; : : Portrayed by:
Suzu Hirose, (young) :A determined high school girl who was inspired by Arata in elementary school to play karuta and to dream of becoming the "Queen" of karuta. She begins a
karuta club at her high school with Taichi. and Chihaya's childhood best friend. Who has a strict mother that tells him that he should stick to activities he can win at. Taichi Mashima is an intelligent boy from a rich family who is very popular amongst the kids at their elementary school. He is almost instantly good at everything he does and is referred to in the series as a “Jack of all trades,
master of none”. When Arata transfers to his class, he dislikes him immediately and starts bullying him for being “weird” and poor. Though, later, we learn that he was doing so due to his own insecurity and because he was jealous of all the attention that was thrown at him by Chihaya (whom he had a crush on). It is when he is challenged to play Karuta against Arata that he is so terrified of losing to the eternal Meijin’s grandson and disappointing his mother who expects him to excel, that he decides to hide Arata’s glasses. Thereby securing himself a victory. However, though Arata tries to play without his glasses, he is completely unable to play at his usual level. Seeing this, Chihaya steps in to play for Arata (and for herself) and she wins against Taichi. Chihaya never suspected that Taichi was the one that hid Arata’s glasses. Eventually out of guilt, Taichi returns them to Arata, begging him not to tell Chihaya, and Arata agrees but calls him a coward. He holds onto Arata’s words for the entire series as he tries to prove to himself that he isn’t one. but she begs him to watch her get to A class where he reluctantly decides to make a Karuta club with her. However, in part, he decided to make a club with Chihaya because it looks fun, and he saw the potential in Chihaya, so he wants to help her accomplish her dream. His primary goal is winning a match against Arata. Taichi is the president of the Mizusawa Karuta club. Throughout the two years of high school, Taichi learns how to be a team leader and also becomes close friends with everyone on the team, especially Nishida and Komano. Taichi too has grown a lot as a Karuta player, for instance, making it into A class (One of his primary hurdles at the start of the series). Taichi has an incredible memory and can remember every single card that has been read. However, this skill is a double-edged sword; due to his strong memory, occasionally it makes it difficult for him to forget placements of previous/current matches. However, despite constant bouts of bad luck, he always manages to pick himself back up and keep trying. One of his biggest weaknesses as a player is himself - he always gets into his head and has very low self-esteem, nearly always thinking the worst about himself and thinking that people also think the worst of him. Though the Mizusawa team won the national high school tournament, Taichi desperately wants to win a match against Chihaya. When he loses against her in Yoshino, he starts a downward trajectory where his grades begin to slip, and he starts participating in tournaments away from Chihaya. After learning that Arata has confessed his feelings and subsequently losing to him in a match, Taichi is at an all-time low. Chihaya does her best to make him smile, but no matter what she does it's still not enough. Taichi finally gathers his courage and confesses to Chihaya about stealing Arata’s glasses when they were kids, thereby choosing to no longer be a coward. He confessed that he loves Chihaya, and she replied sorry, which he takes as a rejection and storms out. Taichi quits the club but decides not to give up Karuta fully. He later developed an unlikely mentor-friend relationship with Hisashi Suou- the current reigning Meijin. Suou teaches Taichi not only how to improve his hearing, but he also develops a cruel style of Karuta - one where you trick your opponents into making faults. After his rejection, Taichi avoids Chihaya at all costs. But when the high school tournament is on, and Chihaya will be playing against Arata, he decides to finally go back and watch them. It is a heartfelt reunion with the Mizusawa team. Taichi gives Arata a box of chocolates attached with a note that they will meet again in a match. To Chihaya’s delight, Taichi returns to play to become the challenger for the West. He uses his newfound skills from Suou to win the challenger matches, even winning against his sensei, Harada. At the challenger matches, he plays against Arata once again. He tries to adopt Suou’s detached Karuta, that doesn’t care about winning or losing. In the first match, Taichi is close to losing, but he finally gets a card against Arata. Arata claims that it was his card and because Taichi is trying to remain detached, and even though both of them know Taichi got it first, he lets it go. Arata feels guilty about lying about the take, so he offers Taichi anything to make up for it. Taichi tells him that the only way he can is if they are in a battle of fates, Arata will let Taichi win no matter which card is called. In the second match, because he wants to take the Chiha card from Arata more than anything, Taichi gets the upper hand; thereby rejecting Suou’s empty Karuta. It is another battle of fates but true to his word, Arata lets Taichi take the last card, and Taichi won the second round. However, in the final match due to exhaustion and perhaps feeling like he accomplished his dream of winning against Arata, Taichi loses by 18 cards. However, Arata tells Taichi that he never saw him as a burden and thanks him for playing Karuta with him for all these years even though he wasn't as skilled as him. They both hug as Chihaya cries bitter tears for Taichi’s loss. Taichi does not want to watch Arata and Chihaya play in their Meijin and Queen matches in the Omi Jingu, because he thinks it doesn’t matter to either of them if he’s there or not. However, he does bring Suou’s family out to watch him which forces him to travel to Omi Jingu. Eventually, he does decide to go and watch Chihaya, and he witnesses both Arata and Chihaya take the Chiha card. This inspires him to start practicing his swings outside in the hallway. Sumire convinces Taichi to watch as both Chihaya and Arata win the title of Meijin and Queen. He is happy for his friends achieving their dreams, however, he still feels like he is the one who is being left behind, and he also thinks that Chihaya and Arata make a great pair believing that the two of them would end up together. His arc culminates with him finally challenging Arata the next year, and both Chihaya and Arata race down the stairs to hug him. At the end of the story, Taichi decides to move to Kyoto for a fresh start, and though Chihaya is sad that he is moving, he tells her that they will always meet again through Karuta. Thereby, he still promised her that they would continue to be friends even though she did not love him back. However, realizing this is not enough, Chihaya confesses that she is in love with him. At first, he is bewildered, but then he accepts, in chapter 247 of Chihayafuru, Chihaya and Taichi have started dating. ; : His dream is to become a
karuta Meijin. After graduating elementary school, he returns to
Fukui to care for his grandfather. After returning to Fukui, he quits
karuta because his grandfather died while Arata was competing in a
karuta tournament to rise to A-rank. However, after Chihaya and Taichi visit him in Fukui, he regains his resolve to play competitive karuta again. He has beaten "The Queen" Shinobu Wakamiya and is aiming to beat "Master" Hishashi Suo to claim the position of "Master". Arata cherishes his friendship with both Chihaya and Taichi, albeit romantically to Chihaya. Later in the manga, Arata confesses his love to Chihaya, also informing her of his move back to Tokyo. Arata then excuses himself, leaving Chihaya flustered and speechless. ==Mizusawa High School Karuta Club==