Chikushō-dō

Chikushō-dō, the Realm of Animals, Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 209 or the Animals' Path, was one of the three senkyō, or "enchanted country". Emerald Empire: The Essential Guide to Rokugan, p. 136 It was the way that guided animals to a better reincarnation. Celestial Realms, p. 8
== The First Court ==
Legends said that long ago, all animals, including humans, were equal. Each species had its own society, religion, culture, and stories. Each one believed a different truth about where they all came from. Periodically, the animals convened to discuss important matters. Every meeting included a vote on whose reality should supersede the others, so that all the animals and humans could agree on a single worldview. Each time, each species voted for its own reality, and that was that. One day the humans persuaded the dogs, their closest allies, to vote for human reality instead of dog one, to be later rewarded by humans when they were in power. humans and dogs voted together, and the humans' way of seeing the world prevailed. From this arose Rokugan's history and the system that exalted humans and their gods above all others: the Celestial Order. Celestial Realms, p. 21
== Relationship with Sakkaku ==
Chikushō-dō and Sakkaku, illusion, were in fact political categories, not regions, though their adherents did control certain territories. Chikushō-dō's animals were committed to living, and helping one another live, lives of virtue and service that would guarantee them better rebirth. Many, especially among their leadership, were laid Shinseists. Sakkaku's adherents believed their animal incarnations were ideal, their final and perfect forms. They thought that embracing their animal natures and achieving immortality in their current life was the best use of their time. Each one, while made up of individuals rather than territory, dominated some Rokugani wildernesses, kept out of others, and struggled with their opposite numbers to claim contested territory. Historically, a Great Tengu had usually been in charge of each court, though that office had sometimes passed to an animal spirit of some other species. 
== Adherents ==
The spirits of Chikushō-dō prepared for their eventual rebirth as humans by assisting current humans. They spent their life training for their eventual rebirth as a human, they found the good in humans, and they hunt down and destroy Jigoku's corruption. Celestial Realms, pp. 21-23 Kitsune spirits adhered to this court. Beginner Game: Rulebook, p. 46
== Passages ==
Kyūden Asako and the Aokami Forest were known passages to Ningen-dō. Courts of Stone, p. 46 The Haunted Grove near Hirosaka was another portal. Path of Waves, p. 166
*
Category:Rokugani Language (TCG)