# Akiko — Short Fiction character guide

> Akiko in Short Fiction by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** The Akiko

**First appearance:** 0033-the-ball

## Snapshot

A young woman in a rose-colored ball gown at the Rokumeikan, whose beauty startles Chinese officials and a French naval officer before she has time to feel afraid.

## Who they are

Akiko rides to the Rokumeikan with her father, uneasy until the stares begin: Chinese officials part in their fatness, a young man in swallowtails turns his head, even the gray-whiskered count betrays admiration. In the chrysanthemum-filled ballroom she joins girls in matching gowns, then finds herself dancing the Blue Danube Waltz with a tanned French officer speaking Japanese in a strange accent. Shame and pride alternate in her as the night opens.

## Relationships

### [the naval officer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/naval_officer)

_romantic_

Akiko and the naval officer share a passionate but troubled love affair marked by longing and separation.

### [the Japanese](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/the_japanese)

_social_

Akiko interacts with the Japanese as part of her social environment, but with underlying tension.

### [the naval officer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/naval_officer)

_romantic_

Akiko and the naval officer share a passionate but troubled love affair marked by longing and separation.

### [the naval officer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/naval_officer)

_romantic_

Akiko and the naval officer share a passionate but troubled love affair marked by longing and separation.

## In the story

### [The Handkerchief](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/the-handkerchief)

The mother who visits the professor, recounting her son's death with a smile while her hands tremble.

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/i)

A seventeen-year-old girl attending her first formal ball at the Rokumeikan. She is beautiful and dances with a French naval officer, feeling both pride and unease.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/chapters/ii)

Now the elderly Madame H—, she recounts her past at the Rokumeikan ball.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters/akiko
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_59_se/characters