First appearance of Nozomu Nikaido.
What Kyoko writes in the sand is "Godai no aho". ("aho" in katakana, for emphasis, presumably--also, it would probably be easier to write in the sand in katakana than in hiragana). "aho" means more or less the same as "baka" (i.e., "idiot") but it is more of a slang term.
First appearance of Godai's sister (name unknown), brother-in-law (Shoichi) and niece (Miyabi)
The title is a literal translation of the original, "mie rikuruuto". "rikuruuto" is the English word "recruit", only spelled in katakana. "mie" is "vanity" or "appearances", as in doing something for vanity's sake or for appearances' sake. Presumably a reference to the fact that Godai is pretending, in order to impress Kyoko, that he is interviewing (i.e., being "recruited") at some company or another.
I have heard that the haiku composed by Godai at the end of this episode is actually a variation on a very well-known Japanese poem.
First appearance of Ibuki Yagami. (Yay!)
I finally read "Kokoro" over the Christmas break, 1999 (in an English translation, of course). It is a very famous novel in Japan, one of those everybody is supposed to have read in high school. Its author, Natsume Soseki (1867-1916), is probably the most famous novelist of the Maiji period, and his picture is on Japanese currency.
The Meiji period was one of massive westernization, and it is quite possible that some of Soseki's sensibilities are imported to some extent. In fact, in its heavy psychological introspection, and hopeless romanticism, "Kokoro" reminded me of the 19-th century Russian novels (or perhaps I should say of Tolstoy and Turgenyev, since they are the only Russian authors I've actually read). In one respect, though, it is very much like Maison Ikkoku: the difficulties that the characters experience communicating with each other. These are people who would (literally!) commit suicide rather than actually speak openly about what's on their minds.
It's a good book, though, in a very sad sort of way.
In the original, in the photograph which Yagami sends to Kyoko at the end of the episode, what she has drawn, instead of a heart with an arrow through it, is one of those "umbrella" symbols I mentioned in connection with Episode 5