Miko Kajiyama

"Okay, take note:  My name is Miko Peony Kajiyama; a founding member of the CSGs and former chess champion.  Not that I'm bragging or anything.  It's just something I'm good at.  What can I say?  I totally like to excel!  So what's wrong with that, right?"

Miko Kajiyama is an 8th grade student at Whistling Pines Junior High.

Miko is a member of the clique the CSGs, which stands for Cool Sagittarius Girls. The clique is formed of members who are all Sagittarius in the western zodiac. At present, there are only three members: Miko and her best friends, Dana St. Clair and Nakili Abuto. The three formed their friendship first and then decided that since they all have the same star sign, that’s why they get along so well. Miko conceived of a loyalty oath and wearing friendship necklaces to cement the idea of being CSGs.

Miko is petite and the third shortest girl in her class, ahead of Sharla and Mavis. She has straight black hair that she keeps cut short above her ears, and she always wears black glasses. Her eyebrows are tiny and high on her forehead above her glasses. She dresses primarily in blouses and shirts with folded collars; most of her outfits could be considered business casual.

Miko’s middle name is Peony. Her birthday is Nov. 30. For her 13th birthday during 8th grade, her sister Murasaki gives Miko a bengal kitten, which she names Sacajewea Earhart Benzaiten.

She was voiced by Jasmine Yep and Leah Youssi.

Etymology
"Miko" is not a common name given to Japanese children. It is far more commonly used as a pet name for those with the unisex name Mikoto than it is as a standalone name. When used alone, depending on the kanji it is written in, the name Miko can have numerous meanings such as "beautiful child" (美子 or 美児), "sea child" (海子 or 海児), or even "truthful tiger" (実虎).

In Japanese, "miko" (巫女) is also the term used for women who work in Shinto shrines and is commonly translated as either "shrine maiden," "priestess," or "female shaman." It is also the word for "annoying."

"Kajiyama" (usually written as 梶山) is a common surname in Japan. The most famous bearer of the surname is writer Toshiyuki Kajiyama.

When the series was in development, Miko originally had the name Katrina.

Background
Miko's family is of Japanese descent, her parents are still together, and she has an older sister in high school (11th grade) named Murasaki that she is very close to. Her father is an architect and her mother is a seamstress. She also has family living in Japan, including an uncle named Kenji and a set of grandparents. According to her Camp Pine-Away brochure, her address is 770 Windmill Drive, Whistling Pines. She is not allowed on the phone after 9 p.m.

Sometime before their 8th grade year, Miko became friends with Dana St. Clair, much to the chagrin of her other friend, Nakili Abuto. After a bumpy start, the three became close and formed the clique known as The CSGs. When they were in the 6th grade, she came up with the CSG Loyalty Oath, which the three of them retake every year on their birthdays. She also came up with the idea of the private report book during their joint birthday party in the 7th grade.

Personality
Miko is a very bubbly and friendly person. However, due to her perfectionist and somewhat competitive nature, she is very quick to anger and will become upset over relatively trivial things, such as Mr. Rarebit letting Rockett keep a painting shirt he gave her in art class. She despises favoritism and believes that one should have to work hard to earn things. When it comes to friends, the trait she values the most is loyalty. The school website describes her as the "most motivated girl in school" and notes that she is "almost deathly afraid of thunderstorms." Her sister Murasaki frequently says that she is the most organized and ambitious person she has ever met. (Miko confides to the player in a locker VO that she is hardly the most organized.)  When Murasaki read her fortune, she saw a future "loaded with money and success" (which Miko does believe will happen).

In later games, items in her locker and on her character page start to hint that she sometimes grows tired of constantly having to prove that she's the best and would like nothing more than to just take a vacation and relax.

Miko's characterization was one of the things contemporary reviews of the series often criticized, as she is an example of the Overachieving Asian stereotype.

Interests & Skills
Due to overachieving nature, Miko has many interests. But the most prominent are chess and art. A certificate in her locker in New School states that she has attained the rank of Grandmaster, the second highest rank a chess player can obtain (after World Champion). According to her character page, one of her favorite imaginary worlds is Looking-Glass Land because it has chess in it. She is a published poet, and she wins several poetry contests, including the Anderboo National Poetry Prize.

On her application to Camp Pine-Away, she says she is interested in hiking and swimming. And according to her bio in Adventure Maker, she also enjoys playing board games and reading biographies. Her favorite color is turquoise.

Miko seems to consider herself a feminist. Two historical figures that she looks up to are Sacagawea and Amelia Earhart.

Being Japanese, she also has an interest in various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, including origami and tea ceremonies. Miko's locker contains numerous Japanese items including a bonzai tree, a Tamagotchi style virtual pet, a pair of geta, and pictures of her in Japan. A lot of her school items also feature a nameless cartoon crocodile mascot.

She tries hard to be artistic, but it does not come naturally to her. Miko feels that being recognized as artistic and creative in addition to being intelligent would make her seem more well-rounded in her accomplishments.

As a member of the American Youth Soccer Organization Miko played on the team the Fireflies with other members of Whistling Pines Jr. High. Her preferred position is midfielder and her best skill is passing.

Relationships
Since she was young, Miko's closest friends have been Dana St. Clair and Nakili Abuto although she is on friendly terms with just about everyone. She also has a pen-pal in Japan named Chibi. She, along with the other CSGs, is also friends with a high schooler and former WPJH student named Pete.

Miko has no student crushes, as she thinks none of the boys in school are smart or mature enough to "waste [her] time" on. Though she does have one on Mr. Rarebit, as evidenced by the fact that she becomes upset whenever he shows any sort of positive attention towards another student. In earlier games, she occasionally mentions Pete's younger brother, Raymond, who seems to have a crush on her. She is constantly trying to get him to leave her alone.

Academics
Miko has Mrs. Tinydahl as her homeroom teacher. (It is implied that she originally had Mr. Weaseldorf as her homeroom teacher, but was able to transfer out to get into the same homeroom as Dana and Nakili.)  She has the same schedule as Dana and Nakili, with the exception of last period, where she has French with Nakili only (though the games and books often change when their French class is). She is a member of the school chess club. In the books, she is a student in Mr. Rarebit's elective "Talent Art" class with Nakili, Dana, and Rockett.

At the end of Secret Invitation, her report card reveals that she received As and A-s in every subject except Phys Ed. (B-) and Art (B+).

In What Kind of Friend Are You?, Miko runs for 8th grade class Treasurer on the CSGs' ticket, but loses to Cleve.

Secret Paths in the Forest
After winning several chess championships, Miko becomes insecure about her playing ability when all of the other kids and their parents complain about her constantly winning. Some kids even start to assume that she thinks she's better than they are and stuck-up. Complicating things is the fact that a lot of people vocally support her during tournaments. After traveling down her secret path, a desert trail, she learns that it doesn't matter what others think, that her true friends would want her to keep playing, and that everyone is good at different things.

The stones on her necklace are Success, Confidence, the story stone, and two unknown stones - the first with a girl who nervously bites her nails and the second featuring a shooting star flying over the mountains. Her folk tale is "Sari's Story."

Secret Paths to the Sea
Miko is featured in Nakili's path, where Nakili becomes upset at her constantly choosing to hang out with Dana over her. For the weekend, Miko is going to sleep over at Dana's house, and the two of them try to invite Nakili, but she refuses. At some point earlier in their friendship, Miko became upset when Nakili and Dana went to see a movie without inviting her.

Rockett's New School
Depending on the choices made, Rockett could first encounter Miko in the Birdcage as she walks into school with Nakili. Miko later hears about Rockett from Ruben (who hears about her from Cleve) and suggests to Nakili in a note that they should find out when her birthday is. She also sends a note to Jessie asking for her to use her computer experience to help play a prank on Duane Weevil, who is in her and Nakili's social studies class and won't leave Nakili alone. She also sends one to Sharla asking her not to yell at her friends, since she yelled at Nakili for accidentally bumping into her. Later, Dana tells her that the CSGs' back-to-school meeting will be happening at her house on Thursday. Items on the agenda include whether or not to throw a Halloween party, forming a study group, and a discussion on which boys have gotten better or worse over the summer.

At lunch, Miko writes in her journal about wanting to ask Mr. Rarebit about yearbook staff openings and the fact that Dana lost the CSG private report book (which she is very upset and stressed out about). Later, she even considers kicking Dana out of the CSGs if she doesn't find it.

Later, in Mr. Rarebit's class, Miko formally introduces herself, Nakili, and Dana to Rockett as the CSGs. During the class, Miko writes a note to Dana (depending on the player's choices the message changes) wondering if Dana likes Mr. Rarebit because Miko thinks he's handsome, because Miko wants to be on the yearbook committee, or because there are no boys in the school worth Miko's time. When Mr. Rarebit gives Rockett a position on the yearbook staff, despite not having any reason for him to pick Miko over Rockett, Miko becomes upset.

According to Nakili's journal, Rockett getting the yearbook position left Miko in tears, which is not like her. After 6th period, according to a locker voiceover, Miko ditches Nakili and Dana to see if Rockett would go to the yearbook office. (She did.)

Later, she complains about it to Jessie in the bathroom while Rockett is listening in a nearby stall. If the player chooses to respond nicely, Rockett will offer to let Miko do stuff for the yearbook, which she politely declines. If Rockett responds negatively, Jessie writes in her journal that she tried to console Miko after they left the bathroom together, but it only made her hate Rockett even more. Either way, Miko calls Rockett later to apologize.

Rockett's Tricky Decision
The Friday before the game (October 23rd), Miko and Nakili went over to Rockett's house after school. While they were in their room, the two of them saw a card from Meg talking about their joint birthday. When they asked about it, Rockett became flustered and hid it. Miko explains to Arnold in a note that based on that, she thinks Rockett's birthday is either December 11th or 17th, and promises not to tell anyone that he asked.

At some point earlier in the week, she praised Mr. Pill for his work and suggested that he leave motherwort out of the food in the future. (Which he agrees to do.)

At the start of the game, Miko is the one who invites Rockett to Nakili's party and informs her of the existence of Max's party. She makes Rockett promise that she'll come to Nakili's and continues to nag her about it until the day of Nakili's party. Shortly after telling Rockett about their party, Miko sends a note to Nakili asking about when they're going to get together and finalize plans for the party.

For her Halloween costume, Miko considers dressing up as a fortune teller (but decides that her and Murasaki would look too much alike), Sacagawea (but deems it too hard to make and too obscure), or a geisha (too predictable, too much makeup, and not a "strong enough female figure"), but ultimately decides on the Statue of Liberty.

After their gym class, Miko and Nakili found Dana and apologized for being so upset over her losing their private notebook. Miko also sends Dana a note asking her not to be mad at her and Nakili for visiting Rockett's house the Friday before, and to not let it get in the way of discussing the "main topic" of their meeting that afternoon. She also notes that they could get some of Rockett's dad's inventions to use in their meetings. At one point, Nakili sends Miko a note asking her to bring her mother's recipe for persimmon cake when she comes over on Wednesday.

At the party, Miko, along with Nakili, tries to introduce Rockett to Pete, a high school friend of the CSGs. (How well the meeting goes depends on how Rockett reacts to it.)  Later, Miko tries to get Rockett to deal with Mavis, who shows up unannounced and refuses to leave until she talks to Rockett.

In a locker voiceover, Miko calls herself a "former" chess champion, implying that she lost her title and/or no longer competes in tournaments. (It is worth noting, however, that the title of Grandmaster cannot be lost once it is obtained in the real world.)

In Miko's journal, one of the items on her to-do list is to stake out the private room in the library for their meeting to vote Rockett into the CSGs as well as write Raymond to discourage him from visiting during the holidays.

Rockett's Secret Invitation
For her 13th birthday, Murasaki gives Miko a bengal kitten, which she names Sacajewea Earhart Benzaiten(sic).

Miko, along with Nakili and Dana, invites Rockett to join the CSGs. She is disappointed and angry when she finds out that Rockett is not a Sagittarius and hid it from them this whole time and that Rockett has their secret notebook. But, if Rockett takes their rejection in stride, Miko insists that even though they can't formally make her a CSG, she is still their friend.

According to some locker writings, after their initial meeting, Miko assumes that Rockett's odd behavior is just her being surprised at the sudden invitation. After the morning meeting, Mavis sends her a note hinting that pushing Rockett away, whom she likens to an ocean current, may be a good thing and take her to some "new and beautiful places." Later in the day, if Ruben ends up walking in on their morning meeting, she gets into a conversation with him about his snooping. He tells her that they should be celebrating a certain girl's (Rockett's) birthday in the summer, but she hopes he's lying.

At some point in the day, Duane calls her a "brainiac," which makes her feel conflicted. She hates being called a brainiac since it puts her in a "certain category" with boys, but she doesn't want to dumb herself down just so they can feel superior to her.

At the end of the day, Miko sends a letter to Nakili telling her that they need to talk about the incident with Rockett and proposes that they do it at a sleepover at Miko's house over the weekend. She plans to wait until the next day to invite Dana, since she can't stand her gloating over being right about Rockett.

At some point in the day, Miko receives a Christmas gift from Nakili.

In the game's issue of The Whistler, an article reveals that Miko won the Anderboo National Poetry Prize for her haiku, "The Whistling Pine." ("A lone tree whistles, in the hallway breeze. Who is that mystery tree?"' Her prize was a plaque and a check for $200.  Sharla sends her a note telling her that she liked the poem.

Rockett's First Dance
Miko's locker voiceover at the start of the game reveals that since she won the poetry contest, people are starting to think of her as artistic, which she thinks makes her seem more well-rounded academically.

According to Dana's school journal, Miko thinks the King and Queen of Hearts contest is sexist. Dana assumes that she's just upset because she knows she has little chance of being voted queen. When Dana joins the dance decoration committee for extra credit in Mr. Rarebit's class, Miko becomes angry at her, assuming that she's trying to become his new favorite student.

Regardless of her feelings towards it, Miko attends the dance and can be seen in the background of many of its scenes.

Rockett's Camp Adventures
While she doesn't appear in the game physically, Miko does email Rockett. She explains that when Murasaki went to Camp Luna, they got to spend the entire day in the Crystal Caverns and warns her about the side caves. She also mentions seeing Whitney at the skating rink and how much nicer she was acting without Nicole and Stephanie around, and that Nakili thinks Chaz has a crush on Whitney. She is also mentioned in an email from Nakili. When Nakili suggests that the two of them make a bet on whether or not Mavis gets carsick on the bus, Miko tells her that that would be mean.

Starfire Soccer Challenge
Miko is a member of the Fireflies. While she is not the greatest player on the team, she sees herself as the best person to encourage others and keep the team's spirits up whether they're winning or losing. Her favorite position is midfielder.

When Sharla (and Ginger, if she chooses to) goes to spy on the Bulldogs' practice, Miko will come with her and take coded notes on what they see. If Ginger doesn't come or Ginger tells them to leave without her when they are discovered, Miko will get caught on the fence while climbing it and rip her shorts.

Regardless of how well the player performs in the try out minigames, Miko is accepted onto the Starfires, either as a forward or a defender.

Secret Paths to Your Dreams
Miko is one of the characters that the player can illustrate the dream of for a secret gem. She had a dream where she was beside a river with feathers raining down and the shore was lined with candles. Using the dream dictionary, her first dream could be interpreted as her looking for an opportunity to relax. The dream she describes for the player to illustrate took place in a desert; it was so hot she painted everything red, a guitar appeared, and when she played it, flowers grew from the music. Her second dream could be interpreted as her expressing her love for someone or something.

Who Can You Trust?
In the books, Miko is noticably closer to Rockett than she is in the games. Her perfectionist tendencies and interest in Japanese culture are also more subdued.

In the first book, Miko eventually becomes aware of a compromising photo of Nicole after Jessie tells her in an attempt to convince Rockett not to use it as blackmail. She is of the opinion that Rockett should let the pranks The Ones pull on her go, as whatever plan for revenge she can come up with will pale in comparison to what Nicole would do to her.

What Kind of Friend Are You?
Miko runs for 8th grade treasurer on the CSGs' ticket. During the campaign, she discourages Rockett from talking to Sharla about voting, as she thinks it would be a waste of time. (She turns out to be wrong.)  Despite their best efforts, the CSGs lose to The Ones.

Can You Keep A Secret?
Miko has been skipping extra credit work to watch school sports, spacing on giving the correct answer in class, and spending lunch in the library. Nakili and Dana think something is seriously wrong with Miko and ask for Rockett's help in reaching their increasingly distant friend. The three girls agree on throwing a surprise party for her to celebrate Miko's latest chess championship and haiku poetry contest victory.

Rockett eats lunch with the CSGs later that day and an egg gets thrown across the cafeteria, landing and cracking on Dana's head. Her screams summon the teachers. Miko and Rockett were in the ideal spot to see who threw the egg so the two are brought to the principal's office to name the offender. At the same time, both of them say it was Ruben Rosales. However, Ruben assumes Rockett would never tattle on him and he puts the blame of his punishment solely on Miko, and Rockett lets him think that's what happened.

Rockett later sees Miko hanging out with big man on campus Cleve Goodstaff and wonders why the two are together. It turns out that the principal asked Miko to privately tutor Cleve. Despite their initial bad assumptions about each other, Cleve and Miko grow to be good friends during the tutoring. Cleve’s charisma draws out Miko’s daring side, and she starts making more adventurous choices in fashion and makeup. Miko is annoyed that her friends think something must be wrong just because she’s dressing up and spending less time with them. She's so depressed by being labeled as a brainiac that she intentionally flunks her next big test, but it only makes her feel worse.

When Rockett successfully gets Miko to the surprise party that celebrates her latest academic accomplishments, Miko starts crying; the party is just reinforcing that everyone only expects her to be smart. She wants to be seen as something other than a brainiac who always does the responsible thing. Rockett points out to Miko that she has friends who care about her so much that they threw a party in her honor - why should Miko care what everyone else thinks about her? She can grow into her own person without growing apart from the CSGs. Rockett also confesses to Miko about letting Ruben think she was the only one who gave him up to the principal, and Miko understands her reasons and forgives her. Miko rejoins the party and has a great time with everyone in the eighth grade in attendance.

Purple Moon Place
Miko's character page was titled "Miko's Chess Cafe."

In the November '97 issue of the Whistler, Miko said that she was thankful for being a girl going into the 21st century and for a new set of books on famous women that she just got. Shortly before that, she was part of an adventure where she went on a hike with Dana and Tanya.

In March '98, Miko ran for class Secretary on the CSGs ticket. (They lost to The Ones by 7,579 votes.)  For Spring Break, she states her parents are dragging her on an expedition to study krill in the Antarctic.

In July '99, Miko formed a neighborhood committee with several other Whistling Pines students called The Association For Intelligent Girls (shortened to A.F.I.G.). Their first project was turning a polluted vacant lot into a park.

When Rockett started seeking advice on how to win Ruben's attention back from Felicia, Miko suggested that they talk about the good times they shared and show him that she cares.

When asked by a Whistler reporter how important she thought honesty was, Miko stated that she was just honest as a habit and never thought about it before.

In June 2000, Miko went missing while on a boating trip with Nakili and Dana. After spending the night on a seemingly deserted island, the three learned that they were actually at the site for a new TV show called Marooned. When they got home, she and the other CSGs were interviewed by various TV shows.

Purple Moon Place Treasures
See:  /Treasures/