Yoriko Kasuga Character Analysis

Yoriko Kasuga is a popular actress and regular customer at Fusako Kuroda’s clothing store, Rex. Fusako treats Yoriko kindly but secretly resents her because Yukio is naive and desperate for attention. In particular, Yoriko constantly complains that she doesn’t win acting awards and has no friends besides Fusako. When they go out for lunch in the second half of the novel, Yoriko tells Fusako that her ex-fiancé tried to steal her money and recommends that Fusako hire a private detective to investigate Ryuji so that he doesn’t do the same. This offends Fusako, who decides to get back at Yoriko indirectly by provoking her jealousy: she hires the detective, who proves that Ryuji is honest, then calls Yoriko and tells her. In the novel overall, Yoriko serves as a character foil who highlights Fusako’s femininity, desires, and insecurities. For one, Yoriko represents a feminine ideal of innocence, youth, and beauty that Fusako both deplores and secretly hopes to achieve. Fusako is far more elegant, competent, and respectable than Yoriko, but Fusako knows that men do not necessarily appreciate these traits in women. Like Fusako, she supports herself and her family, but feels incomplete and lonely without a man. The difference is that Fusako carefully manages and hides her insecurities, whereas Yoriko is overwhelmed by her own.