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Myōjin Yahiko (明神 弥彦 Myōjin Yahiko), known in Western order (Yahiko Myojin) in the English anime, is a fictional character in the anime and manga Rurouni Kenshin/Samurai X. In the Spanish-language version of the anime, he is known as Yoshi.
Yahiko is the descendant of a samurai. Yahiko's father died during the Boshin War, slain at the Battle of the Keneiji Temple. His mother died not long after giving birth to her son. Yahiko was originally forced to live as a thief for the local Yakuza, who tricked him into believing that he still had to pay off the money the gangsters gave to his mother to buy medicine. But with the help of Himura Kenshin and Kamiya Kaoru, he becomes an apprentice of the Kamiya Kasshin style. Yahiko is a hotheaded child. He is arrogant, a potty-mouth, and bad-mannered; and he already bestowed upon himself the title 'Tokyo Samurai'. But, as the years go by, Yahiko learns the principles of Kasshin Kamiya-Ryū, which coincides with Kenshin's ideals. Even though he overrates himself, Yahiko defeats several enemies - even one of Shishio's henchmen. In time Yahiko becomes a master swordsman, and trains Kenji, Kenshin's son.
He has a sweetheart, Tsubame, who works at a local restaurant as a waitress.
The Kamiya Kasshin Style translated from Japanese means roughly, "Revitalized Heart".
There are two moves of the Kamiya Kasshin style revealed in the manga- these are the succession techniques, or "ougi"- which is the move one must master to become a master of the style. Kaoru teaches the Kamiya Kasshin succession techniques to Yahiko during the beginning to middle of the never animated Jinchū arc. The moves are:
Hadome: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's defensive succession technique. If the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style is attacked, they perform the Hadome by crossing their arms over their head (and possibly other places as well, but this is the most common form and the only one shown in the manga) and catching the blade with the back of their hands. This allows the user of the Kamiya Kasshin style to maintain their grip on their sword while catching the opponents blade at the same time. Kaoru rarely uses this technique however, because it requires that the timing be perfectly right or else the attacker will be given a fatal opening. However, if properly used, it can be chained into the Kamiya Kasshin offensive ougi and thusly ensure an instant kill.
Hawatari: This is the Kamiya Kasshin Style's offensive succession technique. It is a counter-attack and can only be performed after a successful use of the Hadome technique. From the Hadome position, the defender will twist his wrists, thusly stripping the weapon of their attacker away from their wrists and possibly throwing them to the ground. Since the defender will still have their grip on their own weapon they can almost instantaneously follow up with an attack of their own and therefore deliver the final blow on their now defenseless opponent.
Kaoru at first refuses to teach Yahiko the succession techniques, stating that Yahiko is incredibly strong for a ten year old already and is even stronger than Sanosuke or even Kenshin was at his age. However Yahiko is tired of being considered weak and wants to help Kenshin against Yukishiro Enishi's "Jinchū" against Kenshin. Kaoru relents and tells Yahiko that he must perform the arm-crossing motion of the hadome ten thousand times before she will teach him the techniques. When Kaoru demonstrates the technique on her impatient student, Yahiko notes that he can perform the arm-crossing motion much faster than his master.
Yahiko makes extensive use of these techniques during the arc. He uses it successfully for the first time against Otowa, one of the members of Yukishiro Enishi's Jinchū, and manages to land a blow on Otowa's chin using the butt of his shinai. Then he successfully performs the succession techniques on Genbu, one of the bodyguards of Yukishiro Enishi's associate Hei Shin, who is Enishi's successor to his successful shady Shanghai-based arms dealing business. Using the Hawatari, he manages to break Genbu's weapon- a pole which can be separated into multiple sections.
In the second short story chapter of Rurouni: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story, Kamiya Yahiko is the younger brother of Kaoru and Megumi, and the rightful successor of the Kamiya dojo.
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