Asakura Keiko

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

Appearance
Keiko has long dark brown hair and brown eyes, a common trait that she passed down to her sons. She usually wears a woman's suit. 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 twin children so that Hao would not be reborn. A woman possessing a strong ego, it was noticed by Tao Ching commends her for her wise courage when she approached the Tao Family on their estate in China as a messenger of the Asakura family.

Abilities and Powers
The full extent of her spiritual powers remain unknown, but she is capable of hearing the voices of kami spirits. According to her father, Asakura Yohmei, Keiko is a Miko, and as such, she can hear the voices or communicate with the gods, to help others who are in danger. Tao Ching also remarks upon Keiko's divining abilities when she approached the Tao family in China about a prediction regarding the Tao family and who would become the next Shaman King.

Spirits
Her Guardian Ghost is Ame-no-Tajikarao-no-Kami (天手力雄神), the god known for his work to open the Ama-no-Iwato.

Past
Originating from Izumo in Japan and born on February 18, 1960, Keiko is the daughter of Yohmei and Kino. Strictly educated as a child to become a shaman, Keiko she rebels against the Asakura family and goes to Tokyo, where she finds a job as a clerk in a company that turns out to be tied to her family, Keiko also works as a Miko at the family's local shrine. There she met Maki Mikihisa at a train yard 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 Kino was an only child; thus Mikihisa married into the family and took up the Asakura surname, allowing 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 its birth. To make matters worse, Keiko was carrying identical twins and there would be no way to tell them apart. They would have to kill them both. Giving birth after a painful labor, Yohmei attacked the child, but a single moment 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. 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 foreseen that someone named Tao would cling to the title of Shaman King. They also offered to train Ren and teach him the Chō-Senjiryakketsu.

Near the end of the second rounds, Keiko and the rest of her family, including the returned spirit of Asakura Yohken had 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 were moved to Mū, the Asakura Family, the Tao Family and the Usui Family had a barbecue at the beach, awaiting the results of the fight and hoping that their children would make it.

Anime/Manga Difference
Compard to the original manga and 2021 anime, Keiko has a more minor role in the 2001 anime series, making only one appearance during her husband's flashback explanation of Hao and Yoh's birth.

Etymology

 * Keiko means "stem, stalk" (茎) (kei) and "child" (子) (ko).

Trivia

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