Tatsuo Kusakabe

Tatsuo Kusakabe (草壁 タツオ Kusakabe Tatsuo) is the husband of Yasuko Kusakabe and the father of Satsuki and Mei Kusakabe who works at a college as a professor of archaeology.

Appearance
Tatsuo has brown hair and brown eyes; he wears a red vest and blue trousers, and a white under shirt. He also wears thick black glasses.

Personality
Tatsuo is a very good father who does his best to keep Mei Kusakabe and Satsuki Kusakabe happy when Yasuko Kusakabe is in the hospital. He believes in the imagination of his daughters and understands their belief of Totoro. He is kind and patient.

My Neighbor Totoro
In the beginning of My Neighbor Totoro, Tatsuo, Satsuki Kusakabe and Mei Kusakabe are seen in the moving truck, moving to a new house. When Mei and Satsuki believe that the house is haunted, he tells them that he always wanted to live in a haunted house. Later in the story, when Mei decides to go exploring, she leaves Tatsuo in charge of her 'flower shop.' When Mei claims to have seen Totoro, he believes her, saying that it is probably a forest spirit. That night, in a windy evening, the family scare away the spirits in the house. He, Satsuki, and Mei laugh a lot to make the soot sprites leave, which are seen leaving the house that night.

Later, he misses the bus home due to a late train. Upon arriving at the bus stop he finds Satsuki and Mei waiting for him, and learns Satsuki also saw Totoro, who gave Mei a present of acorns. Some time later, he is working late at night when he hears the sound of a flute. Looking up at the trees, he appears to see the Totoros from a distance when Mei and Satsuki play acorn flutes with them. Since they were too far away to make out clearly he likely assumed them to be owls.

Towards the end of the film, he goes to visit Yasuko Kusakabe. He says he is worried about Satsuki, who is trying really hard to be an adult and be there for her sister. After she says she is getting better, they find an ear of corn with "For Mommy" written on it.

Relationships

 * Mei Kusakabe (younger daughter)
 * Satsuki Kusakabe (elder daughter)
 * Yasuko Kusakabe (wife)
 * Granny

Etymology

 * Tatsuo's surname Kusakabe means "grass, herb, weed" (草) (kusa) and "wall" (壁) (kabe).

Trivia

 * Tatsuo looks very similar to Okino in Kiki's Delivery Service.
 * It is unknown if Tatsuo ever knows about Mei running away.
 * Tatsuo in the original Japanese version is voiced by Shigesato Itoi, who is best known for creating Nintendo's Mother series.
 * Tatsuo's Troma voice actor, Gregory Snegoff, is actually the son of Alexandra Kenworthy (the voice of Yasuko in the same dub of the same movie) and the widower of Lisa Michelson (that of Satsuki).

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Tatsuo Tatsuo Kusakabe となりのトトロ 草壁達郎