House Bishamon

House Bishamon encompasses a host of lesser

uji

under its

aegis. Yet every one of these subordinate families can trace

their individual  roots  back  to  the  original

gaki

of Japan.

Bishamon Kuei-jin  are  traditionalist  to  the  core;  many  of  the

House's ancestors lived their mortal lives as samurai,

daimyo

or other  such  virtuous  members  of  bygone  eras. As former

members of the elite strata of mortal society, these Bishamon

play similar roles as leaders and fighters in their own

uji

.

However, the  coming  of  the  modern  era  -  and  the  Emperor

Meiji's opening  of  Japan  to  foreigners  in  the  19th  century  -

left the  Bishamon  struggling  to  catch  up  with  the  watershed

changes. Among other things, the Meiji Restoration dissolved

the  classic   social   structure   of   Japan,   which   included

disbanding the  samurai  and

daimyo

of past  shogunates.

Westernization   steadily    eroded    away    such    traditional

authorities, forbidding  the  loyal  warriors  to  act  as  keepers  of

order or even to wear their traditional katanas.

The emperor,  by  ending  many  of  the  ancient  traditions,

effectively ended the "old" Bishamon ways. When a revolt by

samurai and

gaki

against the  emperor  was  quelled  in  1876,

the Bishamon  found  themselves  adrift  in  a  whirlpool  of

changing customs  and  foreign  oddities. And as  they  had

done before, the Bishamon retreated again to their meditative

fiefdoms, and left the Fifth Age to its own devices.

The end  of  WWII  and  the  onset  of  the  Burnings  (the  name

gaki

give  to   the   twin   atomic   blasts   at   Hiroshima   and

Nagasaki) compelled  the  Bishamon  to  return  and  seize

power again in several key cities. The present generations of

Bishamon now  face  several  dilemmas. They must  readjust

their unlifestyles  to  fit  in  with  the  coming  third  millennium

without betraying  the  ancient  traditions  or  forsaking  their

Dharmas. They must  face  the  increasing  encroachment  of

Cainites into  Japan  and  keep  their  holiest  sites  away  from

rapacious Occidentals. And they must deal with the decaying

dragon nests brought about by the Burnings.

The  predicaments   of   Dharmi

c  reorientation   and   Cainite

presences often  divide  younger  and  older  Bishamon. The

oldest ancestors  and  bodhisattvas  -  who  have  been  around

for at  least  several  centuries  -  regularly  denounce  the  fact

that they must share Japan's Chi with foreign interlopers. The

open association of a new breed of Genji Kuei-jin with a few

Sabbat packs  in  major  cities  infuriates  these  elders  to  no

end. For such  reactionaries,  the  Black  Kites  purge  (at  which

a few of them were present) remains incomplete. The deeds

begun centuries  ago  will  only  be  successful,  the  elders

argue, when  all  foreign  vampires  -  as  well  as  those  native

shen

who collaborate with them - are wiped from the face of

Middle Kingdom Japan.

While most  Bishamon  find  it  hard  to  argue  with  the  spirit  of

such a position, the idea of starting a wholesale expulsion of

unwanted  supernatural   does   not   sit   well   with   younger

members. The Black  Kites  purge  may  have  worked  well  in

the feudal  era  with  a  sparse  mortal  population,  but  blowing

up Tokyo's  Roppongi  nightclub  district  in  search  of  a  stray

Tzimisce haven  is  not  the  sort  of  thing  that  can  be  easily

camouflaged. It creates  more  problems  than  it  solves  -  such

as  alerting   the   attention   of   Strike   Force   Zero. For  the

moment, the

gaijin

have done  nothing  to  warrant  a  direct

assault... not  yet. The more  pragmatic  Bishamon  are  willing

to tolerate  a  few  scattered  confederations  of  Genji  and

Cainites. But just a few.

Preparing for  the  oncoming  Sixth  Age  remains  the  most

pressing issue  for  the  Bishamon. To varying  degrees,  all

Bishamon  plan   for   the   coming   Age   of   Sorrow. Certain

groups, however,  make  a  point  of  concerning  themselves

with the  speed  at  which  the  Wheel  of  Ages  turns,  be  it  to

arrest or hasten its course.

The toxins  generated  by  the  Burnings  affect  all  Kuei-jin  who

ingest the  island's  Chi. Individual groups  confront  this  fate

differently. Some

uji

fear that the continual intake of poisoned

energy obstructs their ability to fulfill their individual Dharmas;

consequently  several   sects   experiment   with   magics   and

rituals to find some way of "purifying" the island's Chi. On the

other side of the coin, some Bishamon embrace the poisoned

dragon nests. One extremist  offshoot,  called  the  Keepers  of

the Two  Fires,  interprets  the  altering  of  Japan's  natural

energies as a necessary part of the Great Cycle.

For  the   Keepers,   the   Burnings   represent   a   defense

mechanism against  the  theft  of  Japan's  Chi  by  unworthy

shen

, in  particular  those  Kuei-jin  who  ally  with  Western

Kindred. The Keepers  believe  that  the  Chi  will  soon  reach  a

state where  these  unworthy  Kuei-jin  can  no  longer  ingest  it.

When this  happens  -  at  the  start  of  the  Sixth  Age-the

Bishamon will  rise  up  and  destroy  the  barbarians  and  their

Kuei-jin accomplices. The native

gaki

will complete the tasks

begun during the Year of the Black Kites, and return the

shen

society of  Japan  to  its  original,  homogenous  state. The Age

of Sorrow  will  then  come  to  an  end,  and  a  new  Japan  will

emerge   in    the    Middle    Kingdom,    with    the    honorable

institutions of old returned to their rightful places.