A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 29 November 2009
So, this came up in a game the other day, and I just want to make sure we had it right. It has to do with performing actions and who performs them. The situation is this:
During the Limited phase I target Phoenix shugenja X with The Direct Approach, which reduces their Force to 0, thusly preventing them from performing actions.
In the subsequent Attack phase, my opponent has Asako Misako at home and uses her ability, targeting the shugenja that had been previously targeted with Direct Approach. Can the Shugenja in the battle be targeted using Misako's ability? Thanks. ----- The Direct Approach Open: Give a target Personality -1F for each of his keywords other than Clan alignments. If his Force is now 0, he may not perform actions.
Asako Misako Phoenix Clan • Courtier Political Battle: If Misako is in your home, target your Shugenja: Move a target enemy Personality home. Gain 1 Honor.
Zen Faulkes (rules official), 29 November 2009
During the Limited phase I target Phoenix shugenja X with The Direct Approach, which reduces their Force to 0, thusly preventing them from performing actions. In the subsequent Attack phase, my opponent has Asako Misako at home and uses her ability, targeting the shugenja that had been previously targeted with Direct Approach. Can the Shugenja in the battle be targeted using Misako's ability?
No.
The shugenja targeted by the ability are between the colons of the ability, which means they perform the action.
Also, "may not" means they can't be legally picked at all, rather than targeting them and the action being negated.
http://rules.l5r.com/CE_FAQ#What_performs_an_action.3F