Aunt Yokokawa, paternal aunt to siblings Seita and Setsuko, serves as sister to their father Kiyoshi and sister-in-law to their late mother. Following the destruction of their home and their mother’s death in an air raid, the siblings temporarily reside with her. Though offering initial refuge, her resentment intensifies as she condemns Seita’s refusal to engage in labor or wartime duties. Governed by wartime societal norms, she enforces pragmatic survival strategies, trading the siblings’ mother’s possessions for food while rationing them smaller portions than her own family. Her disapproval escalates toward Seita’s prioritization of Setsuko’s care over school attendance or aiding neighbors during raids, alongside irritation at Setsuko’s disruptive nighttime distress.

Tensions peak when she demands Seita exchange his mother’s kimonos for rice, provoking Setsuko’s anguish and prompting their departure to an abandoned bomb shelter. Upon discovering their exit, she voices tempered concern and offers a formal goodbye without阻拦. Later, she inadvertently discloses their mother’s death to Setsuko, unraveling Seita’s protective secrecy.

Aunt Yokokawa survives the war, her choices emblematic of a society increasingly prioritizing self-preservation over compassion. Her post-war years remain sparsely documented, yet her wartime conduct illustrates the erosion of empathy under scarcity, the weight of strained familial bonds, and the ethical concessions demanded by survival.