Hatate Himekaidou is a tengu reporter who produces the newspaper Kakashi Spirit News. Unlike her colleague/rival Aya Shameimaru, she never goes outside to research for her newspapers because she has the ability to take photos from anywhere using thoughtography.
She is a perky, casual-speaking, fun-loving crow tengu who dislikes working. She prefers to stay indoors, using thoughtography to research her newspaper rather than going outside to take photos. She holds a strong discontent towards the rigid caste system in tengu society, and hates the workload placed upon her, as stated in an anonymous newspaper article written with the experience of three tengu: Hatate herself, Aya, and Momiji.
In contrast to her outward, fun personality, her articles are very thoughtful and and informative. She's a nonconformist who writes from a progressive viewpoint, for example, she writes an article describing the technological benefits that outsiders like Sumireko Usami could bring into Gensokyo. Her main ability is Spirit Photography (Thoughtography) where Hatate's ability allows her to be aware of distant happenings> Her thoughtography is similar to telegnosis with the addition of being able to take pictures with it. She takes pictures by inputting keywords into her camera, which brings up the associated photos. With this, she can gather information without ever having to leave her room. This is a convenient ability, but because thoughtography relies on what has already been heard, Hatate's articles tend to lack speed and freshness. She makes use of an old flip phone called the Galapagos phone, which acts as a conduit for her abilities.
Her full name is Hatate Himekaidou (姫海棠 はたて). The kanji for 姫海棠 (Himekaidou) mean "princess", "sea/beach", and "crabapple tree" respectively. Himekaidou itself is a kind of toringo crabapple. Hime kaidou also refers to a side-road, often taken by women or travelers who wanted to avoid thieves.
Her first appearance was in Double Spoiler (12.5), where she appeared as a stage target who confronts Aya and has a picture-taking showdown with her. If defeated, she can become a playable character. Hatate also made a background cameo appearance in Hopeless Masquerade on the Myouren Temple and Genbu Ravine stage. She is seen standing on top of the temple in the former and on a pipe in the latter, taking photographs with her thoughtography camera. In Impossible Spell Card, Hatate (been one of the tengu mentioned by Mamizou Futatsuiwa) takes notice of minorities trying to capture the mischief-making Seija Kijin, who also appears to be one of the many youkai that tries to capture her on day 6. She uses spell cards that are considered impossible to dodge. She apparently writes up an article about this, which makes stronger humans and youkai try to capture Seija.