Memory.04: The Fall of Ashina - From Usurpation to Demise, the History and Obsession of a Dying Land

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Introduction: A Chronicle of “Reclamation” and “Stagnation” Woven in the Northernmost Lands

During the Sengoku period, beyond a deep snowy mountain pass in a corner of a turbulent era, lies the land of Ashina. In general historical records, this nation is documented as a northern powerhouse established in a single generation by the peerless warlord Isshin Ashina, renowned as the “Sword Saint.” However, in the present timeline of the story, this formidable military state faces an absolute existential crisis—its “twilight”—under the invasion of the “Interior Ministry,” a central government championing overwhelming military might and rationalism.

This article reconstructs the full picture of “the history and demise of the nation of Ashina,” which forms the core of FromSoftware’s masterpiece Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, drawing from fragmented texts, character memoirs, and environmental storytelling scattered throughout the game. The history of Ashina cannot be fully explained within the mere framework of territorial disputes between Sengoku warlords. In its depths lie fundamental themes: the clash between indigenous beliefs and centralization, the concepts of “Kegare (Defilement)” and purification in ancient Japanese Shinto, and the greatest propositions of Buddhist philosophy—“Impermanence (Shogyo Mujo)” (the flux of all things) and “attachment” (being bound to worldly things).

Why was Ashina deemed heretical and persecuted? Why did Isshin Ashina found the nation, only to later accept its ruin? And why did his grandson, Genichiro Ashina, go against his grandfather’s will to dabble in the taboo of “immortality,” transforming the country into a living corpse? This report meticulously unravels these causal relationships from historical, philosophical, and psychological perspectives, demonstrating the “tragedy of attachment” surrounding a dying nation.

1. The People of Ashina and the Fountainhead Palace: The Roots of the Oppressed “Heretics”

To understand the true motive behind the founding of Ashina, commonly known as the “rebellion,” one must first unravel the roots of the indigenous “people of Ashina” who have inhabited the land since ancient times, and the peculiar form of faith they held. While a typical rebellion in the Sengoku period meant the “usurpation of another country’s territory,” the fact that Ashina’s rebellion was explicitly a “reclamation of their homeland” serves as the starting point for all events.

1.1 Faith in the Waters of the Fountainhead and the Concept of “Kegare (Defilement)” in Shinto

The land of Ashina is deeply nourished by the “Waters of the Fountainhead” flowing down from the “Fountainhead Palace” high above. In Japanese Shinto nature worship, water is both the source of life and a symbol of “Misogi” (purification), washing away sins and Kegare (Defilement). The people of Ashina, too, had lived in this land since ancient times, deeply loving the Waters of the Fountainhead and revering it as something sacred.

However, the water springing in Ashina bore a peculiar property derived from an alien god, the Divine Dragon. While it granted abnormal vitality (or eternal life) to those who drank it, it inherently possessed the nature of “Rejuvenating Waters,” which halts and stagnates the natural cycle of life. From the perspective of the external ruling class, who held Buddhism and State Shinto as orthodox doctrines, this water faith—which distorted the concept of death and brought about inhuman power—was the utmost extreme of an utterly unacceptable “heresy.”

Deviating from the natural cycle of life and death is considered the greatest “Kegare (Defilement)” in the ancient Japanese View of life and death. Water maintains its purity by flowing, but water that has stopped flowing stagnates, rots, and breeds insects. Because Ashina’s water faith sanctified this “Stagnation,” it became an object of intense fear and disgust for the central government and the authorities of the time.

1.2 The Stolen Homeland and the Memory of Being the “Weak”

In a conversation with Isshin Ashina, his reminiscence when offered “Unrefined Sake” extremely accurately expresses the historical trauma of the people of Ashina. Isshin corrects the public tendency to call the war they once waged a “rebellion,” asserting that they simply “took back what was originally ours.”

According to Isshin’s testimony, the people of Ashina have a history of being treated as “heretics” and trampled upon as the “weak” for a long time. They were even forbidden from worshipping the Waters of the Fountainhead they loved, and their homeland was continuously ravaged by powerful figures from the outside. This long history of oppression implanted a fierce defensive instinct of “never letting others steal our homeland again” and a deep-rooted distrust of others (especially central authority) at the bottom of the collective unconscious of the Ashina people. It is presumed that this historical background formed the psychological soil for Genichiro Ashina’s extraordinary attachment, which later led him to abandon “ordinary means” and dabble in taboos to protect his country.

2. Isshin Ashina’s Uprising and the War of Reclamation Known as the “Rebellion”

The long era of oppression reached a turning point with the arrival of the “Sengoku” period, when wars erupted all over the country. Seizing the opportunity when the central government’s control weakened, the young Isshin Ashina led his fellow Ashina people in an uprising. This is the truth behind what the world calls “Ashina’s rebellion.” This revolt was not a mere power struggle, but a holy war to reclaim their freedom of faith and right to survive.

2.1 The Death Match with General Tamura and the “Birth of Ashina”

Etched in history as the climax of this war of reclamation is the one-on-one duel between General Tamura, a powerful military commander of the central government (the Interior Ministry faction) who ruled Ashina at the time, and Isshin Ashina. In this gruesome duel, also depicted in the opening cinematic of the story, Isshin faced Tamura, who wielded a massive cross-spear, with nothing but a single katana—fighting messily, yet with overwhelming skill.

What is particularly noteworthy is the combat style Isshin displayed in this battle. He defeated Tamura using an extremely wild and practical tactic far removed from the honor of Bushido: he pierced the top of his enemy’s foot with his sword to seal his movements, then leaped onto his opponent’s massive frame as if mounting a horse to strike down the commander. With the victory in this battle, Isshin finally reclaimed his homeland for the people of Ashina, leading to the founding of the “Nation of Ashina” as a northern powerhouse.

2.2 The Gathering of “Fools”: The Solidarity of the Drifters

The founding of Ashina was by no means achieved by Isshin’s martial prowess alone. When offered the fine sake “Dragonspring,” he reminisces with a mix of affection and exasperation about the comrades who fought alongside him during the era of the rebellion, calling them “fools.”

The scene of that time, reconstructed from Isshin’s words, is highly peculiar. Gathered there were one who never let go of his cross-spear even while drinking (Gyoubu Oniwa), one who skillfully stole others’ sake using illusions (Lady Butterfly), one who immersed himself in adjusting half-finished prosthetic shinobi tools even at a drinking party (Dogen), and a deceptively imposing man with a large frame whose face would immediately turn bright red when he drank (Great Shinobi Owl).

They were all outcasts walking the underside of society or practitioners of heretical arts, who did not fit into the conventional framework of samurai. The nation of Ashina was less a pure-blooded military organization and more a mutual aid society formed by “drifters (heretics)” drawn to Isshin’s absolute strength and charisma, banding together to secure a place they could belong. What they shared was a fierce survival instinct: “We will seize and defend our own country (our place to belong) by ourselves.”

Below is a summary of the characteristics of the main “fools (comrades)” who contributed to Isshin Ashina’s rebellion, and their subsequent impact on Ashina.

3. The Survival Instinct of the Oppressed Dwelling in the Philosophy of Ashina Arts: “Just Win”

The greatest reason Ashina was able to reign as a northern powerhouse lies in the martial prowess of the Sword Saint, Isshin Ashina, and the unique swordsmanship system he founded, the “Ashina Arts.” The Ashina Esoteric Text, entrusted to Sekiro by the Tengu of Ashina (Isshin’s disguise), inscribes the peculiar history and philosophy of this school.

3.1 The Systematization of Unapologetic Pragmatism

According to the esoteric text, the Ashina Arts were devised as Isshin survived countless brushes with death in his youth, refining his techniques with the blood of his enemies. The sole purpose for which Isshin systematized these techniques as the “Ashina Arts” was “to solidify the dominance of the Ashina clan.”

The essence of the Ashina Arts does not lie in the “beauty of form” or “fair and square declarations of one’s name” valued by traditional Japanese Bushido. As Isshin himself states, at the foundation of the Ashina Arts is a ruthlessly pragmatic philosophy: “There are no strict rules in the Ashina Arts. Just win, winning no matter the cost.”

In the final stages of the story, the sight of Isshin, resurrected in his prime, fighting not only with a katana but also swinging a massive spear and, shockingly, wielding a concealed repeating firearm (a gun of foreign origin), left many players astounded. However, this is the very history of Ashina itself. Just as he once pierced Tamura’s foot and climbed him, or mobilized all heretical technologies to found the country, in Ashina, “losing” means “a regression to the history of having their homeland stolen and being oppressed once again.” That is exactly why they adopt everything they can use, be it enemy weapons or foreign firearms, in order to survive. It can be concluded that the “anything goes” spirit of the Ashina Arts is the product of blood-soaked trauma, created by the long-persecuted weak to overthrow the strong and secure their survival.

4. Isshin’s “Acceptance” and Genichiro’s “Attachment” from the Perspective of Buddhist Thought

The most crucial turning point in recounting the history of the nation of Ashina is when Isshin Ashina, the absolute figure who founded the country, reached old age and fell terminally ill. The fact that his death was approaching triggered a large-scale invasion by the Interior Ministry (the central government), driving Ashina once again to the brink of its “twilight.”

In the face of this national crisis, the founder Isshin Ashina and the current commander, his adopted grandson Genichiro Ashina, confront the situation with diametrically opposed philosophies. This very difference in their View of life and death determined the shape of Ashina’s downfall.

4.1 Isshin’s “Impermanence (Shogyo Mujo)” and the Memory of Shura

Despite being the one who shed more blood and clung to strength more than anyone else to found the country, Isshin Ashina displays an extremely quiet and accepting attitude toward his own aging and the impending ruin of his nation. He explicitly opposed Genichiro’s plan to use the blood of the Divine Heir (the power of immortality) and the Rejuvenating Waters to protect the country; instead, he provided assistance to the Shinobi (Wolf) trying to rescue the Divine Heir and ordered the physician Emma to help him.

Behind Isshin’s rejection of prolonging the country’s life through the supernatural power of immortality lies a deep understanding of the Buddhist concept of “Impermanence (Shogyo Mujo)” (all things are in constant flux, and nothing lasts forever). When drinking “Monkey Booze,” he speaks in a heavy tone about his past experience of cutting down a “Shura, or something close to it.” In the Six Realms of Samsara of Buddhism, a Shura is a being trapped in endless conflict and anger; in this work, it refers to a “demon who has forgotten their purpose and come to find pleasure solely in the act of killing itself.”

Isshin knew all too well—through his experience of severing the left arm of the Sculptor (a man who once nearly became a Shura)—the depth of the Karma of continuously throwing oneself into slaughter, even under the righteous cause of protecting one’s country, and how it distorts a human being. To continue fighting endlessly using the power of immortality is nothing less than an act that would plunge the very land of Ashina into the “Realm of Asura,” where eternal slaughter continues. Therefore, it is presumed that Isshin was trying to accept the country reaching its natural lifespan and fading away, swallowed by the waves of history, as a “demise while maintaining human dignity.”

4.2 Genichiro’s Tragedy: The “Curse of Stagnation” Brought by Patriotism

On the other hand, the mental structure of Isshin’s grandson, Genichiro Ashina, is completely dominated by what Buddhism calls “craving” (intense attachment). From the beginning to the end of the story, Genichiro shows absolutely no attachment to his own life or honor, displaying a maddening attachment solely to the single point of “the survival of the nation of Ashina.”

The root of Genichiro’s extraordinary patriotism is related to his upbringing as someone “plucked from the streets.” He is not a biological grandson carrying Isshin’s blood, but an adopted grandson picked up from the muddy waters and raised by Ashina. Therefore, his debt of gratitude to the country of Ashina, which gave him a place to belong, is immeasurable; for him, the fall of Ashina meant the complete annihilation of his own reason for existence.

Faced with the overwhelming military might of the Interior Ministry, Genichiro realized that “there are no longer any ordinary means to protect Ashina from the invaders,” and he dabbled in every taboo to physically sustain Ashina. He imprisoned Kuro, the Divine Heir, scheming to utilize his immortal covenant for military purposes. Furthermore, he himself drank the Rejuvenating Waters (stagnant water), choosing the path of rejecting death as a human.

Moreover, according to Isshin, Genichiro’s mentor, “Tomoe,” was a practitioner of heretical arts who fought as if dancing, and her eyes were “deeply stagnant, as if drawing one into the bottom of the water.” It can be said that Genichiro inherited not only the heretical lightning techniques from Tomoe but also spiritually inherited the curse of “Stagnation” brought by the Waters of the Fountainhead.

In Buddhism, the root of suffering lies in “the mind that wishes for changing things to remain unchanged (attachment).” Water in the natural world maintains its purity by flowing, but water whose flow is forcibly stopped rots and stagnates. Genichiro’s attempt to preserve the country eternally was synonymous with this very act of “stopping the flow of water.” Loving his country too much, he filled its borders with immortal monsters (Red-Eyed), colluded with the blasphemous beings known as the Infested of Senpou Temple, and transformed Ashina into a “demonic realm crawling with living corpses.” Genichiro’s tragedy lies in the intense irony that precisely because he loved Ashina the most deeply, he consequently desecrated and corrupted the soul of Ashina the most profoundly.

5. The Invasion of the Interior Ministry and the Flame of Rationality: The Clash of Two Ideologies

The motive of the “Interior Ministry” (the central government) plotting to invade Ashina also cannot be dismissed simply as an ambition for territorial expansion. Their goal was the “unification of Hinomoto (Japan),” and Ashina, retaining its unique military power and heretical faith, was the final barrier to unifying the realm.

In this worldview modeled after the end of the historical Sengoku period (the era of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s unification campaigns), the Interior Ministry is depicted as a symbol of “rationalism” and “modernization,” possessing overwhelming numbers, advanced organizational capabilities, and state-of-the-art weaponry (such as matchlock guns).

5.1 The “Fire” of Heretical Purification and the Tragedy of Stolen Research

The greatest reason the Interior Ministry relentlessly attacked and deeply feared Ashina was that they were “worshippers of heretical water” who deployed a maddened immortal army (such as the Red-Eyed) that defied common sense onto the battlefield. To counter this occult threat, the Interior Ministry forces (especially the elite Red Guard troops deployed in the late stages of the story) thoroughly employed tactics that heavily utilized “fire.” They brought in massive flamethrowers (flame vents) and oil that imbued fire attributes as standard equipment.

This “fire tactic” is by no means a product of coincidence. The Interior Ministry accurately grasped the ecological weakness that the “Red-Eyed” (maddened immortals), a byproduct of the Rejuvenating Waters abused by Ashina, were extremely afraid of fire.

What is noteworthy here is the cruel karma that it was not the wisdom of the Interior Ministry that discovered this weakness, but originally the Ashina side. As a fact deduced from the texts of items like Ministry Gunpowder and Pine Resin Ember, and environmental storytelling, the one who once deeply researched Ashina’s vegetation and the Waters of the Fountainhead was Isshin’s comrade, the genius apothecary Dogen. Dogen discovered the pine resin (an inexhaustible source of fire) collected from the black pines of Mibu Village, the oldest village, and arrived at the truth that those affected by the Rejuvenating Waters (the Red-Eyed) were weak to fire.

However, it is presumed that Dogen’s research materials were lost for some reason and eventually fell into the hands of the Interior Ministry (or Shinobi aligned with the Interior Ministry). The text for the Interior Ministry’s item “Dousing Powder” states that “the Interior Ministry feared the bloodshot red eyes of Ashina caused by the Rejuvenating Waters.” In other words, the Interior Ministry analyzed Ashina’s secrets and used the knowledge Ashina itself had produced (the weaponization of fire) to thoroughly burn away and disinfect (purify) Ashina’s heresy.

Below is the structure of ideological and elemental opposition that exists between the Ashina defense forces and the Interior Ministry invasion forces.

Against Ashina, where the Shinto concept of “Misogi (water)” had devolved into “Kegare (Defilement) (Stagnation)” through the Rejuvenating Waters, the Interior Ministry ravaged them with merciless hellfire reminiscent of the esoteric Buddhist “Kasho Zanmai” (purification of defilement by fire). The moment Isshin fell ill and the deterrent of his absolute martial prowess was lost, the Interior Ministry, fully prepared, launched a full-scale invasion to wipe this deep-snowed heretical land from the face of the earth.

6. Open Gate and Resurrection from the Underworld: The Karma of Ashina Meeting Its Demise

In the final stages of the story, as the Interior Ministry’s invasion goes into full swing, the disease-stricken Isshin Ashina finally reaches the end of his lifespan, quietly drawing his last breath in the arms of the physician Emma. His death meant that the final and greatest wedge barely holding the nation of Ashina together had been removed. As if taking this news as a signal, the final invasion by the Interior Ministry’s Red Guard forces began, and Ashina Castle was dyed crimson by the flames of the Interior Ministry.

6.1 The Ultimate Taboo by the Black Mortal Blade

Genichiro, for whom it had become impossible to hold back the overwhelming forces of the Interior Ministry not only by ordinary means but even with the power of the Rejuvenating Waters, stood on the brink of despair. As his last hope, he challenges the Shinobi (Wolf) to a final decisive battle, attempting to seize the power of the Dragon’s Heritage. However, suffering defeat at the hands of Wolf, Genichiro crosses the final line in the face of his own defeat and the ruin of his country.

He slashes his own neck with his blade, activating the power of the other Mortal Blade, the “Black Mortal Blade (Open Gate),” in exchange for his life. It was the ultimate taboo that completely destroyed the laws of nature: offering his own life as a sacrifice to the underworld to bring about the “resurrection from the underworld” of Isshin Ashina in his prime.

6.2 “It is the final wish of my pitiful grandson.”

Resurrected from the land of the dead through the gates of the underworld (Open Gate), the Sword Saint Isshin Ashina in his prime stands before Wolf and declares:

“It is the final wish of my pitiful grandson. I will keep this Ashina alive with your Dragon’s Heritage.”

This line contains extremely multi-layered karma and sorrow. As mentioned earlier, in life, Isshin was a person who denied prolonging the country’s life (Stagnation) through the power of immortality and accepted its natural demise. However, faced with the overly heavy curse (attachment) of “Ashina’s survival,” which his grandson Genichiro wished for even at the cost of completely throwing away his own life and soul, Isshin had no choice but to inherit that curse as a grandfather and as the founder who established Ashina.

At the same time, within the resurrected Isshin, there was also a mixture of pure fighting instinct as the “Sword Saint” who had regained his prime body—that is, the joy of being able to engage in a death match with Wolf, the strongest Shinobi. Thus, Isshin, the symbol of Ashina’s history and martial prowess, is ironically resurrected by the Stagnation of the “art of immortality” he most despised, and crosses blades with Wolf, who has come to end Ashina’s curse.

6.3 The Decisive Battle in the Silvergrass Field and the Reckoning by “Kaishaku”

The final decisive battle, taking place in a moonlit silvergrass field on the outskirts of Ashina Castle, is the culmination of the Ashina Arts’ messy philosophy of “choosing no means to win,” and the highest expression of martial arts. The resurrected Isshin wields not only his beloved katana but also pulls from the ground and swings the massive cross-spear of General Tamura, whom he defeated during the rebellion; furthermore, he pulls a repeating firearm from his breast to sweep the area, and even commands the lightning of the Tomoe Arts as his own. These are all manifestations of the blood-soaked history itself, which Ashina absorbed in order to survive the Sengoku era.

However, defeated by Wolf after a mortal struggle, Isshin showed absolutely no lingering regrets or resentment. He sits quietly on the ground, offers his own neck, and shouts “Do it!”, urging Wolf to perform the Kaishaku.

Despite having obtained an immortal body, his graceful acceptance of his own death is the complete opposite of the “abnormal attachment to cling to life even if it meant sipping mud” that his grandson Genichiro showed until the very end. By accepting the Kaishaku from the blade that severs immortality (Wolf’s red Mortal Blade), Isshin allowed himself to be severed along with Genichiro’s maddening attachment. It was a ritual that completely settled the “Stagnation” and “Karma” that the nation of Ashina had harbored for many years, through Isshin’s death.

Conclusion: The Curse Named Attachment, Scattering with the Snow

As discussed in this article, the rise and fall of Ashina was an extremely Buddhist and tragic process in which the legitimate “dream of reclamation” of the once-persecuted indigenous people trying to regain their right to survive was distorted by the passage of time and external pressure, eventually transforming into a “curse (attachment)” that eroded the country itself.

The peculiar climate of the Waters of the Fountainhead gave the people of Ashina a unique culture and resilient pride, but at the same time, it isolated them as “heretics” and dragged them into a vortex of endless conflict. The founder, Isshin Ashina, unified this cursed land through his overwhelming individual violence and charisma, but when faced with the law of nature that he would age and die (Impermanence (Shogyo Mujo)), Ashina could no longer maintain its reason for existence.

The atrocious act of “military diversion of the power of immortality” chosen by his grandson Genichiro was by no means an evil deed based on self-interest, but one born from a poignant “sense of duty to protect the country.” However, the “attachment” that wishes for a tangible thing (a nation) to continue existing eternally inevitably breeds the “Stagnation (corruption and madness)” of the soul. Faced with the overwhelming swell of the era that was the Interior Ministry (rationalism and purification by fire), it can be said that it was a historical inevitability for Ashina to perish, having clung to stagnant water and abandoned its humanity.

In the final moments, the instant Isshin is buried by Wolf’s Mortal Blade in the swaying silvergrass field, the phantom of the era known as Ashina completely vanishes. The history of Ashina, which began with the dream of rebellion and was smeared with blood, snow, and fire, was quietly and beautifully liberated from the curse named attachment by a single swing of the blade that ended it all.