Ishimura

Ishimura - A village in Japan, where a clan of gargoyles lives peacefully alongside humans.

History

The gargoyles of Japan retired here after peace came to the islands (presumably at the end of the Japanese feudal period in the mid-19th century), and live with the human villagers, helping to protect their village from criminals. The humans are on good terms with the gargoyles, and keep them secret from the outside world so that they can go unmolested.

The gargoyles of Ishimura live in an old temple in the village, perching on its roof in the daytime. They face inwards in their stone sleep, as a gesture of trust towards the humans with whom they live. From time to time, they teach the local humans bushido, the code of honor that they themselves practice.

One such pupil was Taro, but he was a poor student. When he grew up and became a wealthy businessman, he decided to exploit the gargoyles for his own benefit; duping Yama, a dissatisfied member of the clan, into helping him, he abducted the entire clan (alongside Goliath, Angela, and Bronx, who were visiting Ishimura with Elisa on the Avalon World Tour) and took them away to a nearby theme park that he had just built to be put on display there. Fortunately, Elisa and Hiroshi, the police constable at Ishimura, rescued the clan. Afterwards, the humans of Ishimura decided to strengthen their covenant with the gargoyles all the more, and to take regular bushido lessons from them.

By 2198, many gargoyles will go to Ishimura to learn bushido - among them Samson, Delilah, and Zafiro.

More information on the gargoyles of Ishimura can be found in the "Gargoyles" entry, under the section on Japanese gargoyles.

Real World Background

The nature of the gargoyles of Ishimura is of particular interest, in light of the fact that, in Japanese legends, there is said to be a race of winged beings named tengu. Tengu are winged humanoids who sometimes teach humans bushido; this evokes the gargoyles of Ishimura enough to suggest that the legend originated with them. (Admittedly, the tengu also are described at times as being dangerous tricksters, but this could be nothing more than distortion of the tales, assisted by anti-gargoyle attitudes).}