Hisashi Suou  

, 周防 久志

The summer season has arrived once again; it's time for silk-white robes to be spread out on the "mount of heavens perfume" to dry. this is where our reigning karuta meijin resides, who possesses an exceptional level of intuition among all current players and holds 28 one-syllable cards. suou began playing karuta during his university years and quickly rose to the title of meijin within three years, holding it for four consecutive years. despite being widely recognized as a godlike player, he remains constantly on the lookout for someone stronger than himself. suou is an enigmatic genius who often struggles with hunger and finds it difficult to get excited. he has repeated his university year four times. meanwhile, our current meijin is quite unusual; at first glance, he may appear like a typical university student, but in reality, he stands tall, sports a questionable beard, speaks extremely quietly, and adores japanese confectionery. his favorite idol is "kyoukotan" (yamashiro kyouko), a professional karuta reader whom he once asked for a recording of her reading the poems after presenting her with a gift of confections. this meijin only wishes to engage in battles with strong opponents, which is why he rarely participates in tournaments. in an interview, he expressed his desire to become meijin for the fifth time in a row before retiring.