Myojin Yahiko

Lore & Background

Yahiko starts off as arrogant and bad-mannered, having bestowed upon himself the title 'Tokyo Samurai' because his father was a samurai who died during the Battle of Ueno in the Boshin War, slain at the Kan'ei-ji Temple. He becomes a thief to pay back his parents' debt. He first appears trying to rob Kenshin, who stops him but lets him go. When his yakuza bosses are about to beat him to death for wanting to quit, Kenshin arrives to save him and takes him to Kaoru's dojo. Yahiko's dream is to be as strong as Kenshin so he can protect himself and the people he loves. Despite his young age and short training, Kenshin allows him to fight, noting he is too mature for his age. Yahiko becomes adept at imitating some of Kenshin's Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū techniques and learns the principles of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū. When Kenshin goes to Kyoto to fight Shishio Makoto, Yahiko accompanies Kaoru to find and aid him. He stays in Kyoto to defend the Aoi-ya hotel from Shishio's forces and defeats one of Shishio's strongest soldiers, Henya. Back in Tokyo, he notices Yukishiro Enishi's revenge plot and trains harder to learn the two succession techniques in Kamiya Kasshin-ryū, which allow him to block an opponent's attack and then hit with his weapon. He uses these moves against Enishi's partner Otowa Hyōko and defeats him. Later, he stands up against Kujiranami Hyōgo but is not strong enough alone; Kenshin saves him. Five years later, he is the acting instructor at the Kamiya Kasshin-ryū dojo. Kenshin calls him to test his skills; when Yahiko lands a hit, Kenshin gives him his own reverse-blade sword as a present for his coming-of-age ceremony.

In Their Own Story

In the last story arc from the manga, the story takes a darker tone. Watsuki made Yahiko the main character during the time when Kenshin thought Kamiya Kaoru was dead; his role was to serve as the identifying character for readers. The author found this hard to do, as the more time Kenshin was unwilling to continue to live, the worse Yahiko felt, leaving Watsuki a more negative feeling concerning the story. By the end of the series as Yahiko becomes a teenager, Watsuki redesigned his appearance. He wanted Yahiko to impress manga readers so that he could be a protagonist for a possible series sequel. He added Sanosuke's kanji of 'evil' (惡, aku) to the back of his clothes. In the 20th volume of the Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban edition, Watsuki again redesigned Yahiko's appearance: his hair was not as spiky, he wore a dark jacket, a white short-sleeved T-shirt, short trousers, no socks under his sandals, and bandages on his hands to hold a sword. He had two swords—a shinai and a katana—with the latter tied on his back.

Reader's Guide

**Real Name:** Myōjin Yahiko (known as Yahiko Myojin in the Media Blasters English-language dub and Yoshi Mujin in the English Sony Samurai X dub) **Era of Activity:** Pre-Meiji period of Japan (setting) **Fighting Style:** Kamiya Kasshin-ryū (trained by Kamiya Kaoru); also adept at imitating Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū techniques **Key Weapons:** Shinai and katana (later); reverse-blade sword gifted by Kenshin at his coming-of-age ceremony

Yahiko is an orphan from a samurai family who was forced to work as a thief. He is rescued by Himura Kenshin and decides to grow up to be like him. Kenshin arranges for Yahiko to be trained by Kamiya Kaoru. As the series progresses, Yahiko becomes skilled at swordsmanship and faces many opponents. He appears in the featured movie of the series, as well as other media including electronic games and an original video animations (OVAs) series. His character has been very popular with readers, ranking near the top of the series' popularity polls. He is featured in various types of merchandising such as figurines and key-chains. While initially criticized for his lack of action in the plot, his further development in the series has been praised. **Major Character Arcs:** Rescue by Kenshin, training under Kaoru, defending the Aoi-ya in Kyoto (defeating Henya), learning the two succession techniques of Kamiya Kasshin-ryū (defeating Otowa Hyōko), becoming acting instructor at the dojo five years later, receiving Kenshin's reverse-blade sword.

Did You Know?

• Nobuhiro Watsuki created Yahiko based on his own childhood frustrations with kendo; he described himself then as 'weak' and 'an embarrassment to my 183 centimeters of height'.
• Watsuki added Sanosuke's kanji of 'evil' (惡, aku) to the back of Yahiko's clothes, and was pleased that various readers recognized it.
• In the 20th volume of the Rurouni Kenshin kanzenban edition, Watsuki redesigned Yahiko with a dark jacket, white short-sleeved T-shirt, short trousers, no socks, and bandages on his hands.
• Yahiko's voice in the Japanese anime adaptation was provided by Miina Tominaga; in the Media Blasters English dub, Wendee Lee voiced him (credited as Elyse Floyd).
• In the live action films, Yahiko was portrayed by Taketo Tanaka in the first film and by Kaito Ōyagi in Kyoto Inferno and The Legend Ends.