Kaeko Kaneko

**Overview**
Gallery

**Kaeko Kaneko** (金子 花枝子, *Kaneko Kaeko*) is a young noblewoman and the daughter of the executive of Mitsubishi zaibatsu.

## Appearance

Kaeko is a young Japanese woman with fair complexion, long dark hair adorned with a ribbon, stern arched eyebrows, and full lips with a defined cupid bow. She wears a kimono decorated with butterfly patterns.

## Personality

As noted by Kikuta, Kaeko has a stern personality, which is why it was difficult for her to get married while she studied in the Peeress' School. Kaeko is in fact a stubborn and determined person, however, she is not as strict as her looks might suggest.

Kaeko is quite talkative and enjoys humor. She prefers when others listen to her and nod to what she says — a quality that most men she met before Sugimoto lacked. When it comes to love affairs, Kaeko cares greatly about appearance and looks of her possible mate, even more than she does about their social standing.

Kaeko is very passionate about things she wants. She has shown to be resourceful it trying to achieve her goals. However, she is also rather naïve and can be overtaken by her emotions. When Kaeko found out about Sugimoto's real identity, she still wanted to marry him and reassured him that his wealth or status don't matter to her at all as she has fallen in love with him.

Kaeko's maid Hamako Yamamura believes that Kaeko's wish to marry a handsome man is explained by her lost self-esteem. By getting a hold of a handsome man, Kaeko wants to prove herself to everyone and her school friends who left before graduating to get married. Hamako thinks that Kaeko is a great student at both scholarly and athletic ability and a wonderful woman, too. Kaeko's kind and caring personality is further confirmed by Kaeko's work with the women's association and helping injured soldiers and war widows.

## Background

For quite some time, Kaeko was enrolled to the Peeress' School, where wealthy young women typically are expected to get married before graduation. However, she couldn't find a suitable marriage candidate, and, when she got desperate, she contacted a marriage agency. Through the agency she met Hiro Hanazawa, who was looking for a bride for her son Yuusaku Hanazawa. In their correspondence they discussed "stealing Yuusaku's virginity", something that Hiro wanted Kaeko to do in order for her son to leave the Regiment and live in safety.

Hiro's husband Lord Koujirou Hanazawa found out about their plan and tasked the 1st Division Commander in Tokyo to sabotage it. Sergeant Mokutarou Kikuta came up with an idea to send a different man to the marriage interview instead of Yuusaku, which ended up being Saichi Sugimoto. Kaeko and Sugimoto, who she assumed was Yuusaku, met at the Imperial Hotel and had lunch together. Despite Sugimoto's mistake at the table, Kaeko was utterly charmed with him.

## Trivia

* Kaeko's appearance may be based on Asabuki Isoko, a Japanese poet and world class tennis champion. She was one of the first Japanese women athletes to gain international recognition.
* The man Kaeko becomes romantically involved with is likely Shibusawa Eiichi, a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism".