Honma, Joutarou

本間丈太郎

Much like Dr. Ochanomizu, Saruta is visually defined by his large nose, although his is grotesquely spotted. While Ochanomizu typically appears in light and uplifting roles, Saruta is quite the opposite. His two primary roles in Tezuka manga are both in extremely important series: Black Jack and Phoenix. In Phoenix, he is arguably an overarching protagonist for the series as a whole, alongside its title character. He appears in every story, sometimes in a main role, sometimes in a peripheral one, sometimes with a new name and barely recognizable in his character, but always present and important. He is also distinguishable by the sheer amount of suffering he undergoes over the course of his many lives and deaths, as he demonstrates both the darker sides of human nature and the human capacity for perseverance and transcendence.
In Black Jack, he is featured as Dr. Honma Jotaro, once a skilled and famous surgeon later thrown out of the medical community due to jealousy and doubt about his research, who saved young Black Jack as a child, was Black Jack's principal father figure during his life, and inspired him to become a doctor. Since Saruta is the character in Phoenix who best understands the system of reincarnation, life and death, it is appropriate that in Black Jack Dr. Honma is the figure who most frequently reminds Black Jack about the power of nature and the inevitability of death.