Koei Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Iwanagahime
Iwanagahime-haruka4
Character Information
Birthday:
March 30
Age:
65
Height:
163 cm (5'4")
Bloodtype:
O
Family:
The Queen (younger sister)
Ichinohime (niece)
Chihiro Ashihara (niece)
Occupation:
Innate Element:
Weapon(s):
One-handed sword (unused in game)
Dominate Hand:
Right
Hobbies:
Practicing music (particularly the sou)
Favorite Food(s):
Meat dishes, especially wild boar one-pot
Unfavored Food(s):
Japanese mountain yam
Voice Actor(s):
Masako Isobe
First Appearance: Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4

Iwanagahime (岩長姫) is a secondary character in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 4. She is a reputed veteran general of the Nakatsu Kuni army who acts as one of the protagonist's mentor figures.

Role in Game[]

Background Story[]

For as long as she can remember, Iwanagahime has served the Queen (Chihiro's mother) faithfully. She was fond of the Queen since they were children and intimately familiar with her. It's implied that Iwanagahime could be the Queen's elder sister –thereby making her Chihiro's aunt– but her family origins are not confirmed in the original script. Aizouban confirms their family relations with one another. She is one of Sainokimi's living acquaintances.

Iwanagahime, a loyal servant to the Queen, joined the kingdom's military and taught important skills to new recruits like strategy and swordsmanship. Some of her students were Kazahaya, Hiiragi, Michiomi, Habarihiko, and Oshihito. Her sword skills were highly respected in Nakatsu Kuni.

Seven years prior, Iwanagahime helped the Raja in a massacre at Takachiho and stationed her troops nearby to prevent uprisings. Two years later, she learned that the capital, Kashihara, had been taken over and many royal family members had died. Her position in the west became a safe haven for wounded survivors. Iwanagahime and Oshihito worked together to protect the area from the Tokoyo no Kuni army and Levanta. The soldiers from Nakatsu Kuni's capital relied on her wisdom to defend their limited supplies and small numbers.

Story Events[]

When Chihiro returns to the parallel world, she and Nagi run into Iwanagahime within the mountain regions of Takachiho. Iwanagahime and her troops are in the midst of evading Asvin's army, but they run into a corrupted deity. She is surprised when Chihiro subdues the otherwise wild and unstoppable beast until she spots Chihiro's longbow. Due to her familiarity with the royal family's treasures, Iwanagahime is able to recognize the young princess as the last living heir of the throne. Though her troops are skeptic of Chihiro's heritage, Iwanagahime has faith in the young woman and willingly gives ownership of their base to her.

During her absence to investigate enemy movements at a nearby village, several villagers and soldiers are held captive by Levanta. Before the veteran formulates a prudent plan to rescue them, Chihiro rouses the troops to follow her lead to save the prisoners. Although the plan is at first a failure, Iwangahime is fascinated by the positive effect her zealous charisma has on the survivors and by the odd companion she gains. Therefore, she plops the responsibility of the army's commanding general on the princess's shoulders. Iwanagahime acts as her sage military advisor during the early chapters, offering realistic advice for Chihiro's plans. She insists that the young princess should reclaim Kashihara to overthrow the Tokoyo no Kuni empire.

After Takachiho is freed from Levanta's rule, Iwanagahime leads her army towards Kashihara. Chihiro and her friends plan to use their flying ship to get there first, but the ship is forced to land in Chikushi. As they head towards the ship, they are stopped by Asvin and Nasatya's army. Chihiro earns Byakko's trust and Iwanagahime orders her soldiers to build a fortification and leave it. When the princes investigate, Iwanagahime leads an attack, but Nasataya's power stops it from working. They decide to wait for the ship to move on its own and reunite their forces in Izumo. Iwanagahime guards the ship and survives the war, serving under Chihiro's leadership.

Personal Route[]

Iwanagahime tells the princess that she never wanted to be a teacher, but ended up training soldiers. She remembers the many deaths she witnessed and feels sad about it. Chihiro promises to not die before her elder, which makes Iwanagahime happy. The night before a battle, Chihiro talks to Iwanagahime and learns that the elder didn't plan on making her the commanding general. But Iwanagahime is proud of Chihiro and accepts her as her pupil. After the battle, Iwanagahime pledges loyalty to Chihiro as the new Queen. In her epilogue, Iwanagahime talks about her past with Chihiro's mother, but is interrupted by a soldier who needs her for training.

Her Aizouban extra event is a flashback during Chihiro's childhood. The Queen has left the palace and took her eldest daughter with her. The maids and aristocrats loathed the second princess's lone presence in the palace so Kazahaya takes the crying princess to his training grounds. He introduces her and her situation to Iwanagahime, who ignores her disciple and demands for the princess to stick up for herself. Chihiro manages to explain her family leaving her behind before collapsing into tears again. Childcare annoys Iwanagahime so she hollers for Michiomi and Hiiragi to join them. She instructs them to look after the princess during her stay.

Iwanagahime concocts a ploy to pass the time. Her three students must stop the princess's tears for today's training; if they should fail, they will be expelled. Michiomi remarks that Habarihiko will be better suited for the task although Iwanagahime is well aware he would be busy guarding the absent Ichinohime. Kazahaya decides to adjust the girl's hairstyle with a flower hairpin in a manner which looks like her sister's; Chihiro is pleased to look a little more mature. The teacher retorts that she is still a child if she thinks an image change can make her a grownup. Hiiragi twirls the crying princess in his arms and gives her a rainbow stone to symbolize the beauty of her heart. Iwanagahime retorts to the smiling princess that he did that trick on her before and her stone was rough and mountain-like. As the cheer is sapped away from the youths, Michiomi decides to tell the princess the names of the flora and fauna around them and she decides to make a flower wreathe. When she feels sorry for the flowers she had picked, Michiomi instructs her of the moral to value all life in this world. He replies that this was the first lesson Iwanagahime taught him; the teacher scoffs that her message isn't so lofty and summarizes that living everyday is an amazing feat often taken for granted.

The princess gazes at the elder with esteem so Iwanagahime takes a shot. She tells the girl a story of two sisters. The eldest sister had a rough and sturdy body while the younger sister was born weak. The elder sister frolicked outside while the younger sister sat inside and studied everyday. One day, the elder sister thought to herself that spending all day indoors must be boring so she took her younger sister with her. Her younger sister could answer any problem in a book, but she was amazed that she couldn't name the small insect outside her home. The elder sister takes her sibling for cover from the rain; she explains she could foretell the weather since she could spot snails on the surface. She jokes with her sibling that it's possible to eat the molluscs and panics when her sister tries to eat one raw before her. The younger sister becomes obsessed with snails and wants to know more about them from her sister. In the end, the sisters were discovered when the palace attendants searched for them in the downpour.

Chihiro questions which palace she could be referring to, but the elder instead encourages the princess to go outdoors more often and to study the world around her while she still has the chance. Iwanagahime muses to herself that her niece strongly resembles her younger sister's days of lost innocence, even if they look nothing alike now. Pleased by the princess's brimming smile, Iwanagahime raises from her seat to leave. Michiomi inquires about the results of today's exercise. The elder turns once more to look at the princess's smile and gestures to it to state that they have all passed.

Character Information[]

Development[]

Originally, Ruby Party members were going to make her a "yappy old man" who served as an annoyance to the plot. They changed their mind when they decided to draw more inspiration from her mythological counterpart. She was designed to be a direct contrast from the mythological Iwanagahime. The Queen represented the beautiful Konohananosakuyabime, and the Haruka Iwanagahime is instead completely supportive of her rather than holding a grudge against her. The developers consider her to be a maternal figure for Chihiro.

Personality[]

Iwanagahime is not like other old characters in the game. She is rude to the officials and doesn't like compliments. She doesn't care about customs or status and tells the truth to everyone. She doesn't want to lead the troops and prefers to relax and drink wine. But if she needs to, she can be a good general. She is still smart even though she is old.

Even though she has been in wars, Iwanagahime is still nice and practical. Young soldiers like her and want to learn from her. But she finds them hard to handle and sometimes just wants to rest. She cares about her comrades and is tough on them during training, but she is proud of them when they do well. She feels bad when any of them die.

Chihiro is an interesting oddity to Iwanagahime. Although she looks like the previous Queen in her youth, the princess doesn't adhere to traditional concepts within their homeland and rarely acts like royalty. Rather than force her to conform to her homeland's methods, Iwanagahime encourages the princess's independence and altruistic tendencies. By doing so, the elderly woman believes Chihiro can live a fulfilling life and freely usher in a new era of untold serenity. At times, Iwanagahime mentions the princess's headstrong determination reminds her of her younger self.

Character Symbolism[]

In Japanese mythology, Iwanagahime is one of Ōhoyamatsumi's daughters and is a goddess of mountains and eternity. She and her sister, Konohananosakuyabime, were once married to Ninigi. However, she stole his soul and returned to her father. Her actions angered her father and both daughters suffered his wrath. In Iwanagahime's case, he condemned his beautiful daughter to forever live with a hard rock-like body. As a consequence of her actions, her jagged internals hurt her children and shortened their lifespans. Another tale states she instead incurred the wrath of her pregnant sister, who cursed Iwanagahime and her children. At the same time, Iwanagahime is also associated with immortality in another myth of her punishment. She was instead transformed into a giant mountain and remained untouched ever since.

A traditional Japanese color called akaku-chiba-iro acts as her symbolic color. It is a dull orange-brown which is named after dying leaves in autumn. This particular shade is named after leaves which keep a strong crimson tint after the leaves have fallen. It was a popular color during the Heian period, for it was famed as an elegant shade to celebrate the changing seasons.

Her symbolic flower is the canna. It's a flower that is connected to gods in Greek mythology and Buddhism. In Buddhism, it is linked to a story about Buddha getting hurt by his brother. Buddha's blood turned the ground into red canna flowers. The flower means forever or strong memories. Yellow canna flowers can also mean respect or happiness.

Quotes[]

  • "What're you slacking off for? You don't need me out there. Hurry up and finish this yourself."
  • "It's important to turn back the time we've got, right?"
  • "Move your ass! Get outta my way!"
  • "(yawn) These early mornings are killin' me. I thought I could sleep in when I got older."
  • "Well, you're expected to be a leader someday anyways. Stop complanin' and take your title."
  • "Festivals means there's gonna be some booze! Why else do you think I came here?"
  • "Congrats, Princess. You've done a fine job."
  • "Now I've gotta be sure these youngins win this war. I've had battles where not even half of my students came back alive. What type of student dies before their teacher!? Death is gotta be tough, but it's the ones who live with the regrets who really have it rough."
  • "It's not over yet. Don't let your guard down. Go out there tomorrow and end this war. Got it?"
  • "Sainokimi might be hard on you, but she ain't heartless. She knows you're a girl with her own desires. She just wants the best for our home is all."
  • "What is it? Don't like to chat with old timers like me?"
  • "Iwanagahime, what are you doing here?"
"You already know, and you're still asking me that? Today the Himuka Clan's leaving the capital, so I was told to keep an eye on you. Can't have you running away on us now."
"It figures... (With Iwanagahime here, I can't leave.)"
"Y'know, lately I haven't been as quick as I used to be. My eyes can't see as far and my hearing's going. If you've got the guts and you want to go to that Sazaki of yours, I can look the other way for you."
"But, Iwanagahime, I can't..."
"Listen up, Chihiro. You've fought for this country and you've made sure it's well on its feet. I think you've done more than enough for us. A priestess is supposed to disappear once the battle's over, remember? Now get your butt moving. If you're not fast enough, they'll leave without you."
"Iwanaghime, thank you..."
"(Be happy, Chihiro.)"
~~Chihiro and Iwanagahime
  • "That Chihiro's a real fire starter. Reminds me of the days when I was turning heads."
"Oh, Iwanagahime, sweetie. Please don't say that in front of the troops. If they think of you when they see Chihiro, it'll break their poor lil' hearts."
"... What's that supposed to mean?"
~~Iwanagahime and Yuugiri

Special Ability[]

Iwanagahime, when summoned by Chihiro in battle, can reduce the turn count by one. This can help get bonuses for party members or increase rewards. However, it can't be used on the first turn and needs time to recharge after a few battles or turns.

Gallery[]

Advertisement