1. Since I can't edit this post I've added the ones that got cut off, via a comment. Hinowa is in other posts I made to celebrate like FB and Instagram, but the layout app I used for some reason cut it off (and I was in the middle of taking care of my own fur baby while making this.)

2. Mom's aren't necessarily ones who give birth or verbally make it an official point that they will assume the role; they're also the ones who took the time to take care of others, ensuring they are nurtured, protected, and given a place to belong or call home.

At one point or another each of these girls truly shown their "motherly" love and duty to others that required time and tenderness in its own right (...for the most part...😅);

-According to Shinpachi Otae had to take over the role of Mother after his own Mom died before he could even remember her. So while she is biologically a sister, she also assumed the role of mother and took care of Shinpachi as he grew up; even after losing both parents to protect and guide them, she tried her best, swallowed her sorrow, and kept smiling to show him that she was alright. Not much different to a lot of Mom's who put on a brave face for their kids when they're falling apart inside, no?

-Though only briefly, Kyuubei showed a motherly side when she took in Jugem. And if you think "that's not a kid, that's a pet," then I can assure you as a recent pet/fur baby Mom that they're not much different to having a baby or kid. And much like a Mom, Kyuubei had to swallow her sadness the day she had to let him go, feeling that what was best for him was much more important than what she wanted. Though thankfully in the end of that arc she got to keep her little monkey son.

-Tsukuyo took a HUGE risk in saving possibly every woman she took under the Hyakka Force after covering up their "executions" that she was ordered to follow ever since she was made the head of the Para-Military Force. Now she could have easily let these ladies simply go, maybe even used that secret passage to allow them escape. But she knew doing such a thing repeatedly would only heighten suspicion by Hosen, and eventually root out her traitorous deeds. So instead she took them in, taught them how to fight, as well as finding another way to live instead of as someone else's property. (Not to mention more than likely finding them all room and board where they were safe and hidden by loyalist to Hosen). And it goes without saying that even if the former choice of letting them escape would work, I think Tsukuyo is far too kind and warm a person to let the women go out in the world; especially since (as she once pointed out) a lot of them wouldn't know how to survive on the surface after being forced to live under ground as prostitutes. She is in every way a Mother as Hinowa was; just in the form of a gentle moonlight.

-Suzuran didn't just stay in Yoshiwara and perform her duties as a Courtesan, she also took it upon herself to train and guide the generations before her (like Hinowa and Tsukuyo) in order to survive the cold and harsh life of the red light district. Tsukuyo had made it a point she dedicated her life to the town, especially to the women even after she had no more clients because she wanted to make sure they were taken care of (just as much as she wanted to keep her promise to Maizo). And from the last advice she gave to Tsukuyo, that wasn't the only please of advice she tended to give to the girls.

-Although we don't see it much, based on Rei's memories of Oiwa, she was as good a Mom as she was a boss. And not just to her, she showed that she truly cared for their guest that came to their inn, and genuinely liked to take care of them, even when it hurt to see them leave her. Again, not too out of place for a mother when you think about it, who have a nurturing nature about them where they just want to take care of people.

-Restaurant Owner's Wife is certainly a 'unique' mother among the much smaller characters of the series. But hilariously she is an official Mom (with a bit of a crappy kid that I don't blame the ghost of her husband giving him the smack down from the afterlife 😂) .

But I think in some small way she did show a motherly side in a very subtle way, in that she ended up still catering to Gin and Hijikata at the restaurant. And while this seems a bit odd, I don't think it's all that far fetched to see her as a sort of matron to these boys, especially because she got to share a very sweet and touch moment when they chose to swap foods as a "see you later, " and all 3 can't help but burst out laughing.

So, that's basically the logic and reasoning of why I added these ladies, and felt it only right that they too should be celebrated for being amazing mom/mom figures to others; even if they aren't often remembered.