Using the Stormguard General's stolen dagger, she committed suicide on the verge of the transference. Horrified and realizing Himiko's evil, she resolved to end her life, which would deny Himiko her chosen body, thus foiling her plan and saving future priestesses from suffering the same fate. 1185-1333 CE), one chosen Daughter of the Sun, a priestess named Hoshi, discovered the truth. Finally however, it ended when, at some point during the Kamakura period (c. Himiko performed this practice countless times, effectively becoming immortal through the de facto periodic murder of one of her priestesses and the taking over of the young woman's body as her own. No one apart from the General of her Stormguard knew the true nature of the "succession", since he alone was tasked with escorting the priestess to the Chamber of the Sun, where Himiko waited alone to perform the ritual. In this way, she continued her life and rule. In a secret ritual, Himiko actually transferred her soul, not her power, into the young woman, destroying the priestess' soul and permanently taking over her body. At a time of her choosing, Himiko would conduct a ceremony which would transfer her power to the priestess, making her the new Sun Queen. This was considered an unparalleled honor among the people. The priestess, who was given the title of Daughter of the Sun, would be trained in languages, warfare, and all of the other necessary skills of a monarch. As she grew elderly, she would choose one of her priestesses as her successor. The secret behind her apparent immortality was a dark and sinister ritual. However, Himiko was actually the only monarch to ever rule Yamatai, and her lifespan actually lasted hundreds of years. Her life ostensibly spanned 72 years, from c.170 AD to c.248 AD. Her subjects were not unhappy under her rule, agricultural production was consistently high, and thus no one went hungry, her taxes were reasonable, and her Stormguard fiercely protected the nation from any foreign threats.
She was worshiped by some of her subjects of the island. She was believed to be able to communicate with the spirit world and to control the elements. No men attended to her, except for the general of the Stormguard. She surrounded herself with a cadre of priestesses, known as the Priestesses of the Sun.
She is described as the beautiful, yet inscrutable, enigmatic, ruthless Sun Queen who ruled Yamatai thousands of years ago with the support of her Stormguard.