Sapphire Kawashima

Sapphire "Midori" Kawashima (川島 "緑" 緑輝) is one of the main characters of Sound! Euphonium series.

She is a classmate of Kumiko Oumae and Hazuki Katou who is a contrabass player in Kitauji High School.

Appearance
Sapphire is a young teenage girl of below-average height and weight. She has a petite build, and is the shortest of the main characters, if not the whole band. Sapphire has messy and wavy chin-length blond hair. One of her defining physical traits is a strand of her hair sticking up from the back of her head. She has greenish-lime eyes and somewhat thick eyebrows, and wears a turquoise hair bow with light-green polka dots.

Sapphire is usually seen with a normal Kitauji High School uniform for first-year female students.

Personality
Sapphire has a positive personality who always puts her friends before herself. She worries quite a lot, but she is naturally cheerful and happy. She is often timid and quiet due to her lack of self-confidence, and she is also very embarrassed by her own name, preferring to be addressed as Midori (緑). However, she is very kind, caring and polite, and also very supportive of her friends. She is also passionate about music, treasuring her double bass and even giving a name to it, "George". She often continues to play it even though she may have hurt her fingers, which happens quite often.

Background
Sapphire is from a rich family and attended Seijou Junior High, an elite all-girls school, where she learned to play the contrabass. She joined the concert band to continue to play music.

Chronology
On her first day in Kitauji High School, the teacher got Sapphire's name wrong during a roll call, making her explain the proper reading in embarrassment. After that, the teacher said that she won't make the same mistake again. Later, she befriended Kumiko Oumae and Hazuki Katou that Hazuki told her to call them by their first names.

Etymology

 * The name Sapphire means "green" (緑輝).
 * Her nickname Midori means "green" (緑).
 * Sapphire's surname Kawashima means "river, stream" (川) (kawa) and "island" (島) (shima).

Trivia

 * According to the official Sound! Euphonium novel website:
 * Her favorite colors are pink and pastel.
 * Her hobbies are making sweets and collecting stuffed toy animals.
 * Her special skills are cooking and sewing.
 * She has a pet iguana named Macaroon.
 * She hates computers because she doesn't know how to operate one.
 * Sapphire has a little sister named Kohaku Kawashima.
 * After school, Sapphire often goes to the prize dispenser where she plays for musical instrument charms.
 * It appears that she is looking for a Tuba-kun charm, and is shown disappointed when receiving Sax-kun and Horn-chan.
 * Sapphire participates in Colour Guard in the marching band, due to the size of her instrument.
 * Kumiko Oumae, Hazuki Katou and Sapphire are all in Year 1, Class 3 in the book series.
 * Sapphire's homeroom teacher is Michie Matsumoto.
 * Sapphire originally wanted to play the flute before the contrabass.
 * Sapphire wants to go to design school.
 * Sapphire has a giant Japanese salamander plush she purchased at the Kyoto Aquarium named Kaiser.
 * Sapphire's bass guitar is based on Yamaha BB424 model.