Umeno Nazawa is a resident of Nazawaka City and a member of its vigilante corps. He is the second son of Matsuba Nazawa, the previous headman, and the younger brother of Taketo Nazawa.[1]
Appearance[]
Umeno is a square-faced man with a broad build and shoulder-length dark hair. He wears a faded hakama and a beaded necklace. Zoro states that he looks to be in his thirties.
Personality[]
Umeno is a kind man, even giving Zoro food when they met despite Zoro having trespassed into Nazawaka City. He takes pride in his swordsmanship and his job as a vigilante corps member, and sticks to his word, having been willing to bring Zoro to the Mihawk Memorial Museum after losing their duel. However, he can be arrogant, and isn't afraid to seem rude, speaking his thoughts without worrying about what might anger others.
Notably, he is considered both an idiot and failure and an admirable man by the townspeople, with Zoro a split down the middle in their thoughts. Personally, Umeno considers himself only capable of performing night patrols, unable to help Taketo with administrative work.
Relationships[]
Taketo Nazawa[]
Umeno thinks very highly of his brother, and respects him greatly. However, Taketo seems to think poorly of Umeno, intentionally pushing him out of politics to monopolize the headman's power for himself; while Umeno doesn't realize this, Zoro considers it very obvious to everyone else in the town.
Tsubaki[]
Umeno is friendly with Tsubaki, despite the latter's hatred for Taketo, and the two are well acquainted because of their parents' relationship. Umeno was notably willing to overlook Tsubaki attempting to recruit Zoro to assassinate Taketo.
Abilities and Powers[]
Swordsmanship[]
Umeno has trained in kendo since he was a child, and considers himself a skilled swordsman; his swords skills were enough to let him join the Nazawaka City's vigilante corps. Despite this, he was no match for a 17-year-old Zoro, and lost easily.[1]
Other Skills[]
Umeno is a skilled locksmith, a skill he gained from sneaking into places as a child.[1]
History[]
Past[]
During Umeno's childhood, Nazawaka City's embankment was getting dangerously close to collapsing. Village headman Matsuba Nazawa took charge of reconstructing it, and Umeno participated in the project alongside his elder brother. The project was eventually completed seven years ago.
About four years ago, the city's paper manufacturing workshop burned down, killing Matsuba in the process. Umeno's brother Taketo became the next headman, but he refused to rebuild the workshop. Umeno repeatedly asked him to fund the rebuilding, but Taketo always refused.[1]
One Piece novel ZORO[]
While on his nightly patrol, Umeno ran into Roronoa Zoro, who had snuck into Nazawaka City. Zoro demanded to be brought to the Mihawk Memorial Museum, but Umeno refused, and the two fought; ultimately, however, Zoro won, and Umeno agreed to bring him. The two men visited the museum and Umeno opened it using his lockpicking skills, but Zoro was unimpressed with the museum's contents, so they left to walk through the town.
While walking, Zoro revealed his goal of defeating Mihawk and becoming the world's strongest swordsman, but Umeno countered that he was severely lacking in real-life experience to do that. He offered to recommend Zoro for the vigilante corps, and the swordsman accepted, so they went to the headman's estate together. Umeno recommended Zoro be recruited, and after a short duel with another member, he was.
Over the next month, Umeno continued to act as a member of the vigilante corps, going on nightly patrols. One night, he asked Zoro to wake him in time for the patrol, but the swordsman let him sleep and instead went on the patrol himself. Some time later, when Taketo asked Zoro to join him on a trip to the nearby Marine base, Umeno convinced him to accept.
One night, Zoro dragged Umeno back to the Mihawk Memorial Museum, and explained that he and Tsubaki believed Mihawk's Chasing Crane had been hidden inside by Matsuba Nazawa. Incredulous, he agreed to open the museum again and to let Zoro have the Crane if they found it. Zoro also advised that he asked Taketo to rebuild the paper manufacturing workshop, and Umeno revealed that he had asked many times, but Taketo always got irritated and refused. Finally reaching the museum, Umeno briefly scolded Tsubaki for trying to recruit Zoro to assassinate Taketo, before picking the lock to the museum again.
Inside, the trio went to the storage and began looking through boxes. After a bit of searching, Zoro stumbled onto the Crane, and Umeno started cheering. Unfortunately, Tsubaki recognized it; it was simply a paper crane he had made out of Seven-Colored Paper. Recognizing the type of paper, Zoro directed the trio back to the Nazawa Family's estate, where he began digging through trash, to Tsubaki and Umeno's disgust. Finally, he pulled out a crumbled piece of paper, revealing it to be a sheet of Seven-Colored Paper. He offered it to Tsubaki, apologizing for having thrown it out. As they admired the paper, Umeno wondered how it got here, and Zoro explained that he found it in the hallway of the estate with Taketo. Umeno pointed out that all the Seven-Colored Paper should have burned during the workshop burning, so there shouldn't have been any of it here. It slowly dawned on the two men that Taketo must have burned down the workshop himself, pocketing the documents explaining the Seven-Colored Paper's production and killing his father, and nearly Tsubaki's parents, in the process.
With their realization complete, the trio left the estate, where Umeno suggested that they report Taketo to the Marines so they could investigate and potentially arrest him. He told Zoro to let them handle it as residents of the town, and Umeno and Tsubaki went down to the Marine base. They were able to meet the commander due to Umeno's position, and explained what they had learned; the commander promised to begin an investigation immediately, taking the Seven-Colored Paper as evidence.[1]
Trivia[]
- The ume (ウメ?) in Umeno's name means "plum". When paired with Matsuba ("pine") and Taketo ("bamboo"), they form the shōchikubai (Pine-Bamboo-Plum), three symbols of the Japanese New Year.
- In the shōchikubai, plum represents beauty and optimism.
- Coincidentally, shōchikubai sounds similar to shichibukai, the Japanese term for the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
References[]
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