Kanako Yasaka

Kanako Yasaka is a character from the Touhou Project games.

Kanako is the main antagonist of Mountain of Faith. She's the current goddess of the Moriya Shrine after defeating its previous resident goddess Suwako Moriya in the Great Suwa War. She desires to collect large amounts of faith, but since the humans of the Outside World no longer place much importance on gods, she has transported the shrine to Gensokyo. She currently lives on top of the Youkai Mountain, where she has an uneasy relationship with the leaders of the tengu.

In the Unlikely Heroes Chronicles fics, Kanako is a member of the Unlikely Heroes.

Appearance
Kanako has an elaborate red shirt with long white sleeves and a round mirror over the center of her chest. She wears a long black skirt with a red flower print hem. Has poofy intense blue hair and dark red eyes. Behind her is a large twisting rope circle shimenawa with shide.

Personality
Kanako is an ambitious woman who treats religion like a business, using whatever means bring her the most "profit" - that profit being instead faith. She has a natural presence that can seem intimidating or suspicious at times, but also reliable. Unusually for a god she has little respect for tradition - she demands little formality in her worship, and encourages scientific progress. It is somewhat strange for a deity to be knowledgeable and interested about science.

She has no hostility towards humans, though as is the case with all deities, she may curse them if they are disrespectful. She also seems to be rather short-tempered, but she is vulnerable to gifts.

Abilities
Kanako's ability specifically refers to the element of Qian, the "sky" of Bagua in Taoist philosophy. Qian is associated with creation, leadership, overtness, reliability, and acting first rather than reacting to others. Suwako Moriya's ability to create Kun (earth), refers to the opposite element.
 * Ability to Create Heavenliness

She is at least called "wind god", so it may be a power to manipulate wind, rain, and weather. For Kanako to be a god of agriculture, to manipulate the wind and rain and make the soil plentiful would definitely be the quickest and easiest way to quickly and easily gather faith.

In Symposium of Post-mysticism, it's stated that this ability of hers is still very much a mystery. Concerning what kind of power this is, since there is nothing that seems like a portrayal of this, it is not definite, but it is probably a power unimaginable to humans. After all, perhaps wind god→climate→air=sky. She has been seen altering the terrain with Suwako's help, opening holes to the underground, and even creating large structures. She helped build the Myouren Temple, as well.

Trivia

 * The silhouette of Kanako occupies the front of Mountain of Faith 's jewel case.
 * It is revealed in chapter 19 of Silent Sinner in Blue that the Lunarians created and use shimenawa rope to seal away those that are a threat to them. Kanako's shimenawa at her back is confirmed to be the actual shimenawa in her Mountain of Faith profile. In addition, in Suwako's profile, it is stated that Kanako was one of several gods fighting to unify Japan, and it was implied in Silent Sinner in Blue that it was the Lunarians who were behind those wars (assuming taking away Lord Daikoku's lands referred to the actual time that happened in Shinto mythology by Amaterasu's family, whom are implied to be the Lunar Capital's founders). The Lunarians even used shimenawa to seal another god at the Moriya shrine. However, it is unknown if Kanako was connected to, in league with, or aware of any of this.
 * The shrine pictured in the background image of Kanako's spell cards is The Autumn Court of the Lower Shrine (Shimosha), one of the four shrines that make up the Suwa Grand Shrine.
 * Oddly, Kanako's sprite changes colors in rainbow order during the time between when her theme begins and when she starts to battle. It also happens to Yumeko in the PC-98era.