Matsu Mochiko

Matsu Mochihime was the Matsu Daimyo who became one of the first ronin, known as Mochiko, during the Gozoku rule. Way of the Wolf, p. 25-27 Imperial Histories, pp. 44-48 After the fall of the Gozoku the ronin returned to their clans, and she became Matsu Mochiko. Imperial Histories, p. 71
== Lion Clan ==
Matsu Mochihime was the Matsu Daimyo. The Legend went that after the Gozoku victory over Hantei Fujiwa in 391, she strode into the Imperial Court, threw her haori to the floor turned to the Emperor and his court with a scowl,
"I am Mochihime," she spat. "I may no longer be Matsu. I may no longer be a Lion. But I am, and will always be, a samurai. When you wish to have my daisho you can pry it from my dead fingers." 
== Ronin ==
Legend also had it that Mochihime became ronin named Mochiko continued to follow the secret commands of Fujiwa with a band of ronin to pave the path for Fujiwa's daughter, Hantei Yugozohime. 
=== Family ===
She had a younger brother, Matsu Itagi, who would become Lion Clan Champion in 401, Imperial Histories, p. 50 and a younger sister, Matsu Oki. Way of the Crab, pp. 27-29 Her brother died in 412 after a campaign in the Shadowlands. 
=== Rejoining the Lion Clan ===
After the Gozoku was ovethrown by Yugozohime in 435 the Empress undone the Imperial Edict which had made Mochiko ronin, so she joined the Matsu family as Matsu Mochiko. 
== Emerald Champion ==
A Test of the Emerald Champion was held this year, and it was won by Doji Usan. In the next year the winner turned down his position to marry Yugozohime. Imperial Histories, pp. 48-49 A new tournament was held in 438 and Mochiko won the new Test of the Emerald Champion. Imperial Histories, p. 72 In the place of the tournament, Dark Edge Village, Mochiko gathered all those magistrates of questionable character within a building, locked the doors and burned it to the ground. The homes of every Gozoku agent in Dark Edge village were likewise burned completely. Strongholds of the Empire, p. 49
=== Katai family ===
When Mochiko rejoined the Lion Clan her ronin followers became leaderless. Katai, formerly known as Akodo Katai, was allowed to form the Katai family with the ronin group, vassals of the Akodo family. Secrets of the Lion, p. 26
=== Gaijin Ambassadors ===
In 440 Mochiko was present when Gusai Mori introduced in the Imperial Court Teodoro Cornejo, a gaijin of the Merenae kingdom, and Garen Hawthorne, a Thrane almirant. In 441 the Daidoji claimed to sponsor the Thrane Kingdom separately from the Merenae, but she refused, the gaijin had to be treated as a whole regardless of supposed ‘national’ ties. When in 442 Thrane ambassadors were exposed as enemies of the Empire by the Merenae, all the gaijin were asked to leave Rokugan. The gaijin refused, which led to the Battle of White Stag and the Battle of Raging Seas. Imperial Histories, pp. 74-75
== Retired ==
Mochiko survived but never forgave herself for allowing Empress to die. She finally retired a few years later and lived out as a sensei in the Ruby dojo, training Emerald Magistrates. Imperial Histories, p. 92
== See also ==
* Matsu Mochiko/Meta
Category:Lion Clan Leaders
Mochiko
Category:Emerald Champions