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==Fandom==
==Fandom==
*In humorous fanart, Kanako is often depicted as a robot, or an [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msgundam/rx-77-2.htm RX-77-2 Guncannon] from ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' due to the Faith Pillars that attach to her back during the final encounter in Mountain of Faith.
*In humorous fanart, Kanako is often depicted as a robot, or an [http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msgundam/rx-77-2.htm RX-77-2 Guncannon] from ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' due to the Faith Pillars that attach to her back during the final encounter in Mountain of Faith.
*Kanako is sometimes called by the other nickname: "Misae", which comes from [[wikipedia:List of Crayon Shin-chan characters (Shin'ei)#Nohara_family|Misae Nohara]] in ''[[wikipedia:Crayon Shin-chan|Crayon Shin-chan]]. This is mostly due to the fact that Kanako's hair style resembles the notable and common style of Misae's—often called as {{nihongo|Misae Hair|みさえヘアー}}, which gave her the strong impression of it in her first appearance. There was also a specific scene seen in canon in this relation: {{Hidetext|In Marisa B's ending in Mountain of Faith, Kanako drills Marisa's head with her fists (the commonly known Misae's head drill in Japan) because she built a small shrine in the Forest of Magic, which is rarely visited by people.}}
*Kanako is sometimes called by the other nickname: "Misae", which comes from [[wikipedia:List of Crayon Shin-chan characters (Shin'ei)#Nohara_family|Misae Nohara]] in ''[[wikipedia:Crayon Shin-chan|Crayon Shin-chan]]. This is mostly due to the fact that Kanako's hair style resembles the notable and common style of Misae's—often called as {{nihongo|Misae Hair|みさえヘアー}}, which gave her the strong impression of it in her first appearance. There was also a specific scene seen in canon in this relation: in Marisa B's ending in Mountain of Faith, Kanako drills Marisa's head with her fists (the commonly known Misae's head drill in Japan) because she built a small shrine in the Forest of Magic, which is rarely visited by people.
*Kanako is also depicted with [[Yukari Yakumo]] and [[Eirin Yagokoro]], whom have the same character {{lang|ja|八}} in their name. This is due to their characteristics and personalities often regarded by some fans as a sign of "elders". In this sense, they're occasionally called the "old hags" in harsh cases.
*Kanako is also depicted with [[Yukari Yakumo]] and [[Eirin Yagokoro]], whom have the same character {{lang|ja|八}} in their name. This is due to their characteristics and personalities often regarded by some fans as a sign of "elders". In this sense, they're occasionally called the "old hags" in harsh cases.
*Due to how ''Mountain of Faith'''s events appear, fans first assumed Kanako as a scheming mastermind, but as time went on (and more of Kanako's plans were shown to fail), this interpretation became less popular.
*Due to how ''Mountain of Faith'''s events appear, fans first assumed Kanako as a scheming mastermind, but as time went on (and more of Kanako's plans were shown to fail), this interpretation became less popular.

Revision as of 18:31, 18 February 2013

八坂 (やさか)  神奈子 (かなこ)
(♫)
Kanako Yasaka
Kanako Yasaka
Kanako Yasaka in Mountain of Faith
The Avatar of Mountains and Lakes
More Character Titles
Species

Goddess of wind and rain (not native to Gensokyo)

Abilities

Creating sky

Occupation

Moriya Shrine's Goddess

Location

Wind God's Lake at Moriya Shrine, Youkai Mountain, Underground Geyser Center[1]; Originally from the Outside World

Relationships
Music Themes
Appearances
Official Games
Print Works

Kanako Yasaka (八坂 神奈子 Yasaka Kanako) is the current goddess of the Moriya Shrine after defeating its resident goddess, Suwako in the Great Suwa War. She desires to collect large amounts of faith, but since the humans of the Outside World no longer place much importance on gods, she has transported the shrine to Gensokyo. She currently lives on Youkai Mountain, where she has an uneasy relationship with the leaders of the tengu.

General Information

As the deity of the Moriya Shrine, Kanako herself is considered a god, but she also possesses a human form.

Personality

Kanako is an ambitious woman who treats religion like a business, using whatever means bring her the most "profit" - that profit being faith. She has a natural presence that can seem intimidating or suspicious at times, but also reliable. Unusually for a god she has little respect for tradition - she demands little formality in her worship, and encourages scientific progress. It is somewhat strange for a deity to be knowledgeable about science.

She has no hostility towards humans, though as is the case with all deities, she may curse them if they are disrespectful. She also seems to be rather short-tempered, but she is vulnerable to gifts.

Ability

Ability to create sky

Kanako's ability specifically refers to the element of Qian (), one of the eight trigrams in Taoist philosophy. Qian is associated with creation, leadership, overtness, reliability, and acting first rather than reacting to others. Suwako Moriya's ability to create earth, or Kun (), refers to the opposite element.

In Symposium of Post-mysticism, it's stated that this ability of hers is still very much a mystery. She has been seen altering the terrain with Suwako's help, opening holes to the underground, and even creating large structures. She helped build the Myouren Temple, as well.

Occupation

Kanako is currently the deity of the Moriya Shrine, and lives with Suwako Moriya, the de facto ruler of the shrine, and Sanae Kochiya, a wind priestess. She generally seems to spend her time implementing new ways to gain faith from those who live outside the Youkai Mountain.

Possessions

Kanako's shimenawa represents the figure of an entwined snake, which in turn represents resurrection, rebirth, and eternity through the repeated shedding of its own skin. She also possesses onbashira, which she apparently uses in traditional festivals to toss off of cliffs.

Backstory

A god of the invading Yamato (the modern Japanese people), Kanako took over the Moriya Shrine after defeating its native goddess, Suwako Moriya, by holding out a thin vine that immediately rusted all of Suwako's iron weaponry. However, the original people of Moriya found it difficult to accept their new deity. In order to consolidate her newfound kingdom, she borrowed Suwako's powers. In reality, Suwako still ruled over the Moriya, however; Kanako was their deity in name only.

After doing this, though, the Yamato began to disbelieve in the concept of eternity, which Kanako in part represented. They grew stronger and invented ways of getting around the agricultural problems posed by harsh rain and wind. As their belief in science and information grew, their faith in Kanako waned, and thus did her power.

In order to solve this problem, Kanako decided that the most appropriate course of action would be to abandon the human world and gather faith in Gensokyo. It ended up working out quite well, and she started to be worshipped as the deity of the Youkai Mountain. She then realized that, after observing the Hakurei Shrine which, though low on faith, was frequently visited by youkai was the main reason she had been accepted so quickly.

Kanako, however, did not forsee the power of those who lived on Youkai Mountain, such as the kappa and tengu, growing greater through their worship of her. Worried about the power balance in Gensokyo, she resolved to rein in more believers from elsewhere, and thus decided to utilize the Hakurei Shrine for her own ends.

Character Basis

Name

Kanako's surname, Yasaka, can be split up in Ya () and Saka (). Ya meaning "eight" and Saka, which would mean "hill". Yasaka would therefore mean "Eight hills". It's referenced that because of her name, she might be seen as a mountain god; but she is really a god of wind and rain.

In the character introduction image of Mountain of Faith (just when her theme starts, and her name and title is revealed), her name was incorrectly spelled as Yasama Kanako.

Design

Kanako has an elaborate red shirt with long white sleeves and a round mirror over the center of her chest. She wears a long black skirt with a red flower print hem. Has poofy intense blue hair and dark red eyes. Behind her is a large twisting rope circle shimenawa with shide.

Story

Games

Mountain of Faith

In the main events of Mountain of Faith, Kanako plots to take over the Hakurei Shrine and use it to collect more faith, to gain more power.

Kanako offers to take Reimu and her shrine under her wing so that both would increase in followers and faith. Reimu refuses, on the grounds that she does not want Kanako interfering. Kanako then decides that Reimu is going to accept her help by force and a battle ensues. After she is defeated, she, Sanae, and a few other youkai visit the Hakurei Shrine, where Reimu vouches for them, telling Aya that they're not bad gods.

Kanako gets called out by Marisa for causing strife among the residents of the mountain and the Hakurei Shrine. Kanako scoffs and tells Marisa that she has no need for people who will not give her faith. After Marisa defeats her, the magician creates a little shrine and, in passing, notes that she should put Kanako in it. It immediately becomes a branch shrine for Kanako, though when she appears, she isn't too happy about it.

Subterranean Animism

Before the events of Subterranean Animism, it is hinted that she was the one who granted Utsuho her powers (by telling her that she could swallow a god, Yatagarasu) and inadvertently caused the events of the game.

While Kanako was out on a shopping trip, Suwako explains to the pair about Kanako's quest to find a new energy source as part of their Mountain Industrial Revolution project. Suwako had reservations about the project (such as safety concerns for the kappa they employed). Koishi also hoped to be granted power just as Kanako did for Utsuho in the form of love, but was rebuked by Reimu.

Kanako was out with Suwako and during that time Sanae explains to the duo why Kanako gave Utsuho her powers as a means to produce a new kind of energy in order to bring more followers to the shrine. Reimu realizes that her entire presence during the events of the game helped to advance Kanako's project.

Reimu realizes all the fighting she's done was the cause of Kanako and asks Suwako what she was up to. Suwako explains that Kanako was looking for a high temperature for their kappa workers and decided that the Temple of the High Spirits was a suitable location and gave Utsuho her power.

Kanako catches Marisa going through her house and gave her a scolding.

Sanae tells Marisa of Kanako's plans of a kappa industrial revolution to give her followers a higher standard of living.

Koishi wanted to receive powers from Kanako for her pets as she did for Utsuho, but Marisa informs her that she will only do things that aid in her plans.

Touhou Hisoutensoku

During Sanae's story, Suwako goes behind Kanako's back and helps the kappa build the Hisoutensoku. Afterwards, Kanako suggests that nuclear power is too much for it, and proposes heat or electricity as an alternative power source, but is assured that it only runs on steam. She immediately turns it into an advertising tool to gather more faith.

Literature

Wild and Horned Hermit

Kanako and Suwako's "experiment" to produce nuclear energy using Utsuho Reiuji has only been creating energy inefficiently, so Sanae asks Reimu to help them out; the shrine maiden produces some palladium alloy, and Kanako hosts a public experiment, which ends in great success. Later on, Kanako orders the kappa to create a dam on a river on Youkai Mountain for the purpose of gathering more faith.

Symposium of Post-mysticism

Kanako is one of the main speakers at the symposium, along with Byakuren Hijiri and Toyosatomimi no Miko. During it, she explains the details of why she moved the Moriya Shrine into Gensokyo.

Relationships

Sanae Kochiya

Sanae is a wind priestess that worships Kanako, and was part of the shrine's move to Gensokyo. Kanako mentioned in Symposium of Post-mysticism that Sanae herself can be referred to as one of the "gods" of the Moriya Shrine, possibly indicating a respect for her abilities.

Suwako Moriya

Kanako and Suwako are the opposing gods of Moriya, but their profiles state that they share quite a few common interests and are actually pretty good friends. They do argue a lot, though, and Kanako still wears the snake-representing shimenawa to boast about the fact that she beat her.

Utsuho Reiuji

Kanako is the one who originally gave Utsuho her powers for her own end. At the moment it seems she is keeping Utsuho working to produce nuclear energy underground in Former Hell.

Gallery

Spell Cards

Spellcards
Name Translated Comments Games Stage
Total: 29
神祭「エクスパンデッド・オンバシラ」 Divine Festival "Expanded Onbashira" MoF
GoM
St. 6: E/N
奇祭「目処梃子乱舞」 Weird Festival "Medoteko Boisterous Dance" MoF St. 6: H/L
筒粥「神の粥」 Rice Porridge in Tube "God's Rice Porridge" MoF St. 6: E/N
忘殻「アンリメンバードクロップ」 Forgotten Husk "Unremembered Crop" MoF
GoM
St. 6: H
神殻「ディバイニングクロップ」 Divine Husk "Divining Crop" MoF St. 6: L
贄符「御射山御狩神事」 Sacrifice Sign "Misayama Hunting Shrine Ritual" MoF St. 6: E/N
神秘「葛井の清水」 Mystery "Kuzui Clear Water" MoF St. 6: H
神秘「ヤマトトーラス」 Mystery "Yamato Torus" MoF
GoM
St. 6: L
天流「お天水の奇跡」 Heaven's Stream "Miracle of Otensui" MoF St. 6: E/N
天竜「雨の源泉」 Heaven's Dragon "Source of Rains" MoF
GoM
St. 6: H/L
「マウンテン・オブ・フェイス」 "Mountain of Faith" MoF St. 6: E/N
「風神様の神徳」 "Divine Virtues of Wind God" MoF St. 6: H/L
神符「水眼の如き美しき源泉」 God Sign "Beautiful Spring like Suiga" MoF St. Ex
神符「杉で結ぶ古き縁」 God Sign "Ancient Fate Linked by Cedars" MoF St. Ex
神符「神が歩かれた御神渡り」 God Sign "Omiwatari that God Walked" MoF
GoM
St. Ex
蛇符「グラウンドサーペント」 Snake Sign "Ground Serpent" DS
GoU
St. 11
御柱「メテオリックオンバシラ」 Divine Pillar "Meteoric Onbashira" DS St. 11
儚道「御神渡りクロス」 Fleeting Path "Omiwatari Cross" DS St. 11
御柱「ライジングオンバシラ」 Onbashira "Rising Onbashira" ISC
GoU
St. 9
「神の御威光」 "Sacred Authority of the Gods" ISC St. 9
風神符「ミシャバシラ」 Wind God Sign "Mishabashira" Co-owner with Suwako VD Nightmare Monday - 2
風妖符「死蝶オンバシラ」 Wind Ghostly Sign "Dead Butterfly Onbashira" Co-owner with Yuyuko VD Nightmare Monday - 3
風花符「オンバシラ裁判」 Wind Flower Sign "Onbashira Trial" Co-owner with Eiki VD Nightmare Monday - 6
風符「神地嵐」 Wind Sign "Sacred Land Storm" SFW
御柱「オンバシラ揺曳弾」 Onbashira "Onbashira Trailing Shots" SFW
御柱「オンバシラバンカーバスター」 Onbashira "Onbashira Bunker Buster" SFW
風符「船上水神嵐」 Wind Sign "On-Deck Water God Storm" SFW
御柱「船上オンバシラ揺曳弾」 Onbashira "On-Deck Onbashira Trailing Shots" SFW
御柱「オンバシラトーピドゥ」 Onbashira "Onbashira Torpedo" SFW

Additional Information

  • It is revealed in chapter 19 of Silent Sinner in Blue that the Lunarians created and use shimenawa rope to seal away those that are a threat to them. Kanako's shimenawa at her back is confirmed to be actual shimenawa in her Mountain of Faith profile. In addition, in Suwako's profile, it is stated that Kanako was one of several gods fighting to unify Japan, and it was implied in Silent Sinner in Blue that it was the Lunarians who were behind those wars (assuming taking away Lord Daikoku's lands referred to the actual time that happened in Shinto mythology by Amaterasu's family, whom are implied to be the Lunar Capital's founders). The Lunarians even used shimenawa to seal another god at the Moriya shrine. However, it is unknown if Kanako was connected to, in league with, or aware of any of this.
  • Kanako might be named after Princess Yasakatome, one of the gods of the Suwa Grand Shrine, which, on the other hand, Suwako Moriya is named after.
  • The shrine pictured in the background image of Kanako's spellcards is 下社秋宮 (Shimosha Akimiya, lit. the Autumn Court of the Lower Shrine), one of the four shrines that make up the Suwa Grand Shrine.
  • Oddly, Kanako's sprite changes colors in rainbow order during the time between when her theme begins and when she starts to battle. It also happens to another character in the PC-98 era.

Fandom

  • In humorous fanart, Kanako is often depicted as a robot, or an RX-77-2 Guncannon from Mobile Suit Gundam due to the Faith Pillars that attach to her back during the final encounter in Mountain of Faith.
  • Kanako is sometimes called by the other nickname: "Misae", which comes from Misae Nohara in Crayon Shin-chan. This is mostly due to the fact that Kanako's hair style resembles the notable and common style of Misae's—often called as Misae Hair (みさえヘアー), which gave her the strong impression of it in her first appearance. There was also a specific scene seen in canon in this relation: in Marisa B's ending in Mountain of Faith, Kanako drills Marisa's head with her fists (the commonly known Misae's head drill in Japan) because she built a small shrine in the Forest of Magic, which is rarely visited by people.
  • Kanako is also depicted with Yukari Yakumo and Eirin Yagokoro, whom have the same character in their name. This is due to their characteristics and personalities often regarded by some fans as a sign of "elders". In this sense, they're occasionally called the "old hags" in harsh cases.
  • Due to how Mountain of Faith's events appear, fans first assumed Kanako as a scheming mastermind, but as time went on (and more of Kanako's plans were shown to fail), this interpretation became less popular.

Official Profiles

Mountain of Faith - キャラ設定.txt
Kanako Yasaka MOF  ○6面ボス 山坂と湖の権化

  八坂 神奈子(やさか かなこ)
  Yasaka Kanako


  種族:神様
  能力:乾を創造する程度の能力

  最近、妖怪の山に神社ごと引っ越してきた神様である。


  八坂(無数の坂)という名前の通り、山の神様と言われているが、実際は風雨の神様であった。
  雨や風を司るという事は、つまり農業の神として祀られていた。


  山の神様として祀られる事になった経緯は非常に複雑であり、その真意を知っているのは神奈子と諏訪子の二人だけである。


  神奈子のトレードマークである『しめ縄』は、蛇が絡まっている姿を表現している。脱皮を繰り返す蛇は、復活と再生、永遠を意味していた。


  だが、人間は寿命を知り、永遠を信じなくなった。
  農業も風雨に対抗する術を手に入れつつあった。
  山は火山や地殻変動で出来る事を知った。山を越える危険も失われた。


  そう、人間は科学と情報を信仰し始めたのだ。
  それと共に、彼女ら神々に対する信仰心は失われつつあった。


  彼女は、信仰心を取り戻す方法を模索していた。
  そして大きな賭に出る事にした。
  それは
   『神社を人間の世界から幻想の物とし、幻想郷で信仰を集める事』
  だった。


  現在残された信仰が全て失われ一時的に力を失うが、可能性はその方がある。滅び行く過去の栄光より、可能性ある未来を選んだのだ。


  ――そして、彼女の企みは成功したように見えた。
  予想以上スムースに幻想郷で神社は受け入れられ、早くも妖怪の山の神様として祀られ始めている。


  余りのスムースさに何度か疑問を持つ事もあったが、幻想郷の仕組みを見ていると、その理由が何となく判る気がする。


  幻想郷には博麗神社という神社が存在していた。
  そこの神社は、信仰心こそ殆ど失われていたが、妖怪達に人気がありいつも誰か入り浸っている妖怪がいると言われていた。


  妖怪にとって神社は、恰好の遊び場となっていたのだろう。


  神奈子は信仰の対象と共に、妖怪の遊び相手としても受け入れられた。
  宴会も毎晩のように開かれた。


  実は、神様は一緒に遊んでくれる事を望んでいるのである。お祭りとは人間と神が一緒に遊ぶ事だ。日常を忘れて一緒になって遊ぶ事で、神と人間や、人間同士の共同体としての連帯感を持たせる。人間が妖怪に置き換わっても一緒である。


  まさしくそれは、神奈子が望んだ『信仰』の形であった。



  しかし、神奈子が持つ幻想郷の知識は乏しい。


  幻想郷の妖怪には幾つもの勢力がある事を知らない。にもかかわらず、山の妖怪達の信仰を集め、その代わりに大いなる神徳を与えた。
  その事が、山の妖怪、つまり天狗や河童達の力が強くなり過ぎる事に気付いていなかったのだ。
  その事で、平穏な幻想郷のパワーバランスを崩す恐れがあった。


  神奈子は、幻想郷のバランスを取る為にこれから麓の妖怪や人間の信仰も得る必要があるだろう。


  その為には、博麗神社を利用しなければ上手く事が進まない。
  幻想郷で外の世界と同等の信仰を取り戻すには、まだまだ課題は残されたままである。

Stage 6 Boss The Avatar of Mountains and Lakes

Kanako Yasaka

Species: God
Ability: Creating the heavens

The goddess who, together with her shrine, recently moved to the Youkai Mountain.

Because of her name 'Yasaka' (countless hills), she's been said to be a mountain deity, but she's actually a deity of wind and rain.
She controls the rain and the winds. In other words, she's been worshiped as a goddess of agriculture.

The sequence of events that led to her being worshiped as a mountain deity are extremely complicated and the only ones who know the truth are Kanako and Suwako.

Kanako's trademark 'shimenawa' (lit. enclosing rope) represents the figure of an entwined snake. The snake, which continually sheds its scales, symbolizes resurrection, rebirth and eternity.

However, humans came to know mortality and started disbelieving in eternity.
Even in agriculture, they continued to acquire skills that defied the rain and winds.
They learned that mountains were created from volcanoes and changes in the earth's crust. They became able to cross mountains easily and without danger.

Yes, humans had begun to believe in science and information.
In tandem with that, the faith they had in gods like Kanako continued to wane.

Kanako searched for a way to regain faith.
And she came up with a big gamble.
And that was, "to make the shrine into a thing of fantasy in the world of humans, and collect faith in Gensokyo".

Although it would mean that she would lose all the faith she still had left currently and thus lose her power temporarily, this way held more potential. She chose a future with potential rather over the crumbling glories of the past.

--And so, her plans seemed to be successful.
The shrine was accepted into Gensokyo more smoothly than she had expected, and she quickly began to be worshiped as the deity of the Youkai Mountain.

Although she had her doubts now and again at the excessive smoothness, once she saw how Gensokyo worked, she believed she understood why things went so well.

In Gensokyo there was a shrine called the Hakurei Shrine.
Although that shrine had almost completely lost all its faith, it was popular with youkai and it was said there was always some youkai frequenting it.

For the youkai, the shrine seemed to have become a suitable playground.

Along with becoming an object of worship, Kanako was also accepted as a playmate of the youkai.
Feasts were held almost every night.

Actually, to play together was what gods wished for. Festivals were venues for humans and gods to play together. By forgetting about everyday life and coming together to play, gods and humans gained the feeling of solidarity within a community. Even if the humans were exchanged for youkai, it was the same.

This was exactly the kind of faith Kanako was wishing for.


However, the knowledge Kanako held of Gensokyo was limited.

She didn't know that among the youkai of Gensokyo, there existed a number of powers. Nevertheless, she collected the faith of the mountain youkai, and attained great divine virtue. She did not realize that this meant that the power of the mountain youkai, in other words the tengu and the kappa, were becoming too great.

With that, there was the fear that the power balance of tranquil Gensokyo would collapse.

Kanako thought that to keep Gensokyo's balance, she must now acquire the faith of the youkai and humans beneath the mountain.

To achieve that, she must utilize the Hakurei Shrine else things won't proceed smoothly. Much remained before she would be able to regain the same amount of faith she'd had in the outside world.

Official Sources

Official sources

References



ja:八坂 神奈子