A Girl

An unnamed girl is Noboru's date for the Tanabata Day festival. Like him, she is a university student who embraces the changes wrought by the modernization of Japan.

Makiko

The protagonist of the story, Makiko is a young Japanese widow living in Kyoto, Japan after World War II. She struggles to raise her son Toshi to abide by and respect traditional Japanese values, as Japan becomes more and more Americanized during the post-war period. Makiko is also determined to make Toshi remember his father Yoshitsune, who was killed while fighting American soldiers during the war. Throughout the story, Makiko comes to terms with her own pre-war memories and nostalgia for easier and less complicated times.

Noboru

Noboru is Makiko's younger brother and Toshi's uncle. An energetic second-year student at the local university, Noboru openly embraces the American-driven process of modernizing Japan. He argues with Makiko about this...