro is willing to make them a big meal to celebrate, though became reluctant to go through with it when Futaba declared his offer as an 'all-you-can-eat'.

Should the protagonist be in a relationship with anyone, Sojiro would assist him with a 'recipe' for the ultimate date for White Day that includes flowers, a visit to the Aquarium, and a last-minute reservation at the restaurant where the owner owes favors to him.

If the protagonist is not in a relationship with anyone however, Sojiro would remark about thinking of Valentine's and White Day as days to show appreciation to people they care about. The next day, the protagonist would get him flowers as thanks for his support and care over the year. Despite being baffled at being given flowers by a teenage boy on White Day, Sojiro appreciates the gesture nonetheless and advises him to find his soul mate to give flowers to next time. If the protagonist ends up cheating on his relationships, after they beat him up, Sojiro manages to calm them down but warns him to keep the story consistent.

In the epilogue credits, Sojiro is seen at Futaba's door and smiling while watching her write a letter to the protagonist.

Confidant
Sojiro's Confidant can be unlocked on April 20th. Ranking it up allows him to teach the protagonist about Leblanc's signature coffee and curry recipes which can be used as SP recovery items in-dungeon. Each time the Confidant ranks up, the protagonist's Kindness is also increased by 3 points.

Making coffee or curry first requires Leblanc to not have any lingering customers and will also consume the day's night slot. However, taking time to make the food item themselves also provides progress towards advancing the Confidant, and is sometimes imperative if the protagonist wants to get to the next rank. If the protagonist's Confidant relationship with Sadayo Kawakami is high enough to call her to make coffee or curry, the protagonist can spend 5,000 yen to get her to make the food item in their place. However, to continue further than rank 4, the protagonist must complete Futaba's Palace, and to advance it past rank 7, the protagonist needs max Kindness.

Sojiro's story revolves around Leblanc and his relationship with Futaba. The protagonist makes a deal with him to learn to make coffee in exchange for assisting with Leblanc's customers. In the early stages of the Confidant, Sojiro is continuously harassed by a cheerful man with clearly ill intent. Sojiro explains that he is an old acquaintance who is in great debt and hoping to extort money from him. Over the course of helping, Sojiro begins to see the protagonist in a new light and teaches him to make curry, even sharing a bit of his past and explaining his recipe was invented by a brilliant scientist, later revealed to be Wakaba Isshiki, Futaba's mother.

Once Futaba recovers from her depression and joins the team, the truth of Sojiro's situation comes to light. The cheerful man harassing Sojiro is actually Youji Isshiki, Futaba's uncle and Wakaba's brother. Sojiro had taken custody of Futaba when he learned her uncle, her last remaining blood relative willing to house her, had been abusing her. Her uncle agreed only when Sojiro gave the inheritance fund to him, but even then continues to extort him by threatening to take legal action once he learns of the protagonist's criminal record and Futaba's shut-in lifestyle. Futaba, wanting to defend Sojiro, digs up her uncle's personal information to prevent him from filing a lawsuit, but Sojiro only chides her for her illegal activity and blurts out that he hasn't given her a proper home. Futaba takes it as him not wanting her and runs off, and Sojiro confides in the protagonist that his making Wakaba's curry for Futaba and serving coffee were just excuses to remain distant. The protagonist helps Sojiro and Futaba reconcile, with Sojiro offering to let Futaba stay with him and thanking the protagonist for reminding him not to take the path of convenience to avoid making efforts in life and relationships.

Though Sojiro's relationship with Futaba is healed, Youji still demands more payments from him, but Sojiro calls him out on his bluff. Youji attempts to take his frustration out on Futaba, but is tripped when the protagonist pulls her away, running off declaring to sue Sojiro and shut down Leblanc for "assault" by the protagonist. Futaba and the protagonist decide to go alone to Mementos to track down her uncle's Shadow, who, once his heart is stolen, explains that he recklessly gambled due to desiring the success he had the first time he won the jackpot out of jealousy for his brilliant sister's success. The change comes too late, though, as Social Services arrives with Youji's report, but Futaba and the protagonist make it clear that they and Sojiro care for each other as family, with Futaba even calling Sojiro her "dad." The workers are convinced the claim is falsified and leave, and Sojiro treats the two to a good dinner in joy at their words.

Once the bond is maxed out, Sojiro goes to the church with Futaba and the protagonist to pay their respects to Wakaba. He tells him that he avoided coming out of guilt but now can face her without regret and that Futaba's uncle has dropped all charges. Based on the point in the game, Sojiro either merely wonders if Youji merely had a change of heart or knows the protagonist caused it. Sojiro offers to be a pillar of support for the protagonist in return for showing him the importance of family and allowing him to finally be at peace, and originally asking him not to form a romantic relationship with Futaba, as the idea of the protagonist calling him "Dad" would be awkward, though following it up by saying "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

Sojiro's farewell gift after maxing his Confidant is the Recipe Note from Wakaba, which allows the protagonist to make Master Coffee and Master Curry once the Hierophant Confidant has been re-established in New Game Plus. The protagonist still needs to get the Confidant to the minimum ranks of 2 and 4 to make those items respectively. It was personally given to Sojiro so Futaba still has something positive to remember her mother by. Sojiro passes it on to the protagonist to remember him and states that he no longer needs the note as he has the recipe memorized.

If the protagonist completes his Confidant, Sojiro goes to the police station and is interrogated by a detective. He only states the truth and that he would protect the protagonist from the police's attempt to smear incriminating evidence on him. On the game's last day, should the protagonist have established a max rank Confidant with Sojiro, Sojiro thanks the protagonist for his time with him and hands him the recipe for both Leblanc's coffee and curry, stating that he has both recipes and methods memorized. The protagonist, in return, gives him the journal he had been writing all year as a keepsake. As the protagonist leaves Leblanc for the last time, Sojiro looks at the protagonist's journal with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes.

Persona 5 Strikers
Sojiro reappears in the sequel/spin-off of Persona 5, appearing at the start of the game to once again host the protagonist when he returns to Tokyo for his summer vacation. However, when the Phantom Thieves discover the apparent return of the metaverse in the form of Jails, and are implicated for a series of mass changes of heart across the nation, they are forced to investigate to clear their names. After taking down Alice Hiiragi, the thieves are asked to travel to Sapporo in look into another incident. Realizing their lack of means to get to Hokkaido on their own (after being advised to not take airplanes or public transport in fear of attracting unwanted attention), they turn to Sojiro, who so happened to have an acquaintance with a RV, but had been complaining that they lacked the time to actually drive it. Sojiro gets the Thieves their ride, and sees them off as the begin their journey to investigate the phenomenon of Jails and Monarchs.

Etymology
Sojiro's name may be inspired by Sakura Sōgorō, the legendary village head during Edo period who appealed directly to shogun for tax reduction for his villagers but ended up being executed for this very action.


 * The name Sojiro means "all" (惣) (so), "cure" (治) (chi/ji) and "son" (郎) (ro).
 * Sojiro's surname Sakura means "help, aid" (佐) (sa) and "warehouse, storehouse, barn, treasury, granary, cellar, magazine, godown, depository, elevator, storage place, repository, supply shed, grain elevator, stockpile, arsenal" (倉) (kura).

Trivia

 * Sojiro's tone for the "Coffee good for you, eh?" dialogue in the Palace deadline cutscenes changes depending on the player's progress. If they fail to clear Kamoshida's Palace or Madarame's Palace in time, his voice is begrudging and cold as he still considers the protagonist to be a delinquent. However, if they fail to clear each subsequent Palace in time up to Niijima's Palace, his voice becomes milder and friendlier as by that point he considers the protagonist his family.
 * Sojiro shares his distinctive goatee with Daisuke Jigen, the confidant of Arsène Lupin III, the thief protagonist of the long-running Lupin III media franchise.
 * His personal car is a slightly modified condor yellow Porsche 356, which is shown when he comes to take the protagonist home from prison.
 * Mementos conversations in Royal reveal that Sojiro is a very good driver.
 * Sojiro is the one of the only adult Confidants who is commonly referred to by first name rather than surname. All other adult Confidants are referred to by their last name, bar Sae Niijima.