Hiromi Nakata

Hiromi Nakata (中田 ひろみ) is the daughter of Hatsu Kanou, and is the biological mother of Seigi Nakata.

She works as a nurse in a general hospital located in Tokyo. She is usually busy at work. Seigi stated that she isn't someone who he can text everyday, especially on trivial manners.

Personality
Even when things are tight, she donates to the Red Cross and UNICEF every month.

Seigi states that the family is a frugal one. They don't have any other pieces of jewelry, thus she also doesn't know anything about those kinds of things.

Seigi thought she was someone who was always fighting with something. He was born when she was 35 years old, and might have been a child she never thought she could have. Even so, she gave birth to him and raised him. Ever since he was little, she had always been that kind of person - A powerful and obstinate hard worker, no matter when.

She is capable of "childish" reactions even at her age. When dining in at her house together with Seigi, she let out an exclamation of "Wow!", when she saw the table with Chinese food line up in a row.

Birth & Taken Care
She was born as the only daughter of Hatsu Kanou, who took her to live in Tokyo after divorcing her abusive husband. It was around the 60s in Tokyo, a time where illnesses caused by pollution frequently occurred on the other side of prosperity. The mother and daughter lived in a four-mats wide or less tenement house, where the bare light bulbs were always flickering.

At some point when her mother was imprisoned due to being arrested for pickpocketing, she was looked after by her mother's old work friends. She also heard a young yakuza say to her "Your mother is a champion of justice". Her mother had been the one to teach him the tricks of pickpocketing. Their relationship became complicated and strained.

Graduation & First Marriage
Afterwards, she graduated from school, and became a nurse. She also got married to a first husband, and moved from Tokyo to Saitama. Perhaps her reason for getting married is that she desired a separate home, and a different surname. She also gave birth to Seigi Nakata from her first husband. However, he was physically abusive towards her, and she quickly divorced him after Seigi was born. Even so, she was stubborn and did not return to live with her mother.

Second Marriage
When she was in the middle of 40 years old, she remarried to Mr Nakata, her second husband. He worked for an excavating equipment company, and has been engaged in oil field development in Indonesia for 10 years. The entire family switched their home to Machida, around the border between Tokyo and Kanagawa.

Mother's Condition
It was when Seigi was in the second year of middle school. Their apartment's landlord contacted Hiromi with the news that her mother was acting strange recently. Learning that Kanou was showing signs of dementia, she started collecting information on nursing homes in Tokyo. She also eventually invited the former to live in her family house.

She once had a huge fight with Seigi, and stormed outside of the house when Kanou intervened in their fight. She didn't return that night, and went straight to her workplace in the morning. The next time he saw her was the evening of the next day. When Seigi apologized, she looked like she had completely forgotten everything. She even made him a heap of curry.

Mother's Fate & Funeral
Kanou's condition eventually took a turn for the worse. She admitted her mother into the hospital where she works at, and took care of her in spite of work. However, her mother passed away in the hospital during the summer of Seigi's first year in high school. A modest funeral ceremony was held, with the attendants being only her, Seigi, and their neighbors who helped them. She stubbornly refused Kanou's old friends entry at the funeral.

Hatsu Kanou
She has a very complicated relationship with her mother.

The one she hated the most in the world was said to be her mother. She treated her mother like the role of a mother. If necessary, she would eat, take care, and even speak to her. However, it was only when it was necessary. She hated even going to visit Kanou for Obon and the New Year's. Even after her divorce from her physically abusive first husband, she stubbornly refused to move back in with her mother.

However, she did play her daughter's role in sending back living expenses. She also took care of her mother when the former came down with dementia. After her mother passed away, there is a small Buddhist altar and kagezen dedicated to her mother. However, there are no portraits.

After Tae's Case
She reveals that she secretly knew about the hidden location of the ring her mother stole. However, she didn't throw it away even then, and also didn't tell Mr Nakata about it. She reasons it as "There are things that can be thrown away, and things that cannot be thrown away". She was most probably the one who took away her mother's prison tag number.

She didn't mind her mother naming her son Seigi. It was after Seigi met up with Tae, and the two were dining out together. There, she was finally able to come to peace with her feelings towards her mother. She just thought that a crime is a crime, and that she couldn't forgive what her mother did. However, she started sobbing when she recalled more tender times concerning her mother, more specifically the young yakuza who told her that the latter was "the champion of justice". She ended with these words concerning the latter - "If by any chance the me could eat with that person's earnings and tell her 'Thank you' with a smile… That would be a story I won't be able to live with". She also pressed her hands together in front of her mother's altar, and made a prayer together with Seigi in the end.

Seigi Nakata
She can be fairly distant towards her son. She complains about him calling too much when he made one phone call. She didn't care if he visited her house or not, and merely informed him that she will not be present due to her work. She affirms in a bored tone when he cancels his visit, and coldly tells him that he wants to go to bed and hangs up the phone.

The two do text one another every so often. However, the two of them dined together after Tae's case. She also indirectly thanked her son for helping her come into terms with her feelings for her mother.

Etymology

 * Hiromi's surname Nakata means "middle" (中) (naka) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta).

Trivia

 * She might have also separated from her second husband, Mr Nakata, or the latter is just away due to work. She lived alone with her son at some point when Hatsu Kanou moved in with the both of them due to her condition. She also currently lives alone after Seigi Nakata moved out to live alone.