Fanart is by Syurii22.
Toyosatomimi no Miko is a character in the Touhou Project series introduced in its 13th installment, Ten Desires.
Miko was once Prince Shoutoku, a Japanese leader in the 600s known for promoting Buddhism and streamlining the Japanese government. In the Touhou lore, she was visited by Taoist hermit Seiga Kaku, who had heard about Miko’s longing for immortality. Seiga introduced her to Taoism, but she rejected it as a religion unfit for placating an entire country. She was intrigued by its promise of immortality, however, and privately converted to it, advocating for Buddhism to keep Japan stable. After drinking an “immortality elixir” (mercury sulfide), however, she was forced to let go of her body and become a supernatural hermit like Seiga, notably taking on the form of a woman, making her a canonically trans character (
).
After convincing a hermit from a rival clan (Mononobe no Futo) to sleep without decaying, Miko followed in suit, waiting for a time where a Taoist Japan would revive her in search of guidance. However, Buddhist monks were able to keep her mausoleum sealed, and the legends surrounding her were slowly brushed off- which led to her transportation into Gensokyo, where the folklore of old is a reality of everyday life.
When she awoke in Gensokyo, it was right after Buddhist monk Byakuren Hijiri opened her own temple, however, leading to a surge of divine spirits across the realm, setting up the events of Ten Desires.
What look like headphones on her are canonically earmuffs- Shoutoku was allegedly able to discern between ten questions asked at once, an ability carried by Miko (although with her enhanced abilities, she can also analyze each person and determine their inner desires (thus the title of the game))- although it means her hearing is highly sensitive and has to be muffled to prevent pain.
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Here is a screenshot of where to find the spoiler button.
I saw AM! in 2007 as a kid and remember when she came out as a big “oh hey, being trans is a thing and that’s cool and I like her and her music” moment that pushed me towards figuring stuff out
Before that most trans stuff I was aware of was just shitty transphobic punchlines in “comedies”
I remember getting in an argument with a friend of a friend that was a homeschooled evangelical kid that ran in the same music scene as us who was being shitty about LJG and seeing the kind of people that took exception to her coming out helped galvanize my trajectory towards (gestures towards self) this because fuck that guy
His music sucked too, dorky ass imitation John Mayer
Nice! I didn’t really discover AM! until around the time she came out, but since I didn’t really follow music news, I don’t think I found out until her 2014 album released or was about to release.
Didn’t really push me towards figuring anything out though… as cool as I thought transgender dysphoria blues was and loved singing along with it, I just assumed it was as an empathetic ally. I remember one time talking about how much I loved the line
in Paralytic States with my brother and he was just “huh? i don’t get it.” At that point, I had long acknowledged an orchi sounded appealing (but never told anyone), but never considered it might be a gender-related thing. My egg shell was pretty impenetrable at the time.
I’m not really into concerts, but definitely would go to another LGJ show (went during the current tour).