Taeko's father, credited simply as Taeko's father in the film, is the patriarch of the Okajima household in the childhood flashback sequences set in 1966. At that time he is a middle-aged Tokyo salaried worker of about forty-three, living with his wife, his own mother, and his three daughters, Nanako, Yaeko, and young Taeko. He embodies the strict traditional father figure of postwar Japan and remains a somewhat distant presence in a household otherwise filled with women.

In personality, he is taciturn and undemonstrative. He rarely speaks at length, keeps a curt and direct manner toward his family, and maintains a stoic authority rather than engaging in warm or playful exchanges. He is also portrayed as somewhat strict and particular about order and cleanliness. At the same time, he has an indulgent side toward his youngest daughter: when Taeko pesters him, he buys her treats and gifts such as a pineapple and dresses for her doll, and he tolerates her fussy eating habits up to a point. This combination of indulgence and rigidity defines his parenting. His one notable outburst of physical discipline comes when a sulking Taeko, upset over an enamel handbag and frustrated before a planned family dinner, runs out of the house barefoot to chase after her family. Her father slaps her for going outside without shoes, an act that carried particular weight in postwar Japan because bare feet outdoors were associated with poverty. Taeko later recalls this moment in adulthood and acknowledges that she was partly in the wrong herself for having begged and sulked, and the scene illustrates the emotional gap between father and daughter.

His motivations center on upholding household order, propriety, and the social expectations of his era. When Taeko shows talent in school theater and receives an opportunity connected to acting, he firmly refuses to allow her to pursue it, declaring the theatrical and entertainment world unsuitable. This decision, delivered without discussion, becomes one of the defining disappointments of Taeko's childhood and contributes to her cautious, self-questioning adult character. In the story he functions as a figure of the past whose authority Taeko can neither escape nor fully understand, and his choices reappear in her memories as she tries to make sense of her own life. He remains a static character within the film: he does not change or develop, and his role is to represent the immovable parental traditions and expectations that the adult Taeko must eventually accept or overcome as part of her personal history.

His key relationships are with the female members of his family. With his wife he maintains a conventional traditional marriage in which she manages the household and defers to his decisions. With his daughters he is emotionally restrained, and his bond with Taeko in particular is marked by silence and a lack of emotional validation, even though his occasional generosity and small gestures of affection suggest a gentler side beneath his stern exterior. His authority, his rare moments of softness, his single act of harsh discipline, and his refusal to allow Taeko to act are the elements that define his role in the story, and through Taeko's adult recollections his influence continues to be felt long after the childhood scenes themselves.