Asakura Kino

Asakura Kino (麻倉木乃) is a fictional character in the Shaman King manga and anime series. She was a master itako who trained young girls in the art at Mt. Osore.

Appearance
Short and stubby like her husband, Kino constantly wore the traditional robes of her family and used sunshades to hide her blindness. Because of a bad back, she used a cane.

Personality
She was short-tempered and practical, like her apprentice Anna, and struck fear into her husband, much like how her grandson feared Anna. However, Kino was mostly a calm person with the wisdom and knowledge gained from her old age.

Abilities and Powers
She was a master itako and, despite being blind, had learned to clearly see things around her. She had also developed a keen sense of hearing.

Shamanic Spells and Techniques

 * Channeling (クチヨセ): The ability to summon a spirit anytime and anywhere, given that she knows something about who she is summoning.
 * The Prayer: This is a prayer used by Kino to banish spirits to heaven. Yoh even used this prayer against the Silver Arms but it didn't affect them because, as Silva said, those who don't understand the language used are unaffected.

Past
Kino originates from Aomori in Japan and was born on March 24, 1924. She lost her vision during World War II and became completely blind. With few options left, she chose to become an itako. As the level of her spiritual ability rose, she caught the eye of the Asakura Family and was later asked to marry Asakura Yohmei.

Instead of living at the Asakura Family home in Izumo, she chose to live in Shimokita, in the Aomori prefecture, near Mt. Osore. She ran what was ostensibly a traditional Japanese inn, the "Yasui Ryokan". In reality, however, she used the inn to house her apprentices.

When Kyōyama Anna was abandoned as a child, Kino sensed the amount of spiritual power Anna possessed and took her in. Training her as an itako, Kino was impressed by Anna's potential and suggested that she should marry her grandson, Asakura Yoh.

Shaman Fights Second Round
Near the end of the second rounds, 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, Asakura 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
After Hao awoke as Shaman King, Kino and the rest of the Asakura Family boarded the train in the Great Spirit and helped save the Five Elemental Warriors from being pulled into oblivion. After the battle, Hao resurrected everyone who had died during the Shaman Fight.

In 2012, Kino passed away.

Anime/Manga Difference
Like in the manga series however in the anime series she barely makes a few appearances. Also because the backstory of Yoh and Anna is never mentioned it is not mentioned either where she lives nor what her specialty or her past history. Her only significant part of the anime series is when she prepares the 1080 Prayer Beads to bind Asakura Hao.

Trivia

 * A running gag in the anime is whenever Yohmei does something wrong, Kino will hit him in the face with her cane. She may be blind but she can still hear Yohmei.