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''My woman from Tokyo
She's so good to me''
— Deep Purple, "Woman From Tokyo"
Roger Stone: But everybody in this family thinks it's funny to try to get around Pop. [...] You, too, Edith. You give in until you get your own way.
Edith Stone: Yes dear.
Roger Stone: See what I mean?
A complicated Japanese aesthetic and cultural concept. Breaking the expression down: "Yamato" is one of the older (and thus fancier) names for Japan and the Japanese culture; "nadeshiko" is Japanese for Dianthus superbus, a wildflower native to the Japanese highlands. Broadly speaking, a yamato nadeshiko is the "flower of Japanese womanhood", a woman with attributes that were traditionally desirable in Japan from the perspective of male-dominated society; generally ascribed to people with traditional upbringings. Basically it revolves around acting for the benefit of the family and obeying and assisting authority figures (father, husband, sometimes father-in-law or older brothers, as well as older females of similar personality traits). Virtues include loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, maturity, and humility.
This sounds like an Extreme Doormat, especially to modern Westerners, but don't be fooled. A properly done yamato nadeshiko will show a subtle, but definitely present, touch of iron, in that she is unwilling to let circumstances hurt the ones she cares about or distract her from her goals or missions. (Conversedly, in poorly done cases this come across as a forced attempt at trying to convince the audience that the YN in question isn't just a doormat with no personality) This is often accomplished so subtly that the target isn't quite certain how things got redirected — a kind of influence judo, if you will. Older yamato nadeshiko are better at this, while a younger one will make up for it in determination — especially when it comes to the man she loves, because that trumps everything else. Aoi loves her parents, but she will step over them to be with Kaoru if she has to, since that's what she wants and no one will take that away from her.
With some notable exceptions, physically yamato nadeshiko will be tall, willowy, modestly endowed, and pretty rather than beautiful, and they will have dark eyes and long, dark hair with bangs; you know, the kind of hair a Japanese person can actually have. They'll dress girlishly: skirts, blouses, lace, ribbons and simple hair ornaments. Some may use jewelry and make-up, but not to the extreme. Their voices will often be gentle, calm, and warm as that melted butter you get to dip your shellfish in at Red Lobster.
Sometimes, these seemingly ultra peaceful ladies will also handle at least the basics of self-defense, even if they would rather not fight unless it can't helped. If that's the case, they'll be very graceful and effective in the battlefield, and their preferred weapons will be polearms, lances, or bow/arrows. They're more likely to be Staff Chicks or Barrier Warriors, though.
Yamato nadeshiko characters pop up a lot in Magical Girlfriend series (usually in the character who will win the male lead's heart) and in Betty And Veronica love triangles. Similar to an Ojou, although more likely to be played straight. They tend to be very sympathetic, but their passive, reactionary nature puts them in danger of becoming Satellite Characters for more "interesting" people, as well as target of bashing from fans who prefer either Action Girl or Tsundere types (and not all of them being "so-called feminists"). They are much more popular in Japan for obvious reasons.
More information on this concept can be found in the sci.lang.japan FAQ . Compare Stepford Smiler for a critical take, Yandere for a girl who seems to be a Yamato Nadeshiko but hides a far more unstable psyche. Her sort-of early Western equivalent is the Determined Widow.
Most likely will be voiced Kikuko Inoue (and formerly, Sumi Shimamoto) if she's from an anime. If the character is on the young age and is already showing lots of Yamato Nadeshiko traits, it's probably Mamiko Noto voicing that character. Sayaka Ohara, ofter referred as "the new Kikuko Inoue", might be heading towards this direction.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- Pictured above, Belldandy in Ah My Goddess, which pretty much standardizes Kikuko Inoue's typecasting. Though the in story reason for her being a Yamato Nadeshiko is that if she wasn't, the universe would be in serious danger.
- Belldandy presents an interesting case in that she so deliberately invokes the trope, and yet she does not fit almost any of the above-defined physical descriptions. "Tall"? Maybe, before she met her boyfriend Keiichi, but if so, she seems to have adjusted herself more less to his (unimposing) height. "Modestly endowed"? Not particularly. "Pretty rather than beautiful"? Pfft. "Dark eyes"? Nope. "Dark hair"? Nope. Non-ostentatious attire? Bwahahaha. May not use much makeup, but she hardly needs to, being, you know, a goddess.
- But she does have a beautiful and gentle voice, and not only is she willowy, she also likes to stand on top of trees.
- Her height is also given as 165 centimeters in the manga; for Japan, this is a bit on the tall end.
- It was in the 80'es when the manga started. Now it's a pretty average height for younger generation of Japanese women (even if she's supposedly Norse).
- Mercedes Herrera / de Morcerf in Gankutsuou, (voiced by Kikuko Inoue), also fits the role to a very large extent.
- Hinata Hyuga of Naruto, who is exceptionally kind, polite and soft-spoken.
- Also, Haku is a rare male subversion of this trope. He's a kind, soft-spoken, androgynous if not outright feminine-looking boy who probably has some significant domestic ability aside from that which we see onscreen (the herb-picking). He bows to Zabuza's authority but retains that hint of steel the article talks about...when it comes to protecting Zabuza.
- Kasumi Tendo in Ranma 1/2 (also voiced by Kikuko Inoue) was the responsible eldest sister, and when Mrs Tendo died, she became the house's mother figure. She adopted a public face of Yamato Nadeshiko, but allowed her own selfish and snarky side to show at home. Later on, she was Flanderized to follow this trope straight unto the point of parody.
- Note that Kasumi's Tsundere younger sister, Akane, actually wants to grow up into a Yamato Nadeshiko, while still being a martial artist.
- There were also two characters in the manga that tried to get revenge on Shampoo for beating them up as kids by using some weird flowers that turned whoever wore them into a Yamato Nadeshiko, even if they were male.
- Nodoka Saotome, Ranma's mother, is the very image of the Yamato Nadeshiko, as she fits the above description to utmost perfection. But then she hears how someone is menacing Akane or Ranko and she gets out her sword... Even if she's actually clumsy with it, there's a reason Genma calls her a "formidable woman."
- She's clumsy with the sword, but she doesn't let that get in the way of being lethal with it. It may even be that it's her lack of skill that makes her worthy of such fear. Something in a similar vein to Crouching Moron Hidden Badass, only without the transition. She is a quantum version of the trope.
- In a filler episode in the anime, Ranma himself becomes a Yamato Nadeshiko when he hits his head and becomes perhaps even more girly than Kasumi, to the point where "she" squeals in disgust at having to wash his boxers, faints when Akane accidentally cuts her finger, and upon instinctively punching Happosai offers to strip naked and let him grope her all he likes to make up for it.
- Ichiyō and Wakaba in Cross Game
- In comparison to their tomboy sister Aoba then yes. Otherwise they're rather normal.
- Aoi Sakuraba in Ai Yori Aoshi - a textbook example of this trope, to the point where other characters actually use the term in discussing her. She always wears a kimono, which is rare even for a Yamato Nadeshiko; although there is a bit of justification given in that her family business is making kimonos, and it wouldn't do for her to be seen wearing something other than her family's product.
- Also justified in that she wants to be a perfect Yamato Nadeshiko for Kaoru in every way, and has been practicing at it since childhood. Since she comes from a very traditional family, you would expect her to be a very traditional example.
- Mariko Tanaka in Wing Commander, complete with kimono and self sacrificial personality.
- English-born Christine "Chris" Robbins from Itazura na Kiss acts more like a Yamoto Nadeshiko than any other girl in the series. She's beautiful, domestic, submissive, and graceful. She also makes delicious Japanese food and wears a kimono regularly◊. To top it all off, she even admits in episode 19 that she had read a book about the concept of Yamato Nadeshiko.
- Midori in Midori No Hibi, though she is also a Genki Girl at the same time, rather than the usual calm Yamato Nadeshiko style.
- She's also much more open minded than this trope requires.
- Tytti Norbuck from Super Robot Wars somewhat exemplifies this a bit, probably more on the 'Loyalty' virtue (to La Gias). She's also voiced by Kikuko Inoue. It would be a full subversion if only she doesn't have a weird sense of taste, thereby guaranteeing anything she cooks will... suck.
- Nanase in Yumeria. Voiced by ... guess who?
- An entire episode centered on this idea in Steel Angel Kurumi: Encore, which went so far as to have a character actually named "Nadeshiko". She, of course, exemplified this concept, and much humor resulted in the Genki Girl main character trying to imitate her.
- Megumi is challenged to a "Yamato Nadeshiko Cup" in Tenshi Na Konamaiki.
- The plot of Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge aka The Wallflower aka Perfect Girl Evolution is to transform the leading lady into this archetype. She has the domestic skills and looks (when she isn't drawn chibi-style); she's just made the conscious decision to let all the other traits slide, becoming a withdrawn and very creepy Yandere Dark Action Girl.
- Strangely, while she may never be the perfect Japanese woman she can apparently be the perfect Japanese man.
- Chitose from the Galaxy Angel Gameverse is played straight as a Yamato Nadeshiko. Like most everyone else in the the anime, she's parodied quite a bit, trying to be perfect but usually failing even to be tolerable.
- Yakumo Tsukamoto, Tenma's little sister, in School Rumble.
- The name of the titular ship in Martian Successor Nadesico may be a reference to this term, as it resembles the Yamato from Uchuu Senkan Yamato.
- That's more of an outright 'yes'. In the anime its upgrade was referred to as 'the Y unit', and the manga was even more obvious - they outright grafted on another battleship, the Yamato, and proceeded to call it the Yamato/Nadesico for the rest of the manga.
- Cherry from Saber Marionette J is a Yamato Nadeshiko by virtue of her "motherly" role, but this is often overridden by her Tsundere and Covert Pervert traits.
- The Mysterious Thief Freyr in Matanei Loki Ragnarok refers to Mayura Daidouji as "Yamato Nadeshiko".
- Hikari Horaki in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Despite being a minor character, she appears in a lot of Japanese market pictures and figure sets. Such is the power of the Yamato Nadeshiko slash mother figure (when the best mother figure is a 14 year old girl, you KNOW the world is messed up [see Eureka Seven]).
- At least in the anime, Hikari comes across as a Type B Tsundere who only seems deredere because of the contrast with her best friend Asuka. Maybe people remember Hikari as a Yamato Nadeshiko mostly because of how her story arc ends?
- It's actually discussed whether Hikari is a Type B Tsundere or a YN who happens to be friends with two people (Asuka and Touji) who are THAT good at irritating people.
- That wouldn't explain why she's mean to Shinji and Kensuke.
- IIRC, she's not that bad to them... unless Touji is nearby. She's also quite nice to Misato, so I guess it's Touji's aura or somethig.
- Rodoreamon's character arc in Simoun follows her evolution away from the Yamato Nadeshiko that she is at the beginning of the series, as she opens up and develops more of a backbone.
- Parodied in Muteki Kanban Musume when Miki Onimaru (normally a Yandere-like cranky waitress) got drunk and started to act like one, even to the point of loathing violence and acting submissively.
- Flora/Nera, one of the potential marriage candidates in Dragon Quest V, is a Yamato Nadeshiko type. Contrary to the usual, however, she's significantly less popular than her more tomboyish counterpart - as evidenced in an episode of Lucky Star where this choice is referenced. Kagami's choice of Bianca, the other girl, is treated as being more sympathetic... and Konata's brief discussion of why you might pick Flora is purely about gameplay advantages, not character traits.
- Sakura Matou from Fate/Stay Night is a good example, despite (or perhaps as a defense mechanism against) her horrific home life.
- It's actually shown quite explicitly to be a role that she adopts rather than one that comes naturally to her. Before she met Shirou, she was even more of an emotional wreck. By the way she's described, she was closer to a stringy haired ghost girl minus the being dead part. But anyway, she's trying to appeal to Shirou.
- Misae Ikari from Paranoia Agent uses most of episode 11, "No Entry", exemplifying this concept.
- Something of an Evangelion-style Deconstruction of the trope, as much of her "selfless" behavior appears to be the result of unusually realistically depicted clinical depression.
- Momoko from Sumomo Mo Momo Mo takes the entire series to demonstrate the concept, going from stalker to devoted companion, willing to follow her man even into the next world.
- Parodied in TenjouTenge, where Aya Natsume in the very first chapter becomes an obnoxious, ridiculously over-the-top Clingy Jealous Girl mixed with Yamato Nadeshiko because of a family tradition: any woman from the Natsume clan must give their lives to the first one who sees their naked skin, and Souichirou had the tough luck of being thrown into the dressing room while Aya was showering inside.
- Juli Mizrahi from Xenosaga fits this trope well.
- Nadeshiko from Inukami. It's in the name.
- Sakura's dead mother, Nadeshiko, in Card Captor Sakura. Oh look, another one.
- Nadeshiko was a rather atypical YN lady, since she hit all the tropes... except for her utter cluelesness and clumsiness.
- Sakura's father Fujitaka is a perfect example, though male.
- Among Sakura's friends, the one who embodies the trope more closely is Rika Sasaki. Sakura thinks that Rika's very beautiful and mature, if not more than the other girls. Tomoyo also follows the torpe to a degree, but she's more The Ojou.
- Nadeshiko from Shugo Chara even if she is a ....
- Subverted in Ouran High School Host Club: Tamaki often imagines Haruhi, who is actually a bifauxnen, as one; before coming to Ouran and cutting her long hair, she resembled one, as well.
- In the Ouran High School Host Club Manga a girl named Kanoya falls for Tamaki. She seems to have all these traits, and also very closely resembles Tamaki's inner mind version of Haruhi.
- Mayl, the love interest for ten-year-old Lan in Mega Man Battle Network, clearly aims to be his yamato nadeshiko when they grow up. In the Distant Finale, she's succeeded.
- Subverted in Rurouni Kenshin, where Tomoe Yukishiro is sweet, hardworking, so calm and collected she looked borderline cold... and was actually a spy who wanted to kill Kenshin for murdering her fiancé. She actually opens up a bit and does fall for Kenshin, "her Second Love", but ends up dead. And several years later, Kenshin falls for the Tsundere Kaoru, who in the infamous Seishouhen OAV grows up into a Yamato Nadeshiko.
- Played straight with Yahiko's girlfriend Tsubame and her boss/adoptive mother Tae Sekihara.
- And with the two girls from the Oniwabanshuu (Masukami/Omasu and Omime/Okon), when they're of-duty. Sort-of Justified Trope since they work as waitresses in the Aoiya when not kicking ass alongside the group, while the guys are the cooks of the place.
- Gundam SEED has Lacus Clyne (with heavy emphasis on the wisdom), a Yamato Nadeshiko who uses her Idol Singer status to become a political juggernaut. Slightly subversive in her status as the leader of the Three Ships Alliance; her Yamato Nadeshiko side is decidedly more obvious in Gundam SEED Destiny, particularly the first half where she spends her days as a homemaker/mother figure to a gaggle of orphans. This looks to have been subverted by the ending to Destiny, though, which implies that Lacus is the new leader of the PLANTs. Given that it's the only government of a major power that's still intact (the previous leader of the PLANTs had conquered the Earth Alliance and killed its leaders) and the minor nations had already sided with her beforehand, this particular Yamato Nadeshiko effectively now rules the world.
- Special Edition not so much implies, as outright states it. Though, this very situation subverts the trope: in Japan traditionally Yamato Nadeshiko could and did control things (there were even women Empresses), but did it discreetly and indirectly, as direct control was considered crass for women. So Lacus would come out more as The Ojou — she has the behavior, but not the mindset and is too much ambitious for classical Yamato Nadeshiko. Who, in her situation, would be perfectly prepared to let Kira Yamatotake the position and then control him from the shadows.
- In Digimon Adventure 02, one of Genki Girl Miyako Inoue's image songs is called Yamato Nadeshiko Panic; the lyrics are about how much she wants to be more of a Yamato Nadeshiko. And in the Distant Finale, she is. Kinda. Note that the song was actually released after the finale, along with image songs for the girls from predecessor Digimon Adventure and successor Digimon Tamers.
- Toshiko Takenouchi, Sora's mother, combines this with Education Mama at first. Satoe Tachikawa, Mimi's mom, is this and Adult Child.
- Kazusa from Kamichama Karin.
- Saeko Busujima from High School of the Dead, with an Heir To The Dojo twist. The other twist is under that polite exterior there's a sadist itching to get out and beat the crap out of everyone. Fortunately for her friends there's a lot of zombies to kill.
- Momo Hinamori from Bleach, to the extent that a Shinigami can be. Meaning, she's one Yamato Nadeshiko who can burn you with Tobiume's energy blasts if she gets pissed off...
- In that same series, a more by-the-book Yamato Nadeshiko would be the beautiful, feminine, ultra-polite and graceful Miyako, former 3rd officer of the 13th division and wife of its lieutenant, Kaien Shiba. When remembering her, Rukia Kuchiki says that Miyako was her idol and pretty much her ideal woman. Her voice? Sumi Shimamoto, in one of her rare appearances in the modern times.
- The 4th Captain, Unohana Retsu, counts as well, mixing this with Team Mom traits.
- In the flashbacks, Ichigo Kurosaki's Missing Mom Masaki is mentioned to have always been sweet and gentle, never getting angry towards anyone, and ultimately sacrificing her life to save little Ichigo from a Hollow ( whom Ichigo would battle and lose to, and then her husband Isshin would kill). She might have been a Yamato Nadeshiko, then, with said traits getting passed onto her youngest daughter Yuzu after her death.
- Variation: the aforementioned Rukia is more of a Shorttank, but she can pull off a pretty reliable Yamato Nadeshiko impersonation when it's needed.
- Unlucky Childhood Friend Dawn Star from Jade Empire, despite being a master martial artist with Psychic Powers, is otherwise a perfect example of this trope In ANCIENT CHINA!. You can snap her out of it though.
- Setsuna Sakurazaki of Mahou Sensei Negima was once described as this by Weasel Mascot Chamo for being quiet and fair-skinned with raven-black hair (at least in the original translation). Keep in mind, however, that once we actually get to know her, she drops this facade and instead becomes a Bad Ass sword-slinging Samurai-type. Meanwhile, Konoka Konoe, being a Princess formerly living in a Big Fancy Temple Complex and heiress to an ancient family who leads a prominent Magical Organization seems to approach this quite effectively, especially during her Omiais when she wears a kimono. More noticable when she eats the magical aging pills.
- Sango of Inu Yasha is an interesting version of the trope, a willowy dark-haired pretty-not-beautiful girl who follows her family tradition... by being a demon-slayer. Her existence is testament to the idea that the traditional family girl can still be handy to have around in a tight spot.
- Might be inspired by the fact that, in the old Japanese times, the daughters of the samurais were required to know how to defend themselves and their homes in case they were under attack. The naginata polearm is an almost exclusively female Weapon Of Choice, usually a part of a Yamato Nadeshiko with samurai background's dowry; it lets her keep the attackers at bay, using the distance to her advantage and reducing the chance to have the Action Girl hurt.
- Kikyou was a Miko, yet she acted a lot like a Yamato Nadeshiko... until her death.
- Nunnally and Euphemia in Code Geass might be Brittanian, but they both show some traits of the Yamato Nadeshiko types. Specially Nunnally, since Euphie is a bit more rebellious.
- Kallen's biological mother, Mrs. Kouzuki, apparently fits in the mold, but she can be seen as a deconstruction. She is devoted to her daughter and her dead son, but the war left her psychologically damaged and she was addicted to a drug that makes you relive happier times. Kallen also thought her mother was still devoted to her biological father, who basically just used her, not realizing her true reasons until she witnessed the depth of her mom's psychological damage. She gets better after the Grand Finale, though.
- Another Britannian one is Cécile Croomy, Count Lloyd Asplund's beautiful lab assistant. Also voiced by Mrs. Kikuko Inoue. She'd be the perfect Yamato Nadeshiko if not for two things: her status as a Britannian... and (like Tytti) her HORRIBLE cooking.
- The Black Knights have Nagisa Chiba as their Yamato Nadeshiko. She's a Lady Of War Action Girl when in her Knightmare, is in love with her commander and friend Todou, and can wear a kimono with ease (like in Ougi and Viletta's wedding)
- In The Prince Of Tennis manga and OAV's, Sakuno Ryuzaki is portrayed as more mature and less klutzy, fitting the Yamato Nadeshiko mold pretty well.
- In the anime, Choutarou Ohtori can be seen as a male Yamato Nadeshiko. Tall? Check. Polite? Check. Wise Beyond Their Years? Check. Focused on his goals? Check. Very competent in his "mission"? Check. Very devoted to his partner Shishido? Oh baby, Check Please...
- And what about Oishi? That guy is the very incarnation of a gender flipped Yamato Nadeshiko, considering he's a male Team Mom who's extremely devoted to Tezuka and Eiji and later makes many sacrifices for the team. Specially when he forfeits his regular position to let Tezuka (manga) or Ryoma (anime) make use of it.
- In the anime, there's also Narumi Iijyuin (whose twin younger sister Kurumi is a Shorttank). The mothers of the players, logically, also are like this: special mention goes to Kaidoh's mother Hazuki, Tezuka's Hot Shounen Mom Ayana and Fuji's mother Yoshiko (sho is called one in manga canon).
- Depending on which series you are watching and how you watch it a decent number of the cast of Tenchi Muyo characters fall in this category. Sasami, Ayeka and Kiyone all can be considered this, although the last two often fall out of this due to excessive Flanderization. Interestingly, the same influences cause Sasami to become MORE of one.
- What might be oddest is in that in one or two spots, that looks like what Ryoko wants to be. For someone whose personality seems to be a laundry list of what a Yamato Nadeshiko is NOT..
- Subverted with Kaede Fuyou in Shuffle: She seems to be this at the start, being unfailingly gentle and subservient, but when her love interest Rin starts falling for someone else aka their common friend and sempai Asa Shigure, well...
- Note that Kaede is actually quite a spin in both Yamato Nadeshiko and Yandere, since her madness does not only come from Rin falling for Asa. Kaede was already psychologically damaged from years ago, and even was horribly abusive to Rin because she blamed him for her mother's death in an accident. Her Yamato Nadeshiko side was born out of her guilt over finding out he was not to blame.
- Also, Kaede was a Yandere in the anime. The original games have her as a more or less normal Yamato Nadeshiko... though one of the sequels, which sheds more light on her past, has a few touches from the anime.
- Inverted with Sumire Kanou from Toradora. She is described as having the looks and elegancy of a Yamato Nadeshiko, and is the Student Council President. However, don't judge a book by its cover. Has black hair in the light novels, but has blue hair in the anime.
- To the public eye, Yukimura Tokine from Kekkaishi is a picture perfect embodiment of this trope. However, those who know of her secret work as a kekkaishi know that she is a scarily competent and rather ruthless Action Girl who not only has the tendency to hit allies who annoy her over the head and but also cold-heartedly executes enemies.
- Akira Sakou in Girls Saurus is The Ojou who lives in a Big Fancy House and is an extremely traditional Yamato Nadeshiko (and is explicitly described as resembling and behaving like Nadeshiko herself)... however, she subverts this by being a hardcore Bokukko with very complicated gender identity issues outside of home, and it's implied that her attraction to Shingo is out of a strange inversion of Sitch Sexuality, because he's the only boy who (she thinks) thinks of her as a boy.
- Seto San from Seto no Hanayome. She was willing to bet herself for her husband's contest... SAN-CHAN!!!!!!!!!
- Anezaki Mamori of Eyeshield 21 is a girl with loyalty, domestic ability, wisdom, maturity, and humility... and is definitely a force to be reckoned with, protecting her surrogate siblings and standing up to badass football players. This only seems to elevate her standing in the eyes of other characters.
- Also, played with in regards to Karin Koizumi. The best quarterback in the whole country is... a sweet girl who adores piano playing and shoujo manga and was pretty much forcefully recruited by the Teikoku Alexanders.
- Iono from Iono The Fanatics is a queen from a foreign country who, on the surface, is very much a Yamato Nadeshiko, and she's even described as such by two government officials. However, her weak spot for black-haired girls also prompts her security officer to nickname her "horny queen", which is much more fitting.
- Tohru Honda of Fruits Basket fits this trope almost perfectly. She's just more... clumsy, naïve and more prone to hide things (this one, in the manga) than the standard.
- Yuki in No Bra is an example of this. She's a biological male who looks, acts, and identifies as female; however, the term transsexual as yet to be said, and everyone besides her love interest believes her to be biologically female. She's friendly, domestic, and defers to Masato, her love interest. Even when he told her to get her hair cut, something she didn't want to do, she did it with little complaint.
- Miyuki Kobayakawa in Youre Under Arrest. When she's not working at her traditionally male job (cop, if you hadn't guessed by the title) or up to her elbows in the engine compartment of either her patrol car or her personal vintage Toyota S800.
- Taken into parody with Miyuki's coworker and friend Aoi Futaba, a Wholesome Crossdresser who looks and acts the part so damn well that Yoriko says he's more feminine than any of the girls in Bokuto station at some point. Also noticeable because Aoi is one of the few (if not the only) "Yamato Nadeshiko" roles played by Rika Matsumoto, making him a huge case of Playing Against Type.
- In Ikki Tousen Great Guardians, there's Hakufu's sweet and polite "adoptive sister", Sonken Chuubou (Sun Quan) or to be exact, Shoukyou (Xiao Qiao).
- This trope is also parodied in the last episode of Dragon Destiny, where Lady Of War Chou'un Shiryuu dresses up in a formal kimono, takes up ikebana flower arrangment... and utterly fails.
- Windows 95-tan is often depicted this way, being the oldest of the 32-bit Windows operating systems.
- Jun Fudo of Devilman Lady tries desperately to embody this trope, due to her self-esteem problems and her Abusive Parents. It backfires massively when she starts turning into a demon.
- Anew Returner from Gundam 00. There's debate about her truly having a gender, being an Innovator, but her mannerisms are very much Yamato Nadeshiko. Subverted later: her Yamato Nadeshiko side was a facade, since she was a brainwashed Manchurian Agent. And when her boyfriend tried to give Anew a Last Second Chance and she was about to take it, her boss mindcontrolled her and the boyfriend's partner had to kill her
- In Axis Powers Hetalia, Taiwan has the looks whereas Lietchenstein has the character traits.
- In Deadman Wonderland, Karako likes to claim that she is one. Everyone else disagrees, though.
- Kaede Kimura in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei tries to be a yamato nadeshiko (she actually uses the term). But her years spent overseas have left her with a second personality: Kaere, who has a stereotypical aggressive foreigner attitude. Hilarity Ensues.
- Also parodied with Matoi Tsunetsuki, who wears a kimono and acts like a parody of the trope in regards to Itoshiki-sensei.
- Airi Nogami, Ryotaro's older sister in Kamen Rider Den-O, who is pretty, caring, an excellent cook, and completely, completely unflappable. Upon being told that Ryotaro was being held hostage by an armed robber, her immediate reaction was to go back to preparing coffee. When one of the coffee shop regulars asked how she could be so calm, she muttered "That's right", then went off...to make "Ryo-chan" some special hostage snacks. Cue mass Face Fault.
- Tsubaki from Soul Eater. How else would she be able to put up with Black Star?
- Sylphiel Uls-Lada from Slayers
- Shamal from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, as it fits to her "role" as "the mother" in The Three Faces Of Eve Wolkenritters. Except that she can't cook AT ALL
- Francoise/003, and Lina the Psychic Assassin (when off-duty, that is) in Cyborg 009
- Nagisa Furukawa and her mother Sanae (voiced by Kikuko Inoue) from Clannad. It also helps that Sanae-san is a Lethal Baker.
- Princess Oboro from Basilisk.
- Hermione from Romeo X Juliet.
- Sakura-chan's four older sisters from Pokemon. Satsuki (Jolteon), Sumomo (Vaporeon), Tamao (Umbreon) and Koume (Flareon) can wear fancy headgear and kimonos gracefully, serve you the most delicious green tea, play the shamisen beautifully and arrange flowers like pros... and they can also kick your ass in style with their Poks. Little Sakura is still too young to fully qualify, but she and her Eevee/Espeon are definitely getting there.
- Toyed with in G Gundam. When Rain Mikamura gets the Rising Gundam to use in battle, it has a heat naginata polearm that can become a bow with heat arrows as its main weapon, following the example of the Yamato Nadeshiko who's trained in weapon handling to defend herself and her household. Rain herself has some Yamato Nadeshiko traits, personality wise: she is extremely devoted to Domon, to her Professor father and their mission, but she is also quite more fanservicy, stubborn and outspoken than the standard.
- Parodied in Hamtaro with Charlotte/Sakura, Philip/Ichiro's girlfriend. She can play the part well when needed and has been raised as one... but you'd never know it if you met her outside her Big Fancy House, since she's a Genki Girl bordering on Wild Child whenever she gets out.
- Ren Mikihara from Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, a minor addition to the side-story cast, along with student body president Atsunobu Hayashimizu, whom she clings to.
- In Slam Dunk we have two highschool-aged examples: Oda's girlfriend Youko Shimamura and Akane Mizusawa from the fourth OAV. Female lead Haruko Akagi would count as well (and Youhei does describe her as a Yamato Nadeshiko in the beginning) if she was less accident-prone.
- A grown-up example is Anzai-sensei's wife, who even dresses up in a kimono.
- Arguably, Kiminobu Kogure can be seen as one of the very rare male examples.
- Mikuru Asahina from Haruhi Suzumiya is this trope mixed with all-too-generous portions of Extreme Doormat.
- Yet Future!Mikuru is sufficiently different from present!Mikuru to make one a bit suspicious of her current self, too.
- Yuki Nagato also has more than her share of Yamato Nadeshiko traits (quiet, humble, calm, defers to Kyon quite a bit), but she's also a mix of at least a half dozen other character types.
- Ryoko Asakura is sometimes seen as an inversion of this trope, given that she comes off as kind, caring responsible and level-headed, but only because she's programmed to exhibit those traits, and can't throw the switch off, even when she's trying her best to murder your face off.
- That's because she's a Yangire, which is a completely another trope.
- Twilight Suzuka from Outlaw Star is something of a hybrid. She is half this trope, and half Hot Chick With A Sword.
- Princess Freya from the Asgard saga in Saint Seiya. Also Chinese Girl Shunrei, Seiya's Unlucky Childhood Friend Miho, and to a smaller degree Saori herself after her Character Development.
- Andromeda Shun is speculated to be a male example, since personality-wise he fits eerily well.
- Hiromi Yuasa from True Tears is an obvious textbook example of this trope.
- Kenichi The Mightiest Disciple has Kenichi's little sister, who's a Yamato Nadeshiko in progress. She's pretty much the only girl in the series (other than Kenichi's mom, who also qualifies) who isn't an Action Girl.
- Mako from Initial D acts a LOT like one, bar her very fanservicey clothing... until she gets into her car.
Film
Literature
- In a very rare example of Heinlein using this trope, Edith Stone from "The Rolling Stones". Despite being the least assertive persion in a family of aggressive overachievers, and not even possessing the advantage of being family matriarch (as her mother-in-law Hazel has usurped that role), via pure influence judo she is still the only person in the book who always ends up getting her own way in the end.
- Ma Joad from The Grapes Of Wrath is an example of this trope. She exemplifies all the traits but, most importantly, manages to hold the family together through sheer force of will alone.
- Herald Talia in Mercedes' Lackey's Heralds Of Valdemar. One of her two single most significant moments in the series involved epic babysitting — specifically, being the only person in the kingdom kind enough, patient enough, and domestically talented enough to un-spoil the Royal Brat, Princess Elspeth. Which, given Elspeth's importance to the plot later on, saved the world at least twice over. The only diagnostic criteria listed above that Talia misses is that she's not tall.
- Melanie Wilkes from Gone With The Wind might be considered a Western version of this. Of course, others might argue that she's an outright Purity Sue.
- It's argued that Scarlett's first husband, Charles Hamilton, could be seen as a male example.
- Esther Summerson, from Charles Dickens' Bleak House, can be seen as a Victorian English version of the trope. She's kind, modest, sensible, and domestically competent, but too down-to-earth to be a Purity Sue.
- Esther is also a partial deconstruction of the trope, as her extreme humility seems to be in part the result of an upbringing that would be considered emotionally abusive by most modern standards.
- Adèle Ratignolle from Kate Chopin's novel The Awakening. Her submissiveness and devotion to her family and husband make her a foil to the protagonist Edna.
- Mrs. Ramsay from Virginia Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse.
- Fanny Price in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. She is extremely gentle, passive and the doormat of pretty much everybody around her until they try to force her into marrying the man she doesn't love.
- Cho Chang from Harry Potter. She is almost too sensible for this trope.
- Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan (nee Vorsoisson) from the Miles Vorkosigan novels fits the above description almost to a T... right down to an iron determination to live up to the public mores of an almost oppressively patriarchal culture with a traditional subordinate role for women, her being the ideal wife and mother by said cultural standards, her impeccable reserve and good manners, even her quiet dark-haired beauty. And the requisite willpower of steel in the service of unimpeachable honor lying underneath it all.
- Ekaterin is both a subversion and an upholding of this trope - subversion in that her first marriage almost emotionally destroyed her, as her determination to be a good wife and mother by her cultural standards trapped her for ten years in a marriage to an abusive idiot. And upheld in that her second marriage to Miles Vorkosigan, after Tien Vorsoisson finally got himself killed via his own stupidity, has become exactly as per the trope description above, under the subtle tutelage of...
- Miles' mother, Countess Cordelia, galactic champion of subtle psychological jiu-jitsu, who has happily settled into occupying the Yamato Nadeshiko role to Count Aral Vorkosigan in her older age. Although unlike Ekaterin she's actually a retired Action Girl, and can stay retired because after a legendary Mama Bear incident in Miles' infancy no one on Barrayar is insane enough to give her any reason to un-retire. +
It was during a civil war, Miles was in an artificial womb in the capital city, which the enemy had captured. Cordelia recruited her own special ops team and went in to recover Miles. She not only returned with Miles, but the severed head of the enemy leader. Her husband was negotiating with factions who were thinking of switching sides, when she showed him what "she'd bought in the capital". The civil war didn't continue much longer after that.
- Lady Catelyn "Cat" Tully-Stark from A Song Of Ice And Fire. The Tully motto is “Family, Duty, Honor,” and those are the words Cat lives by.
- Esme Cullen from Twilight, also the Team Mom and the Hot Shounen Mom.
- In Enid Blyton's Famous Five books Anne is pretty much a Yamato Nadeshiko in training. She does manage to get the occasional Beware The Nice Ones moment though.
- Likewise, in this troper's opinion, Mary-Lou from Malory Towers.
- Mercilessly and cruelly deconstructed in And Then There Were None. Vera Elizabeth Claythorne is a gentle, sweet, naive girl who genuinely loves her boyfriend Hugo, but he can't marry her since he's got no money to do so. And she loves him so much that she kills Hugo's nephew Cyril, who was her charge, by letting him down in the sea so Hugo can inherit the family state. Holy...
Live Action TV
- Pam from the US version of The Office, though Pam can't be said to be 'obedient' to Jim, as demonstrated in the 'chairs vs. copier' argument.
- Swan Shiratori, Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger's mechanic, fits this description perfectly, though not being as tall or long-haired as most anime examples.
- The following season Mahou Sentai Magiranger yields a better example, Ozu Miyuki, literally the mother of the core 5 Rangers. Even her superhero identity is named MagiMother.
- Partially subverted two seasons later in Juuken Sentai Gekiranger. Masashi Miki, a single mother of one and more of a guardian and mentor to the Rangers than the actual grandmaster Sha Fu, was a former Sukeban delinquent in her teen years.
Theatre
- The I Want Song "A Quiet Girl" from Wonderful Town seems to be about this type.
Video Games
- The Final Fantasy series has plenty of good examples, though Aerith of FFVII is arguably a subversion (she's not exactly docile and submissive, but she's otherwise more traditionally feminine than the other girls and does occupy the 'comforting, mothering figure' aspect - which she comments on in Advent Children). The best examples from the series would probably be devoted love interest Rosa from FFIV, Garnet/Dagger (when she's being a demure little princess and not a rebellious one) from FFIX and especially Yuna... in FFX, though definitely not in X-2.
- Terra/Tina from FFVI is the series' prototype Yamato Nadeshiko when she's in human form; so much as to take care of-and be loved by-a ragtag group of orphans after Kefka takes over a broken world that he broke.
- Nakoruru from Samurai Shodown is a Cute Bruiser, The Beast Master version of the trope. Also, Haohmaru's lover Oshizu and Ukyou's lady of liege Kei Odagiri.
- Iris from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations. Her twin sister, Dahlia Hawthorne, is a Yangire to the extreme.
- It's now normal for Tales leads to get paired with a Tsundere by the story, but in Tales Of Phantasia, the tsundere went to best friend Chester, and the main character got Mint, who is such a perfect example of this trope that she basically gets it as a title. In Tales Of Symphonia, you get neither (although you can pick the tsundere, the Dojikko Chosen One is the designated love interest if you don't, and there's no yamato nadeshiko to be found).
- Believe it or not, Mai Shiranui from Fatal Fury and The King Of Fighters is one. And very proud of it, since in her own words, she's "the number one Japanese girl". It's quite more evident when she's outside the fighting ring, of course: i.e., in the KOF: KYO game, Mai puts on a fancy kimono and hosts a tea ceremony for Kyo and his girlfriend Yuki◊.
- Slightly subverted in the Visual Novel Princess Waltz with Shikikagura Suzushiro, who looks, acts and tries very hard to be one of these. Stand in her way however and she shows a much more ruthless and bitchy side to her personality, and also possesses a powerful and brutal fighting style.
- Yukiko in Persona 4. Granted, it kind of comes with her job, being the heiress of a traditional-style Japanese inn, but she embodies so much of it that her Shadow is everything a Yamato Nadeshiko is not; very, very trashy... not one bit serene.
- Interestingly, normal Yukiko also ends up subverting the trope in action, even if appearance-wise she matches the trope to a T (what with being the tallest of the main female cast, the long black hair, etc): at first she plans on abandoning the inn completely in order to find her own path in life and escape her "gilded cage"; later on, she realizes that the inn isn't a cage at all, but it's home with a lot of people she loves and cares for. This means, however, that when she confronts a television crew who want to turn the inn into a laughingstock for cheap ratings, she delivers an absolutely brutal verbal smackdown on them and sends them packing in a most un-YN-like fashion. She notes, of course, that without the help of the player character, she just would have remained a typical YN all her life and wouldn't have developed the inner steel to do that.
- The Pokemon Gardevoir. It looks vaguely like a pretty human female, and it devotes itself to protecting and serving its trainer, to the extent of sacrificing itself for them.
- In Street Fighter, Rainbow Mika's tag-team partner is actually named Yamato Nadeshiko.
- Most of the Harvest Moon games have at least one. In the original and Magical Melody, it's the Maria character. In HM 64, Back To Nature, and Friends of Mineral Town, it's Elli. In A Wonderful Life, it's Celia. Interestingly for this trope, said character is almost never the easiest to marry.
- The Mysterious Waif Ninian from Fire Emblem 7 can be seen as a Yamato Nadeshiko, character-wise.
- A Western example, albeit not a Love Interest, is 1st Lieutenant (later Lieutenant Colonel) Mariko "Spirit" Tanaka in Wing Commander. She's also the only Japanese character in the first game.
- Lilly Satou from Katawa Shoujo has some elements of this. Except that she's blind.
Western Animation
Real Life
- Saint Monica of Hippo can be considered a very early version of the Yamato Nadeshiko, due to her devotion to her husband Patricius and her son Saint Augustine (who pretty much worshipped the ground his mom walked on, and not to mention she was one of the biggest influences in his conversion to Christianism).
- Saint Maria Goretti can be seen as a Yamato Nadeshiko in training, being very hardworking and devoted to her mother and siblings (specially after her father's death from illness). However, the poor girl also happened to attract the eye of the local Jerk Ass, Alessandro Serenelli, and soon It Got Worse for her.
- The Virgin Mary is presented as the epitome of this trope, she being the perfect mother figure (indeed, the mother of Jesus Himself) and all.
- This term likely originated with the Chiran Nadeshiko Unit of WWII, a group of middle-school girls who provided comfort (no, not that kind of comfort) to Kamikaze pilots while serving as a subtle reminder of what they were sacrificing themselves to protect. The program was highly publicized for propaganda purposes but befriending successive waves of airmen (most of them little more than teens themselves) only to watch them sent off to die inflicted a severe psychological toll on the girls. The program finally ended after repeated air raids convinced the authorities that the airfield had become far too dangerous for children. Some surmise that the modern concept of Yamato Nadeshiko in general stems from wartime propaganda intended to buck up the home front.
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