Shameimaru Aya

Overview

Shameimaru Aya is a crow tengu journalist who appears throughout the Touhou Project series. Known by titles such as the "Traditional Reporter of Fantasy," she travels all across Gensokyo to gather news and publish her personal newspaper, the Bunbunmaru Shinbun. Having lived in Gensokyo since before the creation of the Hakurei Border, she is an ancient youkai regarded as one of the fastest flyers in the land. Originating in the fanbook Touhou Bunkachou and the video game Phantasmagoria of Flower View, she has served as a primary playable protagonist in photography-based spell card shooting titles.

Appearance

She features black hair rendered in a bob or medium cut, alongside eyes depicted as either red or light brown depending on the entry. On her head, she wears a small red tokin hat, which sometimes features white pom-poms attached to its side cords. Her classic outfit consists of a short white short-sleeved shirt paired with a frilled black mini-skirt, completed with tall red shoes styled after single-toothed tengu geta. In some depictions, she possesses black raven wings on her back or slightly pointed ears. Other outfit variations include a autumn-leaf pattern with paper slips on her skirt in Hidden Star in Four Seasons, a reporter look with a newsboy cap, reddish jacket, and shoulder bag in Forbidden Scrollery, and long boots with high geta soles in Lotus Eaters.

Personality

Aya is highly intelligent, articulate, and generally polite, maintaining a respectful demeanor toward superiors and during interviews. However, in line with tengu nature, she can display a shrewd and assertive side toward those she considers weaker or when her reporting is interfered with. Although she claims to dislike senseless conflict, she occasionally provokes others while smoothly adapting her behavior to match her company. While initially driven primarily by a desire to report absolute facts in her personal newspaper, her journalistic perspective gradually evolves as she recognizes the power media holds to influence reality and maintain social stability within the Human Village.

Abilities

She possesses the ability to manipulate wind, allowing her to instantly generate or completely still powerful gusts, as well as summon wild tornadoes at will. Her primary tool and tengu weapon is a leaf fan (hauchiwa), capable of blowing away traveler cloaks, knocking down massive trees, or leveling entire buildings depending on how many times it is swung. She also carries a specialized camera that can instantaneously capture photographic images of danmaku while wiping away nearby spell cards and inflicting mental strain on those photographed. Additionally, she uses a notebook called the Bunkachou to store hand-written field notes and photos of various youkai techniques.

Background

Residing on Youkai Mountain, Aya is a crow tengu who originated as an actual crow before becoming a youkai. She functions as a reporter within the highly organized, insular tengu society that took over governance of the mountain alongside kappa after the departure of the Oni. Because of this history, she continues to show high deference to the ancient Oni. As part of her duties, she routinely scours Gensokyo for interesting scoops to publish and deliver in her independent publication, the Bunbunmaru Shinbun. She is occasionally assigned patrol and interception duties by higher-ranking tengu to inspect intruders entering their territory.

Relationships

Within the structured hierarchy of Youkai Mountain, Aya follows orders issued by the Great Tengu regarding mountain security and reporting. She acts submissively toward ancient Oni like Hoshiguma Yuugi due to ancestral ties. In the field of journalism, she maintains a sharp rivalry with fellow tengu reporter Himekaidou Hatate, who publishes the Kakashi Spirit Times. She frequently interacts with the shrine maiden Hakurei Reimu, Marisa Kirisame, and various other residents across Gensokyo during her field research, visiting places like Morichika Rinnosuke's Kourindou antique shop and local taverns to gather information.

Trivia

Her name "Shameimaru" derives its origin from "Sha-mail," a term used for mobile phone photo-messaging services in Japan. Her character concept was originally established to provide a natural context for a game mechanic focused on photographing enemy bullet patterns. According to records kept by Hieda no Akyuu, despite her cunning nature, Aya's handwritten script is surprisingly rounded and cute.