Ikuno Akasaka

Ikuno Akasaka (赤阪 郁乃 Akasaka Ikuno) is the sub-coach for Himematsu High who is the acting coach of the mahjong club while their real coach is being hospitalized and she is also responsible for Kyouko Suehara joining the regular team for the tournament matches.

Appearance
Ikuno has long dark hair that has bangs swept to the right, her eyes are shut most of the time and she generally has a pleasant smile.

She dresses somewhat casually.

Personality
Ikuno has been shown to be somewhat ditzy during her appearances, but she nevertheless takes her job seriously, hiring several professional players to prepare her students for their next opponents. She gets annoyed whenever people remind her that she's only the sub and/or acting coach.

It is said that she has good intentions, but tends to meddle in other people's business, and this may be part of the reason why Yasuko Fujita and Takako Kubo consider her "troublesome" and seem to dislike her.

National tournament Arc
Ikuno was then shown during a flashback wanting Kyouko Suehara on the the team. However, the girl declined and wished for Suzu Ueshige to join. After Ikuno mentions she was weak and got picked on a lot, Kyouko convinces her. Ikuno is disappointed when Suzu doesn't have an explosive hand as Kyouko had half-promised. When Suzu returns, she lends Kyouko a permanent marker, allowing her to write on Suzu's forehead.

When she breaks for lunch during the sixth day of competition, she is greeted by Yasuko Fujita and called a troublesome person by Takako Kubo. Then Kouko Fukuyo notes that Fujita-pro and Takako departed in the direction they arrived from without getting lunch.

After Kyouko managed to place second, she and the rest are shown welcoming her back. When Kyouko finished explaining about Saki Miyanaga, Ikuno asks is she wants to become stronger than she is. Kyouko says yes and has her appearance transformed into something more girly. Ikuno says she taking this very serious and a new Kyouko might surface as a result. She then announces that she has called someone in, Yoshiko Kainou and reveals that she has called more people to emulate their semi-finals opponents playing style. She finally announces that Zenno will come and watch their match.

Final Eight Arc
Ikuno is shown along with the rest of Himematsu entering the tournament hall. After the vanguard mathc, Suzu Ueshige was getting praised until Ikuno reminded everyone that she failed at her given task.

Kyouko Suehara recalls how Ikuno took over as coach after Kazumi Zenno collapsed, and took it upon herself to look after Kyouko, more because Ikuno saw potential in Kyouko than because Kazumi asked her. With Ikuno's encouragement and Kazumi's advice, Kyouko began to play significantly better.

At halftime of the captain's match, she wonders why Kyouko is changing back into her less girlish appearance, even mentioning it was Zenno's idea.

Back in the waiting room, Kyouko bows her head an apologizes for the loss and lists her regrets but Hiroe Atago sets her straight. Ikuno then says the she would like to write on the forehead of a crying and dejected Kyouko but they must prepare for tomorrows match. She then says that she knows the match is just an opening act for the final match but since ranking are involved, they should greet Zenno and have a team meeting. Kyouko then asks Ikuno to take care of her tomorrow and finally calls her coach.

National Championship Arc
While giving the report to Kazumi Zenno, Ikuno suggests having a meeting to praise the good points during the match or mental training and Kazumi says that she will leave it to her.

Etymology

 * The name Ikuno means "cultural progress, perfume" (郁) (iku) and "from" (乃) (no).
 * Ikuno's surname Akasaka means "red" (赤) (aka) and "slope, hill" (阪) (saka).