Azumi (part 1) - A-M glossary Rev.1

Rev 1.

Note on characters names, 1: the order given is the Japanese one, surname – name.

Note on characters names, 2: the author provides names readings for the more complex ones or those that due to many possible readings could be mistaken. In the latter cases, not always this happens. In all those cases I chose the most logical and simple reading among the possible options. The other possible readings are put between parentheses.

Total entries: 488

A

ABE KURANDO (安部蔵人): the chief of the Kurohabaki shinobi clan. He escorts Date to the temple where he meets his partners in crime. From the other shinobi reactions, Kurando is respected, famous and looked up to. A real shinobi veteran, even though he seems very young. Seeing that some of the other shinobi are missing the meeting, he realize that they must have been killed. He asks the other shinobi to think about anything strange that could have happened during their journey and, after Hatsune comes to Kobori mind, he devises a plan. Now he has another problem: someone who states to be Miyamoto Musashi, without showing any proof, visits the temple asking to meet Date Masamune. Only a few specific persons should know that Date is there, so he suspects that the man before him could know Azumi and the others and wants to know their whereabouts. After that, the will talk about his request. Musashi does not want to tell him anything keeping the promise he made to Azumi and the others. While he is trying to get some informations and being even mocked by Musashi about his narrow-mindness, he is interrupted by Date's arrival. He then proceeds to question Hatsune in an other building and even menaces of torturing her if she does not reveal the location of her comrades and their numbers. He is interrupted by Kōsaka's arrival with the informations he wanted. Then, in a meeting divides the men in two groups, assigning Shiraishi, Yamanaka, Kurokawa, Kōsaka and his disciples to the inn assault. After they fail, he thinks that the enemies should be almost twenty people instead of a small group of five or six like he suspected, but Musashi confirms his first theory and reveal their numbers. During the assault to Azumi group second lodging, he stays outside with Date. When asked to go help Kōsaka's disciples he refuses because, being Musashi near them, he still do not trust him and wants to stay near his Lord's side. Moments later, Tobizaru tries to kill Date but Abe first catches one of his shuriken and then he even breaks his sword with a blow, even injuring Tobizaru's forehead. After some events he devises a plan. He asks Musashi to get away from the temple with Date, while a fake will stay there and he and the others will try to kill Azumi. Then, they will reunite with Date. When Azumi and Tobizaru go to face him and the other directly, he strikes Tobizaru down and then faces Azumi, getting killed by her.

ACHA NO TSUBONE (阿茶の局, 1555 - 1638): former wife of Kamio, the retainer of Imagawa. Ieyasu summoned her at his castle when she became a widow in 1578 and made her Matron of the Ladies-in-Waiting. In 1621, when Ieyasu's niece, Hidetada's daughter, became Emperor Go-Mizu-no-Ō consort, she went with her. She was an influent lady who had a lot of power both over Ieyasu and his son. And, obviously, she was Ieyasu's concubine.

AKAGI MATSUTARŌ (赤木松太郎): one of Shikanosuke's sons who bullies Kanta and his friends. On the night of the enemy attack he finds a nice spot to see his father in action. His mother is worried because he is not with his youngest brother, who could not find him anywhere.

AKAGI SHIKANOSUKE (赤木鹿之助 could be read Akaki too): one of Takenobu's closest men. He helps Harumasa fight Chiyozō when he draws his katana, drunk. After Tōji's horse comes back alone, he goes to search for him with Jōzan and finds his corpse exposed on a tree. He faces Azumi in Takenobu's presence with his other three comrades using wooden swords, but he is beaten. Two times. After some events he is chosen by Takenobu as one of the elite warriors who will fight to protect the castle. He moves in with his wife, father and three children, some arrogant pests that do not waste a moment in vexing Kanta and his friends, especially On. During the enemy attack he loses his life after his grandfather.

AKAGI TAKEMARU (赤木竹丸): one of Shikanosuke's sons who bullies Kanta and his friends. On the night of the enemy attack he finds a nice spot to see his father in action. His mother is worried because he is not with his youngest brother, who could not find him anywhere.

AKANE (茜, “red dye”): a prostitute living and working at the inn where Azumi, disguised as a man, plans to stay and where Iku was just brought. She uses Azumi as an excuse to have a customer she does not like, leave. After, she is asked by Azumi to work there. She thinks that she does not have the money for paying the fees, but she is showed with a lot of it. She thinks that with all that money she could have her stay there for at least ten days. In that time she would be not importuned by some clients. Azumi asks her to work there and then she tells the inn mistress. Akane seems unable to feel any sexual pleasure, but she does indeed feel pain. While running away from her customer she trips while going down the stairs but Azumi grabs her. It is there that Akane feels that Aumi is a woman and not the man he tries to pass for. Akane's parents and brother were killed when she was very young by the same men who once in a while use her “services”. When she was very small she went to a festival with her parents and brother. They had them buy a self-righitng doll for them and they played with it for some time. This is a nostalgic memory for her and when Azumi asks her what would she like to have from the festival stall she asks for one of those dolls. She can not go to the festival herself; he is nothing more than a caged bird, after all. After Azumi's identity is discovered she is abducted with Iku. To convince Azumi to really come at the appointed place, the boss makes cut her right hand off and sends it to Azumi. After that she is tied to a pole with Iku. Azumi arrives behind them and free them. They stay there watching Azumi massacring their kidnappers, then Azumi comes back to her and starts to apologise.

AKECHI MITSUHIDE (明智光秀, 1528? – July 2, 1582): nicknamed Jūbei or called Koretō Hyūga no kami (惟任日向守) from his clan name and title, was a samurai who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan. Mitsuhide was a general under daimyō Oda Nobunaga, although he became infamous for his betrayal in 1582, which led to Nobunaga's death at Honnōji. See more information on wikipedia.

AKI PROVINCE (安芸国 Aki no kuni, or Geishū 芸州): it was a province in the Chūgoku Region (中国地方) of western Honshū (本州), comprising the western part of what is today Hiroshima Prefecture (広島県). When Emperor Shōmu (聖武天皇, 701 – June 4, 756) ordered two official temples for each province (one for male Buddhist priests and one for nuns), two temples were founded in Aki Province. The provincial temple was founded in present-day Saijō (西条町), Higashihiroshima (東広島市). In the late Heian Period (平安時代, 794 - 1185), Aki Province became well known for the Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社). Taira no Kiyomori (平清盛, 1118 – March 20, 1181) realized the shrine's importance and donated funds for a new complex of buildings and sutra scrolls. Itsukushima (厳島, popularly known as Miyajima 宮島) had a good sea port and had clear strategic significance. In the Sengoku Period (戦国時代c.1467 – c.1573 ), it was the original seat of the Mōri clan (毛利氏) until 1600. In 1555, Mōri Motonari (毛利元就, April 16, 1497 – July 6, 1571 ) won the Battle of Itsukushima (厳島合戦) against Sue Harutaka (陶晴賢, 1521 – October 16, 1555 ) and established his power in the western part of Honshū. Mōri Terumoto (毛利輝元, February 4, 1553 – June 2, 1625 ), one of the Council of Five Elders Toyotomi Hideyoshi appointed for his son Hideyori, sided with Ishida Mitsunari before the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, and lost Aki and many of his other domains. After a short rule by Fukushima Masanori (福島正則, 1561 – August 26, 1624 ), in 1619, Asano Nagaakira (浅野長晟, March 18, 1586 – October 16, 1632) was appointed as the daimyō of Hiroshima with 420,000 koku. Until the Meiji Restoration (明治維新, 1868), the Asano governed almost all the province. Aki province was abolished in 1871, and renamed to Hiroshima Prefecture. After some mergers the current area of Hiroshima Prefecture was established.

AMAGI (あまぎ): one of the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial he fights against Komoro and kills him. He takes part in many missions. During a Kōga ninja attack he receives a wound on an arm. He thinks it is nothing serious at first and does not say anything to not have Hyūga mock him. Soon his conditions worsen due to the blade that scratched him having been poisoned. Grampa cuts his left arm but the poison has already spread too much. He dies the next morning in Azumi arms, while they were carrying him to bord the huge ship he was so excited about.

ANPUKUJI (安福寺): a buddhist temple in Kyōto Prefecture, Kizugawa City, Kizu Miyanoura.

ASANO NAGAMASA (浅野長政, 1546 – May 29, 1611): he was the brother-in-law of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and one of his chief advisors. Asano also fought for Hideyoshi in a number of campaigns during the Sengoku period of the 16th century of Japan. Asano accompanied Hideyoshi in his campaign against the Mōri clan, and fought in Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea. He also fought for Hideyoshi against the Hōjō clan in 1590 and captured Iwatsuki and Edo castles. Asano was also appointed by Hideyoshi to a Commission of Five (Go-Bugyō) along with Ishida Mitsunari, Maeda Gen'i, Mashita Nagamori and Natsuka Masaie. Asano held seniority over the Commissioners, who were charged with governing the capital of Kyoto and the Home Provinces or Kinai. A close advisor to Hideyoshi, Asano devised the land survey and a number of other policies enacted under his rule. In 1598, Hideyoshi's invasions were coming to an end, and Asano was sent to Korea with his fellow Commissioner Ishida Mitsunari to arrange for Japanese withdrawal. Asano was assured by the generals that the war was going well, and that they were on the verge of victory. Ishida disagreed, however, and supported withdrawal from Korea. Returning to Japan, daimyō (feudal lords) from across the country became involved in the debate, and the disagreement grew into a major governmental rift. The Go-Bugyō disbanded soon afterwards, having already been replaced by the Council of Five Elders (Tairō) by Hideyoshi before his death. Nagamasa was succeeded by his son Asano Yoshinaga. In “Azumi” he gets assassinated by Azumi herself under disguise during a martial arts contest.

ASHURA (阿修羅, Asura in sanskrit): in Hinduism, the Asuras (Sanskrit: असुर, sanskrit ásu - "life force". Compare: Æsir. Also see: Ahura Mazda) are non-suras, a different group of power-seeking deities besides the suras, sometimes considered naturalists, or nature-beings, in constant battle with the Devas. See wikipedia for more information.

AWA (あわ): one of the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial he fights against Hyūga and dies. He wields two swords.

AZAI NAGAMASA (浅井長政, 1545 – August 28, 1573): he was a daimyō during the Sengoku period of Japan. His clan, the Azai, were located in northern Ōmi Province, east of Lake Biwa. He was both the brother-in-law of Oda Nobunaga, starting in 1564, and one of Nobunaga's enemies from 1570-1573. Nagamasa and his clan were utterly destroyed by Oda Nobunaga in August 1573. Major battles of Azai Nagamasa include the battle of Anegawa in 1570 and the many sieges of Odani castle between 1570 and 1573. Azai Nagamasa was the son of Azai Hisamasa, from whom he inherited clan leadership in 1560. Hisamasa had been compelled to step down by many of his retainers in favor of his son, Nagamasa. Hisamasa retired, and would later commit suicide along with his son in August 1573. Nagamasa successfully battled both Rokkaku Yoshitaka and Saitō Tatsuoki between 1560 and 1564. He is remembered as being a capable commander of troops on the battlefield. He married Oda Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564. Nobunaga desired peaceful relations with the Azai clan because of their strategic position in between Oda clan land's and the capitol, Kyōto. See wikipedia for more information.

AZUCHI - MOMOYAMA PERIOD (安土桃山時代): or the Shokuho period at the end of the Warring States Period (also known as Sengoku period) in Japan, when the political unification that preceded the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate took place. It spans the years from approximately 1573 to 1603, during which time Oda Nobunaga and his successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, imposed order upon the chaos that had pervaded since the collapse of the Ashikaga Shogunate. Although a start date of 1573 is often given, in more broad terms, this period begins with Nobunaga's entry into Kyoto in 1568, when he led his army to the imperial capital in order to install Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the 15th, and ultimately final, shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, and lasts until the coming to power of Tokugawa Ieyasu after his victory over supporters of the Toyotomi clan at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. During this period, a short but spectacular epoch, Japanese society and culture underwent the transition from the medival era to the early modern era. The name of this period is taken from Nobunaga's castle, Azuchi Castle, in the present-day town of Azuchi, Shiga Prefecture and Hideyoshi's castle, Momoyama Castle (also known as Fushimi Castle), in Kyoto. See wikipedia for more in-depht information.

AZUMI (あずみ): our female protagonist. The most lethal and skilled among one the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial she fights against Nachi and, even though she loves him, she kills him. She doesn't know she's a woman at the beginning. She talks in a manly way. She carries out missions from Grampa, killing Asano, Kiyomasa's body double, Kiyomasa himself, two of the three Sajiki brothers and Ōtsuka Hyōe, after having infiltrated in Ōsaka castle with Grampa and the others. She even befriended Hideyori, but she is seen by Kanbee and captured. She is put in jail and thinks to die there, but then she accepts to fight Ukiha the next day and ends up killing him (while she was the one who was trying to get killed...). After regaining the will to live, she uses a trick to makes her escape from the castle, not before fighting Kanbee and winning throwing her katana in one of his legs. After she escapes, she reunite with Grampa, Yae and Hyūga. Finally, Grampa explains them the purpose of their mission, but Azumi strats having doubts. She is assigned a new mission with Grampa and Hyūga. Yae is sent back to Tango with a bodygard, but Hyūga follows her to say properly goodbye. Being late, Azumi is sent by Grampa to find him. He finds him dead and the people around there said that it was a white dressed samurai who did it while another one was watching. Azumi buries him on a high ground from where he can see the road Yae took to return home. She comes back and finds Grampa in a bad condition fighting against Bijomaru and engages him in a duel. She easily defeats him and grants his wish to die with some flowers in his arms. She then gives him the mercy blow. She then confronts Grampa about why Hideyori must be killed, even though this time is Ieyasu that caused a war with the winter and summer siegies of the Ōsaka castle and he is in the wrong. She does not understand the logic behind his actions and Grampa's words, so she infiltrates the castle in flames. There she meets Senhime who, after shouting all of her hate towards her, asks her to save him, to take him away in a far place so he can go on living there. Azumi thinks that it is the right solution and start searching for him in the garden quarters where Senhime said he should be. He finds him and persuades him, but when he sees the dead bodies of his retainers...he decides to die a the leader he is. Azumi assists him. After that she watches Ieyasu from a tree and suddenly a man raids the camp and makes his way up to Ieyasu. Azumi cheers for him. He is pushed against one of the torches that lits the camp and he caughts fire but does not desists in his purpose. He grabs a bow and fires a fire arrow barely missing Ieyasu and then he flees. Azumi follows him, not knowing that he is Kanbee and saves him, taking him away from the camp. He evn nurses him but due to the brurns and the damage to his voice she does not recognise Kanbee in him. She has many doubts of what to do from now on and Kanbee suggests her to find someone worthy of her respect for whom risk even her life. When she returns after scouping some water she finds that Kanbee is not around any more and he has left a letter. She returns home but Grampa is not there, there is some blood though and outside she finds his walking cane, broken. She manages to find him fighting some fencer from the Yagyū school. Azumi protects Grampa by killing all of them. Many days pass while Grampa is recovering, nursed by her. Since no envoy from Tenkai arrived at the appointed place and time, Grampa decides to follow Tenkai to Sunpu. On the road he and Azumi stop in a post town where a festival is being held. While looking at the dancing people, Azumi meets Kazuma who shows her some fireworks. She then moves away and arrives at a place where lots of fireflies gather...and men and women having casual sex. She is quite surprised and Kazuma tries to convince her to be her first partner, but she refuses to do it with someone she does not love. Azumi and Grampa continue their joruney. While in another inn Azumi is attacked in the bath but survives and witness the two old shinobis committing suicide. They finally reach Sunpu. Grampa wants to go to the castle to probe the truth about who is trying to kill them but Azumi thinks that Ieyasu is the one who is trying to kill them, so Grampa will be like a moth to a flame. The next day she waits outside the castle and Kazuma explains her the situation. She rsuhes over the place where grampa is being escorted cursing Ieyasu's for his actions. She does not know that Tenkai is the one behind the pruning, employing them. Azumi infiltrates in the village the rōnins are waiting in while having fun a finds grampa. After killing some of the men she frees him and they go away. They stop in a post town and Azumi is bought a western cloak to help her stay warm during the cold months but even to hide her figure and conceal somewhat her katana. After, she is given a seal case with an engraved bodhisattva image. That will help her in possible dire situations by showing it to some temples around the country, or even when she will want to quit her lifestyle after he will be not around anymore. Azumi discovers the kokeshi Grampa carries at his waist. He says that having lost everything he had during wars he decided to raise a group of assassins useful to make war vanish and he is surprised that Azumi wants to keep protecting someone like him but she replies that he is after all her most precious and important grampa, so it is only natural that she will protect him to the end. Azumi receives a letter to give to the Kitain temple at Kawagoe in Musashi if things turn bad. For now, they will try to go there: Grampa's home town is in that area. He wants to spend their lives there, peacefully. On a bridge during their travel, they are surrounded by the enemy. Azumi is grabbed by grampa and trhown into the river. The strong current washes her away. She manages to reach one of the river banks and, though exhausted, runs as best as she can toward the bridge, where she finds Grampa, dead. She can not give in to her emotions. She notices the two wounds, and puts his corpse on the cart, bringing it away. She then buries it and runs away trying to shake the enemy. She is sure that someone is still watching her. At night, she thinks back about many things Grampa taught her. She then moves to Sunpu and by chance meets Tobizaru. They talk to each other and she learns about Kanbee, his new identity and where he is staying. She waits for Mikogami Tenzen to pss by on a street and, being impressed by her, he accepts to let her meet Takagi Kansuke. After speaking with Kanbee, he agrees to help her, provided that Tobizaru is fine with it too. Azumi asks Mikogami for a place to stay in his mansion and he accepts. The next day she becomes friends with Kohyōta, who warns her to be careful about Matsui and Mitsugu and tells her their love strategies. From the next day she starts sleeping in Kohyōta's room. At night she slips outside and meets with Tobizaru. She asks him to share information and collaborate. She tries to convince him with money or whatever he wants. When she is asked to pay with her body, she refuses immediately. The next day she tags along Matsui, Mitsugu and Kohyōta in a preliminary inspection for the next hunting ground Ieyasu is going to visit. While there, she spots Tobizaru on a tree doing his spying job. She realizes that Kanbee is planning to do something on a hunting ground. During lunch break she is asked a lot of questions. Her cover is that she is an orphan, the sword is her father's memento, she is all alone, he master also died and her comrade went back home to Tango. She does stunts to survive, even martial arts one, like throwing and avoiding shuriken. After some time, she notices that something has happened to Tobizaru and manages to go away for a bit from the others. She finds Tobizaru almost getting killed by some other spies and she kills them all, after Tobizaru lies to her saying that he told them everything. Returning at Ono's home she finds that Kanbee identity has been discovered. After his arms gets broken she interrupts the match and goes away with him. In some way she can put his bones in the right place. After talking with Kanbee she decides that she will be the one to kill Ieyasu, even though she will have to face Kyōsuke and Rintarō too. After, she goes to Ono's mansion and reveals her true identity to the two and also to Ono. The next day, with the help of Tobizaru, she cuts trough Ieyasu's guards and kills him. She then flees, followed by Rintarō and Kyōsuke who incessantly ask her to fight them, not to run away. Azumi seems to not care, but they tell her they will be waiting for her at a place to settle the score. Tobizaru suggests to leave them be, but after reuniting with Kanbee Azumi strats thinking. After all she wants to know how efficient is the bujutsu grampa taught her and her brothers. She goes to the duel place and kills both her opponents, while Ono and Kohyōta are watching. After she returns, Kanbee convinces her to fight him and she kills him. Thinking about grampa's words, she decides to go on living and to go to Tango to meet Yae but currently, due to the heavy rain, she is stuck in a post town. She decides to stay alone for the first time at an inn. In the cramped room, she meets a mother with her small child.

Meanwhile, the outlaws Ginkaku and Kinkaku arrive in town and come to their inn. That mother is worried because Azumi is beautiful and they do unspeakable things to beauties, so she makes her change in one of her kimono, leave the katana and dirts her face. There is also another young and beautiful girl called Kiku but she refuses to be plastered in the face with dirt because she does not like being dirty. Azumi is not found and is surprised that Kiku keeps being called out by various men. She goes in the backyard with that mother and she is offered a special drink she makes and sells for earning an income. After she drinks it, being poisoned, she feels bad, but it's almost all an act, having been taught by Grampa the different tastes of poisons and to unconsciously taste everything she drinks before gulping it down. She spares the mother's life, but when she returns in the room she sees Kiku getting "chosen" again and her grandfather following her. Being worried for the old man, Azumi follows them too, just to be attacked by Kiku in the bathroom. Her cover is revealed, and Azumi even finds that she is a man. Her dirts came off and she change into her usual clothes. After Inokichi's plan is ruined and Torazo's body is found, Kinkaku and Ginkaku want to know who did it or else they will kill everyone. Inokichi falsely accuses Azumi, who goes along with the accusations. Kinkaku grabs her from behind being very interested in her just when she is outside of the inn where a lot of black dressed men are waiting. After confirming they are there for her and that they are part of the group who left Grampa dying, she starts killing them. When she is finished, Kiku runs after her, being surprised, impressed and moved by her. They chat, with Azumi not trusting him and him saying that he does not like women but men and so on. Azumi does not believe him, thinking that it is a trick to let her guard down and threatens him to kill him if he keeps following her. Kiku does not mind and still follows her and even enters almost naked in the river where Azumi is washing the blood of her enemies away. Kiku gets close to her and even manages to hug her. She quickly frees herself, crosses the river and goes her way. Kiku still follows. They come to a town and decide to eat, but even though Kiku wants to treat her, she refuses. It is money he pickpocketed after all, and she wants to select herself what she eats. After, they sleep in a run down house, and Kiku, being cold, manages to cuddle together with Azumi. The next day, Kiku has a hard time following her, and Azumi wants to split there, but Kiku throws a tantrum and when he hugs her again Azumi feels that he has a high fever. Feeling guilty she carries him on her back. Azumi leaves him on the side of a river for a moment but when she retuns he is not there. He is been carried away on a cart by a man named Yakichi to his house, to have him rest better. Azumi follows him. Kiku is put to rest in his house, watched by his wife. Their two children are pretty interested in them, especially Azumi who decides that if she feels an enemy presence she will rush out the house and go meet him directly, in order to not involve the family. When asked by Yakichi what she uses the sword for, she replies that from time to time she does acrobatics, and show something. They are amazed, especially the children. She goes to catch fish with them and they are incredibly happy and surprised by how much Azumi is skilled. While she is staying at Yakichi's home and feeding Kiku, Dozō and Kazō arrive. She goes to draw water with Yakichi and learns about his past. After she returns, Kazō and Dozō show up and start their attack. Even though Azumi came out and went to meet them directly they not pay attention to her and fire their exploding arrows to the house. Azumi takes away Chiyo and Heita, returns to take her shuriken and goes to fight Dozō but the children come out from their hiding spot, running toward their house. She saves them but, being scared, now they are hindering her. She quickly hides them in a shack and runs to help Yakichi who is engaging Kazō. She deeply wounds him and even takes away from him his exploding arrows. She then runs to fight Dozō, but he throws an exploding arrow to the shack where the children are. When Azumi arrives she finds only a piece of Heita's kimono. Enraged, she runs toward Dozō and kills him. She still thinks the children died because of her and she is in despair. She then hears voices coming from a big bucket and finds the children hidden in there. Some fire fell on Heita's kimono and that is why he took it off. Azumi is overjoyed. They reunite with Yakichi and Kai and finds Kiku safe too. Yakichi wants to know who she is and she reveals to have killed Ieyasu, that is why they are chasing her. Kiku is shocked too. She goes to the river to dispose of the remaining exploding arrows and gunpowder. She then wants to give them her money to compensate for the damages to the house, but Yakichi refuses and presses her to get away, or else new pursuers will come. So, she runs away on one of the remaining horses with Kiku. She strongly decides that from now on, when fighting assassins, she must not involve people who have nothing do to with her. During their travel Azumi helps Getsuan, a High Priest who almost collapsed feeling bad and brings him back to his temple. Azumi accept Getsuan offer to work and stay there. Kiku decides to stay with her. Azumi meets Shunjirō, whose ideas of a world without swords, wars and where knowledge is what matters pick her interest. He has a dream, something he strongly believes in that she does not have. In the meanwhile, Kiku continues her plan to gain her utmost trust and kill Azumi, but she does not suspects anything. She listens to Shunjirō's dream and at the end, when he asks her to travel around the other countries wih him she understands his feelings for her. Shunjirō brings her to meet Karasuma but near where he lives they found some rōnin who try to assault her. Among them there are Kinkaku and Ginkaku too, but Azumi deals smartly with them. After, she meets Tenzan. They learn that Kinkaku and Ginkaku came to him to ask for information about guards and security, because they want to go to west of the country and people like Tenzan always has the latest news. They also learn that the Lord of the domain wants to meet Tenzan and his friends to ask them about what is happening in the other countries, to see performances, skills and so on, and that they have been invited to go to the castle. She and Shunjirō tag along. They are walking into a trap by the local Lord to have them all the persons of many talents killed together with the rōnin. Shunjirō's childhood friends are participating in the operation too. As soon as they approach the castle, Azumi senses that something is wrong and suggest to go back. When they turn around, rifles' sounds are heard and the rōnin are being killed. Azumi and the others flee while chased by castle guards and retreat to Getsuan's temple. Kiku tries to convince her to run away on horse and abandon everyone, but Azumi prepares for battle. When Kinkaku and Ginkaku arrive with some hostages, she leaves the situation to them and goes to the castle, takes the Lord hostage and hurries back. When she arrives, Ginkaku is already dead and Kinkaku follows him in a matter of moments. The pesons of many talents are all safe, and Azumi entrusts the hostage Lord to Shunjirō for some moments. Soon after this, his father and brother arrive and they do not believe what they see. After she retrieves her belongings (and Kiku, who was hiding), she says farewell to Getsuan and goes away with Shunjirō and the others. While walking on the bridge towards the country borders, she is attacked by three different groups of assassins. She dispaches the two from the front, but that in the back manages to hit very hard one of the persons of many talents with a flying weapon and kills him. Once again, Azumi has involved someone unrelated to her. She then decides to resume her journey alone with Kiku, but since the persons of many talents are going to the west too, they will follow her, their life savior, from a distance, journeying separately. While eating in a small establishment Azumi meets Genta, a little boy escaping from his devilish master. Genta then goes his way, and Azumi resumes sleeping outside, with Kiku protesting a lot. She can not sleep, so she goes to wash her kimono in the river. She meets Genta again, in tears, because no one watched his tricks and so he can not earn any money to live. Azumi would like to take him with her, but due to her situation she can not. So she plans to let the persons of many talents take care of him. While she is talking to him, Shunjirō appears in the distance, completely heartbroken for what has happened to his family. She would like to confort him but she thinks that maybe he does not want to be seen in that state. The next day, while traveling, she stops with Kiku at a tea house and meets Sakon again. After a brief exchange, she resumes traveling. Kiku leaves her for a bit and Shunjirō approaches her and asks why they want her dead and why she has such great sword skills. She talks about her cirmustances and Shunjirō regrets about what he told her. He thinks his ideas were too optimistic and naive and that he had such a sheltered life...but Azumi thinks that his dream and ideas are splendid and he suffered too much too. Then, they are interrupted by Genta who wants to travel with her. His fleeing speed it is his pride, so even if someone attacks, he can run away immediately. At a spa, she, Kiku and Genta meet Sakon again. After she leaves the spa, she meets one of the people of many talents and asks about the situation. She comes to know about Shunjirō's father and brother seppuku. On their way, a stranger asks them for help because his master is in pain at the river bed. In that moment, Shunjirō comes running to them saying that since Azumi was there she could have dropped by. He brought them three padded kimono. He follows them down to the river bed and examines the man in pain. He studied medicine too and seriously tries to find where the man hurts. Azumi thinks about what that man told her, about Shunjirō's situation, what he is doing and suddenly is attacked by the man who brought them there and the one who was faking to feel ill. Azumikills both of them. The second one, with his belly slashed, makes Shunjirō imagine his family commiting seppuku and starts crying. He thinks he is a fool and that his actions of rejecting the sword and killings only brought him misery, while Azumi thinks his ideas are not wrong. Who really is wrong is that feudal Lord who cowardly tried to killed them. During the day, the persons of many talents give Azumi a cart built following Tenzan's schematics. She gladly accepts it. While sheltering from the rain, Genta tries to hit Azumi from behind with a small pebble, but she dodges it. After the rain stops, on her way, Shinsuke and Jōjirō introduce themselves, apologize for having treated her as an assassin and so for having sent assassins to kill her while the truth is that she is a fencer like them. They ask her for a "fair" duel, telling her the place. She accepts. The two have hidden some riflemen to shoot her. Sakon does not know anything at all and he is waiting ahead, wondering if he has gone too much ahead and lost her. Genta fears that, being Yagyūs, they could be too strong and take away from him the great deed, so, when Azumi goes towards them to fight he runs to her, lifts a side of her mantle and shoots his dart on one of her thighs, hitting her. Kiku immediately rushes to her and sucks as much poison as he can. Azumi asks Genta what kind of poison it is, but he does not know. Feeling dizzy and having difficulties to breath she sees Jōjirō rushing to her and, remembering what Grampa taught her, she brings the fight inside the river, managing to give him a hard time and luring Shinsuke to join the fight too. Sakon suddenly arrives and tries to stop the other two, but since Jōjirō will not stop, he cuts him down. He helps Azumi going out from the river, then, after making Kiku and Genta loose consciousness, he carries her to a lodge where to nurse her. Sakon tries to have his way with her but he desists. Azumi is completely paralyzed due to the poison. Sakon hides her under the floor to have her escape the probable search party. When Munenori and his men arrive, she manages to slip to the back, fall down to the first floor and crawl outside under the heavy rain, hiding in the vegetation and then in the water nearby. After Munenori goes away, she comes out and crawls to a little stream, letting wash herself away. Azumi finds herself in a field, but she is still unable to move. She will be killed if a Yagyū finds her, but thank goodness she is found by Shunjirō and moved to a house in the shades. Thanks to Shunjirō taking care of her, Azumi recovers. Something seems that can happen with him, but after first accepting her, he leaves without giving her an explanation. Azumi picks herself up and returns to Kiku, anticipating a probable ambush. She deals with her enemies and kills Shisaburō in the process. Then, she reunites with Kiku. At night, she confesses to him she was turned down by Shunjirō and asks to be hugged. In his arms she is pointed a knife at the back of her head, but Kiku does not strike. She calms him down and says that she will protect him. The next day they start to travel together again. She reveals she is going to Tango to see her friend Yae and asks him to come with her too. Obviously Kiku accepts.The next day they arrive at a checking station, but decide to ditch the highway. In the end, they come to a castle town. Due to the mental stress for having killed his boss, Kiku comes down with a high fever. After Azumi finds some samurai to whom she asks if they know a doctor, Kiku and her are sheltered in a samurai house. The post town where they are though, is being controlled by a gang of rōnin and one of the friends of the samurai who is sheltering them is killed while trying to avenge his father and sister. After the rōnin kill Kennosuke's father, she is surpised that her wife, Kennosuke's mother, still care for her and Kiku. Since Kiku sucked the poison away after Genta's sneak attack, now she considers her her life savior. From what Shino tells her we understand that she and Kennosuke love each other but they both gave up due to social standings differences. While Azumi and Shino are talking outside, some shinobi knocks Kennosuke down and kidnap his mother and Kiku, leaving a letter where they ask Azumi to not do anything for two or three days in exchange for the hostages' safety. Azumi goes straight to Bishamonten's hideout and tells him that she will do how she was told, so they do not have to do even the slightest bad thing to the hostages or they will suffer consequences. She then returns avoiding fighting some men who wants to have some fun with her. At night, she goes to the temple to make reconaissance and spots Kennosuke and the others who came to die honorably but activated some alarm traps. She manages to clear the misunderstanding and to get away from the other men. She tries to have Kennosuke and the others come to reason, and thanks to Shino who came to Kennosuke's home worried they might have thought to die honorably, they finally settle down. Shino and Azumi eavesdrop on a conversation. Some old soldiers will raid the enemy hideout to save their Lord and are reporting to his wife, Shino's mother. Azumi takes the opportunity to infiltrate and search for Okō and Kiku. When she is inside the temple, she hears a conversation about the hostages and finds they are at the inn Bishamonten and the others stayed at when they arrived in the post town. Sakakura spots her but it is Bishamonten who makes her lose consciousness with a surprise attack. She is saved by Kennosuke's friends when Bishamonten goes away. She regains consciousness in the morning. Kennosuke's friends suggest her to stay put and do nothing. After the rōnin steal the gold they will leave, after all. She replies that she will only go save Okō and Kiku, and she has no intention at all to fight those men. They, on the other hand, should really stay put and do nothing. She reaches the inn and finds Okō who tells her Kiku was tortured and then thrown outside in the back. Azumi is furious to find Kiku dead and goes to mincemeat the rōnin, under the eyes of Shino, Kennosuke, the Lord of the domain and his men. They could have been accused that they did completely nothing to stop the gold stealing, so they decided to at least show up. Meanwhile Azumi kills most of the small fries while looking for Bishamonten and the others. She rampages and defeats all the rōnin, even the seven main ones, severely wounding Bishamonten and Byakuya and killing all the others, including Seiryū. After, even though the Lord wants to invite her at the castle, she says she does not deserve it because she has killed the rōnin for a personal revenge, not for the sake of that domain. She then leves, taking Kiku with her on their cart and then burying her. She then moves to Kyō to go see Yae; on the highway she is found by Sakon, who follows her. Meanwhile, rumors of her acts spread in the city. One night she meets Nishida Benzō, a person deeply indebted to Obata Gessai, but she doubts him. When he shows her Obata's peculiar dance, she believes him. She then follows him where he wants to bring her, but during the trip she is ambushed. She nimbly avoids the attacks and the ninja enemies flee. She then is taken to Nishida's temple and sheltered there. One day she receives a visit from Sakon bringing a message from Yae. Azumi is overjoyed because she can meet

her again. The next morning she slips out the temple and goes to meet her, but due to her mistress order, Yar arrives too late at the meting...or so it seems. Azumi in the meanwhile was being attacked and decided to go to the other side of the bridge, where she meets Yae and drags her away. She tells her what happened in the time they did not see and why she is there and the two catch up. Yae must go, but they promise to see each other every day if they can. Azumi explains the situation to Nishida, to not worry him again unnecessarily. Azumi goes to meet Yae the next day too, while not realizing she is being stalked by Doronue. Yae does not come to the meeting place and so Azumi goes back to Nishida who informs her that some hatamotos came to ask to hand her over. Until she is in the temple, though, she is safe. Azumi has a talk with Kakugen later about spearmanship and then she assists to his duel with one of the fencers who came to ask for matches. From what she hears them say, she realizes they know who she is and what their purpose is. After Kakugen is badly injured, her identity is confirmed and she is asked to settle things another day by the three samurai. She thinks that what happened to Kakugen is her fault for having come to that temple. The next day she meets Yae again, but they get surrounded by a large group of assassins. Sakon is there too and Azumi entrusts Yae to him and she flees from her enemies, going back to the temple. Thinking about what could happen to Yae if she continued meeting her like that, she asks Nishida what she should do to free her from being a prostitute. She then decides to pay her debt back so that she will then live with her at the temple. Azumi tails Sakon and has him tell her where Yae brothel is. She goes there to redeem her but Yae, who thought Azumi was her only friend on equal terms, is disgusted. Azumi did not know what Yae felt and she now has remorses. The next day the hatamoto invade the temple and Azumi sets off to fight them. She manages to convince them to fight her outside the temple, than she runs away. While closely pursued she gets stuck in a swamp fighting a large number of enemies. She fends them off until Nishida and the temple monks arrive to support her and the hatamotos retreat. Azumi decided to leave the temple, shocking Nishida and asking herself if there is still some meaning to go on living for her. When she is cleaning off the dirt of the fight in the river, Doronue has finally his opportunity to strike. He has the upper hand and Azumi loses her senses in water, but after she gets taken out, she regains consciousness and somehow scares Doronue who decides to postpone the fight. She then moves to a small unhabitated temple and in the evening Sakon finds her and they eat together. Yae is watching everything from the shadows. She asks Sakon if he has something he lives for and he replies that it is the sword. After chatting for some time she realizes they have many things in common, and even Sakon's suggestion, to die together, does not sound that bad. Yae hears everything and she has a harsh fight with Azumi, living her downhearted. Later, Doronue takes the chance to hide Azumi's equipments and fights her. While in a bind Nishida comes to save her, just to be killed moments later by Doronue, who then Azumi kills. Afterwards she fights the three hatamotos who were watching everything. Azumi is still not sure if to go on living or dieing there to put an end to the spiral of deaths following her. She is not in top condition but she manage to cut his first opponent's fingers. His reaction is so unexpected that Azumi is punched and kicked a lot of times and now lays unconscious. When they decide to kill her, she is saved by Tobizaru! The next day she wakes up in a temple and meets Tenkai. She receives a new katana, forged as same as her previous one, and Tenkai thanks her for all she and her comrades have done. The next day she rides with Tenkai in a palanquin to the Emperor's palace. At night, Azumi visits Yae and tells her all she has on her mind, also leaving to her all her money, since now she does not need it anymore, being under the protection of Tenkai. The next day Yae is taken hostage by the hatamotos and tied at a tree. Azumi is sent a letter about it and sets off to save her friend. On the scene, Yae bites off her tongue to not have her killed by a hidden rifle squad in hide, but Azumi goes to help Yae, even taking advantage of Sakon's unexpected help. After saving Yae, Sakon manages to get Azumi to duel with him. After he is slashed, he grabs her and tries to kill her, but, in the end, he cannot. After she finishes Sakon off, she goes away, leaving Yae behind. She moves to a snow country for some reason on Tenkai's orders and she finds troubles immediately along the way. In the snow country she meets new companions: Tsudzura, Hatsune, Utsubo and Kagari. Their mission is to protect that country's secret. Later, Azumi goes to meet a man called Konishi Shizune by crossing a narrow log bridge over a ravine. After seeing who he is, she leaves. The next day she is introduced to the fief bosses with a false background. When she returns, at night Shizune comes to visit her. They have a boat ride and talk. Shizune, a very perceptive man, predicts that Azumi will lose her life in those lands. Her mission in the snow country is to protect its secret: a christian community accepting all people as equals and even a lot of rōnin, and moreover, the fief is self sufficient thanks to a gold mine and supported by Tenkai too. If the secret got out, the shogunate would not stand for this and crush it for sure. Tobizaru is in the snow country too as back up. One night she takes Azumi out on a mountain to make her try some rudimental skies. After having had his fun seeing Azumi fall many times, he is completely shocked to see that Azumi has already got used to them. Also, Tobizaru wanted to show her a road built on a mountain that can lead to two secret places to the side of one of the two fief entrances, places where cannons are hid, pointing to the open road down there. No army could pass or invade. Tobizaru thinks that they built something like this even at the other border and he is going to investigate. When Azumi goes back, Kurisuke tells her that a castle samurai broke the law, so that is why there is a commotion. It is Tsudzura who was caught, probably on a search mission, and now he is being lynched, more by the common people than the rōnin, as real practice for "the promised day". She cannot do anything to save him, and Kagari accuses her to have let him die there because, if she was really a “princess” like her fake background stated, she could have saved him just by giving an order. Soon after, Azumi meets Shunjirō again. He brings her to see the gold mine he manages for Tenkai. Due to all the stress, Azumi breaks a fever and now she is resting at Shunjirō's place. During the night, some of Terasawa's men take the Lord of the fief hostage. The next day Azumi returns home and finds Tobizaru injured. While she is talking to him some men come to pick her up and invite her to the castle, saying that there is no more distinction between castle samurai and common people. Terasawa explains that, with the people consensus, they had their Lord retire and kicked away the castle samurai who did not comply. Now Terasawa and the others live at the castle and he asks Azumi which side will she pick. Things are not going so smoothly in this new "order" and a chief vassal is not happy at all. Shizune arrives in time to calm the situation down. Due to an affront to his daughter, that vassal tries to slash the culprit but Shizune saves him and gets injured in his stead on an arm. He declares that nothing bad has happened and they already know that wounds like that to him disappear in one night leaving no trace. Azumi does not believe it, though. She goes to talk to the dignitaries who she should have helped on Tenkai orders and who now want to retake the castle in arms, but she cannot convince them to desist. She goes to talk to Shinjirō and he knew about the plan too. He knows about the cannons too. he thinks that Shizune christian doctrine, which preach that rich and poor are all equal to God, is wonderful for realizing an ideal country. The cannons are needed for defense. He asks Azumi to help him build an ideal country and, if she wants, to stay there with him. Shizune intterupts saying that he will try to slowly unify the people with different ideas. He asks Azumi to sew him the sleeve that got cut yesterday and, before starting, she looks at his arm on which no wound remains. After Shizune leaves, Shunjirō confesses his love to her. They eat together and then she goes back home and finds a little burglar called Gacchi with whom she becomes friends. Some time later, she is visited by Shunjirō who brings her a present. He tries his moves on Azumi but they get interrupted by Tobizaru's arrival. The next day, Terasawa introduces the Rasetsugarasu, a mercenary squad, to Azumi. He says that someone had said that she is not related to the Lord of those lands and she is shown her comrades taken hostage. More or less, since they are no tied and all. She reveals her purpose and she thinks she will not be in the way of their interests, not knowing their ulteior motives, and then the Rasetsugarasu attacks to test her and she kills one of them. They cannot believe their eyes. The Rasetsugarasu only wanted to test if she was the rumored Azumi who killed the bandits in a post town, so they let her go. On the way back she meets Shizune who shows her to his home behind the ravine, after crossing the one-log bridge. He lives alone with his wet nurse who is currently ill. Azumi talks to him of her way of life and then she goes back home to find Gacchi who came to bring her a thank you gift for the rice. While eating, Shunjirō comes to pick Azumi to show her his work. Azumi takes Gacchi with them too, since his dream is to become a man who will be useful to the persons he really admires: Shizune and Shunjirō. While at the mine something happens and Shunjirō goes to tend to the problem, while Azumi goes back to meet with Tobizaru. She finds Shizune who brought her some information about the Rasetsugarasu and then leaves. Gacchi realizes that Shizune and Shunjirō are both in love with her. After, Azumi a Tobizaru rescue their comrades and fight a couple of Gensai's men and while fleeing, Utsubo is killed. The next day Kagari and Hatsune are suffering from withdrawl syndrome from a "medicine" Shunjirō makes. Azumi runs to him, gets the medicine and goes back. After taking it, Kagari and Hatsune feels a lot better. Meanwhile, some men try to kill Shizune during a sermon but the Rasetsugarasu defend him. Gacchi tells everything to Azumi. Azumi and Tobizaru talk about the meaning of this and suspect it was all a ploy with the other Rasetsugarasu disguised as castle samurai to make the people hate the castle samurai even more and have them on their side when they will wage war against them. Azumi and Tobizaru decide to make their move and kill Gensai, his men and the Rasetsugarasu. When Azumi arrives to where they lodge, Shunjirō is there too, eating with them. The two goes on horse to a hot spring and in the meanwhile they talk. Shunjirō thinks the others are not trying to start a war, because they are trying to build an ideal country all together. Suspecting something, the other party decides to capture Azumi and have fun with her, so Kurisuke, Uemon and even Tōdō and Sagawa go search for her. They assault her at the spa and in the fighting they are all killed. After, she and Shunjirō return to the village ang go to the gold mine, thinking that Gensai and his men could have stolen all the rifles and gunpower. They find the mine workers and Hatsune and Kagari who are all smoking Shunjirō's “medicine” and are all pretty high. In the mine they find a jail with Karasuma imprisoned, who's almost lost his sanity. It was Shunjirō who imprisoned him because he does not want that other people go to other countries, fearing that they could spill their secret. Many were also killed by Hatsune and Kagari. While investigating Shizune, she is caught in a trap and become his and her sister's prisoner. She is almost killed by Naka, their wetnurse, fearing that she would have not been needed anymore if Azumi had stayed there. Gacchi, who went to search for Azumi to ask her to avenge his parents, sees everything. Shizune and Tadane stop Naka and they punish her in a cruel shooting game where she lose her life. Azumi has almost lost all her will to live but she suddenly spots Gacchi. He manages to free her when Shizune and Tadane go away. He tells Azumi the whole matter about the Rasetsugarasu and she agrees to settle the situation. She crosses the valley with Gacchi on her back while at Kazunogahara the battle rages on. She affixes a letter of challenge at the door of her house so that the Rasetsugarasu can see it if they come to search for her. She goes with Gacchi to meet Tae and then they all go to the letter of challenge designated place. Azumi makes Gacchi and Tae hide in the bushes nearby, since they want to see everything no matter what. Afterwards, Azumi kills all the Rasetsugarasu in a hard fight. Meanwhile, Tenkai's priest soldiers army marches toward the country border. After she kills all her opponents, a messenger of Tenkai who had infiltrated in the country tells her that he is coming to quell the insurrection, but he does not know cannons are positioned at the border so he begs Azumi to cut through Gensai's men and inform him. Going back, she finds people who are all going to the gold mine because Shizune said he will summon God to come there to take with him the soul of all the departed in the holy war. Azumi manages to arrive in time at the border and kill Gensai and his last men. After, she rushes to settle things with Shizune. When she arrives, she finds a crowd of people with him. He rallies them to protect him from her, an assassin sent from the shogunate to kill him. Azumi makes her way through the crowd and Shizune, who actually is Tadane, tries to get away from her by crossing back but she is hit by a kunai in the back, slips and falls down, while Shizune is watching everything from afar. She then rushes to the gold mine where Shizune should have gone but he is no there. Instead, a crowd, who has come to know about Shizune's death, is there and tries to lynch her. She goes away and returns to the temple where Gacchi and Tae wait for her. She tells them how to behave in that land after she will kill the other Shizune, to never reveal the truth and so on. She gives them a couple of her tops as farewell presents and heads to the gold mine. Inside she finds men pouring oil and gunpowder to be ignited to make the mine cave in and trap the people inside. She exits the mine and finds the most ideal place where to wait for Shizune. When he arrives, she confronts him. He tries to win her over, but fails and he is killed. Azumi tries to escape but she is surrounded by the people who wants to have a piece of her. She endures the snow and stones thrown at her until Tae tries to protect her but Gacchi takes her away and starts to behave like the others so to not arise suspicions upon them. Tenkai's army arrives and Azumi manages to take refuge among them and finally leave the snow country. After some time from the snow country events, Tenkai's information net catches wind of an intrigue to capsize the shogunate. Tenkai introduces her to Hidetada and Doi and now she will work for them to try to sove this crisis brought by Date Masamune. Being it an official mission, her life will not be targeted anymore, but Munenori could always send some assassins to dispatch her in secret. She will work with Tobizaru, Kagari, Hatsune and a new comrade the three are going to test. Their disguises are seen through though. They start their mission, Azumi and Hyōsuke travelling together. They enter an eatery along the road and they get involved in a fight and killing their first target. Another one gets found and killed later during a festival. Continuing their mission, Azumi is even introduced to Miyamoto Musashi, who is staying at their same inn. Miyamoto saw both the previous killings and he is being interested in knowing who Azumi is, just to find out that she is not interested in fighting him to test her abilities. Later, with Hyōsuke's help, they found out other three targets. Kagari and Hatsune will take care of Kobori, while Azumi is going to fight Ikeda and Kurokawa. Time passes and Hatsune does not return due to some probems but all the retainers and shinobi gather to meet Date Masamune and things are set in motion. After tailing the persons who left the temple, Azumi goes to fight Kamiyama and his brother and wins. On her return, she and her comrades have a conversation with Musashi and she accepts to tell him where Date is lodging, so he can go meet him. While Musashi has an audience with him, Azumi goes to the beach down the inn to relax a little and meets Kōsaka's disciples. They share a meal while she is oblivious to their true identity and then goes back, getting tailed. After reporting the inn whereabouts, some of the shinobi and their men assault the inn and Azumi tries to escape with Hyōsuke closely following behind her. While fleeing, Azumi kills Yamanaka and Shiraishi. Then, Kurokawa pleads for his life saying that he will persuade Date to stop the rebellion, but Azumi does not believe him and kills him after he tries to kill her with a poisoned dart. Azumi, Hyōsuke and Tobizaru manage to escape and refuge in a new inn. Unfortunately it gets discovered due to Kagari having been tailed by Kōsaka's disciples while he was snooping around looking for Hatsune's whereabouts. Later, after Hatsune tries to escape and gets killed by Kobori, Azumi and comrades find a big straw bag in the temple garden with her body inside. Immediately after, they get surrounded by the enemy. They decide to fight outside and try to run away but are surrounded again. Hyōsuke's eyes are blinded by Kochō's attack and when trying to run away, Azumi beats Hikoza without killing him. She and Hyōsuke manage to outdistance their pursuers running away with all their might and reach a river where Hyōsuke can wash his eyes. After some time, he regain his sight, while Kagari, who came out from his hiding place, is killed by Tōta and Kochō beside Hatsune's corpse. After Hyōsuke is all right, they go back to the temple and find Kagari dead. Azumi waits there for the enemy to come back and fights against Kōsaka and his four disciples, killing him. She then runs away, confused, thinking about Kōsaka's disciples' reaction, comparing it to how she felt when grampa was killed. Azumi meets with Tobizaru and they discuss the next plan of action. They decide to go at the enemy's temple and see the situation. While there, they observe Musashi training and talking to Kobori. Azumi decides to go for her target while Tobizaru keeps one of the enemies stalled. When she charges at Kobori, Musashi stays still and she kills her target, running away after that. Later, she, Tobizaru and Hyōsuke are still in the compound and locate Katagiri who is speaking to Kōsaka's disciples. Tobizaru wants to attack but Azumi is hesitating. After finally deciding, Tobizaru attracts their attention while Azumi strikes Katagiri down and immediately retreats. The next day, Azumi receives a visit from Musashi. Following the events at the temple, Date asked for his services. He tells her that Date didn't order him to assassinate her nor to protect him, howwever, Azumi now stands in his way to climb to new heigths since she wants to kill his employer. Musashi does not want a duel with Azumi while she tries to kill Date and he tries to protect him, but a sort of holy match with a specific date, time and place, to measure the proficiency of their skills. He manages to have her agree to fight him at 11 AM at Shidzukigahara the same day. While Azumi reflects, Kōsaka's disciples come to talk to her and they ask how she grew up and she tells them about her training with Grampa and her "brothers". While she is speaking, Hikoza tries to kill her with a surpise attack, even surprising his comrades, but Azumi evades and reacts almost unconsciously, stabbing him with the short blade of her katana, killing him. She then wanders off in shock until Hyōsuke brings her back to her senses. He proposes to quit the mission and change lifestyle. He loves her and will provide for her. Azumi though does not want a life where she is taken care of, she wants to be useful to others, and can do that with her bujutsu. Grampa and the others are also watching her and she is sure they would want for her to carry out big missions. Also, she forgot her promise with Miyamoto. Hyōsuke tries to make her change her mind, to no avail. Having the hour for the duel with Musashi passed, they return to the temple and discuss with Tobizaru about their next moves. They decide to go to the enemy temple and settle things one and for all, not knowing the Date there is a body double and the real one is going back to Sendai escorted by Musashi. While Tobizaru takes care of Sajikawa, Azumi kills the last bodyguards and shinobi, Uda. When Tobizaru is badly hit by a sword slash by Kurando, she rushes towards himwhile dispatching Kurando himself. Hyōsuke and the monks arrive and take care of Tobizaru. Only Masamune is left, but he reveals to be an impostor, one of the

monks of the temple. Kōsaka's disciples offer their cart with which to take Tobizaru away. An envoy from Date gives her a note where to find him. She arrives at a small spa where the two talk a little and then Date decides to take responsibility, suggesting that if all that happened was just a plan by an impostor, the Date clan and all its subjects would be safe. He then commits seppuku with Azumi as his kaishakunin. She goes back and departs with Hyōsuke and the monks carrying Tobizaru on the cart, but suddenly she is stopped by Musashi who asks her a duel, and she accepts. The fight ends in a sort of draw, with Azumi piercing Musashi's left hand and lightly slashing his left shoulder and him hitting with his sword her shurikens at the waist. Hyōsuke stops the match when Musashi was still charging at a swaying Azumi and takes her away. Musashi is left there reflecting on the match not sure about who won. Afterwards, Azumi and Tenkai discuss the events and she tries to make him believe the Date she killed was an impostor and begs Tenkai to not destroy his household.

Azumi tells him she was lost during her mission. She makes two requests to Tenkai and in case he accepts them, she will continue to carry on with the missions. One is to not destroy the Dates, the other is to have Hyōsuke quit his role and recommend him to master Hidari as a sculptor disciple. After her last big mission, Azumi is at the Seiga temple and she is assigned two disciples, Toransuke and Hikoshirō, to train. She also maintains a relationship with Hyōsuke who is studying to be a sculptor under Hidari. There is a big problem though: Hidetada's illegitimate child, Bontenmaru, fell in love at first sight with Azumi when she came with his father to the temple to thank her for the great results in the mission she was assigned to and now he came to visit again. He has brought another gift for Azumi, bus she cannot accept it. The next day, Azumi goes on a scouting mission with Toranosuke and Hikoshirō. This time, a spy working for Tenkai caught wind of a new scheme to do something in a certain tozama daimyō's domain, so Tenkai wants to investigate. Also, there is one of Munenori's men involved (Sakakura) and it could be a chance to have Munenori come out and face her. Their infiltrate brings them to a gambling den and explains how things run there and who Okyō and Chiyozō are: the place (niwauchi)'s boss and her deaf younger brother. With a pretext, Okyō blames the money robbery that happened some time before right on that spy and makes Chiyozō kill him. Azumi and the others leave. She is sure that her identity was aready known and Okyō killed the spy to make her aware of that. After they go back, they discuss things with Tobizaru and decide to take advantage of Bontenmaru wanting to go to the niwauchi to go there officially with also his bodyguards. Meanwhile, the Tsujidō family visits Sakakura. They heard they could get a lot of money for killing a mere girl, but since now Bontenmaru is coming there, the plans have changed, and Sakakura tells them they should do it another time. However, they need money to cure the father and older brother. At the niwauchi, Azumi asks where Okyō lives. Arrived under her house, the Tsujidōs decide to take the opportunity to attack Azumi in front of everyone. Unexpectedly to her, Toranosuke and Hikoshirō step forward to defend her. They use their wooden swords at first but soon they switch to real katana but since they seem to have some difficulties, Azumi cuts in and kills the older Tsujidō brother. They then run away while the younger brother tries to catch them. Later they reunite with Bontenmaru and go talk to Okyō. Azumi has a private talk with her but she evades her questions telling her if she wants the answers she will have to look for them herself risking her life. She makes them leave. On the way back, Bontenmaru figures out he was used by Azumi to be able to speak with Okyō an he is furious. He makes her promise to do what he wants for the day. After a brief walk, they return do the castle and they drink a lot. In the meanwhile, the Tsujidōs barge in at Okyō's place thinking Azumi is still there but Chiyozō beats them up. At the same time, Azumi is forced to make company to Bontenmaru drinking with him in the daimyō's residence he is staying at. Azumi though, outdrinks him and goes back to the Seiga temple. The next day she is overjoyed while reading a letter from Hyōsuke. In the meanwhile, Bontenmaru is love struck and wants to marry Azumi, but he cannot yet because he is only a freeloader, so he needs to wait until the plot going on in that country completes and he becomes the new lord of the castle. That is what Kanō, who is supervising everything, thinks and suggests him. Also, now that Bontenmaru wants to marry Azumi, he thinks that maybe instead of killing her ahead of time, they could use her to calm him down. Kanō is Okyō's lover and the only way they have to make Chiyozō leave Okyō's side for some time when they want to be alone together is to leave him with an old senile woman who mistook him for his grandchild and to whom he seems to not mind. On another day, no matter how careful she is, Azumi gets tailed while going to where Hyōsuke is staying and their relationship is found out by Kanō's shinobi and reported to him after he ordered Yomiji, an assassin, to exterminate the entire family of a man called Kijima to set an example to those who are opposing their plan to set Bontenmaru as lord of the castle. After the deed, it is time for Mineishi, another assassin, to carry out an order from Kanō, who has him kill Azumi due to his strong feelings as a Yagyū fencer towards his comrades she killed and so to later persuade Bontenmaru that it was the right thing to do. He meets Azumi and she accepts the duel. They reach a place where a rifleman is concealed, without Mineishi knowing about it. When Azumi notices him and blames Mineishi, he is so enraged that he goes to kill the rifleman. Then they have their duel and Azumi wins. On another day, Bontenmaru fakes himself ill to have Azumi come to see him and he asks her to marry him, but Azumi turns him down. She explains her origins, her killing Ieyasu, his grandfather, and being mortal enemy with Munenori. Hidetada and Munenori would never approve of their marriage. Bontenmaru is happy because he thought she hated him but there were other circumstances. He does not care about his grandfather who he never met and also his father had always detested him. Also, by marrying him, he could protect her from Munenori...but Azumi strongly refuses his proposal, breaking his heart. While walking in the castle town, Azumi meets some of the samurai who wanted to oppose the switch of the lord of the castle together with Kijima. They exchange information and both parties now are up to date about what is happening in their fief. Meanwhile, Kanō asks Okyō to use Chiyozō to kill these young samurai and others who are opposing his plans. Some of the young samurai go to inform Azumi they are having a meeting, asked by the chief retainer, but Tobizaru has some suspects and he is right. All the samurai gathering in the designated place are killed by Chiyozō and those who escaped, by Yomiji. We also come to know that Munenori needs that land to have great assets to keep paying the shinobi clans he

is supporting, and so he managed to get permission from Hidetada for putting Bontenmaru as lord of that castle. He also called one of those man, his subordinate and others due to the possibility of a battle against the warrior monks of Tenkai. Meanwhile, Azumi cannot support the survived samurai because no official order from Tenkai has come to crash Munenori's scheme. In the meantime, Kanō informs Bontenmaru that Azumi is seeing a man and, not believing him, he decides to disguise himself and try to find out if it is true or not. Sadly for him, he sees with his own eyes how much Azumi and Hyōsuke are happy together. Meanwhile, Munenori meets with the men he summoned for his plan and tells them to sojourn at the niwauchi and follow all of Kanō's orders. Kanō though has a problem: he tried to wake up Bontenmaru from his feelings towards Azumi, but his plan did not succeed. Bontenmaru seems to have another plan and goes to speak directly to Azumi. He threatens her to hurt Hyōsuke in some way so he will not have a future, and this enrages Azumi. Bontenmaru leaves but says he will be back to hear her reply about becoming his woman, if she cares for that man's future. While pondering over what to do, Azumi notices she is being watched and when the spy goes away, she manages to follow him down to Kanō's house, and he even announces herself to try to strike a deal with him to not have Hyōsuke harmed. She goes through the courtyard, just when Kanō is talking to the chiefs of the men munenori called there, and also Okyō and Chiyozō. She is surprised, but now she really knows they are men hired by Munenori. She explains that Bontenmaru came to threaten her and says she does not plan to interfere with their plan to make him the lord of the castle, but if what Bontenmaru threatened to do becomes reality, she will oppose them with all her might and they will regret it. Kanō laughs it off. Some of the men there want to kill her, but others want to rape her. Kanō thinks it would be bothersome if she was killed there, but it could go to his advantaged to convince Bontemaru to drop his feelings for her if she was soiled, so he does not stop those men to try to assault her. However, in a few seconds three of them are already killed, and Chiyozō seems to like what is going on a lot, but Azumi runs away and returns at the Seiga temple. She informs Tobizaru that she wants to leave the temple to not cause damage and victims and also tells him about Bontenmaru's threat. She wants to find a small hut where to live near where Hyōsuke is. Toranosuke and Hikoshirō follow her. She also finds an ideal place with trees where to fight in case someone comes after her, and indeed, Mozō, his men and others arrive. It is Toranosuke and Hikoshirō's first real battle too. Due to the trees, Mozō and his men cannot do anything aside from wasting arrows and having a loss, so they retreat also due to Toranosuke and Hikoshirō killing five other men in a way or another. The two feel shocked by what happened, but Azumi helps them to calm down and after they go back, they sort their feelings out. In the meantime, Chiyozō is going back to where he left his sister and spots her kissing Kanō, and this enrages him. Okyō manages to calm him down and Kanō leaves. In the meantime, Sakakura is mad at the fact that the other men went to attack Azumi and had nine casualties. A fight breaks out and the kids go call Chiyozō, who was reflecting on many things. Seeing what is happening he thinks that his sister will be pleased if he stops them, so he starts killing and killing with Sakakura in disbelief lamenting that their soldiers for the fight against Tenkai's warrior monks are steadily decreasing. When Okyō arrives, she apologizes for what happened and she is very angry at Chiyozō. He is shocked, takes a horse and wanders off, passing by where Azumi and the others are. Azumi follows him, and in the end, they become friends. Meanwhile, Munenori is informed that Chiyozō killed a lot of the men who should have been used against Tenkai's army and he is not happy at all. It was the first blunder for Kanō and before Munenori comes rushing there to reprimand him, he thinks to settle the entire matter himself by imprisoning the daimyō and his family, putting to house arrest those against his plan and forcibly making Bontenmaru lord of the castle. Seeing that force can solve problems rather quickly, Bontenmaru wants to force Azumi to become his wife, even putting her in jail until she accepts, but Kanō tries to make Azumi look like a whore in his eyes by telling him that she leaves now in a hut with two other samurai. Bontenmaru seems not fully convinced. Furthermore, Kanō wants to kill Azumi before Munenori arrives. His shinobi devises a plan and the next day they send her a letter informing her they have taken Hyōsuke and to come to a certain place at Kikyōdzuka. She has to pass through a long and narrow bridge for getting there, so the plan is to snipe at her from the other side. Azumi goes, survives and understands that it was just a trap and goes with Toranosuke and Hikoshirō to see if Hyōsuke is alright and to explain him the situation. Menawhile, Tenkai comes to the Seiga temple to visit Azumi and the others with only a small number of guards. The information reaches Munenori immediately and he informs Hidetada that Tenkai had come to twart their plan (not true at all). After meeting Tenkai at the temple, at night, Munenori, Sakakura, the Yagyū swordsmen and the mercenaries assault the temple with fire arrows trying to kill all the residents. Tenkai trusts Azumi to come up with a plan to escape and they follow her strategy to divide in various small groups with a cart each carrying decoys and Tenkai in one, well protected by the cargo and futon. Azumi cannot escort Tenkai since it would be obvious which cart Tenkai is inside and leaves it to Tobizaru disguised as a monk. The escape starts and so the Yagyū's assault. After they manage to get away, they steal some Yagyū's horses and run to the castle where they come to know that Bontemaru is now the new lord. Saying that she wants to be alone with him to talk about some things, Azumi manages to get close and make him unconscious, because her goal was to take him away with her. They explain the situation, free the lord of the castle and get all the men there on their side. Menaiwhile, Toranosuke gets stuck in a duel with Yomiji and is wounded to death, while Yomiji himself is quickly dispatched by Azumi. Toranosuke dies in Azumi's arms. Azumi and Hikoshirō run with Bontenmaru to the Myōō temple to meet with Tenkai. Meanwhile the other men with Kanō and Sakakura retreat. Azumi arrives first to the temple, while Tenkai and some other bonzes are taking cover from the rain and hide just in case but they are found by Munenori and his men and they get killed while buying Tenkai time to escape. One monk reports to Azumi at Myōō what is happening and she has him show the place. Meanwhile, the castle samurai are revolting and when Kanō and the others return they are not allowed to enter so Kanō decides to return to the niwauchi, to Okyō's surprise, since she knows that Kanō knows Chiyozō is there. At the same time, Tobizaru and Tenkai are trying to hide in the water of a pond but Tenkai, at his limit, gives away their position. Luckily Azumi arrives just in time to save the day, and Hikoshirō, with Bontenmaru hostage, makes Munenori stop the attack. Tenkai and Munenori negotiate and they agree to have Azumi and him duel there to settle things, but Munenori, thinking to be at a disadvantage with a sword due to his age and Azumi's speed, manages to change the duel to a match with wooden swords to the nearby Myōō temple. All the lives of the presents depends on Azumi's victory and after a tough fight she hits Munenori near his right elbow breaking his arm. Munenori and his man retire, while Kanō is having a hard time at Okyō's place because of Chiyozō. On the other side, Azumi, Tobizaru and Hikoshirō get some well earned rest. They also decided to not tie down Bontenmaru anymore, since he seems to have calmed down. When news of what happened reach Kanō, he devises a plan to rescue Bontenmaru with the help of Chiyozō. If Bontenmaru is not set up as lord of the castle, even Okyō's interests there with the niwauchi would be ruined, so she agrees to help convince her borther to coopearate. She explains to him the plan at her best, but while executing it, since he never saw Bontenmaru, he makes Hikoshirō lose his senses and grabs him by mistake, messing up the plan. In the evening, Kanō's shinobi approaches Azumi to propose a hostage exchange. Only Azumi and Bontemaru will have to go to Okyō's place tomorrow...where a trap by Kanō awaits her. All the men on standby at the niwauchi will attack her, and a bigger reward will be given to whom kills her. The Tsujidous are over the moon. Next morning, some time before six, Azumi takes Bontenmaru away explaining the situation. Although he is more concerned about not being able to see Azumi anymore after this. When they arrive at the niwauchi, Azumi immediately notices that all the inhabitants are against her. Infact, Kanō promised a fair sum of money to the common people too if they kill her. In a way or another the hostage exchange succeeds, but Azumi and Hikoshirō find themselves overwhelmed by enemies and try to run away while cutting through them. They manage to hide in a house and come up with a plan. Since everyone is after them for money, if they kill Kanō and then convince the people to go raid Okyō's place for money, they will leave them alone. They decide to go after Kanō at Okyō's place and while en route there the other Tsujidou's brother is killed among the frenzy by Azumi. Inside Okyō's mansion all of Munenori's soldiers gather and Hikoshirō is tasked to find Kanō and call Azumi immediately when he finds him, without doing anything reckless. Even Chiyozō, who had watched the entire carnage happening from the top of a tree decides to come down and go to the mansion. His sister sees him and tells him to come in. He clibs a tree and gets into the second floor, while down there Azumi is fighting and at the first floor Hikoshirō is managing too. For some reason, Chiyozō starts killing the men who are firing the exploding arrows. In the end, he and the rest of the men are on the ground floor with Azumi as their only enemy. Because of the fire arrows though, the mansion cathes fire. Chiyozō asks his sister why the house is a mess and she tells him that it is Azumi's fault and that she has come to kill her. She manages to convince Chiyozō to kill her. Meanwhile Azumi has gone outside the mansion and is dealing with the remaining men using exploding arrows. For a moment, Chiyozō helps her understanding that those guys with the arrows are dangerous, but then he stands in front of her with his katana drawn.

AZUMINO (安曇野市): A city located in Nagano Prefecture (長野県). As of August 1, 2009, the city has an estimated population of 99,307 and a population density of 299 persons per km². The total area is 331.82 km². The modern city of Azumino was established on October 1, 2005, from the merger of the town of Akashina (明科町, from Higashichikuma District), the towns of Hotaka (穂高町) and Toyoshina (豊科町), and the villages of Horigane (堀金村) and Misato (三郷村), all from Minamiazumi District. The city's population is near 100,000 people and it is the 6th most populous in Nagano Prefecture. Azumino is home to the world's largest wasabi farm, Daiō Wasabi Farm (大王わさび農場). Azumino is a combination of two words, "Azumi" and "no". "Azumi" comes from the Azumi people, who are said to have moved to the "no" (plain) in ancient times. The Azumi people originally lived in northern Kyūshū, and were famed for their skills in fishing and navigation. "The Azumi people" can be translated as "the people who live on the sea." The reason why the seafaring people migrated to this mountainous region is a mystery. Azumino, named after the plain in which it is located, lies between two mountain ranges to the west and east. The range of mountains on the western border is known as the Northern Alps (Hida Mountains 飛騨山脈) and is popular among hikers all over Japan. To the south is the city of Matsumoto (松本市), Nagano prefecture's second largest city. To the north lies the city of Ōmachi (大町市), as well as the village of Hakuba (白馬村). Hakuba was the site of many of the ski events during the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. (This created a lot of traffic through the Azumino area, spurring a great deal of construction during that period).

B

BAN SAKON (伴左近): one of the rōnin employed to escort Grampa. It seems Miyamoto Musashi feared him and avoided a duel with him and his friend Harima Kojirō. He acts like he is the boss around there with his friend and not hesitates to kill one of the other men who had something to say about their attitude. He is killed by Azumi in the blink of an eye.

BATEREN (伴天連): christian missionaries (from the Portuguese word padre, "father").

BENZA (弁左): one of the two men to whom Kyōgoku assign a mission while on the Kōshū way. He is the tallest of the two and the older brother. His eyes are special, they can see very far in the distance and work very well at night too, better than an owl. To kill his enemies he uses arrows, with different poisons strength. While searching for Azumi in the temple she is lodging in for the night, he happens to have her right in front of him while he is taking cover behind some bushes, but before deciding to shoot her or not, Azumi closes the shōji and Benza misses his chance. The next day, while hiding in a forest, Azumi leaves the others back and hides nearby Benza and Kichiza hiding spot. He shoots her from an ideal position but she dodges by a hair and in a moment she kills him.

BINGO PROVINCE (備後国): it was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of western Honshū, comprising what is today the eastern part of Hiroshima Prefecture. It was sometimes called Bishū (備州), with Bizen (備前国) and Bitchu (備中国) Provinces. Bingo bordered Bitchū, Hōki (伯耆国), Izumo (出雲国), Iwami (石見国), and Aki Provinces. The ancient capital is believed to have been in the vicinity of the city of Fuchū (府中市). During the Sengoku Period, Bingo was part of the Mōri clan's (毛利氏) domains, but after the Battle of Sekigahara, Tokugawa Ieyasu reassigned it to one of his allies. A notable landmark includes Fukuyama Castle, which was the main castle of the Bingo-Fukuyama domain during the Edo period of Japanese history.

BISHAMONTEN (毘沙門天): he is the boss of a band of fifty-sixty rōnin who invaded and occupied a post town and continues doing pillages and violences. The name is probabaly not his real one but just a very strong one for a “boss” like him. Bishamonten is the Japanese equivalent of Vaiśravaṇa, the chief of the Four Heavenly Kings and a prominent figure of Buddhism. Thinking about why Sakakura wants them to steal the gold of a shogunate procession passing through that domain and so on, he guesses he is a shogunate dog who will make them steal the gold to then blame the current Lord, confiscate his domain and then they will try to get back the gold from them too by getting rid of them. He does not comply with Sakakura's order to not lay a hand on the hostages and allows Seiryū to have his sweet time with Kiku. In the end, he is severely wounded by Azumi; he cannot believe he was defeated and asks her to join him. It is not clear if he dies, survives or what happens to him next.

BIZEN PROVINCE (備前国): it was a province of Japan on the Inland Sea side of Honshū, in what is today the southeastern part of Okayama Prefecture (岡山県). It was sometimes called Bishū (備州), with Bitchū (備中国) and Bingo (備後国) Provinces. Bizen borders Mimasaka (美作国), Harima (播磨国), and Bitchū Provinces. Bizen's original center was in the modern city of Okayama. From an early time Bizen was one of Japan's main centers for sword smithing. See wikipedia for more information.

BIZEN'YA TOKUBEE (備前屋徳兵衛): a wealthy merchant who gives hospitality to Kiyomasa and Kanbee during their journey back to Kumamoto.

BODHISATTVA: in Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened (bodhi) existence (sattva) or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one (satva) for enlightenment (bodhi)." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being,"although in modern publications, and especially in tantric works, this is more commonly reserved for the term jñānasattva ("awareness-being". Traditionally, a bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings. According to Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is one of the four sublime states a human can achieve in life (the others being an Arhat, Buddha, or Pratyekabuddha). The bodhisattva is a popular subject in Buddhist art. Usage of the term bodhisattva has evolved over time. In early Indian Buddhism, for example, the term bodhisattva was primarily used to refer specifically to the Buddha in his former lives.The Jatakas, which are the stories of his lives, depict the various attempts of the bodhisattva to embrace qualities like self-sacrifice and morality. See wikipedia for more information.

BONTENMARU (梵天丸): the illegitimate (and historically fictitional) child of Tokugawa Hidetada. It seems he is like his father in every respect. He has a very peculiar name. He takes it from a historical figure, Date Masamune (1567-1636), the founder and the first daimyō of Sendai. Inspired by a dream his mother saw when she was pregnant with him, he was called "Bontenmaru". "Bonten" is a Buddhist ritual scepter, "maru" literally meaning "round" or "circle" and is a common term of endearment for a young boy. Bontenmaru was brought up as a prince at Yonezawa castle in present-day Yamagata prefecture. He lost the sight of his right eye from smallpox when he was a young child and later came to be referred to as the "Dokuganryū" or One-eyed Dragon. During the chaos of the civil war in the late 16th century, Bontenmaru, now known as Date Masamune, attempted to unite the northern provinces. Encouraged by some initial successes, he even dreamed of ruling all Japan. But this was a vain hope, as his rivals, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu, managed to unite the country under their rule. Masamune moved northward in 1600 and became the first daimyō of what is now Sendai. He is known for his efforts to establish cultural links with Europe. For example, in 1613 he sent an envoy to Rome in one of the first Japanese missions to the West. In Azumi, Hidetada's plan to crush a fief using false accusations to give it to him to manage for his coming of age, is destroyed by Azumi herself. Now he is plotting something else. One day, during falconry with his father, Bontenmaru meets Azumi and falls for her at first sight. Now he frequently goes to visit her at the temple where she resides bringing her presents. He tries to give her a new pricy mantle but Azumi refuses. He will be used as an ecuse from Azumi to visit the niwauchi again and to have access to a private talk with Okyō. Enraged having noticed that he was used, he forces Azumi to do as he says for the entire day. He brings her at his mansion and drink with her, getting embrassingly drunk and confessing his feelings, but he passes out. Wanting to see her, he pretends to be sick and sends a palanquin to pick Azumi up. When she goes there he asks her to marry him. Azumi tells him everything, about who she is and why she is in that country. Bontenmaru offers to help her and asks again to become his wife, but she turns him down again, and again. He then comes to know that Azumi has a man who she loves and want to see him and if it is really true. After ascertain how the circumstances are he feels destroyed, but he refuses Kanō's suggestion to kill her. He has another plan. He meets Azumi and threatens her that anything could happend to Hyōsuke if he wants to, but if she becomes his woman he will be safe. Due to Kanō losing more than half of the soldiers Munenori gave him for his eventual battle against Tenkai, he quickly decides to hasten their plans to regain credit in Munenori's eyes and Bontenmaru is made Lord of the castle. After the attack at the Seigain, he is captured by Azumi in the middle of the night. After a failed attempt to have him retaken, he is exchanged as a hostage for Hikoshirō. In the meantime he is still fixed with Azumi. He stays with Kanō at the second floor of Okyō's mansion. When Azumi and Tachibana strom the house and it catches fire, he is taken outside by Kanō, not without some injuries. He witnesses Azumi's fight with Kanō and then with Chiyozō. And with the eldest of the Tsujidōs too. He also sees Tachibana final moments and Azumi actions. When Azumi leaves the place he follows her in the rain, crying out loud like a baby, with his clothes tearing away while walking. He is brought to safety by a group of Munenori's men, before another confrontation with Azumi begins.

BŌNOHAMA (坊の浜): the seashore where Hanzō, his men, Azumi and Chiyozō land and where sixteen enemy guards are killed.

BOTAMOCHI (牡丹餅): they are a Japanese sweet made with sweet rice and sweet azuki (red bean) paste. They are made by soaking sweet rice for approximately six hours. The rice is then cooked, and a thick azuki paste is hand-packed around pre-formed balls of rice. A very similar sweet, ohagi (おはぎ), uses a slightly different texture of azuki paste, but is otherwise almost identical. It is made in autumn. Some recipe variations in both cases call for a coating of soy flour to be applied to the botamochi/ohagi after the azuki paste. The two different names are derived from the Botan (peony) which blooms in the spring and the Hagi (Japanese bush clover or Lespedeza) which blooms during autumn. Ohagi is named after the bush clover (hagi), which flowers during autumn.

BUJUTSU (武術): “military arts”, “martial arts”...a word indicating arts, techniques, skills, means, tricks, resources and magics used during a fight.

BUKE SHOHATTO (武家諸法度 lit. Various Points of Laws for Warrior Houses): commonly known in English as the Laws for the Military Houses, was a collection of edicts issued by Japan's Tokugawa shogunate governing the responsibilities and activities of daimyō and the rest of the samurai warrior aristocracy. These formed the basis of the bakuhan taisei (shogunate-domains system) which lay at the foundation of the Tokugawa regime. The contents of the edicts were seen as a code of conduct, a description of proper honorable daimyō behavior, and not solely laws which had to be obeyed. By appealing to notions of morality and honor, therefore, the shogunate was able to see its strictures followed despite its inability to enforce them directly. The edicts were first read to a gathering of daimyō by the retired shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, at Fushimi castle in the seventh lunar month of 1615. They had been compiled by a number of scholars in service to the shogunate including Ishin Sūden, and were aimed primarily at limiting the power of the daimyō and thus protecting the shogunate's control over the country. The reigning shogun at the time, Ieyasu's son Tokugawa Hidetada, formally promulgated the edicts shortly afterwards, and each successive shogun formally reissued them, reinforcing the restrictions on the daimyō and the control of the shogunate. Through these successive generations, however, the rules developed and changed significantly. See wikipedia for more information.

BUNZŌ (文蔵): one of Kennosuke's friends who decides to help him storming the Anpukuji to rescue Shino-dono's father.

BYAKUYA (白蛇): another of Bishamonten's men, highly proficient with the katana. His too is a powerful name, meaning “white snake”, not in the sense of the albino Japanese rat snake (same writing, but with the Shirohebi or Hakuja readings) but probably connected with the Chinese “Legend of The White Snake”. Moreover, unusual, white animals, are always used to imply vigour, very high longevity, power, peculiarity and so on. In the end, he is everely wounded by Azumi; he cannot believe she annihilated them. It seems he survives, but what happens to him next is unknown.

C

- CHAN (ちゃん): a suffix used for a very familiar, intimate, female person.

CHIYO (ちよ): Kai's little daughter. She is really happy to have Azumi at his home and she is amazed by her acrobatics and fish catching skills. She survives Dozō and Kazō's attack.

CHIYO (千代): one of the prostitutes who works with Yae.

CHIYOZŌ (千代蔵): a man who takes back for his boss the money some thieves stole. He has a disfigured face, it seems he is deaf and the people where he lives fears him. His boss, his big sister Okyō, treats him as a little child. When Okyō meets her lover, Kanō, he is left for a couple of hours to a family where and old woman thinks that he is his grandchild, Heikichi. He is very calm in her presence. For his sister he would do everything and he understands her when she communicates with him with gestures. He accepts to kill all the men in a house for her. One day, while playing with the old granny, he sees Okyō and Kanō kissing. Filled with anger and jealousy he tries to attack Kanō with his sword, but Okyō manages to restrain him. Back at the Niwauchi he thinks about his sister and when she is happy and pets him. He realizes that when he kills men she is happy. Nearby, a fight breaks out an without hesitation he goes to settle down things, no matter if the men he is killing are those hired by Munenori and given to Kanō. Sakakura watches the scene unfold, powerless. Okyō strongly reprimends him and it is not clear if he goes away. He notices Azumi looking at him and they become friends. He is not happy with Kanō staying at Okyō's place and almost starts a fight. He then is asked by his sister to help with Bontenmaru's rescue plan, but he misinterprets her sister signs and instead of taking Bontenmaru he takes Tachibana away, and Kanō's fainted shinobi too. When Azumi and Tachibana storms his sister's mansion he is there too. He seems to not like all that exploding firing arrows that is devastating his home and kills the two men who are responsible, even though they are his allies. Or maybe he did not want Azumi to be killed with such a cheap tactic? Anyway, he gets caught up in the explosion of the remaining arrows in the quiver of the last man he kills but he is unscathed. Seeing his house catching fire insie he goes to ask his sister why this is happenening and she replies that it is all Azumi's fault. He is convinced to kill her and outside he stands before her with his katana drawn. He exchanges some blows with Azumi, but noticing that his sister is n danger he rushes to save her and then they escape and see their house burning down and the men taking away their money. His sister orders him to stop them. After Kanō is slain by Azumi, Okyō tries to shoot and exploding arrows to her but Tachibana throws his katana in her side and she collapses, right when Chiyozō is just returning from having killed one of the rogues. Enraged, he wants to kill Tachibana but Azumi does not allow him so now he has to fight her. He fights well but Azumi manages to make him lose his senses. His sister thinks he is dead and crawls toward him, only to die herself. Chiyozō wakes and stay by her sister corpse side without moving, driving away those who get close to him, planning to let himself die of starvation. Azumi though seems to not accept this and he goes near him, refusing to kill him when he asks her to. Chiyozō starts living with Azumi against Tenkai and Tobizaru opinions. They seem to understand each other to some extent. He keeps causing troubles though. After some time he sets on a journey with Azumi, having a lot of fun. Azumi tries to communicate with him, trying to have him understand that he must do a lot of things on his own from now on, but he does not get it. He understands very well though when Azumi mimics her future death, so much that he embraces her and cries. Due to new circumstances, he goes on a mission with Azumi. He does not seem to like the other comrades, Natori in particular, and he is not liked by Warita, who considers him nothing more than a watchdog. After they land though, Chiyozō will save his life and kill almost all the sixteen men they encountered. Azumi make him lose his senses and ties him at a tree to go to save Natori, but when she comes back, no matter how many times she apologizes, Chiyozō is very angry and upset. He keeps walking at a distance from Azumi and then he steals away her belongings. He loses the way and do not know how to get back anymore. Tired and hungry he meets On. On brings him home and he receives food and hospitality. He tries to make him understood and the little children figure out that he was talking about the market where there are many masks. He is brought there and reunites with Azumi. He starts living at Kanta's home with Azumi and the other children. Azumi manages to get many information from Kanta and decides to go meet Takenobu in person. Chiyozō tags along. After coming back home, he goes outside with On and Azumi and plays hide and seek with them, without knowing of the battle taking place not so distant from him. He does not notice anything when he comes to search for On and Azumi. The next day he goes with Azumi to a mansion where Takenobu offers them foods and drinks. He drinks sake and gets drunk. Suddenly he unseathes his sword and starts swinging it here and there. Takenobu's men think he is going to attack their young Lord and intervene. They notice that Chiyozō is too able with the sword to be a street performer. He notices that Azumi is immobilized and, thinking they're hurting her, he charges! After a bried exchange with Harusame and Shikanosuke, Takenobu lets Azumi go and he calms down. After that, he will go along with Azumi to the castle, still drunk. After coming back home he keeps playing with On. While relieving himself he notices Tōji spuing on them. He informs Azumi but they go to sleep. When Tōji come close he wakes up but Azumi makes him understand to do nothing. After Tōji is killed, he becomes the suspect. He is tested by Bakin with a pretext but nothing comes out of this. After, he meets Kunichiyo together with Azumi. Thinking that Kunichiyo is offeding her, he gets angry, but he is soon calmed down. Then, he is made cover his eyes by Azumi on Kunichiyo orders...but he peeps through a gap and, seeing him touching her, he makes him fly away. Back from the castle, Azumi tells him to wait with Kanta and the others, but after some time he searches for her. Soon after he is taken to the castle with Azumi. Takenobu wants to know the extent of his ability making him fight against Bakin. He is basically suspected for Tōji's and Jinza's men murders. Azumi tries to make him understand he must fight Bakin, but after a brief exchange with him he tries to open a path for Azumi to escape, but he does not know what to do anymore when he sees that she has no intention to follow him. Then he tries to go after Takenobu but Bakin stops him. Takenobu lets him go, but puts three men at their house to watch them. At night, Chiyozō sneaks out and Azumi finds him near the corpses of those men. The next day Chiyozō is punt in jail, being suspected of their murder. His charges are cleared when a group of black dressed men kill the other guards and Kanta and the others testify. The same day he starts to live at Bakin's house. One day he and Azumi are summoned by Takenobu. He is made to wait in a separate room, and he is drugged by Sayo. We see him then drinking while Azumi and Takenobu speak about a method to resolve the matter at hand. Then while coming back the next day, he kills in an istant two of the three men who assaulted him and Azumi. When Azumi is asked by Sadamaro to sepeak with her alone, he follows her, but he is asked to wait outside after Azumi suspect that he will try to kill her and she could not fight at her best if she had to protect him too. He waits outside for some moments, but then, maybe feeling that she is in danger, he enters the room just when Sadamaro was starting to talk. He survives the attack by crushing against the man on his right and then kills some of the others. Azumi stops him. During the castle attack he helps Azumi by killing many small fries and defends the spot where Kanta and the others are hiding. He then follows Azumi to the temple where Kyōgoku is staying and helps her in the search. After the matter is settled, he fears that Azumi will go away remaining in that fief with Takenobu, but Azumi decides differently. He returns with Tenkai and Azumi and stays with her. After Azumi is invited by Oeyo to a banquet, he is granted permission to go with her as her escort even though he is a man and the temple is a convent. On the way to the Man'yūji, Chiyozō sees Azumi liking the flowers so she piks some irises for her. Then, thinking that she could like other flowers he sees, he goes to pluck them but as soon as he leaves Azumi's side they are ambushed. He realises what is going on later than Azumi, who can't steal a sword due to them being very well wrapped in the opponents' hands. Sessing that Azumi is in danger by fighting just with her dagger, Chiyozō runs towards her and throws her his sword. Unarmed he can only be cut multiple times, and some moments later, dies in Azumi's arms.

CHŌSHŪ DOMAIN (長州藩): it was a feudal domain of Japan during the Edo period. It occupied the whole of modern-day Yamaguchi Prefecture (山口県). The capital city was Hagi. The name Chōshū was shorthand for Nagato Province (長門国). The domain played a major role in the Late Tokugawa shogunate. It is also known as the Hagi Domain (萩藩). The rulers of Chōshū Han were the descendants of the great Sengoku warlord Mōri Motonari. Mōri Motonari was able to extend his power over all of the Chūgoku region of Japan and occupied a territory worth 1,200,000 koku. After he died, his grandson and heir Mōri Terumoto became daimyō and implemented a strategy of alliance with Toyotomi Hideyoshi. This would later prove to be a great mistake. After Hideyoshi's death, the daimyō Tokugawa Ieyasu challenged the Toyotomi power and battled with Hideyoshi's trusted advisor Ishida Mitsunari at the Battle of Sekigahara. Mōri Terumoto was the most powerful ally of the Toyotomi and was elected by a council of Toyotomi royalists to be the titulary head of the Toyotomi force. However the Toyotomi forces lost the battle due to several factors tied to Mōri Terumoto: 1) His cousin Kikkawa Hiroie (吉川広家) secretly made a deal with Tokugawa Ieyasu resulting in the inactivity of 15,000 Mōri soldiers during the battle; 2) His adopted cousin Kobayakawa Hideaki (小早川秀秋) and his 15,600 soldiers betrayed Ishida's force and joined the Tokugawa side; 3) After assurances from Tokugawa Ieyasu, Mōri Terumoto gave up the formidable Ōsaka castle without a fight. Despite its inactivity, the Mōri clan was removed from its ancestral home in Aki to Nagato Province (also known as Chōshū), and its holdings were drastically reduced from 1,200,000 to 369,000 koku. This was seen as a great act of betrayal to the Mōri clan, and Chōshū han later became a hotbed of anti-Tokugawa activities. The origins of this were evident in the tradition of the clan's New Year's meeting. Every year during the meeting, the elders and the administrators would ask the daimyō whether the time to overthrow the shogunate has come, to which the daimyō would reply: "Not yet, the shogunate is still too powerful." This dream would eventually be realized some 260 years later, when the domain joined forces with the Satsuma Domain and sympathetic court nobles to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. They also led the fight against the armies of the former shōgun, which included the Ōetsu Reppan Dōmei (奥羽越列藩同盟, the alliance of Muttsu, Dewa and Echigo domains), Aizu (会津), and the Ezo Republic (蝦夷共和国), during the Boshin War (戊辰戦争1868-1869). The domains' military forces of 1867 through 1869 also formed the foundation for the Imperial Japanese Army. Thanks to this alliance, Chōshū and Satsuma natives enjoyed political and societal prominence well into the Meiji and even Taishō periods. See wikipedia for economics, politics, a list of daimyō and other important people.

D

DAIGANJI (大願寺): the “temple of the Buddha's great vow” is located at Miyajimachō, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture. This old temple is said to have been founded in 1201 - 1203 by Ryoukai, a Buddhist monk who belonged to the Mt. Kōya sect of the Shingon sect, and was in charge of repairing and building Itsukushima Shrine. It contains many important cultural properties and archives. In addition, a Sarasvati (Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, arts and science, known as Benzaiten in Japan) is enshrined in the temple and is known to be one of the three major Sarasvatis in Japan.

DAIMYŌ (大名): a word formed with a fusion of the characters for “large” and “private land”. Daimyō were the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate only to the shōgun, daimyō were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. The term "daimyō" is also sometimes used to refer to the leading figures of such clans, also called "lord". It was usually, though not exclusively, from these warlords that a shogun arose or a regent was chosen. Daimyō often hired samurai to guard their land and they paid the samurai in land or food. Relatively few daimyō could afford to pay samurai in money. The daimyō era came to an end soon after the Meiji restoration when Japan adopted the prefecture system in 1871.

DANGO (団子): a Japanese dumpling and sweets made from mochiko (rice flour), related to mochi. It is often served with green tea. Dango is eaten year-round, but the different varieties are traditionally eaten in given seasons. Three to four dango are often served on a skewer. See wikipedia for the diferent types of dango.

DANPEI (段平): the boss of a gang from the Fūma clan. To make a living he raided houses and stole valuables. Among the houses there was the one where Akane lived. He made his men kill everyone. Years later he established with his men in the same post town where Akane was sold. Being the most beautiful she had sex many times with the men who killed her family, even the boss. After Shioji informs him about Azumi and she leaves, one of his men recognizes her in the mute samurai working at Akane's place. Danpei devises a plan to kill Azumi. In the meanwhile he tries to have sex with Iku, but because his thing is too big he ends up hurting her. He makes his men take Akane and Iku as hostages to lure Azumi out. To really convince her, he cuts one of her hands and sends it to her. In the end, Azumi saves her friends and kills everyone else.

DARUMA OTOSHI (達磨落し): it is a traditional game played with a daruma doll in five pieces, usually in the colors of the rainbow, from top to bottom: head - a man's face, blue, green, yellow, red. The game is played by using a small hammer to hit each of the colored pieces, from bottom to the top, without letting the pieces fall during the game.

DATE MASAMUNE (伊達政宗, September 5, 1567 – June 27, 1636): he was a regional strongman of Japan's Azuchi-Momoyama period through early Edo period. Heir to a long line of powerful daimyō in the Tōhoku region, he went on to found the modern-day city of Sendai. An outstanding tactician, he was made all the more iconic for his missing eye, and Date was often called dokuganryū (独眼竜), or the "one-eyed dragon". Date Masamune was the eldest son of Date Terumune, born in Yonezawa Castle (in modern Yamagata Prefecture). At the age of 14 in 1581 Masamune led his first campaign, helping his father fight the Sōma family. In 1584, at the age of 17, Masamune succeeded his father, Terumune, who chose to retire from his position as daimyō. The Date family was founded in the early Kamakura period by Isa Tomomune, who originally came from the Isa district of Hitachi Province (now Ibaraki Prefecture). The family took its name from the Date district (now Fukushima Prefecture) of Mutsu Province, which had been awarded to Isa Tomomune by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first Kamakura shōgun, for his assistance in the Genpei War (1180–85) and in Minamoto no Yoritomo’s struggle for power with his brother, Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Masamune's army was recognized by its black armor and golden headgear. See wikipedia for more information. In Azumi, it seems he is the main ringleader of an intrigue to capsize Hidetada's shogunate. Through numeorus secret messages he tries to gather to a temple ten shinobi chiefs (but two have already been killed by Azumi and her group) and two former chief retainers to work with him for a common goal. He reaches the temple alone, with just Abe Kurando escorting him. He has no proof to show to his new comrades that he is the real Date, so he asks them to make a gamble. He is very pleased by Musashi visit and has a whole mountain of questions for him about his fights. After Azumi kills the group who assaulted her inn, Date want to abandon the plan, but Kōsaka's words make him change his mind again. After some losses among his comrades he asks Musashi if he wants to be hired not only as a fencing instructor but also as a tactician and he agrees. After Katagiri's death, thinking about the entire situation, he comes to the conclusion that Azumi must be killed immediately. He goes along with Kurando plan to have him escorted by Musashi while he and the others kill Azumi luring her with a substitute of him. After Azumi kills everyone, a monk runs to inform him and he starts his last plan. Leaving Musashi behind, he runs to a hot spring on a horse, where Azumi reaches him there after she is informed by another monk. He has a long talk with her and then he commits seppuku, with Azumi as his assistant.

DOBASHI MATAGORŌ (土橋又五郎): one of the Yagyū men sent from Tenkai to kill Grampa. He fights Azumi, has his left leg cut and commits suicide.

- DONO (殿): a suffix respectfully used for generals or very important persons.

DOI TOSHIKATSU (土井利勝, April 19, 1573 – August 12, 1644): he was a top-ranking official in Japan's Tokugawa shogunate during its early decades, and one of the chief advisors to the second Tokugawa shogun, Hidetada. The adopted son of Doi Toshimasa, Toshikatsu is generally believed to be the biological son of Mizuno Nobutomo, though there are some who claim he was an illegitimate son of shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. He served the shogunate as advisor to shogun Tokugawa Hidetada for many years, and played an important role in communicating and overseeing the enforcement of shogunal policy across the country; Doi also helped effect trade and diplomatic relations between Japan and the Thai Kingdom of Ayutthaya. He lost much of his influence and power upon Hidetada's death in 1632. Six years later, however, Doi became one of the first to be appointed to the newly created post of Tairō (Great Elder), and was made daimyō (feudal lord) of Koga Domain (古河藩) in Shimōsa Province (下総国), with a revenue of 160,000 koku.

DŌJŌYABURI (道場破り): challenging another dōjō and defeating all of its members.

DORONUE (泥鵺, “mud chimera”): a “peculiar” assassin on a mission to kill Azumi. He stalks Azumi, observing her at night and during day. She is his prey. After Azumi fights the hatamotos who came to invade Nishida's temple, she goes to the river to clean off the dirt and there, Doronue strikes. After a brief combat underwater he takes the passed out Azumi on the river bank but then she regains her senses and, incredibly, he decides to leave and postpone the combat. After Azumi fight with Yae, he takes the chance to hide her equipments and tries to kill her, but Nishida interferes. Doronue retreats briefly, just to circle back Nishida and to throw a knife at his back, killing him. He gets Azumi to spare his life, but then he is pierced with a katana in his back by her

for having immediately broken his promise. He does not die on the spot and he sees Azumi's following fight. When Tobizaru takes her away, he follows them but he dies not too much after.

DŌZAN (道三): one of the monk attendants working with Azumi and her group. He is one of the only two monks there who knows what face Date has.

DOZŌ (土蔵): one of the two elite assassins who Mōzō sends after Azumi by Munenori's order. He kills two of Kinkaku's men, wounding Ginkaku too. Together with Kazō he attacks the family of farmers where Azumi and Kiku are staying. Before he engages a fight with Azumi, he throws one of his exploding arrows at the shack where she hid the children, enraging her and triggering her fury. He is killed by Azumi some moments later.

E

EBOSHI (烏帽子): a noble's court headgear.

ECHIZEN (越前国): Echizen Province was an old province of Japan, which is today the northern part of Fukui Prefecture. It was sometimes called Esshū (越州), with Etchū and Echigo Provinces. Echizen is famous for washi (traditionally-produced paper). A text dated AD 774 mentions the washi made in this area. Echizen-produced washi is still the most commonly sold traditional paper in Japan today. Echizen is also well known for its ceramics. It is one of the so-called six old kiln sites of Japan (the others being Shigaraki, Bizen, Seto, Tanba, and Tokoname) and as such it is highly revered in the Japanese and international ceramics community. The ancient capital is believed to have been in Echizen, but by the Sengoku Period the province was divided among many fiefs. One of the most popular historical figures from Echizen has been Shibata Katsuie, who lived in Kitanosho Castle. In the Edo Period the daimyō of Fukui Domain maintained the seat in Fukui city. See wikipedia for more information.

EDO (江戸): literally "bay-entrance" or "estuary", also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tōkyō. It was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868. During this period it grew to become one of the largest cities in the world and home to an urban culture centered on the notion of a "floating world". See wikipedia for more information.

EDO YAGYŪ (江戸柳生): see Yagyū Shinkageryū.

F

FUKUICHIYA (福一屋): the name of the inn where Bishamonten and his men lodged briefly and where Kiku and Okō-san are held as hostages.

FUKUSHIMA MASANORI (福島正則1560 – August 26, 1624): he was a Japanese daimyō of the late Sengoku Period to early Edo Period who served as lord of the Hiroshima Domain. A retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, he fought in the battle of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳の戦い) in 1583, and soon became known as one of Seven Spears of Shizugatake (賤ヶ岳の七本槍) which also included Katō Kiyomasa and others. Fukushima Masanori, or as he was first known, Ichimatsu, was born in Owari Province (尾張国), the son of Fukushima Masanobu. He is believed to have been the cousin of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He first engaged in battle at the assault on Miki Castle (a siege lasted from 1578 to 1580 ) in Harima Province (播磨国), and following the battle of Yamazaki (山崎の戦い), he was granted a 500 koku stipend. At the battle of Shizugatake, Masanori had the honor of taking the first head, namely that of the enemy general Ogasato Ieyoshi, receiving a 5000 koku increase in his stipend for this distinction (the other six "Spears" each received 3000 koku). Masanori took part in many of Hideyoshi's campaigns; it was after the Kyūshū Expedition, however, that he was made a daimyō. Receiving the fief of Imabari (今治) in Iyo Province (伊予国), his income was rated at 110,000 koku. Soon after, he took part in the Korean Campaign (1592 - 98). Masanori was to once again receive distinction when he took Ch'ongju. Following his involvement in the Korean campaign, Masanori was involved in the pursuit of Toyotomi Hidetsugu (豊臣秀次, 1568 – July 15, 1595 ). He led 10,000 men in 1595, surrounded Seiganji temple on Mount Kōya, and waited until Hidetsugu had committed suicide. With Hidetsugu dead, Masanori received a 90,000 koku increase in stipend, and received Hidetsugu's former fief of Kiyosu, in Owari Province as well. Masanori sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara, and thus ensured the survival of his domain. Although he later lost his holdings, his descendants became hatamoto in the service of the Tokugawa shōgun.n “Azumi”, Masanori who had been in Edo for a very long time has finally been approved to return back to his domain. He strongly asked for escorting Iemitsu and Tadanaga to Kai, on his way home. Three of his retainers have already arrived and are in one of Makita's mansions. As soon as he arrives, he wants to meet Azumi immediately. He goes to the temple where she moved with his men and they have a talk. Masanori wants her by his side, no matter what. At a meeting with Tadanaga he sees Kyōgoku for the first time, but Konchiin had already mentioned him. He suports Konchiin plan to split the country in two with Tadanaga as shōgun of the west part at Ōsaka. He asks Azumi again to join him to create a more suitable peace, free from the dispotic Tokugawa rule. During a banquet to watch the moon, Fukushima, drunk, performs a dance with a spear, captivating everyone's attention and giving Tadanaga the opportunity to put poison in Iemitsu's sake cup. The next day Fukushima invites Azumi over in the morning, but she has to go visit Iemitsu. Fukushima now is busy and asks her to join him for dinner and to stay over. When Azumi arrives, Fukushima, completely drunk, grabs her and wants to dance with her. He also tell her that he will not let her go home that night...but he is so drunk that falls asleep. Fukushima asks Makita to let him stay for a few days at Tsutsujigasaki Mansion and convince him to hold a big farewell banquet, because he will return to Aki and leave Iemitsu and Tadanaga there. He is convinced that Kyōgoku will come with envoys from Yoshinao and Yorinobu and that the country will be split in two parts with Tadanaga as the west shōgun. He does not know that the envoys are fakes, and Kyōgoku's men, who will kill all the presents, after Kyōgoku and Tadanaga have slipped out. Fukushima and his men will be accused of Iemitsu's death. The day after he fall asleep with Makita, he goes to apologise to Azumi and asks again to come serve under him but he is turned down once again. He wants to know her reasons but suddenly Zunta barges in disturbing their meeting, and even slapping him five times. He is so enraged...The next day Fukushima goes to Azumi to request her presence at a banquet on the next evening at Tsutsujigasaki mansion. Iemitsu wants her there. While at Azumi's place, Otaccha serves him some sake and he really likes it, but it is already over. He is really happy to know that Otaccha will bring more at the banquet the next day. Fukushima entertains Tadanaga and iemitsu at Tsutsujigasaki mansion, but Iemitsu feels bad and is put to bed. In the mean time, Kyōgoku and Tadanaga sneak outside the mansion in secret. Munenori convinces Makita of a cospiration going on at the mansion and the gates are manned. Fukushima's men search for the two missing persons but can not found them. While peeking outside they notice many men. They think Kyōgoku has schemed something. Fukushima wants a spear to fight with, while his men siggest him to hide with Iemitsu. He does so, and he sees Kadokura and Yamazaki being killed. Before Yasuhara becomes the next victim, Fukushima suddenly comes out from hiding , ready to fight Kuchiki. Some moments later, Azumi arrives.

FUNDOSHI (褌): is the traditional Japanese undergarment for adult males, made from a length of cotton. Before World War II, the fundoshi was the main form of underwear for Japanese adult males. However it fell out of use quickly after the war with the introduction of new underwear to the Japanese market, such as briefs and trunks. Nowadays, the fundoshi is mainly used not as underwear but as festival (matsuri) clothing at Hadaka Matsuri or, sometimes, as swimwear. There are several types of fundoshi, including rokushaku, kuroneko, mokko and etchū. The rokushaku fundoshi is a length of cloth, the dimensions being one shaku (34 cm / 14 inches) wide and six shaku (2.3 m / 92 to 96 inches) long; roku is Japanese for six, hence roku-shaku. The fundoshi is often twisted to create a thong effect at the back. Etchū fundoshi is also a length of cloth, however it has a strip of material at the waist to form a fastening or string. The dimensions are 14 inches width by about 40 inches length, and it is tied with the material strip in front of the body. Etchū fundoshi was the form of fundoshi most popular among Japanese adult males as underwear from early 1900s to the end of World War II. See wikipedia for the rest.

FUNZURI (糞ずり): a boor living alone in a house in the forest. “Funzuri” is his nickname, from “fun”, feces, and “suri”, stamped/printed and seeing how filthy his fundoshi is, you can only agree. Koyama drew it taking inspiration from a character (Risuke) labeled “Kusare” (rot) portraited by Hidari Tonpei (左とん平) in the 1983 movie The Ballad of Narayama (楢山節考, Narayama bushikō) directed by Imamura Shōhei (今村昌平). While wandering aimlessly, Man finds his house and asks him to take her to the nearest Tendai sect temple. He agrees but only if she lets him do her. She refuses, then they agree to just touch her breasts. He brings her near a temple, but if it is a Tendai one or not he does not know. Man says that it is not what they had agreed upon, so she will not let him touch her breasts, only see them. Funzuri can not stand just seeing them and tries to touch them, but Man punishes him again. After that she leaves, with Funzuri full of regret for not having been able to have sex with her.

FUSHIMI (伏見): one of the eleven ward of Kyōto. Site of the Fushimi Inari Shrine, the Teradaya Inn, the Gokōgu shrine and Fushimi Castle, originally built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

FUTON (布団): it is a traditional Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day, allowing the room to serve for purposes other than as a bedroom. The bedding set referred to as futon in Japan fundamentally consists of a shikibuton (敷き布団 bottom mattress) and akakebuton (掛け布団 thick quilted bedcover). The word futon is an English loanword derived from Japanese futon (布団or 蒲団). It is Sino-Japanese, originally meaning 'round cushions filled with cattail flower spikes'; it is derived from Chinese fu or pu (蒲 cattail) + ton or tuan (団round). A futon is a flat mattress with a fabric exterior stuffed with cotton, wool, or synthetic batting that makes up a Japanese bed. Futons are sold in Japan at speciality stores called futon'ya as well as at department stores. They are often sold in sets that include the futon mattress (shikibuton), a comforter (kakebuton) or blanket (毛布mōfu), a summer blanket resembling a large towel (タオルケットtaoruketto), and a pillow (枕makura) generally filled with beans, buckwheat chaff, or plastic beads. Futons are designed to be placed on tatami flooring, and are traditionally folded away and stored in a closet during the day to allow the tatami to breathe and to allow for flexibility in the use of the room. Futons must be aired in sunlight regularly, especially if not put away during the day. In addition, many Japanese beat their futons regularly to prevent the padding from matting. They use a futon tataki (布団叩き), a special instrument, traditionally made from bamboo, resembling a Western carpet beater.

FŪMA KOTARŌ (風魔小太郎): it was the name adopted by the leader of the ninja Fūma clan (風魔一党Fūmaittō) during the Sengoku era of Japan. According to some records, his name was originally Kazama (風間). The clan was based in Kanagawa Prefecture, specializing in horseback guerrilla warfare and naval espionage. According to some sources, the family has roots in the 10th century when they served Taira no Masakado (平将門) in his revolt against the Kyōto government. The use of the name started with the first leader (jōnin) of the clan: originally surnamed 風間 (Fūma), with a different kanji, it was later changed to homophone風魔. Each subsequent leader of the school adopted the same name as its founder, making it difficult to identify them individually. This school was in the service of the Hōjō clan (北条氏) of Odawara (小田原). Fūma Kotarō was the fifth and the best known of the Fūma clan leaders. Born in Sagami Province (相模国, modern Kanagawa Prefecture) on an unknown date, he became notorious as the leader of a band of 200 Rappa "battle disrupters" (乱破), divided into four groups: brigands, pirates, burglars and thieves. Kotarō served under Hōjō Ujimasa (北条氏政, 1538 – August 10, 1590) and Hōjō Ujinao (北条氏直, 1562 – December 19, 1591). His biggest achievement came in 1580, when the Fūma ninja covertly infiltrated and attacked a camp of the Takeda clan forces under Takeda Katsuyori (武田勝頼, 1546 – 3 April 1582) at night, succeeding in causing severe chaos in the camp, which resulted in mass fratricide among the disoriented enemies. In 1590, Toyotomi Hideyoshi laid siege to Odawara Castle, which eventually fell, and the Hōjō clan was forced to surrender. When the Tokugawa shogunate came to power, the remnants of Fūmaryū were reduced to a band of brigands operating in and around Edo. A popular story says that in 1596, Kotarō was responsible for the death of Hattori Hanzō, a famous ninja in the service of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who had tracked him down in the Inland Sea, but Kotarō has succeeded in luring him into a small channel, where a tide trapped the Tokugawa gunboats and his men then set fire to the channel with oil. Kotarō was eventually caught by the shogunate's special law-enforcement force, guided by his rival and a former Takeda ninja Kōsaka Jinnai (高坂甚内), and executed through beheading by an order of Ieyasu in 1603. In a folk legend, he is an inhuman figure: a monstrous giant (216 cm tall), supposedly part-oni (ogre) with inverted eyes. In various works of fiction, Fūma Kotarō is often depicted as Hattori Hanzō's arch-rival. As the name Fūma literally means "wind demon", Fūma Kotarō's depiction is frequently more flamboyant, fantastical, and sometimes even demonic; in contrast is Hanzō, who is usually rendered with a relatively subdued appearance. In “Azumi” he has a daughter called Shioji who is currently the head of the clan and is tasked by Konchiin to locate Azumi, with the “help” of Kyōgoku.

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GACCHI (がっち): a little boy who steals rice from Azumi and her comrades house for his little sister and his father, who broke a leg on the mountains and cannot move. Thinking there was no one at home he is caught red-handed by Azumi, with whom becomes friends. He manages to escape two men from the Rasetsugarasu group thanks to the sacrifice of one of the castle samurais who guarded Matsuchiyo. When he reaches home he finds that everyone is dead, his father too, but his sister survived hidden in the closet behind the futon thanks to Matsuchiyo's advice. He decided to ask Azumi to get revenge for him remembering Tobizaru's words. He said that Azumi could be able to kill them all. Gacchi sends his sister to Saiganji, searches for Azumi but cannot find her. He suspects she is gone to visit Shizune on the other side of the valley and decides to cross on the dangerous log. He manages to cross and finds Azumi kept prisoner by Shizune and Tadane. When the two leave for Kazunogahara, he frees her and she accepts his vengeance request. They go to the temple to meet his sister and then they had together to the showdown place Azumi wrote in the letter of challenge to the Rasetsugarasu. After the vengeance is done, she goes to the temple and asks the high priest to took the two in and then, after giving them two of her tops, she says farewell. After everything is settled in the snow country, Gacchi sees Azumi get beaten up with snow balls by the villagers to punish her for having killed Shizune, and after taking away his sister who went to shield Azumi, although broken hearted, he hits her too with snow balls going along with the flow and with what Azumi told him before leaving, so to not be targeted by the other villagers in the future.

GANRYŪJIMA (巌流島, formally Funajima 船島): is an island in Japan located between Honshū and Kyūshū, and accessible via ferry from Shimonoseki Harbor (下関港). It is famous for the duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō. The small island was named for its boat-like appearance, and later became to be called the Ganryū kenjutsu school Kojirō had founded. On the island are a few monuments as well as facilities for public gatherings such as an annual tug-of-war. Along the west coast is a walking path, while the other side remains fenced off.

GARI (ガリ): one of Kanta's friends, the one with the shaved head, big eyebrows and two teeth. He is taken hostage by one of the man dressed in black but he is released...by being thrown back at Azumi. Still, he is all in one piece. With his friends he starts living inside the castle, an easier place for being protected. Due to some samurais'son bullies they decide to hide in the space under the floors, not knowing that the enemies would have used that to approach their targets. They find themselves in danger but are saved by Bakin. They then decide to hide inside the castle tower but they are found again and in danger. Chiyozō saves them. Gari is quite pissed by On non-stop crying because Azumi and Chiyozō are leaving forever, but he cries the last time he sees them too.

GENBU (玄武): the Black Tortoise, the god said to rule over the northern heavens. The Black Tortoise or Black Turtle is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. Despite its English name, it is usually depicted as a turtle entwined together with a snake. Further, in East Asia, it is not called after either animal but is instead known as the "Black Warrior" under various local pronunciations. It represents the north and the winter season. The creature's name is identical to that of the important Taoist god Xuan Wu, who is sometimes (as in Journey to the West) portrayed in the company of a turtle and snake. See wikipedia for more information.

GENTA (玄太): a little child who escapes from his Master and meets Azumi and Kiku. He is a little street performer. He shows a trick to Azumi and in that way he buys her meal. He then leaves, but in the middle of the night Azumi finds him crying because no one stopped to watch his tricks alone and so he can not earn money to live. He is taken in by the persons of many talents and travels with them, by following or preceeding Azumi. Genta is an assassin too, working for the same boss as Kiku, towards whom he harbors a great competitive spirit. It is his first job and Azumi has a soft spot for children...After Kiku leaves his boss, Genta comes out from hiding. After talking with the boss, he goes back and interrupts Azumi and Shunjirō who were talking and he asks her to travel with her. His fleeing speed it is his proud, so even if someone attacks, he can run away immediately.

At a spa, Azumi, Kiku and Genta meet Sakon again. Genta fails to realize he is an assassin...Then, Azumi asks him to shield her naked body from Sakon's view until she comes out from the bath. After, Genta follows Azumi with Kiku outside the post town. On their way, a stranger asks them for help because his master is in pain at the river bed. In that moment, Shunjirō comes running to them saying that since Azumi was there she could have dropped by. He brought them three padded kimono. He follows them down to the river bed and examines the man in pain. He studied medicine too and seriously tries to find where the man hurts. Azumi thinks about what that man told her, about Shunjirō's situation, what he is doing and suddenly is attacked by the man who brought them there and the one who was faking ill. Azumi kills both of them. The second one, with his belly slashed, makes Shunjirō imagine his family commiting seppuku and starts crying. He thinks he is a fool and that his actions of rejecting the sword and killings only brought him misery, while Azumi thinks his ideas are not wrong. Who really is wrong is that feudal Lord who cowardly tried to killed them. While alone, Genta thinks about how to make Azumi let her guard down and shoot her on a leg with a poisoned dart. While sheltering from the rain, Genta tries to hit Azumi from behind with a small pebble, but she dodges it and he is completely astonished. It will be hard to hit her with his poisoned dart. After Azumi accepts Shinsuke and Jōjirō challenge he fears that, being Yagyūs, they could be too strong and take away from him the great deed, so, when Azumi goes towards them to fight, he runs to her, lifts a side of her mantle and shoots his dart on one of her thighs, hitting her. Azumi fights poisoned, by Sakon saves her. After he helps Azumi, Genta is made unconscious by him.

GETSUAN-OSHŌ (月庵和尚): a High Priest in charge of a buddhist temple. He says he is not as perverted as rumor goes by...Faking feeling bad, he gets Azumi to carry him to his temple. He manages to win over Azumi and Kiku's confidence to have them stay there for a while, doing house chores. He is very happy of Azumi and Kiku's help. At night he lives up to the rumors trying to peep in the bath while Azumi is in but his attempt is countered. Getsuan gives shelter to Azumi and the persons of many talents when they come back in a hurry from the castle seeking refuge from the guards who want to kill the all. He is very sad to see Azumi and Kiku go away.

-GIMI (君): a respectful suffix used by nobles attached to close family relationship nouns such as “mother”, “sister” and “princess” (the daughter of a noble family). It can also indicate familiarity between friends. Kanbee always addresses Hideyori with “sama” in public, or “dono”, but when talking together with him in private, since they've been long time friends, he uses “gimi”.

GINKAKU (銀角): “silver horn”. Kinkaku's younger brother. He is an outlaw like him. His name is derived from one of two demon king brothers appearing in the chinese novel Xī Yóu Jì (Journey to the West / Saiyūki). He dresses in a gaudy female kimono and he is the number two of a group of outlaws. He takes what he wants with force, but he seems to restrain himself a little bit more than Kinkaku, also having more common sense than him. He looks amazed at Azumi's killing the assassassins in the post town. With Kinkaku and the other two comrades they try to follow her but he gets almost killed by an exploding arrow from Dozō because they tried to block their way while running on horses. With Kinkaku and other rōnin he arrives where Karasuma Tenzan lives. He meets again Azumi who was being taken by Shunjirō to meet Karasuma. Kinkaku wants to have finally his way with her but Shunjirō is determined to save her. Kinkaku duels with Shunjirō but Azumi makes him lose consciousness and avoids his blow, but this gives Kinkaku the chance to grab her. Ginkaku first tries to help Kinkaku but when Azumi points a kunai to Kinkaku's throat he stops. They then retire, giving Azumi the victory, for this time. From Tenzan, Azumi and Shunjirō knows that Kinkaku and Ginkaku came to that land, became quickly the local rōnin bosses and went to him to ask for informations about guards and security because they want to go west. The same day, he and all the rōnin are invited by the Lord to the castle for a bujutsu tournament to select some men to be employed, and they go. They are walking into a trap by the local Lord to have them all killed together with the persons of many talents. They manage to flee by taking some hostages and arrive at Getsuan's temple.They are left there in charge by Azumi, but first they tie the hostages with ropes to the outside of the temple to use them as shields for bullets and arrows. They start a very hard battle and Ginkaku is pierced with spears in the process, dying there.

GOHEI (吾平): On should deliver the botamochi at his house.

GOJŌ-ŌHASHI (五条大橋): a very long and big bridge in Kyōto. It was originally located at Gojōbōmondōri, today Matsubaradōri. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, though, moved it to its present location when he built the Hōkō temple. The bridge is very famous for the legendary battle between Saitō Musashibō Benkei and Ushiwaka (Minamoto no Yoshitsune).

GON (権): he could be Ino and his brother's grandfather or simply the elder of their shinobi village.

GOROBEE (五郎兵衛): a sake brewer at Otaccha's village. His sake is really popular. He is even appreciated by Fukushima Masanori.

GONZA (権左): one of the soldiers Munenori pays among many. He came with more than thirty men on Munenori's orders thinking to fight Azumi, but instead it seems that Munenori fears a battle against a large army of warrior monks from Tenkai more than her.

GOSAKU (吾作): one of Takuzen old students who wanted to become a high-ranking samurai. When Azumi and the others arrive, he is having class with him and another boy, Taiichi, but it is all in his head, Takuzen is talking alone.

GŌRA (強羅): one of three skilled men summoned by Sadamaro in the western fief. He seems to be the original trainer of the Genbu group. He almost skewers Sayo, eavesdropping under the floor, with his blade, but Kunichiyo stops him. During the attack to the castle he wants to go on a rampage in the more spacious mansions instead than inside the narrow castle tower, so he goes on his way and finds Jōzan who is giving a lot of troubles to his men. He fights and kills him with the help of one of his men, and then he is easily killed by Azumi.

GŌZAN (豪山, “great mountain”): a big man who rides Mon, his big horse. He served Obata Gessai for six years, from when he was twelve to eighteen. Then Gessai retired deep in the mountains to raise Azumi and the others. Tenkai asked Gōzan to accompany Azumi safely to Kai, to the place where Gessai was born. His travel has a great obstacle called Man, the only daughter of a dōjō owner of which he beated all of its best disciples. Man has decided to marry him to have a strong new dōjō owner and a strong descendant. After having been asked to sleep with her and had his fun, he ran away. Now Man wants to bring him back no matter what, but Gōzan is so happy that he can finally repay even a small part of all the debts of gratitude he had with Gessai that he wants to accompany Azumi to Kai at all costs. While spending the night at a temple, he drives away Kichiza who had intruded in. The next day Azumi makes him promise that he will not protect her but focus on his and the others' incolumit. He accepts, but also tells her tha she has become his reason to live. Man hears just this part of the entire conversation and misunderstands, but Shibatayama makes her reason. While traveling, Gōzan is too happy and Man misunderstands again, being so jealous of how he acts around Azumi, so she flees away. Azumi tries to follow her, but Mon does not run with her on him. He does not even budge while Gōzan is riding him, so he asks Kawata and Shibatayama to run after her. During a sudden rain shower he is outside near Mon, thinking about how he could do to protect him in case the enemy shot at him. From the forest nearby, Kichiza shoots at him a heavily poisoned arrowed and Gōzan, instead of dodging and let Mon be hit, shields him with his arm. He takes away immediately the poisoned dart and throws a rock at Kichiza who retires. He then sucks out the poison the best he can. It seems that the poison had no effect, but later, when he is walking, something seems off. While resting at the only Tendai sect temple nearby, waiting for the enemy to contact them regarding Man, Azumi finds out that Gōzan has a fever, due to the small amount of poison that entered in his arm. He is put to bed, but he asks Shibatayama to keep watching Azumi at night, because she is planning to get away alone. If that happens, he and Kawata should try to stop her at all costs. The day after they start walking again on the highway. Azumi will walk very far from the group. When Mon tries to follow her, Gōzan stops him. He has to protect Man and the others at his best, like he promised Azumi. But he has also the mission, ordered by Tenkai, to protect Azumi, never leaving her alone. He decides to make a bet. If, when ordered to run, Mon will not do it, Gōzan will keep walking normally with them, but if Mon runs, he will catch up to Azumi. Mon runs and along the way Gōzan spots Shioji's men armed with bows and arrows walking somewhere. He sees how the situation is and alone takes out the enitre archers squad only using tonfas. When they arrive in Kai, he and the others are treated badly by the men who welcome them, aside from Azumi. She then tells a lie saying that he is the second son of an important hatamoto among the cabinet officials. The next day he with Azumi and Man goes to the nearby village, where Gessai was raised. It is an area where he often played around, even considering that his village is the one next to this. He did many pranks when he was a brat, and his name back then was Yohei. It was Gessai who gave him his current name. After playing a lot at Otaccha place, Man would like to go visit Gōzan's village, but he say that even if they went there he does not have a home or family anymore. He is craving so much for eating mochis that he manages to convince the women who cook for them to buy the needed rice. After that he is seduced one again by Man, but he is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Kawata and Shibatayama. After he tries to follow Azumi, but Mon refuses again to run. He ends up hitting him and the horse sulks so much that he does not even look at his face anymore. When he arrives, Azumi has already taken care of everything. He really regrets not being able to do his job properly. Usually he can never follow her when she is asked to meet with important people, but one day, finally, he is permitted to tag alone. He is so happy to have met Fukushima and Iemitsu, but when he and Azumi return home find that Man has been kidnapped and this time he regrets not having stayed behind to protect her and the others like he had promised Azumi. He is so depressed that he does not go to play with Mon for a lot of time, so much that his horse loudly complains about it. Finally, in the middle of the night, Gōzan makes up his mind towards Man: no matter what they will do to her, he will become her husband and inherit her dōjō too. Azumi approves. After Tatsunojō memorise the route to the temple he decides to go with his as a guide to save Man. He convinces Azumi to stay there. After Shibatayama takes him to the temple he convinces him to go back. He then tries to break the wall of the room where Man is tieing a rope to it and Mon, but Mon refuses to pull. The enemies notice that a horse is in the back yard and starts attacking Gōzan who desperately tries to protect Mon who, when grazed by a sword, suddenly rushes away destroying the wall. Gōzan successfully runs away with Man, riding Mon. Returned to their temple, he finds out that Man is already pregnant from the first time they met. After Azumi comes back due to Kyōgoku's trick and he knows that Otatsu is in danger inside the mansion he convinces Tobizaru to stay there and let him go to perform his duty to protect Azumi and help Otatsu. Mon refuses to run and so he borrows a different horse. When he arrives he notices the rifle squad ready to shoot Azumi, Kuchiki and the others. After Azumi ends her duel and the men prepare to shoot he comes out and defeats many of them, only to be shot multiple times before Azumi gives him a hand killing most of the remaining men. Gōzan has finally performed his duty but at the price of his life.

GRAMPA (爺): a mysterious old man who picked up ten children with his discerning eyes and raised them up while training them to make them into powerful warriors. He gives them a trial to overcome: killing their most fond comrade in a duel to gain the ability to go on missions in the outside world. He is a good fighter, and a very tough one, receiving many serious wounds during the mission and always surviving in a way or another. He is not only a severe teacher, but even a caring man. He spoiled Azumi a lot. He made a kokeshi for every dead children and keeps them sewn inside a sash always fastened to his belly. After a brief talk with Ieyasu, he is tasked with a new mission. Before departing, Yae is sent back to Tango with a bodyguard and Hyūga follows her to properly say goodbye. Not seeing him coming back, Grampa sends Azumi to search for him. While Azumi is away he is attacked by Bijomaru and fights him as best as he can in his conditions. He is saved by Azumi's suden arrival. His real name is Obata Gessai, an old friend of Tenkai, tasked by him to raise a group of martial artists who can serve him to carry out important assasination missions. After the Summer Siege, Tenkai deeply thanks him for his services and says that in the future his pruning will be needed again. He returns to his hideout but then some men watz in with the order, from Tenkai, to kill him. When Azumi comes back home he is not there any more, only blood inside and his broken walking cane outside, remain. He is having a hard time dealing with some Yagyū fencers but Azumi arrives in time to save him. Many days pass while he is recovering, nursed by Azumi. Since no envoy from Tenkai arrived at the appointed place and time, he decides to follow Tenkai to Sunpu. On the road he and Azumi stops in a post town where a festival is being held. In the following post town, Azumi is attacked while taking a bath. They finall reach Sunpu, and Grampa tells Azumi that he has saved a lot of money from when the time he dies will come. He taught her evrything to survive. The next day he goes to Sunpu castle to probe the truth about who is trying to kill them and he is captured. He is escorted as a criminal in a cage by a group of unemployed rōnins. When they try to stab him in three he evades the spears and use them to his advantage to free himself, while Azumi is keeping some of those men busy. Before trying to kill him one of the men screams that he is being excuted by decree. They stop in a post town and he buys her a cloak to conceal her figure and her katana at some extent. He then gives Azumi a seal case with an engraved bodhisattva image. That will help Azumi in possible dire situations by showing it to some temples around the country, or even when she will want to quit her lifestyle after he will be not around anymore. Having lost everything he had during wars he decided to raise a group of assassins useful to make war vanish and he is surprised that Azumi wants to keep protecting someone like him. He give Azumi a letter to show at the Kitain temple at Kawagoe, in Musashi, if things turn out bad. For now, he wants to reach Kawagoe and live peacefully near there, in his hometown. Along the road, they are sieged on abridge. Grampa grabs Azumi and throws her in the river. She must survive with his and their comrades memories in her heart. While Azumi is flushed away by the strong current, he stays on the bridge and fights the enemies. He wants to know who the enemy general is, the mastermind who needs him to be killed. By his enemies stances he realises that he is fighting the Yagyūs, and even guesses is enemy right. He shouts to Munenori to show himself and he comes in front of him. He then duels with Takagaki and kills him, but receives a severe wound. Munenori decides to fight him personally, after replying to his questions that he is doing what is doing by Ieyasu's orders. Grampa is not fooled by his words, and he is fatally wounded by Munenori, who then goes away. Before dying he realizes Munenori's scheme to have Azumi kill Ieyasu (and after him, maybe Tenkai too) by making her believe that he ordered his death. He asks his body to hold at least until Azumi arrives to warn her about Munenori's conspiracy, but he dies just moments before Azumi can reach him.Grampa before retiring and teaching the ten children was a samurai in service for the Takeda family. He had a disciple called Yohei, to whom he gave the name of Gōzan. Even though he became an important samurai he always supported his village.

GREAT KING ENMA, THE (閻魔大王): the king of hell. For more information see Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology), Yama (Hinduism) and all the related stuff on wikipedia.

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HACHIMAN (八幡神 Hachimanjin/Yahata no kami): he is the Japanese syncretic god of archery and war, incorporating elements from both Shintō and Buddhism. Although often called the god of war, he is more correctly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. He is also divine protector of Japan and the Japanese people. Therefore, Imperial house, Genji (Minamoto clan) and most samurai worship him. The name means "God of Eight Banners", referring to the eight heavenly banners that signaled the birth of the divine Emperor Ōjin. His symbolic animal and messenger is the dove. Since ancient times Hachiman was worshiped by peasants as the god of agriculture and by fishermen who hoped he would fill their nets with much fish. In the Shintō religion, he became identified by legend as the Emperor Ōjin, son of Empress Consort Jingū, from the 3rd – 4th century AD. After the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, Hachiman became a syncretistic deity, fusing elements of the native kami worship with Buddhism (shinbutsu shūgō). In the Buddhist pantheon in 8th century AD, he became Hachiman Great Bodhisattva (八幡大菩薩Hachiman Daibosatsu). Because as Emperor Ōjin he was an ancestor of the Minamoto clan, Hachiman became the tutelary kami (氏神ujigami) of the Minamoto samurai clan. Minamoto no Yoshiie, upon coming of age at Iwashimizu Shrine in Kyōto, took the name Hachiman Tarō Yoshiie and through his military prowess and virtue as a leader, became regarded and respected as the ideal samurai through the ages. After Minamoto no Yoritomo became shōgun and established the Kamakura shogunate, Hachiman's popularity grew and he became by extension the protector of the warrior class the shōgun had brought to power. For this reason, the shintai of a Hachiman shrine is usually a stirrup or a bow. Throughout the Japanese medieval period, the worship of Hachiman spread throughout Japan among not only samurai, but also the peasantry. So much so was his popularity that presently there are 25000 Shintō shrines in Japan dedicated to Hachiman, the second most numerous after shrines dedicated to Inari. Usa Shrine in Usa, Oita prefecture is head shrine of all of these shrines and together with Iwashimizu Hachimangū, Hakozakigū and Tsurugaoka Hachimangū, are noted as the most important of all the shrines dedicated to him. The crest of Hachiman is in the design of a mitsudomoe, a round whirlpool or vortex with three heads swirling right or left. Many samurai clans used this crest as their own, ironically including some that traced their ancestry back to the mortal enemy of the Minamoto, the Taira of the Emperor Kanmu line (Kammu Heishi).

HACHIROBEE (八郎兵衛): one of the men Azumi kills in Kanō's courtyard.

-HAN (はん): the Kyōto-Ōsaka dialect equivalent of -san.

HANAMI (花見lit. "flower viewing" ): it is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms ("sakura") or (less often) plum blossoms ("ume"). From the end of March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan, and around the first of February on the island of Okinawa. The blossom forecast (桜前線 sakura-zensen, literally cherry blossom front) is announced each year by the weather bureau, and is watched carefully by those planning hanami as the blossoms only last a week or two. In modern-day Japan, hanami mostly consists of having an outdoor party beneath the sakura during daytime or at night. In some contexts the Sino-Japanese term kan'ō (観桜, view-cherry) is used instead, particularly for festivals. Hanami at night is called yozakura (夜桜, literally night sakura). In many places such as Ueno Park temporary paper lanterns are hung for the purpose of yozakura. On the island of Okinawa, decorative electric lanterns are hung in the trees for evening enjoyment, such as on the trees ascending Mt. Yae, near Motobu Town, or at the Nakijin Castle. A more ancient form of hanami also exists in Japan, which is enjoying the plum blossoms (梅ume) instead, which is narrowly referred to as umemi (梅見, plum-viewing). This kind of hanami is popular among older people, because they are more calm than the sakura parties, which usually involve younger people and can sometimes be very crowded and noisy. See wikipedia for more information.

HANNYA (般若): is a mask used in Noh theater, representing a jealous female demon or serpent. It possesses two sharp bull-like horns, metallic eyes, and a leering mouth split from ear to ear. The name hannya is a Sino-Japanese word for prajna or wisdom. One tradition states that this name was given to this mask because it was the name of an artist monk, Hannyabō (般若坊), who is said to have perfected its creation. Another explanation is that Perfection of Wisdom sutras and their variations were considered to be particularly effective against female demons. An alternate explanation is that the artist would need a great deal of wisdom in order to create this mask. The Hannya mask is used in many Noh and Kyōgen Japanese plays, as well as in Shinto ritual kagura dances. The Hannya mask portrays the souls of women who have become demons due to obsession or jealousy. Plays in which a person may wear the hannya mask include Aoi no Ue and Dōjōji; its use in these two plays, two of the most famous of the Noh repertoire, and its distinctive and frightening appearance make it one of the most recognizable Noh masks. The Hannya mask is said to be demonic and dangerous but also sorrowful and tormented, displaying the complexity of human emotions. When the actor looks straight ahead, the mask appears frightening and angry; when tilted slightly down, the face of the demon appears to be sorrowful, as though crying. The oldest hannya mask is dated 1558. Hannya masks appear in various skin tones: a white mask indicates a woman of aristocratic status (such as Rokujō in Aoi no Ue), a red mask depicts a low-class woman (seen in Dōjōji), and the darkest red depicts true demons (revealed after appearing as women, as in Momijigari and Kurozuka).

HARIMA KOJIRŌ (播磨小次郎): one of the rōnin employed to escort Grampa. It seems Miyamoto Musashi feared him and avoided a duel with him and his friend Ban Sakon. He acts like he is the boss around there with his friend and not hesitates to kill one of the other men who had something to say about their attitude. He is killed by Azumi in the blink of an eye.

HARUMASA (春正): one of Takenobu's closest friends, who, like many, believes that he is Oda Nobunaga reincarnated. When Chiyozō draws his katana, drunk, he is the first to fight him. He faces Azumi in Takenobu's presence with his other three comrades using wooden swords, but he is beaten. Two times. After some events he is chosen by Takenobu as one of the elite warriors who will fight to protect the castle. Being the second son in his family he does not have heavy responsibilities to attend to.

HASHIMOTO (橋本様): a retainer that Kinkaku and Ginkaku's take as hostage to flee from a dire situation. He is also tied at a pillar as a living shield outside Getsuan's temple.

HATAKENAKA MATAJŪRŌ (畑中又十郎): could also be read “Hatanaka”. A wandering samurai who seems quite strong, but gets easily killed by Mogami Bijomaru just for fun.

HATAMOTO (旗本, "under the banners"): a hatamoto was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan. While all three of the shogunates in Japanese history had official retainers, in the two preceding ones, they were referred to as gokenin. However, in the Edo period, hatamoto were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house, and the gokenin were the lower vassals. There was no precise difference between the two in terms of income level, but hatamoto had the right to an audience with the shōgun, where gokenin did not. The word hatamoto literally means "at the base of the flag" and is often translated as "bannerman". Another term for the Edo-era hatamoto was jikisan hatamoto (直参旗本), sometimes rendered as "direct Shogunal hatamoto", which serves to illustrate the difference between them and the preceding generation of hatamoto who served various lords. See wikipedia for more information.

HATSUNE (はつね): the only female member of Azumi's new comrades in the snow country. Her name could mean a lot of different things, like the first warbling heard in a New Year or the first day of the Rat of the New Year (or the first one of the 11th month) and so on. She gets drugged and taken hostage by Gensai and his men with Kagari and Utsubo. She is then freed by Azumi, but she is already addicted to the “medicine” that Shunjirō makes. She appears to be fine when we find her at Edo working for Tenkai again with Kagari, Azumi and Tobizaru. She participates in the mission to prune ten shinobi chiefs, two former chief retainers and Date. It seems that she uses particular skills...the kunoichi skills. Using those she can kill her target while sleeping together or get informations from him. She is surprised that Azumi was not taught those skills but she approves of her. She is still using Shunjirō's “medicine”, even if lesser than before. She grew up in a shinobi village with Kagari and it seems the two had something going on between them, or so Azumi thinks. With Kagari she will be in charge of dealing with the two former chief retainers, and they start from the first Hyōsuke spots, Kobori Shigemasa. Hatsune will kill him, using a plan she and Kagari have already employed other times. Basically, she will feign to be chased by a moneylander's bodyguard (Kagari) and ask him for protection, seduce him and kill him while in bed. Her plan is ruined due to Kobori being a real pervert, having his guards always present while he “plays” with her. When Kobori returns after a meeting, she is thrown out and made follow. She realizes that her cover is compromised and do not know if to return to the inn where the others lodge or not. She decides to go in the opposite direction but starts feeling really bad due to withdrawal from the stuff she smokes. She collapses and Yamanaka and Shiraishi bring her into the temple where Date sojourns. Being imprisoned she is menaced of torture and put to shame but she is saved by the fortunate arrival of Kōsaka with the information she was not willing to reveal at all costs. Sajikawa sneaks in her room promising that he could save her. She says that she will do whatever he wants and tries to have the ropes at her wrists unfastened a bit. As soon as Sajikawa does it, she escapes. Finding her target, Kobori, before her eyes, she tries to kill him but in her withdrawal syndrome condition and with a shuriken in her back (thanks to Sajikawa), Kobori easily wins and cruelly kills her.

HATTORI HANZŌ MASASHIGE (服部半蔵正重, 1580 - 1652): he was an Edo period ninja and the second son of the first legendary Hattori Hanzō. His older brother was Hattori Masanari and his younger brother was the monk Hattori Masahiro. His wife was the daughter of Ōkubo Nagayasu (a samurai bureaucrat and daimyō in charge of silver mines at Sagami, then Sado and then at Izu). He fought his first battle at 20 years old (Battle of Sekigahara) and went on to fight in the Siege of Ōsaka. After his brother's death at Ōsaka he succeeded him and became leader of the Iga ninja. He went on to serve the Tokugawas after they secured the shogunate. In “Azumi” he is tasked by Hidetada to rescue his abducted son, Kunichiyo. He and his men must work with Azumi and Chiyozō. They will work separately at the beginning. Things do not go well from the very start, with Natori being taken prisoner and killed. Then, Azumi makes contact with Takenobu before him and his men can even know what face he has. He finds out where she resides and wanting to know what they talked about, he tries to contact her. They speak like they do not know each other because they are tailed. After, he and Ginbee are ambushed. They manage to survive the attack thanks to Azumi killing four of their enemies in secret, but because Chiyozō is passing by searching for On and Azumi playing hide and seek, Hanzō thinks that he has saved them once again. After this, they regroup in a dilapidated house that Warita has found for them. After many events, Hattori is brought to Takenobu's castle and helps during the following attack. On the ship during the journey back home, Tenkai thanks him for his work and says that he will pray for the souls of his two deceased comrades. Masashige is overjoyed. Sadly, being this a secret mission and so on, his military achievements can not be recognized and he returned at house arrest like he was before the beginning of the mission due to a scandal of his wife's late father regarding the mines management.

HAYASHI MATABEE (林又兵衛): one of the bosses of the rōnin group in the snow country. He dies by Azumi hands (just before Terasawa) inside the cave with the cannons on one side of the mountains at the border.

HEIJI (平次): a man associated with Kyōgoku's group. He is infiltrated in kai with another one, after finding out Azumi, suggests to him to kill her while she comes back, so they will be recongnized faster by Kyōgoku. The two disguise as old men and attack Azumi but they are stopped by Kadokura and Yamazaki. Heiji is deeply cut in the abdomen by Kadokura, who then gives him the final blow.

HEIKICHI (平吉): an old woman's grandchild. She mistakes Chiyozō for him. He acts normally when with her and Okyō takes the chance to leave him there when she goes to meet her lover, Kanō.

HEITA (平太): Kai's little son. He is really happy to have Azumi at his home and he is amazed by her acrobatics and fish catching skills. He survives Dozō and Kazō's attack.

HEIZA (平左): one of Jinza's men, disguised as an itinerant street performer with the task of keeping watch on Azumi. He gets brutally killed by an unknown enemy.

HIDARI JINGORŌ (左甚五郎): he was a possibly fictitious Japanese artist, sculptor and carpenter. Although various studies suggest he was active in the early Edo period (around 1596-1644), there are controversies about the historical existence of the person. Jingorō is believed to have created many famous deity sculptures located throughout Japan, and many legends have been told about him. His famous nemuri-neko ("sleeping cat") carving is located above the Kuguri Gate amidst the sacred mountain shrines and temples of Nikkō, Japan. Amongst these shrines and temples is Nikkō Tōshōgū, a shrine that honors the Shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Jingorō was a famous Edo period artist, designer, sculpturer, carpenter, and architect. He was an apprentice for the Chief Architect Hokyo Yoheiji Yusa of the Imperial Court in Kyōto where he studied how to build temples, shrines, and sculptures. After someone cut his right hand, he learnt to work with his left hand and became Hidari Jingorou (Hidari 左 means "left"). Stories about Jingorō are spread in wide regions in Japan. According to one, he once saw a woman of such exceptional beauty that he made a sculpture of her. Jingorō begins to drink in the company of the sculpture, and it begins to move, following Jingorō's lead. At first it had no emotion and could only imitate Jingorō's movements. However, when he places a mirror in front of the sculpture, the woman's spirit enters and it comes to life.

HIEI (ひえい): one of the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial he fights against Nagara and dies.

HIGO PROVINCE (肥後国): was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called Hishū (肥州), with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. The castle town of Higo was usually at Kumamoto City. During the Muromachi Period, Higo was held by the Kikuchi clan, but they were dispossessed during the Sengoku Period, and the province was occupied by neighboring lords, including the Shimazu clan of Satsuma, until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Kyūshū and gave Higo to his retainers, first Sassa Narimasa and later Katō Kiyomasa. The Katō were soon stripped of their lands, and the region was given to the Hosokawa clan. During the Sengoku Period, Higo was a major center for Christianity in Japan, and it is also the location where Miyamoto Musashi stayed at the Hosokawa daimyō's invitation while completing his The Book of Five Rings.

HIKOMA (彦馬): one of Kennosuke's friends who decides to help him storming the Anpukuji to rescue Shino-dono's father.

HIKOZA (彦三): one of the four disciples accompanying Kōsaka. While dining on the beach with what he and his comrades catched in the sea, Azumi arrives. She eats with them and then go back. They tail her discovering where she lodges and decide to inform their Master. They are allowed inside the temple during the assault meeting. After that, they take part in the inn attack but they have a minor role with their Master. Seeing that no enemies are coming on the road they are watching, they go to the inn just to find out that everyone has been killed. While asleep in the temple, Tōta and his sister feel the presence of an intruder. They chase Kagari and face him, running away almost immediately to call the other because he is too strong for them. This in truth is a trap and Moichi and Hikoza, already awake, tail him to find Azumi's group new lodging. Hikoza takes part with his Master and the others in the new assault and confront Azumi. Kochō manages to blind Hyōsuke but Azumi easily deals with them (Hikoza is made unconscious) without killing them and she manages to escape with Hyōsuke. While keeping watch at the new location, Tōta and his sister spot Kagari who came out thinking that there was no one around and was weeping on Hatsune's dead body. They both face him and kill him, just when Hikoza and Moichi come to see what is happening. After returning to their positions and seeing Azumi coming back, Moichi wants to attack her and, after their Master comes back, he jumps out and he is going to do it. Their Master goes along with his desire and together they strike at Azumi. Hikoza can't do very much before his Master is killed. With his comrades, he is persuaded by Katagiri to not pursue revenge for their Master, and moments later, Azumi storms into the room killing Katagiri himself. Noticing that Azumi is just doing her job they think that it is illogical to resent her and go to the temple where she resides to tell her that. While she is talking to them about her past, Moichi tries to suddenly strike at her from behind, but Azumi, without even thinking, pierces him with the short side of her two-sided sword. After the burial Hikoza will return to the temple to bring the service money to the priests but this is a plan by Kurando. His role is to check if Azumi and the others are there so he can have Date and Musashi safely get away from the temple.

HIRAKAWA BRIDGE (平川橋): a bridge Azumi must cross to reach the Kyūdaiji.

HONDA MASAZUMI (本多正純1566 – April 5, 1637): a samurai of the Azuchi – Momoyama period through early Edo period, who served the Tokugawa clan. He later became a daimyō, and one of the first rōjū of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Masazumi was born in 1565; he was the eldest son of Honda Masanobu. Father and son served Tokugawa Ieyasu together. Masazumi was in the main force at Sekigahara; after the battle, Masazumi was entrusted with the guardianship of the defeated Ishida Mitsunari. Masazumi was made a daimyō in 1608, with an income of 33,000 koku. Ieyasu trusted Honda sufficiently to have relied on him as an intermediary for diplomatic initiatives with China. Later, Masazumi served at the Siege of Ōsaka; in 1616, he became a toshiyori; this was the position that would soon after be renamed as rōjū. In this role, he worked closely with the now-retired second shogun, Hidetada. During this period, his income was increased to 53,000 koku; then to 155,000 in 1619. However, in 1622 he fell into disfavor with Hidetada, and was exiled to Yokote, in the Kubota Domain. Masazumi died in Yokote in 1637, at age 73. In “Azumi” while he is visiting Ono he recognises Kanbee, revealing his identity. He watches while Kanbee arms are broken by Kyōsuke in a match with wooden swords and leaves the matter at that. When Honda is together with Ieyasu on a falconry ground, Ieyasu asks Azumi to spare his life, because he is a man with much more to accomplish for the country and she complies. He makes everything possible so that the news of Ieyasu's death goes public. He thinks that to completely subjugate the tozama daimyō, Ieyasu's influence is still needed. So he suggests to use Ieyasu's last and most resembling body double and feign that he is still alive. He resembles him so much that Hidetada asks him to act like his father, and when he looks down on him exactly like his real father did, Hidetada goes mad and kills him on the spot.

HONNŌJI (本能寺): is a temple of the Nichiren branch of Buddhism located in Kyōto, Japan. Its honzon (principal image of Buddha, object of adoration) is mandara-honzon (曼荼羅本尊) from Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Honnōji is most famous for the Honnōji Incident. Oda Nobunaga lodged there before his invasion of the west. However on the morning of June 21, 1582, the traitorous forces of Akechi Mitsuhide surrounded the temple and set it on fire. Knowing there was no way out for him, Nobunaga committed seppuku along with his attendant Mori Ranmaru. Ranmaru's brothers also perished at Honnōji. The rebuilt Honnōji stands on a different site in Kyōto, near Kyōto Shiyakushomae Station.

HŌGEN (宝玄): one of the teachers of the Hōzōinryū at the temple where Nishida Benzō is in charge and where Azumi is being sheltered. He is defeated by one of the three hatamoto who went to request matches there, and probabably to look for the situation inside and to know what Azumi looks like, if lucky.

HŌKŌ TEMPLE (方広寺): it is a temple in Kyōto, dating from the 16th century. Toyotomi Hideyoshi determined that the capital city should have a Daibutsu (Great Buddha or Giant Buddha' is the term, often used informally, for large statues of Buddha) temple to surpass that of Nara. He is reputed to have claimed at the outset that he would complete construction in half the time it took Emperor Shōmu to complete the Great Buddha of Nara. The project during Emperor Shōmu's reign took ten years. Hideyoshi would complete the initial phase of his project in only three years. See wikipedia for more information.

HŌZŌINRYŪ (宝蔵院流): it is a traditional school (koryū) of Japanese martial arts that specializes in the art of spearmanship (sōjutsu). Hōzōinryū was founded byHōzōin Kakuzenbō In'ei (宝蔵院 覚禅房胤栄, 1521–1607) in c. 1560. In'ei was a Buddhist monk of Kōfuku Temple in Nara. He adored martial arts and trained in the art of swordsmanship. At the same time, he was coached and mentored by Daizendayū Moritada (大膳太夫盛忠), a master of the spear. Under this master's guidance, In'ei honed his spearmanship. It is said that one evening, on seeing the reflection of the crescent moon shining on Sarusawa pond, he was inspired to create a spear with a cross-shaped spearhead. He imagined this style of spear would be more effective in fighting. With this new type of spear (known as jūmonjiyari 十文字槍), he founded the Hōzōinryū. Later, the teachings Hōzōinryū sōjutsu were passed down to Nakamura Naomasa and then Takada Matabei Yoshitsugu. The three best disciples of Takada went to Edo to promote the art. Its reputation spread nationwide and the number of disciples increased. As martial art of Hōzōinryū sōjutsu was passed down from generation to generation, various new techniques as well as new dōjōwere created. At the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, (around the middle of the 19th century) there were many masters of Hōzōin-ryū sōjutsu employed at the shogunate's martial arts training center. Eventually in 1976, Hōzōinryū sōjutsu returned to Nara. In 1991 Kagita Chubei was appointed the 20th headmaster and has been leading the Hōzōinryū sōjutsu school since then. An ancient Japanese poem expresses the spear of Hōzōin-ryū sōjutsu: "It can be a spear to thrust. It can be a naginata to cleave. It can be a kama to slash. In any case, it never fails to hit the target ."

HYŌSUKE (兵介): a man working for Tenkai as an infiltrate when needed. He caught wind of an intrigue by Date Masamune to capsize the shogunate and informs Tenkai. He gets called back and is assigned to Azumi's group for a pruning mission, because he has a peculiar ability: if he sees the face of a person even for an instant, no matter what this person will disguise into, he will recognise it immediately. He is the only one who knows the face of the men Azumi's group has to prune. He starts working with them being very useful and spotting two of the shinobi chiefs. After Musashi's path crosses with theirs, they have a conversation in the same inn bath and he tells him that the name of the girl who caught his interest is Azumi and he introduces her to him. The next day he spots three more targets: one former chief retainer, one shinobi chief and another one following the second target with Azumi and Tobizaru. After Hatsune disappears during her mission, he keeps working and finds where Kamiyama Hachirō and his brother lodge. He takes Azumi there and go back to his duty. He does not know how Date looks so he thinks how to have Dōzan or Sūgen, who know his face, accompany him. He then rise Azumi morale while talking to her in her room and giving her a carved piece of wood that resembles Tobizaru a lot. Carving is his hobby. After that, the group receives a visit from Miyamoto and Azumi, trusting his words, asks Hyōsuke to show him where Date sojourns. Hatsune is still missing, but Hyōsuke spots Yamanaka and Shiraishi carrying her inside the temple where Date sojourns and informs Tobizaru. He then tries to find in which building Hatsune is held, but has to come back running with the information of four young people entering in the temple in the dead of night (Kōsaka's disciples). Realizing her blunder, Azumi makes everyone retreat but Hyōsuke remains to indicate her the targets in the sure coming attack. Azumi decides to kill everyone so to not be followed to their next lodging an Hyōsuke must keep up with following her while she does her job. When he arrives back at the second lodging with Azumi and the others, after discovering Hatsune's dead body, an enemy assault begins. Like before, he sticks to Azumi to run away, but when Kochō tries to blind them, he is he only one getting hit. Not being able to see anything, he runs away with Azumi guiding him. They manage to escape and reach a river where he can finally wash his eyes. While laying down he tells Azumi that he was part of Tenkai's information net, but had a very minor role until his particular ability catched the interest of a certain priest who told Tenkai about it. He was summoned by him and asked to help him. Hyōsuke in truth wanted to be a sculptor like Hidari Jingorō. He has doubts if what they are doing is right or not, since even their targets must have some compelling reasons to act like they do. After his eyes get almost back to normal, he returns to the new lodging with Azumi and hides inside per her orders. After the battle with Kōsaka and his disciples, he cooperates with Tobizaru and Azumi in killing Kobori and Katagiri. The next day they receive Musashi's visit first and then Kōsaka's disciples come. When Azumi accidentally kills Moichi in self defense, Hyōsuke follows her and tries to make her think about her condition and to convince her to quit the mission. He says that he could do any job and could support their lifestyle, confessing his feelings to her. He tries to convince her to change her lifestyle but he fails. Azumi wants to be useful to others using the bujutsu grampa taught her. She aso almost forgot the promise she had with Musashi. In the final showdown against the remaining enemies, Hyōsuke arrives later with the monks, but just in time to take care of a seriously injured Tobizaru. After Azumi takes care of the real Date and they start going back home to Tenkai, Musashi stops them and makes Azumi accept a duel with him. During the fight, he rushes in between them to stop the match after their first exchange seeing that Azumi would have been killed by Musashi charging at her while still wobbling from one of his blows. When Azumi makes her report to Tenkai, he asks if it is real that he wants to become a sculptor and Hyōsuke replies that it would be his greatest joy. He starts studying under Hidari Jingorō becoming one of his apprentices, meeting Azumi every once in a while. He feels like not only his skills need some more polish but even his vision toward carving in general. He wants to leave to prosperity some works that can be interpreted in various ways and that can captive people's attention even centuries from now. His future though does not seem so bright, after Bontenmaru finds out about him and Azumi. After all the events at the Seigain and the Niwauchi, he hears that the Seigain has burned down and goes there. He then asks a man what happened and where were the monks' corpses taken. Seeing a suspicious man two times, the second one with a lot of men on horses, he goes in the same direction and finds Azumi soon after she put to shame Munenori's men again. He tries to comfort her, but thinking that if their relationship becomes known to their enemies he could be injured, Azumi decides that it is best if they do not see each other anymore. Hyōsuke does not even have the time to argue back that Azumi is already far away.

HYŪGA (ひゅうが): one of the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial he fights against Awa and kills him. Like Awa, he wields two swords. He takes part in many missions. He is very cheerful, active, has a loud mouth and he is very curious about women. He falls in love with Yae, a little street performer, and manages to convince grampa to take her with them. She becomes involved with their situation but Hyuuga is able to keep her safe. She is the one to take care of him by applying him medicines and such. He manages to reunite with Grampa and Azumi and to know the true purpose of their mission. Seeing Azumi doubting what Grampa says, he is a bit surprised. When Yae leaves them for Tango, he can not say goodbye to her properly. He decides to run after her (unarmed) to do things properly but he is stopped by Tobizaru and forced to fight Bijomaru. To protect Yae from what Bijomaru could do to her, he decides to fight him, using Tobizaru's katana. He is deeply wounded during the fight, and Bijomaru plans to killing him slowly but Tobizaru mercifully put him out of his misery.

I

IAI (居合いor 居合道Iaidō): it is a modern Japanese martial art associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard or saya, striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard. While new students of iaidō may start learning with a wooden sword (bokken) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, many of those who study iaidō use a blunt edged sword (iaitō). Few, more experienced, iaidō practitioners use a sharp edged sword (shinken). Practitioners of iaidō are often referred to as iaidōka. Because iaidō is practiced with a weapon, it is almost entirely practiced using forms, or kata. Multiple person kata exist within some schools of iaidō, when iaidōka will usually use bokken for such kata practice. Iaidō does include competition in form of kata but does not use sparring of any kind. Because of this non-fighting aspect, and iaidō's emphasis on precise, controlled, fluid motion, it is sometimes referred to as "moving Zen." Iaidō forms (kata) are performed solitarily against one or more imaginary opponents. Some iaidō schools, however, include kata performed in pairs. Most of the styles and schools do not practice tameshigiri, cutting techniques. A very important part of iaidō, is nukitsuke or the life of iaidō. This is a very quick draw of the sword, accomplished by simultaneously drawing the sword from the saya and also moving the saya back in saya-biki. See wikipedia for more information.

IGA NINJA (伊賀忍者): The Iga and Kōga clans have come to describe families living in the province of Iga (modern Mie Prefecture) and the adjacent region of Kōka (later written as Kōga), named after a village in what is now Shiga Prefecture. From these regions, villages devoted to the training of ninja first appeared. The remoteness and inaccessibility of the surrounding mountains may have had a role in the ninja's secretive development. Historical documents regarding the ninja's origins in these mountainous regions are considered generally correct. A distinction is to be made between the ninja from these areas, and commoners or samurai hired as spies or mercenaries. Unlike their counterparts, the Iga and Kōga clans produced professional ninja, specifically trained for their roles. These professional ninja were actively hired by territorial lords between 1485 and 1581 until Oda Nobunaga invaded Iga province and wiped out the organized clans. Survivors were forced to flee, some to the mountains of Kii, but others arrived before Tokugawa Ieyasu, where they were well treated. Some former Iga clan members, including Hattori Hanzō, would later serve as Tokugawa's bodyguards. Following the Battle of Okehazama in 1560, Tokugawa employed a group of eighty Kōga ninja, led by Tomo Sukesada. They were tasked to raid an outpost of the Imagawa clan. The account of this assault is given in the Mikawa Go Fudoki, where it was written that Kōga ninja infiltrated the castle, set fire to its towers, and killed the castellan along with 200 of the garrison. The Kōga ninja are said to have played a role in the later Battle of Sekigahara (1600), where several hundred Kōga assisted soldiers under Torii Mototada in the defence of Fushimi Castle. After Tokugawa's victory at Sekigahara, the Iga acted as guards for the inner compounds of Edo Castle, while the Kōga acted as a police force and assisted in guarding the outer gate. In 1614, the initial "winter campaign" at the Siege of Osaka saw the ninja in use once again. Miura Yoemon, a ninja in Tokugawa's service, recruited shinobi from the Iga region, and sent 10 ninja into Osaka Castle in an effort to foster antagonism between enemy commanders. During the later "summer campaign", these hired ninja fought alongside regular troops at the Battle of Tennōji. A final but detailed record of ninja employed in open warfare occurred during the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638). The Kōga ninja were recruited by shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu against Christian rebels led by Amakusa Shirō, who made a final stand at Hara Castle, in Hizen Province. A diary kept by a member of the Matsudaira clan, the Amakusa Gunki, relates: "Men from Kōga in Omi Province who concealed their appearance would steal up to the castle every night and go inside as they pleased." Suspecting that the castle's supplies may be running low, the siege commander Matsudaira Nobutsuna ordered a raid on the castle's provisions. Here, the Kōga captured bags of enemy provisions, and infiltrated the castle by night, obtaining secret passwords. Days later, Nobutsuna ordered an intelligence gathering mission to determine the castle's supplies. Several Kōga ninja — some apparently descended from those involved in the 1562 assault on an Imagawa clan castle — volunteered despite being warned that chances of survival were slim. A volley of shots were fired into the sky, causing the defenders to extinguish the castle lights in preparation. Under the cloak of darkness, ninja disguised as defenders infiltrated the castle, capturing a banner of the Christian cross. As the siege went on, the extreme shortage of food later reduced the defenders to eating moss and grass. This desperation would mount to futile charges by the rebels, where they were eventually defeated by the shogunate army. The Kōga would later take part in conquering the castle. With the fall of Hara Castle, the Shimabara Rebellion came to an end, and Christianity in Japan was forced underground. See wikipedia for more interesting stuff.

IKEDA TŌNAI (池田藤内): one of the ten sniboi chiefs who, with Date and other two former chief retainers, are plotting to capsize the shogunate and who Tenkai wants Azumi and her group to prune. He knows that he's being targeted and heavily disguises. He meets Kurokawa Gengo and informs him that their lives are at risk. A few moments later, Azumi and Tobizaru appear. When at the temple where Date should appear, we see his real shape. He is way more younger than his disguise had made us think. Tobizaru kills him under his wife eyes.

IKU (いく): a very young girl who is sold for money by her parents. This way, they, her grandparents and her younger brother and sister will be able to go on living for some time. She is raped by her pimp before being taken to the inn where she will live and work as a factotum and prostitute. She loses a small bag and Azumi picks it up for her. She then works at the same inn with Azumi but after only a day or two she is already sent to lure in clients. Her fist customer is the worst she could happen to her and not being able to satisfy what he wants she has a hard time but she manages to get away and Azumi helps her. Her next customers are three of the men who killed Akane's family. She has another hard time but she pulls through. Azumi tries to lift her spirits showing her her famous spinning tops, and Iku shows her the content of the small bag Azumi picked up and returned to her some days before. Inside there are a couple of small things her younger sister and brother made for her, so she will not forget them. When she hears that there is a festival nearby she really wants to go to have fun at it, but Yote says that girls like her can not. After Azumi's identity is discovered she is abducted with Akane. Having them as hostages will make Azumi come to the appointed place, but to be even more sure, the boss makes cut Akane's left hand, even though Iku tries with all her might to not let that happen. After having been havily beaten down she is tied to a pole like Akane. Iku thinks that Azumi will not come alone but with many comrades. After all, eight men like those who took them hostages would never ambush in such a cowardly way a single girl. After Azumi arrives behind her and she is free, she is surprised by her slender figure, but most of all, that no one of her comrades are coming.

IKUJI (郁次): one of Kyōgoku's men tasked with keeping watch on Man. He suggests to his two friend a way to play with her breasts and while trying to stop Man from biting off her tongue he gets the back of his hand bit with such strength that he loses a piece of it.

INO (猪): one of the children of the snow country village, probably the oldest and the “leader” of the lot.

INOKICHI (猪吉): the old man assassin accompanying Kiku, feigning to be his grandfather. After his plan is ruined and Torazō's body is found, Kinkaku and Ginkaku want to know who did it or else they will kill everyone. Inokichi falsely accuses Azumi, and she goes along with the accusations. After they move outside, he witnesses her killing the group of assassins.

INOUE KANBEE (井上勘兵衛): a close associate of Kiyomasa, invited as guest to Asano's contest. He has got a personal ninja who raised from childhood called Tobizaru. When Asano is killed he starts pursuing Azumi and the rest. After the failure of Izō and the Sajiki brothers, he pursues them himself and corners them, making them fall down a cliff. They manage to survive and after some time, he witnesses the death of his Lord, Kiyomasa, with his own eyes, on the ship they're taking to Kumamoto. He comes to Hideyori's side to protect him and finds Azumi, Kiyomasa's assassin, once again. She was leisurely walking with Hideyori in his mansion giant garden. He informs Yodo of who she is and they manage to capture her and put her in jail. He manages to make her talk and obtain informations about her and grampa. Yodo wants to make her and Ukiha fight each other to the death, promising that who survives will be spared. Inoue refines her plan a little and manages to convince Azumi to fight. He is the one to surprise a Iga ninja who managed to take away to jail keys to free Azumi, and kills him. After Azumi escapes, he rushes to Hideyori to ask him the location of the castle secret passage to anticipate Azumi, but he does not respond. He manages to know it by someone else and anticipates Azumi. He fights her, but she escapes, after throwing her katana in one of his legs. We find Kanbee in the Summer Siege. He knows that Yukimura has died in battle and he is told of Hideyori and Yodo's deaths. He tells his men that they do not have to die there, to find a new mission to accomplish and go on living. He then raids all alone Ieyasu's camp, arriving to the center of it. He is pushed against one of the torches that lits the camp and he caughts fire but does not desists in his purpose. He grabs a bow and fires a fire arrow barely missing Ieyasu and then he flees. Azumi, who watched everything and was cheering for him, follows him immediately. He is taken away from her and nursed but his identity, due to the burns and the damaged voice, remains secret. She tells her his past and helps her clear her doubts about what to do from now on. The next day he is carried away from Tobizaru while Azumi is not around. He changes his name in Takagi Kansuke and is able to become a permanent guest at Mikogami Tenzen's home. After being told by Tobizaru, he receives Azumi visit. After Azumi tells him everything he agrees to help her, provided that Tobizaru is all right with it too. We also know by Kohyōta's words that he is the only one to be able to strike Mitsugu and Matsui two or three times out of them. The other disciples can not even land a single blow in hundreds of tries. His identity is discovered when Honda Masazumi, in visit to Ono, recognises him. He is made fight against Ono's disciples and his arms gets broken by Rintarō. Azumi saves him a moment before a fatal strike occurs. Kanbee is banned from Ono's house. Azumi helps him to fix the bones, but he can not hold a sword anymore. After talking to Azumi she decides to kill Ieyasu. When that happens, Kanbee is hidden in the falconry grounds and sees everything. They meet her later, and he is really happy. While walking around he notices for the first time that the cherry trees are in bloom. He laughs and dances with the common folks. In the end, when Azumi comes back, he is ready to face her. After all, she was and still is, his Lord, Kiyoma's enemy. Kanbee convinces her to fight him and dies. Tobizaru buries him.

ISE (伊勢): formerly called Ujiyamada (宇治山田), is a city located in eastern Mie Prefecture, on the island of Honshū. Ise is home to Ise Grand Shrine (伊勢神宮Ise jingū), the most sacred Shintō Shrine in Japan, and is thus a very popular destination for tourists. The city has a long-standing title - Shinto (神都) - that roughly means "The Holy City" and literally means "Capital of the Kami"). Most of the city is within the geographic limits of Ise-Shima National Park.

ISHIDA MITSUNARI (石田三成1559 – November 6, 1600): he was a samurai of the late Sengoku period of Japan. He is probably best remembered as the commander of the Western army in the Battle of Sekigahara following the Azuchi-Momoyama period of the 17th century. Also known by his court title, Jibunoshō. More on wikipedia.

ISHIZŌ (石蔵): one of the last men who uses exploding arrows and accompanies Mōzō. He tries to force Azumi out of her hiding spot by firing and exploding arrow but he fails and he is killed by a flying kunai threw by her while he is loading his archer again.

IWANE JŪGORŌ (岩根重五郎): an old man leaving in a decrepit house with his lackeys. He was a really close friend of Fūma Kotarō, or better a war comrade of him. Shioji goes to his place to ask for his help in killing Azumi, but he does not care. He almost has his men rape her but he stops them and wants to hear more about the job in question. After a scout found Azumi and her weaknesses, Iwane and his men raid Otaccha's village and take hostages. He devises a plan to reduce as much as possible Azumi's speed by putting the hostages tied on a cart with many straw sheaves under them in the middle of the shallow river near the village. He then has three of his men with rifles hide in the thickets on the river beaches. His plan is to threaten Azumi do shoot a fire arrow at the sheaves so to lure her near the cart and have her shoot to death.

IZŌ (猪蔵): a Kōga ninja acquaintance of Tobizaru. It seems that they're somewhat rivals. He asks Kanbee to be employed. He fights Azumi on a giant ship and gets killed by her.

J

JINZA (陣左): a ninja under Takenobu's orders. He is probably the most skilled ninja in the fief or even the leader. He is tasked to find out the intruders (Hanzō, Azumi and the others). He captures Natori and try to smoke out his comrades by having him tortured at Satonoura beach. Only Azumi goes there and saves the hostage, but Jinza skilfully kills him while he is fleeing. His kunoichi, Sayo, manages to kill Warita from Hanzō's group and at the same time she spies on Azumi and Kunichiyo's conversation. With Koroku and Heiza she tries to approach her but fails. The two men are killed by a group of black dressed men, while she is spared. Jinza is severely reprimended by Takenobu for having let intrude so many men, who probably go around in broad daylight disguised. He will fight to protect the castle with Sayo and the few remaining ninjas. After Shion and Kagei blows up the door to the castle tower, he fights risking his life to not allow them to climb up the stairs and reach the higher floors, while being stabbed in multiple spots by Shion's naginata. He is brutally killed after receiving several wounds by both Shion and Kagei.

JOAN (徐庵): the buddhish priest who accompanies Hikoshirō and Toranosuke from their village to train under Azumi.

JŌTARŌ (丈太郎): one of Kennosuke's friends who decides to help him storming the Anpukuji to rescue Shino-dono's father.

JŌZAN (丈山): one of Takenobu's closest men. While Harumasa and Shikanosuke fight Chiyozō he stays a bit behind, ready to jump in in case of necessity. He is also the one that thinks that if a sword match would be held in the presence of the Lord, finally it would be clear who is the strongest fencer in the castle town, instead of only making suppositions. After Tōji's horse comes back alone, he goes to search for him with Jōzan and finds his corpse exposed on a tree. He faces Azumi in Takenobu's presence with his other three comrades using wooden swords, but he is beaten. Two times. After some events he is chosen by Takenobu as one of the elite warriors who will fight to protect the castle. He moves in with his wife, who, one night, is attacked and wounded by an intruder. He kills him and tend to his wife. When the enemies arrive, he dashes outside to make them pay manyfold for what they have done. Sadly, after killing some enemies he fights Gōra and is mortally wounded. He dies some moments after Azumi kills Gōra.

K

KABAYAKI (蒲焼き): it is a preparation of the unagi eel, sometimes extended to other fish, where the fish is split down the back (or belly), gutted and boned, butterflied, cut into square fillets, skewered, dipped in a sweet soy sauce-base sauce before being broiled on a grill. The same preparation is made of other long scaleless fish such as hamo (鱧 pike conger), dojō (鰌 loach), catfish (namazu 鯰), anago (穴子 conger eel), and gimpo (ギンポPholidae). One can also find canned products labeled as kabayaki-style sanma (秋刀魚 Pacific saury). See wikipedia for more information.

KABUKIMONO (かぶき者 or 歌舞伎者or 傾奇者): the early-17th-century equivalent of present-day yakuza; Edo-period eccentric who attracted public attention with their eye-catching clothes, peculiar hairstyle, and weird behavior.

KADOKURA JINPACHI (角倉甚八): one of the three samurai retainers who came from Aki to welcome their lord, Fukushima Masanori, and are lodging in one of Makita's mansions. He is looking forward to meeting Azumi. After their meeting they meet again to have Azumi tell stories of the other provinces to them. On the way back, two men try to attack Azumi but they are severely wounded by Kadokura and Yamazaki. Kadokura did not plan to hurt so much his opponent and like Yamazaki he is surprised by how much a katana cuts a man. He then puts his opponent out of his misery. When Kyōgoku puts the plan in motion and they remain with Fukushima and Iemitsu inside Tsutsujigasaki mansion he fights Zunta and is killed by him.

KAGARI (かがり): one of Azumi's new males comrades in the snow country. His name could stand for “campfire” or “fishing fire” if written with a single kanji, but if we take into consideration all the possible other combinations (ka+ga+ri, kaga+ri, ka+gari) it can come out in so many different ways that finding the right meaning to it is impossible. His is a female name. He is drugged and taken hostage by Gensai and his men with Hatsune and Utsubo. He is freed by Azumi later, but he is already addicted to the “medicine” that Shunjirō makes. He appears to be fine when we find him at Edo working for Tenkai again with Hatsune, Azumi and Tobizaru. He participates in the mission to prune ten shinobi chiefs, two former chief retainers and Date. He asks the former chief retainers to be left to him and Hatsune. If their opponents are normal people instead of shinobi, even they can fight them. He seems to know something about Hatsune's kunoichi skills...and from what Hatsune says, Azumi understands that those two had something going on between them. Kagari still uses some of Shunjirō's “medicine” with Hatsune. The next day, he moves with her to deal with Kobori Shigemasa, the first of the two former chief retainers spotted by Hyōsuke. He plays the part of a moneylander's bodyguard chasing Hatsune, she will ask Kobori to helpe her, gain his protection, seduce him and kill him in bed. They have already used this scenario other times. Hatsune plan fails but Kagari does not know it and still thinks that there is nothing to worry about. The next day their targets gathers at the temple and he, Tobizaru and Hyōsuke decide to tail whoever comes out to discover where they are lodging. Kagari tails the very Kobori, one of his guards and Kurokawa but they sense his presence and he has to quit, without knowing where Hatsune is. He tries to sneak in the temple to find her but Tōta and Kochō finds him out and flees. He faces them but they run away scared because he is too strong. In truth this is a trap and Kagari is tailed by Moichi and Hikoza to their new lodging. After they ascertain the dead at the first lodging, Kagari returns to the second one with Azumi and the others. There he sees Hatsune's dead body inside a straw bag. Some moments later, an enemy attack begins and he runs away, followed by the former chief retainers guards and manages to hide inside the temple. After a while he comes out. Seeing the straw bag with Hatsune's body inside, he takes her out and starts reminiscing some of their moments together. Soon, Kochō and Tōta come out and fight him, killing him in the process.

KAGEI (景井): one of three skilled men summoned by Sadamaro in the western fief. He seems to have the “leader” role on the field. When the castle assault takes place, he, with Shion, enters the castle tower, helps her to kill Jinza and reaches Takenobu, but he is killed by Azumi who suddenly arrives.

KAHEE-SAN (加兵衛さん): a person Yae-chan said to ask about when Azumi and the others will be in Tango so they can find where she lives.

KAI (かい): Chiyo and Heita's mother. A lovely woman who took Yakichi in her house. She nursed Kiku while he has a fever, making him wondering why she is doing that. She survives the assault by Dozō and Kazō, at the price of losing Yakichi later.

KAI PROVINCE (甲斐国): it was a province of Japan in the area of Japan that is today Yamanashi Prefecture. Kai bordered on Sagami, Suruga, Shinano and Musashi Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was Kōshū (甲州). The origin of its name is uncertain. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tōkyō, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with modern Shizuoka Prefecture. Kai was one of the original provinces of Japan established in the Nara period under the Taihō Code. The original capital of the province was located in what is now Fuefuki. Under the Engishiki classification system, Kai was ranked as a "superior country" (上国) in terms of importance, and one of the 16 “middle countries” (中国) in terms of distance from the capital. Although not directly on the Tōkaidō, it was also included as one of the Tōkaidō provinces. Numerous remains from the Kofun period have been found in Kai. During the Heian period, it came under the control of the Kai Genji, who controlled the province throughout the Kamakura period. During the Sengoku period, a branch of the clan, the Takeda clan role to prominence. The warlord Takeda Shingen, ruled Kai from his stronghold at Kōfu and expanded the holdings of the clan to include Shinano and Suruga Provinces, and engaged in constant warfare against the Uesugi clan in Echigo Province. After the Takeda were defeated by a coalition lead by Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu, Kai Province came briefly under the rule of Nobunaga’s retainer Kawajiri Hidetaka. After Nobunaga’s assassination, the province was contested between Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Go-Hōjō clan based in Odawara. However, after the destruction of the Go-Hōjō by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1590, the province was ruled by a succession of Toyotomi loyalists. With the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate, Kai was regarded as strategically important to the defense of Edo due to its position between the Tōkaidō and Nakasendo highways, which were connected through Kai Province by the Kōshū Kaidō. Kai Province was entrusted briefly to Tokugawa clan members or the highly trusted Yanagisawa clan as Kōfu Domain, but for the most part was retained as tenryō territory ruled directly by the shogunate through a succession of hatamoto-class daikan. Kai was traditionally divided into four districts: Yamanashi District (山梨郡), Yamashiro District (八代郡), Koma District (巨摩郡) and Tsuru District (都留郡). After the Meiji restoration, Kai province was renamed Kōfu Prefecture in 1869. With the abolition of the han system in 1871, it was renamed Yamanashi Prefecture.

KAKUGEN (覚玄): the chief instructor of the Hōzōinryū at the temple where Nishida Benzō is in charge and where Azumi is being sheltered. He is one of the Hōzōinryū monk instrucors at Nishida's temple, likely the most skilled or with the most authority. Spearmanship is taught as part of their ascetic practices. Kakugen studied spearmanship in Nara, but he has no real combat experience. He asks Azumi if she fought against spears and if they were of the Hōzōinryū. She has, but she does not know which style they were. They talk about how to fight spears but they are interrupted by a messenger saying that three samurai came to request matches with the Hōzōinryū teachers and they defeated the others. After meeting the three, he fights a match and he is heavily struck on his head. Now he lies between life and death in a coma.

KAKUTA YASABURŌ (角田弥三郎): one of the four Fūmas who decide to fight Azumi instead of kepp watching her. He asks Shioji to work by her side if he kills Azumi. His plan is to make her his and become the Fūma clan head. The other guy with him tells us about how every woman he lays his hands on end up becoming his slave, so even Shioji will for sure. Kakuta devises a foul tactic to have Azumi do what he wants: he abducts some common people on a pilgrimage under her eyes and tries to make her feel guilty of what has just happened. Some time later he tells her where the woman and her daughter he abducted are, but Azumi will not do what he wants. He then replies to her that then he and his comrades will just have to repeatedly kidnap women and children and killing them until she follows his orders. Kakuta manages to have Azumi go to the appointed place and to follow his orders, disarming herself. When Torasuke lets the rope at which Miyo is tied go, Azumi grabs it and reels it in, putting herself in a dangerous situation. Kakuta takes advantage of this and starts to attack her but Azumi manages to dodge the strikes and even to steal a katana and kill him.

KAMISHIMO (裃): the formal clothing worn by samurai of the Edo era. It is composed by the hakama (the lower part) and the katanugi (the upper part), a sleeveless jacket with very large shoulders. It is not a clothing for training but is recommended for ceremonies and very important events.

KAMIYAMA HACHIRŌ (上山八郎): one of the ten shinobi chiefs Date has summoned. He has a younger brother called Ino. He was thinking that, given the situation, he maybe would have been able to meet Abe Kurando, and his desire comes true. While he lodges in what can hardly be called an inn, he helps a sick mother and makes a toy for her daughter. Some moments later Azumi comes to request a fight and he leaves to take her on. He plans to fight her alone, but thinking that the destiny of his entire village depends on Date's plan, he decides to use a pincer attack with the help of his brother. The end up hindrancing one another, even due the terrain, and he is easily killed by Azumi.

KAMIYAMA INO (上山猪): Hachirō's younger brother, one of the shinobi chiefs Azumi's group have to prune. He is incredibly attached to his older brother. When he passes by Kochō he does not hesitate to try to have a sneak pick under her robe. Because the roof of the “inn” he lodges in with his brother leaks, he wakes up. He has his brother make a toy with which he played a long time ago and he uses that to play with the daughter of a sick woman staying there. After Azumi arrives, he follows her and his brother until they find a place to fight. He helps his brother fighting Azumi, but ends up hindrancing him even due the terrain. After his brother dies, he thinks that Azumi took, materially, his soul and wants her to give it back. He tries to fight her even if he is injured and he is killed too.

KANEI TORANOSUKE (金井虎之介): he leaves his home village with Hikoshirō to be trained by Azumi. He accompanies her to the niwauchi. After, he trains at the temple, giving proof of his skills. He does not want to kill people unless a direct order from Tenkai comes, so the next time he goes to the niwauchi he brings a wooden sword with him. When the Tsujidōs attack Azumi, he and Tachibana defend her, but using wooden swords they are not in a good situation. When he is almost getting killed by the older Tsujidō brother, Azumi intervenes and cuts him down, saving his life. After Azumi visits Kanō's mansion he decides with Hikoshirō to follow her in her battle against Kanō's men. They manage to survive their first battle, but they are shocked for their pathetic performance, even though Azumi tries to comfort them. Because they could be dead tomorrow, they confess their feelings for Azumi, but she does not know how to answer them. After some events he takes a very active part in Azumi's plan to escape safely from Seigain, survives, and helps her taking Bontenmaru as prisoner, but Yomiji is behind him and with a trick he stabs him. After, it is only a matter of moments before he gets cut. He dies in Azumi's arms.

KANJI (貫次): one of the last two Fūmas serving Shioji. He is the one who, tailing Azumi, finds the relationships between her comrades and Otaccha and her family. He is the one who tells Iwane and his gang wich village Azumi's friends are in and who to kidnap. He is the one who, after his sister Ritsu report, devises a plan to kill Azumi, even though he is only a scout and not a fencer. He tries to get near Azumi from the front to shoot her with a rifle while Shioji swims underwater behind her and Ritsu watches, but Azumi manages to cut his thinger on the rifle trigger and hits him with the back of the sword, disarming Shioji too. When he is struck he screams thinking that he has been cut but he is still alive. He asks Azumi why she disgrace them leaving them alive but he does not receive a reply.

KANŌ (加納): he seems to be the man in charge of everything that is happening behind the scenes in the fief where the niwauchi is. He is Okyō's lover. To have the political power transferred to Bontemaru and make him the Lord of the castle they must cause an internal revolt and have all the main vassals of the current Lord betray him. Because there are those who will resist to the plan of switching the Lord of the castle with Bontenmaru, he decides to strike the main family against it. He orders Yomiji to kill the whole Kijima family. Also, his shinobi servant finds out about Hyōsuke. Kanō tasks Mineishi with a job: he wants him to fight Azumi and kill her, passing this action in the eyes of Bontemaru as a revenge done by a Yagyū for all the comrades she killed. He secretely thinks that even if Mineishi dies he can still see her swordplay. He makes some shooters hide in the place of the match but Azumi spots one of them and Mineishi kills him. After a few moments Kanō can see her in action. After Munenori leaves him in charge of the men who came in that country in case Tenkai starts a fight with his warrior monks army, Azumi finds out where he lives and says to him, in front of all the man united there, that she has no intention of opposing their plan nor she has even orders to do that, but if what Bontenmaru threatens her to do becomes real, she will not think twice about getting in their way. Kanō says that he will convey her message to Bontenmaru but he lets the men there do as they please, since a part of them really hate her for having killed their comrades and that she came to his house by her own will. He does not think it is right to order them to let her go home safely, but this is nothing more than a plan to have her killed there not directly by him and to have Bontenmaru stop thinking about her after she is dead. Due to him losing more than half of the soldiers Munenori gave him for his eventual battle against Tenkai by Chiyozō's hands, he quickly decides to hasten their plans to regain credit in Munenori's eyes and Bontenmaru is made Lord of the castle. After that, he takes part, staying very well behind, to the attack at the Seigain, and he is not able to find Tenkai nor Azumi, enraging Munenori once again. After Tenkai and the others escape, he returns to castle only to found that the castle faction has revolted and he can not enter. He retreats to Okyō's house at the niwauchi and asks her to have him stay for a while. After he is informed about Munenori's situation from his shinobi, he decides to take Bontenmaru back. The shinobi proposes a plan and he accepts to follow it. The plan involves Chiyozō's help, but he misinterprets his sister's orders and instead of stealing away Bontenmaru he takes Tachibana and the shinobi, throwing him at Kanō who was trying to tell him that he had got the wrong person. After going back to Okyō's mansion he has to deal with his supposed allies turned rogues and the house on fire. When he tries to leave with Bontenmaru he finds Tachibana. He manages to stand between him and Azumi outside the house, so Tachibana is forced to fight him. It just takes him a moment to kill the young and inexperienced samurai. Now he faces Azumi. He fights really well but it is only a matter of time before his death comes by her hand.

KANTA (幹太): a “thick tree trunk”, or better, a small child full of vigor whose hero is Takenobu. He tries hard, training with a spear in order to become a useful man in the future. He is an orphan. He helps Chiyozō reunite with Azumi and they all become friends and live at his home. He follows Azumi when she meets Takenobu. After many events, he and his friends start living in a room inside the castle, where they can be safe from the black dressed men, who some time ago, at night, took Gari hostage while figthing Azumi. He thanks Takenobu for his generosity and then, with his friends, tries to be useful in the castle, saying to the men there that they will clean the rooms, do the laundry and so on. Later he and his friends are moved in a building near the castle tower. While exploring around they run into Akagi's sons and they are treated pretty badly, even thretened to not come inside the castle tower. So, when the signal is heard, they hide in the space under the casle floors and are found by the enemies who have infiltrated in. They are saved by Bakin. They later come inside and reunite with Azumi and Chiyozō. There, they meet and play to their hearts content with Kinu, Jōzan's wife. Finally deciding to come inside the castle tower he and his friends find a spot for themselves to hide but they are discovered by some of Kyōgoku's men who want to “save” them. Chiyozō rescues them and stays there to defend them. After the matter is settled he and his friends say goodbye to Azumi and Chiyozō. He does not cry because he knew that the time for farewall would have come and scolds On for his crying so much. When he sees them for the last time, leaving, he cries too.

KANZAEMON (寛左エ門): one of Kennosuke's friends who decides to help him storming the Anpukuji to rescue Shino-dono's father.

KAPPA (河童, “river-child”): alternatively called Kawatarō (川太郎, "river-boy"), Komahiki (“horse puller”), or Kawako (川子, "river-child"), are a yōkai found in Japanese folklore, and also a cryptid. Their name comes from a mixture of the word "kawa" (river) and "wappo," an inflection of "waraba" (child). In Shintō they are considered to be one of many suijin (水神,“water deity”), their yorishiro, or one of their temporary appearances. A hair-covered variation of a Kappa is called a Hyōsube (ひょうすべ). There are more than eighty other names associated with the kappa in different regions which include Kawappa, Gawappa, Kōgo, Mizushi, Mizuchi, Enkō, Kawaso, Suitengu, and Dangame. Along with the oni and the tengu, they are one of the most well-known yōkai in Japan. Kappa are similar to Finnish Näkki, Scandinavian/Germanic Näck/Neck, Slavian Vodník and Scottish Kelpie in that all have been used to scare children of dangers lurking in waters. It has been suggested that the kappa legends are based on the Japanese giant salamander or "hanzaki", an aggressive salamander which grabs its prey with its powerful jaws. See wikipedia for more information.

KARASUMA TENZAN (烏丸天山): Shunjirō considers him his mentor. He's a talented inventor and the main figure among the persons of many talents. He is a brilliant man, full of ideas. He suspects for a moment that Azumi could be the frightening assassin he heard about who has her same name, but she can not possibly be her... Tenzan explains to Azumi and Shunjirō that Kinkaku and Ginkaku came to him to ask for information about guards and security, because they want to go to west of the country and people like Tenzan always has the latest news. He also says that the Lord of the domain wants to meet Tenzan and his friends to ask them about what is happening in the other countries, to see performances, skills and so on, and that they have been invited to go to the castle. Shunjirō and Azumi tag along. They are walking into a trap by the local Lord to have them all killed together with the rōnin. Shunjirō's childhood friends are participating in the operation too. Tenzan and friends are saved by Azumi after they flee back to Getsuan's temple. After, when he sees Azumi fighting the three groups of assassins on the bridge taking them to the country border he realises that she really is the assassin he heard about. After the Yagyūs are searching for her, Tenzan is informed by Shunjirō that he found Azumi. He then tells him what happened with her and Tenzan, after explaining why Azumi did what she did, sends him back to her immediately.

After Shunjirō loses everything for having taken the Lord hostage to escape his trap, he takes him under his wing. He manges to save his life with everyone's help after he is almost killed by Sakon. He helps him making rifles, guns and cannons in the snow country, but he is imprisoned in a cell in the gold mine by him and loses his mind. Shunjirō did not want that the persons of many talents wandered from country to country. If someone had said something about the secret of the snow country, his project to realize an ideal state would have been over.

KASUGA NO TSUBONE (春日局, 1579 – October 26, 1643): she was from a prominent samurai family of the Azuchi-Momoyamaand Edo periods. Born Saitō Fuku (斉藤福), she was a daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu (斎藤利三, who was a retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide 明智光秀). Her mother's father was Inaba Yoshimichi (稲葉良通). Married to Inaba Masanari (稲葉正成), she had three sons, including Inaba Masakatsu (稲葉正勝), and an adopted son, Hotta Masatoshi (堀田正俊). She was the wet nurse of the third Tokugawa shōgun, Iemitsu. She also established the Ōoku (大奥),the women's quarters, at Edo Castle. In 1629, Ofuku traveled to the capital, where she had an audience with the emperor at the Imperial Court in Kyōto. She was promoted to the extraordinarily high Court rank of second class; and after this time, she was called Kasuga no tsubone or Lady Kasuga. Her grave is in Rinshōin (麟祥院), a temple in Bunkyō (文京区), Tōkyō; the temple possesses a portrait of Kasuga by Kanō Tan'yū (狩野探幽). The Kasuga neighborhood of Bunkyō takes its name from her. Another grave is in Odawara (小田原市), Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県). In “Azumi” Iemitsu says that she was strict and severe in educating him.

KATAGIRI HYŌBU (片桐兵部): a man under house arrest at Daiganji who's gathering men for some kind of scheme. Using a forged letter, Grampa's allies manage to make him move with his men away from the temple to try to meet with Katō Kiyomasa and his troops. The will be slaughtered one after the others by Azumi and the others on the mountain roads. Hyōbu manages to flee and leave the mountain, but after a few moments of relief, Grampa kills him, unseen.

KATAGIRI TADAKATSU (片桐忠勝): one of the two former chief retainers who are going to work with Date to realize his plan, and most likely Hyōbu's father. After some events he tries with Kobori to convince Musashi to go face Azumi, but he declines. After Kobori dies, he speaks to Kōsaka's disciples to persuade them to not seek revenge. Just after he is finished talking, Tobizaru and Azumi storm in the room and he is killed, without his guards being able to do anything.

KATANA (刀): a traditional Japanese sword worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance as a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. It has become renowned for its sharpness and strength.

KATŌ KIYOMASA (加藤清正July 25, 1561 – August 2, 1611): a powerful feudal territorial lord. He made a quick career, fought under Toyotomi Hideyoshi, received from him vast lands in Higo Province and had Kumamoto Castle as his residence. He fought in the seven year war against Korea (enjoing tiger hunting in the meanwhile...) obtaining great results who were not reported by Ishida Mitsunari, his rival's overseer, to Hideyoshi. He had a big quarrel with him and after Hideyoshi's death he started having contacts with Tokugawa Ieyasu. He got into a conflict with Konishi, his christian neighbor (Kiyomasa was noted for brutally suppressing Christianity). During the Battle of Sekigahara he switched to the Tokugawa Side, the eastern army. He thought that Toyotomi would have fallen without Tokugawa help. Moreover, the western army was lead by Ishida and Konishi was among his supporters... After the Tokugawa win, he rewarded Kiyomasa with all the land left in Higo that was once Konishi's (who got executed). In his later years, Kiyomasa tried to work as a mediator for the increasingly complicated relationship between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori. In 1611, en route by sea to Kumamoto after one such meeting, he fell ill, and died shortly after his arrival. See his full entry on wikipedia. In Azumi he gets killed by her during his trip by ship back to his hometown by Ieyasu's orders.

KAWAGOE (川越市): a city in Saitama Prefecture, was founded as a town Kawagoe-machi (川越町) on April 1, 1889, and became the first city in the prefecture on December 1, 1922. See wikipedia for more information.

KAWAMATA SUKEZAEMON (川又助左衛門): one of the fighters in Asano's contest. He fights Obata Tsukinoshin (Azumi in disguise).

KAWANAKAJIMA (川中島): mainly famous for the many battles that were fought in the Sengoku period between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano. The five major battles took place in 1553, 1555, 1557, 1561 and 1564. The best known and most severe among them was fought on September 10, 1561. The battles started after Shingen conquered Shinano Province, expelling Murakami Yoshiharu and Ogasawara Nagatoki, who subsequently turned to Kenshin for help. See wikipedia for detailed information on all the battles.

KAWATA SANPEI (川田三平): one of the two men accompaning Man in her travel to search for Gōzan. He is the tallest of the two. He wants to live a leisure life. He is charmed by Azumi's beauty and has a nosebleed while Man tells everyone her experience with Gōzan in bed. He is also a proficient fisherman. Will he be able to catch the master of the lake?? Kawata is always brought along by Man when she goes outside because he is really good in shoulder massages, and she has very stiff shoulders. Kawata also, with the help of Shibatayama, takes care of her laundry. When the next day Man flees on her horse, he is tasked to bring her back, but after a bit he stops his horse because he is scared by the speed at it was running. He is a very good wood carver. He makes a really good figurine with Mon as model and a really good looking rabbit too. Shibatayama's frog seems like a cow to him. After the evet at Tsutsujigasaki mansion he returns home with Man.

KAZŌ (火蔵): one of the two elite assassins who Mōzō sends after Azumi by Munenori's order. Together with Dozō he attacks the family of farmers where Azumi and Kiku are staying. He engages a fight with Yakichi who hits him multiple times with his sickle. He feigns death and at the right moment he stabs Yakichi from behind with the sword, before he is killed once and for all by him.

KAZUNOGAHARA (鹿角ヶ原): a (fictional) place where Shizune and Tadane want the castle samurais' and Gensai's parties to clash, so it is going to be easier for them to take a peek of all the killing.

KEICHŌ ERA (慶長): 1596.10.27 – 1615.7.13.

KENNOSUKE (研ノ助): a young samurai who wants to rescue Shino's father, the military commander of the operation against the rōnin, from his imprisonement at the Anpukuji. His mother strongly warns him to not do anything hasty and seek revenge. From what Shino tells Azumi we understand that he loves Shino, but he gave up because he thinks he is unsuited as a husband candidate. While Azumi and Shino are talking outside, some shinobi knocks him down and kidnap his mother and Kiku, leaving a letter where they ask Azumi to not do anything for two or three days in exchange for the hostages' safety. Thinking that he is pathetic, he decides to go raid the enemies and die honorably with his mother. His friends follow him too. At night they carry out their plan, only to be found out immediately and having Azumi, who was there on recon, manage to clear the misunderstanding, "saving" them. Still, they want to die raiding them. Azumi tries to make them desist, but it is Shino, suddenly coming at Kennosuke's home, who, remembering one of their past "adventures", makes them desist. Kennosuke also gets confessed to by Shino. He wants to participate with the old soldiers to their raid but his friends tie him with a rope because they want him to survive and have a future with their beloved Shino, who chose him. It is Shino herself who guards him.

KI (気 jp, 氣 cn): in traditional Chinese culture, qì (also chi or ch'i) is an active principle forming part of any living thing. Qi is frequently translated as "life energy", "life force", or "energy flow". Qi is the central underlying principle in traditional Chinese medicine and martial arts. The literal translation of "qi" is "breath", "air", or "gas". See wikipedia for much more information.

KICHIZA (吉左): one of the two men to whom Kyōgoku assign a mission while on the Kōshū way. He is the shortest of the two and the younger brother. His eyes are special, they can see very far in the distance and work very well at night too, better than an owl. To kill his enemies he uses arrows, with different poisons strength. While he is searching for Azumi inside the temple where she is lodging, his presence and smell is picked up by Tobizaru. Kichiza shoots him but at the same time he is driven away by Gōzan who comes through the nearby shōji. The poison dart misses Tobizaru and Kichiza flees. The next day he is hiding with his brother in a small forest. During a sudden rain shower, Azumi leaves the others and hides in a spot close to where Benza and Kichiza are. Kichiza also spots Gōzan who last time made him fly away together with the room dividers. He wants to kill him and he decides with his brother to split. He shoots Gōzan with a heavily poisoned arrow from an ideal position and since dodging would mean to let Mon get hit, he decides to be hit in an arm instead. Gōzan immediately takes away the dart and counterattacks by throwing a rock at him that seems to make some damage. Kichiza retires, only to find his brother dead by Azumi's hands. He then hides in the bushes of the only Tendai sect temple nearby where Azumi and the others are lodging, waiting for a chance. The chance comes and he shoots his poisoned dart to her, but Azumi avoids it and the shot grazes Shibatayama who was behind her. Azumi asks Tobizaru to take care of Kichiza and he is killed easily.

KIJIMA (木島 could also be read Kishima, Kojima or Kitō): the main family among the opposers against Munenori and Kanō's plan. They are completely exterminated by Yomiji on Kanō's request.

KIJIMA KOHYŌTA (木島小兵太): Kijima's very young son, killed together his whole family by Yomiji on Kanō's orders.

KIJIMA NANA (木島奈々): Kijima's daughter, killed together his whole family by Yomiji on Kanō's orders.

KIKU (きく): the eldest daughter of a tenant farmer who's getting married to the village headman's son. She dies trying to protect her little sister and Azumi.

KIKU (きく): a “nymphomaniac” girl traveling with her grampa. She found herself in the same inn where Azumi lodges and where Kinkaku and Ginkaku come with their men. Being beautiful she is “used” many times, until she kills one of those men in secret and dumps its body in the river. She tries to kill Azumi in the inn bath but fails. Her cover is lost and Azumi finds that she is actually a man. After, Azumi fights the group of assassins outside. When she is finished, Kiku runs after her, being surprised, impressed and moved by her being. They chat, with Azumi not trusting him and him saying that he does not like women but men and so on. Azumi does not believe him, but he follows her and even enters almost naked in the river where Azumi is washing the blood of her enemies away. He manages to get so close to her and hug her. He is quickly dealt with, falling in the river, and Azumi crosses it and goes her way. Kiku still follows. They come to a town and decide to eat, but even though Kiku wants to treat her, she refuses. It is money he pickpocketed after all, and she also wants to select herself what she eats. After, they sleep in a run down house, and Kiku, being cold, manages to cuddle together with Azumi. He has a hard time following her the next day, and Azumi wants to split there, but Kiku throws a tantrum and when he hugs her again Azumi feels that he has a high fever. Feeling guilty she carries him on her back. Azumi leaves him on the side of a river for a moment but when she retuns he is not there. He is been carried away on a cart by a man named Yakichi, to his house, to have him rest better. Azumi follows him. He is put to bed and watched over by Yakichi's wife. He even manages to get fed by Azumi. While Kiku is being taken care by Kai, he wonders why she does all that even though she will not get anything from doing it. He was thaught not to act in any way unless it is necessary for reaching his target. Kai does not understand. During the exploding arrow attack, he hides and survives unscathed. When Azumi tells Yakichi that she killed Ieyasu, Kiku is really surprised. A piece of information that no one told her. She now regards her as a worthy enemy. During their travel Azumi helps Getsuan, a High Priest who feels bad and brings him back to his temple. Kiku tags along. When Azumi decides to accept Getsuan offer, she stays there at the temple with her. When he meets Shunjirō he immediately understands what is going on and tries his best to make him fall for him and not Azumi. While he goes shopping he meets his boss, who was worried since he did not contact him anymore. His boss is the one who taught the arts he uses to kill, by making his target completely trust him and let his guard down. Then, Kiku strikes. He is still working on getting Azumi's trust, though. At the village festival he easily pickpockets here and there but he is left behind by Shunjirō and Azumi who go to meet Karasuma Tenzan. When they come back to the temple followed by guards and get surrounded, Kiku suggests to leave them all behind and run away on horse but Azumi prepares for battle. For all the battle, Kiku hides with Azumi's belonging, and only when Azumi comes search for them, he comes out, ready to leave with her. When Azumi resumes her journey she follows her and tries again to buy meals for her with the money she "earns". This time Azumi yields and Kiku is all happy to finally being able to get close to snatch her heart. In the end, Azumi gives her meal to a little boy, Genta, who comes inside the establishment to hide from his devilish master. While at another tea house with Azumi, Sakon comes in too. Kiku is really surprised because Sakon is the first one to immediately realise he is a man without having been seen naked. He really pisses him off. After they resume traveling, Kiku spots his master and follows him leaving Azumi alone with an excuse. Kiku does not like Genta is involved in the mission too, but the boss has got some good points. Kiku though wants the boss to dismiss Genta, or else he will fret and try killing Azumi before him, failing miserably and getting killed in return. He leaves his boss after. At a spa, Azumi, Kiku and Genta meet Sakon again. After, he follows Azumi with Genta outside the post town. On their way, a stranger asks them for help because his master is in pain at the river bed. In that moment, Shunjirō comes running to them saying that since Azumi was there she could have dropped by. He brought them three padded kimono. He follows them down to the river bed and examines the man in pain. He studied medicine too and seriously tries to find where the man hurts. Azumi thinks about what that man told her, about Shunjirō's situation, what he is doing and suddenly is attacked by the man who brought them there and the one who was faking ill. Azumi kills both of them. The second one, with his belly slashed, makes Shunjirō imagine his family commiting seppuku and starts crying. He thinks he is a fool and that his actions of rejecting the sword and killings only brought him misery, while Azumi thinks his ideas are not wrong. Who really is wrong is that feudal Lord who cowardly tried to killed them. Kiku does not understand while Azumi is crying when who is supposed to be suffering is Shunjirō. he realizes Azumi has strong feelings toward him, and that is a problem because all her attentions must be focused on him, to be able to carry out his plan. He manages to hold her in his arms at night, but a sudden erection and Azumi's reaction ruins the perfect moment for killing her. After Genta hits Azumi on a thigh with his poison dart while she is going towards Shinsuke and Jōjirō to fight them, Kiku rushes to her and sucks as much poison as he can, but the aftereffects are still there. After Sakon helps Azumi, he is made unconscious by him. When he wakes up he searches for her under a heavy rain. When the day breaks, he resumes the search and encounters Shunjirō and the people of many talents. They decide to split up and search. When Azumi reappears, Kiku is so overjoyed that he even sheds tears. He remembers his master's teaching, and the punishment that follows in case they show their emotions. Kiku cannot believe what she has done. At night, Azumi says that she was turned down by Shunjirō and wants Kiku to hug her. With Azumi in his arms, Kiku has the perfect chance to kill her. He tries with his knife but he cannot strike, thinking that if he did, she would disappear, something he does not want to happen since he loves her. He is incredibly frightened by the punishment he will receive for not doing it though, but Azumi calms him down. The next day they start their travel again together. He is invited to go with her to Tango to see Yae and he accepts. On the road he spots again his boss and goes to see him, telling Azumi the truth. The boss gives him only two choices: either kill her or return to the village and getting punished. His boss tries to persuade him with sweet words, but what he taught him gets back to him. Kiku stabs him and he dies. The next day they arrive at a checking station, but decide to ditch the highway. In the end, they come to a castle town. Due to the mental stress for having killed his boss, Kiku comes down with a high fever. After Azumi finds some samurai to whom she asks if they know a doctor, Kiku and her are sheltered in a samurai house. She starts feeling a little better and she is extremely happy that Azumi considers her her life saviour for having sucked the poison away after Genta's sneak attack. A little time after, she is kidnapped with Kennosuke's mother by some shinobi to be used as hostages to have Azumi stay quiet. While being kept as a hostage, they discover he is a man and Seiryū starts having lots of fun with him, ending up beating him to death and dumping him outside like a lump of trash.

KIKYŌDZUKA (桔梗塚 “bellflowers mound”): it is not clear if it is a village, a post town or else, but it is the location of the Kyūdai temple that Azumi must reach.

KIMONO (着物): the Japanese traditional garment worn by men, women and children. The word "kimono", which literally means a "thing to wear" has come to denote these full-length robes.

KINCHŪ NARABINI KUGE SHOHATTO (禁中並公家諸法度 lit. Acts for the Court and the Nobles): a code of laws and ordinances regarding the conduct of the Imperial Court and the court nobles.

KINKAKU (金角): “gold horn”. Ginkaku's elder brother. He is an outlaw like him. His name is derived from one of two demon king brothers appearing in the chinese novel Xī Yóu Jì (Journey to the West / Saiyūki). He dresses in a gaudy female kimono and he is the head of a group of outlaws.

He takes what he wants with force, doing even atrocities. Azumi picks up his interest, even more after she sees her killing the assassins in the post town. Not being able to forget her, he follows her with Ginkaku and two other men. Sadly, these two are killed by and exploding arrow from Dozō because they tried to block their way while running on horses. Kinkaku is really mad and would like to kill them, but they run away. With Ginkaku and other rōnin he arrives where Karasuma Tenzan lives. He meets again Azumi who was being taken by Shunjirō to meet Karasuma. He wants to have finally his way with her but Shunjirō is determined to save her. He makes Ginkaku duel with Shunjirō but Azumi makes him lose consciousness and avoids Ginkaku's blow, but this gives Kinkaku the chance to grab her. Kinkaku tries to rape her but Azumi points a kunai to his throat and he lets her go. He then retreats with his men. From Tenzan, Azumi and Shunjirō knows that Kinkaku and Ginkaku came to that land, became quickly the local rōnin bosses and went to him to ask for informations about guards and security because they want to go west. The same day, he and all the rōnin are invited by the Lord to the castle for a bujutsu tournament to select some men to be employed, and they go. They are walking into a trap by the local Lord to have them all killed together with the persons of many talents.They manage to flee by taking some hostages and arrive at Getsuan's temple. They are left there in charge by Azumi, but first they tie the hostages with ropes to the outside of the temple to use them as shields for bullets and arrows. They start a very hard battle and Ginkaku is pierced with spears and dies. This pisses Kinkaku off a lot who goes on a rampage but he is killed too.

KINOSHITA BAKIN (木下馬琴): a man who is said to be the number one master fencer in Takenobu castle town. Takenobu's closest friends do not think so. He is extremely skilled, and can do a particular stunt with the kodzuka without ever having trained. Takenobu wants him to show it to Azumi, and then that Azumi shows him the stunt with the tops. Bakin put her to test to see if what she is doing is just acrobatics or there is more behind it. He seems to have reached a conclusion: she should possess a high level of bujutsu. After Tōji is killed, Takenobu asks Bakin if, without having to fight, he could find out if Chiyozō could have been the one to kill him. He steals his katana and fight him bare handed for some moments. He apologises, but he only wanted to reprimend him for carrying the katana at his waist instead in his right hand, when inside the mansion. He reports to Takenobu, but he can not really say if Chiyozō could have killed their comrade without fighting him for real. After two of Jinza's men are killed, Bakin is asked by Takenobu to fight Chiyozō in a contest with wooden swords (and to break his dominant arm). While fighting, Chiyozō tries to open a path for Azumi to escape, but he fails, and when he tries to go after Takenobu, Bakin stops him. After it comes out that a group f black dressed men is responsible for all the murders, Takenobu orders him to have Azumi and Chiyozō stay at his home. Bakin has a step mother and had a wife who died of illness. From what we see, we can deduce that Bakin was adopted into the family through marriage. The time passes, he trains while Azumi and Chiyozō are with him and he uses methods to ascertain if Azumi is a master fencer or not and it looks like he now has enough proofs to back up his suspicions. By Takenobu's orders, Sayo is sent to his home to stay there from now on, because a woman can probe and see things about another woman that a man can not. While he is training he surprises and capture one of Hanzō's men. After Azumi wins against the foru Takenobu's elites, he quickly uses his sword to reveal the tattoos on the backs of Kyōgoku's attendants while they are in a meeting. After some events he is chosen by Takenobu as one of the elite warriors who will fight to protect the castle. He moves in with his old mother in law. He does his part when the castle is attacked but finds his death when trying to protect Kinu who rushed over the garden to check if her husband is really dead.

KINU (きぬ): Jōzan's wife. He has not a pretty face, and like Chiyozō, the first time people meet her they are scared. She is the typical housewife, incredibly kind and she does not hesitate to play with Kanta and the other children. It seems that she is the one having the most fun among them. On one night she goes outside to take in some laundry and she is cut by an intruder, who is killed by her husband. Her wound seems to be not as serious as it appeared at first. When she hears some men talking about her husband being dead in the garden, she rushes towards him. Bakin follows her and he dispatches some enemies who try to kill her, but he is killed in the process some moments after Kinu is, grieving over his dead husband's body.

KISABURŌ (樹三郎): could even be read Jusaburō. He is the third son of a samurai and a friend of Shunjirō. They have the same age. He trains with zeal at the dōjō. He is envious of Shunjirō knowing a grl like Azumi. Together with Shōjirō he is part of the plan to get rid of all the rōnin and the persons of many talents. When Azumi, Shunjirō and the others retreta to Getsuan's temple, he barges in with Shōjirō thinking they will accomplish a glorious deed, but they are disarmed by Azumi. They try to convince Shunjirō to snap out of it but to no avail. He is also tied at a pillar as a living shield outside Getsuan's temple, but Shōjirō manages to free himself and him too.

KISE RIVER (黄瀬川): a small river in the Suruga Province (today's Shizuoka Prefecture, Numazu City).

KISHŪ HOUSE OF TOKUGAWA: see Tokugawa Gosanke. Kishū was also known as Kii.

KITAMURA SAMON (北村左門): one of the Yagyū men supposed to have been sent by Tenkai to kill Grampa. He's killed by Azumi.

KITAIN (星野山無量寿寺喜多院SEIYASAN MURYŌSHUJI KITAIN): a Buddhist temple located in the city of Kawagoe in Saitama, Japan. It is noted for its main hall, which was part of the original Edo Castle, and the statues of 540 Rakan, disciples of the Buddha. See wikipedia for more information.

KITANOSHŌ CASTLE (北圧城): it was a hirashiro (castle located on a hill). Its remains are located in current-day Fukui, Fukui Prefecture. As the castle lasted merely eight years, few records survive about it. It is known, though that it was built by Shibata Katsuie in 1575. Also, it appears that the keep was nine stories high, making it the largest of the time. The castle was destroyed in 1583, when Katsuie and his wife, Oichi, perished in a fire that Katsuie had started after he had lost the Battle of Shizugatake and retreated there. A few stone foundations of the castle were uncovered in archaeological digs and are now open to the public.

KIYOMASA'S PROCESSION (清正の行列): when a feudal lord moved from a place to another, he was followed by his bodyguards, soldiers, some vassals and retainers, so it looked like a procession. It was nothing comparable to when they had to switch residences between the one in their hometown and the one in the capital once a year per shōgun orders, though. In those cases the procession counted many more people and was even a cunning method used by the shōgun to have his feudal lords spend a lot of money in the process, so that they could not have enough to eventually rise an army for a coupe.

KIZU RIVER (木津川): a tributary of the Yodo River. It runs through Kizu City south of Kyōto.

KOBAN (小判): was a Japanese oval gold coin in Edo period feudal Japan, equal to one ryō, another early Japanese monetary unit. It was a central part of Tokugawa coinage. The Keichō era koban, a gold piece, contained about one ryō of gold, so that koban carried a face value of one ryō. However, successive mintings of the koban had varying (usually diminishing) amounts of gold. As a result, the ryō as a unit of weight of gold and the ryō as the face value of the koban were no longer synonymous. The Japanese economy before the mid-19th century was based largely on rice. The standard unit of measure was the koku, the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year. Farmers made their tax payments of rice which eventually made its way into the coffers of the central government; and similarly, vassals were annually paid a specified koku of rice. The Portuguese who came to Japan in the 1550s, however, preferred gold to rice; and the koban, which was equal to three koku of rice, became the coin of choice in foreign trade. Some feudal lords began minting their own koban, but the value was debased with alloys of varying gold content. Edo authorities issued one currency reform after another and just about all of them debased the koban further. Additionally, counterfeit koban circulated after each reform, their value slightly less than that of the then current koban. By the time of Commodore Matthew C. Perry's visit in 1853, counterfeit koban from previous eras were preferred by merchants to the newer variants. The fraudulent older pieces were more valuable than newly minted koban. With the Meiji Restoration in 1868 a new series of coins was ordered based on European currency systems and the koban was discontinued

KOBORI SHIGEMASA (小堀重政): one of the two former chief retainers who are plotting with Date and ten sniboi chiefs to capsize the shogunate and who Tenkai wants Azumi and her group to prune. He has two bodyguards with him. Hatsune and Kagari will kill him, using a plan they have already employed other times. Basically, Hatsune will feign to be chased by a moneylander bodyguard (Kagari) and ask him for protection, seduce him and kill him while in bed. Her plan is ruined due to Kobori being a real pervert, having his guards always present while he “plays” with her. He talks about Hatsune to Abe and the others and they devise a plan. Returned to the inn, he makes her leave and makes her follow by two of the shinobi chiefs. After Hatsune escapes, he finds her before his eyes. She wants to kill him and he accepts to face her. Due to her bad conditions and a shuriken in her back, Kobori easily and cruelly kills her. After some events he tries with Katagiri to convince Musashi to go face Azumi, but he declines. After taking a bath, he talks with Musashi in the outside garden, as a way to lure Azumi outside in case she is around and so have her and Musashi fight. Azumi indeed appears. Kobori asks Musashi to kill her, but he demands to have a match with her. She refuses and Kobori is killed without Musashi defending him.

KOCHŌ (小蝶): one of the four disciples accompanying Kōsaka, and the only female. He is Tōta's older sister. While dining on the beach with what she and his comrades catched in the sea, Azumi arrives. She eats with them and then go back. They tail her discovering where she lodges and decide to inform their Master. They are allowed inside the temple during the assault meeting. After that, they take part in the inn attack but they have a minor role with their Master. Seeing that no enemies are coming on the road they are watching, they go to the inn just to find out that everyone has been killed. While asleep in the temple, she and his brother feel the presence of an intruder. They chase Kagari and face him, running away almost immediately to call the other because he is too strong for them. This in truth is a trap and they tail him to find Azumi's group new lodging. Kochō takes part with his Master and the others in the new assault and confront Azumi. She manages to blind Hyōsuke but Azumi easily deals with them without killing them and she escapes with Hyōsuke. While keeping watch at the new location, Kochō and his brother spot Kagari who came out thinking that there was no one around and was weeping on Hatsune's dead body. They both face him and kill him. After seeing Azumi and Hyōsuke coming back, she tries to persuade Moichi to not attack them and to report to their Master. After he arrives they attack Azumi together. Kochō can't do very much before his Master is killed. With her comrades, she is persuaded by Katagiri to not pursue revenge for their Master, and moments later, Azumi storms into the room killing Katagiri himself. Noticing that Azumi is just doing her job they think that it is illogical to resent her and go to the temple where she resides to tell her that. While she is talking to them about her past, Moichi tries to suddenly strike at her from behind, but Azumi, without even thinking, pierces him with the short side of her two-sided sword. During the last fight, she and her comrades watch Azumi and Tobizaru in action. After Azumi wins and Tobizaru is seriously wounded, she lends her their cart to carry him.

KODZUKA (小柄): a small knife attached to the sheath of a sword, as you can see when Bakin uses it for his stunt.

KŌGA NINJA (甲賀忍者): see Iga Ninja.

KOGENTA (小源太): Kanbee's name when he was a child.

KOHYŌTA (小兵太): a small child living in the Ono residence, taking sword lessons. He is the son of an old friend of Tadaaki. After his father died in battle, Tadaaki took him in. He becomes friends with Azumi immediately and warns her about Matsui and Mitsugu's strategies to make women fall in love. The next day, there is no more space in the guest house so Kohyōta suggests that Azumi is put to sleep in his room, and so it is decided. He is really excited by Matsui in Mitsugu's great deed and he wants to quickly grow up to be like them. The next day Matsui and Mitsugu are going to do a hunting ground preliminary inspection. They were told to take him along too and he immediately asks for Azumi to come with them too. Rintarō approves. The inspection goes without problems and Kohyōta has a lot of fun. When Honda Masazumi recognises Kanbee at Ono's mansion, Kohyōta's world changes. He sees Kanbee get his arms broken by Rintarō, banned from his house and Azumi goes away too. He also knows but do not understand why Azumi and his senpais have to fight to the death. Ono takes him with him to the duel place and he sees the persons he likes so much killing each other, with Azumi going away after winning.

KOKESHI (こけし): they are Japanese dolls, originally from northern Japan. They are handmade from wood, have a simple trunk and an enlarged head with a few thin, painted lines to define the face. The body has a floral design painted in red, black, and sometimes yellow, and covered with a layer of wax. One characteristic of kokeshi dolls is their lack of arms or legs. The bottom is marked with the signature of the artist. The origin and naming of kokeshi is unclear, with historical ateji (literally "assigned characters", primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters) spellings including 小芥子, 木牌子, 木形子, and 木芥子. The hiragana spelling こけし was agreed on at the All-Japan Kokeshi Exhibition (全国こけし大会) at Naruko Onsen in August 1939. A plausible theory is that "kokeshi" is derived from wooden (木ki, ko) or small (小ko), and dolls (芥子keshi). Kokeshi were first produced by kijishi (木地師), artisans proficient with a potter's wheel, at the Shinchi Shuraku, near the Tōgatta Onsen in Zaō from where kokeshi making techniques spread to other spa areas in the Tōhoku Region. It is said that these dolls were originally made during the middle of the Edo period (1600–1868) to be sold to people who were visiting the hot springs in the north-east of the country. "Traditional" kokeshi (伝統こけしdentō-kokeshi) dolls' shapes and patterns are particular to a certain area and are classified under eleven types. The most dominant type is the Naruko variety originally made in Miyagi Prefecture, which can also be found in Akita, Iwate, and Yamagata Prefectures. The main street of the Naruko Onsen Village is known as Kokeshi Street and has shops which are operated directly by the kokeshi carvers. "Creative" kokeshi (新型こけしshingata-kokeshi) allow the artist complete freedom in terms of shape, design and color and were developed after World War II (1945). They are not particular to a specific region of Japan and generally creative kokeshi artists are found in cities. The woods used for kokeshi vary, with cherry used for its darkness and dogwood for its softer qualities. Itaya-kaede, a Japanese maple, is also used in the creation of both traditional and creative dolls. The wood is left outdoors to season for one to five years before it can be used.

KOKU (刻): an archaic period of time, usual a period of approx two hours corresponding to one of the signs of the Chinese zodiac.

KOKU (石or石高): it is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku (尺a traditional unit of measure used in East Asia with a length approximately equal to a foot). In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year (one masu,[枡升, originally a square wooden box used to measure rice typically covering the range from one to (一斗枡ittomasu, c. 18L) to one gō (一合枡 ichigōmasu, c. 0.18L) is enough rice to feed a person for one day]. A koku of rice weighs about 150 kilograms (23.6 stone or 330 pounds). In 1891, a smaller koku was defined such that one koku equalled exactly 240100⁄1331 litres, which is approximately 180.39 litres, or about 5 bushels (40 imperial or 48 US gallons). During the Edo period (1603-1868) of Japanese history, each han (fiefdom) had an assessment of its wealth, and the koku was the unit of measurement. The smallest han was 10,000 koku and Kaga han, the largest (other than that of the Shogun), was called the "million-koku domain". (Its holdings totaled around 1,025,000 koku.) Many samurai, including hatamoto (upper vassals of the Tokugawa house), received stipends in koku, while a few received salaries instead. In the Tōhoku and Hokkaidō domains, where rice could not be grown, the economy was still measured in koku but was not adjusted from year to year. Thus some han had larger economies than their koku indicated, which allowed them to fund development projects. Koku was also used to measure how much a ship could carry when all its loads were rice. Smaller ships carried 50 koku (7.5 t) while the biggest ships carried over 1,000 koku (150t). The biggest ships were actually larger than military vessels owned by the Shogunate. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), Japanese units such as the koku were abolished and the metric system was installed. The Hyakumangoku Matsuri (Million-Koku Festival) in Kanazawa, Japan celebrates the arrival of Lord Maeda Toshiie into the city in 1583, although the Maeda's income was not actually raised to over a millionkoku until after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600. The koku unit is still commonly used in the lumber industry in Japan.

KOMORO (こもろ): one of the ten chosen children raised up by Grampa. During the trial he fights against Amagi and dies.

KOMUSŌ (虚無僧): was a Japanese mendicant monk of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism, during the Edo period of 1600-1868. Komusō were characterised by the straw basket (a sedge or reed hood named a tengai) worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego. They are also known for playing solo pieces on the shakuhachi (a type of Japanese bamboo flute). These pieces, called honkyoku ("original pieces") were played during a meditative practice called suizen, for alms, as a method of attaining enlightenment, and as a healing modality. The Japanese government introduced reforms after the Edo period, abolishing the Fuke sect. Records of the musical repertoire survived, and are being revived in the 21st century.

KONCHIIN SŪDEN (金地院崇伝, also known as Ishin Sūden, 1569-1633): he was a Zen Rinzai monk and advisor to Tokugawa Ieyasu, and later to Tokugawa Hidetad and Iemitsu on religious matters and foreign affairs. He played a significant role in the initial development of the Tokugawa shogunate. Sūden oversaw the administration of Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples in the country alongside Itakura Katsushige, and was involved in a great many diplomatic affairs along with advisors Hayashi Razan and Honda Masazumi. Sūden made his home at the Konchiin temple he founded in Sunpu, and founded another one by the same name in Edo in 1618. He was abbot of Nanzenji in Kyoto. Sūden played an important role in negotiations with the Chinese Ming court over the reopening of trade and the problem of piracy. Sūden was also involved in communications with the Spanish authorities in Manila and with the Kingdom of Siam. He was instrumental in organizing and receiving Korean embassies to Japan. He drafted a great many communications during this period, some of the more notable ones being rejections of the notion that the shōgun should be referred to as a "king" (王, ō), as this would imply subordination to the Emperor of China and tributary status within the Sinocentric world order. Among his other works was the draft in 1615 of the Buke shohatto, which he then read at an assembly of daimyō at Fushimi, and the draft of the edict banning Christianity in the previous year. In 1616, he oversaw the funeral services for Tokugawa Ieyasu, along with priests Tenkai and Bonshun. Sūden compiled all the diplomatic records of his period of service into the Ikoku nikki (Chronicle of Foreign Countries). He authored the Honkō kokushi nikki (Chronicles of Master Honkō), both of which remain valuable primary sources on the nature of diplomacy of the time, and on specific events. In “Azumi” it is still not clear if he is the mastermind behind Kunichiyo's abduction or if it is something plotted by one of his disciples. It looks like that between Konchiin and Tenkai there is some discord, so Kyōgoku is trying to make something happen in the western fief, probably to eliminate him. After Sadamaro survives and returns to Konchiin side, we discover that he wanted to disgrace Tenkai by making him fail in the rescue plan. Sūden himself did not know anything about all of this. He is quite angered that Sadamaro lost so many Emperor's guards in the process but he is also happy to see his disciple alive and forgives him. Later he uses Shioji, the Fūma clan leader, to try to kill Azumi but she fails. He then turns to Kyōgoku asking to do a very big job for him in Kai. When Tadanaga and Iemitsu arrives, Konchiin goes to Kai too with Munenori. They travel in secrets, as representatives of Tokugawa Yoshinao and Tokugawa Yorinobu. Konchiin plan is to split the country in two with Tadanaga as shōgun of the west part at Ōsaka. When the matter at Tsutsujigasaki mansion is settled, Konchiin and Munenori notice that it ended in a failure. Konchiin does not hesitate do feign ignorance in Iemitsu's presence and to even doubt Kyōgoku's identity as an imperial court envoy.

KONISHI SHIZUNE (小西静音): a handsome man of mixed descent who preaches the Bible teachings to the masses in a secret place of the snow country. His name could mean “calm sound”, and can be a female name too. He lives in a secluded place behind a ravine. The two sides are connected by a narrow log bridge he only can cross, until he meets Azumi there and gets charmed by her. The following night he manages to find her out and go on a boat ride with her. He sees through her lies and predicts she will be losing her life in those lands. The day when the castle gets "opened" he saves a man from a vassal who was going to cut him down and he is injured. He says to forgive him, because, they all know that wounds like that on him disappears in one night without leaving a trace. He is the son of God, after all. And indeed, the next day, when Azumi sews his sleeve, he has no wound on his arm. Shizune is manipulating the population, Shunjirō and Gensai with the help of his twin to have them clash against the castle samurais to enjoy the killing from afar. After reveiling his plans to Shunjirō, he shots him in the belly and then goes back home. He manages to capture Azumi and with his sister starts the process of transforming her into a human animal. Since his wetnurse is not needed anymore, he kills her in a cruel game with the help of his sister. He carelessly sets off to Kazunogahara with Tadane, leaving Azumi unattended and Gacchi frees her. After Tadane dies, he decides to carry on with his plan and make some men fils with oil some parts of the gold mine tunnels, planning to lure the people in there and then to blow up the exit. Azumi stops him after he appears at the gold mine in front of the survived people and she kills him, after he tries to win her over his cause with a speech.

KONISHI TADANE (小西忠音): Shizune's twin, probably his sister, since Tadane is a female name. After the battle at Kazunogahara she comes back to her house with Shizune and does not find Azumi where they left her. They decide to go to the gold mine to put in motion their final scheme, but after she crosses the valley Azumi arrives, and while fleeing back on the log she gets hit in the back by a kunai. She loses her footing but grabs onto the log for a bit and then dies falling down into the valley while Shizune sees everything from afar.

KOROKU (小六): one of Jinza's men, disguised as an itinerant street performer with the task of keeping watch on Azumi. He gets brutally killed by an unknown enemy.

KOTE (小手): the forearms, or gauntlets, specifically designed for Kendō. One of the few places you can strike to earn one point.

KŌSAKA GUNJI (向坂郡司): one of the ten shinobi chiefs that Azumi and her group have to prune by Tenkai's orders. He travels with four disciples, disguised as a street performers troupe. He seems to be well acquainted with Kurokawa. He really looks up to Abe Kurando and he is delighted to be able to meet him. His four disciples meet Azumi by chance and informs him of her whereabouts. He arrives to inform Abe right when he was starting to put Hatsune to shame. He is assigned with his disciples to the inn attack group. Their role is to keep in check the most probable road their enemy will take to flee. Seeing that no enemy is fleeing he thinks that maybe his comrades have killed all the enmies and with his disciples goes to check, just to find that Yamanaka and Shiraishi have been killed. When he hears Date saying that he wants to quit the plan, he manages to persuade him to rethink his words. His disciples manage to discover even the new lodging site of Azumi group and he takes part in the new attack. After Azumi's group escapes he goes back, leaving his disciples to watch the situation. When he comes back he discovers that Azumi came back and that Kochō and Tōta killed an enemy (Kagari). Moichi wants to attack Azumi since she is alone and Kōsaka thinks that it can't be helped and gets along. They strike in five against her but he is the only one to be killed.

KŌSHŪ WAY (甲州街道, Kōshū Kaidō): it was one of the five routes (五街道Gokaidō) of the Edo period and it was built to connect Edo (modern-day Tokyo) with Kai Province in modern-day Yamanashi Prefecture. The route continues from there to connect with the Nakasendō's Shimosuwashuku in Nagano Prefecture. Many feudal lords from Shinano Province made use of the road during sankin kōtai, including those from the Takatō Domain, Suwa Domain and Iida Domain. The Kōshū Kaidō's route is followed closely by the modern Route 20.

KŌDZUKI KAZUMA (上月数馬): an acquaintance of Ogata and his men. He sees them getting killed hidden in the bushes. He then tries to seduce Azumi during a night festival but he is turned down. After Grampa goes to Sunpu castle he is the one ordered to inform Azumi about what happened and where they are escorting him by giving her a map. After Grampa dies, his new role given to him by Munenori is to inform her that Grampa was killed by shōgun's decree. He is fed up with such an unpleasant role. Because he fails to pursue her, he is beaten alot by Shinsuke during “training”.

KUCHIKI ISSHIN (朽木一心): a former retainer of Sanada Yukimura. Konchiin information network scouts him as the most suitable man for the plan he has in mind. After the interview, Konchiin employs him. Isshin is a big, tall man with a big long katana at his waist, a type of katana said to be able to bisect a horse in two. When he returns to the inn his cheerful wife run towards him, eager to guess if he received the job or not. He failed so many times that she will not be disappointed any more. She guesses almost correctly: after carrying out a duty in Kai, Konchiin wil make him the favor to employ him. He have to move immediately in the temple, but first he wants to walk around the lively castle town area. The twos pass by Azumi, Fukushima's men and Makita's envoys. Kuchiki has received some money from Konchiin and takes Yukino, his wife, to eat a Kai specialty in a super fancy establishment. He has never ever eaten such delicious abalones before. He does not know that, after he will have carried out his role to kill Iemitsu he will be killed too. When the plan is set in motion he does his part at the mansion and then goes to search for Iemitsu. He instead finds Yamazaki and Yasauhara. He engages the first, killing him, and when he is ready to fight Yasuhara too, suddenly Fukushima comes out from hiding, ready to fight. Iemitsu comes out too and Kuchiki confirms that he is really him. The moment he steps outside to fight, Azumi arrives behind him.

KUMAMOTO (熊本): a city located on the island of Kyūshū, Higo Province (肥後国). Today it's the capital of Kumamoto Prefecture.

KUNAI (苦無): ninja throwing knives.

KUNOICHI (くノ一): a female ninja. The name could come from the character strokes for “woman” (女). They were masters of disguise, very well versed in the use of poisons and in the art of seduction.

KURAISHI SAKON (倉石左近): a Yagyū Shinkageryū disciple. He is on Azumi's tracks with Jōjirō and Shinsuke. He also watches her fight on the bridge while she protects the persons of many talents. Onoha's Mitsugu and Matsui were his old rivals. He should have been the one defeating them but Azumi killed them before he could. That is what he says to her after she is finished with killing the groups of assassins on the bridge, then he leaves. He later enters the same tea house as Kiku and Azumi to fill his sake gourd. He realises immediately Kiku is a man. That day, he only wanted to see Azumi up close and goes away. While lying with a prostitute he thinks about doing it with Azumi. Jōjirō and Shinsuke, after having been scolded by Munenori, run to him to press him for killing Azumi, but he replies he will kill her after sleeping with her. Jōjirō and Shinsuke decide to take the matter in their hands and devise a strategy without Sakon knowing about it. When he is informed, he rushes to the river stopping midway coughing up blood. He arrives at the river and gets himself between Azumi and Jōjirō, cutting him down since he did not stop and tried to attack him too. Heeven threatens Shinsuke. He helps Azumi coming out from the river and makes Kiku and Genta loose consciousness. he then grabs Azumi and carries her to a lodge where to nurse her. He tries to have his way with her, but he desists. Thinking about the situation, he hides Azumi under the floor and waits for the search party to come. He is surprised that Munenori came in person. He tries to deceive him telling that Azumi escaped on her own as soon as they arrived while he was in the toilet. Her poison was light. He apologises for killing Jōjirō too explaining his reasons. Munenori has the place searched. When he asks one of his men to stab the floor under where Sakon is, he interferes. Munenori does it himself and one of the axes comes off, revealing Azumi's hiding place, but she is not there. Sakon interferes again and Munenori strikes him, but he grabs the blade of his katana with bare hands, coughing blood too. Seeing that he has not much longer to live and listening to his reasons, Munenori let it slide and resumes the search, even outside. On morning, Sakon searches too, but he can not find her. He continues to look for Azumi's hiding place, to no avail. The hut where Azumi is, is difficult to see to the bamboo grove. He goes away, but the next day returns and due to the different amount of light, he spots the hut. He starts coughing a lot on the way and Shunjirō, who was returning to the hut, helps him...Some moments later he tries to kill him

stealing one of his swords, but Sakon cuts him down. Sakon founds no one inside the hut and goes away. After the events with Shunjirō he spots Azumi on the highway again and follows her to Kyō. For a twist of fate, Sakon comes to Yae's establishment and buys her for the night because she reminds him of Azumi. While thinking about Azumi, his condition and so on he then decides to slip out in secret with Yae and hit the town. They go around, eat noodles and he even buys an hair ornament for her. The next day Sakon is informed that Nishida has taken Azumi to a temple. Walking away he notices Yae on a boat entertaining a wealthy merchant. That night, Sakon buys her again. While talking, he finds that Yae is Azumi's friend and he reveals he is also one of the assassins contracted to kill her. Sakon reveals that the search party always knows where Azumi is, so if she wants to see her she can write a letter and he will let her have it. Sakon goes to see Azumi at the temple where she is sheltered and they talk about Yae. She will meet Azumi at bridge the next day or wait for her every morning at a certain hour, if she can not come. After staying the night with Yae he says he is searching for a residence at Gojō. On another day, when Azumi and Yae are surrounded by assassins, he takes care of Yae for Azumi, while she flees away. The next day he is tailed by Azumi and he tells her the brothel in which Yae is. Yae manages to have him tell her where he lodges and she runs away from the brothel to go to him, where she finds out of his illness. She decides to stay with him nonetheless. While with her, he receives a report from one of his underlings telling him the latest about Azumi. He sets off to meet her telling Yae to return to the brothel, but she follows him secretely instead. He finds Azumi and offers her part of the dinner Yae bought for him, while Yae sees and listen to everything they say each other behind some bushes. She asks Sakon if he has something he lives for and he replies that it is the sword. After talking to Azumi she realizes she has a lot in common with him, and even his suggestion, to die together, does not sound that bad to her. Meanwhile, Yae is very furious and jealous. Sakon loves Azumi. After Azumi and Yae fight, he goes to where Yae lives to meet her and while he is there he gives a lot of money to partially pay Yae's debts to the place owners. When Tenkai goes to the Emperor, he notices that Azumi is riding in the same palanquin, and realizes he is probably not going to have his match with her. He has been left behind. He goes to help Azumi when Yae is taken hostage killing some of the rifle squad members and one of the hatamotos. After everything is settled, Sakon manages to get a duel with Azumi and dies by her hands.

KURAJIRŌ (倉次郎): one of the Shimotani children. He tries a pass on Azumi the first time she visits the village. The second time he's forced to fight her and dies by her hand.

KURISUKE (栗助): one of the bosses of the rōnin group in the snow country. “Kuri” means “chestnut”, a fitting name for his very small stature. He seems to go pretty well along with Miki. He is dispatched by Azumi while trying to rape, and then kill her, at the secret hot springs where she was with Shunjirō.

KURODA TAKETORA (黒田武虎): one of the bosses of the rōnin group in the snow country. He does not hesitate to threaten the poor farmers while they are fighting against the castle samurai and at Kazunogahara. Those who do not follow the orders in battle, are shoot from behind, he says. He is killed by Azumi while she is sliding down the path that takes to the cannons on a side of the mountains at the border.

KUROKAWA GENGO (黒川源吾): one of the ten sniboi chiefs who, with Date and other two former chief retainers, are plotting to capsize the shogunate and who Tenkai wants Azumi and her group to prune. He does not know that he is being targeted but Ikeda Tōnai informs him. A few moments later, Azumi and Tobizaru appear. He takes an hostage and has Tobizaru and Azumi retreat. Some time later he is assigned by Abe to the attack group for assaulting the inn where Azumi and the others reside. He does not take active part in the attack but when his comrades are all killed he tails Azumi, Tobizaru and Hyōsuke, who spots him in the dark. Azumi stops and confronts him but he throws down on his knees pleading for his life saying that he will persuade Date to not cause a rebellion. When Azumi gets near him he suddenly tries to hit her with a poisoned dart but she evades it and Kurokawa is killed by her sword.

KUSA (草): “grass”, but it was also used back then as another word for “ninja”.

KUSAZŌ (草蔵): one of the last men who uses exploding arrows and accompanies Mōzō. After Azumi kills Ishizō and she comes out she rushes towards him. He fires too late and he is killed, while his arrow is caught by Azumi.

KYŌ (京): the old name of present day Kyōto, Japan's capital in the days of Azumi's story. See wikipedia for more information about this breathtaking city.

KYŌGOKU SADAMARO (京極貞麻呂): an envoy from the Imperial Court and the man secretely in charge of the Genbu troops. He is following the plan from Konchiin and tries to earn that western fief support in the imminent battle against Tenkai. His faith in Konchiin is more than great, he manipulates with words his men, making them believe that since their mission comes from the noble Konchiin, everyone of them that dies or kill someone is doing it for justice. Every soul that dies for the mission, being it theirs or their enemies' receives salvation and go to paradise. He does not hesitate to set examples, nor to ask his men for proof of their faith, like when he asks Toppei to kill/save a little child to prove him that when the time to kill Azumi will come, he could even kill the children she spend the time with. He makes him kill a child outside the temple. After Takenobu face to face with Azumi, he asks Sadamaro to come for a meeting. His men's backs are exposed and Genbu tattoo is found, but he dismesses the matther saying that his men guards the northern district of the Imperial Court, that the Genbu tattoo is proof of determination and that it is not so strange. He then says very clearly that who is trying to suppress the fief is Tenkai. It is all his scheme. He then invites Takenobu to ponder very well who his real ally is. Thinking to receive a positive reply from Takenobu (to negotiate with them, the Imperial Court), he hears Takenobu say that he will negotiate instead with Azumi and Tenkai. He tries to make him weaver revealing who Azumi really is, but Takenobu does not change his mind. After Shion delivers a secret message to Kunichiyo, the next day he and his men are summoned by him. While Shion and the others are in audience, he asks Takenobu to lend him a room where to speak with Azumi in private. He complies and Sadamaro sets his plan to kill Azumi in motion, but he fails. He must leave his temple by Takenobu orders, but he seems to have another plan in mind. Everything is to please his revered Konchiin Sūden. His plan is to make Shion and the others kill Kunichiyo to have then Tenkai shoulder the blame and disgrace him, but the plan fails thanks to Azumi efforts. He suddenly finds her and Chiyozō in the temple where he lodges and, after some running away, the only place he finds to hide is inside the privy sewage. After the danger has passed he survives and manages to go back to Konchiin. It comes out that everything was his own plan, but Sūden forgives him. Now Sadamaro is scheming somethng to take out Azumi and suggests to Munenori to cooperate, since their goal is the same. They plan to ambush her before she enters the Man'yūji but Azumi survives again. He then is given as helper to Shioji, but he does not have the chance to do anything at all and after Shioji fails he is called back to one of the temple where Konchiin is. He is tasked with a big duty to do in Kai by him, and he is incredibly happy for his new task, to see how much Konchiin trusts him. He the goes to Kai to meet with Tadanaga. He says that he will always be his friend, wherever he will be. He brings good news to Tadanaga, and Fukushima basically confirms what they are trying to do. When Azumi is walking inside Kai castle going to Iemitsu, Kyōgoku meets her in one of the corridors. He has some remarks towards her about the outfit she wears. She can not reply but only prostrate, due to Makita and other persons there too. Kyōgoku is helping Konchiin who plans is to split the country in two with Tadanaga as shōgun of the west part at Ōsaka. But they have also another plan: to poison Iemitsu to death. Tadanaga is very hesitant, but then Kyōgoku states that what they want to do is having Iemitsu sicked for a long time so that he is not deemed suitable to be the next shōgun. They do not plan to kill him, he was only testing Tadanaga's resolve. The real plan is to have Fukushima asks Makita to let him stay for a few days at Tsutsujigasaki Mansion and convince him to hold a big farewell banquet, because he will return to Aki and leave Iemitsu and Tadanaga there. Fukushima will believe that Kyōgoku will come with envoys from Yoshinao and Yorinobu and that the country will be split in two parts with Tadanaga as the west shōgun. He does not know that the envoys are fakes, and Kyōgoku's men, who will kill all the presents, after Kyōgoku and Tadanaga have slipped out. Fukushima and his men will be accused of Iemitsu's death. Kyōgoku is informed by one of his men that Man has been rescued. He is not pleased by this. Konchiin asks him if everything is going smoothly and he lies. He is overjoyed to hear that Konchiin will grant him one of his wishes if he succeeds in the mission. He must think about how to not let Azumi come to the mansion, at least at the time the secret meeting will take place...and the next day, speking with Fukushima's retainers at Tsutsujigasaki mansion, he finds out that Azumi has been invited by Iemitsu-sama at the banquet. He must not let her come, at all costs and he devises a plan. When Iemitsu feels bad, Tadanaga sneaks out of the mansion with Kyōgoku and is informed that Azumi is arriving. They have a plan though. Tadanaga returns to the castle and convinces Makita that there is a cospiration going on at the mansion, and Azumi could be part of that too. He asks Makita's men to bring her immedately to the castle, and if she does not obey, to kill her. When Azumi arrives at the mansion, a notice from Kyōgoku arrives saying that he will take the woman (Man) again and those who will obstruct him will be shot down. It is all a lie to have Azumi go away from the mansion and have her find Makita's men at the temple. His plan succeeds. After all the gunshots are heard, Makita, Konchiin and Munenori rush to the mansion. Kyōgoku is already there and is surprised that his plan failed. He is arrested on Iemitsu's orders. He tries to blame everything on Azumi and even appeals to Konchiin who does not hesitate do feign ignorance in Iemitsu's presence and to even doubt Kyōgoku's identity as an imperial court envoy. Kyōgoku is completely lost, after all he has done for Konchiin he is treted in that way. Before he can say anything inconvenient, Munenori orders one of his men to stab him from behind. Cornered, Kyōgoku panics and start menacing and attacking the soldiers around him. Makita orders to kill him if he resists and his men wounds him pretty badly. Then, Azumi, shows up before him and mercifully kills him.

KYŪDAIJI (久台寺): a temple in Kikyōdzuka where Azumi is asked to come alone by Kanō.

M

MAKITA TANOMO (巻田頼母): the castle keeper's chief retainer of Kai. He is in a dire situation: the shōgun sons are coming there; Fukushima Masanori is coming too as their escort; three of his retainers have already arrived from Aki. Moreover, Tenkai sent a notice saying to be hospitable to Azumi and to not hindrance her actions in any way. Makita can not sleep well at night, not only due to the heat. Something terrible will happen if any careless mistakes are made in welcoming, receiving and serving all those guests. By his own will, thinking to make Tadanaga happy, he asks his men to bring the new Lord's lover in his private room to surprise him. His men then ask, to be sure, if they have to bring Man and Makita replies that he does not know who she is and that Tadanaga's lover is Azumi. Sadly, the greetings session takes so long that Azumi goes back and Tadanaga is so bored that he returns to his room in the middle of the ceremony, finding Kyōgoku in it instead of her. Makita keeps doing his role the best he can. He even joins Fukushima in drinking sake and making a fool of himself completely drunk.

MAN (万, “ten thousand”): a girl who is searching for Gōzan. She is the only daughter of a fencing dōjō owner. The dōjō has four disciples and she was planning to marry one of them to have the dōjō business go on, but one of them quarrelled with Gōzan downtown and lost badly. After finding Gōzan she asked him for a match against her big four to retrieve the lost honor, but they all lost. She then settled on marrying him and asked him to sleep with her. However, Gōzan ran away and now he is accompaning Azumi to Kai on Tenkai's orders. Man tries to do anything to bring him back and marry him, but it seems that she is not successful. She decides to follow him, until she is sure she has a descendant resting inside her...Man has a very pure sense of directions so she always bring Shibatayama with her to show the way. She also has very stiff shoulders, and Kawata's role is to massage her. Those two also do her laundry. At night, she goes to find Gōzan in bed and while she is with him he drives away Kichiza. The next day Man wants to talk to him and has Shibatayama show her the way. On route she overhears a bit of conversation between him and Azumi. She misunderstands, but Shibatayama manages to make her reason. During the travel though she becomes more and more jealous of Azumi and she flees on her horse. Shioji is informed that she is coming in their direction and asks one of her men to capture her alive. The man unsaddles her and make her loose consciousness, but the blow he deals to her is light and Man comes to and defeats him with kendō moves and other dirty tactics. She then wonders off and get lost in the forest. She finds a house, where a man lives in and asks him to take her to the Tendai sect temple near there. The man agrees only if she will have sex with him and she is assaulted, but Man keeps him at bay very well. She promise him she will let him fondle her breasts after he takes her to a Tendai sect temple. Funzuri agrees but when they arrive he is not sure if it is a Tendai sect temple or not, so Man tells him to bear it with just looking at her breasts. She then leaves and some monks of that temple take her to the only Tendai one near there, where she finds Azumi and the others. After she rejoins, the party travels to Kai. The men coming to welcome Azumi mistakes Man for her, because she is on horse and they though that Azumi was a noble, being vouched by Tenkai and all. Azumi later will tell those man a lie: Man is not only the heir of a fencing school, but also Tadanaga's lover. The next day she goes with Azumi and Gōzan to the nearby village. After she sees that Gōzan craves for Mochis, she once again lures him in playing with her breasts and, again, invites him to sleep with her and give her a child, even if he does not want to marry her. She is very determined, but she is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Kawata and Shibatayama....When Fukushima's retainers come to ask Azumi to follow her to their Lord's lodgings, Gōzan goes with her and leave Man and the others alone. While they are away, Man is kidnapped. She is somewhere under Kyōgoku's men custody. She knows that they will try to rape her and she asks her father to forgive her for not having been able to give him the successor he wanted. She is not pregnat of Gōzan so if those men will rape her she will kill herself, together with the successor his father so much desired. Truly an unfilial daughter. Man endures and finally Gōzan comes to rescue her and they flee together, riding on Mon. Returned to their temple in the morning Man suddenly feels sick. After some inquiries by Otaccha they found out that she is pregnant from the very first time he met Gōzan. After Gōzan is broght back dead from Tsutsujigasaki mansion she cries a whole lifetime of tears. She says goodbye to Azumi, bringing back with her Gōzan's ashes and saying that she will rise his child as a strong successor for her dōjō. She also takes Mon with her.

MANSAKU (万作, “witch hazel”): a little kid living in Otaccha's village. Teru is his older sister. He goes pretty well along with Man and Azumi and for this motive he is taken hostage by Iwane's men and tied at a cart in the middle of a river together with Otaccha. He is saved by Azumi.

MANTARŌ (満太郎): could be read Michitarō or Mitsutarō too. He is a young man whose father and little sister were killed by Bishamonten. He tries to get revenge alone but he is easily killed on the spot.

MAN'YŪJI (万融寺): a convent under Oeyo's supervision where Azumi is invited to see the beautiful flowers blooming while having a banquet.

MARI (麻理): a little child living in the hidden village in Azumino area. In the original text, Azumi does not know how it is written and calls her まり. Being a village of christians it is needless to say where it comes from. She is Ria's older sister. She wants Azumi to stay there with them forever.

MATASABURŌ (又三郎): one of the men with the Genbu tattoo who attacked Azumi. His friend had the duty to witness everything and report back. Because he cried instead of being happy for his friend's departure for paradise, he was killed as an infidel.

MATSUI RINTARŌ (松井凜太郎): one of the two Mikogami leading disciples. While walking on a street with his teacher and fellow disciple/rival Kyōsuke he almost starts a fight with Jōjirō, one of Munenori's men, but he is interrupted by Azumi suddenly blowing her reed pipe. He passes him by, and then Rintarō asks her why she blew the reed pipe. She replied that he was so focused to draw his sword that he woud have stepped into the water at his feet without even realizing it and would have fallen down. His favorite technique for making women fall for him is to quickly get close to them and look in their eyes saying something cool. The next day Azumi arrives, while on guard duty with Matsui he saves Ieyasu's life from an assassination attempt. It was the first time he killed men and the effects show up not much time later in his attitude with a prostitute. The next day he goes on a preliminary inspection with Matsui, Kohyōta and Azumi on the next falconry ground Ieyasu is going to visit. During lunch break, he asks her a lot of questions. After Kanbee's identity is revealed and he breaks his arms as punishment during a wooden sword match, Azumi decides to kill Ieyasu. She comes back to Ono's mansion to reveal her identity, and the next day she carries out her missions, while Kyōsuke and Rintarō fall into a pond and are hindranced by Tobizaru. Having failed their bodyguard duty and asked Azumi over and over to fight them and telling her the place of the duel, they run directly to their Master to inform him of what happened. They then go to the duel place and are killed by Azumi.

MAYUMI SHIGETAKE (真弓重岳): Shin'ichirō and Shunjirō's father. He is involved with helping the local Lord in his plan to get rid of the gangs of rōnin and the “persons of many talents”. He is against Shunjirō's way of living and thinking. When he arrives at Getsuan temple and finds his son pointing a katana to their Lord's neck, he does not believe what he sees. Then, he tries to convince him to let him go, and to be killed by him, before all their family will have to do seppuku, but Shunjirō manages to get away with Azumi and the others. He will later die by the Lords' order with his family.

MAYUMI SHIN'ICHIRŌ (真弓慎一郎): Shunjirō's older brother and the Mayumi household future heir. He is involved with his father in helping the local Lord in his plan to get rid of the gangs of rōnin and the “persons of many talents”. He follows his father way of thinking and hopes Shunjirō does not do something that can put his and his family reputation in shame. When he arrives at Getsuan temple and finds his brother pointing a katana to their Lord's neck, he does not believe what he sees. Their father tries to convince him to let him go, and to be killed by him, before all their family will have to do seppuku, but Shunjirō manages to get away with Azumi and the others. He will later die by the Lords' order with his family.

MAYUMI SHUNJIRŌ (真弓俊二郎): the second son of a samurai living at the temple where High Priest Getsuan is in charge. He teaches the merchants kids and babysits the smaller ones. He is not well seen by his father to his current job. He wants for him to keep training at the dōjō, so that maybe one day he could became a fencing instructor or have a decent career. He is way more of a scholar though, and very interested in making his country progress. He associates with Karasuma Tenzan and his group. When Azumi and Kiku lodge at the temple, he inevitably falls for the former. He asks her to follow him around the countries to propagate knowledge and help him with his dream. He brings Azumi to meet Karasuma Tenzan, but when they arrive near where he and the people of many talents live, a group of rōnin tries to assault Azumi. Among them there are Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Shunjirō is made unconscious by Azumi to not have him risk his life for nothing. When he wakes up, Azumi has already taken care of them. He is disappointed to see how pathetic he is. He then introduces Azumi to Tenzan. They learn that Kinkaku and Ginkaku came to him to ask for information about guards and security, because they want to go to west of the country and people like Tenzan always has the latest news. They also learn that the Lord of the domain wants to meet Tenzan and his friends to ask them about what is happening in the other countries, to see performances, skills and so on, and that they have been invited to go to the castle. He and Azumi tag along. They are walking into a trap by the local Lord to have them all the persons of many talents together with the rōnin. His childhood friends are participating in the operation too. He, Azumi and the others manage to escape and take refuge inside Getsuan's temple. There, Shōjirō and Kisaburō charge in but Azumi disarm them easily. They try to make Shunjirō come to reason, but seeing such actions he is so ashamed of the samurai behavior that he already decided to stop being one and be like the persons of many talents. His childhood friends are tied outside as living shields, but they manage to free themselves and return to attack, seriously trying to kill him. He barely defends himself and his friends with a katana in its scabbard, sustaining some injuries too. When Azumi comes back, he is entrusted with keeping the Lord hostage. Soon his father and brother arrive, and they do not believe what they see. With this, he has dishonored his household. Not even their suicide will be enough to be pardoned. He then leaves with Azumi and the others, witnesses her amazing fight on the bridge and decides to follow her traveling at a distance. While Azumi is out at night she sees him wondering in a small forest, completely destroyed by grieve for what he has done to his family. The day after, since Kiku goes away for the time being to search for a spa, he approaches Azumi and asks why they want her dead and why she has such great sword skills. Azumi talks about her cirmustances and Shunjirō regrets about what he told her. He thinks his ideas were too optimistic and naive and that he had such a sheltered life...but Azumi thinks that his dream and ideas are splendid and he suffered too much too. Then, they are interrupted by Genta who wants to travel with her. His fleeing speed it is his proud, so even if someone attacks, he can run away immediately. After a nice bath, Azumi go back and meets one of the persons of many talents who tells her about the situation and Shunjirō's father and brother seppuku. Azumi does not enter the inn to meet him because she would not know what to say. She leaves with Kiku and Genta. On her way, a stranger asks her for help because his master is in pain at the river bed. In that moment, Shunjirō comes running to her saying that since she was there she could have dropped by and brings them three padded kimono. He follows them down to the river bed and examines the man in pain. He studied medicine too and seriously tries to find where the man hurts. Azumi thinks about what that man told her, about Shunjirō's situation, what he is doing and suddenly is attacked by the man who brought them there and the one who was faking ill. Azumi kills both of them. The second one, with his belly slashed, makes Shunjirō imagine his family commiting seppuku and starts crying. He thinks he is a fool and that his actions of rejecting the sword and killings only brought him misery, while Azumi thinks his ideas are not wrong. Who really is wrong is that feudal Lord who cowardly tried to killed them. After a heavy rainy day, he and the persons of many talents encounter Kiku and they are told about all that happened. Shunjirō and the others begin searching for her. He finds Azumi in a field and brings her to a shed. Shunjirō helps Azumi recover and the two seems to become finally really close, but he suddenly stops and leaves. He thinks he is not worthy of her, that he cannot do anything for her being an assassin and all. He goes back to Tenzan and tells him all and Tenzan sends him back immediately to Azumi, to finish what he had started, to give her at least a brief moment of peace. On his way back he meets Sakon, still lokking for Azumi. He helps him when he sees he is coughing a lot. Being close and seeing his situation, he thinks even he could kill him. He steals one of his swords and tries, but Sakon cuts him down, leaving him there. Miracolously, he is found in time by Tenzan's men who were searching for Azumi and treated. He then moves to the snow country as a senior stateman administrator in charge of the gold mine on Tenkai orders and reunites with Azumi. He seems to have grown up but also his ways have changed. He is keeping some secrets from Azumi, basically about the persons who were with Tenzan and now are slaving away in the mine, and about Tenzan too, who his being in a sanatorium distant from there recuperating after having overworked himself sounds as an utter lie. He plans to build an ideal country in that fief with the help of Shizune and his christian doctrine, that can unite everyone, rich and poor alike. The truth is that he helped him with making rifles, guns and cannons, and has imprisoned Tenzan in a cell in the gold mine. He can not let the “persons of many talents” to wander from country to country, risking the secret of the snow country to be made public and the fief destroyed, and with it his dream of an ideal country. He made Kagari, Hatsune and Utsubo kill all those who wanted to leave the province. He also thinks that he is using Shizune (and Tadane) and Gensai, but he is the one who is being deceived and manipulated. When Shizune has no more use for him, he shoots him in the belly. Shunjirō survives, but he uses his “medicine” to take away the pain and starts having hallucinations and preaching his new ideal country to an imaginary audience from a high place at the gold mine. Talking to the images of his dead family, he slips falling down the small cliff in front of him and dies hitting his head on a rock.

MEN (面): the mask, or head piece, the athletes wear in Kendō. One of the few places you can strike to earn one point.

MIKI UEMON (幹右衛門): one of the bosses of the rōnin group in the snow country. He is very big and tough, truly fitting for a “miki”, a “tree-trunk”. He is killed by Azumi while he is trying to rape her with some of his comrades at the secret hot springs.

MIKOGAMI TENZEN (神子上典膳): or Ono Jiroemon Tadaaki was a samurai of the early Edo period, who was renowned as a swordsman. He founded the Onoha Ittōryū style of swordsmanship after his teacher made him head master of the Ittōryū. He was one of two official sword masters for Tokugawa Ieyasu and his style, along with Yagyū Shinkageryū became one of the official schools of the Tokugawa Shogunate. See also Onoha Ittōryū. In “Azumi”, Tenzen meets Azumi while walking on a street with his two disciples. She asks him to meet Takagi Kansuke who is staying at his home. Tenzen was impressed by Azumi perceiving Rintarō and Jōjirō's ki and accept to have her meet him.She also accepts to have her stay in his mansion. He thinks that she is mysterious. While Honda Masazumi visits him, he recognises Kanbee and his identity is revealed. After having both his arms broken and Azumi stopping the match, Ono asks Honda to leave the matter at that. He then asks Kanbee to leave his home. After Azumi decides to kill Ieyasu, she goes to reveal her identity and Ono tries to graze her forehead with the sword, but Azumi quichly evades the blow by moving her head, leaving him speechless. After Ieyasu is killed, his disciples instead of staying there and be put to house arrest and then doing seppuku, they run away and go to inform him. They swear they will come back but now they must go fight Azumi at the appointed place. Ono follows them on horse with Kohyōta and witness their match, and his disciples death.

MINEISHI (峰石): peak + rock. He is one of Bontenmaru's bodyguards. While hitting some logs during training his wooden sword catches fire...he is tasked with a job by Kanō: he wants him to fight Azumi and kill her, passing this action in the eyes of Bontemaru as a revenge done by a Yagyū for all the comrades she killed. He secretely thinks that even if Mineishi dies he can still see her swordplay. He makes some shooters hide in the place of the match but Azumi spots one of them and Mineishi, angered, kills him. Azumi thinks that this is a cowardly method used by the Yagyū clan. He can not bear such an insult and starts attacking her but after a few moments he is slashed two times in the abdomen. After recognising his valor, Azumi gives him the mercy blow.

MISO (味噌): is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley, and/or soybeans with salt and the fungus kōjikin (麹菌), the most typical miso being made with soy. The result is a thick paste used for sauces and spreads, pickling vegetables or meats, and mixing with dashi soup stock to serve as miso soup called misoshiru (味噌汁), a Japanese culinary staple. High in protein and rich in vitamins and minerals, miso played an important nutritional role in feudal Japan. Miso is still widely used in Japan, both in traditional and modern cooking, and has been gaining world-wide interest. Miso is typically salty, but its flavor and aroma depend on various factors in the ingredients and fermentation process. There is a wide variety of miso available. Different varieties of miso have been described as salty, sweet, earthy, fruity, and savory. The traditional Chinese analogue of miso is known as dòujiàng (豆酱). See more information on wikipedia.

MITO HOUSE OF TOKUGAWA: see Tokugawa Gosanke.

MITSUGU KYŌSUKE (貢喬介): one of the two Mikogami leading disciples. He is the most calm of the two, or so it seems. His favorite technique for making women fall for him is to enchant them by playing the flute. The next day Azumi arrives, while on guard duty with Mitsugu he saves Ieyasu's life from an assassination attempt during a falconry hunt. It was the first time he killed men and the effects show up not much time later in his attitude with a prostitute. The next day he goes on a preliminary inspection with Mitsugu, Kohyōta and Azumi on the next falconry ground Ieyasu is going to visit. During lunch break, he plays his flute, obviously for her. After Kanbee's identity is revealed and Rintarō breaks his arms, Azumi decides to kill Ieyasu. She comes back to Ono's mansion to reveal her identity, and the next day she carries out her missions, while Kyōsuke and Rintarō fall into a pond and are hindranced by Tobizaru. Having failed their bodyguard duty and asked Azumi over and over to fight them and telling her the place of the duel, they run directly to their Master to inform him of what happened. They then go to the duel place and are killed by Azumi.

MIYAMOTO MUSASHI (宮本武蔵c.1584 – June 13, 1645): also known as Shinmen Takezō, Miyamoto Bennosuke or, by his Buddhist name, Niten Dōraku, he was a Japanese swordsman and rōnin. Musashi, as he was often simply known, became renowned through stories of his excellent swordsmanship in numerous duels, even from a very young age. He was the founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of swordsmanship and the author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書 Go Rin No Sho), a book on strategy, tactics, and philosophy that is still studied today. See wikipedia for much more information. In “Azumi” we are told that he refused to duel with Ban Sakon and Harima Kojirō due to fear... Later, we find him having a match with a spear wielder. After winning he takes some rest in an establishment along the road. Inside, he is targeted by a man behind him, while the mountain priest sit in front of him is aiming at Azumi who walked in too. The result is that Azumi kills her target but the man aiming at Musashi does not do anything. Musashi is deeply impressed by Azumi's fencing and follows her. He sees her killing another of the shinobi chiefs. He lodges at her same inn and manages to get some information from Hyōsuke. He then meets Azumi but she does not show the slightest interest in him, who is a very famous swordmaster. He does not know why. He keeps thinking about Azumi, even picturing how she would attack him if they were to fight and still follows her. He wants to test his sword against her. He ponders about how to find a method to approach her, to get her interested in fighting him. He finds her absorbed in her thoughts and throws a frog at her from a really short distance. She dodges with her head and then catches it with her hand. Musashi can not believe that she realized in an instant that what he threw at her was a frog so she caught it because it was not something dangerous like an edged tool. He manages indirectly to get some information about her life, but suddenly Tobizaru calls Azumi and she runs away, leaving Musashi without knowing her grandfather's name. He evesdrop a conversation among Hyōsuke and some of the monk attendants. When he hears that Date is their main enemy, he eagers to meet him. If Date asked for his services he maybe could measure his mettle against the most prominent swordmasters Tokugawa is employing. He dares to ask Azumi to tell her where Date sojourns, explaining his reasons and he is believed by her. He is then taken there by Hyōsuke and he meets Abe and the others. He requests to meet Date but he first has to go through Abe, who suspects him to be involved with Azumi and the others. He is asked where they are but he does not respond, keeping his promise to Azumi. When Abe asks him to leave, he even says openly that Date would never be a narrow-minded man like Abe, but someone of a total higher caliber and would never ask him to leave because he does not tell those information. This starts pissing off Abe, but moments later Date appears and the two meet. After Azumi kills the entire group that assaulted her at the inn and Abe thinks that the enemies could be almost twenty persons, Musashi decides to reveal how many they are and why he approached them. He takes a passive part in the assault to Azumi's group new lodging, staying far away, but near enough to Date to worry Abe with his presence. He sees Abe's ability when he defends Date from Tobizaru's attacks and he is favorably impressed. The next day, after breakfast, Katagiri and Kobori try to persuade him to go kill Azumi so to earn the gratitude of the Date household and a chance to have a very big retainer's salary as a fencing instructor but after stating his reasons, he refuses to do what they ask. While training outside, Kobori tries again to convince him. Azumi appears. He asks her to face him but she refuses and proceeds to kill Kobori. Musashi is astonished and asks her if she fears him or if she thinks that she could easily defeat him but it seems that it is not what Azumi thinks. After some talks and being inquired by Abe about why he did not protect Kobori, Date asks him if he wants to be hired as a fencing instruction and a strategist, and he accepts. First thing in the morning he goes to meet Azumi and, after stating his reasons, he requests again a match with her, but she refuses. He uses his strength to make her agree to a match some time later at Shidzukigahara. The appointed time passes and Musashi starts being irritated and suspects that Azumi stood him up. He thinks that Azumi did that to run to kill Date, but when he goes back he is all right. Musashi is asked by Kurando to escort Date and leave the temple while he and the others kill Azumi luring her with a body double. He accepts. After everyone is killed and Date informed, he departs with him to Sendai, but with a trick, Date runs away on horse leaving him behind, apologizing that he can not mantain his promise to hire him in his household. He runs back to the temple to ask where Date went, he runs on horse after him but he arrives too late. Date has already committed seppuku. He then manages to have Azumi accept his challenge and they duel. She pierces one of his hands and cuts his left shoulder but he is able to strike at her left hip, though the shuriken there block the attack. The duel is interrupted by Hyōsuke and Musashi remains there to ponder about it, unable to decide who of them won. Was she not really fighting to kill him aiming for his shoulder since the beginning or was she serious and he was the one to dodge the sword coming to his neck and that then landed on his shoulder? Did he win? Did he lose? He cannot understand.

MIYO (美代): a little girl travelling with her parents on a pilgrimage. She and her family are targeted by Kakuta as suitable hostages to have Azumi risk her life to save them. She is abducted with her mother, while her father is killed while trying to follow Kakuta and his friend to take them back. She is then tied up and hanged on a tree branch extending over a cliff. Torasuke is holding the rope, but when a dragonfly passes him by, he tries to catch it with both hands and Miyo starts to fall down...

MOCHI (餅): a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and molded into the desired shape. In Japan it is traditionally made in a ceremony called mochitsuki. While also eaten year-round, mochi is a traditional food for the Japanese New Year and is commonly sold and eaten during that time. Similar snacks are prominent in Hawaii, South Korea, Taiwan, China (where it is called 麻糬, Hokkien môa-chî or Mandarin máshu, tang yuan), Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines (where it is called maha), Thailand, and Indonesia (where it is called kue moci and has become specialty of Sukabumi town). Mochi is a multicomponent food consisting of polysaccharides, lipids, protein and water. Mochi has a heterogeneous structure of amylopectin gel, starch grains and air bubbles. This rice is characterized by its lack of amylose in starch and is derived from short or medium japonica rices. The protein concentration of the rice is a bit higher than normal short-grain rice and the two also differ in amylose content. In mochi rice, the amylose content is negligible which results in the soft gel consistency of mochi. More information on wikipedia.

MOGAMI BIJOMARU (最上美女丸): an assassin sent by SanadaYukimura to kill Azumi and the others. His name is formed by best + beautiful woman + maru (a common suffix for male names back then). He kills Hatakenaka Matajūrō just for fun. He severely wounds Hyūga and plans to slowly kill him but his fun is ruined by Tobizaru. He then fights against Grampa wounding him multiple times but he's interrupted by Azumi's sudden arrive. He fights her and gets mortally wounded. He lets himself be put out of his misery by her.

MOICHI (茂一): one of the four disciples accompanying Kōsaka. While dining on the beach with what he and his comrades catched in the sea, Azumi arrives. She eats with them and then go back. They tail her discovering where she lodges and decide to inform their Master. They are allowed inside the temple during the assault meeting. After that, they take part in the inn attack but they have a minor role with their Master. Seeing that no enemies are coming on the road they are watching, they go to the inn just to find out that everyone has been killed. While asleep in the temple, Tōta and his sister feel the presence of an intruder. They chase Kagari and face him, running away almost immediately to call the other because he is too strong for them. This in truth is a trap and Moichi and Hikoza, already awake, tail him to find Azumi's group new lodging. Moichi takes part with his Master and the others in the new assault and confront Azumi. Kochō manages to blind Hyōsuke but Azumi easily deals with them without killing them and she manages to escape with Hyōsuke. While keeping watch at the new location, Moichi suggests to face who is going to return there, even if their mission would be to run immediately to inform the others. Tōta and his sister spot Kagari who came out thinking that there was no one around and was weeping on Hatsune's dead body. They both face him and kill him, just when Moichi and Hikoza come to see what is happening. After returning to their positions and seeing Azumi coming back, he wants to attack her and, after his Master comes back, he jumps out and he is going to do it. His Master goes along with his desire and together they strike at Azumi. Moichi can't do very much before his Master is killed. With his comrades, he is persuaded by Katagiri to not pursue revenge for their Master, and moments later, Azumi storms into the room killing Katagiri himself. Noticing that Azumi is just doing her job they think that it is illogical to resent her and go to the temple where she resides to tell her that. While she is talking to them about her past, Moichi tries to suddenly strike at her from behind, but Azumi, without even thinking, pierces him with the short side of her two-sided sword. He dies not long after.

MORI (森): one of the important clans for Takenobu's castle that is exterminated while its head is not at home by Shion and his comrades.

MON (紋, “crest”): Gōzan's big and cute horse. He has a mark on his forehead like a crest, so he was named after that. When his forehead itches, he scratches on people. He is incredibly attached to Gōzan, but he starts liking Azumi a lot too. He manages to have her ride on him, and he is so happy! At the same time, Man flees on her horse. Azumi tries to have Mon run after her, but he just keeps walking happily. Gōzan tries to run after Man while riding on Mon, but again, he refuses to run. Sometimes it happens, when he does not feel like it. While ouside under the rain, Gōzan decides to take an arrow in his arm instead of dodging it and let Mon be hit. When Azumi and the others start travelling again, she decides to walk very far from them. As soon as she starts walking away, Mon tries to follow her, but Gōzan stops him. When later Gōzan makes his “bet” and orders Mon to run, he actually starts to run at full speed. When Man is abducted, Gōzan is so depressed that he does not go to play with him and Mon loudly complains about it. Mon takes part in the plan to save Man. He should pull with all his might to break down a wall at which a rope is tied, but he refuses to move. When one of the enemies graze him with the tip of his katana, Mon suddenly rushes away breaking down the wall. After, he runs away really fast, so fast to leave Man and Gōzan behind...After Gōzan decides to go to Tsutsujigasaki mansion to be of help for Azumi and save Otaccha, Mon refuses to run and is yelled at by him. His owner takes another horse and go away. While he is away, Mon is restless. Man decides to ride him a bit to calm him but when Azumi and the others come back carrying Gōzan dead on the cart, he runs to him and starts licking him all over and starts crying understanding what happened somehow.

MŌRI TERUMOTO (毛利輝元, January 22, 1553 – April 27, 1625): son of Mōri Takamoto and grandson and successor of the great warlord Mōri Motonari, fought against Toyotomi Hideyoshi but was eventually overcome, participated in the Kyūshū campaign (1587) on Hideyoshi's side and built Hiroshima Castle, thus essentially founding Hiroshima. Terumoto was a member of the council of Five Elders appointed by Hideyoshi. At the height of his power in late 16th century, Terumoto controlled 1.2 million koku. This means he could mobilize more than 120,000 men to a battle. He sided against Tokugawa Ieyasu but was not present at the Battle of Sekigahara. Terumoto was in Ōsaka Castle defending Toyotomi Hideyori at the time and surrendered to Ieyasu soon after Sekigahara. Ieyasu reduced Terumoto's domains, leaving him only Nagato and Suō Provinces, worth 369,000 koku in total. He is believed to have been a below-average general on and off the battlefield, having lacked motivation and will. He made little impact in these final years of the Sengoku period, often having his subordinates and lesser members of clan fight instead. It is believed that if he had fought at Sekigahara or brought Hideyori to the battlefield, Ieyasu would have been defeated instead. However, he managed his domain well and successfully held the Mōri clan together even when his domain was reduced to a third. He was succeeded by Mōri Hidenari. It is also said that Terumoto had a concubine that acted as an assassin. In “Azumi”, Terumoto sides with the forces pressing to have Tadanaga as the next shōgun.

MOUNT HIEI (比叡山): is a mountain to the northeast of Kyōto, lying on the border between the Kyōto and Shiga prefectures. The temple of Enryakuji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Hōnen, Nichiren, and Shinran all studied at the temple before leaving to start their own practices. The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendai's warrior monks (sōhei), but it was rebuilt and remains the Tendai headquarters to this day. The Imperial Japanese Navy 19th Century corvette Hiei was named after this mountain, as was the more famous World War II-era battleship Hiei, the latter having initially been built as a battlecruiser. Mount Hiei has featured in many folk tales over the ages. Originally it was thought to be the home of gods and demons of Shinto lore, although it is predominantly known for the Buddhist monks that come from the temple of Enryakuji. See more information on wikipedia.

MOUNT KŌYA (高野山): it is the name of mountains in Wakayama Prefecture to the south of Ōsaka. Also, Kōya-san is a modifying word for Kongōbuji (金剛峯寺 the head temple of the Kōyasan Shingon Buddhism). There is no one mountain officially called Kōya-san (高野山) in Japan. First settled in 819 by the monk Kūkai, Mt. Kōya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Kōyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located in an 800 m high valley amid the eight peaks of the mountain (which was the reason this location was selected, in that the terrain is supposed to resemble a lotus plant), the original monastery has grown into the town of Kōya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims.

MOUNT KUNŌ (久能山): a mountain southeast of Sunpu, where Ieyasu's body was buried in Tōshō Shrine initially.

MOUNT TENJIN (天神山): there're too main mounts in Japan with this name and it's difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the one they're talking in the story. If someone would like to try...

MŌZŌ (猛蔵): an old acquaintance of Munenori. He receives a retainer stipend. He trains assassins to employ in missions, even though there are no more wars, just waiting for the moment when they will be useful to repay the debt of gratitude he has towards Munenori. The time comes when Munenori calls his clan and others to lodge at the “niwauchi” in the event that a battle with the warrior monks army of Tenkai breaks out. While at Kanō's mansion he sees Azumi with his own eyes and asks to let him and his men kill her. He participate to a killing expedition against her, but Azumi choses wisely her terrain and Mōzō's men can not hit her with their exploding arrows. He is forced to retreat or his men would have wasted all the ammunition. During Azumi and Tachibana storming Okyō's mansion he makes his men shoot the exploding arrows inside. He receives a kunai threw by Azumi in the stomach but he survives and keeps ordering his men around, just to see them killed one by one. He sits leaning against the outside fence of Okyō's mansion and sees Azumi fighting the Yagyū veterans, Kanō and Chiyozō. When the eldest of the Tsujidōs is killed, Mōzō is already on the ground, dead.

MUNEHISA (宗久): the Lord of the country where Bontenmaru was entrusted to and where Okyō runs the niwauchi business.

MUNEKATA (宗方): one of the important clans for Takenobu's castle that is exterminated while its head is not at home by Shion and his comrades.

MURAI SHINSUKE (村井晋介): one of Munenori's men who are pursuing Grampa and Azumi. He does not hesitate and finds some pleasure in training Kazuma from scratch again, with the help of Jōjirō. Some time later, he is on Azumi's tracks with Jōjirō and Kuraishi. He also watches her fight on the bridge while she protects the persons of many talents. Munenori is quite angered by the fact that Shinsuke, Jōjirō and Sakon have not made a move to kill Azumi yet. Soon he will be returning to Edo and he demands good news before that time comes. He and Shinsuke rush to inform Sakon but he has no will to kill her before he has not slept with her. Baffled, Shinsuke and Jōjirō go on ahead on the road Azumi is walking on and when she arrives they introduce themselves, apologize for having treated her as an assassin and so for having sent assassins to kill her while the truth is that she is a fencer like them. They ask her for a "fair" duel, telling her the place. She accepts. The two have hidden some riflemen, but just before the duel starts, Azumi is hit by Genta's poisoned dart. They think Genta and Kiku are assassins engaged by Munenori. Jōjirō runs to Azumi to finish her, but she drags the fight inside the river. Shinsuke joins too, but Sakon suddenly arrives and, after trying to convince Jōjirō to stop, he cuts him down. He threatens Shinsuke too. He informs Munenori of Sakon's actions and brings him where he is lodging. After it comes out he hid her and she escaped, the search resumes and Shinsuke asks even the search party, which members Azumi does not know, to find her. Murai is keeping watch on Kiku who is waiting for Azumi to return. He plans to ambush her when she reunites with Kiku and shoot her down with rifles, but Azumi anticipates such a move and neutralizes her enemies. Shinsuke is killed too.

MURAKAMI MOROBEE (村上諸兵衛): he should be Kawamata's opponent in the Asano's contest but he does not fight faking to be absent.

MURAKI (村木could be read Muragi too). He is the military commander of the expedition against the rōnin that is surprised in his sleep and captured with others key members of the operation.

MUSASHI PROVINCE (武蔵国Musashi no kuni ): was a province of Japan, which today comprises Tokyo Prefecture, most of Saitama Prefecture and part of Kanagawa Prefecture. It was sometimes called Bushū (武州). The province encompassed Kawasaki and Yokohama. Musashi bordered on Kai, Kōzuke, Sagami, Shimōsa, and Shimotsuke Provinces. Musashi was the largest province in the Kantō region. See wikipedia for more information.

MUTŌDORI (無刀取り): “no sword capture”, a technique that uses both hands to catch the opponent's sword and snatching it away.

MYŌŌJI (明王寺): a buddhist temple where Azumi and the others should meet with Tenkai and Tobizaru after escaping from the fire at the Seigain. It will become the place of Azumi and Munenori match with wooden swords.