Asakura Keiko

Asakura Keiko (麻倉茎子, Asakura Keiko) is a fictional character in the manga and anime series of Shaman King. She is the wife of Asakura Mikihisa and the mother of Asakura Hao and Asakura Yoh

Appearance
She usually wears a woman's suit and has her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. When Yohmei explained her powers she was seen dressed as a shrine priestess.

Personality
Keiko appears as a very kind and gentle person. She also understood the destiny and duty of her family and accepted that she had to sacrifice her children so that Hao would not be reborn.

Abilities and Powers
The full extent of her spiritual powers are unknown, but she is capable of hearing the voices of kami spirits. According to her father, Asakura Yohmei, Keiko is a Miko, she can hear the voices or communicate with the Gods, to help others in danger.

Past
She is the daughter of Yohmei and Kino. Keiko normally works in an office, but also works as a miko at the family's local shrine.

The first mentioning of her past is in the side story "Mickey's World", where she meets Maki Mikihisa at a trainyard and asks him to play her a song. Apparently her fiancé just dumped her because she can see spirits. Standing there crying she reveals that there is even a spirit behind Mikihisa and notes on how she would have to sleep alone again. But somehow she ended up inviting Mikihisa back to her home. After revealing her home to the shocked Mikihisa, she invited him in for coffee. It was love at first sight.

The Asakura family had no male heir in Keiko’s generation, since she was Yohmei and Kino's only child and had no brothers and thus Mikihisa married into the family. Following the Japanese muku no naru tradition; he took up the Asakura surname and allowed them to continue the family line.

She would eventually become pregnant, but her father foresaw that the child would be the rebirth of their ancestor Asakura Hao and it was decided the child would have to be killed right after it's birth. To make matters worse, Keiko was carrying identical twins and there would be no way of seeing them apart. They would have to kill them both.

Giving birth after a painfull labor, Yohmei attacked the child, but a single momment of hesitation was more than enough for Hao to summon the Spirit of Fire and attack not only Yohmei but also Mikihisa. After Hao escaped she gave birth to her second son, Yoh. But due to her schedule, Keiko was unable to raise Yoh and left that duty in the hands of her father.

Shaman Fights Second Round
During the second rounds of the tournament, she and Mikihisa went to see the Tao Family to tell them the truth about their children, Hao and Yoh and to deliver the message that she had forseen that someone named Tao would cling to the tittle of Shaman King. They also offered to train Ren and teach him the Chō Senji Ryakketsu.

Near the end of the second rounds, did Keiko and the rest of her family, including the returned spirit of Asakura Yohken have a final meeting with the Tao Family. Mentioning the incident at the beach earlier, Mikihisa presented the badly hurt Brocken Meyer to the Tao Family and explained his connection to Hao. They also hoped that they could learn something important by making him talk.

Invading the Plants
When the Shaman Fights was moved to the "Continent of Mu" the Asakura Family, the Tao Family and the Usui Family had a barbecue party at the beach, awaiting the results of the fight and hoping that their children would make it.

Anime/Manga Difference
Keiko barely makes an appearance in the anime and is only seen when the birth of Yoh and Hao are explained and when Yohmei tells about the families positions as Shamans. In the manga she appears several times during the time of the Shaman Fight in Tokyo where she is often seen alongside her husband discussing business with the Tao Family and is later seen cooking with Tao Ran towards the end of the manga.

Trivia

 * She shares the same given name (at least when romanized in English) as Oyamada Manta's mother, Oyamada Keiko