Suguru Shimura

紙村 英（しむら すぐる）、시무라 스구루

Simplified Name: 纸村英
Gender: Male
Age: 36
Height: 172cm
Weight: 57kg
Birthday: July 21
Blood Type: AB

Suguru Shimura is a fictional male character from the series Death Note, a mid-level executive of the Yotsuba Group and one of the core members of the so‑called “Death Meeting” connected to the Yotsuba Kira incident. ## Basic Profile **Name:** Suguru Shimura **Gender:** Male **Date of Birth:** July 21, 1968 (anime: 1971; drama: 1977) **Age:** 36 years old (drama version: 38 years old) **Height:** 172 cm **Weight:** 57 kg **Blood Type:** AB **Likes:** Rugby **Dislikes:** Gambling **Occupation:** Section Chief, Human Resources Section, Human Resources Department, Yotsuba Group **Education:** Graduate of Kyodo University, Faculty of Law **Marital Status:** Single **Family Background (original work):** Raised in a single‑mother household **Family Background (drama):** Son of the president of Kamimura Confectionery **Voice Actor (anime):** Hiroyuki Yokoo **Portrayed by (drama):** Yusuke Yoshizawa ## Role and Background Suguru Shimura works as section chief of the Human Resources Section in the Human Resources Department of the Yotsuba Group. Despite his relatively low self‑confidence, he is considered a capable career man who advanced on his own merits. Among the Yotsuba executives involved with Yotsuba Kira, he is one of the core participants in the secret “Death Meeting.” Unlike most other members, who benefit heavily from their families’ influence, he is originally portrayed as the only one raised by a single mother. In the drama adaptation this is changed so that he is the son of the president of Kamimura Confectionery. This shifts his background closer to the other “inherited status” members, but his inner character remains more conscientious than most of them. He is a graduate of Kyodo University’s Faculty of Law, marking him as academically strong as well as professionally competent. Within the Yotsuba Group’s internal politics, however, his timid demeanor often prevents him from turning that competence into real influence. ## Personality Shimura is timid, somewhat cowardly, and deeply prone to negative thinking. He tends to assume the worst, which fuels his anxiety but also sharpens his caution. Because he constantly worries, he is extremely observant and careful, to a degree unmatched by most of the other members. Even Reiji Namikawa, who is often portrayed as a sharp strategist, openly acknowledges Shimura’s keen eye and careful nature. This caution is the main reason Yotsuba Kira selects him as a member of the Death Meeting. He notices subtle changes in people’s behavior, such as Namikawa’s reaction when he receives a call from L Lawliet during a meeting. In discussions he frequently points out critical issues and hits the mark with his comments. For example, he correctly suspects that Eraldo Coil may be cooperating with L Lawliet, which is very close to the truth from his limited perspective. Despite this, his lack of confidence and weak presence mean that his opinions are rarely adopted. He is easily overpowered in discussions, especially by younger and more aggressive colleagues such as Kyousuke Higuchi. Shimura is also one of the few members with a consistent sense of basic decency. He experiences genuine guilt about the killings and is clearly disturbed by the idea of murder for corporate gain. When the group decides that Touta Matsuda (acting under an alias) should be killed because he might have overheard their Death Meeting, Shimura instinctively tries to stop him when Matsuda, pretending to be drunk, stands on the balcony railing. In the anime version, Eiichi Takahashi joins him in trying to stop Matsuda, emphasizing how Shimura’s conscience is not entirely drowned out by fear. As Yotsuba’s connection to Kira becomes more obvious and the risk of exposure grows, Shimura panics under the mounting pressure. He tearfully confides in Shingo Mido and Reiji Namikawa that he can no longer follow Kira’s crimes and foresees the eventual collapse of both Yotsuba and their own lives. ## Abilities and Skills Physically, Shimura appears slender and not particularly imposing. This makes it surprising when it is revealed that he once had significant athletic ability. In high school, he was selected for the Japanese national rugby team. This achievement shows that he was once a high‑level athlete and still has more physical capability than his current appearance suggests. His main “ability” as portrayed in the story, however, is mental rather than physical. He is extremely sharp‑eyed, detail‑oriented, and able to pick up on subtle cues others miss. He notices suspicious behavior quickly, such as when Namikawa receives a mysterious call from L Lawliet during a meeting and suddenly acts differently. His cautious reasoning also lets him consider connections between characters like Eraldo Coil and L Lawliet, even if he cannot fully grasp the truth. Despite this perceptiveness, his opinions rarely change the group’s direction. His anxious, apologetic way of speaking causes more dominant personalities to dismiss him, even when he is correct. ## Involvement in the Yotsuba Kira Incident Shimura is one of the executives who take part in the Death Meeting, where the Yotsuba Group secretly collaborates with Yotsuba Kira to kill people for corporate benefit. He helps select targets and thus becomes an accomplice to what are essentially profit‑driven murders. Over time, the burden of guilt and the fear of exposure start to wear him down. He anticipates that Yotsuba’s ties to Kira will eventually become public, which would bring ruin to everyone involved. This realization pushes him toward an emotional breaking point. He expresses to Shingo Mido and Reiji Namikawa that he no longer wants to follow Kira’s evil acts and is terrified of what lies ahead. Soon after, Yotsuba Kira dies and Shimura is technically freed from the Death Meeting. However, his involvement in Kira’s crimes does not go unpunished. The “true” Kira, Light Yagami, sees him as a liability who knows too much and has already wavered in loyalty. To eliminate the risk and to pass judgment on those who aided profit‑driven killings, Kira kills Shimura with a heart attack. In the original narrative, Shimura simply dies of sudden heart failure, like most of Kira’s victims. This quiet end is ironically fitting for a man whose voice was so often ignored. In the anime version, his death is made more traumatic. He is forced to witness the suspicious deaths of other members, adding to his terror before ultimately dying himself. In the director’s cut version, his fate is even darker and more explicit. He throws himself onto train tracks in front of an oncoming train, committing suicide after being psychologically driven past his limit. ## Relationships with Other Characters Shimura’s dynamic with the other Yotsuba members is defined by fear, respect, and a lack of influence. He respects sharper colleagues like Reiji Namikawa and Shingo Mido but is not strong enough to steer their decisions. With Kyousuke Higuchi and other more ruthless members, he tends to fold under pressure. Even when he disagrees, he rarely pushes back hard enough to make a difference. His interaction with Touta Matsuda, in the scene where Matsuda stands on the balcony railing, highlights his underlying humanity. Instead of seeing Matsuda merely as a security risk, Shimura instinctively tries to save him, showing that he is not entirely consumed by self‑preservation. His confession to Mido and Namikawa that he can no longer follow Kira’s path is one of his most emotionally revealing moments. It shows a man caught between fear of death, guilt over his actions, and the realization that their entire scheme is destined to collapse. ## Character Traits and Thematic Role Shimura represents the “ordinary guilty man” within the Yotsuba Kira group. He is neither a mastermind nor a sadist, but a weak, fearful person who becomes complicit because he lacks the courage to oppose wrongdoing. His strong negative thinking, while often played for tension and some dark humor, also acts as a form of grim foresight. He correctly predicts that their connection to Kira cannot stay hidden forever and that disaster will follow. The contrast between his athletic, high‑potential past and his hesitant, anxious present adds a layer of quiet tragedy to his character. He had the ability and intelligence to become a different kind of person, but his fear and self‑doubt led him down a darker path. By the time he decides he cannot follow Kira anymore, it is already too late. His death by Kira’s hand (or, in one version, his own hand on the train tracks) underlines the series’ recurring theme that passively enabling evil can be as fatal as actively committing it.