Yoshida Tsubasa

Status: Retired Events: Drachenfest 2004
Summoning 2005
Drachenfest 2006
Yoshida Weekend 1
Yoshida Weekend 2
Yoshida Weekend 3
Yoshida Weekend 4
Race: Human
Class: Samurai

Born as Nanami Tsubasa on the Island Awaji, ever since her childhood Tsubasa wanted to become a geisha. She was accepted into an okiya of respect and with a good reputation, and worked very hard to become proficient in the arts a geisha practices. She became minarai and then maiko at the age of thirteen.
When Tsubasa had learned what it entails to be a maiko for three years, her okasan deemed her ready for the court, and at the first possible instance was allowed to accompany her onesan to a zashiki with the daimyo Yoshida Nakatoshi and his sons. Sixteen-year old Tsubasa was only allowed to sit in the corner and observe, and tell whomever asked what her name was and who her onesan was. The daimyo himself was the first to ask her name, and Tsubasa was very impressed by the aura of power the old man with a long beard radiated. She also met the sons of the daimyo that night, Kasumi, who would become daimyo after his father died, and Shiro, who was studying to become the next sensei.

What Tsubasa did not know at the time, but soon learned, was that the man who had been staring at her the entire night was the hatamoto of young Kasumi. Kasumi was only sixteen himself at the time, but his hatamoto had been with him and cared for his wellbeing for a very long time. After the first zashiki, Kasumi made sure to ask for Tsubasa every time his father would have a zashiki, and every time the hatamoto sat staring at Tsubasa whenever he was not paying attention to his charge.

When Tsubasa finished her time as a maiko and turned her collar, Kasumi invited her to the summer palace to present her with a gift. Tsubasa went there, wearing a beautiful pink kimono with green and purple flowers climbing from the hem, with a green obi. Kasumi greeted her warmly when she arrived, and introduced her to his hatamoto, Yasuo. Tsubasa bowed deeply to the man, and tried her best to pay attention to what Kasumi was saying, but found herself distracted. At the end of their conversation, she apologized to Kasumi for being so distracted, but Kasumi just smiled secretively, and said she could make it up to him by promising to come again. Tsubasa bowed and said she would be honoured if Kasumi-sama would invite her again, and left.

Over the course of a year, Kasumi kept inviting Tsubasa to the palace, and Tsubasa dutifully came to his call every time. Sometimes, Kasumi would be waiting for her, and they would have a very pleasant conversation while Yasuo watched over them both, but there were also times that Kasumi was 'regretfully detained' by his lessons and that Yasuo would entertain Tsubasa in the gardens of the palace.
And one day under the falling cherry blossoms in that same garden, Yasuo proposed to Tsubasa.


When he was 33, Kasumi, son of Daimyo Yoshida Nakatoshi, was summoned with his faithful samurai to the world of the Dragons to fight for the honour of the Green Dragon. It was the first time the Yoshida family stepped through a portal to another world, but they adapted quickly, and fought the battle with honour and vigour.
A year after their return to Awaji Daimyo Nakatoshi died, and Kasumi became the new Daimyo of clan Yoshida. Only a few months after this, they stepped through a portal once more, this time to the world of the Vortex. Here, all Kami are like children, and soon the new Daimyo decided they were not worth fighting for, and led his people back to Awaji, vowing never to return.

When Tsubasa became 35 herself, only a year after their trip to the world of the Vortex, she received a letter from Nanami Koyuki, her brother's daughter. Koyuki wrote her to tell of her wish to become a geisha and had found swift acceptance in the same okiya as Tsubasa herself had once lived. She had already become a maiko and wrote now to Tsubasa with a question. The old okasan remembered how Tsubasa had had many talks with the man who was now Daimyo, and how this was all very benificial to her career. Perhaps there was an opportunity for Koyuki to benefit from life at court in the same way?
Tsubasa went immediately to Mineko-hime, with whom she became good friends during their visits to foreign worlds, and presented the matter to her. Mineko promised to speak to the daimyo about this, and the daimyo agreed to see for himself how Koyuki would adapt to the court, and whether he would be willing to take care of her further education would depend on how she acted.

Together with Kaminari and Garou, who had other matters to attend to in Sumoto, Tsubasa traveled to the townhouse of the daimyo. Once there, she wrote a message to both Koyuki as well as Sakamoto Kiyoshi, a samurai who was once a friend of Yasuo, but was now without clan, a ronin. Both agreed to meet with her, and Tsubasa first visited Koyuki, and bade her to pack her possessions and come to court with her. Then, Tsubasa went to meet with Kiyoshi and asked him if he would not consider applying for a position with the House of Yoshida, for the Daimyo expected another summons of the Green Dragon and he could use every samurai willing to go on an adventure in another world.
They arrived just in time for the summer picnic in the gardens of the summer house, and Koyuki and Sakamoto both presented themselves to the Daimyo.

It was soon agreed that Tsubasa would be the onesan to Koyuki, even though Tsubasa was now a housewife and no longer a geisha. All the geisha associated with House Yoshida would take care of the education of both Koyuki and Gina, who recently arrived back from an extensive training in etiquette. And only just after Koyuki had settled in at court, indeed the summons came from the Green Dragon, and the family left to visit the world of the Dragons once more.

In the land of the Dragons once again Clan Yoshida had to adapt and meet with gaijin, but this time they had prepared a gift to the Green Dragon, who accepted and wore the kimono in gratitude for the services of Clan Yoshida. Koyuki became Tsubasa's main worry though, seeing that the Daimyo expressed interest in becoming her danna. It is a very precarious situation, and will have to be handled with care.

At the age of 40, Tsubasa left court to live a peaceful life in the countryside.

See also The Yoshida Winter House