The Kazama Clan (風間一族 Kazama Ichizoku?) is one of the most important families in the Tekken series. The Tekken series revolves mainly around this family and the Mishima family. Possibly the most recognizable member of the clan is Jin Kazama, who is one of the most well-known characters of the series, son of Jun Kazama, as well as a recurring protagonist and sometime antagonist.
History
Originally descended from the same ancestral roots as Zafina's clan that sealed away Azazel, the Kazama family have lived on Yakushima for over a thousand years. For generations, they enshrined a place of great spiritual energy in the recesses of Yakushima's mountains, dubbed as the Kazama Sanctum. However, as the world changed and lost old traditions, so too did the Kazamas, leaving Jun as the only member left who knew about the Sanctum's existence when Ogre's attack destroyed the main Kazama household.
They seem to be attuned to nature, and their family martial arts style also emphasizes countering and redirecting an opponent's energy rather than a more aggressive approach. A wing of the Kazama family has spread to live in Osaka, where Kazama Ryu is also taught in a Kazama family run dojo.
Jun Kazama left Yakushima, feeling suffocated by years of isolation due to her powers, to study at a university in Tokyo. Disillusioned by city life, Jun was met by her father's spirit in a dream shortly before receiving news of his passing, which renewed her faith in the spiritual. She worked in Tokyo as a wildlife surveillance officer for the W.W.W.C., an animal conservation group, and made it her mission to stop the corrupt animal trading and experimentation practiced by the Mishima Zaibatsu; later also wishing to try and save its CEO, Kazuya Mishima, from a darkness she felt within him. Upon meeting him, Jun empathized with Kazuya as being misunderstood and forced into solitude due to the powers within him.
After the events of Tekken 2, Jun returned to Yakushima, where she raised her and Kazuya's son, Jin, for fifteen years until she was attacked and disappeared. Jin left Yakushima after the attack, and went to live with his grandfather on the Mishima estate, in mainland Japan, likely not far from Tokyo. Four years later, Jin was betrayed by his grandfather, and fled to hide and train in Brisbane, Australia. He returned to Japan to fight in the next King of Iron Fist Tournament, and briefly returned to his native Yakushima afterwards. He took over the Mishima Zaibatsu after winning the Fifth Iron Fist Tournament, and lived in Tokyo until he mysteriously disappeared after a fight with the demon Azazel in the Middle East. After being rescued from trouble, he was cared for and protected whilst he was in a coma by his uncles, Lee Chaolan, and Lars Alexandersson.
A branch of the Kazama family live in Osaka, where Mr. Kazama (to-date unnamed) has a dojo and teaches Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts, and his daughter, Asuka helps out. Asuka is also known in the city for her role in breaking up street fights between rival gangs. At one point, the dojo was attacked by Feng Wei, and Mr. Kazama was hospitalized by him. As of Tekken 7, the Osaka dojo has still not recovered and Mr. Kazama's reputation, health, and livelihood are still in jeopardy.[1]
Kazama Spiritual Powers
The Kazama family are blessed with remarkable spiritual abilities that historically had them serve as exorcists in the Imperial Court. According to Jun, a Kazama's power fosters life and cleanses evil. Jin is the only Kazama who carries the Devil Gene, having inherited it from his father, who in turn inherited it from his Hachijo mother.
One notable trait of the Kazama clan, however, is that they have a sacred power to purify or restrain the devil gene. This can be seen when Jun wards away the part of Kazuya's devil seeking out her son in the womb, which in her journal in Tekken 8's DLC archives, she credits an incredible surge of power with a brilliant bright light flowing through her body (visualized as Angel's wings), attributed to a reaction between her Kazama blood with Kazuya's Mishima/devil blood. It can also be seen in Kazuya's Tekken 4 ending as, when Devil tries to absorb Jin's devil, it claims that Jin's Kazama blood may be preventing it. This can also be seen in Asuka's (non-canon) Tekken 5 ending where she dispels Jin's devil form simply by touching him and is visible in various (non-canon) Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 intro and win poses, especially between Jun and Devil Jin.
This cleansing ability of the Kazama Clan manifested for Jin in Tekken 8, when he was able to cleanse his Devil Gene through spiritual contemplation in the Sanctum, and whilst communing with his mother's spirit. It manifested in the form of granting him angelic powers, which were eventually able to eradicate the Devil Gene altogether from himself and Kazuya. It is possible that even afterwards, Jin still retains his Kazama powers.
Jun Kazama has had empathetic abilities since childhood to sense things that others cannot, and also communicated with her father's ghost. Wild animals, who are pure of heart and free of negative thoughts according to her, seem comfortable in her presence, further affirming a strong spiritual sensibility. She was able to spiritually influence Kazuya, causing Angel to awaken or work within him. She also appears to Jin in his Tekken 4 ending, indicating that she and her son may have some sort of spiritual connection. This is also hinted at in Devil Jin's (non-canon) Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending. Jin may also have the ability to sense or commune with spirits in a similar way to Jun, given that he sees his mother's spirit and heeds her warning, telling Heihachi to thank his mother for sparing his life.
This strong spiritual connection is also hereditary in some fashion and passed in the Kazama line, which was confirmed in Tekken 8, where by returning to his home in Yakushima, and in particular to the Sanctum, Jin was able to commune with his mother in a spiritual fashion. The DLC's Classified Archives elaborates that having awakened in Kazama Sanctum, Jun sensed Jin is in grave danger (against True Devil Kazuya). To save him, Jun borrowed power from the sanctum and sent out a small white bird made of light to enter Jin's mind to communicate with him.
The Kazama Lullaby
In a possible mirror to the Hachijo Nursery Rhyme, a Kazama lullaby exists that Jun used to sing to Jin. It is known that Jun already forsaw Ogre's coming to Yakushima, and it seems this song was either passed down as the source of this knowledge, or was a lullaby Jun made up to warn her son of the impending danger.[2]
| There is an ogre on this island. | 島の中には鬼がいる |
| When the ogre appears, you must hide. | 鬼が出をら隠れないと |
| Shall we ask the god of the mountain? | 山の神様に相談してみようか？ |
| Banish it with resplendent light. | 綺麗な光で追い払おう |
Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts
- Main article: Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts
The Kazama clan have their own style of martial arts, Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts (風間流古武術 Kazama-ryū Kobujutsu?). The style focuses on locks and throws. It is a more peaceful style of martial arts, reflecting the Kazama clan's more harmonious nature and desire to de-escalate conflict. Every known member of the Kazama family is trained in Kazama Style Traditional Martial Arts. The style originated in Yakushima where the clan are from, though the only known dojo of the style is in Osaka - the Kazama-Style Traditional Martial Arts Dojo, which was set up by Mr. Kazama. Asuka Kazama is one of the senior tutors at the dojo, has taken over most of the responsibilities at the dojo since it and her father came under attack from Feng Wei.
Family Members
- Jun Kazama - Conceived a child with Kazuya Mishima. She is the mother of Jin Kazama, and a relative of Asuka Kazama and Asuka's father.
- Jin Kazama - Son of Jun Kazama and Kazuya Mishima, grandson of Heihachi Mishima and Kazumi Mishima, great-grandson of Jinpachi Mishima. He is the only Kazama with the Devil Gene and is the human-counterpart of Devil Jin and its purified form, Angel Jin.
- Asuka Kazama - Daughter of Mr. Kazama, a relative, likely niece,[3] of Jun Kazama and cousin to her son.
- Mr. Kazama - Father of Asuka Kazama, a relative, likely brother, of Jun and uncle of Jin Kazama.[3]
- Jun's father - Jun's father and Jin's maternal grandfather. He is unnamed and mentioned once. He is dead, but his spirit visited Jun before Tekken 2, reigniting her faith in the supernatural after she had become disillusioned in Tokyo.[4]
Trivia
- Kazama consists of the kanji for "wind" (風 kaze) and "interval" (間 ma) and collectively, they mean "while the wind blows." Kazama is a real Japanese surname that is currently in use.
- Before the Devil Gene was revealed as a factor influencing the Devil in Kazuya, it was conceptually only a spiritual matter. Likewise, the Kazama 'power' was a spiritual influence that Jun exclusively had, and represented her fight along with Angel for the better part of Kazuya's soul.[5]
See Also
References
- ^ See Lili's Tekken 7 ending.
- ^ Chapter 8, Tekken 8 Story Mode.
- ^ a b There are at least four instances in Tekken 6 that confirm Jin and Asuka to be cousins and Mr Kazama and Jun to be siblings. The only source saying otherwise is a tweet from Harada stating that the relationship is actually more distant. This has yet to be corroborated by any in-game material however.
- ^ Jun's Tekken 2 profile
- ^ See further: Devil Gene