Kiyoaki Matsugae

Kiyoaki is the aristocratic heir to the proud samurai Matsugae name in imperial Japan of 1912, when Japanese society is a rigid hierarchy. Kiyoaki attends the best schools but is little interested in his studies. He is a dreamy, passionate youth who falls desperately in love with the young Satoko Ayakura when he is 18 years old. The two have been raised in the same Ayakura household for a part of their childhood because Kiyoaki's father wants his son to become familiar with the ways of true nobility. Kiyoaki is a sensitive, melancholy young man who exhibits all the unrealistic romanticism of youth. Having lived the sheltered life of an aristocrat, Kiyoaki is ignorant in the ways of the world and inexperienced in love. His passion for Satoko causes him to break all the rules of the aristocracy in pursuit of her. He eventually falls ill because she has...