Prelude
Unlike many other characters in the InuYasha series, who are shown having some sort of a childhood and family, Izayoi is given no such information. The only known facts about her life are that Izayoi is a lady of noble birth, perhaps even so far as being a princess, and that her family was wealthy; however, thier lineage is now without status or any real power. We do not know where or when she was born (although the estimated time period is the Heian Era), or anything about her immediate family. We are also not told when her family fell into ruin, (was it decades ago, or was it more recent?) or when she met the youkai lord Inu no Taisho (a major turing point in Izayoi's life if I do say so myself).| "[Izayoi] was from a house of fallen nobles and was dearly loved by InuYasha's demon father. She has since passed away, but in life she was very beautiful." |
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Despite the small facts, a few problems do arise. If Izayoi was a noble woman whose family fell into ruin, why does she not appear so? On the contrary, Izayoi is dressed very well, wearing the multi-layered kimono of wealthy noble women, and she is even shown residing in a fairly large mansion during the third InuYasha movie, Tenka Hadou no Ken. Granted, not all fans consider this movie canon to the manga, but Izayoi still appears weathy in her appearance there as well. An explanation for this could be that it was a simple continuity error made by the creator. Takahashi has said herself that she makes up the story as she goes along. With this sort of story-line going there are bound to be some things that contradict each other. But for the sake of arguement (and to make this page longer), let's say it is not an error. So, how would we explain her lavish ensamble and large mansion?
Strange as it may sound, an idea of mine actually comes from Sesshoumaru, who appears to have given his human ward Rin a colorful new kimono after he revives her using Tenseiga. The old one she had been wearing was torn, dirty and covered in blood after her violent death, so it would make sense that she would be given a replacement. Suppose that Izayoi was the same, and Inu no Taisho gave her the pink, flowery kimono we often see her wear. This is just my speculation, although it ties in nicely. The mansion; however. is a bit harder to explain, for not only does it appear in the movie, but it also appears in the anime series. For those fans who do not consider the movie, it's easy to dismiss. I suppose those same fans can also ignore the anime scene of InuYasha's childhood as well, since it does not appear in the manga and was simply a filler for the episode.
Tenka Hadou no Ken (Swords of an Honorable Ruler) shows Izayoi living quite well in a large estate sometime before InuYasha was born, and also during InuYasha's birth. InuYasha also provides us with flashbacks of his childhood, during which he can be seen in a large courtyard. Some have speculated that both residences were owned by Izayoi's family; although this could not be true since her family had fallen upon hard times and probably couldn't afford such a lavish estate. A few other possibilites come to mind, and once again they involve Inu no Taisho. If the mansion was not his own, perhaps Inu no Taisho persuaded the people near his domain to care for Izayoi in his absence. After the great lord's death, it would appear that she was allowed to stay; perhaps it was pity, or perhaps it was in honor of the youkai lord who protected them. However, after Izayoi's eventual death, InuYasha was thrown out and left to fend for himself.
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