Mieko Sakuragi

Mieko Sakuragi (桜木 美恵子 Sakuragi Mieko) is the deceased mother of Yukari Sakuragi.

Appearance
In the manga, Mieko has black shoulder length hair that is similar to Sanae Mizuno's hairstyle and her eyes aren't shown.

Plot
Mieko was in a car, along with Yukari's aunt and possibly her sister, when it had an accident. Mieko died, becoming the first known "death of May" When one of her male relatives (possibly her father) arrived to tell Yukari and take her to the hospital, a distraught Yukari panicked and fled, encountering Koichi and Mei at a stairwell. Running away, she fell down the stairs and impaled herself on her umbrella, dying mere hours apart from her mother.

Meiko never appears but is mentioned in the anime.

In the manga, the cause of her death is never revealed, although oddly this is the only place she appears, as a picture can be seen of her alongside her daughter at the memorial.

Etymology

 * The name Mieko means "beautiful" (美) (mi), "favor, benefit" (恵) (e) and "child" (子) (ko).
 * It can also mean "already prosperous".
 * Her first name is only revealed in the novel.
 * Mieko's surname Sakuragi means "cherry blossom" (桜) (sakura) and "tree, wood" (木) (ki/gi).
 * Part of the surname Sakura can also mean "blossom" (咲) (saku) and "good, virtuous, respectable" (良) (ra).