Yui

> *"Now I can make all the clothes I've been dreamin' of for so long! Thank ya kindly, Goddesses. I'm so, so happy."*
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**Spoiler Warning**This page contains spoilers for the main story of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin. Proceed carefully.

## Voice Actor

### JP

古賀 葵 (Koga Aoi)

*"A charming young girl who grew attached to Kinta and has stayed by his side ever since. Though she appears to be rather mild-mannered, she is crafty and cunning, and won't let her guard down even for a moment. She displays weaving and handicraft skills that are unparalleled.*

*Yui's skill at the loom is matched only by her affection for Kinta, though her reasons for following him are known only to herself. Once the proper materials have been procured and the weaving hut has been built, Yui will offer her weaving services. Speak with her in the hut to request new armor, provided you have the required materials on hand."*

Yui is a young girl with a troubled past; her outgoing demeanour is somewhat demure and reserved, she speaks with the same rural dialect as Kinta, and is capable of being harsh or even cunning when she needs to be.

She arrived in the Lofty Realm after escaping her prison with Myrthe and Kinta. They joined with Tauemon and Kaimaru and set out to find a safe place, eventually crossing the bridge of heaven and ending up in Mihashira Capital, where the main events of the game begin. As the game progresses, Sakuna can call upon Yui's skills as a weaver to create new garments and headwear, given that she provides the materials.

While her skills as a weaver are well-known among the main cast, she refuses to allow anyone to see her weaving in person for reasons unknown. Every now and again she can be seen performing activities some consider peculiar in private, though she displays visible embarrassment if caught.

## Story

Yui was originally a crane in the Lowly Realm that was caught in a trap and hurt. Kinta got her out and healed her leg. Ever since then Yui has wanting to be by Kinta's side. She made a wish to become human, and two goddesses called The Visitors granted it to her at a price; Yui could never reveal her true self to anyone or speak of it. As such she gained the ability of turning into a human. Afterwit, she got caught up in a slave scheme and escaped with Tauemon, Mythe, Kinta and Kaimaru and met up with Sakuna in the Lofty Realm. It appears that due to Kaimaru's connection with animals, he knew of Yui's true form and that also explains why Yui could understand him and other animals such as the Kappa.

Unfortunately, due to the rudeness of Sakuna wanting to barge in one night while Yui was in her true form, she was turned back into an ordinary crane and left her home. Sakuna finds her in the pass, where The Visitors were there to explain what was going on, asking for a demonstration of Yui's connection to humans for a new price. Thanks to the clueless Kinta telling of his true feelings, Yui was able to turn back into a at a new price human.

This price is revealed after a conversation of what will happen when the Bridge to Heaven appears and Sakuna fulfills her duty, everyone begins questioning what they will do. When Kinta and Yui are alone, Kinta mentions he wants to return to the Lowly Realm, to find his father and sister and see more of the world and improve his smithing skills. This upsets Yui who starts to avoid Kinta. When this happens in front of Sakuna she goes to ask Yui what is wrong. Yui explains the price she paid to become human again was that she had to follow Kinta no matter what and she thought that she and him would live a happy peaceful life on the island since Kinta always hated the Lowley Realm. Sakuna tells her that Kinta has finally begun maturing and asks Yui if she doesn't think she's repaid Kinta for saving her by now by her connection with him being one of the ways he was able to start maturing. Yui begins crying and Sakuna tells her to do what her heart tells her and that nobody will blame her. Yui later that night talks with Kinta while Sakuna looks on.

## Relationships

**Kinta**: Yui is very attached to Kinta to the point of exasperation for Kinta; outside of bad days, Yui will usually follow Kinta wherever he goes. After neglecting her duities to the rest of the group, it is revealed that Kinta saved her life and that is why she feels indebted to him.

**Sakuna**: Yui and Sakuna have a fairly standard relationship with each other; Yui does her best to support Sakuna in her quest to rid Hinoe of demons as best she can by providing her services as a weaver.

**Kaimaru**: Yui acts as a big sister figure to Kaimaru, though she can find him troublesome at times, sometimes snapping at him when frustrated; Kaimaru does not hold this against her, however, nor does she hold onto these feelings. In addition, Yui is the only one who can completely understand Kaimaru and often translates his speech for everyone else's benefit.

## Trivia

* The name "Yui" means "to connect" - leading on from this, her character was born from the concept of weaving clothes and connecting fates.
* Yui's backstory is based on a Japanese folktale, detailed in the section below.
* Originally in the climax, she was to see off Sakuna while dancing on a stage that served as an intermediary between gods and men, though the developers weren't able to make this happen.
* If sent to one of the gathering spots Yui will focus on gathering plants and fruits.
* If spoken to in her weaving hut, Yui will tell the player what kinds of items the other characters focus on when gathering items at the gathering spots as well as her own preference for gathering plants and fruits.

## Yui and Kinta's Backstory Origins

*Warning: This section contains major story spoilers for Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin.*
Yui and Kinta are direct references to the story of Tsuru no Ongaeshi, translated as the The Woodsman and The Crane. Though Kinta and Yui seem to have a happy ending. It is a story about not knowing what you have until you lose it all and is rather heartbreaking. Here is one of the many versions of the story;

> A crane was standing in a stream, hoping to catch some fish. A huntsman was crawling through the bushes on the riverbank, and spotted the crane. He’d not caught anything that day, and carefully readied his bow and arrow. He took aim and sent an arrow flying towards the crane. The crane heard the movement of the arrow through the air, and raised her wings. Just as she was airborn, the arrow hit her in the thigh. She squealed, but was able to stay in the air and fly away. She didn’t get very far before the pain forced her down. She landed awkwardly in a clearing in the woods. A woodsman who’d been working there, gathering branches, found the poor crane. He took pity on her, and dropped his wood, and carried the crane to his hut. There he removed the arrow, and applied some herbs to help heal the wound. The woodsman took good care of the crane, he fed her and changed her dressing every day. As her wound healed, the crane fell in love with this kind woodsman.
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> Unbeknown to the woodsman, the crane happened to possess magic powers, and she was able to turn herself into a young woman. When the woodsman came home from his work that evening, he found the woman there, who had prepared a meal for him. The next day she went into the village and procured a weaving loam that she placed in one of the rooms. That night the woman explained to her husband that she’ll be weaving cloth for him to sell in the market. That way they can earn much more money than he can possibly make from selling wood. But she warned him that he must never come into the room when she is working, or something really bad will happen.
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> Weeks and months passed. Every day the man went to the market to sell the cloth and every evening when he arrived back home, there was a large quantity of newly woven cloth. They were now very well off, and they had a very good life. One day the man became curious, and he determined to see how his wife managed to produce all this very fine cloth day in day out. He set off for the market as usual with the cloth, but once out of sight of the house, he hid the cloth behind some trees, and went back to the house. Keeping very quiet, he crept up to the room where she worked. He could hear her working inside. He slowly opened the door, and peeked inside. To his great shock, there working at the loam was the crane he rescued! Immediately the magic spell was broken, and the crane returned to her natural state. Because he could not control his curiosity, the man lost his wife, and his income from selling the cloth she used to weave.
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## References

1. ↑ http://sakunaofriceandruin.com/characters/yui/
2. ↑ https://www.marv.jp/special/game/sakuna/character/detail/?chara=08
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Artworks

3. http://fairytalesoftheworld.com/quick-reads/the-woodsman-and-the-crane/