Іба Тецудзаемон

A man who speaks in the Hiroshima dialect and holds a deep sense of duty, honor, and loyalty; he is also devoted to his mother (Chikane Iba, the former 3rd Division Lieutenant).

He has trained in and mastered the four arts of *Zan* (sword), *Ken* (hand-to-hand combat), *So* (movement), and *Ki* (spiritual arts) in a balanced manner (he claims this makes it easier to be appointed as a lieutenant).

A former member of the 11th Division, he is a senior to Ikkaku Madarame and Renji Abarai; consequently, he occasionally displays the combative nature typical of the 11th Division. He is portrayed as a stark contrast to Ikkaku in certain ways—such as considering promotion for the sake of his family and accepting recruitment offers from other divisions—and he even once scolded Ikkaku for hiding his Bankai and suffering defeat.

Like Shuuhei Hisagi, he is smitten with Rangiku Matsumoto.

In the final chapter, he is shown to have been promoted to Captain of the 7th Division.

He never misses a day of training in his quest to remain a capable captain, and he always reports for duty straight from the training grounds.

After becoming captain, he began referring to the former captain, Sajin Komamura, as "Komamura-dono" (partly because Komamura dislikes being addressed as "Captain" after having stepped down from the position).