Gempukku
From L5r: Legend of the Five Rings
Gempukku is the ceremony by which a samurai enters adulthood.
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[edit] Timing
The ceremony usually takes place when a young samurai has reached the age of fourteen, but may take place earlier or later depending on how well the student has learned the basic techniques of his school. It is the decision of the student's sensei as to when he is ready to take the trials. A sensei will lose face if he allows a student to face the trials before he is ready.
[edit] Common Elements
The ceremony differs from clan to clan but there are some common elements. The student is required by his sensei to demonstrate that he has learned the techniques and skills taught by his school by successfully completing tests of these skills, called trials. If he successfully completes the trials the student is proclaimed an adult. He choses his adult name and receives his first daisho or, in the case of non-bushi samurai, his wakizashi. From that point forward he is considered a full adult and is expected to conduct himself as such.
If a student fails the trials he may be given a second chance if his sensei judges that he still has promise. The trials of some clans are dangerous enough that a student who fails the trials is unlikely to survive for a second attempt.
(3E p. 312)
[edit] Examples of Trials
[edit] Crab Clan
In the Crab Clan, the student is required to enter the Shadowlands and return with the head of an enemy. Returning with a single goblin head is enough to ensure that the student will be accepted as an adult, and a student who returns with the head of a more powerful enemy is expected to do well in the clan. A student that comes back with the head of a nezumi is banished from the clan for not knowing friend from foe.
[edit] Crane Clan
In the Crane Clan, the student is expected to demonstrate his knowledge of courtly manners and arts along with more martial skills. The Asahina family requires their young shugenja to successfully craft a simple tsangusuri. The Daidoji family commemorate their gempukku by tattooing the family mon upon their wrists.
[edit] Dragon Clan
In the Dragon Clan, the ceremony of the gempukku tends to be traditional and straightforward, except for the three orders of monks that are part of the clan, which of course have no gempukku ceremony.
[edit] Lion Clan
In the Lion Clan, the student is required to display tactical knowledge if of the Akodo family or historical knowledge if of the Ikoma family. The Matsu gempukku ceremony is one of the harshest in Rokugan, and the Kitsu gempukku ceremony is one of the most secretive.
[edit] Phoenix Clan
The Phoenix Clan gempukku is for the most part unremarkable, although bushi of the Shiba family are required to show their philosophical learning as well as their martial skills. The gempukku ceremonies of the Asako family are shrouded in secrecy from the rest of the Empire.
[edit] Scorpion Clan
The gempukku ceremonies of the Scorpion Clan, as might be expected, all involve tests of the arts of stealth or manipulation. Their rituals are private, and not performed with outside observors. If one suceeds the gempukku they are awarded with a mempo or mask. If one fails the gempukku then they are still allowed to be in the clan but as a sign of failure they don't get a mempo. Instead they get a veil.
[edit] The Unicorn Clan
The Unicorn Clan of course honor horsemanship above all other skills during their gempukku ceremony. The Iuchi family also requires their students to show knowledge of various gaijin rituals as well as traditional Rokugani sorcery.
