Naomi (Megumi Naomi Nakane)

The narrator and main character of the novel. Naomi, a thirty-six-year-old schoolteacher, is both tormented and fascinated by her childhood memories. She has endured a great deal, and has coped with her painful past primarily by forgetting it. As an adult, she has made her own way in the world. She feels a strong attachment to Obasan and Uncle, the people who raised her, but does not see them very often. She is not close to her brother, Stephen, and has no family of her own.

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Uncle (Isamu/Sam Nakane)

A boatbuilder. Uncle’s given name is Isamu. He is Grandma Nakane’s son by her first husband, Grandpa Nakane’s cousin. Uncle is older than his brother, Naomi’s father. He marries Ayako, whom Naomi calls Obasan (aunt). Uncle is a quiet, kind, and steady man. A good husband to Obasan, he is also an excellent provider and father figure for Naomi and Stephen.

Obasan (Ayako Nakane)

Uncle’s wife. Obasan’s given name is Ayako. Like Uncle, Obasan lost her father when she was a child. Although she is quiet and traditional, Obasan is also a woman of steely strength. She takes responsibility for Naomi and Stephen after they are orphaned.

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Emily Cato

Naomi’s fifty-six-year-old maternal aunt. Aunt Emily is unmarried and lives in Toronto. A firebrand and lover of words, Aunt Emily couldn’t be more different than Obasan and Naomi’s mother. She has no patience with notions of traditional Japanese femininity. Instead, she prizes speaking up loudly and often, and standing up for one’s rights. It is she who nudges and prods Naomi toward a full understanding of her personal history.

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Stephen

Naomi’s brother. Stephen is three years older than Naomi. As a child, he reacted to the privations of World War II with quiet sullenness. As a man, he is restless and mercurial. He is very successful and has lived in London, New York, and Montreal. Always musical as a child, he becomes a lauded concert pianist. Spending time with his family makes him deeply uncomfortable, as does anything that strikes him as “too Japanese.”

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Mother

Naomi’s mother. A kind and gentle woman whose approach to parenting and being a woman resembles Obasan’s, Mother goes to Japan to tend to her sick mother and never returns. She is the focus of Naomi’s obsessive love and thoughts.

Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane)

Naomi’s father. An elegant man, Father helped Uncle design and build boats. He is something of a dreamer. While in the work camp, he sends Stephen letters full of musical instructions, as if he is writing a leisurely missive from a spa. He comes and goes in and out of Naomi’s life in a way that totally mystifies her. She is almost never sure where he is or what he’s doing.

Grandpa Nakane

Naomi’s paternal grandfather. Grandpa Nakane was a boat builder and the first of Naomi’s grandparents to move to Canada.

Grandma Nakane

Naomi’s paternal grandmother and Uncle’s mother. Grandma Nakane was imprisoned in Vancouver Hastings Park, an internment camp, during World War II.

Dr. Kato

Naomi’s maternal grandfather.

Grandma Kato

Naomi’s maternal grandmother. Grandma Kato prizes silence far less than her daughter. It is Grandma Kato’s letters that finally reveal the truth about what happened to Naomi’s mother. Initially she agreed not to speak, hoping that keeping quiet would dull the pain, but eventually decides that only by sharing her grief will she ever have any hope of easing it.

Nakayama-sensei

An Anglican minister. Nakayama-sensei happens to move around more or less in concert with Uncle and Obasan, winding up in Slocan with them.

Nomura-obasan

An elderly, ill woman with whom Naomi, Stephen, and Obasan share their house in Slocan. Surprisingly, Nomura-obasan recovers enough to return to her daughter’s care.

Old Man Gower

Naomi’s next-door neighbor in Vancouver. Old Man Gower molests Naomi on multiple occasions. He is a manipulative and cunning man who has the audacity to pose as a generous friend to Naomi’s father.

Rough Lock Bill

A solitary, gruff, but kind man who lives near the lake in Slocan. Rough Lock Bill saves Naomi from drowning.

Mrs. Sugimoto

A friend of Naomi’s mother. Mrs. Sugimoto is a fussy, prying woman who falls apart when her husband is forced to move to an internment camp.

Uncle Dan

An intelligence officer for Canada in the Far East. Naomi is not related to Dan, but calls him Uncle because he is such a close friend of her father.

Eiko and Fumi

Aunt Emily’s friends during wartime.

Kenji

One of Stephen and Naomi’s classmates in Slocan. Kenji leaves Naomi to drown in the lake. Under government orders, his family goes to Japan.

Miyuki

Another Slocan classmate of Naomi’s. Miyuki is delicate and well dressed.

Sachiko

A high-school aged girl Naomi knows in Slocan. Sachiko cares lovingly for her grandfather, Saito-ojisan.

Saito-ojisan

Sachiko’s grandfather. Saito-ojisan is an aged, shaky man.

Mr. Barker

Owner of the beet farm on which Naomi’s family works. Mr. Barker is a man of good intentions, at least when World War II is a distant memory. However, the fact remains that he allowed his workers to live in subhuman conditions.

Mrs. Barker

Mr. Barker’s first wife. Mrs. Barker dislikes Naomi and Stephen and doesn’t want her daughter to play with them.

Vivian Barker

Mr. Barker’s second wife. Vivian seems uncomfortable in Obasan’s house.

Penny Barker

Daughter of the Barkers, the beet farmers Naomi’s family works for. Penny is cruel to Stephen and Naomi.

Setsuko

Naomi’s mother’s cousin. Both Setsuko’s eyes are gouged out during the bombing, and her skin comes off in strips.

Tomio

Setsuko’s son. Tomio survives the bombing, but wanders off and is never found.

Chieko

Setsuko’s baby. Chieko closely resembles Naomi. The last Naomi hears of her, she is dying of leukemia.