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 shy, 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 about 250 years in isolation). Though he appears horrified at the idea of nudity or intimate contact, he has erotic woodcuts in his possession, 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. Although he appears relatively calm most of the time, it is suggested that his anger would be the "scariest". However, it is shown that it's hard for him to get that angry, as he is mostly able to only summon an "unpleasant feeling".

He loves animals, especially cats, and owns a white dog called Pochi that resembles an Akita or Shiba Inu, both Japanese breeds. He also eventually gets a rabbit and a guinea pig. He tends to have a weakness for things that are soft and fluffy.

Feliciano Vargas (North Italy)
Main Article: Feliciano Vargas

The two became acquainted with each other as part of the Axis, though Feliciano had once had a dream where he met a younger Kiku.

Kiku is shown to often be unnerved by Feliciano's "shameless" and unusual behavior, even as going as far as to order him to "take responsibility" and marry him after having been hugged and kissed. Feliciano's erratic driving had also inspired him to invent safer cars. The two have been shown to have a mutual respect of each others' history and artwork, and seem to be friends.

Lovino Vargas (South Italy)
Main Article: Lovino Vargas

Though they have yet to meet in any of the actual strips, Himaruya has stated that they would both get along rather well and that Kiku would refer to Lovino as "Romano-kun" (after initially "-san").

Ludwig (Germany)
Main Article: Ludwig

Kiku and Ludwig get along relatively well, and tend to be the only ones who adapt to the situation while joined together as the Axis Powers. Kiku had known Ludwig for some time (as depicted in the original strips), although Ludwig said he can never tell what Kiku has in mind.

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 him how to use kanji (which Kiku used to create the hiragana alphabet). One day, Kiku turned against 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". It is also to be noted that while Yao considered Kiku a younger brother, Kiku himself denied there being such a connection when asked.

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).

Alfred F. Jones (America)
Main Article: Alfred F. Jones

In Black Ships have Come, America succeeds in getting Japan to open up his borders, but does so in a way that Kiku feels as if there was no choice. Apparently the relationship gets better, since in Japan and the footsteps of Westernization, Alfred visits his house. He introduces "table turning" to Kiku, asking what he would like to question the table about. Kiku eventually ends up confiding that, while he is happy to be opening up his borders and meeting new people, he is fearful of not being able to get along with other countries. He then goes on to request that Alfred ask if he will be able to make new friends, and Alfred promptly makes the table shift once, exclaiming "That means the answer's yes!"

In modern-day strips, these two get along well. They share a love of technology and video games, and are frequently at each others' houses to play them together. Differences between the American and Japanese culture and lifestyle are often explored using these two, such as in Traits of Japanese People that America-Kuns Have Noticed, and Why Americans Love Spring.

Heracles Karpusi (Greece)
Main Article: Heracles Karpusi

The two nations have very friendly, possibly romantic 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 in Lazy Comic Country that they slept together when Kiku stated he had no "experience", and Heracles said he'd fix that. He then 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!".

Sadiq Adnan (Turkey)
Main Article: Sadiq Adnan

Sadiq seems to have a soft spot for Kiku, and Kiku, in turn, has mutual respect for him. In one strip, Sadiq starts fighting with Heracles when he sees the two together, presuming Heracles wanted to take over Kiku. Sadiq also threatened Francis on April Fool's with 'Don't you dare try anything on Japan. Or else I'll invade you.'

Ivan Braginski (Russia)
Main Article: Ivan Braginski

In the strips set around the WWII era, Kiku is shown to abhor Ivan, his grudge stemming as far back as the Russo-Japanese War (although he defeated him, he wound up using up his life savings and became poor). After hearing of the alliance between Ivan and Ludwig, Kiku became upset and attempted to take action and get revenge against Ivan:


 * Put caltrops on his seat, but failed as Ivan noticed them and did not sit down.


 * Hid in the ceiling and attempted to harpoon him, only for Ivan to catch the harpoon and reveal his hiding place.


 * Placed poison in an ohagi in hopes that Ivan would eat it, only for him to eat one of the unpoisoned candies.

Another strip shows that Ivan was able to curse Kiku and make him fall ill from simply staring at him.

Matthew Williams (Canada)
Main Article: Matthew Williams

Matthew and Kiku don't have that much of a close relationship, but Kiku did welcome him at the G-8 meeting when no one did. Real world relations would suggest that they do get along well, but their relationship is often overshadowed by Kiku's relationship to Alfred, which causes Kiku to forget Matthew or overlook him like others.

Taiwan
Main Article: Taiwan

Taiwan has a great preference for Kiku, much to Yao's dismay, likely stemming from the fact that, in reality, the island of Taiwan was annexed by the Japanese government, an event yet to be addressed in the comics. Kiku's relationship towards her, however, has yet to be addressed as well.

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" (枢軸) (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.

In the English dub of the anime, Japan's voice actor Christopher Bevins, gives his voice an "Engrish" speaking voice.

Trivia

 * His given name, Kiku, comes from the Japanese word for the Chrysanthemum flower, which is also the family crest of the Japanese Imperial family. Honda is a common Japanese surname that includes the kanji 本 hon, as in 日本 Nihon (Japan).
 * His birthday (February 11th) 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 2,670 years old.
 * In one published strip it is shown he sees the world as an RPG, another hint at his otaku nature.
 * According to Himaruya, Kiku would most likely have the blood type A (due to it being a common blood type in Japan).
 * As Hetalia was originally planned as a one chapter story, Himaruya did not expect Kiku to become a popular character and drew him as a type of character he didn't often utilize, with "soulless" eyes. He noted that if he had known the series would become bigger, the design would have been drastically different.