The "Traditional Reporter of Fantasy". First appeared as an opponent (and later, playable character) in the ninth Touhou game, Phantasmagoria of Flower View. She has since reappeared in other games as a playable character, and often appears in the various print works.
Aya is a crow tengu, and has the ability to manipulate the wind in addition to the exceptional sight and long-range hearing possessed by most tengu. She is also absurdly fast, perhaps even the fastest in Gensokyo. She runs, reports, and photographs for her own newspaper, the Bunbunmaru Shinbun. However, the publication is notorious for being filled with rumors, gossip, and personal opinion.
She is the rival of fellow journalist Himekaidou Hatate, who runs the Kakashi Nenpo ("Kakashi Spirit Times"). She was (and still is) also often depicted in fanworks as a friend to (or the superior of) the white wolf tengu Inubashiri Momiji, one of the guardians of Youkai Mountain. However, it was revealed in Double Spoiler that the two actually dislike one another.
Her catchphrase is "ayaya~".
Aya has red eyes and black hair of varying lengths. Her outfits have changed somewhat throughout her various appearances, but by far her most common outfit is a small red tokin hat with two strings of pom poms attached, a white collared shirt with a black ribbon tied around the collar, frilled black skirt, black knee-high socks, and red tengu-geta. She often carries around an old camera, a notebook and calligraphy brush, and a hauchiwa (a leaf-shaped fan).
Due to variations in depiction, she may also have pointy ears or long, black feathered wings. Her outfit may also sport an armband or a tan, leaf-patterned stripe motif. Other times, she may be shown wearing a completely different outfit, such as the Kourindou Tengu costume from CoLA or her combination of a cabbie hat, tie, and suit jacket from Forbidden Scrollery which should be tagged as Shameimaru Aya (newsboy).
The following tags implicate this tag: shameimaru_aya_(crow), shameimaru_aya_(flower_viewing), and shameimaru_aya_(newsboy) (learn more).