Kino is a 13-year old who travels to different countries with her talking motorcycle (motorad) Hermes. Formerly a resident of the Land of Adults, Kino fled her country when she was to be killed for questioning her country's customs regarding the surgery that would make her into an adult when she turned 12. Around this time, Kino met up with the original Kino whose visit to her village shown her that there was a bigger world that she could explore beyond her country. The original Kino winded up sacrificing his life to protect Kino from being killed. In memory of the man she admired, Kino took the original Kino's name as her own and developed his views of how to view the world as a traveler.
As a traveler, Kino makes it an obligation to stay in a country for only three days believing that it is enough time to develop a basic grasp of what the people and customs in each country are like. As protection, Kino is armed with a revolver that can fire off explosive rounds, a pistol, and several knives with one knife capable of firing bullets. In the anime, Kino's gender is ambiguous in the beginning, but is later confirmed to be female in the fourth episode. Kino is a name she adopts after meeting Hermes, though her original name is hinted to be that of a flower in the Land of Adults.