Asahina Konomi

Please note: This article is about the shugenja. For other uses of the term, please see Konomi (disambiguation).
Doji Konomi became an artisan and air shugenja of the Crane Clan, Asahina Konomi. She later became a brewmaster of the Maneki Neko Brewery.
==Sacrifice for Family==
Konomi was not born an Asahina. Her grandfather, a Doji, was the proprietor and owner of the Maneki Neko Brewery in the village of Tsuma, known for it's excellent sake. Of all his grandchildren, only Konomi took a great interest in the brewing process. She believed that sake-making was an art. Scenes from the Empire 21, by Robert Denton
Eventually, her grandfather took ill. About that time, her capability to speak to the kami came to light, and she embraced the ways of the Shugenja thinking that she could discover a way to save her grandfather. In doing so, she walked away from the inheritance of the brewery, leaving it to her two brothers, Doji Hirota and Doji Shinkichi. 
==Becoming the Toji==
Konomi could not find a cure for her grandfather's illness. On his deathbed, he summoned her, and told her that he knew she'd given up her dreams of becoming a Toji (a brewmaster) to find a cure for his illness. To repay her kindness, and because he knew she was the right one for the job, he arranged for her to inherit the sake brewery after all.
Konomi traveled to Tsuma where she confronted her brothers. The two took no interest in the quality of the sake they were making and had disregarded their grandfather's ways in favor of efficiency. Disgusted by what had become of their grandfather's legacy, Konomi seized the property and threw her brother Hirota out. Because Shinkichi seemed remorseful, she allowed him to remain and help restore the brewery's reputation. Hirota swore revenge and left. 
==Hirota's Mistakes==
The kind of sake that the Maneki Neko Brewery was making before Konomi inherited it was of inferior quality. This was due to several changes that Hirota had implemented in the name of "progress":
*Using rainwater to increase the yield of product
*Making Nigori (unfiltered) sake instead of a "pure" product
*Using cheap cedar barrels instead of the traditional cypress
*Watering down their ancestor's recipe (instead of improving it)
But the final straw was Hirota condoning of the use of "ash filters" that used animal bones for future brews, something Konomi, as an Asahina priestess, found revolting.
After throwing out Hirota, Konomi made numerous changes to the process, undoing the damage that her brother had done. 
==Maneki Neko Sake==
Within one season, Asahina Konomi made her brewery famous throughout the empire. Under Konomi's Tojiship, the brewery created a special kind of sake called "Maneki Neko Sake," which became well-known for its quality. It was said that the Imperial Consort Akodo Setai preferred it even to Friendly Traveler Sake. This brew was also a known favorite of Doji Makoto, who believed it to be the best sake in the Empire. 
== External Links ==
* Asahina Konomi (Embers of War)
Category:Crane Clan Members