Ginjiro Nezu

Ginjiro Nezu (根津 銀次郎, Nezu Ginjirō) is an elderly hunter who carries a rifle. He lives on Hitogashima Island and appears to know something about "shadows".

Appearance
Ginjiro is an elderly man with gray hair, beard and moustache. He wears an eyepatch on his left eye and is usually wearing a red hat.

Plot
Ginjiro hears Shinpei and Mio talking about Shiori seeing herself and tells them its a shadow. Ginjiro then explains that shadow sickness used to be common on the island before the war, and those afflicted see their shadow and later gets killed by it. The shadow then takes their place in the family and kills the family too. His grandfather told him that those afflicted would go to Hiruko to be cleansed.

Ginjiro was in his house, when he saw the red light in the sky, where everyone on the island got consumed.

On the fourth July 22nd, Hizuru meets with Ginjiro and tells him that the whole Kobayakawas are shadows. As their numbers increase, Ginjiro states that there must be one that can produce more shadows. Hizuru guesses that shadow Shiori drowned Shiori and erased her, and then acted as the one drowning and later killed all of the Kobayakawas. She gives Ginjiro her second phone and asks him to call her if it rings.

Shinpei soon calls the phone and after both introduce themselves, Ginjiro tells him to return to the funeral hall alone. He tells Shinpei to stand still and then shoots his shadow on the ground. Confirming he is a human, he calls Hizuru and invites Shinpei to the fourth battery. As Shinpei comes, Ginjiro explains that they have a questions too and that to solve Hizuru's note code, he must know she is Ryunosuke, but that is only something he knows or if a shadow had copied Hizuru, however, Shinpei is human. Hizuru reveals herself and after a short conversation she guesses that Shinpei is a time traveler, which Shinpei confirms.

Shinpei explains the events of the shadows and Hizuru believes him as her family was killed by a shadow. Ginjiro points out that they will be going after Hizuru as shadows always go after the rest of the family. Shinpei then starts worrying about Alain, but Hizuru states she killed his shadow. Ginjiro tells Shinpei that once a shadow is killed, the person it was copying gains immunity and can never be copied again and that he is an example of that. Shinpei wants help to kill shadow Mio, but Hizuru wishes to deal with the Kobayakwas first. Shinpei tells them that Shiori was at the festival and must had escaped Hizuru and wants to join them.

In front of the Kobayakawas house, Hizuru tells them Ginjiro and Shinpei to stay. She listens to her phone and then enters the house. Shinpei wonders what she was listening to and Ginjiro tells him that Ryunosuke doesn't have Hizuru's memories. Shinpei then guesses that Hizuru has dual personality and Ginjiro sort of confirms. He tells Shinpei that Hizuru found her dead brother fourteen years ago with bite marks, but they were a distraction for the strangle marks on his neck. No one believed her it was a murder and they cremated his body. Ryunosuke texts them that he killed Asako and Tetsuo, but Shiori went on the third floor. Since Shinpei may be correct, they are moving to Plan B. Soon, Ryunosuke texts them that Shiori would escape from the window and as she does, Ginjiro starts shooting at her with a nail gun, but comments he missed the third pin and Shiori manages to escape past him. Waiting at the corner, Shinpei jumps and tackles her. She attempts to escape and bites him, but Ginjiro pierces her three times and tells Shinpei to let her go as once a shadow is pierced three times, it can't move. They question her and learn that she killed Ushio and that she believes she is reborn and the is now the real Shiori. Ryunosuek then kills her, stating that if you talk too long with a shadow, you will be misled. Ryunosuke introduces as Hizuru's younger brother. He guesses that Shinpei likes her novels, but Ginjiro states he is actually a freaky fan of her work. That surprises Ryunosuke as it wasn't mentioned in the notes, but he then punches himself and Hizuru takes over. They form a plan and head towards the Kofune house. Hizuru tells Shinpei to continue doing what he would normally do, while they wait for shadow Mio.

About 10 minutes before Mio appears, Ginjiro tells Ryunosuke to not rely on everything that Shinpei told them as prey can be unpredictable. Soon, Shinpei opens the curtains and Ginjiro and Ryunosuke see Mio inside. Ginjiro then blows her head through the window and Shinpei kills her. Afterwards, Hizuru decides that they will stop working with Shinpei as he intends to stay with shadow Ushio.

Having a bad feeling about the sewers, Hizuru turns into Ryunosuke and along with Ginjiro they go underground. They encounter and kill some baby-like shadows. Ryunosuke and Ginjiro reach a dead end with metal bars blocking the way, but realize that shadows travel underground through the many tunnels. Ryunosuke wonders if they should go out and look for another entrance, but Ginjiro doubts there is one, at least not for humans, as the path ahead is no longer a normal tunnel, but looks like natural cave. Ginjiro shares that his grandpa told him about the Hiruko cave, a giant cave under Hitogashima. Until halfway through the Meiji period, there used to be an entrance that would show up at Hitogashima port during low tides. However, during the Sino-Japanese war, the army sealed it up. Its said that the cave is where Hiruko settled in after washing ashore long ago. Ginjiro suggests they speak with Karikiri and they would also need metal cutting tools to proceed. Ryunosuke then hears something and they hide. They see Tetsu and Mio coming and Shiori eating the metal bars, allowing them to continue.

Ryunosuke and Ginjiro proceed and reach the cave with sea anemone, which makes Ryunosuke realize they are all shadows. Shiori then appears and Ryunosuke explains that she must acted being killed, but escaped through the cracks and went underground. As Shiori reveals she knows Ryunosuke's name, he realizes its Heine who is using Shiori's memories. The shadow parent also appears and wants to know where the body with Mother's right eye is, but Shiori states she read Ryunosuke and Hizuru's mind, but they don't know. Ginjiro states they should run as they are the ones being hunted and that this isn't a shadow of a human. Shiori warns the shadow that Ryunosuke's shifted, about two seconds ahead. The shadow then shoots at Ryunosuke, but Ginjiro jumps in and takes the bullet. He then proceeds shooting at Ryunosuke, who manages to escape, but also gets shot. Looking at the blood, the shadow states its dark, which means he hit the liver and Ryunosuke won't have much to live.

Etymology

 * The name Ginjiro means "silver/silver coin/silver paint" (銀) (gin), "next" (次) (ji) and "" (郎) (ro).
 * Ginjiro's surname Nezu means "root" (根) (ne) and "haven, port, harbor, ferry" (津) (tsu/zu).