Hisako Yao
八尾比沙子
Guiding Nun / female / ?
The originator of the "eternal curse" on Hanuda Village, and the "backstage" protagonist of the game. Her true identity is that of ancestor of the Kajiro family and its cursed blood, a village girl who was granted with eternal life after consuming the flesh of Datatsushi, a god from the underworld that fell to earth more than 1,300 years ago.
The village girl never set out with the intention of perpetrating a forbidden sin. However, that year the village was struck by a terrible famine, and one by one the people starved to death. One day, when the village was on the verge of total destruction, a strange being fell from the sky. The girl, who was pregnant, consumed "its" flesh, for the sake of her unborn child and for her own sake, along with the two other remaining villagers. As "it" uttered its final death screams, the village and the girl were both cursed forever.
The village girl who consumed Datatsushi's flesh - Hisako Yao - is a being who shares Datatsushi's blood; in other words, she is a division of the god, and could even be considered to be one with it. However, at the same time Hisako is also cursed for eternity (with eternal life). An eternal curse - it is not caused by having incurred the wrath of Datatsushi, but rather by the forbidden act of an inferior consuming a being from the underworld. The god's reach extends beyond that of human comprehension, and the "being from a superior dimension" curses Hisako, her descendants and the entire village. Hisako repents for her sin by offering up her own flesh and blood (descendants) in order to resurrect Datatsushi, but this no longer has anything to do with her own conscious will, having switched between countless personalities over the ages, wrapping up the people around her in the swirl of karma. Since even Hisako hardly recalls who she is or the goal she is trying to accomplish, she has forgotten her original aim. This helpless situation itself is a curse on her.
As Hisako the Guiding Nun, as Sumiko, the maid of the previous generation Miyako, she is originally a stoutly devoted woman full of affection, and her "selves" bear no ill intentions. However, the awakened Hisako, Yao Bikuni, wishes for her own resurrection as a part of Datatsushi. Her penance, having lasted more than one thousand years, seems to be drawing to an end...
"Awaken"
Seeing the sign written in the list of church members, her mind drifts... After this, Hisako gradually begins to awaken.
A woman who lives forever
Encountering her other self at the red sea, the awakened Hisako remembers her original pupose. She looks just the same as she did as a village girl in 684 AD...
The final sacrifice to the god
In order to repent for her original sin, Hisako has sacrificed her own descendants continuously. Her true motives have been warped over many long years, becoming insane.
Anger towards the one who desecrated the god
Seeing Kyoya arrive in the underworld, Hisako is shocked. She realises that this boy, who appeared trivial, has grown into a force opposing her...
Hisako Yao: Character Archive
The white-haired Hisako becomes a being who can head for any period in which the altar and holy vessel are required (she is the one who delivers the holy vessel after descending from a pillar of light). Having eaten a creature from the underworld she is an immortal being who has superceded the laws of the real world, but in order to repent for the sin she perpetrated a curse is created that exists in all time periods in the village. Hisako herself becomes the wheel of Ouroboros.
Day 1
0:00 - Siren and earthquake while participating in secret ritual. Shaken by the strange event, suddenly her mind becomes hazy. Wandering alone, meets Kyoya by the riverbank and returns to Guiding Nun
7:00 - Arrives at church with Kyoya. Pretending to be calm she looks at the list of church members; as she does so her mind becomes foggy. Pressured by the visit of the Maeda couple, leaves church alone to search for Tomoko
21:00 - Takes charge of Tomoko Maeda in Hirunotsuka; returns to church where her parents wait
Day 2
0:00 - Feeling as though called by someone, she begins to feel strange. Orders Tomoko to enter an abandoned house filled with Shibito and vanishes alone.
Switches between multiple personalities. Acting as though confused, wandering about, over and over
6:00 - Self descends in the Utsubobune. Picks up the holy vessel that washes up on the shore, remembering her duty
10:00 - Finds Miyako
19:00 - Mutters an incantation over the sleeping Miyako. Announces the coming of the day for which she has waited for so long
Day 3
0:00 - Responding to Hisako's call, flames appear from the Mirror Pool and engulf Miyako. However, the Datatsushi that comes out of the Mirror Pool is incomplete
The god begins to malfunction. Hisako also switches between personalities
18:00 - The Guiding Nun speaks to Kyoya in a kind voice. Surprised by the Uryen
23:00 - Realising that the fruit was incomplete, Hisako sacrifices herself and her hair turns white. Falls into the abyss along with the head and altar. To Ouroboros
Hisako Yao in Each Level
Day 1 / 2:28:13 (Arato - Bank of the Mana River)
Hisako, the first person whom Kyoya encounters after regaining consciousness, is a "Guiding Nun" devoted to carrying on the teachings of Manaism. All Hisako feels toward Kyoya is that something about meeting tugs at her mind, and she has to rescue him. Desperately hiding her fear of the Shibito, the human love she displays in saving Kyoya is motherly.
Day 2 / 6:44:51 (Harayadori - Yabe Settlement)
Seeing the words written in Shibito language in the list of church members at the church, Hisako gradually begins to remember the various memories she has experienced, and her personalities come and go. Called by something she heads for the shore, where she understands that the "other Hisako" who descends from the pillar of light has come to return the lost "holy vessel", and fully remembers who she is.
Day 3 / 23:43:21 (Inferno)
Hisako falls into the dimensional abyss along with the crumbling altar. Since the Kajiro family bloodline has ended (because Miyako and Ayako have perished), this is the end for the Kajiros. However, this results in "beginning" and "end" themselves vanishing, Hisako's altar - the Utsubobune legend - becoming trapped in eternity.
Hisako Q&A
Q: Hisako resurrects the senseless Datatsushi through a ritual using an "incomplete fruit". What kind of state of mind is she in when she reunites with Kyoya?
A: Like the time she helped him out as Guiding Nun after entering the Other World, she receives Kyoya affectionately. But when she learns that Kyoya is in possession of the Uryen, she awakens with the thought, "What is the Uryen I so carefully sealed away doing here!?" Hisako had never imagined that Kyoya would act as such opposition to her later on.
Q: Will Hisako not be released from the curse of living for eternity if she sacrifices herself?
A: At first she gave up her descendants to Datatsushi in order to obtain eternal life at the same time as being released from the curse. It seems as though as she repeated her actions over and over for many long years, the actions themselves became Hisako's goal. Since Hisako herself is completely cursed, she cannot maintain such a clear state of mind forever.
English Translation by Chelsea
