Japan

Honda Kiku is a main character in the series Axis Powers Hetalia/Hetalia: Axis Powers. He is the representation of Japan (日本, Nihon), and is part of the Axis Powers.

Appearance
He is a short, slim man with black hair, dark brown eyes, and is often depicted wearing a white naval uniform with black and gold accents. His first appearance in both the anime and the published manga shows him briefly wearing a more ornate version, with gold epaulets and frog clasps down in the front of the jacket. When he first appeared in the webcomic, he wore a standard gray/black uniform until sometime after joining the Axis.

In some of Himaruya's official art, his hair is dark brown and his eyes are a lighter brown.

Personality And Interests
A quiet and hard-working man, Kiku doesn't know very much about the outside world and needs time to adjust to other people. But he's very curious and interested in learning things from other nations. His distinct island customs may seem mysterious to others, although he finds them perfectly normal. He tends to have the behavior of an "old man" and was a hikikomori for a long time (Kiku had spent approximately 200 years in isolation). He has some erotic woodcuts at his place, which he tries to hide secretly between his non-erotic books. Kiku also voiced his preference for 2D girls over 3D girls to Arthur, Heracles, and Francis in one strip, hinting that he has an otaku side. His otaku side is further shown when he decides to buy a Shonen Jump magazine in his preparations for the New Year.

Kiku seems to be fond of food in general, very similar to Yao's fondness, his country's food in particular, as evidenced by his annoyance of having his salted salmon taken off Ludwig's diet plan. He expressed dismay at the increase of the price of eggs due to a bad economy. He also had the urge to touch the Vargas brothers' ahoges due to them reminding him of vegetables. It is said that cockroaches are one of the things that Kiku hates the most, to the extent where he could cry over them.

Wang Yao (China)
Main Article: Wang Yao

After being discovered by Yao as a small child, Kiku was raised by the older man, who taught how to use kanji (Kiku used it to create the hiragana alphabet). One day, Kiku turned on Yao and attacked him with a katana, leaving him with a disfiguring scar on his back. From this point, the two were enemies in war, and Yao despaired over how war had changed Kiku.

It can be inferred from a reference made about the Battle Of Keichou that their relations were already starting to strain before the betrayal, combined with their differing views and Kiku's vow to "become stronger".

Im Yong Soo (South Korea)
Main Article: Im Yong Soo

They do not get along very well. Yong Soo claims to hate Kiku but often can be seen copying Kiku's style and taking credit for others' work. He also has an unusual obsession with grabbing Kiku's "breasts", with the belief that they belong to him (though he once expressed interest in Yao's). At one point he wanted to dig a tunnel to connect their houses, but his plan did not succeed.

When asked about his complicated feelings, Yong Soo claimed that he invented tsundere. It is unclear in the strips what their relations were when they were younger, other than Yong Soo mentioning that Kiku had bullied him (and vowing to find proof to settle a bet).

Heracles Karpusi (Greece)
Main Article: Heracles Karpusi

The two nations have very friendly relations and multiple strips can be seen of them visiting each other or bonding over their mutual love of cats. Their relationship could be associated with the real-life Greco-Japan diplomatic relationship, which started in 1899. It is implied that they "slept" together when Kiku woke up naked in bed with Heracles, even though an embarrassed Kiku has denied that anything happened between them, by exclaiming, "It's just a dream!".

In The Anime
Kiku first appears in Episode 01 briefly at the "Meeting Of The World". He agrees with Alfred's ridiculous solution for global warming, much to the annoyance of Vash, who tells him to say his own opinion instead.

After making a cameo at the end of Episode 03 as a teaser, he is formally introduced in Episode 04. Some of the moments that originally occured at this point in Hetalia: Axis Powers volume 1 were moved to the later Episode 15, while other things (like Kiku seeing the world as an RPG) were dropped entirely.

In Episode 06, while stranded on an island, Kiku suggests to Ludwig that they call their team "Suujiku" (Axis), eine Achse in German and un Asse in Italian.

Since the anime is based more off the published version of the manga than the original webcomic, Kiku does not wear his black uniform in his introduction, instead wearing the decorative version of his naval suit before he becomes part of the Axis Powers. He is also depicted in his WWII naval suit in instances where he originally wore other clothing in the equivalent manga strips.

Trivia

 * His given name, Kiku, comes from the Japanese word for the Chrysanthemum flower. Honda is a common Japanese surname that includes the kanji 本 hon, as in 日本 Nihon (Japan).
 * His birthday corresponds to the date of National Foundation Day in Japan, which celebrates the foundation of Japan in 660 BC by Emperor Jimmu.
 * Though his exact age is unknown and Himaruya listed it as a "secret", Japanese fans consider Kiku to be approximately 2,669 years old.