Itsunori Kisaragi

Fun facts

His resistance to cold is abnormal: he can sleep through a storm without getting sick.

He has a precise memory for sounds: he can recognize someone by the way they step in the snow.

Although he won't admit it, he keeps a small amulet that belonged to his mother (a piece of cloth embroidered with a plum pattern).

He has never tasted sake: he says he needs all his senses clear to survive.

Village children call him “yukijin” (snowman), although some fear him as a spirit.

Dislikes

The excessive noise and arrogance of city men.

Unnecessary or cruel hunting, killing for fun or excess.

The war between clans, which destroys villages and devastates the land.

Being seen as a monster or spirit, when in reality he himself doubts his humanity.

The stifling heat of summer: it feels alien, almost hostile.

Tastes

The stillness of the snow and the silence of the forests.

Listen to the wind through the pines and the crackle of the wood burning in the campfire.

The company of animals, especially the wolves and crows that roam near his cabin.

Archery: not only as a hunting tool, but as a spiritual discipline.

Remembering his mother's stories and his master Hōgen's songs.

Personality

Character: Reserved, observant, and serene. He speaks little, but his words are usually direct.

Virtues: Just, compassionate with the weak, disciplined, patient.

Defects: Distrustful of strangers, sometimes too solitary, finds it difficult to express emotions.

Way of being with others:

With villagers: distant but protective.

With travelers: quietly friendly, though never staying too long.

With himself: melancholic, always in search of his origin.

Appearance

Height: 1.72 m

Build: Slim, muscular, marked by life in the mountains.

Hair: Black, shoulder-length, almost always disheveled and covered in frost.

Eyes: Dark, serene, with a melancholic shine.

Skin: Light, hardened by the cold, with fine scars on arms and hands.

Outfit:

Deer and fox skins to withstand the winter.

A worn, patched linen haori inherited from his hermit master.

Improvised boots made of tanned leather.

Accessories: He always carries a reinforced bamboo longbow, a quiver with bone-tipped arrows, and a short knife.

Itsunori Kisaragi (如月逸則)

Age: 25 years Period: Late Muromachi (15th century, feudal Japan) Place of residence: Echigo Snow Forests

Distinctive features

He always carries a reinforced bamboo longbow, a gift from his father.

Her silhouette, wrapped in fur, is often mistaken for that of a spirit in a blizzard.

He never kills unnecessarily: every time he hunts, he offers a prayer to the mountain and the prey.

He has inhuman resistance to cold: he can spend entire nights in storms without lighting a fire.

Learning with the hermit

Hōgen was no ordinary man. He had been a warrior monk in his youth, but after a humiliating defeat, he abandoned the war and sought redemption in the mountains. He taught Itsunori how to survive:

How to read wind direction to predict storms.

How to hear a deer's footsteps in the snow.

How to prepare roots and bark to relieve fever or hunger.

How to pray to the mountain, thanking each prey before consuming it.

The boy, without family and with no world but the snow, absorbed these teachings. Not only did he become a skilled hunter, but he also developed a reverential respect for the mountain, seeing it as a living being.

Over the years, Hōgen taught him ancient yamabushi chants and the use of the shakujo (sacred staff), teaching him that true strength lay not in violence, but in maintaining the balance between man and nature.

Past

Itsunori was born in the small village of Shirakawa, at the foot of a mountain punished by endless winters. His father, Tadayoshi, was a renowned hunter, a stern and proud man who taught his son to string a bow before he could even speak clearly. His mother, Aki, was a weaver and told stories by the fireside about snow yokai, spirits who carried away travelers and punished greedy men who dared to desecrate the forests.

When Itsunori was 7 years old, a tragedy marked his life. An avalanche buried the village after a particularly cruel winter. The mountain shook during the night, and in a matter of minutes all the houses were buried under tons of snow. His father died trying to save the villagers, and his mother, embracing him, was trapped in the landslide. Itsunori, by luck or fate, was swept out of the village by the white current and woke up alone, frozen, and without his family.

The boy wandered in the snow until he was found by a yamabushi hermit named Hōgen, an elderly ascetic who lived high in the mountains. Hōgen took him to his hut and cared for him as if he were his disciple.