Altan Shujin

Name: Altan Shujin (阿勒坦 主人 – Golden Master)
Origin: The Twelve Islands of the Pani
Caste: Free Man, Samurai
Current Domain: Edo Trade & Entertainment District

Born of the Twelve Islands, Altan Shujin carries the bearing of a samurai: a man bound by discipline, loyalty, and the quiet fire of the sword. Though he has prospered in trade, wealth to him is but a tool to sustain his house, his retainers, and the legacy of his ancestors. He walks Edo as a Free Man of standing, veiled in silk yet ever watchful, a warrior whose patience is sharper than steel. With his Free Companion, Aijin Mai Akisada, he upholds the code of the Pani, uniting martial honor with the dignity of household and clan.

Though born of the Pani Isles, I am not bound in cloth to a single shore. My house bears the fanions of Suijin-ryū, yet within my chambers hang gifts from beyond the eastern waters. Among them, the robes of the Joseon yangban, garments of scholars and high families, brought to me through trade and sealed in respect.

When I wear them, it is not to abandon the steel and hakama of my ancestors, but to honor another path: the path of learning and refinement. Steel marks the warrior; ink and thought mark the man. Thus the hanbok is not a foreign disguise, but a statement that the Isles and the Mainland need not stand as strangers.

In battle I wear armor and hakama. In the dojo I dress as my ancestors. But in the presence of merchants, poets, and sages, I may choose robes of Joseon cut as a sign that my horizon is wider than the shoreline of the Isles.

Picture: © Norell — Original artwork. Do not reproduce without permission.