Tsuchimikado Hisanaga

Tsuchimikado Hisanaga was a member of the Tsuchimikado family

The rise of samurai society and the fall of the official onmyōji

At the end of the Heian period (the latter half of the 12th century), the Heike clan, which originated from the Imperial guard of Cloistered Emperor, who were highly respected during the cloistered rule, rose to prominence, and the Minamoto clan, which had defeated the Heike clan, led to the rise of the samurai society. In 1192, the Kamakura shogunate, a samurai government, was officially established. From the time of the Genpei War, the existence of onmyōji was essential for both clans to establish their code of conduct. For this reason, the Kamakura shogunate also tended to emphasize onmyōdō. From the time when Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the shogunate, went to war to seize power, he chose auspicious days predicted by onmyōji when deciding on actions to be taken in the early years of the shogunate. The 2nd shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie, followed his father's example by inviting an onmyōji from the capital. However, his personal life was not influenced by an onmyōji, and he used them only to supplement the formality of official events.

After the assassination of Minamoto no Sanetomo, the third shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, in 1219, the regency government of the Hōjō clan began to develop. The shoguns of the Kamakura shogunate came to be invited by the Imperial Regents and Chief Imperial Advisors of each generation and the Imperial family as puppets of the regent, the Hōjō clan. Since the shoguns of the Kamakura shogunate were originally from the Imperial family, they naturally made heavy use of onmyōji. The fourth shogun of the Kamakura shogunate, Kujō Yoritsune, received a request from the cabinet for a policy to draw an irrigation canal from the Tama River system as a public works and use it to secure drinking water and develop paddy field after the development of wetlands in Musashi Province (present-day Metropolis and Saitama Prefecture) had been completed. The area to be developed was located directly north of Kamakura, the capital of the Kamakura shogunate, but an onmyōji judged the location to be in the direction of misfortune. Therefore, Kujō Yoritsune deliberately relocated his residence to another residence of Adachi Yoshikage (present-day Tsurumi Ward, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture), which was considered to be in a fortunate direction from Kamakura (a "change to a fortunate direction" in onmyōdō), and then ordered the start of construction. Thereafter, the shoguns of the Kamakura shogunate did not invite onmyōji from Heian-kyō, but instead they had a group of onmyōji close at hand that came to be known as the "powerful onmyōdō." Later, during the Jōkyū War, the Imperial court had onmyōji of the Bureau of Onmyō and the Kamakura shogunate had the uprising onmyōji perform prayers. Especially for the shoguns of the middle and late Kamakura period, onmyōji was an indispensable presence.

However, only those in the vicinity of the shoguns who came from the Imperial family or nobles were enthusiastic about onmyōdō, and the Hōjō clan, the regent who had actual power, was not necessarily particular about onmyōdō. In addition to that, from the samurai under the shoguns to the samurai in the various regions of Japan, they were not aware of the formalities of the Imperial court, nor were they in the habit of consulting onmyōji on the code of conduct. Because of this, onmyōji did not have the spiritual influence to control the entirety of samurai society, and their presence was limited to the world of puppet shoguns from the Imperial family and nobles, and the Imperial court, senior government positions, and nobles who had lost their political authorities. In the early Kamakura period, the constables and governors of the Kamakura shogunate did not have much influence over the Imperial territories and noble manors. However, from the middle of the Kamakura period onward, when the efficiency of tax revenue in the territories and manors, and sometimes the territories and manors themselves, began to be rapidly eroded by the constables and governors, the power of the Imperial court and nobles, which were the support base of onmyōji, began to suffer economically.

The Kamakura shogunate was overthrown by an Imperial decree of Emperor Go-Daigo, but Ashikaga Takauji broke away from him to establish the Ashikaga shogunate and usher in the Northern and Southern courts period. The Ashikaga shogunate, which had established its shogunate in Heian-kyō and supported the Northern Court, gradually adopted a nobleman-like orientation. From the time of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, onmyōji came to be heavily used again. He planned to monopolize the authority of the Emperor, and some believe that the heavy use of onmyōji was also intended to deprive the Emperor of his right to perform rituals at the Imperial court.

Of the two families that inherited onmyōdō, during the Northern and Southern courts period, the Kamo family took the name of the Kadenokōji family after Kadenokōji, where their residence was located, and Kamo (Kadenokōji) Akikata was active in writing his own book "Rekirin Mondō Shū." However, in the middle of the Muromachi period, the successor to the head of the mainline Hōjo family was murdered, leading to the breakup of the family line and the gradual decline of the family's power. On the other hand, the Abe family was successful, and Abe no Ariyo (the 14th descendant of Abe no Seimei) took advantage of the patronage of the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, to obtain a senior government position. The fact that onmyōji, who were feared and shunned in the court at the time because of their duties, became one of senior government positions was a groundbreaking event that caused a sensation. From the son of Abe no Ariyo, Abe no Arimori, to Abe no Arisue and Abe no Arinobu, successive generations were promoted to senior government positions, and the Abe family, originally a middle-class noble, rose to the status of hanke. In the generation of Abe no Arinobu (16th century), he seized the opportunity of the breakup of the Kadenokōji family to monopolize the duties related to both astrology and calendars for the next five generations. Since the residence of the head of the family had been located in Tsuchimikado after Abe no Ariyo, the Abe family changed its name to the Tsuchimikado family. The Tsuchimikado family had gained the support of both the Imperial court and Muromachi shogunate, and up to this point, it seemed to have perfected its power as an onmyōji.

However, the political power of the Ashikaga shogunate did not last long, and from the middle of the Muromachi period onward, all the shogun's deputies, with the exception of the Hosokawa clan, declined. The Ashikaga shogunate became more like a coalition government of powerful constables than a shogunate control, which led to factional struggles and frequent wars such as the Ōnin War. In addition, as the transition from constables to sengoku magnates and the tendency for deputy constables and samurais in each region to conquer each other spread, they became desperate to survive. Onmyōdō, which had been used formally as a complement, became less important. A succession of wars and the tyranny of the sengoku magnates led to the destruction of Heian-kyō, the seat of the Imperial court that had been the protector of the onmyōdō, and the shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate, which was located in the capital, often fled. In the first half of the 16th century, Tsuchimikado Arinobu evacuated his territory, which he had never visited in peacetime, to Notaoi, Natashō, Wakasa Province. Three generations of the Tsuchimikado family, Tsuchimikado Arinobu, his son Tsuchimikado Ariharu, and his grandson Tsuchimikado Arinaga, were appointed as the Head of Onmyō. However, they rarely served in Heian-kyō and remained in Wakasa Province to perform various rituals, including the festival of the Great Emperor of the Sacred Mountain of the East. As a result, the Imperial court was baffled and had no choice but to summon Kadenokōji Aritomi, a member of the Kadenokōji clan, to report on various matters. In this way, the operation of the Bureau of Onmyō became extremely unnatural. Later, as the Toyotomi clan established its power through the Oda clan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the Chief Imperial Advisor Emeritus, ostracized his adopted son, Toyotomi Hidetsugu, and had him disemboweled. Tsuchimikado Hisanaga, son of Tsuchimikado Arinaga, was blamed for undertaking a prayer service for Toyotomi Hidetsugu and was exiled to Owari Province. Furthermore, Toyotomi Hideyoshi suppressed a large number of onmyōji. Therefore, the position of the Head of Onmyō and below became practically vacant, and onmyōji did not operate in the center of the Toyotomi administration. The onmyōdō that had existed since the Heian period completely lost its reality.

With the complete collapse of the ritsuryō system and the suppression of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the onmyōji as an official position in the Bureau of Onmyō lost its presence. However, onmyōdō, which had until then been supposedly considered classified information, was widely leaked to the private sector, and numerous private onmyōji were active throughout Japan. For this reason, in the middle and early modern periods, the term "onmyōji" no longer referred to the bureaucrats of the Bureau of Onmyō, but rather to the unofficial onmyōji who received private requests and performed blessings, prayers, and divination. Furthermore, onmyōdō fused with popular beliefs and folk rituals in various regions, and each of them underwent their own changes. Around this time, from the end of the Kamakura period to the beginning of the Northern and Southern courts period (early 14th century to early 15th century), the book Sangoku Sōden In'yō Kankatsu Hoki Naiden Kin'u Gyokuto Shū written under the name of Abe no Seimei became widely known as a book of private onmyōdō, which were linked to the belief in Gozu Tennō. From this time onward, some private onmyōji who moved from place to place without having a fixed residence were regarded as lowly as other non-settled people. They were sometimes called "doctors," but there were also those who claimed to be onmyōji and traveled around Japan on the pretext of offering mediumship and necromancy services, charging high fees for their prayers and divinations. The word "onmyōji" has become widely known as an extremely occult and fishy image.

In media

Books

• Teito Monogatari, written by Hiroshi Aramata, published in 1985
• Onmyōji, written by Baku Yumemakura, published in 1988
• The Summer of the Ubume, Mōryō no Hako and other Kyōgokudō series, written by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, published in 1994
• Onmyō no Miyako, written by Soichiro Watase, published in 2001
• Shōnen Onmyōji, written by Mitsuru Yūki, published in 2001
• Rental Magica, written by Makoto Sanda, published in 2004
• Bakemonogatari, written by Nisio Isin, published in 2005
• Fairy Navigator Runa, written by Miyoko Ikeda, published in 2008
• Tokyo Ravens, written by Kōhei Azano, published in 2010

Manga and anime

• Tokyo Babylon, written by Clamp, published in 1990
• X, written by Clamp, published in 1992
• Shaman King, written by Hiroyuki Takei, published in 1998
• Gag Manga Biyori, written by Kōsuke Masuda, published in 2000
• Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, created by Gainax, published in 2001
• Amatsuki, written by Shinobu Takayama, published in 2002
• Gin Tama, written by Hideaki Sorachi, published in 2003
• xxxHolic, written by Clamp, published in 2003
• Onmyō Taisenki, written by Yoshihiko Tomizawa, published in 2003
• Musashi Gundoh, based on an unused story by Monkey Punch, published in 2006
• Shibariya Komachi, written by Mick Takeuchi, published in 2006
• Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, written by Hiroshi Shiibashi, published in 2008
• Twin Star Exorcists, written by Yoshiaki Sukeno, published in 2013
• The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World, written by Kiichi Kosuzu, published in 2018
• MAO, written by Rumiko Takahashi, published in 2019

Films

• Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis, a 1988 Japanese fantasy film directed by Akio Jissōji, based on the novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata
• Onmyōji (film), a 2001 Japanese film based on the Onmyōji (novel series), by Baku Yumemakura and released in the U.S. in 2003 as Onmyōji - The Yin Yang Master
  • Onmyōji 2, the 2003 sequel
• The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity, a 2020 Chinese fantasy film based on the Onmyōji (novel series), by Baku Yumemakura directed by Guo Jingming, and starring Mark Chao and Deng Lun
• The Yinyang Master, a 2021 Chinese fantasy film directed by Li Weiran, and starring Chen Kun, Zhou Xun and William Chan based on the game that was based on the Onmyōji (novel series), by Baku Yumemakura

Video games

• Kuon no Kizuna, developed by FOG Inc., released in 1998
• Tokyo Majin Gakuen, produced by Shūhō Imai, released in 1998
• Kuon, developed by FromSoftware, released in 2004
• 11eyes: Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shōjo, developed by Lass, released in 2008
• Naraka: Bladepoint, developed by 24 Entertainment, released in 2021 features the character Kurumi Tsuchimikado, who according to game lore is the first female Onmyōji, descended from a long line of Onmyōdō masters.

See also

• Abe no Seimei
• Da Liu Ren
• Goryō
• Itako
• Kuji-in
• Onmyōdō
• Sanpaku
• Seimei Shrine
• Senji Ryakketsu
• Shikigami
• Shinigami
• Tengenjutsu (fortune telling)
• Ushi no toki mairi

Further reading

• Murakami, Shūichi, ed. (1981). 日本陰陽道史総説 [A Review of the History of Onmyōdō in Japan] (in 日本語). Hanawa Shobō. ISBN 4827310572. Search this book on
• Endō, Katsumi (1994). 近世陰陽道史の研究 [Studies in the History of Early Modern Onmyōdō] (in Japanese). Shin Jinbutsu Ōrai Sha. ISBN 4404021569.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Kosaka, Shinji (2004). 安倍晴明撰『占事略決』と陰陽道 [Abe no Seimei's "Senji Ryakketsu" and Onmyōdō] (in Japanese). Kyūko Shoin. ISBN 9784762941672.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Saitō, Rei (2007). 王朝時代の陰陽道 [Onmyōdō in the Dynastic Period] (in Japanese). Meicho Kankō Kai. ISBN 978-4839003302.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Yamashita, Katsuaki (1996). 平安時代の宗教文化と陰陽道 [Religious Culture in the Heian Period and Onmyōdō] (in Japanese). Iwata Shoin. ISBN 4900697656.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Takahashi, Keiya (2000). 現代・陰陽師入門 [Introduction to Modern Onmyōji] (in Japanese). Asahi Sonorama. ISBN 4257035846.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Nakamura, Shōhachi (2000). 日本陰陽道書の研究 増補版 [A Study of the Onmyō Books in Japan; Expanded Edition] (in Japanese). Kyūko Shoin. ISBN 4257035846.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Suzuki, Ikkei (2002). 陰陽道 呪術と鬼神の世界 [Onmyōdō: The World of Spells and Demons] (in Japanese). Kōdansha. ISBN 9784062582445.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Seimei Shrine, ed. (2002). 安倍晴明公 [The Right Honorable Abe no Seimei] (in Japanese). Kōdansha. ISBN 9784062109833.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Hayashi, Jun; Koike, Jun'ichi (2002). 陰陽道の講義 [Lecture on Onmyōdō] (in Japanese). Sagano Shoin. ISBN 4782303610.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Shigeta, Shin'ichi (2005). 平安貴族と陰陽師 [Heian Nobles and Onmyōji] (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbun Kan. ISBN 4642079424.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Hayashi, Jun (2005). 近世陰陽道の研究 [A Study of Early Modern Onmyōdō] (in Japanese). Yoshikawa Kōbun Kan. ISBN 4642034072.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Shigeta, Shin'ichi (2006). 陰陽師 [Onmyōji] (in Japanese). Chūōkōron-Shinsha. ISBN 4121018443.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Murakami, Shūichi, ed. (2017). 陰陽道叢書 1 古代 [Onmyōdō Series 1: The Ancient Times] (in Japanese). Hanawa Shobō. ISBN 978-4626017970.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Murakami, Shūichi, ed. (2017). 陰陽道叢書 2 中世 [Onmyōdō Series 2: The Middle Ages] (in Japanese). Hanawa Shobō. ISBN 978-4626017987.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Murakami, Shūichi, ed. (2017). 陰陽道叢書 3 近世 [Onmyōdō Series 3: The Early Modern Period] (in Japanese). Hanawa Shobō. ISBN 978-4626017994.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on
• Murakami, Shūichi, ed. (2017). 陰陽道叢書 4 特論 [Onmyōdō Series 4: The Advanced Studies] (in Japanese). Hanawa Shobō. ISBN 978-4626018007.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link) Search this book on

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