Yosuke is a clumsy transfer-student who arrived six months before the protagonist. He is often the target for jokes about his lack of muscles and body strength and fights with blunt, double-handed objects such as wrenches, but moreso knives and kunai. The protagonist first sees him crashing his bike into a garbage can, the first of many times, but he doesn't introduce himself to the protagonist until he helps Yosuke by getting him out of a garbage can.

He cares deeply about Saki Konishi and fell into depression after her death. Much of his character development stems from his feelings for Saki and dealing with the hurtful possibility that Saki probably never felt the same way about him that he did for her.

Yosuke doesn't usually think before he says something, which results in him sticking his foot in his mouth, and unintentionally insulting someone, including Kanji Tatsumi about his sexual orientation.

He tends to be a bit of a wannabe ladies' man and has a fascination for girls, forcing the girls to enter a beauty pageant they can't back out of. But beneath most of that (more so in the original game), he shows great insight with decent deducing, and is often on task of the situation on hand, and can be very serious at times. He also tends to keep a good face in order to make sure the team is in their best spirits and he cares a lot about the protagonist, as well as having a strong sense of justice. He's good with people's emotions, offering assistance at Junes. Despite his tendency to be a bit of a pushover, he has a strong vision of the future and displays uncanny deductive reasoning. A notable gag is that Yosuke seems to be at odds with Chie Satonaka several times.

Being an idol fan. Yosuke gets very excited when he sees his favorite idols like Rise Kujikawa or Kanami Mashita. However, he later sees them as friends after seeing their insecurities.

His biggest insecurities are boredom and loneliness. He feels the town has nothing compared to the city and that his life in the city is the reason for his unpopularity. By the end of the game, he has grown to love the town and has made friends with the rest of the Investigation Team and feels accomplished in having a notable contribution to the group.

Along with that, he is described by the other members of the Investigation Team as too nice, even from his own words. This is evident in Persona Q (Persona 4 route in one of the strolls) and by himself in the Persona 4: Dancing All Night storyline (in the pre-story chapter, after Rise is doing her entry). Regardless, his skills in deduction and reasoning place him as the second-in-command of the Investigation Team, as it is hinted that he often discusses things with Yu the most times regarding the team's final decisions.