Sutra Chanting Yamabiko
Kyouko Kasodani's usual outfit. It features a dark red dress and a broom.
Choujuu Gigaku
One of Kyouko's Choujuu Gigaku costumes. She makes the crowd go wild with her shout!
Kyouko Kasodani's usual outfit. It features a dark red dress and a broom.
Yamanari (a Touhou LW original) refers to the phenomenon where a sound from the mountains heralds the coming of an earthquake or volcanic eruption. This is an apt temperament for Kyouko, who is a youkai that lives on a mountain and reflects sound. Kyouko is endowed with Wood Phase, because her existence is based upon her loud voice, and Moon Essence, as she is a youkai priest. The strong and kind Wood Phase resists Water Phase, because water nourishes wood, but it is weak to Metal Phase, because metal carves wood. The cooperative and indecisive Moon Essence resists the alluring and arrogant Sun Essence, but it is weak to the diverse and uncooperative Star Essence.
Kyouko Kasodani's ability as a yamabiko. It is the youkai yamabiko's nature to shout back any words they hear. Kyouko is a novice priest who joined Myouren Temple, but she apparently lives on the Youkai Mountain and commutes to the temple every day. She sweeps the grounds and does menial labor at the temple as part of her training. There is a Japanese idiom that "children near a temple will recite sutras untaught." Kyouko is a perfect example of this as she can perfectly remember the contents of sutras recited by the monks, namely Byakuren, perhaps due to her ability as a yamabiko. You may think that there are no benefits to merely learning sutras by rote, but attaining salvation through repeating the name of Amitabha is a concept of Buddhism. The yamabiko's status as a youkai was apparently in danger because it is also general knowledge among the humans who dwell in Gensokyo that echoes are merely the reverberation of sound. However, people have begun to fear yamabiko as a youkai because of the creepy sounds they hear coming from the mountain ever since Kyouko started to shout while reciting sutras after she returns home. You could probably get a good idea about the nature and volume of Kyouko's voice if you read the reviews about Kyouko's and Mystia's rock band, Choujuu Gigaku.
Kyouko Kasodani's Spread Shot (a Touhou LW original). She chants a sutra with all her might. She shouts with her death-metal voice that she uses while performing in her band. Even if you don't understand the meaning of the sutra, reciting it out loud is still worthwhile. Now, repeat after Kyouko... "Gyate."
Kyouko Kasodani's Focus Shot (a Touhou LW original). She attacks by echoing her voice off a rock. There is a legend that echoes come from a small rock mountain called a "yamabiko rock" that returns words spoken by humans. There are also other legends that say echoes come from a youkai bird called a "yobuko" or a dog-like youkai beast called a "yamako." Incidentally, Kyouko has ears and a tail reminiscent of a dog.
Kyouko Kasodani's Spell Card. She shoots bullets that rebound like echoes. In the past, people used to think that echoes were caused by someone imitating voices because they are heard after a delay. Nowadays, it is general knowledge that an echo is a reflection of sound. The speed of sound varies according to the air temperature and other factors, but it is generally around 340 m/s. The greater the distance between the sound source and the surface that the sound reflects off, the longer the echo takes to hear. This time lag is almost imperceptible during daily life, but you can clearly hear it in open spaces, like on top of a mountain.
Kyouko Kasodani's Spell Card. She attacks by compressing bullets of sound into a confined area. The trajectories of the bullets trapped in the area are difficult to predict because the area gradually gets smaller and smaller. This is somewhat similar to phonon maser technology that oscillates coherent wavelengths, amplitudes, and directions of ultrasonic waves. This may be a truly terrifying sonic attack.
Kyouko Kasodani's Last Word (a Touhou LW original). She reads sutras in an isolated room. What would happen if someone overheard Kyouko read out sutras in a closed room? That person outside the room would have no way of knowing whether the one reading the sutras was a novice priest or the head priest. That means that in this instance, at least, it doesn't matter whether Kyouko understands the meaning of the sutras... Now then, how could you tell whether the one chanting is the head priest or Kyouko imitating her without entering the sutra-chanting room?
GOOOOOD MOOOOORNING! If you hear this greeting, you know you're at Myouren Temple.
Cooking and meeting challenges are part of a priest's duties. That is the way of Myouren Temple.
It is a novice priest's duty to sweep the temple entrance and the gardens. They also have to wipe the floors and polish the Buddhist ritual implements.