Yamato Kansuke is a police inspector from Nagano Prefecture. His direct subordinate is Detective Uehara Yui. Yamato lost his left eye in a snow avalanche and now has an X-shaped scar in its place. This same avalanche caused severe and permanent damage to his left leg, forcing him to use a forearm crutch to walk around. Yamato grew up in a small Nagano village with Uehara. Like most people from the village, he greatly admired police officer and town hero Kai Kuroto, who inspired him and Uehara to join the police. One year before the Fuurinkazan Case, Yamato chased a parole jumper he believed to be involved with Kai's mysterious death into a mountain, where he got caught in the avalanche that took his left eye and leg. He was missing and believed dead for several days until school friend Morofushi "Koumei" Taka'aki, also a police inspector, went against orders to track down the criminal and find Yamato. After recovering, he returned to the force and resumed working on solving Kai's death. In contrast to other police inspectors like Megure, Yokomizo, and Yamamura, Yamato is shown to be very serious and hard-boiled. He is often short-tempered and has been known to yell at and intimidate suspects. This aspect of his personality causes him to become quite visibly annoyed with Kogorou's ignorance and Yamamura's goofiness. Still, he does have softer spots, though he does not show them often, and there are hints that he is both aware and accepting of Uehara's affection toward him. With the aid of Conan and Heiji the case was finally resolved, and soon afterwards Uehara rejoined the police force as his partner. Yamato does have a petty rivalry with fellow police detective Koumei, often competing with him to see who can solve a case first. Despite this, they remain very close friends, and Yamato was even willing to run into a burning mansion to save him at one point. Yamato is also aware of Conan's intelligence and is one of few characters who treats him like an adult and equal.