Tamako Yukihira (
Appearance[]
Tamako greatly resembled Sōma Yukihira in appearance with slightly long, messy light-colored hair that was a different shade at the top. Later, she shortened her hair to a bob.
She wore the Restaurant Yukihira cooking uniform and an apron around her waist. Like her son, Tamako would wear a white headband around her forehead when she cooked and usually kept it loosely tied around her neck when she wasn't.
In the anime, Tamako has brown hair.
Personality[]
Like Sōma Yukihira, Tamako was an optimistic, cheerful, and sociable woman, which made her quite popular. Despite her terrible cooking, she never let her failure bring her down, and she always tried to learn from her mistakes.
Jōichirō Yukihira and Sōma greatly admired this trait about her with the former being impressed that she was capable of coming up with ideas that he could not fathom.
History[]
Despite being the daughter of a diner chef, Tamako was a horrendous cook and infamous among patrons of her family's restaurant for her "Chef's Special" in spite of that. While originally somewhat of a delinquent in her youth, Tamako mellowed out following high school. Tamako met her future husband Jōichirō Saiba when the latter first came to the restaurant. The two did not see eye to eye at first: Jōichirō was revolted by her cooking, while Tamako was annoyed by Jōichirō's increasing presence at the restaurant. However, the two grew closer: Tamako accepted Jōichirō after acknowledging his talent, while Jōichirō found his passion for cooking rekindled by Tamako's warmth and genuine care for her customers. Eventually, they married, becoming parents to a son they named Sōma Yukihira. At Jōichirō's request, Tamako kept her husband's past and work overseas a secret from their son.
Death[]
When Sōma Yukihira was approximately twelve years old, there was an accident in the kitchen. While Tamako was preparing to open Restaurant Yukihira, she had a sudden fall, and Soma found her unconscious on the kitchen floor. Soon, while in the hospital, they found the cause of her fall: a congenital heart valve defect, and she died from complications about a month later.
Etymology[]
- The name Tamako means "bead, pearl, gem, jewel" (珠) (tama) and "child" (子) (ko).
- Tamako's surname Yukihira means "happiness, good luck" (幸) (yuki) and "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (hira), which could translate as "blessing of the ordinary".
Trivia[]
- Sōma Yukihira inherits the same headband that Tamako used during her time in the kitchen before she passed away.
- Tamako is one of the only two parents to have died prior to the events of the series. The other being Asahi Nakiri's biological mother.