Joshu Higashikata

"But I... don't even have that kind of talent, do I...? Even if it's just a little... I have something, right?"

- Joshu Higashikata,

Joshu Higashikata (東方 常秀) is a secondary ally featured in the eighth part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, JoJolion.

Joshu is the spoiled third of Norisuke Higashikata IV's four children and eventually rubs shoulders with Josuke Higashikata without truly becoming a friend. He has an unrequited crush on Yasuho Hirose. Joshu eventually awakens a Stand, Nut King Call.

Appearance
Joshu is an 18-year-old male of average to above-average height and medium build. His eyes are slanted, and in his first appearances, they were curved at almost unnatural degrees. After Yasuho consumes a New Locacaca to regrow her right arm, Joshu loses his right arm. Joshu also loses his left index finger after getting hit by a calamity via a leaflet, after attempting to attack Toru.

His distinctive hairstyle consists of a nearly bald head, with long, straight, rectangular strips of hair that grow from the center of his scalp and only fall towards the front and back of his head, leaving him with eyebrow-level bangs in front, and totally bald on both sides and underneath; Kaato believes it's because he hardly drank milk.

He wears a distinctive cap-sleeved top, with a kind of band collar and a bow tie. A front section is lined horizontally, and he has two upward-pointing arrow shapes on his shoulders. He wears dark pants of a moderate fit with slashes in them, and thick wristbands.

Since his first meeting with Josuke near the Wall Eyes, Joshu has bite marks on his left knee.

Personality
Joshu is an 18-year-old college student and the third of Norisuke Higashikata IV's four children. Entitled, loud-mouthed and self-absorbed, Joshu is the archetypical spoiled teenager.

One of Joshu's most prominent traits is his general unpleasantness. He is rude and disrespectful to not only his regular entourage but also most people he interacts with. In general, Joshu is quite vulgar and regularly insults or disparages those he interacts with. Partly out of resentment, Joshu regularly bad-mouthes Josuke and has at one point mocked him for not having a family. He also has a habit of bantering and playing pranks to his sister Hato. When Hato reveals her unattractive boyfriend, Tamaki Damo to her family, he immediately chuckles at the sight of Damo and also consistently acts rude to his guest. Finally, when Kaato Higashikata revealed herself to her family, Joshu was hostile to her and made it a point to humiliate her by disassembling her clothes (though this was notably in retaliation to her forced entry and insults of his hair). Yasuho notes that Joshu has poor social skills, which is at odds with his educational pursuit of social studies.

Joshu also has violent tendencies and is able to ignore the law for his own interests. For instance, Joshu drew a knife with the intent of using it against Josuke during a dispute after slapping him for seemingly stealing his money. He also stole Zaihei Nigatake's wallet when Nigatake left it on the counter and drew money from his bank account as a petty revenge, justifying it as Nigatake being "dumb enough to have an obvious credit card code".

Joshu is also very selfish and has a self-centered view of his world. His selfishness is showcased on several occasions, for instance when he complains that the center spot in the family photograph is taken from him by Josuke or that his room is given to him, only to be pacified when Norisuke compensates with money. When his father advises him to get a part-time job and give back to society, Joshu merely dismisses this and asks for money. His selfishness goes in pair with an incredibly self-serving view of the world. Joshu asserts that he has a sort of romantic relationship with Yasuho Hirose, calling her "[his] Yasuho" (at the same time ignoring the fact that Yasuho looks down on him and tries to get away from him at every occasion). He interprets Yasuho's gesture of giving him twice as many as Josuke as a sign of her loving him "twice as much" and readily misinterprets Yasuho's words as a solicitation. Moreover, when he finally notices the many instances in which Milagro Man's money gets him even more money, he easily dismisses it as him being lucky and even congratulating himself. In fact, he is mildly arrogant and considers himself as someone on whom everybody counts. However, Joshu harbors some insecurities in private: acknowledging that he has no special talents or achievements, Joshu feels uncertain about his worth. After his father and big brother seemingly die, Joshu also blames himself for not having been able to protect his family and punches himself out of guilt.

Joshu has shown to be superficial and spendthrift. After stealing money from Zaihei Nigatake, Joshu indulges in a shopping spree, wastefully spending it for things such as a luxurious wristwatch, buying nine seats at the movies just so he can sit alone in the center, or going to a hostess club flicking miscellaneous things into the women's chests, openly stating that he prefers women with large breasts. He also wastes money on merchandise of the idol Rena Nanami.

Joshu seems to easily distrust many people and organizations. He has stated a disbelief in God, that the prospect of flying in an airplane frightens him, and has a reluctance to drink or eat pancakes made with milk a day older than its printed expiration date, comparing it to crossing a rickety bridge. Likewise, he became highly suspicious of a value package of fish sausages, trying to record the length of said sausages to discover any foul play.

The only person Joshu ' s been shown to fully respect is Jobin Higashikata, his older brother. Joshu admires and praises Jobin's achievements and abilities, and is able to put up with Jobin's own jabs at him. He also has a roughly playful relationship with Hato. They share some bonding moments but most of their interactions are petty dispute and pranks. Joshu also interacts little with Daiya, acting more or less aloof toward her. During the recent events shaking the Higashikata Family, Joshu did show a small degree of loyalty to his family. After the family's orchard burned down, Joshu seriously proposed that they convert the estate into a matsutake mushroom hunting tour or a bamboo spring hunting tour so that they would have a some income. When Tsurugi truly fell ill from the Rock Disease, he had no idea what to do but at least tried to cheer up and motivate Norisuke in finding a solution together. When Yasuho's life was in danger, it is implied that Joshu disobeyed Jobin's orders and actually acted to save Yasuho from his older brother, pushing the phone in which Paisley Park was in near a power outlet while Jobin planned to kill it. After Norisuke and Jobin seemingly die before his eyes, Joshu ultimately gathers the will to act and comes out to save Yasuho and perform an Equivalent Exchange to save her, although he doesn't fully realize the extent of what he has to sacrifice.

Stand
Joshu's Stand, Nut King Call, allows him to easily disassemble or fuse objects and people by planting nuts and bolts in them. These nuts and bolts act as physical objects that can be seen and felt by non stand users, the bolts themselves have been shown to cause no pain to the target when fused into them or when detaching pieces of them. The fusing or dismembering can be either permanent or temporary based on Joshu's wishes. Nut King Call was originally activated subconsciously but over the course of JoJolion, Joshu has learned to be more proficient in his use of his stand.

Personal Skills
Joshu has a level of fighting competence, shown when he easily overtakes a newly-awakened Josuke who has shown to be proficient in unarmed combat.

Background
Prior to the events of JoJolion, Joshu presumably lived a normal life, being unaware of every supernatural phenomenon in Morioh. During his youth, Joshu became friends with Yasuho Hirose, with whom he eventually fell in love. Joshu applied to study Sociology in college, noted by Yasuho as ironic given his lack of social skills. He and Yasuho also kissed once.

Meeting Josuke
When Yasuho rescues Josuke from under the rubble at the Wall Eyes, Joshu immediately misunderstands the situation and tries to attack Josuke with a rock out of jealousy. He is quickly taken out by Josuke, who uses Soft & Wet to plunder Joshu's eyesight. Joshu is later seen at the hospital, having received the same bite marks on his leg that Josuke had. Joshu is jealous to see Yasuho with Josuke, but reassures himself by believing that she loves him more since she gave him a bigger box of.

The Higashikata Family welcomes Josuke among them, to Joshu's frustration. What more, Josuke is given Joshu's room while Joshu is moved to another room. Norisuke shuts him up by handing him money. The family decides to take a commemorative photo and Joshu is livid to see Josuke take Yasuho's hand and bring her close thus he mentions that Jobin is absent, making Norisuke cancel the photo.

Joshu tries to acclimate himself with Josuke's presence. One morning, Josuke borrows Joshu's razor and shaves using Soft & Wet's bubbles; Hato and Joshu's faces end up being covered in his hair as a result. Later, Joshu surprises Josuke holding his clothes and thinks that he is stealing money from him. Refusing to hear Josuke, Joshu slaps him and prepares to use a knife on Josuke but Norisuke intervenes and defuses the situation.

"Shakedown Road"
The next day, at the breakfast table, Josuke asks Norisuke for a cell phone as well as the chance to go to school. Norisuke agrees but orders Joshu to escort him. Joshu tests Josuke with a trigonometric problem, which he solves, before Joshu asks him to walk with him to a different high school as a favor. Josuke and Joshu travel to Shakedown Road, known for its community of hustlers. Joshu hopes to record himself being robbed in order to complain with evidence to the police for an earlier crime. Arriving there, Joshu unknowingly breaks a child's "compact" toy before her mother demands compensation; as does Josuke a turtle tank in a nearby store window, apparently killing the turtles inside; for which the store owner extorts Josuke for ¥20,000 and a plan to pay off ¥330,000. Joshu captures the event with his phone; discovering that Josuke had stepped on leaves, rushed almost instantly to the tank, and then back, unaware. This intrigues Joshu.

Three thugs then confront Josuke and accuse Josuke of having made one drop his cell phone into a puddle. Watching another recording just made, Josuke sees himself again slide backward, knock into the man, then return to his original position, again unaware. The men propose that Josuke deliver a package underneath a nearby flower pot to a nearby woman as compensation. Having been set up to exchange an illegal substance, the two are soon arrested by a pair of police officers also observing.

Meanwhile, Joshu has realized how the scattered gingko leaves are responsible for instantaneously transporting people and objects. He positions himself to intercept their exchange of money and seizes an envelope before running away. The dealers notice Joshu's sleight and give chase, easily catching up using the ginkgo leaves. A thug prepares to beat him but a nut and screw suddenly materialize on one of his hands. Confused; the man unscrews it, causing his hand to detach from his wrist. Panic rises among them as his other hand falls and more screws form, before Joshu's Stand, Nut King Call, is fully revealed. Joshu escapes. Catching his breath in a playground, Joshu is happy to have outwitted everyone and expresses some sympathy for Josuke. However, he discovers that his stolen money is in fact composed of leaves.

Paper Moon Deception
Later, Joshu notices that Josuke has used his phone to call Yasuho. He seeks Josuke and confronts him, unaware that Josuke is under the effects of Paper Moon King. Josuke is left confused about who is screaming at him. Soon after, Joshu calls Yasuho. However, Yasuho too is affected by Paper Moon King too and mistakes Joshu for Josuke. Yasuho hugs Joshu and tells him that she was waiting for him, which makes Joshu ecstatic about this situation. The misunderstanding escalates until Joshu thinks that Yasuho wants to have sex and he brings her to an unoccupied public toilet. Joshu takes off his pants and begins to undress Yasuho but notices something is amiss. This realization, however, is soon met by Yasuho smashing a cistern's lid against his head, taking him out.

Joshu would later wake up and misremember the incident, claiming to Josuke that they were having a moment.

Every Day Is a Summer Vacation
When Jobin returns from his business trip to Southeast Asia and brings everyone gifts, Joshu receives a fake lobster, while the rest of the Higashikata Family seemingly receive funnier gifts. He mockingly asks Josuke what he's received only to be told that Josuke's been given a precious wristwatch and a rare beetle. At the Higashikata's, the family members are having fun showing each other the strange gifts Jobin got for them. Josuke asks if he can go to Jobin's room, saying he needs advice for raising his stag beetle. Joshu subsequently accompanies Josuke to Jobin's room. Josuke inspects the live beetles, and pointing at one Palawanicus, nonchalantly mentions that his Palawanicus could beat it in a straight fight. Joshu is angry at his conceitedness but Jobin is interested and challenges Josuke to a beetle fight. Josuke uses the opportunity to raise the stacks with a bet. The first round begins between the two Palawanicus. At first, Jobin's beetle gets the upper hand due to its sharpened mandibles and planted female pheromones from a brush, making it push Josuke's beetle to the border of the arena. The tables are turned when Josuke releases the pheromones he planted in the soft rush plants with his bubbles. Josuke's beetle then makes Jobin's beetle flee out of the arena. A frustrated Jobin shaves off his left eyebrow.

Despite his loss, Jobin is enjoying himself and challenges Josuke to another beetle fight, and again Josuke accepts. Moreover, Jobin orders his brother to cheer Josuke on, which Joshu accepts. Josuke then proposes to bet the Lamborghini Jobin owns. Jobin accepts and decides to use a Rosenbergi beetle. As the match begins, Jobin tells Josuke that if he wins, he is allowed to lick Josuke's eyeball. The Palawanicus' superior size and weight enables it to push the Rosenbergi to the border of the ring. However, the Rosenbergi suddenly moves in an unnaturally precise manner, knocking the Palawanicus over and biting off one leg. The Palawanicus is almost pushed over the border as Josuke reads from an encyclopedia that stag beetles instinctively play dead when feeling strong vibrations at their legs. Intrigued that the Rosenbergi could exploit this weakness, Josuke secretly deduces that Jobin could in fact remotely command it. As the Rosenbergi chomps off another leg, Josuke notices liquid oozing from its head. The Palawanicus falls from the ring, but since the clock went over 45 seconds, Josuke has not lost.

Before the second bout, Josuke secretly plunders the scent from Jobin's paintbrush and then inquires about the liquid. Jobin reveals that it's wax, that when melted will cause convulsions in the beetle and eventually kill it, but not before Jobin wins. As the second round begins, Josuke pops the bubbles that plundered the air around this paintbrush, and is baffled to discover that the paintbrush has exuded a temperature as high as 60 °C. As the Rosenbergi slowly overwhelms the Palawanicus with its precise movement, Josuke witnesses a faint apparition of Jobin's Stand. Josuke then realizes that the beetle fight has been a front for a Stand battle. Suddenly Joshu knocks his foot on the tank where the hornet was killed and asks where the lower half of it's body with the stinger went. The abdomen is shown to be near Josuke who is now showing confidence as the Rosenbergi goes mad and convulses. Josuke had planted some of the hornet's poison in Jobin's brush, which eventually killed his beetle, making Josuke the winner. Josuke takes the key and manages to escape even if Jobin wants to interrogate him. Joshu accuses Josuke of wanting the Lamborghini to check its event data recorder but Jobin doubts it. They do check the garage but see nothing suspicious.

Hato Brought Her Boyfriend Home
One day, Hato brings her first boyfriend home. The boyfriend is revealed to be a short and overweight man named Tamaki Damo which greatly amuses Joshu. His amusement eventually turns into dismay as Damo is shown to be extremely awkward and balding even. Joshu is made to serve some champagne to the guest and Joshu notices that his bracelet has slipped out of his wrist. Damo asks where the bathrooms are, and Joshu tells him to go to the door on the right in the corridor. However, Joshu sees Damo briefly entering the room on the left, the pantry. Suspicious, Joshu checks in the room and sees that the cabinet where the CCTV system is stored has been broken. He touches the cabinet but soon realizes that his body is abnormally soft. Before he can call for help, Joshu trips into the sink where the water washes him away.

However, Damo is soon defeated by Hato, assisted by Josuke. Joshu eventually comes out of the sewer, unharmed.

Milagro Man
Two weeks prior to Kaato Higashikata's release, Joshu asks for money from his father Norisuke as he wishes to buy idol items. After the meet-and-greet, Joshu spends time choosing the goodies he wants to buy, only to be cut off by a fellow fan who already chose what he wanted. Upset, Joshu realizes that this man left his wallet on the counter and steals it just as the man returns to find his wallet. In the restroom, Joshu steals all the cash inside the wallet and the cash card, withdrawing from his victim's bank account after correctly guessing the code. Happy to have outsmarted his victim, Joshu indulges himself in a shopping spree, trying to buy an expensive wristwatch, several movie tickets for one showing, and eating in a luxurious restaurant. At the same time, due to many coincidences, Joshu doesn't actually lose his money, but accumulates more and more as he tries to spend it. Thinking that he is lucky, Joshu doesn't pay much attention to it.

However, when he tries to spend his money in a bar, the manager and several security guards interrogate him about the money. To Joshu's surprise, the owner is furious that he is trying to give him the money and mentions a "Milagro Man". For unknown reasons, the owner forces more money into Joshu's pocket and tries to beat him up. Joshu uses Nut King Call to fight back and flees. Joshu eventually notices that the staff put even more money inside his bag, making him feel suspicious. Nervous to have so much money and realizing that whenever he tries to spend his money, he instead receives more, Joshu examines the bills but sees nothing unusual. He decides to gamble in a boat race and wins 3.1 million yen. At first happy, Joshu then notices that the money inside his bag has somehow increased, making it impossible to close. Anxious that someone could discover his money, Joshu tries to hide it inside a coin locker. As he pushes the money inside, Joshu sees that the immatriculation of the bills all finish with "13R". The locker breaks down, letting some of the money fly away, but all the bystander then return the money without asking questions. Joshu then tries to take a taxi home, but the taxi driver then tries to return the money. Joshu insists that he keeps the cash, and the two eventually struggle to have the other one take the money. Joshu accidentally burns one of the bills and sees it multiplying at high speed and to his horror, the money begins to cover him. Joshu wakes up on his home's couch, thinking that he's merely dreamed the past events. However when he returns to his room, it is flooded with money which falls into him. Joshu tracks down his victim, named Zaihei Nigatake, and blames him for what's happening to him. Zaihei, grateful toward Joshu for taking his "curse", explains everything to him. This cursed money which never goes away from its owner is said to have belonged to an arms dealer named the Milagro Man. The Milagro Man lost a lawsuit and went mad, killing his whole family and setting his mansion on fire, burning everything except a single scorched bill. The curse remained inside the money and two years ago, Zaihei unwittingly took the curse in Europe and returned to Japan, living hell waiting for someone to take the curse. Zaihei advises Joshu to have someone take the money and try to destroy it to pass the curse completely. When Zaihei takes a bottle of juice and opens it, Joshu reveals that he planted some of the money inside the wrapping. When Zaihei opened it, he unwittingly tore the bills inside, and he sees the money appearing around him and burying him. Zaihei begs Joshu, but the latter departs, cleared of the curse. On his way home, Joshu melancholically ponders his true worth in the world.

Dawn of the Higashikata Household
One day, the matriarch Kaato Higashikata returns. Kaato, berating Norisuke for having never mentioned her, comments on how Daiya, Joshu and Hato have grown, exposing herself as their mother. Norisuke rebukes Kaato, saying that Kaato should have called to tell him that she was freed, but Kaato justifies herself that she wanted to see her children as soon as possible after 15 years in prison. Finally, Hato explains that she murdered a child. Unfazed by the revelation of her crime, Kaato demands that she has compensation for her time in prison. Daiya, curious about Kaato, is told by her mother to come hug her, but Joshu pushes a chair and makes Kaato trip. Joshu then begins to antagonize Kaato, then tricks her into undressing herself, exposing his skepticism about Kaato's relationship with the family. Kaato's cards fall over, causing a curious Joshu to pick them up, but a chair suddenly appears from one of them, impaling Joshu in the jaw. Furious, Kaato scolds Joshu for underestimating her and is outraged that her love for her family isn't returned. Kaato leaves, offended.

Ozon Baby's Pressure
Joshu is seen at the Higashikata House, having breakfast with his family as Jobin buries Ozon Baby in the garden. He measures the size and weight of the fish sausages the family is eating in order to find out if the company making them has made them smaller in exchange for having more sausages per package. To his dismay, the family ignores his "investigation" and eats all of the sausages. After Ozon Baby is activated and the Higashikata household is affected by the Stand's ability, Joshu is seen bleeding from the face and unconscious on the couch alongside his father.

Head to T.G. University Hospital
The family's orchard is burned down but the attack on the family stops. Joshu angrily yells at Rai Mamezuku, whom he doesn't know, but the misunderstanding is soon cleared. He accuses him of setting the orchard on fire, but his accusation is quickly shot down by Norisuke. The family, Josuke and Rai discuss what has happened and what to do next. As Hato worries about the family's livelihood, Joshu proposes an idea of how the family could make money: a hunting tour (turned into a bamboo shoot hunting tour in the Spring), as well as adopting  and building a go-kart track. His fantasizing is interrupted by Daiya, who notifies him that everyone else has already left.

The Wonder of You
On the day of the harvest, a string of events result in the Higashikata Family catching Jobin and Mitsuba trying to drown Paisley Park. Joshu is forced to see his family tearing itself apart as Norisuke exposes Jobin's murder of Ojiro Sasame and Jobin induces a heat stroke in Norisuke with Speed King. Unlike his sisters, he has the presence of mind to help Paisley Park escape the house, giving Yasuho a chance to survive. Jobin doesn't act on this. Eventually, the family sees that Jobin is victim of Akefu's Stand attack.

Dismayed by the disasters that have struck his family, Joshu still comes out of the house with the Locacaca in his hands and declares that he will save Yasuho. Blaming himself for not being able to protect his family from the calamities that have struck them, Joshu repeatedly punches himself. Yasuho tells him to seek Josuke or Rai Mamezuku, but Joshu dismisses these options as they may be under attack themselves and he probably won't be able to contact them. Joshu then shows the potted Locacaca to Yasuho, planning to use the Equivalent Exchange properties of the fruit to save his loved ones, beginning with Yasuho. At first, she doesn't want to eat a fruit because they're not ripe yet but the biggest fruit looks ripe. The two hear a noise but Joshu dismisses it as the wind. Yasuho accepts to perform an equivalent exchange and explains the details to Joshu. Too enthusiastic to realize what he's about to sacrifice, Joshu immediately accepts and fantasizes about the bond they're about to make. He sticks himself to Yasuho because he believes they need physical contact, which frustrates her greatly. When Yasuho eats the fruit, their legs temporarily merge, allowing the exchange. Yasuho's arm regrow but Joshu is shocked so see his arm shrink into a stub. While Yasuho prepares for battle, Joshu panics at the loss of his right arm because he wasn't fully aware of what he would sacrifice. Joshu quickly changes his mind due to the consequences of the Equivalent Exchange, and demands to have a second Equivalent Exchange with the only Locacaca left to have his arm back. However, Yasuho refuses, stating that the fruit is for Josuke. This enrages Joshu, who advances to attack Yasuho, even summoning Nut King Call to fight. However, he trips on the potted Locacaca and falls to the ground.

Toru then appears to ask Yasuho to hand him the potted Locacaca. Regaining his senses, Joshu threatens Toru for daring to speak so casually to her and summons Nut King Call. The three of them see something big falling towards them from the sky. Toru grabs Yasuho, insisting that he must take the Locacaca before it is swept up in a calamity, which enrages Joshu. Joshu tries to attack Toru, but a leaf cuts off two of his fingers. Overwhelmed, by the pain, Joshu trips on Yasuho, allowing Toru to take the pot. At the plane slide panel comes dangerously close to Yasuho, Joshu promises to somehow protect her. As the panel nearly reaches Yasuho, Paisley Park suddenly comes out of Joshu's cell phone, bringing one of Josuke's bubbles with it. The bubble then flies towards Toru. The invisible bubble flies towards Toru and pops inside of his abdomen, saving Yasuho from the calamity. Over the phone, Josuke instructs Yasuho to point her phone at Toru once more until she realizes that Toru ate the other Locacaca plant and is now walking towards her. Joshu attempts to stop Toru when he starts sprinting but gets struck on the head by the house's rain gutter due to the calamity. Yasuho finally faces her phone at Toru's direction and is hit by the invisible bubble. Meanwhile, Kaato strangely appears inside the house. He lies still on the ground as Kaato begins to pin down Toru with her ability and use his body for an equivalent exchange with Tsurugi Higashikata who was hidden in her cards.

While Joshu is incapacitated, the exchange is successful with the help of Kaato's Space Trucking - Toru completely disintegrates into the air and Tsurugi recovers, although Kaato is revealed to have been stabbed during when she crushed the branch due to Wonder of U's ability. With the family curse broken, the Higashikata family attend to Norisuke, who is in an incapacitated state, while an ambulance arrives in the estate. Joshu is taken away by the ambulance, still unconscious.

Aftermath
Days later, Joshu completely recovers, and the Higashikata family go to the Higashikata Fruit Parlor to order a cake as a celebration for Norisuke's discharge the next day. Josuke and Yasuho are later invited. While choosing a cake made by the Higashikata parlor, everyone breaks down into tears, including Daiya, Hato, Tsurugi, and Mitsuba. Tsurugi then insists Josuke to choose a cake. With the family reunited once again, Yasuho Hirose sheds a tear before exiting the room.

Family

 * Josuke Higashikata: Joshu's adoptive brother. Joshu initially attacks him during their first meeting, fueled by his jealousy after seeing him nude beside Yasuho, before he is subdued by Josuke himself. Joshu retains a powerful sense of insult after the Higashikata family adopts Josuke and his relationship with Josuke remains neutral later on. When the two pass through Shakedown Road while travelling to school together, Josuke exerts an arms-length reception of Joshu, who persistently curses and discriminates against him. However, during the end of the Radio Gaga Incident arc, he seems to fully accept Josuke as part of the Higashikata family, alongside the rest of his siblings.


 * Norisuke Higashikata IV: Joshu's loving father. While Norisuke spoils his youngest son like with his siblings, Joshu often exploits this, straightforwardly asking his father to give him money to attend a meet-and-greet with his idol. Norisuke considers Joshu a problem child and often scolds him for his attitude.


 * Jobin Higashikata: Joshu looks up to his eldest brother with respect. When Jobin shows Josuke his stag beetle collection, Joshu displays an extensive amount of knowledge on the creatures, implying that his brother may have taught him before. He sides with his brother during his beetle match against his adoptive brother.


 * Hato Higashikata: Unlike with his other siblings, he and Hato share the most quips and antics. They have a playful sibling relationship, as seen from their banters in the household. Joshu likes to tease Hato and in return, she also picks at him. When Hato introduces her boyfriend, Damo, to the family, Joshu wastes no time to devise his plans to tease Damo of his mannerisms and even attempts to fully expose his bald spot by shooting a champagne cork. Nevertheless, the brother and sister love each other unconditionally and both care for the other as siblings.


 * Daiya Higashikata: Joshu's youngest sister. They do not talk with each other much in the household, save for a few family interactions.


 * Kaato Higashikata: Because of their mother having been arrested before they were mature enough to know what had happened to her, both Joshu and Daiya have only known her from the words of their father, who told them that she either died or went missing. As a result, they do not recognize Kaato as their mother during their visit to the Higashikata household after her release from prison. True to his foolish behavior, Joshu makes his own mother trip on a chair and even attempts to undress her. Furious, Kaato uses her mysterious card Stand ability and impales Joshu on the jaw with a chair that appears under one of the cards.

Friends and Allies

 * Yasuho Hirose: Joshu's childhood friend whom he is also in love with. Despite of Yasuho constantly rejecting his feelings, he seems to pursue her no matter what, often with the intention to make Josuke jealous. When she was under Paper Moon King's effects, she mistakes Joshu for Josuke and he interprets her comfortableness with him at the time as her wanting to have sex. However, Joshu realizes something is wrong and stops, only to be knocked out by Yasuho. Later, devastated by his family's tragedy, Joshu tries to protect an injured Yasuho during the calamity cast by Toru and his Wonder of U.

Enemies

 * Toru: Joshu first encounters Toru during his attack on the Higashikata family, and lacking any familiarity immediately determines that Toru is an enemy. Joshu repeatedly insults Toru and attempts to attack him to no avail. Toru pays no real mind to Joshu as a threat.

Creation and Development
According to an early sketch of him, Josuke Higashikata and Yasuho Hirose found in Shueisha Jump Remix, Joshu was originally going to be depicted with long, curly hair. Also, Josuke's Soft & Wet was originally going to have the ability to attach screws to something, but this ability ended up being given to Joshu's Nut King Call.

In the Ultra Jump release of JJL Chapter 57, the text on the cover states that Joshu is 19 years old. However, this is not mentioned in JJL Volume 14 and onwards, which lists him as being 18 on the summary pages.

All Star Battle (PS3)
Joshu appears as a stage hazard and Situation Finish in the Wall Eyes stage. If one of the fighters is knocked down on the "hazard" indication area, Yasuho Hirose backs away in fright, causing Joshu to appear and run through the stage, knocking anyone who gets in his way down with a rock until he reaches her. Afterward, he can be heard having a conversation with Yasuho in the background.

As a Situation Finish, the losing side is knocked out near Yasuho, causing her to scream. Joshu becomes angry, walks up to the downed character, and finishes them off with the aforementioned rock (similar to how he attacks Josuke during their first encounter at the very beginning of Part 8).

Eyes of Heaven (PS3/PS4)
Joshu makes his first playable appearance in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven and was confirmed for the game alongside Josuke (JoJolion), Narciso Anasui, and Enrico Pucci with C-Moon.

Due to Joshu's lack of combat experience, having only recently discovered his Stand at the time of the game's development and release, his skillset is somewhat limited compared to other characters. His inclusion might simply be a result of Josuke lacking a proper partner to team up and have a Special Dual Heat Attack with. However, while sporting a low amount of abilities and skills, Joshu remains a viable fighter regardless. Joshu also has the slowest base movement speed in the entire game, but certain conditions can increase it to the fastest as well.


 * Style Action - What a stupid thing to say.: Joshu stops to make an irritating comment, bragging about his and Yasuho's relationship. This forces opponents within range to lock onto him and automatically unleash a Powerful Attack, and will also boost the Dual Heat Gauge by a considerable amount. Due to this effect, Joshu can easily counterattack if he guards or dodges his target's inevitable attack, and the ability is especially effective against opponents actively attacking his partner. However, Joshu himself is vulnerable upon activating the skill until he utters the first few words of the phrase, and his opponents will of course still land their attacks successfully if he does not defend in time.
 * Whoa! I did that!: Joshu reaches his hand forward, and if he connects with an opponent, he will lift them up by their neck with one hand as metallic nuts fall from their body. He then punches them with his other hand and sends them flying, leaving them Panicked for a short period of time. While Panicked, opponents cannot use any of their skills, nor can they guard, altogether rendering them especially vulnerable. The effect will be lifted early if Joshu is hit by certain attacks or a DHA.
 * The Screw: Joshu trips backwards onto the ground as Nut King Call advances forward with its arm outstretched. If NKC connects with an opponent, it will produce massive bolts that stick out from their bodies, paralyzing them and leaving them open to further attacks. Quickly moving the movement stick around can shorten the time bound.
 * I did it! Me! Ahahahahaha!: Joshu begins hysterically running around at high speeds while holding himself. The skill's cooldown gauge then changes into a depleting timer; if Joshu successfully empties the gauge via his running, he will stop and laugh uncontrollably. This triggers multiple beneficial effects: Joshu gains a temporary boost to attack power and Dual Heat Gauge charge rate, all of his skills will be instantly taken off cooldown at that moment (including EX skills), and a Flash Cancel and Flash Burst is restored if they have been consumed. Joshu can interrupt his run with any action without canceling the skill; the timer's depletion will only slow and Joshu will resume running if no actions are taken afterward. However, if Joshu is hit by or blocks an attack, or initiates a Dual Combo or DHA, the skill will deactivate completely and the cooldown will begin from wherever the timer gauge leaves off.
 * EX - The Screw: The skill activates quicker and Joshu is invincible until Nut King Call begins moving. NKC will move a slight distance further, extend its arm's reach, and deal more damage.
 * EX - I did it! Me! Ahahahahaha!: Joshu runs at an even faster speed. The timer gauge will deplete at a considerably faster rate, and will also not slow down upon him taking action.
 * Of note is that if Joshu has a Soul Succession active, the effects of the movement speed boosts are multiplicative, causing him to accelerate into a superhuman sprint. At his level of speed, he is able to traverse one end of any stage to the other in the few seconds the ability lasts, and he possesses the fastest running speed of any character in the game bar none as long as the skill is active. The speed increase is such that Joshu can even outpace most characters' Homing Dash, making it nigh impossible for any adversaries to catch him without the use of fast projectiles or traps.

JoJolities

 * She even lets me give her kisses...: Joshu must use his Style Action 3 times. (200 Points)
 * Wait... I'm the one doing this! Yeaaaah!!: Joshu must connect "Whoa! I did that!". (200 Points)
 * Gross alert! Gross alert!: Joshu must break a Panicked opponent's health gauge. (300 Points)
 * He's a surprisingly good and honest guy...: Joshu must finish his run after activating "I did it! Me! Ahahahahaha!". (500 Points)
 * What an unbelievably crazy battle!: Joshu must Retire an opponent without losing a single health gauge. (800 Points)

Dual Heat Attacks

 * Solo - Wait... I'm the one doing this! Yeaaaah!!: Joshu, sitting on the ground, realizes Nut King Call has started acting on its own. The opponent suddenly has nuts and bolts embedded into their body when NKC stands up. As the nuts begin automatically undoing themselves from their bolts, the opponent violently falls apart and is soon completely dismantled.
 * With Josuke - We're friends, right?: Joshu and Josuke discuss their "friendship" status as Soft & Wet delivers a punch that downs the opponent. Joshu and Nut King Call hastily move in to finish them off, but fails to notice a bubble by Soft & Wet that steals the ground's friction, making him slip and spin out of control. Accelerating to high-speeds, Joshu is only stopped when he inevitably crashes into the downed opponent as Josuke humorously looks on.

Tournament
He is paired with Diavolo in the Eyes of Heaven Tournament, having been placed in the F Block series of battles to be incorporated into the main Tournament. They were eliminated in the first round by Bruno Bucciarati and Trish Una.

Gallery
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