Togashi Tsuneyo

Togashi Tsuneyo was the master tattoo artist during the reign of Togashi Sakanoe as Dragon Clan Champion. It was in a time when no women were allowed within the walls of Kyuden Togashi that a samurai-ko of the Crane Clan had climbed the mountain and sat outside the castle gate waiting to be let in. Tsuneyo could not bear to watch such a glorious creature die alone, so he went out and spoke with her. She spoke of visions of a magnificent tattoo, and no man in Rokugan had the skill to make it. The woman knew that the tattoo required a death in payment to be finished, and managed to convince Tsuneyo he was the only one that could do it. Tsuneyo worked through the night, the Crane not making a sound even though the procedure was extremely painful, and the following dawn he was finished. The tattoo of a ki-rin was on her back. The death was not hers however, as Tsuneyo had payed it for her. The witness of this tale was Togashi Ueshiba, who transcribed it for all to remember. (Crane pp. 11-12)