Ryohei Higashikata

"He's been working as a policeman for 35 years. He never got promoted. But he's been working hard to protect the people of this town everyday."

- Josuke Higashikata about Ryohei,

Ryohei Higashikata (東方 良平) is a tertiary character featured in the fourth part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Diamond is Unbreakable.

Ryohei is Tomoko's father and Josuke Higashikata's grandfather. He is a policeman who patrols the streets of Morioh.

Appearance
Ryohei is a middle-aged man with a large cleft chin and short, graying hair. He wears a typical Japanese police uniform for springtime consisting of a hat with an emblem on the front, a coat with a white dress shirt and a dark tie underneath, and trousers.

Personality
Ryohei is a humorous and carefree man. He enjoys playing jokes on his family, such as when he points a toy gun at Josuke. Additionally, he can be lenient when enforcing the law, especially with his family, as he lightheartedly ignored a man's plea to have Tomoko arrested after being assaulted by her. However, Ryohei is overall a respectable police officer who takes his job seriously. He is dedicated to keeping Morioh safe and takes on a more serious attitude when he learns of any crimes. Despite his age, he is willing to work night shifts. He also has never been promoted in the 35 years of his work, but he remains as dedicated as he always has been in protecting Morioh.

Upon returning home from night shifts, Ryohei always drinks a glass of brandy.

The film adaptation of Part 4 emphasizes his nobility of character and love for his town. As a policeman, Ryohei does everything in his power to not only protect Morioh's inhabitants but also trying to support them. Despite his age, he actively participates in arresting criminals and routinely patrols the town. When dealing with some of the more benign delinquents of the town, Ryohei scolds them but also offers a helping hand to set them in the right path.

Ryohei seems to be a respected and loved member of his community, as his room is covered in "thank you" messages from the children of the town and he tells Josuke to "believe in the people of Morioh". His one regret seems to have been the murder of the Sugimoto family which he couldn't prevent nor solve and he keeps blaming himself for this perceived failure. Ryohei also loves his family and expresses joy in spending time with Tomoko and Josuke after a hard day of work. Ryohei exercises seriously to keep in shape, and is shown to be able to kick a door open.

Background
Ryohei was born around 1944. He has a daughter with an unnamed woman in 1962, who they name Tomoko Higashikata. Two years later, he joins the police force, serving as a police officer in Morioh for 35 years. One day he manages to arrest the murderer Anjuro Katagiri.

Diamond is Unbreakable
Ryohei passes by on a bicycle as a man reports to him that the woman walking away had just assaulted him after he had asked to give her a ride. He demands that she be arrested but Ryohei refuses and explains that the woman that the guy cussed out was actually his daughter, Tomoko. Ryohei disregards the man's request and goes to accompany Tomoko home.

The next day, Ryohei returns home after working overnight and asks Josuke how was school. Josuke explains that he is waiting for somebody to come over soon and that Ryohei should go bother Tomoko instead. Josuke walks to the window to talk with Jotaro, but while doing so, Ryohei sees the bottle that contained Aqua Necklace. Tricked by the Stand to think it was a simple whiskey bottle, Ryohei opens it, causing the Stand to escape and attack him. Turning around, Josuke finds Ryohei injured on the ground bleeding from his eyes and mouth. Josuke is able to heal his physical wounds but realizes he is already dead. His room is left as it was before Ryohei's death, as a symbol of his memory until his daughter gets the courage to take care of his belongings, and his death causes Josuke to vow to rid the town of Morioh from evil Stand users. Aside from Josuke and Jotaro, it was believed that his death was caused by a brain tumor.

Live-Action Film
Ryohei has a more prominent role in the movie, being the driving force that moves Josuke's actions. A running theme is him wanting to protect the city of Morioh.

He's first seen during the arrest of Anjuro Katagiri who had murdered a local resident named Yamashita. Ryohei later reappears to lecture a young adult named Masaya Yoshizawa who quit his job, advising him to call him whenever he needs help. When Masaya's friend dies due to Aqua Necklace and the former attempts to rob a convenience store under Aqua Necklace's control, he becomes saddened and punishes Josuke for putting a civilian in danger.

At dinner with his family, he remarks how happy being with them makes him. When he falls asleep, Tomoko mentions how Josuke is starting to look like his father but Josuke says that if he looked like anyone, it would be his grandpa Ryohei.

The following day, he´s seen exercising so he can become stronger in order to protect Morioh. After Josuke captures Aqua Necklace in a bottle, Anjuro changes the color of the water to resemble Ryohei's alcohol, tricking him into drinking it while his grandson is preparing the bath for Tomoko. Josuke attempts to heal him when he finds the bottle missing but it was already too late.

Before his funeral, Josuke goes through a sketchbook in his room detailing the mysterious murders of Reimi Sugimoto and her parents. Tomoko tells Josuke how Reimi was Ryohei's source of encouragement and he regrets not being able to protect her the most. He was awarded a watch for his 20th year of service but he smashed it against a wall, believing he was a failure of a policeman if he couldn't even save a young girl. Since then, he didn't care for promotion and only strived to protect his town. Some of the attendees to his funeral were Koichi and Josuke's admirers.