Pachinko Characters

Sunja, the family matriarch, is the only surviving child of Hoonie and Yangjin. She is born in Yeongdo, Korea, around 1916. She is doted on by Hoonie, who dies when she is 13. As… read analysis of Sunja Baek

Hansu is a native of the Korean island of Jeju but lives in Osaka, Japan. A fish broker with ties to the yakuza, the organized crime syndicate in Japan, Hansu is rumored to be… read analysis of Koh Hansu

Baek Isak, born in Pyongyang and the son of the founders of a church in North Korea, arrives at Yangjin’s boardinghouse in the winter of 1932, on his way to Osaka, Japan. He has… read analysis of Baek Isak

Noa is the son of Sunja and Hansu and the adoptive son of Isak. He is born in Osaka and grows up trying to be the perfect Japanese student, downplaying his Korean identity as… read analysis of Noa Baek

Solomon is Mozasu’s and Yumi’s son. After Yumi’s death, he is raised by Mozasu, his grandmother Sunja, and Mozasu’s girlfriend Etsuko. Mozasu dreams of his son becoming a “man of the… read analysis of Solomon Baek

Yoseb is Isak’s older brother. He has been living in Osaka with his wife, Kyunghee, for the past ten years when Isak and Sunja arrive to live with them in 1933. Yoseb is… read analysis of Yoseb Baek

Kyunghee is Yoseb’s wife, classically beautiful and “tenderhearted to a fault.” To her ongoing sorrow, she is unable to have children, but she pours her energy into making a comfortable home amidst the squalor… read analysis of Kyunghee Baek

Hoonie is born in Yeongdo, a Korean fishing village, near the end of the nineteenth century. He is his parents’ only surviving child. He has a cleft palate and a twisted foot; he also has… read analysis of Hoonie

Yangjin, Hoonie’s wife and Sunja’s mother, is born into a poor family in Yeongdo. She is matched with Hoonie as a teenager, and the two have a happy marriage, although she loses several… read analysis of Yangjin

Changho is an employee of Hansu, a pleasant-looking, polite young Korean man with poor eyesight. On Hansu’s orders, he gives Sunja and Kyunghee a job cooking side dishes in the restaurant he manages. He… read analysis of Kim Changho

Yumi is a seamstress who works in Totoyama’s uniform shop. She had a difficult childhood as the daughter of an alcoholic prostitute and a pimp. She and Mozasu begin dating when Mozasu comes for… read analysis of Yumi

Etsuko is Mozasu’s girlfriend after Yumi’s death, when Solomon is a teenager. Etsuko, a native of Hokkaido, is divorced and owns a restaurant in Yokohama. Before meeting Mozasu, Etsuko engaged in a series… read analysis of Etsuko Nagatomi

Haruki joins Mozasu’s class at school at age 11, and he’s ostracized because of his home life—a disabled brother and an abandoned single mother—and the inaccurate rumor that he’s a burakumin. Mozasu is… read analysis of Haruki Totoyama

Goro is a pachinko parlor owner in Osaka who gives 16-year-old Mozasu a job to keep him off the streets. He’s a “fat and glamorous Korean” who loves beautiful women. He can also be generous… read analysis of Goro

Totoyama is Haruki’s and Daisuke’s mother. She was abandoned by the boys’ father after Daisuke was born, and her family is inaccurately rumored to be burakumin. She runs a struggling seamstress shop… read analysis of Totoyama

Daisuke is Totoyama’s son and Haruki’s younger brother. He was born with a misshapen head and intellectual disabilities, and his father abandoned the family at his birth, leading others to ostracize the family… read analysis of Daisuke Totoyama

Hana is Etsuko’s teenage daughter. She and her mother have a troubled relationship. At 15, Hana gets pregnant and has an abortion, then lives with Etsuko and befriends Solomon. Hana uses alcohol and… read analysis of Hana

Phoebe is Solomon’s girlfriend at Columbia University and moves to Tokyo with him after college. Phoebe is Korean-American. She gets along well with Solomon’s entire family, who hope they’ll get married soon, but struggles… read analysis of Phoebe

Yoo is the pastor of the Hanguk Presbyterian Church in Osaka, where Isak works as associate pastor. He is an older man suffering from glaucoma. A childless widower, he has raised Hu as a son… read analysis of Pastor Yoo

Hu, a Chinese orphan, was left at the Hanguk Presbyterian Church by a Japanese officer and raised as a beloved son by Pastor Yoo. He serves as the sexton (custodian) of the church. Hu… read analysis of Hu

Tamaguchi, 58 years old, runs a sweet potato farm in the Japanese countryside, living there with his wife and two sisters-in-law. He has grown rich by commanding illegal prices on the yakuza-controlled black market… read analysis of Tamaguchi

Samoel is Isak’s and Yoseb’s older brother. He participated in the March First Movement, a 1919 Korean independence uprising, was beaten by police, and died as a result of his injuries. Samoel’s death… read analysis of Samoel Baek

Akiko, Noa’s first girlfriend and Waseda University’s campus radical, comes from a wealthy Japanese family and is studying to be a sociologist. She is “brilliant, sensual, and creative.” Noa is attracted to Akiko’s willingness… read analysis of Akiko Fumeki

Risa is the head filing clerk at Cosmos Pachinko in Nagano. When Risa was a teenager, her father, a doctor, committed suicide after accidentally causing patients’ deaths. Her family is ostracized as a result. She… read analysis of Risa Iwamura

Ayame is the foreman of Totoyama’s uniform shop, and she manages the shop while Totoyama is dying. On Totoyama’s wishes, she marries Haruki. After Totoyama dies, Ayame sells the shop and begins taking… read analysis of Ayame

Kazu is Solomon’s boss at Travis Brothers investment bank. He was educated in the United States and adopts a fraternity boy persona. He takes Solomon under his wing, inviting him to exclusive poker games… read analysis of Kazu

Maryman, a Presbyterian pastor, is Yumi’s and Mozasu’s English teacher. He was born in Korea and adopted by Americans, raised in a loving and wealthy family in the United States. He moves to… read analysis of John Maryman

Pastor Shin is the pastor of a church in Busan, Korea. Isak consults with him about his plans to marry Sunja. After years of personal loss and a government crackdown, Pastor Shin is wary… read analysis of Pastor Shin

Bokhee and Dokhee are sweet-natured, orphaned sisters who work as servants in Yangjin’s boardinghouse. When Sunja gets married, they envy her new life in Japan and give her a wedding gift of carved wooden… read analysis of Bokhee and Dokhee

Kuroda is Noa’s literature professor at Waseda University. She is a small, soft-spoken woman who was raised and educated in England. She loves the novels of George Eliot and is very fond of Noa… read analysis of Professor Kuroda

Uchida is the kindly groundskeeper of the cemetery where Isak is buried. At the end of the novel, he chats with a tearful Sunja and comforts her with the information that Noa visited Isak’s grave… read analysis of Uchida