Jumonji Yasao

In Promise of Death, (Shi to no Yakusoku), the 2021 Fuji TV Japanese adaptation of Appointment with Death, Jumonji Yasao is the parallel character of Jefferson Cope. He is a tax accountant and managed the financial affairs of the Hondo family which, at the time of the events in the plot, was ruled by the wealthy widow Mrs Hondo (the Mrs Boynton parallel).

Jumonji Yasao's role in the adaptation matches that of Cope in the original fairly closely. Like Cope, Jumonji is interested in one of the Hondo family, Hondo Nagiko, the parallel of Nadine Boynton. Here, Jumonji says he has known her as childhood friends since primary school days. When Nagiko became disenchanted with her marriage, he hoped to marry her after she left her husband.

Like Cope, Jumonji encounters the Hondo family (by plan or coincidence--this is never revealed) at the Kuromon Hotel and joins the family seeing the sights at the Kumano shrines. Like Cope, he gives Sara Kinuko background information on the dysfunctional Hondo family. Here, Sara is with Suguro (Poirot) as Théodore Gérard is not featured in the plot.

His roles in subsequent events is slightly greater than in the original as he becomes a material witness. While walking back to the tour bus, he saw Mrs Hondo apparently fighting with a tengu (a mythical creature dressed in white). This would later turn out to be the killer attacking Mrs Hondo. In the original novel, Cope never witnessed anything. As with Cope, after Mrs Hondo's death Nagiko tells Jumonji that she cannot leave her husband. Also like Cope, Jumonji takes this bravely, saying that all he wants is for her to be happy. However, while Cope ends up with Carole Boynton in the original story, here, Jumonji does not end up with anybody.

The part of Jumonji Yasao is portrayed by Tsubokura Yoshiyuki. Note that Imdb and some internet resources list the character name as Jumonji Kota (surname Jumonji, firstname Kota). However in the show dialogue, Mrs Hondo calls him by the firstname Yasao. The others, including Nagiko, address him as Jumonji-san.