was a Japanese onmyōji, a court official and specialist of Onmyōdō, during the middle of the Heian period.Miller, Laura. "Extreme Makeover for a Heian-era Wizard". Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2008. 33. In addition to his prominence in history, he is a legendary figure in Japanese folklore. He has been portrayed in several stories and films.
Seimei worked as an onmyōji for emperors and the Heian government, advising on the spiritually correct way to deal with issues. He prayed for the well-being of emperors and the government and advised on various issues. He was also an astrologer and predicted astrological events. He lived a long life of 84 years, free from any major illness, contributing to the popular belief that he had mystical powers.
The Seimei Shrine, located in Kyoto, is dedicated to him. The Abeno train station and district in Osaka are named after him, as it is one of the locations where legends place his birth.
Life and history legends
Seimei's life is well-recorded, and there is little to question about his existence. Immediately after his death, however, legends arose much like those surrounding Merlin. Many legends of Seimei were originally written in the Konjaku Monogatarishū, and by the Edo period, many stories in circulation focused on his heroic acts.
His ancestry was not very clear. His ancestor might have been , a or , a Kokushi of Awaji. Another candidate is , who appeared as a in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Seimei might also have been a descendant of Abe no Nakamaro as . However, some other sources recorded his name as , which refers to the Abe-no-Asomi descending from Abe no Miushi. The name , through the Abe clan, was taken from , later Naniwa no Sukune, of the , also known as the , which , ) established.
According to Anderson,Anderson, William. Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of a Collection of Japanese and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum. London: Longman's & Co., 1886. 391. Abe no Seimei was a descendant of the poet Abe no Nakamaro and a disciple of and Kamo no Yasunori, 10th-century diviners of the Heian court. He became Kamo no Yasunori's successor in astrology and divination, while Yasunori's son took on the lesser responsibility of devising the calendar.Mikami, Yoshio. "The Development of Mathematics in China and Japan." Abhandlungen zur Geschichte der mathematischen Wissenschaften mit Einschluss ihrer Anwendungen. Volume XXX. 1913. 179.Goff, Janet. Conjuring Kuzunoha from the World of Abe no Seimei. A Kabuki Reader: History and Performance, ed. Samuel L. Leiter. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2001. 271. () Seimei's duties included analyzing strange events, conducting exorcisms, warding against evil spirits, and performing various rites of geomancy. He was said to be incredibly skilled in divining the sex of fetuses and finding lost objects. According to the Konjaku Monogatarishu, he correctly predicted the abdication of Emperor Kazan based on his observation of celestial phenomena.
Seimei's reputation grew sufficiently that, from the late 10th century, the Onmyōryō, the government ministry of Onmyōdō, was controlled by the Abe clan. The Kamo clan likewise became the hereditary keepers of the calendar.Itō, Satoshi. Shinto — a Short History. New York: RourledgeCurzon, 2003. 98. ()
The mystical symbol of the central five-pointed star referred to in the West as a pentagram, is known in Japan as the Seiman, the Seal of Abe no Seimei, or the ; this pentacle was originally the personal seal of Abe-no-Seimei, later becoming the symbol for the Onmyōryō (the government ministry department for the practice of Onmyōdō, or the Bureau of Taoist Geomancy) and for Onmyōdō itself, given its association with the Chinese Five Elements.Miller. Extreme Makeover. 44
According to legend, Abe no Seimei was not entirely human. His father, , was human. Still, his mother, Kuzunoha, was a kitsune (a "fox spirit").Goff. Conjuring Kuzunoha. 269–270. At a very early age, no later than five, he was allegedly able to command weak oni to do his bidding. His mother entrusted Seimei to Kamo no Tadayuki to live a good human life and not become evil himself.
The Heian period, mainly when Seimei lived, was a time of peace. Many of his legends revolve around a series of magical battles with a rival, Ashiya Dōman, who often tried to embarrass Seimei so that he could usurp his position. One noted story involved Dōman and the young Seimei in a divination duel to reveal the contents of a particular box. Dōman had another person put fifteen mandarin oranges into the box and "divined" that there were fifteen oranges in it. Seimei saw through the ruse, metamorphosed the oranges into rats, and stated that fifteen rats were in the box. When the rats were revealed, Dōman was shocked and defeated. It's described that was Seimei's teacher from China. He had a wife named described in the .
Seimei is involved in numerous other tales as well. He appears as a minor character in the Heike Monogatari and is said to be responsible for divining the location of the Shuten-dōji, a powerful oni purportedly slain by Minamoto no Yorimitsu.Tanaka, Stefan. New Times in Modern Japan. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2004. 57–58. () He is sometimes said to be the onmyōji who discovered Tamamo-no-Mae's true nature, although the time of the Tamamo-no-Mae story does not coincide with Seimei's lifetime; other sources credit the act to a descendant, Abe no Yasuchika.Gilbertson, E. "Japanese Archery and Archers". Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society of London. Volume 4. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. Ltd., 1900. 118.Schwarz, Karl M. Netsuke Subjects. Vienna: Novographics, 1992. 72.Kusano, Eisaburō. Stories Behind Noh and Kabuki Plays. Tokyo: Tokyo News Service, 1962. 80.
Legacy
After Seimei's death, Emperor Ichijo made a shrine in his honor, the Seimei Jinja was erected at the location of his home in 1007 AD. The original shrine was destroyed in war during the fifteenth century, but it was rebuilt in the same location and still stands today.Dougill, John. Kyoto: a Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. 19. The Seimei Jinja located in Kyoto attracts fans of Seimei's interpretations in popular culture. In 2005, the shrine was renovated and decorated with pentagrams. The shrine sells amulets with pentagrams and the Chinese bellflower adorning them, associated with Seimei. The shrine is now popular with fans of Seimei-inspired media, such as Okano Reiko's manga.
The asteroid 5541 Seimei, discovered in 1976, is named for him.Schmadel, Lutz D. Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1992. 472. ()
Japanese figure skater and two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu portrayed Abe no Seimei in his Olympic free skate program Seimei, using the soundtrack of the movies Onmyōji and Onmyōji II. With the program, Hanyu became the first skater across all disciplines to score above 200 points in the free skate and set back-to-back world records in the 2015–16 season. This program also contributed to the win of his second Olympic title in 2018 and the completion of the first career Super Slam in the men's singles discipline in 2020.
Abe no Seimei's origin story would be retold on the Japanese Animation television show Folktales from Japan in episode 83. His story would appear in the third segment of the episode, telling the tale of the meeting of parents and early life known as Doujimaru. It would show how his mother commanded him to become a fortune teller at the capital to help others.
Abe no Seimei was termed the "Merlin the Magician of Japan" by some scholars due to his legends and portrayals in several stories, folklore, and films – also due to the legends of Merlin being a cambion of a demon and a human much like the Kuzunoha legend.
Senji Ryakketsu Abe no Seimei is credited with the Senji Ryakketsu, an Onmyōdō primer.
In fiction
His name appears in many works of fiction, often as a helpful, wise man and rarely as an enemy, such as Twin Star Exorcists. There are exceptions, such as Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, where Seimei was also a great ayakashi and the Lord of Darkness.
Since 1989, Abe no Seimei has been depicted as a bishōnen.
Novels The first modern fictional work credited with bringing back widespread interest to Onmyōdō mysticism in Japan is the 1985 historical fantasy novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata.Kazuhiko, Komatsu. "Seimei jinja" 28–61 In the novel's story, two of the primary characters, Yasumasa Hirai and Yasunori Katō, are descendants of Seimei and have inherited all his knowledge. Yasumasa Hirai is a notable example because his appearance is modeled off classic depictions of Seimei, and many of his actions are based on those of Seimei's from stories in the Uji Shūi Monogatari.Reider, Noriko T. Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present Utah State University Press, 2010. 113. () Yasunori Katō's first name "Yasunori" is derived from the name of Seimei's legendary teacher and he proudly wears Seimei's symbol, the Seiman (five-pointed star), on his gloves and handkerchief. Unlike Hirai, though, Katō's burning hatred for the Japanese Empire has metamorphosed him into an oni. With one in defense of the Empire and one against it, the two men naturally become enemies. The rest of the novel chronicles the battle between their two factions.
In 1988, Baku Yumemakura started a novel series named Onmyōji with Seimei portrayed as a handsome young man who lived in a Heian-period world populated by mysterious beings. Reiko Okano turned this into a manga and became popular with teenage girls. In 2002, an NHK television series was made based on the novels. A version of Abe has also been rendered by acclaimed Taiwanese manga artist Ethan, who has stated that he is a massive fan of the novel. The novels were adapted into an anime by the studio Marvy Jack for Netflix in November 2023.
Films The film Onmyōji, starring Mansai Nomura as Seimei, was released in 2001 (2004 in the U.S.) by Pioneer (now Geneon). As with any other work featuring both Seimei and Minamoto no Hiromasa, the film was based on Yumemakura's novels. Despite Yumemakura being involved, the manga adaptation and the movie adaptation are quite different in style and plot.
A sequel, Onmyoji II, was made in 2003.
In 2020, a Chinese film, The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity, was produced based on an adaptation from Onmyōji written by Baku Yumemakura. Seimei was portrayed by Mark Chao. In the following year, another Chinese film, The Yinyang Master was released. The film is an adaptation of a NetEase game Onmyōji (which in turn is based on the novel series Onmyōji by author Baku Yumemakura). Seimei was portrayed by Chen Kun.
A prequel film, titled , starring Kento Yamazaki as Seimei, premiered on April 19, 2024; it was later released worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on October 18 of the same year. The film served as a prequel of Seimei solving a murder mystery at the before becoming an onmyōji.
Television To capitalize on the success of the Onmyōji films, Fuji Television produced a miniseries in 2004, called Onmyoji: Abe no Seimei. This series has no ties to cinematic releases.
Manga Hao Asakura's character from Hiroyuki Takei's Shaman King is directly based on Seimei. Hao is the author of a magical book called Chō-Senjiryakketsu, clearly inspired by Seimei's Senji Ryakketsu. They also share facts about their lives, such as their mother being called a demon fox and their ability to create oni since they were young.
Seimei had been shown in a manga called Nurarihyon no Mago by Hiroshi Shiibashi, as a Nue, dark lord of the Ayakashi, born from an evil fox. Nurarihyon no Mago was adapted into an anime series starting in July 2010.