Kayaki

Kayaki (1702-1817) was claimed to be the oldest ancestor of the Kaiko family, and a figure in old Japanese history.

Background
Kayaki was said to have been born during the relatively peaceful Edo period in Japan, to a aristocratic family who served the shogunate, and they had a very high position. Kayaki was seen as a very beautiful girl as if she was an angel, and she found this to be slightly annoying. During her youth, she was being approached by many suitors, which she all denied, as she was more interested in studying the nature of the world. She wasn’t very close with her family, as they were all busy with working for the shogun. Someone who she trusted with all her secrets was her friend Hitori, who she often went stargazing with. But this didn’t last for long, as Hitori died suddenly due to a robbery where she was raped.

Scarred by the death of her only friend, Kayaki started isolating herself from everyone she knew, and gazed the stars only through her open roof, thinking about their true nature. Whether of not that this part is true, it was said that a star communicated with her, calling itself the Source, and she had written some other things on a stump about it. Since she held high authority, she was able to make her own temple on a hill and make it just for stargazing purposes and spiritual connections, often called the place to go when stressed. She died of old age in 1817, at 115-years of age.

Legacy
While it has been proven that she was in fact real, and has lived during the Edo period, it’s debated if she ever had children, as she was not good with men, and also the fact that she was scarred by them after the death of her friend Hitori. The Kaiko family has many roots from all over Japan, with some coming even from the monarchy. When a DNA-test was done, it appeared that they were in fact related by a narrow 0.8%, which was possibly not directly from her, maybe another family member which was possibly an ancestor, while she remained a relative.