Itsuna Hashimoto

Itsuna Hashimoto (橋本　何時名) is a Japanese-American Shinto preacher and shrine maiden. In 1994, she and her then-boyfriend (now her husband) were convicted on charges of tax fraud. Idelogically influenced by Notchist Shintoism, she has extensively preached about the Minecraftian Civil War. While she's not directly affiliated with the Shintoist Province and Scarlet Devil of Team Crimson, it was claimed she has been an inspirational source for many English-speaking Crimsonites in Minecraftia.

Early life
Hashimoto was born on April 3, 1972, in Las Vegas, Nevada as the third-generation to Japanese immigrants who immigrated to the United States during the early Taisho era. She was initiated as a shrine maiden at a young age and spent every one of her summer breaks in Japan as a child. Her large family was prominent in local shrines, as her father was a kannushi. After finishing high school, Hashimoto enrolled at Waseda University and received a degree in religious studies. She subsequently returned to the United States to complete her master's degree and also met her future husband.

Conviction and imprisonment
In the early 1990s, during her time at Waseda University, Hashimoto created a website which caught the attention of both Japanese and US law enforcement. The site contained a library full of fanatically anti-American sermons given by Hashimoto, which were uploaded to VidSpace during the Alpha testings.

In 1994, over a few months after graduating from Waseda University, Hashimoto and her then-boyfriend were both indicted on charges of tax fraud and money laundering. She also faced charges for felon-in-possession of firearms and ammunition. Hashimoto was formally convicted for the crimes the following year and was sentenced to six years in prison, which expired with her release in 2001.

Recent influence
Within days following her 2001 release from prison, she began posting her views on VidSpace and operating on LifeConnect. She was reportedly on the FBI watch list. In June 2004, her internet access was restricted following a violation where Hashimoto reportedly lied about her whereabouts. The restriction expired in March 2005. Between 2004 and 2007, Hashimoto had not known to have accessed her LifeConnect account.

According to Minecraftian terrorism expert Kisumi Torisawa, a study conducted by her stated that 60% of all Crimsonites in the Minecraftian Civil War followed Hashimoto on LifeConnect. She was known to have 30,000 followers and approximately 150,000 subscribers on VidSpace. Hashimoto was reportedly the influence for terrorists as early as late 2004.

VidSpace policy and criticism
After conducting a review in June 2007, VidSpace refused to remove Hashimoto's videos, which were viewed more than 1.5 billion times as of that date, as they did not violate VidSpace's Rules of Conduct. Tyrrell Takara, the founder of VidSpace, has stated that many of her videos are religious sermons on varied subjects of the Shinto religion. Advertisers have objected to allowing ads to be displayed on her videos. Responding to the criticism, VidSpace announced a policy while extremist videos, including Hashimoto's, would not be removed but difficult to find, and placed behind warning screens.