Kaya

Kaya is an inhabitant of Emishi Village and Ashitaka's former chosen bride-to-be.

Appearance
Kaya is a pretty girl of average height. She has shoulder long hair that she wears in a ponytail.

Personality
Kaya appears to have a kind and sweet personality as she deeply cares for Ashitaka, as well as a surprisingly strong spirited side to her as she defends two Emishi girls from the demon boar with her sword. Not much else is known about her.

History
One day when she was working in the field to harvest some crops with some other Emishi girls, the demon boar god Nago suddenly attacked them. As they were running away, one girl fell and hurt herself and so Kaya stepped in front of her with a sword, ready to attack. Ashitaka quickly came and diverted the god's attention away from them, allowing the girls time to run away. Before Ashitaka left the village because of his cursed arm, she gave him her own crystal dagger so that he could remember her.

Ashitaka
Despite Emishi law forbidding her to do so, Kaya followed Ashitaka to the edge of the village, where he was preparing to depart after being cursed by Nago. As to not be forgotten, she gifted him a crystal dagger - an important item in Emishi law, which is supposed to be given to one's future husband - showing her love to Ashitaka, whom she had wished to marry.

After Ashitaka left the village, they never saw each other again. According to Hayao Miyazaki she got married years later, but never fully got over Ashitaka's banishment. Till the end she believed that he would cherish the obsidian dagger she gifted him and never forget her. This however is proven to be false by him carelessly giving it so San later in the story. He never did mention Kaya's name to San, nor did he tell her that he got the dagger from somebody else.


 * iKaya is often mistaken for Ashitaka's sister, due to the fact that she refers to him as "Anisama" in the Japanese original, which translates to "Older brother". However, this term merely refers to an older boy inside her clan. Miyazaki's aim was to create a determined woman who was not involved with Ashitaka through blood relation.
 * "Kaya" is a syllable of the Japanese title "Kusa no Kaya", a well-known knife and lucky charm in Japan.
 * Ashitaka later gave Kaya's obsidian dagger to San, because he wanted to convey his love to the wolf girl. Some fans interpret this action as Ashitaka loving San just as much as he did Kaya. But in reality he most likely did it out of convenience, due to his lack of a proper gift.