Born and raised in Osaka, capital of the Kansai region of Japan, Chitose Izumo (yes, her name is written with the same kanji as the famous shrine) had always held a strong connection to and fascination with shrines. It was no wonder, then, that when the young student stumbled upon the old, disused ruin of a shrine up in the mountains one day, she almost immediately made it her personal project to restore it. Already somewhat of a tomboy and good with her hands, Chitose quickly picked up the skills needed to start clearing out and rebuilding out the wrecked building, in the process giving the girl a strong interest in engineering that would persist well into her future schooling.
However, the old shrine was quite a distance from her house, and so Chitose was limited to making trips only every few months, if that often. Much of her time, thus, was spent planning for each serious excursion out to the old shrine, researching it and deciding which repair to make next. It was far from an easy task... the old shrine was in serious disarray, and it seemed almost as if her actions each time were being undone by nature by the time she returned... even so, she kept at it. Her friends often questioned why she bothered with such a ruin, but she replied the same way each time. "The gods can't do anything if we only give them faith when we need something from them. We have to help them out sometimes too."
Thus, her repairs on the Hakurei Shrine continued, until one fateful spring day...
The day had begun as normal. Chitose, fresh to spring break from her first year of college, had taken her new car off to the Hakurei Shrine to begin working on replacing some of the old floorboards that had rotted away, as well as the usual work of de-weeding. After a morning's work, Chitose laid down to rest under the bare cherry trees, engaging in her usual custom of praying to the shrine's god, hoping that with enough faith the trees could be restored to bloom once more...
When she opened her eyes, the trees were indeed in bloom... not to mention, the shrine behind her was fully repaired, and the fallen Shinto gate stood proud and strong before her. And, as she looked at the mysteriously restored shrine, someone appeared at the top of the stairs beneath the gate... a rather flat young girl with curling horns, a seemingly endless jug of sake, and a sardonic grin...
"What? Aint'cha ever seen an oni before?"
Indeed, Chitose had found herself in the realm of Gensokyo, home to the true Hakurei Shrine. Drawn there by (who else?) Yukari Yakumo, who had seen both the girl's zeal for restoring the shrine and her own inborn potential to use magic, the border-youkai had seen fit to draw Chitose through the Great Border the day before the spring festival. Traveling through Gensokyo from the Forest of Magic all the way to the heights of Youkai Mountain, Chitose encountered many friends, and even became the caretaker of a newborn youkai named Sakan_Irori. In the end, encouraged by newcomer Byakuren, her traveling companion Daiyousei, and her new "little brother" Sakan, Chitose elected to remain in Gensokyo, giving up even the keys to her car to sever all ties with the outside world. (Well, no sense in letting a shiny cool car like hers go to waste! Yukari left 'em for whoever was lucky enough to find them.) She now makes her home in a small house on the edge of the Human Village, near enough to always be on call but far enough to be respectful of those who disapprove of her youkai friendships, and is continuing her studies both into magic and engineering. With a bit of help from Patchouli, she has begun to develop a fair talent for magic based around the elements of water and metal, and during her journey discovered the beginnings of her own innate ability: manipulation of machines. While this isn't much of a combat ability in a magical land like Gensokyo, it's extremely helpful at times to the kappa, making her a common sight in the village and especially at Nitori's home. With friends all over Gensokyo, her studies to attend to, and her still-strong zeal for keeping the shrines in order, Chitose has quite a lot to do around this new world, and she's quite happy to be doing it!
Update: After a while settling into Gensokyo, and in the midst of an incident she would -far- rather not talk about, the twins surprised Chitose by presenting her with her very own miko's outfit... The girl's tending and care to the autumn goddess' shrine, beyond that offered to anyone else's, had made her the Aki shrine's shrine maiden in their eyes, and Chitose happily accepted. Those meeting her more than a year or two after her first entry into Gensokyo will fairly often find her in her uniform, a simple white kimono (NOT showing her armpits, in defiance of the usual Gensokyo fashion) with a long pleated hakama, the traditional red at the top but slowly shading to the orange and yellow colors of an autumn leaf at the bottom. She also wears a small clip just over her right ear, fashioned after a pair of crossed wheat ears. She can still be found fairly often in regular kimonos, usually fashioned by Reisen and the earth rabbits or by Rinnosuke, especially while she's working or repairing something, but during miko duties this is what she generally wears.
Notable Gensokyo connections (established in backstory unless otherwise stated):
Daiyousei (close friend and often traveling companion)
Shizuha & Minoriko Aki (unofficial caretaker/official miko of their shrine, dependent on time)
Patchouli (occasional teacher of magic)
Nitori (frequent teacher of engineering)
Sanae (friend and fellow outsider)
Akyuu (friend and occasional storyteller)
Yukari (perpetrator of her vanishing)