Shining Ice Guardian, Daimyo of the Floating World

Hino-sama lived in a Nippon clinging desperately to a way of life fading under the demands of a modern world. The opening of Nippon to the Western world and the dissolution of the ancient samurai class made his nation small in Hino’s eyes, less significant in the grand scheme of things. He often wished he’ d been born generations earlier, when training as a samurai truly meant something. He found himself unable to keep pace with the changing world around him, preferring the stories of the glorious past. When the Emperor decreed that samurai could not even carry their swords in public, Hino-sama retired to his home, dressed in a white robe and prepared to commit seppuku in protest. He wrote his death haiku and made all the preparations, but when the time came he discovered he couldn’t fulfill the deed. He shamed himself terribly before his family and peers. After that, he sank into an empty existence, drinking heavily and living off what little money he possessed, dreaming of days past. What he could not do with a sword, Hino accomplished with a sake cup. He died choking on his own vomit, and Yomi dragged down his dishonored soul. At first, Hino accepted the devils’ lashes tearing his flesh as just punishment for his dishonor. He suffered his torment in stoic silence, knowing that the judgement of Heaven was exact. He might be suffering in Yomi still if he had not listened to the whispers and taunts of the devils provoking him. They told Hino about the coming of the Sixth Age, when the Demon Emperor would ascend to SAN FRANCISCO BY NIGHT 92 the throne of Heaven and the world would fall into corruption; when the maws of Yomi would yawn wide into the world of the living. Although he believed himself unworthy, Hino-sama could not be such a coward that he would allow the world to fall to the Yomi Wan. He unleashed his righteous anger, broke the chains binding him and escaped from Hell. Returning to the flesh once clothing him was another shameful experience for Hino-sama. He satisfied his hunger on victims before the gaki captured him. Once he subdued the Demon, Hino became an apt student of the Kuei-jin’ s ways. The Second Breath burned away his former apathy and despair, and he devoted his unlife to making amends for his failures; he devoted himself to righteousness and the Way of the Resplendent Crane. He earned the praise of his teachers and took his place in House Bishamon. People knew him as a conservative traditionalist and capable, if somewhat hidebound, jina of his House. The end of World War II changed Hino-sama’s views as dramatically as his first vision of the Yomi World. When the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the gates of Yomi opened wide for a moment, revealing a vision of Hell on Earth. In that second, Hino awakened from his deathly sleep and became enlightened. He understood that the world he once knew was dead; clinging to the past and its ways was what brought him to dishonor, what dragged him down to Yomi, and what was keeping him from progressing along his Dharmic path. Hino-sama became one of the most reactionary voices among the Bishamon, calling for a move into the modern world so the gaki could use all their opportunities to greatest advantage. His pleas fell on deaf ears, however, and his critics often used Hino’ s previous arguments for tradition against him. Frustrated, he turned to House Genji, which reappeared after the war and embraced the same progressive ideas. Hino left Nippon when some of his former Bishamon superiors wanted to eliminate him. He went to San Francisco with a few loyal followers where he found a tiny, demoralized gaki community. Under his guidance, they created the Ukiyo or “ Floating World” uji. In Hino’s view, America defeated Japan because Americans willingly embraced the future. Therefore, the Ukiyo would learn to do the same. The gaki made some inroads with San Francisco’s Kindred, establishing pacts of mutual non-aggression and opening up the possibility of cooperation. The Japanese Kuei-jin were still careful to maintain their independence from the rule of the Camarilla Prince, while agreeing to follow the Masquerade. All of that collapsed, however, when the Quincunx invaded San Francisco and declared it part of the New Promise Mandarinate. Still, the daimyo of the Floating World refuses to give up, even with signs of the Sixth Age upon him.

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