Freyashawk Guardians of Azuma Guide

​I finally chose the second option, Umi as my firstborn with Kai in a new game and he is a delight: Tonight when I was organising my storage after having dinner with both Kai and Jasper, I heard him shout:  Come one!  Let’s go eat!  It’s dinnertime!’ What fun he is, eliciting all sorts of responses to his antics.  He is very much a son of Kai. Never a dull moment.  When I allow him to go with us into battle, the little boy is at the front fighting fearlessly. Like Kai, he is open hearted, generous to a fault and reckless as well.  He expresses his love and delight in life constantly but he is very much a handful sometimes according to other characters. His heart is easy to win.  He lives both of the special dishes he prepares with you but he also loves a number of Exquisite items obtained from monsters.

It appears that no one really completed a guide for gifting Monsters in Guardians of Azuma.  People wrote down the lists of 'drops' or products they obtain, but did not pursue the actual lists in any comprehensive fashion. Part of the problem is, in my experience anyway, that every Monster is unique.  A gift that works to send one King Wooly to your barn may fail with the next. So months later, the AI is pulling information for these matters, but I have something still to offer that is potentially useful: First of all, in my current file, I have a son whom I named Kai San but his default name is Umi.  He is the second male option. He makes two dishes with you at Level 6abf unlike some of the other children and other characters, he loves both of those.  The other items he really loves are monster trophies and include Exquisite Fang and some other Exquisite items.  I have yet to test all of them with him. What is peculiar to me now is that the game is intent upon ...

Work in progress: ​This post concerns knowledge I have gained in my search for traditional Japanese objects that appear in Guardians of Azuma but are not related directly to the game. One of these is the distinction between a Kabuki and a Warabe doll.   There are a number of what I would call ‘classical’ renditions in the form of dolls of famous figures or characters from Kabuki dramas.  If one were familiar with these old narratives, one would be able to identify the drama and the character instantly.  Without a good familiarity with Kabuki, however, it often is difficult to know whether, for example, a doll holding branches of wisteria is a character from a Kabuki tradition or a sort of amulet designed to bring good fortune to its recipient. Kabuki dolls have symbolic associations and indeed in Shinto beliefs, all objects have souls, whether they are powerful forces or have minimal effects on the world at large.  Dolls are no exception. A Warabe doll is designed to...

‘​Guardians of Azuma’ offers the opportunity to inhabit a traditional Japanese landscape and participate in some traditional acts of devotion at shrines as well as seasonal festivals. It inspired me to return to my childhood love of Japanese culture and attempt to study symbols of power in more depth. Here are some symbols with their meanings: Sacred Bells: Kagura Suzu and Sanbaso: Sanbaso is a famous dance both in Kabuki and Noh derived from the ancient Okina play to offer prayers for peace, safe travel and rich harvests (gokoku hojo) The Kagura Suzu is a very special set of bells on a wand that are an integral aspect of a sacred Kagura dance. A male Sanbaso doll drives away evil, invites good fortune and is a symbol for a plentiful harvest or large fishing catch.  They are used, especially in hanging displays of Hina doll sets to give healthy growth and future happiness to children. The male Sanbaso portrays the ‘third man’ in the Okina performance, known for rhythmical intense d...

​ Above, two dolls who are performing sacred dances that use Kagura Suzu bells.  From what I understand, Suzu bells feature as accessories that are held by many dolls but they can be either a single round bell or a pair of bells. The Kagura Suzu bells represent the original Sakaki branch utilised by the goddess who danced to bring the Sun god Amaterasu out of hiding.  When she heard the laughter and sound of the dance performance, she looked out from the cave to see what was happening.  In some versions of the myth, the goddess performing the dance showed her private parts and this inspired laughter.  Sexual gestures in folk performances often are intended to be entertaining and comedic rather than lascivious and the laughter brought Amaterasu out of hiding. The Sakaki branch still considered sacred became a set of bells in the actual Kagura dance that retold the tale.  Bells are used in many cultures to summon the gods or spiritual power.  The Kagura Suzu ...

​The creators of Guardians of Azuma expressed a wish to invest the game with as many of the traditions of Japan as possible. Japan of course has diverse spiritual as well as mundane cultures and each has had its own special influence through the centuries but the Japanese managed to create a very unique synthesis finally between some of its native religions and beliefs rather than continuing to perceive other belief systems as a hostile or corrupting threat.   I am not an expert in Shinto beliefs but I studied and taught comparative religion and legends and to me, Guardians of Azuma enshrines Shintoism far more than any other belief system.  Although Buddhism has played a large part in shaping the culture and aesthetics of religious art and rituals, the animism that is so much a part of  Shinto beliefs is very apparent the world of Guardians of Azuma.  Thus, the reverence shown to Ulalaka’s sacred cherry tree that is displayed at the very beginning of this game and t...