Sugawara Akitada – midlevel official in the Ministry of Justice
Sadenari – his clerk
Tamako – his wife
Yasuko - his little daughter
Seimei – his elderly secretary
Tora and Genba - faithful retainers
Kobe – chief of the capital police
Characters in Eguchi:
Fujiwara Takeko – the lady of the River Mansion
Fukuda and Harima - two poor, elderly people
Mrs. Wada – owner of the Hananoya brothel
Warden Wada - her husband
Nakagimi – the reigning queen of courtesans
Akogi – a young trainee in the Hananoya
Characters in Naniwa and Kawajiri:
Oga Sadazane - governor of Settsu
Oga Yoshiyo – his son
Munata – the local prefect; a wealthy landowner
Nakahara – chief of the trade office
Nariyuki and Tameaki – his clerks
Otomo – a retired professor of Chinese
Watamaro – a local ship owner and merchant
Saburo – a severely disfigured former spy
Kunimitsu – owner of a sailors’ hostel