"Man, it's hot in India!"

- Yōsuke complains to his son about the weather in India.

Yōsuke Sakakibara (榊原 洋介, Sakakibara Yōsuke) is Kōichi's widowed father. He is a college professor and is away in India for the year for work. In the anime, his face is never revealed.

In the manga, Yōsuke has black hair and black eyes. He never directly appears in the anime or film; he is heard on the phone in the former, and mentioned indirectly in the latter.

Yōsuke seems to be cheerful, yet serious. He's also quite funny, even though Kōichi feels as though he is not an ideal father.

Yōsuke is only ever heard over the phone, as he's away in India for work, which is what prompts Kōichi's being sent to Yomiyama in the first place. Though he's often cheerful and flippant with his son, on some level, Kōichi despises him, complaining to his aunt (and later Mei) about his lackluster parenting, which, among other things, has led to Kōichi becoming a proficient chef. Reiko doesn't seem to like him very much, immediately assuming he wouldn't support Kōichi's plans to attend an art college after high school. Kōichi's grandmother later told him Reiko had offered to take him in if Yōsuke didn't shape up as a father.

Yōsuke, being in India, isn't as strongly affected by the curse as those still in Japan, as he occasionally slips up and remembers Kōichi having been to Yomiyama before.