Kokoro characters

Also known as I

Appears from the start

The unnamed young narrator, a university student when he encounters Sensei at Kamakura. Drawn to the older man's reserve and melancholy, he repeatedly visits him in Tokyo and hopes to learn the reason for his isolation.

Also known as Teacher

Appears from the start

A private, educated man whom the narrator first notices at a beach near Kamakura. He lives in Tokyo without a profession, visits a friend's grave each month, and responds to the narrator's admiration with kindness tempered by a deep mistrust of himself and others.

Also known as Sensei's wife, Ojosan

First appears in chapter 10

Sensei's warm and sociable wife. She receives the narrator readily at their quiet home, but she cannot fully explain her husband's sadness or the private history he keeps from her.

First appears in chapter 37

The narrator's aging father, proud of his son's university education and living in the country after retirement. A serious chronic illness makes the narrator's visits home increasingly urgent.

First appears in chapter 37

The narrator's practical, attentive mother. She cares for her ailing husband at the family home and presses her son to seek Sensei's help in finding a position.

First appears in chapter 62

Sensei's uncle, who assumes responsibility for the orphaned young man's family property. Sensei initially trusts him as a parental figure while continuing his education.

Also known as the widow

First appears in chapter 68

The widowed woman who rents Sensei a room after he moves away from his relatives. She runs the household with her unmarried daughter and gradually treats the solitary student as part of the family.

First appears in chapter 80

Sensei's childhood friend and fellow student, an austere young man committed to spiritual and intellectual self-discipline. Estranged from his adoptive family after pursuing a path they opposed, he accepts Sensei's offer of a place in the widow's household.