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Miki Tokita/“The Girl”
Yasuo is the father of Yaeko and Kumi Hirai. He is married to Michiko Hirai. Together, Yasuo and Michiko run a traveler’s inn in Sendai called Takakura. They expected Yaeko, their oldest daughter, to take over the management of the inn one day, but she ran away from home instead. In their anger, Yasuo and Michiko cut her off entirely. However, Kumi tells Hirai that their parents are no longer angry at her and want her to come home. At the end of the novel, their relationship is slowly healing.
Yasuo Hirai Quotes in Before the Coffee Gets Cold
The Before the Coffee Gets Cold quotes below are all either spoken by Yasuo Hirai or refer to Yasuo Hirai. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3 Quotes
Apart from the matter of how she had treated Kumi so unkindly, there was also the matter of Kumi being made the successor to Takakura.
When Hirai left home and was cut off from the family, Kumi automatically became the successor. She was too obliging to betray the expectations of their parents, as Hirai had done.
But what if this had shattered a dream that she held?
If she once had a dream, ruined by Hirai’s selfish decision to run away, it would explain why she had so often visited Hirai to beg her to return home—she would want Hirai to come back so that she could have the freedom to pursue her own ambitions.
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Water flows from high places to low places. That is the nature of gravity. Emotions also seem to act according to gravity. When in the presence of someone with whom you have a bond, and to whom you have entrusted your feelings, it is hard to lie and get away with it. The truth just wants to come flowing out. This is especially the case when you are trying to hide your sadness or vulnerability. It is much easier to conceal sadness from a stranger, or from someone you don’t trust. Hirai saw Kei as a confidante with whom she could share anything. The emotional gravity was strong. Kei was able to accept anything—forgive anything—that Hirai let flow out. A single kind word from Kei could cut the cords of tension that ran through her.
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But [Hirai] was wrong. Kumi didn’t resent her. Nor was it true that she didn’t want to inherit the inn. The reason that Kumi didn’t give up trying to persuade Hirai to return was because that was her dream. It wasn’t because she wanted her own freedom, and it wasn’t because she was blaming her: it was her dream to run the inn together with Hirai. That dream had not changed, and nor had her little sister, who was there in front of her with tears of joy streaming down her face. Her little sister Kumi, who had loved her big sis with all her heart, had, time after time, come to persuade her to return to the family, never giving up. […] Hirai felt more love for Kumi than she ever had before.
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Yasuo Hirai Character Timeline in Before the Coffee Gets Cold
The timeline below shows where the character Yasuo Hirai appears in Before the Coffee Gets Cold. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...eventually reveals that when she went home to see Kumi’s body and comfort her parents, Yasuo and Michiko, they refused to speak to her. Thus, she’s gone back to work and...
(full context)
...while Kazu gets the kettle. Hirai used to protect and comfort her little sister, and Yasuo and Michiko had high hopes for her as the future manager of their inn. However,...
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Chapter 4
...from Hirai aloud. In the email, Hirai reports that she’s happy despite some awkwardness with Yasuo and Michiko, and that she’s committed to making Kumi’s legacy a happy one. Kohtake asks...
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