Lady Gyokuyo (玉葉, Gyokuyo), the Genkun (玄君) of the fifty nyosen that reside at Mount Hou. She serves as the median between the Twelve Kingdoms and the Heavens. Though she resides upon the mountain, she is not always present to observe the events that occur on Mount Hou, such as the emergence of the ranka of Taiki from the shashinboku.
While she rarely intervenes with matters occuring in the Twelve Kingdoms, Gyokuyo is responsible for arranging Keiki to learn how to be more sensitive to the feelings of others while teaching Taiki about what being a kirin is like. Gyokuyo is also indicates that the joint effort of Kei and the other kingdoms to find Taiki after he disappears from the Twelve Kingdoms for a second time would not be transgressing any laws set forth by Heaven.
Gyokuyo is well known for her benevolence and revered as a goddess by ordinary mortals. As a result, her name is popular for girls and is often synonymous for a beautiful girl. Several minor characters, such as the daughter of a sugar peddlar, Youko's chief lady-in-waiting, and Shoukei (after being removed from the Divine Registry and forced to live anonymously in a rike) bear her name.
