Asahina Hake

Asahina Hake was an air shugenja of the Crane Clan and the founder of the Asahina Artisan school in the late 6th century.

Developing his Own Art
Hake was a short and acerbic man who showed little skill as courtier, because he too often expressed his opinions openly and caused scenes or earned enemies. During a winter at Kyuden Doji he began to study the small variations made by different artists who performed the same song, play or any other form of art. After he saw the Scorpion and the Frog for the fourth time that week, Hake developed the theory that all performance art had an element of temporality to it; each performance was unique, able to happen only for that specific performer at that specific time.

Kakita Artisan
Hake stunned the Kakita Daimyo during a sculpture contest. Instead to sculpt, he crafted an illusory sculpture made of light and shadow, floating in mid-air. Like a song or a dance, his sculpture was beautiful when it existed but also transitory, living on only within the minds of those who viewed it. Hake was invited to study at the Kakita Artisan Academy, becoming a decent sculptor, painter, and musician. He incorporated those skills into his own illusory sculptures. In his later years he also became known for crafting elaborate illusory recreations of ancient places and vanished castles. The Asahina Artisan dojo was founded within the Kakita Artisan Academy to teach his techniques.