NADESHIKO KINOMOTO

Sakura's mother died when Sakura was very young, but she remains a constant presence in the Kinomoto family through photographs, stories and the way Fujitaka and Toya still speak about her. Nadeshiko had been a model and came from the wealthy Amamiya family before marrying Fujitaka, a decision some of her relatives strongly opposed. Sakura remembers her more through inherited affection than direct memory, which makes the series' quiet references to Nadeshiko unusually effective. She is absent from Sakura's daily life without ever feeling erased from it.