MIZUKI "KYOTO" YOSHIDA

MIZUKI (KYOTO) YOSHIDA



{Miraa ga utsushidasu maboroshi o
ki ni shi nagara itsu no ma ni ka sokudo ageteru no sa}

I Feel Like We're Summoning The Devil

[/color]:[/b] Mizuki Yoshida (美月吉田)
Nickname/Alias: Kyoto (京都市)/ Yamashiro (山城国) (at one point), Geisha/Geiko (芸者/芸子), Masami (雅美) (Stage name)
Gender: Female
Character Type: State/Prefecture
Country or Country of Origin: Japan
Canon or Original: Original
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When I look into all of your stupid faces

I think how fun it will be to pound them into dust

[/color]:[/b] Green
Hair: Long black hair
Height and Weight: 5'4" 127lbs
Other Distinguishing Features:

The stark white and red makeup
Always seen with kanzashi in her long black hair.
The long and elegant, colorful silk kimonos she wears


Overall Appearance:
Mizuki is best described as a delicate beauty. She's a slender and generally petite girl with soft facial features and a small button nose. Her face is usually painted in traditional geisha style, stark white face with soft moments of red around her eyes that really bring attention to the lovely shade of green. Her small lips are normally painted red, highlighting the soft cupid's bow, only very occasionally does she deviate the makeup to something more modern, preferring to keep with tradition instead. Her long dark hair is never without kanzashi, even when it's left down, though usually it's up in an ornate hairstyle that takes years of practice to get right.

Her kimonos are always bright and colorful, eye catching in the way that they should be, floor length with long sleeves and colorful matching obi with a heavy, large ribbon in the back. She always looks her best when she leaves the house, ninety nine percent of the time its in a traditional and ornate silk kimono matching with the according season. It's very rare to catch her in modern clothing as she tends to find shirts and pants rather constrictive, though she has shown a fondness for breezy dresses and high heels, after having to learn to walk in Okobo, stilletos don't seem to be much of a problem. While Mizuki would definitely be considered a mature geisha at this point, on occasion she will take her lessons over again, and dress as a Maiko again, though she does on occasion simply because she loves the ornate hairstyles and makeup.

Like every other personification, she also has her share of scars and other marks of past wars. On her stomach are old burn scars from the Ōnin no Ran, the great civil war of 1567, there are various scars from Feudal wars between samurai, earthquakes and fires have left their mark on her otherwise flawless skin as well, though she is careful to never let them show.

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Man up or I'll beat you with my peace prize!

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[li] Flowers
-They're colorful and delicate, she loves having vases full of flowers in her home.
[/li][li] Playing Nintendo
-Most game consoles in fact, but Nintendo is her favorite.
[/li][li] Spring
-It's like a reawakening for the world, after a cold and dreary winter.
[/li][li] Festivals
-Kyoto is known for its festivals, there's always something going on.
[/li][li] Getting a new kimono
-They're expensive and take very long to make, especially the high quality ones Mizuki likes to buy, so it's always special to get one.
[/li][li] Buddhism
-You can't turn your head in Kyoto without your eyes landing on a Buddhist temple, as such she is particularly religious.
[/li][li] The geisha tradition
-To be a geisha means to preserve arts that would have probably faded out long ago without the artists, in modern times she holds her traditions high.
[/li][li] Food
-Kyoto has special vegetables and other greens found only in its region, and because of that, she loves making special dishes for visitors.
[/li][li] Jidaigeki movies
-"Period pieces" There is a movie set in Kyoto where many action samurai movies tend to be filmed, she loves to go and watch them shoot, even if some really don't stay true to the real thing.
[/li][li] Manga
-The International Museum of Manga is in Kyoto, she loves to go there and read whatever she can get her hands on.

Dislikes:

[/li][li] Dreary winters
-They're so cold and so......dead. She never did like winter
[/li][li] Wars
-People hurt, people die, it leaves lasting scars on the land, there's no beauty in war.
[/li][li] Earthquakes
-The sudden shaking of the Earth beneath her feet, it scares her something fierce.
[/li][li] "Geisha Girls"
-When the Allies occupied Japan, prostitutes would masquerade as Geisha and sleep with the troops, they gave real Geisha a bad name.
[/li][li] The Prostitution Misconception
-Because of the Geisha Girls, now real Geisha are berated as prostitutes by outsiders, and Mizuki can't think of anything more insulting.
[/li][li] Bland food
-This means you England.
[/li][li] Grabby handed men
-That sense of entitlement that leads men to believe they can grab at her is not welcome.
[/li][li] Dying traditions
-She fears loosing the things that have made her who she is in the face of this modern world, like her identity would be lost with the traditions.
[/li][li] American soldiers
-Its an old gripe going back to the Allied occupation, because the American soldiers wanted the 'Geesha girls,' the prostitutes, not real Geisha, and she has always resented that.
[/li][li] Being misunderstood
-Kyoto has it's own dialect, sometimes misunderstands arise.

Strengths:

[/li][li] Her looks:
-Let's be honest, she's beautiful. And in her line of work, that definitely helps.
[/li][li] Charisma:
-She's charismatic, even though Mizuki is a rather soft spoken woman, there's a certain way that she speaks that draws people in, she never seems tired, nor haggard, always ready for something, and always ready to make something happen.
[/li][li] Charm:
-Mizuki has been charming both men and women alike for centuries now, honing her skills in her craft to put people under her proverbial spell.
[/li][li] The Arts:
-Music, dance, the art of pouring tea, all the things a Geisha spends her youth learning Mizuki has essentially mastered at this point, having gotten lifetimes worth of practice already.
[/li][li] Skilled with a Tessen:
-During the Edo Period she learned to use a war fan, a girl had to be able to protect herself after all.

Weaknesses:

[/li][li] Traditions:
-The traditions she grew up with always come first, if something interferes with that, then she doesn't know what to do with herself.
[/li][li] Resentments:
-She can hold a grudge, Mizuki tries not to, but it happens and fairly often at that. She's resented Tokyo for years for becoming Japan's capital and she still scowls at the mention of America after the Allied Occupation.
[/li][li] Particular:
-Mizuki is very much a perfectionist, everything has to be done with precision and in a particular fashion, she expects nothing lest then the absolute best from herself

Fears:

[/li][li] Earthquakes
[/li][li] Wars
[/li][li] Loosing her identity

Secrets:

[/li][li] The resentment she's harbored towards Tokyo, Mizuki never told anyone about it, instead just grinning and baring it for years until she finally came to terms with it.
[/li][li] Her first Danna, Mizuki has never spoken about him to anyone, nor even mentioned his name, but she loved him dearly and still does.

Any Quirks/Habits:

[/li][li]Superstitious:
-Mizuki is almost painfully superstitious, along with being a traditionalist.

Overall Personality:

There are two sides to the woman really, anyone that knows her and what she does would testify to that. Mizuki herself is a quiet woman, one that is content to sit and enjoy the tranquility in the air as opposed to disturb it, she loves to sit at her window when dawn breaks and sip a cup of tea while the sun rises, watching as the world shakes off the sleep from the night before. She's rather soft spoken, not the sort to make a real ruckus, instead normally the one standing in the background trying to reign in the chaos around her.

Because she doesn't much like chaos, it's messy and never really good. Kyoto is a clean person, she needs everything to be neat and in place, doesn't matter what it is, whether it be her newest flower arrangement or the painstaking way she knots her obi, everything needs to be just so. Her house is always clean, her makeup always meticulous, being a perfecti0nist is always a good thing when one is a Geisha, though she was always very particular about everything around here even before the rise of Geisha, the work just exasperated it.

She's rather religious, with all the temples found in Kyoto, and takes her religion seriously, practicing it and trying her best to live by the Mahayana Buddhism beliefs to the best of her abilities. Along side her religious nature though, the woman, like many Geisha happens to be very superstitious. Mizuki has tried to break herself of some of these superstitions as the years have passed, but they have been embedded so deep that she can't help but still believe in them, to the point that she still refuses to walk the love stones, in case she doesn't make it and never finds true love.

On the other hand, there's Masami, her stage persona. Kyoto has one of the largest and oldest Geisha districts, and Muzuki herself has participated in the life for just as long, having been fascinated by the colors and the culture when it began. When she's behind the makeup Mizuki is everything that someone would expect from a well trained Geisha. She's charming and confident of herself down to the smallest motion, always so sure of herself, and always seemingly carefree. Mizuki is a graceful woman either way, but when she is out and about as Masami she's graceful and vibrant as opposed to her natural subtly.

As quiet as she is, as lovely as she is, and while Buddhism teaches peace, that doesn't mean Mizuki is a total pushover. While it will take much goading and pushing on someone's part to get her to fight, she will stand up for herself and her beliefs if threatened, having learned the art of the Tessan during the Edo period as a way of defending herself during the wars. She has seen battle, she has seen bloodshed, and if she has to hurt someone to protect her prefecture or her country as a whole then she will.

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I'm the hero!

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[li] Although archaeological evidence places the first human settlement on the islands of Japan to approximately 10,000 BC, relatively little is known about human activity in the area before the 6th century AD, around which time the Shimogamo Shrine is believed to have been established.
[/li][li] In 544 the Aoi Matsuri, or Hollyhock Festival used to be held in Kyoto as a way to pray for good harvest.
[/li][li] During the 8th century, when powerful Buddhist clergy became involved in the affairs of the Imperial government, the Emperor chose to relocate the capital to a region far from the Buddhist influence. Emperor Kammu selected the village of Uda, at the time in the Kadono district of Yamashiro Province, being the predecessor to the name Kyoto
[/li][li]In 741, the previous capital of Nara was moved by Emperor Shommu to Kuni-kyo, located in Kyoto.
[/li][li]In 784, it was moved again to Nagaokakyo and then again in 794 to Heian, what is present day Kyoto, to say Mizuki was proud was an understatement
[/li][li]The new city, Heian-kyō (平安京, "tranquility and peace capital"), one of many names for Kyoto, became the seat of Japan's imperial court in 794, beginning the Heian period of Japanese history.
--- It is considered a high point in Japanese culture that later generations have always admired. The period is also noted for the rise of the samurai class
[/li][li] The Hōgen Rebellion (保元の乱), lasting from July 28-August 16, 1156 was a short civil war fought in order to resolve a dispute about Japanese Imperial succession. The dispute was also about the degree of control exercised by the Fujiwara clan who had become hereditary Imperial regents during the Heian period. It laid foundation for the subsequent samurai rule
[/li][li] In 1192 real political power shifted to Kamakura, where a samurai clan established the shogunate, Kyoto still remained the imperial capital
[/li][li] Imperial rule was briefly restored in 1333, but another samurai clan established a new shogunate in Kyoto three years later
[/li][li] In 1467, the Ōnin no Ran (civil war) took place inside Kyoto, and most of the town was burned down. Japan plunged into the age of warring feudal lords. Mizuki thought it best to learn to defend herself at the time, she still bares the scars of the war.
--- Kyoto didn't really recover until the mid-16th century. Battles between samurai factions spilled into the streets, and came to involve the court nobility and religious factions as well. Nobles' mansions were transformed into fortresses, deep trenches dug throughout the city for defense and as firebreaks, and numerous buildings burned.
[/li][li] In the late 16th century, Toyotomi Hideyoshi built earthwork walls called Odoi circulating Kyoto City
[/li][li] Tokugawa Ieyasu, established the shogunate at Edo (today's Tokyo) in 1603.
[/li][li] In the 15th century A.D., tea-jars were brought by the shoguns to Uji in Kyoto from the Philippines which was used in the Japanese Tea Ceremony, thank you Phillipines!
[/li][li] The Hamaguri rebellion of 1864 burnt down 28,000 houses in the city, and the subsequent move of the Emperor to Tokyo in 1869 weakened the economy
[/li][li] The Meiji Restoration returned Japan to imperial rule in 1868, Emperor Meiji decided to stay in Tokyo, and because of that the imperial court stayed there ever since. Mizuki was indignant.
[/li][li] The subsequent reorganization of the old provincial system merged the former Tango Province, Yamashiro Province and the eastern part of Tanba Province into today's Kyoto Prefecture.
[/li][li] During WWII Kyoto managed to escape the worst of the city bombings, and though originally at the top of the nuclear bombing list, In the end, at the insistence of Henry L. Stimson, Secretary of War in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations, the city was removed from the list of targets and replaced by Nagasaki. The woman still has trouble looking Nagasaki in the eye after learning that.
[/li][li] During Allied Occupation, the U.S. Sixth Army was headquartered in Kyoto
[/li][li] Kyoto became a city designated by government ordinance on September 1 1956
[/li][li] In 1997, Kyoto hosted the conference that resulted in the protocol on greenhouse gas emissions that bears the city's name, that being the Kyoto Protocol.

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You've got it backwards! Backwards!

Hurry up and throw it! If you don't hurry up and throw it, you'll go "boom"!

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No 8|

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I Summon thee from far away lands, come forth!

You called?

[/color]:[/b] Devi B.
Timezone: GMT -5

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