# Jiya — A Daughter of the Samurai character guide

> Jiya in A Daughter of the Samurai by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Jiya San, old Jiya

**First appearance:** 0004-i-winters-in-echigo

## Snapshot

Old Jiya, faithful and wholly inexperienced, manages the family's business affairs and once tangles their name in a scheme he never understood.

## Who they are

After the family's fall from rank, Jiya is handed the impossible task of managing money for men who were raised to consider it beneath them. Honest to the bone, he is nonetheless easy prey for a smooth-talking agent selling a foreign business method, and his loyalty to his master becomes the very thing that nearly ruins him. He matters because his blunder captures the painful collision between samurai honor and a modern economy the family is unprepared to enter.

## Relationships

### [Father](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/characters/father)

_professional_

Master and servant, with Jiya being a loyal retainer to the father.

## In the story

### [I: Winters in Echigo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/i-winters-in-echigo)

The loyal but inexperienced head servant who managed business affairs and was tricked into a silkworm egg fraud.

### [Falling Leaves](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/v-falling-leaves)

Accompanies Father to Tokyo; his absence leaves Etsu-bo desolate.

### [A Sunny New Year](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/vi-a-sunny-new-year)

No longer hums old folk-songs; helps with the forty-nine-day rituals and is present at the New Year servant gathering.

### [The Story of a Marionette](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/ix-the-story-of-a-marionette)

He trims trees, sweeps the ground, and gathers lotus blossoms at dawn for the shrine.

### [Travel Education](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/xii-travel-education)

Referenced as the source of information about the mountain's dai and as Miyo's brother, connecting the household to the rural village.

### [Lessons](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/xiv-lessons)

Mentioned as the one who maintained the garden at home, wiping stepping stones and scattering pine needles.

### [How I Became a Christian](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/chapters/xv-how-i-became-a-christian)

Seen carrying a whitewood chest with the family crest during an airing day.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/characters/jiya
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/a_daughter_of_the_samurai_se/characters