Shōko Aizawa (相沢 硝子, Aizawa Shōko) is a minor character in The Garden of Words.
Background[]
Initially hated by boys for her ugliness, Aizawa only had Saya and Teshigawara as her friends. In the final year of junior high school, after dressing up and losing weight, Aizawa became a beautiful girl and attracted other people's attention.
In Grade 11, Shoko dated a handsome and popular senior student named Shinji Makino. However, after she discovered that Shinji tried to flirt with Yukari Yukino, Shōko got jealous and started the bullying, which caused Yukino to stop going to work.
In The Garden of Words[]
One day in Grade 12, Takao Akizuki, a Grade 10 student, confronted and slapped Aizawa for spreading lies about Yukino, but he was beaten up by her friends.
In The Garden of Words novel[]
In December 2013, Aizawa met Sōichirō Ito, her former teacher, at the Shibuya Starbucks by chance and was offered career guidance from him.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Shōko Aizawa did not have good relationships with her father and older brother. Shoko’s father had an extramarital affair with another woman, who later became her stepmother after Mr. Aizawa divorced his wife, while Shoko’s brother was much older than her and always gave Shoko the cold shoulder.
Shoko’s stepmother cared a lot about Aizawa’s school life and was the one who had pressured the school to fire Yukino.
Saya and Teshigawara[]
Saya and Teshigawara were Aizawa's best and only friends since primary school through junior high school. However, their friendships drifted away as they entered different senior high schools.
Sōichirō Ito[]
Sōichirō Ito was Aizawa's homeroom teacher in Grade 10, who still cared about Shoko’s unhealthy lifestyle even years later.
Shinji Makino[]
Shinji was Shoko’s ex-boyfriend who was one-year older than her and Shoko was deeply in love with him. Shinji was an arbitrary and handsome playboy. Although he had sex with Shoko at his birthday, they broke up after 1-year of dating.
Yukari Yukino[]
Yukari was Aizawa's homeroom teacher in Grade 11. Initially admiring and attracted to Yukino for her natural beauty, Aizawa later acted hostile and caused Yukino to be fired in jealousy.
Etymology[]
- The name Shōko means "glass, pane" (硝子). 硝子 is another way of reading “Garasu”, meaning “Glass”.
- It can also mean "nitrate, saltpeter" (硝) (shō) and "child" (子) (ko) separately.
- Shōko's surname Aizawa means "phase, aspect, countenance, mutually, fellow" (相) (ai) and "swamp, marsh" (沢) (sawa/zawa).