Eishin Nitobe in the manga
Eishin Nitobe is the police chief’s son and an early suitor of Satoko. His courteous offer to buy her freedom and marry her gives way to a violent assault.
Shinpei interrupts the assault and shoots his hand. Nitobe later contacts Satoko’s family about her whereabouts. Jubei intends to use him as a staged rescuer and husband, though the story does not establish that Nitobe helped plan the abduction. The marriage scheme ultimately falls apart.
The respectable rescue exposes how conditional his regard is.
Nitobe initially fits the marriage market’s promise of safety: a well-connected man can pay for release and treatment. His behaviour exposes how little that promise says about respecting the person being rescued.
Chapter references identify the scenes behind each argument. “Our reading” is an interpretation, rather than a statement of the author’s confirmed intent.
An offer becomes an assertion of entitlement
Chapters 6–8 & 48
The police chief’s son offers to buy Satoko out and marry her, then assaults her after drinking. Shinpei interrupts the attack. Chapter 48 reveals that Jubei intended Nitobe to play the rescuer in a plan to arrange Satoko’s marriage.
The violence is a test of his character that pedigree cannot pass for him. Alcohol is present in the scene; treating it as the whole explanation would hide the entitlement expressed in his treatment of Satoko.
His place in Jubei’s scheme also makes rescue a transaction with a desired ending already chosen by someone else. From Satoko’s position, being valuable to a suitor does not guarantee being heard.
