CS - Nanami Chiyako: IJN Officer

Name: Nanami Chiyako (七海 千弥子)

Age: 26

Nationality: Japan

Branch: Imperial Japanese Navy

Rank: Kaigun-Chui (Lieutenant)

Gender: F

Height: 157cm

Personality: Born in Kurahashi Island in Hiroshima Bay, Kurahashi-jima is part of the islands group known as Geiyo Islands in the Seto Inland Sea. Chiyako was the third of four daughters, her father, Nanami Shunsaku was a sea captain who owned a shipping company that transported cargo between Kyoto and Kinei, as well as West Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Thanks to the deep and calm Seto Inland Sea, this area has been a main shipping hub for Japan for millennia. The Ichinomiya Itsukushima Shrine and Oyamazumi Shrine (both guardians of navigation) are all located in this area, which shows the historical importance of this sea lane.

As a child, Chiyako loved hanging around her father's shipyard; by the time she was twelve, she was filling out shipping journals for him. Chiyako gradually became indispensable to her father, and as she grew older, Chiyako's father promised her that she would one day own a ship herself.

When she was 15, Chiyako had lost her mother to pancreatic cancer and then her younger sister from a traffic accident. She took over running the household while also managing the bookkeeping for her father's business.

When Chiyako was 17, her father bought a freighter, the Asuka-maru named after her mother, and he registered the ship in Chiyako’s name. They used it to transport cargo such as coal, iron ore, and tungsten from China. Chiyako spent most of her time captaining the Asuka-maru personally, becoming adept at navigation and all aspects of sailing. She was known for being a stern enforcer of order on board her ship, intolerant of any drunken crew members on duty.

After her father died, the other shareholders decided they want the company for themselves. As the children of the previous owner, Chiyako and her two siblings were all given a large cheque with enough money for them to live the rest of their life in luxury. Chiyako’s love for sailing and past records eventually brought her to enrolled for Naval Academy and being commissioned, before she was assigned to the cruiser warship Atago as an officer on board.