Kaya-no-Hime is the Shinto goddess of vegetation, grass and fields. She was often prayed to before cutting down trees or reeds for use in construction.
Kaya-no-Hime is one of the demons in the game to have unique negotiation dialogue. Kaya-no-Hime wields her unique skillHarvest Dance, which slightly heals an ally, while raising their Defense by 2 ranks. A single Kaya-no-Hime symbol encounter may be found in Tennozu and she will accompany other demons in the same area and subsequent ones. Kaya-no-Hime is one of the demons required to summon Sukuna-Hikona through special fusion.
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance[]
"A goddess of grasses in Japanese mythology. The name "Kaya" refers to the grass that was used to build traditional grass-roof houses, highlighting its importance to the people of ancient Japan."
—Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance lore
Kaya-no-Hime is a demon of the Jirae race and can be found in Da'at: Shinagawa. She is one of the demons required to obtain Sukuna-Hikona through special fusion.
In an interview with Shin Megami Tensei V demon designer Masayuki Doi, her design was inspired from her name, with the word "Kaya" referring to dried straws in thatch roofs, hence her appearance as a straw doll, in addition to the fact she is the ancestrial deity of grass. As "Hime" means "princess," she was designed to look naive, similar to the "oblivious princess" trope, one that originates from old Japanese period dramas.[1]
In the same interview, Doi states that Kaya-no-Hime's design comes from an old idea from Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse, which was ultimately scrapped as of then, but has been reworked and redesigned in early development stages of SMT V.[1]
