Myōjin Yahiko

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Myōjin Yahiko (明神 弥彦 Myōjin Yahiko), known in Western order (Yahiko Myojin) in the English anime, is a fictional character in the anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X. In the Spanish-language version of the anime, he is known as Yoshi (although in the Latin-American Spanish version, his original name 'Yahiko' is used).

Yahiko is a samurai descendant. Yahiko's father died during the Battle of Ueno (of the Boshin War,) slain at the Keneiji Temple. His mother died of syphilis in a brothel to put food on their table not long after giving birth to her son. Yahiko was originally forced to live as a thief for the local Yakuza, who tricked him into believing that he still had to pay off the money the gangsters gave to his mother to buy medicine. With the help of Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru, he becomes an apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin style.

A hotheaded child, Yahiko is arrogant, cheeky, a potty-mouth, and bad-mannered; and he already bestowed upon himself the title 'Tokyo Samurai'. As the years go by, Yahiko learns the principles of Kasshin Kamiya-Ryū, which coincides with Kenshin's ideals. Even though he overrates himself, Yahiko defeats several enemies - even one of Shishio's henchmen. In time Yahiko becomes a master swordsman, whose skills are nearly equal to Kenshin's. He also becomes an assistant master of the Kamiya Kasshin dojo, which has become prosperous again. On the day of his fifteenth birthday after battling Kenshin to a 'draw' in a one-strike match, Kenshin gives him the Sakabatou. By this time, he has grown into a level-headed, contemplative, caring and 'young man with old wisdom' attitude, not baselessly. His sense of responsibility takes him so far as to bestow the legacy of Kenshin.

Yahiko has a rival, Yutaro, who is a rich boy who was tricked into believing his sensei, Isurugi Raijūta, cared about him and a brief student of the Kamiya dojo after he revealed that he was never trained by Raijuta (In the anime, he was quickly defeated by Yahiko, while in the manga, the battle was halted as Yutaro could not hold his shinai properly). Yutaro, however, was hit by Raijūta's Tobi Izuna (a huge gust of wind from an overhead swing that can kill someone), in his right arm and his nerves were damaged so he could never use a sword again. Yutaro moved with his uncle to Germany so that his uncle (who was researching nerve healing) can maybe use medicine to heal his arm, thus allowing Yutaro to one day use that arm again. Before he left, Yahiko swung his bamboo sword at him and he blocked with his walking cane and said "Even without my other arm, I can still use a sword" and promised that he'll return to Tokyo to challenge Yahiko.

He has a sweetheart, Tsubame, who works at a local restaurant as a waitress. According to Nobuhiro Watsuki, they eventually marry and have a son named Shinya, although this is never seen as Watsuki ends the Rurouni Kenshin story with Yahiko's Sakabatou.

In the second short story chapter of Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Kamiya Yahiko is the younger brother of Kaoru and Megumi, and the rightful successor of the Kamiya dojo.

Yahiko is voiced by Miina Tominaga in Japanese, and by Wendee Lee in the English anime.

[edit] Kamiya Kasshin Style

The Kamiya Kasshin Style translated from Japanese means roughly, "Revitalized Heart". There are two moves of the Kamiya Kasshin style revealed in the manga- these are the succession techniques, or "ougi"- which is the move one must master to become a master of the style. Kaoru teaches the Kamiya Kasshin succession techniques to Yahiko during the beginning to middle of the never animated Jinchū arc. The moves are:

Hadome: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's defensive succession technique. If the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style is attacked, they perform the Hadome by crossing their arms over their head (and possibly other places as well, but this is the most common form and the only one shown in the manga) and catching the blade with the back of their hands. This allows the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style to maintain their grip on their sword while catching the opponents blade at the same time. Kaoru rarely uses this technique however, because it requires that the timing be perfectly right or else the attacker will be given a fatal opening. However, if properly used, it can be chained into the Kamiya Kasshin offensive ougi and thusly ensure an instant kill.

Hawatari: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's offensive succession technique. It is a counter-attack and can only be performed after a successful use of the Hadome technique. From the Hadome position, the defender will twist his wrists, thusly stripping the weapon of their attacker away from their wrists and possibly throwing them to the ground. Since the defender will still have their grip on their own weapon they can almost instantaneously follow up with an attack of their own and therefore deliver the final blow on their now defenseless opponent.

Kaoru at first refuses to teach Yahiko the succession techniques, stating that Yahiko is incredibly strong for a ten year old already and is even stronger than Sanosuke or even Kenshin was at his age. However Yahiko is tired of being considered weak and wants to help Kenshin against Yukishiro Enishi's "Jinchū" against Kenshin. Kaoru relents and tells Yahiko that he must perform the arm-crossing motion of the hadome ten thousand times before she will teach him the techniques. When Kaoru demonstrates the technique on her impatient student, Yahiko notes that he can perform the arm-crossing motion much faster than his master.

Yahiko makes extensive use of these techniques during the arc. He uses it successfully for the first time against Otowa, one of the members of Yukishiro Enishi's Jinchū, and manages to land a blow on Otowa's chin using the butt of his shinai. Later, when Kujiranami Hyogo escapes prison, Yahiko attempts the move, but is severely injured when Kujiranami moves his "gun-arm" forward, crushing Yahiko. Then he successfully performs the succession techniques on Genbu, one of the bodyguards of Yukishiro Enishi's associate Hei Shin, who is Enishi's successor to his successful shady Shanghai-based arms dealing business. Using the Hawatari, he manages to break Genbu's weapon- a pole which can be separated into multiple sections. Yahiko combines both his style and Kenshin's style into one and was first shown when he used it on Genbu. Yahiko would later become highly proficient in the "Hadome" aspect of the technique, improvising on new ways to "halt" his enemy's weapon. At the end of the series, Yahiko is so skilled that he's able to catch a blade using only two knuckles, and has become famous as the "man who has caught 1000 blades".

[edit] Improvised Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryū: Ryūtsuisen (Dragon Hammer Strike)

To counter-attack Kariwa Henya of the Juppongatana's Hiku Happa technique, Yahiko grabs a screen door that has been blown off a building by dynamite, and rides it on the next explosion to get higher than his opponent, allowing him to bring his bamboo shinai down on him from above. He also shouts out the name of Kenshin's version of the move as he does it.

Rurouni Kenshin (Samurai X)
Characters
Himura Kenshin | Kamiya Kaoru | Sagara Sanosuke | Myōjin Yahiko | Takani Megumi | Shinomori Aoshi| Makimachi Misao| Minor characters
Terms and Historical references
Samurai | Shinsengumi | Battousai | Meiji period | Saitō Hajime | Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu | Ishin Shishi | Three great nobles