Movie
Description
Ryōko Matsuzaki is the widow of naval commander Yūichirō Sawamura, who died when his supply ship sank after striking a water mine during the Korean War. She is mother to Umi, Sora, and Riku Matsuzaki. Following her husband's death, she and her children resided with her grandparents. After her grandfather's passing, she inherited the family home, Coquelicot Manor, a Yokohama boarding house.
Ryōko later departed for the United States to pursue advanced medical training and research, leaving her eldest daughter Umi to manage the household and care for her younger siblings and grandmother. Her career as a medical professor necessitated extended stays abroad, including the period from 1963 to 1964. In her youth, Ryōko defied her parents' objections to marry Yūichirō Sawamura, a sailor whose profession they deemed dangerous and unstable. This disagreement prompted her to leave home and elope with him, causing a temporary estrangement from her parents.
Upon returning to Japan in 1964, Ryōko resolved a longstanding family mystery concerning Shun Kazama, an orphan Yūichirō had brought home as an infant. She explained to Umi that Shun's biological father was Hiroshi Tachibana, Yūichirō's close friend who died in a repatriation ship accident after World War II. Shun's mother died in childbirth, and his other relatives perished in the Nagasaki bombing. Unable to consign the child to an overcrowded orphanage, Yūichirō registered Shun as his own son before arranging his adoption by the Kazama family, who had recently lost their newborn. Ryōko, pregnant with Umi at the time, could not raise Shun herself.
Ryōko possesses a kind and loving demeanor as a mother. Her decision to marry Yūichirō against her parents' wishes demonstrated bravery and independence in her youth. Professionally proficient in medicine, she speaks both Japanese and English, the latter refined during her time in the United States.
Physically, she closely resembles her daughter Umi, sharing similar facial features and brown hair. Her relationship with her mother, Hana Matsuzaki, evolved from conflict over her marriage to eventual reconciliation and mutual support within their multigenerational household at Coquelicot Manor.
Ryōko later departed for the United States to pursue advanced medical training and research, leaving her eldest daughter Umi to manage the household and care for her younger siblings and grandmother. Her career as a medical professor necessitated extended stays abroad, including the period from 1963 to 1964. In her youth, Ryōko defied her parents' objections to marry Yūichirō Sawamura, a sailor whose profession they deemed dangerous and unstable. This disagreement prompted her to leave home and elope with him, causing a temporary estrangement from her parents.
Upon returning to Japan in 1964, Ryōko resolved a longstanding family mystery concerning Shun Kazama, an orphan Yūichirō had brought home as an infant. She explained to Umi that Shun's biological father was Hiroshi Tachibana, Yūichirō's close friend who died in a repatriation ship accident after World War II. Shun's mother died in childbirth, and his other relatives perished in the Nagasaki bombing. Unable to consign the child to an overcrowded orphanage, Yūichirō registered Shun as his own son before arranging his adoption by the Kazama family, who had recently lost their newborn. Ryōko, pregnant with Umi at the time, could not raise Shun herself.
Ryōko possesses a kind and loving demeanor as a mother. Her decision to marry Yūichirō against her parents' wishes demonstrated bravery and independence in her youth. Professionally proficient in medicine, she speaks both Japanese and English, the latter refined during her time in the United States.
Physically, she closely resembles her daughter Umi, sharing similar facial features and brown hair. Her relationship with her mother, Hana Matsuzaki, evolved from conflict over her marriage to eventual reconciliation and mutual support within their multigenerational household at Coquelicot Manor.