Kinu and Hiroshi Nakamura

 

 

Background: Hiroshi and his daughter are down-to-earth, simple-living people.  They work hard on their farm to sustain themselves.  Hiroshi is a man of few extraneous words, but a keen insight.  He has a way of telling about the character of other people just by watching and listening to them.  He unnerved Kale at their first meeting by accurately guessing his problems.  Hiroshi tends to listen carefully to others, offering sympathy and understanding.  After serving in the war, he found he no longer liked living around a lot of people and moved his family the country.  He does, however, give in to the vice of TV every evening.  Nothing seems to faze this man much--not even Kale’s life story.  He merely becomes more thoughtful when faced with adversity.

 

Kinu is a tough country girl with a big heart.  She has a smart mouth and likes to use it to cover up her softer emotions.  She often resorts to talking tough when faced with situations that might make her appear weak.  While not as open and trusting as her father, she does feels things strongly and deeply.  But her tough act isn’t all act, though.  Kinu is ready and willing to battle with words and weapons when the need arises.  Like a mother lion, she will fight ferociously when she thinks the people she cares about are being threatened—even when she might be outnumbered and outmatched.

 

Kinu and Hiroshi met Kale when he was passing through their property.  Kinu thought he was spying on them and attacked him.  Hiroshi invited him to stay awhile, mistakenly believing Kale was a young ex-soldier from another country who was down on his luck.  Kale later left because of a misunderstanding with Kinu.  She and her father went after him to stop him from doing something foolish and getting hurt.  He and Kinu made up and he returned to their farm with them.

 

Check out Cabbage and Silk for the whole story!