The youngest daughter of a well-known family from Minkai, Tamiko was conceived on a long trading trip to the distant Varisian city of Magnimar. Seeing as a pregnant mother and her unborn baby couldn't be expected to survive the long trip back across the Crown of the World, the family made the difficult decision to leave Tamiko's mother with the Kaijitsu family of Sandpoint, where Tamiko has lived ever since. Although her mother returned to Minkai on the next caravan a few years after her birth, they made the decision to let the child stay in Sandpoint, leaving behind a pair of well-crafted blades as a gift and memory of her ancestry. Tamiko looks up to Ameiko as a sort of older sister. Though she's been around for the Kaijitsu family strife, she hasn't gotten involved - much as she wants to be, she isn't a part of the family, and she'd been living near the old chapel until it burnt down anyways. Now, she lives at Ameiko's tavern for free - but she hopes not for too much longer.
Over the years, Tamiko has often professed a desire to return to Minkai, but every time she has a chance, she changes her mind - there's something drawing her to Varisia, and Sandpoint in particular, as if her presence is requested by the city itself. In preparation for whatever she may face and to honor her ancestors, Tamiko has been training with the blades, though unfortunately not in a traditional Minkai manner, since there's nobody around to teach her. Tamiko also recently manifested inexplicable magical powers - there's no history of any wizardry or sorcery in her family - but she's not one to complain; she's worked it in with her fighting style.
Tamiko is a short, slim Tian-Min woman. She dresses plainly, which tends to hide her attractiveness somewhat, and is never seen without her two wakizashi by her side. Some people who have seen her around town swear she has a sort of magical aura or glow about her, but she doubts that it's true.