Masakazu Shindou

Masakazu Shindou (進藤 正和) is a character in ''Hibike! Euphonium''. He is the ex-husband of Asumi Tanaka and the father of Asuka Tanaka, who is described as one of the best euphonists in the world; he is one of the leading figures in the wind-band world and the composer of a book of euphonium pieces titled Hibike! Euphonium, a copy of which he left to Asuka.

Chronology
Masakazu divorced Asumi Tanaka when Asuka Tanaka was very young. Since then, his ex-wife cut off all contact with him, and forbade him from contacting his daughter, and later her daughter from contacting him.

Masakazu did not see his daughter again until she performed with the Kitauji Concert Band at the All-Japan Band Competition, at which he was a judge. Though he assigned the band the lowest rating possible, he added a personal note on the scoring sheet saying that the principal euphonium player was very talented. Not knowing about the relationship between Masakazu and Asuka, Noboru Taki relayed this message to her, noting that Masakazu rarely congratulated individual players when scoring competitions.

Etymology

 * The name Masakazu means "right, proper" (正) (masa) and "harmony, peace" (和) (kazu)
 * Masakazu's surname Shindou means "advance, make progress" (進) (shin) and "wisteria" (藤) (dou).