Kaede Kagayama

Kaede Kagayama (加賀山 楓), aka "Candy Store" (Dagashiya), is one of the characters of Non Non Biyori. She runs a candy store, but she also rents ski equipment, futons and make parcel deliveries.

Appearance
Kaede has long blonde hair and maple eyes.

Personality
Kaede is usually kind and friendly and has a soft side for Renge Miyauchi, although due to budget problems she can be desperate over earning money. When she was still a student at Asahigaoka Branch School, she often took care of baby Renge, and the two seem to still hold a close relationship, as Renge wears bows in her hair the same way Kaede used to do when she was younger.

Background
Kaede is a young woman with little direction in life. After finishing her studies, she inherited her grandmother's candy shop in the farming village she grew up in. Her business is not very profitable; her only customers are four girls that attend the only school in the village. The youngest, a precocious first grader named Renge Miyauchi, is her most frequent guest. We learn that Kaede, while in middle school, reluctantly would care for baby Renge in place of her feckless onee-chan, Hikage Miyauchi. She is not good with kids and did not enjoy being around them. Renge was more than a handful, yet Kaede managed and began to become affectionate towards her.

As the years went by, Kaede grew up living only for herself. Now as the proprietor of a small store, she spends most of her time alone and struggling with poverty. Renge, older and beginning to explore the world around her, never forgot the compassion she received from Kaede. She often goes to see Kaede to tell her about new discoveries or share her enthusiasm for life. Though normally detached from others, Kaede takes a renewed interest in the little sprite. While Renge grows and has new experiences, Kaede watches closely over her. The curious young girl gives Kaede purpose in her dreary life. As Kaede's love for Renge nurtures, she finds a warmer side of herself she had not known before.

Quotes

 * "Well I'm heading back."
 * "By the way, this adds to your payment." - "We Made a Snow House"

Etymology

 * The name Kaede means "maple" (楓).
 * Kaede's surname Kagayama means "add, increase" (加) (ka), "congratulations, celebration, joy" (賀) (ga) and "mountain, hill" (山) (yama). 加賀 (kaga) might mean (the southwestern portion of ). However, it should be noted that most of Japanese surnames are derived from place names, which tend to use  (kanji used in disregard of its meanings).

Trivia

 * Kaede is called Candy Store (駄菓子屋) by Renge, Natsumi, Komari, and Hikage.
 * As revealed in Non Non Biyori Repeat, she was already called "Candy Store" when she was still in school.
 * In chapter 83 (Volume 11) of the manga, which takes place nine years before Non Non Biyori, it is revealed that the one who nicknamed her "Candy Store" was Hikage, who was a new student at Asahigaoka Branch School.
 * Kaede sometimes complains about how poor she is.
 * Five years prior to the story, Kaede's grandmother used to own the candy store.
 * Sometime between a decade and five years before Non Non Biyori takes place, Kaede dyes her hair from its natural black into the color seen since and she is shown having black hair in a scene from Volume 11 of the manga.
 * The appearance of Kaede's store is modeled on "Takahashi Shōten" (高橋商店) in, Tokyo (Street View). The store is also known as a filming location of the film series "." Sadly, it already closed down because the woman who had run it for seventy years passed away in 2019.