Dragon’s Tower, Explained

Touhou Kichouden ~ Mythos of Phantasmagoria 2 and Touhou Chouhatsuyou ~ Burgeoning Tresses of Longevity will feature a new location by the name of Dragon’s Tower. It lifts its name from the fact that the third major boss in the former game will be bearing the Dragon elemental typing. Located near the Higan River, It’s a tower consisting of five floors and is owned and run by the Kanbe family, with the bedrooms located on the top floor.

Ichimatsu Kanbe is the tower’s owner and lives with his wife Yuugiku Kanbe and daughter Mabayu Kanbe. The family also appoints two female individuals to serve the family, going by the names of Kiyomi Tatariya and Asta Nattendottir respectively. Tatariya doesn’t have very many duties other than maintaining the tower itself and Nattendottir serves as the gatekeeper to the tower. Sometimes, the latter may bring in some inugami as additional help.

The tower has its roots going back to the Edo Period. It was built around the 1690s under the orders of Ichimatsu Kanbe. Previously Kanbe’s family resided in Kedomachi, and the town had begun to see an influx of Chinese influence spread as a result of his wife who is originally from China. When the tower was built, the surrounding area became a market town under the name of Kanawa.

The Residents

Ichimatsu Kanbe

I don’t have artwork of Ichimatsu Kanbe, but I’ll explain a little about him. He was born in Edo (present-day Tokyo) in Tokugawa Japan in 1660. His parents were among those who survived the catastrophic Great Fire of Meireiki, and they wound up defecting from the Tokugawa Shogunate for Gensokyo when Ichimatsu was young. He resided in Gensokyo for the rest of his life, and by the time he was twenty, he had met his future wife Ba Youju, a member of the Yao tribe originally from China. A year later, they would later go on to have a daughter by the name of Mabayu Kanbe. They lived in Kedomachi for a decade before they moved and founded the city of Kanawa on the Higan River. He serves as the head of Dragon’s Tower

Yuugiku Kanbe/Ba Youju

Ba Youju (八幽菊) was born a year after her husband in 1661, in Qing China as a member of Southern China’s Yao tribe. As such, she followed the traditional Yao rites of growing their hair continuously. When she reached adulthood, she did not cut her hair as in these rites and left China for Gensokyo. Within a year after her arrival, she met her future husband Ichimatsu Kanbe, and upon her marriage to him, she adopted her Japanese name Yuugiku Kanbe. A year later, she gave birth to her daughter Mabayu.

For some time, she lived in Kedomachi with her family. The town went crazy over her, and the city saw a wave of Chinese influence, appearing in architecture and other customs. Her family would later leave Kedomachi when they commissioned Dragon’s Tower to be built on the Higan River. This was where she spent the rest of her life.

Mabayu Kanbe

Mabayu Kanbe was born in 1881 in Kedomachi. She spent the first decade of her life there before she moved to Kanawa when Dragon’s Tower was built.

Kiyomi Tatariya

Kiyomi Tatariya was the first person hired to serve the tower upon its opening. The Kanbe family sort of designates her as a maid, with her primary duties of maintaining it.

Asta Nattendottir

Asta Nattendottir serves as the tower’s gatekeeper. If she needs a helping hand, she may bring in one or two inugami.