is Nagisa's mother. Like her daughter, she has reddish-brown hair, and works as a baker at her family bakery, and also teaches a cram school. Despite her aspirations as a baker, her bread is inedible, and does not sell. Her husband, Akio, is known to give her bread away in order to effect the illusion of sales. Despite his efforts, however, she routinely overhears him or others making disparaging comments about her bread, resulting in a running gag through the series being Akio's attempts to reassure her of her baking skills. She gets very upset when customers are not satisfied with her bread. Sanae is normally depicted as being delicate and emotional, but is actually very strong-willed and determined.