The young boy Ichiro was raised on a small farm on the northern edge of Shinomen Mori. His father Sukune had been a samurai of one of the Great Clans, but had chosen to leave his clan behind and raise his son away from the ceaseless battle and intrigue following the death of his wife. Many times Ichiro's father would halt in the middle of a lesson and meditate with his son on the land they called their home. "Without the land, man would perish, and no honor or glory would save him. Without man, the land would continue. The land is the life-blood of all things," Sukune would say to his son. As he grew older, Ichiro came to share his father's devotion to the land, yet he could not help but wonder about the world beyond their small fields.

     When Ichiro was of the age that a young man would normally undergo his gempukku, a visitor came to see his father. The visitor bore the mon of the Wasp upon his shoulder and spoke for a time with Sukune. Finally, Ichiro's father took him aside and told him that he must fulfill an old obligation to the stranger and journey with him on a hunt. Ichiro was to tend the land until his father's return. The days stretched into weeks and there was no sign of Sukune or the stranger with the mark of the Wasp. Finally, the two men returned. The Wasp hunter rode astride his horse; Sukune's lifeless body was slung across his mount's back.

     The Wasp told Ichiro that his father had fulfilled an debt of honor and helped bring a criminal to justice, but that the struggle has cost him his life. Sukune's last request was that his body be returned to the land he had spent so many years carefully tending. Together, the hunter and Ichiro buried Sukune's corpse deep within the earth. When the hunter turned and asked Ichiro if he would remain and tend to the land as had his father, Ichiro replied "No. My father's spirit tends it now as he did in life. My spirit cannot rest so long as men like the one who murdered my father walk free. I will hunt them. When the land is free from the stain of their existence, perhaps then I will know the peace my father has found." A few days later, when the Wasp left to return north, Ichiro rode with him.

     A life of hunting game in the forest with his simple bow had prepared Ichiro for what awaited him in the lands of Clan Wasp. For many months he continued his training with the bow alongside the Wasp bowman, who was one of Tsuruchi's original hunters. When the time came for the annual tournament to be held to determine who would join the ranks of the Wasp, Ichiro was ready. The competition was fierce, but his skill was sufficient for Tsuruchi to select him to train at the Wasp Kyujutsu School.

     The following year was the most grueling experience of Ichiro's brief life. Endless training and tests of skill continued for weeks on end. Ichiro persevered through each trial placed before the young archers. When the next year's tournament grew near, Ichiro stood with three other men to be presented with the mon of the Wasp. The young man next to Ichiro was given his mon and bow by Tsuruchi and immediately dropped to one knee and swore his fealty to the Wasp daimyo. Tsuruchi snarled and ordered the young man to his feet. "I do not want your fealty! Your loyalty and service must be proven through deed alone, not the empty oaths of the samurai! An oath of fealty is as worthless as the code of bushido!"

     When Tsuruchi stepped before Ichiro and presented his mon and bow, Ichiro likewise fell to one knee before the daimyo. His mouth set into a firm line, Tsuruchi raised a hand to cuff the young Wasp. "Wait, Tsuruchi-sama. My oath is not for you."

     Confused, Tsuruchi arched an eyebrow and slowly lowered his hand.

     Ichiro continued. "You are now my daimyo, and I will follow your word though it means my death. Yet you are but a man who will one day pass into the void. If my service to the Wasp is to mean anything, I must not pledge my fealty to anything so mortal as a man."

     "What, then," asked Tsuruchi "is your pledge?"

     "I pledge my fealty to the land and home of the Wasp Clan. The land is the strength and life of the Wasp, and so long as I draw breath, I will defend and honor it with my service."

     Tsuruchi nodded ever so slightly as Mukami, his chief hunter, chuckled softly behind him. "Rise then, Ashinagabachi Ichiro," he said, "and take your place with your fellow Wasp Hunters."

     Since the day of his acceptance into the ranks of the Wasp Bounty Hunters, Ashinagabachi Ichiro has traveled throughout Rokugan hunting criminals and accumulating koku for the Wasp Clan. However, his mission is a greater one. In each province he visits, he makes an effort to learn about the other clans of Rokugan. One day, when his education and training are complete, he will serve his daimyo as the majordomo of the castle whose name he has taken, representing the Wasps to all who visit Kyuden Ashinagabachi. Some even suspect that he will one day replace Tsuruchi or Mukami as the daimyo of the clan. Only time will tell the destiny of Ashinagabachi Ichiro.