Toshiki Miyamizu

Toshiki Miyamizu (宮水 俊樹) is the estranged father of Mitsuha and Yotsuha, who, following his wife's, Futaba's death, rejected the Miyamizu Shrine and its traditions to pursue a career in politics. He is shown to be a very busy man and have been the mayor of Itomori for 4 years as of 2013.

He was, under his daughter's suggestion, responsible for the evacuation of Itomori during the Comet Tiamat incident. As all residents survived, he was scrutinized by the media for some supposed "hidden agenda". It is unknown what happened to him at the end of the film, as no mention is made of him in the film past the Comet Tiamat incident.

Appearance
Toshiki is a tall, middle-aged man with a few age marks and a stern face. He has neatly-combed dark grey hair which ends just above his ears. He has slightly sharp, brown eyes and quite thick eyebrows. He is seen wearing his brown business suit and a yellow tie, with a white shirt underneath.

Background
Born as Toshiki Mizoguchi (溝口 俊樹), he is the oldest son of the Mizoguchi family, an old family from Nara. During his youth, while Toshiki's parents were landowners, Toshiki lived alone in his apartment in Kyoto to study cultural history, which is very close to folklore studies. Although he was absorbed in his work, his family was sure he come back home someday and settle down, which is why they had arranged a fiancée for him. He had no particular interest in marriage nor his fiancée, who was the granddaughter of a work colleague and former professor of his, so he left the matter alone.

Approximately 20 years prior to the story, Toshiki came to Itomori town for research. He was studying the ancient beliefs and rituals that persisted in rural areas, which is why he was gathering stories from the elderly residents of Itomori. Hitoha Miyamizu deemed that her daughter, Futaba, was suited for the job. During their interviews, they bonded and a mutual attraction formed between them. Despite having no interest in people around him, Toshiki opened up his heart to Futaba. They eventually fell in love. Although Hitoha initially opposed to their marriage and was against "introducing the blood of someone she didn’t really know into the Miyamizu family", she agreed on some conditions: Toshiki would be formally adopted into the Miyamizu family and he would quit his current job and work for Miyamizu Shrine. Despite Futaba's uncertainty, Toshiki had no problem with this, since he loved Futaba and could continue his research without much difficulty. Soon after, they married in a shinto ceremony, and their daughters, Mitsuha and Yotsuha, were born. Toshiki entered Shinto priesthood and began performing traditions for the Miyamizu shrine with his family.

The four lived a very happy life as a close-knit family, but two years after Yotsuha's birth, Futaba passed away from an illness. Following Futaba's death, Toshiki was devastated because he couldn't do anything to save Futaba. He then rejected the Miyamizu Shrine and its traditions to pursue a career in politics, confessing that he only loved Futaba and not the Miyamizu shrine. Hitoha then ordered him to get out of the house, and although he tried taking his daughters with him, they favored living with their grandmother.

Following this event, he developed a strained relationship with his mother-in-law and eldest daughter. Two years after Futaba's death, he became the mayor of Itomori.

Epilogue (2021)
Although he survived the Comet Tiamant disaster, it is unknown what happened to him. Since Yotsuha lives with her grandmother, and Mitsuha lives alone in her apartment by the time of 2021, it is also unknown where he lives and if his ties with his family still are strained.

Trivia

 * Toshiki was the one who named Mitsuha, since he thought it was fitting in regards to Hitoha's and Futaba's names