Mariko Yashida

Mariko Yashida
Mariko Yashida in Uncanny X-Men #173. Art by Paul Smith.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Uncanny X-Men #118 (February, 1979)
Created by	Chris Claremont (Writer) John Byrne (Artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Mariko Yashida
Species	Human
Team affiliations	Clan Yashida
Partnerships	Wolverine

Mariko Yashida (矢志田 真理子, Yashida Mariko^?) is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. She was portrayed by Tao Okamoto in the 2013 film, The Wolverine, in which Mariko is Wolverine's love interest.

Created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, the character first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #118 (February, 1979).

Mariko was the daughter of Shingen Yashida, the half-sister of Kenuichio Harada/Silver Samurai, and cousin of Sunfire and Sunpyre and the aunt of Shingen "Shin" Harada. Upon her father's death, she became head (Oyabun) of his Yakuza crime family, Clan Yashida.

She first met the X-Men when they returned from a sojourn in the Savage Land and were asked to help Japan, which was being blackmailed by the terrorist Moses Magnum. At that time she encountered Wolverine in a private moment, which developed into a mutual attraction. Afterwards, Mariko would frequently visit the United States to see Wolverine.

Some time later, however, Mariko was married by her father, Shingen Yashida, to the leader of a Yakuza gang to solidify his connections to the Japanese underworld, and was subjected to brutal domestic abuse by her husband. She was later used by him to maneuver Wolverine into participating in an assassination of a rival by having the superhero inadvertently provide a distraction while protecting his true love/girlfriend from the rival's own assassins. This also had the intended effect of deepening Mariko's disgust for Logan upon witnessing him going berserk in battle. However, Mariko soon realized that her father was evil and was shaming her family with his sinister schemes. To stop him, Mariko planned to kill her father and then commit seppuku in recompense, but Logan, learning the truth about his manipulation and inspired by a personal epiphany about his humanity, attacked her father and slew him in a fair battle of honor before she could act. In doing so, Logan was convinced that Mariko would be honorbound to kill him for that and was prepared to die at her hands rather than harm her in self-defense. However, Mariko explained her opinion of her father and presented the family katana to him as a token of her approval of him as an honorable warrior who is properly entitled to it.