Sae Sekihara

Sae is welcoming, practical and sociable. Like her sister, she is comfortable dealing with a lively collection of customers and quickly accommodates the friends and acquaintances who gather around Kenshin.

She has a strong sense of hospitality and provides a comparatively ordinary civilian presence amid the increasingly dangerous struggle against Shishio. Her demeanor makes the Shirobeko a comfortable gathering point rather than simply another location in Kyoto.

Sae is a civilian and has no established martial-arts abilities. Her skills are associated with operating the Shirobeko and managing its customers.

She is familiar with Kyoto and provides hospitality and local support to the people connected with Kenshin during their stay in the city.

Sae appears in the 1996 anime during the Kyoto portion of the story. As Tae's twin sister and the proprietor of the Shirobeko, she gives Kaoru and the others a friendly place to gather after traveling from Tokyo.

Her role remains primarily domestic and social. While the central characters prepare for confrontations with Shishio and the Juppongatana, Sae represents the ordinary urban life continuing around them.

Because she is an anime-original addition, scenes involving Sae and the Shirobeko are specific to the 1996 adaptation rather than the corresponding manga storyline.

Tae Sekihara is Sae's twin sister and runs the Akabeko in Tokyo.

Kaoru Kamiya encounters Sae after traveling to Kyoto and is welcomed at the Shirobeko.

Yahiko Myojin visits the Shirobeko while in Kyoto with Kaoru and the others.

Kenshin Himura is connected to Sae through the group of friends who follow him to Kyoto.

Sanosuke Sagara is another member of Kenshin's circle whose journey brings him to Kyoto.