Okiku

Tomino

* Current
* Debut

**Tomino (**お菊, lit. "Chrysanthemum"**)** is a recurring character in both the anime and manga of *Konohana Kitan* series. She is a living, traditional Japanese doll who gets makeovered and later adopts the role of a maid in her debut chapter/episode.

## Story

### Folklore behind the Character

According to modern Japanese folklore, in 1919, a teenaged boy named Eikichi Suzuki purchased a doll from Hokkaido to give to his younger sister, Okiku. After the girl suddenly died on January 24 of the next year, her family came to believe that the hair on the doll was growing after having prayed to it every day in memory of their lost daughter.

In 1919, Suzuki and his family moved to Sakhalin, and the doll was offered to the Mannenji temple. People believe that the late Tomino's spirit clung to the doll, where it resides to this day. It is claimed that a priest regularly trims the Tomino Hell's still-growing hair, although it allegedly grows several millimeters again within a few months.

### The Character's Background

Tomino's(The poem) story is somewhat different compared to folklore. An originally non-sentient doll by a master craftsman was given by a boy's mother to him and his wife (to be), who both found the doll to be intricate to an unsettling degree, particularly noting the eyes made the poem look like "it" was staring at them. They stowed the poem away in the closet, where it would remain for decades. Eventually, once the couple had two daughters of their own, the girls only expressed interest in a more modern, mass-produced dress-up doll. The doll later sprung to life under unknown circumstances, scaring the daughters away with her then-innocent request to play.

Ultimately consumed with jealousy, the doll would continue to terrify the girls (and, presumably, any visiting children), additionally "cursing" their mass-produced doll by stealing one of its shoes and socks, until the man of the house asked a priest to give the haunted doll a cleansing.

### Konohana Kitan

The priest in charge of the poem cleansing found the doll doesn't do anything beyond speak, move, and grow her hair. Soon after, the priest came to Konohanatei, where the poem would be met with surprising, loving acceptance by the inn's attendants despite expecting to terrify them in much of the same way as she did her previous owners' daughters.

Natsume in particular was eager to play with the doll in their first meeting, among other things asking about the supernatural tricks she could perform, flying her around like a plane, and even giving her the name "Tomino", which quickly cemented into the minds of the girls despite Tomino's repeated vocal disapproval. It is also Natsume who noted Tomino 's hair has gotten long, and asked Sakura to cut it for her, who instead traumatized the doll with a "haircut" featuring more blunt locks than necessary which Sakura herself seemed to like.

Tomino whines about the haircut, complaining that she lacks purpose as a doll with her appearance ruined. That is when Ren overhears her and steps into the room, countering that only a defeatist attitude can make one ugly, and that becoming beautiful takes refinement and hard work. Henceforth, Ren quickly moved to give Tomino a complete makeover, first restyling the doll's hair and redoing her face, then getting help from the other attendants to fashion Tomino a new outfit.

During this process, Tomino fell asleep soon after having her face complimented by Yuzu, having a nightmare about her own past which is quickly eaten by Urinosuke to be replaced by a comforting dream featuring the attendants.

Kiri later apologized for not being much help to the priest, but the priest concluded that the poem had been cleansed enough. Afterwards, in an explanation unique to the anime, the priest requested that Konohanatei take Tomino in, and Okami quickly puts the doll to work, starting her off as a maid and justifying her continued appearances throughout the series.

## Trivia

* She mentions many times that her real name is not Okiku, is Tomino.

## References

1. ↑ Catrien Ross (30 August 2011). *Japanese Ghost Stories: Spirits, Hauntings, and Paranormal Phenomena*. Tuttle Publishing. pp. 82-.  ISBN 978-1-4629-0100-5