Onmyodo in Japanese History

Abstract

Even if his views on the medieval and early modern develop- ments of the "Way" no longer serve as references, he proved there was more to it than the Heian period court Onmyodo. [...]following Murayama's breakthrough, scholarship on this topic developed around two lines: on the one hand, historical studies focus on the role and place of Onmyodo during specific periods; on the other, we have detailed studies on technical aspects related to the various activities of the practitioners of the "Way," regarding divination, rites, or calendars. What is more, he also established several key facts regarding the transformations of the "Way" from the middle of the Heian period. [...]Yamashita showed that, as the system of the codes was falling apart, there was a slow transition from the early status of the Onmyoryo as an official organ in charge of state matters, to a more ambiguous "yin-yang Way," which played a leading role in private religious matters. [...]Matthias Hayek looks at changes in divination practices in the late seventeenth century, with a focus on the influence of Baba Nobutake. [...]the guest editors would like to address their thanks to the editorial staff and advisory board of the JJRS for their support and patience throughout the preparation of this special issue. ... additional references in western languages Como, Michael 2009 Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan.

(ProQuest: Foreign text omitted.)

Onmyodo ..., the so-called "Way of yin-yang," is a relatively new field of study when compared to the more familiar Buddhism, Shinto, or even Shugendo, and academic articles or monographs on this sub- ject are hitherto quite scarce. The publication of Murayama Sh?ichi's Nihon Onmy?d?shi s?setsu in 1981, in which he attempted to draw a global picture of the history of Onmy?d?, sparked interest in pursuing research in this area. Ten years later, Onmy?d? scholarship acquired a solid ground for further develop- ment with the publication of Onmy?d? s?sho (1991--1993), a four-volume collec- tion edited by Murayama and others that gathered most of the articles already published on this topic at that time. Prior to this, if a student wished to write a graduation thesis dealing with Onmy?d?, most Japanese advisors would have disapproved due to a lack of previous scholarship or documentation. However, since the publication of Onmy?d? s?sho, it has become possible to write a thesis, or even a PhD dissertation, on Onmy?d?. The guest editors of this issue of the JJRS, having themselves obtained PhDs dealing with early modern Onmy?d? and divination respectively, are very grateful for this collection of articles.

Readers should keep in mind that Onmyodo has not only gathered momen- tum as a field of study by scholars East and West, but it has also become popular in novels, manga, and films. Aramata Hiroshi's Teito monogatari novels (1985-- 1987), or Yumemakura Baku's Onmy?ji series (1988--ongoing) are bestsellers in their genre. Okano Reiko's manga, Onmy?ji (1993--2005), loosely based on Yumemakura's novels, received the Tezuka Osamu manga prize, and has built a strong following among young readers. All these works were developed into mov- ies, and even television dramas featuring an onmy?ji as their main protagonist were produced around the end of the 1990s. The social significance of this "Onmyodo boom" from the 1980s to the beginning of the twenty-first century has yet to be researched by sociologists, and we can only hope that such a survey will eventu- ally appear. Meanwhile, we cannot help but notice that Aramata lists Murayama's Nihon Onmyodoshi s?setsu as a reference, and that Okano was taking advice from Yamashita Katsuaki, a scholar whose authority on ancient Onmyodo can hardly be disputed. Thus, it seems that the academic and popular trends are not totally unre- lated, and might even be a deeply-intertwined social phenomenon.

Scholars should be delighted to see that words such as Onmyodo or onmy?ji, thanks to manga and films, have become widely known among the general pub- lic. However, the very word Onmyodo is not, by far, free from all ambiguity. Its reading, for instance, is still subject to debate. Should it be read on'y?d? or Onmyodo, or even in'y?d?? We can exclude the latter because when Onmyodo appeared in Japan, Chinese characters were read in their go-on pronunciation. It seems that the original reading was indeed on'y?d?, which later evolved to become Onmyodo. Although some scholars argue we should revert to the "origi- nal" reading, the editors have decided, for the sake of convenience and clarity, to stick to the better-known Onmyodo reading.

There is no real consensus among scholars about the nature of Onmyodo: does it pertain to the category of "religion," or should it be considered as belong- ing to the "traditional arts"? Specialists of ancient and medieval Onmyodo mostly advocate the latter classification. Some scholars stress the transition of Onmyodo in the Heian period from a "technique" to a "religion," whereas others insist that the "technical" aspect of Onmyodo never disappeared and continued without any transformation. On the other hand, scholars working on early modern Japan use the label onmy?ji to refer to "folk-religious" (minkan sh?ky?sha ?????), and therefore tend to consider Onmyodo as pertaining to the field of religion. The ubiq- uitous nature of Onmyodo through the ages thus requires that scholars give careful attention to their terminology, and often prompts the need to resort to era-specific definitions, like "court Onmyodo," "medieval Onmyodo," or "popular Onmyodo." Recently, scholars working on Japanese religion have been relativizing the concept of "religion" (sh?ky? ??) in Japan, considering it a modern construct that should be used with the utmost care when dealing with pre-Meiji reality. In such a context, it becomes harder to describe Onmyodo in "religious" terms.

These scholarly discrepancies appear in full force when it comes to translat- ing and transcribing "Onmyodo" into English. The usual translation, "The Way of yin and yang," although not incorrect in its separate rendering of the on ? and y? ? characters, proves in fact to be quite problematic. Of course Onmyodo does have some relation to the yin and yang duality (in'y?) which, along with the five phases (Jp. gogy? ??; Ch. wu xing), forms the core of Chinese correlative cosmology. However, the onmy? in Onmyodo cannot be taken as an equivalent of this conceptual in'y?. Take, for example, the context of Nara Japan, which saw the creation of an official bureau composed of four departments: astronomy, calendar, clepsydra, and divination. Only the last category is designated by the word onmy?, and which, given the divinatory character of ancient astronomy and calendars, provides its name to said bureau: Onmy?ry? ???. Thus, his- torically and technically speaking, the most accurate translation should be "the Way of divination," or at least, "the Way of yin-yang," rather than the confusing "Way of yin and yang."

The goal of this special issue is to respond to the recent interest shown toward this topic by Western scholars from other fields of religious studies, and to provide some keys, grounded in the latest scholarship from Japan and the West, that will be useful for future research. In the editors' view, Onmyodo should not be dis- cussed alone, but should be studied within a broader scope including Buddhism, Shinto, Shugendo, and in a more global East Asian context. This is why, taking advice from the JJRS editors, we have chosen not to italicize the word Onmyodo, and to capitalize it, in order to put Onmyodo on the same level as other fields of religious studies, while keeping the term onmy?ji italicized.

Early Constructs

?ch? jidai no Onmyodo and yanagita kunio

In July 1909, Saito Tsutomu, then a student of history at the Imperial University of Tokyo, graduated with a thesis on "ocho jidai ni okeru Onmyodo" (The Way of yin-yang during the aristocratic era). After graduating, he entered the doctoral course and started teaching at a middle school, but he passed away in 1913, some forty years after the abrogation of the "old" sexagenary calendar and the dismissal of the Bureau of Divination. Saito is said to have put the final touches to his thesis in April 1909. In September of the same year, the Kojiruien, an encyclopedia dedi- cated to "traditional arts" (hogi oo) and commissioned by Emperor Meiji, was published, but by that time Saito had already conducted his own research. After Saito's death, his friends managed to get his work published by Kyodo Kenkyosha in 1915. The head of this publishing company was Okamura Chiaki, who hap- pened to be married to Yanagita Kunio's niece. It seems that Yanagita was pulling the strings, and had an influential say regarding Kyodo Kenkyosha's editorial deci- sions. In other words, it was Yanagita who allowed for Saito's posthumous work to be published.

The link between Yanagita and Onmyodo requires clarification. It is hard to picture the renowned father of Japanese folklore studies as interested in Chinese cosmology or court Onmyodo. At this time, Yanagita was leaning toward the topic of folk-religious known as hijiri ooo, which he considered to be the main vector for the diffusion of folk beliefs. Yanagita postulated three types of hijiri: kebozu ooo (hairy monks), shugenja ooo (yamabushi, mountain ascetics), and low-class onmyoji, who all had the capacity to tell one's fortune or expel bad spirits. It may be that it was with these interests that Yanagita noticed Saito's work and encouraged its publication. Yanagita's interest and views were carried on by Hori Ichiro in his study on the history of folk-religious in Japan, Waga kuni minkan shinkoshi no kenkyo (2 vols., 1953--1955), and later by Gorai Shigeru's research on Shugendo. In his book, Hori maintained Yanagita's typology and gathered a tre- mendous amount of documentation in order to draw a global picture of the his- tory of folk-religious. In this context, Hori describes how low-class onmyoji, while bearing a magico-religious function, eventually became discriminated as outcasts over the course of time. Gorai, on his part, started from the idea that shugenja pertained to the hijiri category when he opened the way for Shugendo studies, but made no mention of onmyoji. However, Kiba Akeshi, one of the first scholars to study early modern Onmyodo, studied with Gorai, who is said to have advised him to do some research on Izanagi-ryo (see below).

Thus, besides historical scholarship on Onmyodo, there is also a folklorist line of researchers who have been working on this subject since Yanagita's time. In this regard, recent studies on folk-religious pertaining to Izanagi-ryo can be seen as a form of the distant continuation of Yanagita's hijiri studies. When presenting the history of Onmyodo studies in Japan, it is normal to make a sixty-six year jump from Saito's work to Murayama Shoichi's Nihon Onmyodoshi sosetsu, but we can- not forget the role folklore studies played in the development of this topic.

Nonetheless, the influence of Saito's research should not be neglected either, specifically when it comes to the understanding of Onmyodo. For this Meiji-era man, Onmyodo was surely a part of Japanese history. Yet, he mainly saw it as some- thing imported from China. In the Meiji context, where the main agenda of ideo- logues was to clearly differentiate Japanese culture from its "external" elements, Saito's view was thus little discussed, despite having some merit, and Onmyodo studies were left to specialists of Chinese traditions, with little to show for it.

This situation prevailed until after World War ii. Although a few stimulat- ing contributions on directional taboo in the Heian period appeared, Onmyodo was still a scarcely-studied topic before the 1980--1990s. However, in 1952 Noda Kosaburo was the first to challenge Saito's view of Onmyodo as a mere import from China-on the contrary, he tried to depict it as a development specific to Japan.

calendars, astronomy, and daoism

The history of Onmyodo scholarship also cannot be limited to works directly addressing the "Way" globally. This is especially true given the various activi- ties that officials of the Bureau of Divination were in charge of in ancient Japan: devising yearly calendars, making astronomical observations, and so forth. Stud- ies on these topics, which developed in their own separate way, are highly rel- evant for whoever wishes to research Onmyodo. Regarding calendars, Watanabe Toshio's Nihon no koyomi (1976) still stands as an unchallenged reference for documentation and technical aspects, along with Momo Hiroyuki's Nihon rekiho no kenkyo (1990), which adopts a more historical perspective. As for astronomy, this field has been extensively studied by Nakayama Shigeru (Nihon no tenmon- gaku, 1972), and Watanabe Toshio (Kinsei Nihon tenmongakushi, 1986--1987). Lately, both calendar and astronomy studies have benefited heavily from Naka- mura Tsuko and Ito Setsuko's comprehensive index of documents and observa- tional records, Meiji-zen Nihon tenmon rekigaku, sokuryo shomoku jiten (2006).

For a long time, it was mostly scholars trained in modern astronomy who led these fields, leaving little room for people with a profile more oriented toward the humanities and social sciences. Recently, however, Hosoi Hiroshi has proved that it is possible for a historian to put ancient astronomical data to good use. In his Kodai no tenmon ihen to shisho (2007; see Hayek's review in this issue, 194--97), Hosoi attempted to shed light on the way official chronicles were compiled by focusing on astronomical records and shifts in the calendar system. In a related fashion, Umeda Chihiro's Kinsei onmyoji soshiki no kenkyo (2009; see Sawa's review in this issue, 189--93), underlines the prominent role played by calendar specialists in Tokugawa Japan, and opens the way for a social history of calendars and astronomy.

As already noted, Onmyodo studies are also closely linked to Chinese stud- ies. In this regard, we cannot fail to mention the problematic relations between Onmyodo and Daoism. In the late 1980s, Nakamura Shohachi's work on the Wuxing Dayi (Jp. Gogyo taigi), a key text on ancient Japanese divination systems and techniques, helped to create renewed interest in the cosmological aspects of Onmyodo. However, it also participated, although perhaps unintentionally, in establishing a distorted vision of Onmyodo as a Japanese equivalent of Daoism, understood in turn as a set of Chinese popular beliefs. Nowadays most scholars consider Onmyodo as something-be it a technique or a religion-constructed in Japan, although its theoretical framework and set of practices do have a Chi- nese background. Yet, it is still difficult to state that it has nothing to do with Daoism. One cannot fail to notice the conspicuous influence of Buddhist and Chinese texts in Onmyodo rites, and this is precisely where some scholars, such as Masuo Shin'ichiro (see his article in this issue, 19--43), discern some Daoist- related features. Still, Daoism has been widely studied for more than a century, and it would be wise to learn from specialists who continue to struggle with the very definition of their object of study. It is especially difficult to say what should be called Daoism in a Japanese context as Japan lacks Daoist temples or priests. In the eyes of the editors, there is little chance that making only vague assump- tions on the presence of allegedly Daoist elements in Onmyodo will lead to any interesting development in this field in the future.

Murayama Shoichi and the Creation of Modern Onmyodo Scholarship

The most decisive step in the history of Onmyodo scholarship was taken by Murayama Shoichi. In Nihon Onmyodoshi sosetsu (1981), Murayama's goal was to give a comprehensive vision of the history of Onmyodo in Japan, from its Chinese origins to the end of the Edo era. In doing so, he established several turning points in the evolution of the "Way" and established a number of key concepts that greatly influenced later scholarship on the subject. Most nota- bly, he followed and refined Noda's idea of Onmyodo as a specifically Japanese element, created by the particular reception met by Chinese cosmology in the archipelago. Said cosmology, in Murayama's view, is essentially structured to yin-yang duality and the five phases.

Murayama also described the evolution of the "Way" from its "golden age" dur- ing the Nara and Heian periods-its slow decline in medieval times, until its final decay during the Edo period. Although these assertions have gradually been con- tested, his work must still be praised for giving modern Onmyodo studies their basic framework. Even if his views on the medieval and early modern develop- ments of the "Way" no longer serve as references, he proved there was more to it than the Heian period court Onmyodo. Thus, following Murayama's breakthrough, scholarship on this topic developed around two lines: on the one hand, historical studies focus on the role and place of Onmyodo during specific periods; on the other, we have detailed studies on technical aspects related to the various activities of the practitioners of the "Way," regarding divination, rites, or calendars.

Reevaluation of Court Onmyodo

Onmyodo scholarship after 1990 began to refine the early history of Onmyodo from the perspective of religious and cultural studies. In this regard, Yamashita Katsuaki's Heian jidai no shokyo bunka to Onmyodo (1996) set up new para- digms on Heian Onmyodo. Yamashita was the first to reflect upon the very word Onmyodo, and to point out that there was no such appellation in China or Korea. He also showed how this word was formed in Japan between the tenth and the eleventh century, in a similar fashion as other "Ways" such as the "Way of the classics" (myogyodo ooo), the "Way of the laws" (myobodo ooo), and so forth. From there, he was able to give definitive arguments in favor of Onmyodo as something specifically Japanese. What is more, he also established several key facts regarding the transformations of the "Way" from the middle of the Heian period. Thus, Yamashita showed that, as the system of the codes was falling apart, there was a slow transition from the early status of the Onmyoryo as an official organ in charge of state matters, to a more ambiguous "yin-yang Way," which played a leading role in private religious matters. In this regard, we can say that Yamashita placed Onmyodo in the social and political dynamics of the Heian period, for he also stressed the hereditary appropriation of the "Way" by the Abe and Kamo families, a phenomenon easily comparable to what was hap- pening at the same time with other court functions.

More recently, Shigeta Shin'ichi, in Heian jidai no kizoku shakai to Onmyodo (2004), went yet deeper into Heian sources, and provides us with a definitive study on the nature and formation of court Onmyodo. Shigeta's most interesting point resides in his redefinition of Onmyodo not only as a corpus of knowl- edge and techniques, but as a group of specialists, including present and former employees of the official Bureau of Divination.

Finally, Nakamura Shohachi and Kosaka Shinji contributed in unveiling the textual and technical basis of court onmyoji practice. Nakamura's Nihon Onmyodo-sho no kenkyo (1985; 2000) presents key texts of the Onmyodo tra- dition used from the Heian to the Edo periods, and gives valuable insights on how they were compiled and transmitted. Kosaka, in various articles and in his edition of Abe no Seimei's Senjiryakketsu (2004), gives us a very detailed view of the functioning of the divination board (shikiban) technique.

Medieval and Early Modern Onmyodo Studies

The fate of Onmyodo during the medieval period has long been a kind of "black hole" of Onmyodo studies. Aside from Yanagihara Toshiaki's work on Onmyodo in the early Muromachi period (see Yanagihara's article in this issue, 131--50), there has been hitherto very little progress on this topic. However, in the past few years, two important works by Akazawa Haruhiko and Kimura Sumiko respectively have reopened the field and showed there is still much to do in order to deepen our understanding of what Onmyodo became during the mid- dle ages. Akazawa, in his Kamakuraki kanjin onmyoji no kenkyo (2011), followed the example set by Shigeta regarding the Heian period, and those of Hayashi and Umeno for the Edo period, and questioned the status of onmyoji within the Kamakura shogunate. Kimura adopts a similar stance in Muromachi jidai no Onmyodo to jiin shakai (2012), insofar as she studies the official position of court onmyoji, albeit under the rule of the Muromachi shogunate. Kimura does not stop there, though, and provides us with a detailed presentation of the activities of these specialists, whether they were performed for aristocrats, for samurai, or for temples.

In comparison, studies on the early modern transformations of Onmyodo developed quickly after the publication of Murayama's overview. As early as 1985, Endo Katsumi published a monumental work, Kinsei Onmyodo-shi no kenkyo, later republished in an augmented version in 1994. Endo was among the first, along with Kiba Akeshi, to see the need to give a proper look at what happened to Onmyodo during the Edo period, at least regarding its official status and organi- zation. Endo dug into numerous sources, starting with the archives of the Tsuchi- mikado family, who created a control structure for specialists labeled as onmyoji.

The influential works on early modern religions and society by Takano Toshi- hiko (1989), Hayashi Makoto (2005), and Umeda Chihiro (2009) further refined the definition of Edo Onmyodo, thus giving strong grounds for further research on this topic (see Hayashi's article in this issue, 151--67). Meanwhile, specialists of folklore such as Koike Jun'ichi attempted to look at how some technical knowl- edge related to Onmyodo made its way to commoners through books. Koike most notably shed light on a type of popular almanac known as ozassho ooo, and showed how such items allowed for calendrical lore to be diffused through the country, with consequences lasting until the present.

Contemporary Onmyodo and the Abe no Seimei Boom

The renewal of Onmyodo studies since the 1990s and the Onmyodo boom of the early twenty-first century cannot be explained without the contribution of anthropologists to the "rediscovery" of contemporary religious groups dis- tantly related to antique practices. This movement was led by seminal studies by Komatsu Kazuhiko on Izanagi-ryo, a group of folk-religious based in Monobe (Shikoku), whose liturgy and activities appear to echo Heian and medieval Onmyodo. Komatsu's life work on the history of Izanagi-ryo finally came out in print (2012, see Hayashi's review in this issue, 197--200), and encompasses all the results he obtained through years of fieldwork and his meticulous analysis of numerous manuscripts. In Komatsu's view, studying this modern avatar of Onmyodo can help us obtain a clearer perception of the place and role of onmyoji in the past. Following this, scholars such as Umeno Mitsutoki, Saito Hideki, and Matsuo Koichi went yet deeper into the study of the sacred texts and procedures of Izanagi-ryo. Thanks to these works it is now possible to see more precisely what links this peculiar group has to Onmyodo. Meanwhile, they also brought into focus the image of onmyoji as religious specialists dealing with otherworldly powers. Most notably, Komatsu (2000) and others helped bring Abe no Seimei back into the spotlight. Seimei was a tenth-century diviner who appears in many fantastic stories of the setsuwa genre, and although a well-known figure until World War ii, he faded from public attention until his "revival" at the begin- ning of the twenty-first century. Yumemakura Baku's serial novel, Onmyoji, in which Seimei is the main protagonist, and the following manga and movies may have been as much, if not more, influential in this process than academic works. There is no doubt that these contributed to a new generation of Onmyodo stud- ies. Although the "Seimei boom" now seems to have faded away, it allowed for a higher public awareness of this topic, and made possible opportunities that scholars of the 1980s would never have dreamed of-for example, multiple exhi- bitions related to Onmyodo were held in various places, including national muse- ums. In 2001, the National Museum of Japanese History welcomed an exhibition that was first held in Kochi Folklore Museum: "Ikai Mangekyo: Ano yo, yokai, onmyoji" [ooooo-o o o oo o oo o o ], renamed "Ano yo, yokai, uranai" [o o o oo o oo o ] for the occasion. Originally organized by Umeno, part of the exhibit and the voluminous catalog owes much to the late Takahara Toyoaki. This collector, who was also a student of Komatsu Kazuhiko, dedicated his time to collecting legends about Abe no Seimei around the country, and published very welcome books on this subject (Takahara 1999; 2001). In 2003, at the apex of the boom, the Museum of Kyoto organized an exceptional exhibition on Abe no Seimei and Onmyodo. Although this event was part of a broader plan by Kyoto city to revive its cultural patrimony, the content and material that were exhibited were superb. A great number of the scholars mentioned above were involved in the preparation of the exhibition and in the production of the catalog, and this event marked a new step toward a better acknowledgement of Onmyodo studies. Finally, in 2007, the Kanazawa Bunko held a special exhibit entitled "Onmyodo vs. Mikkyo," which reflected a new vision of Heian and Kamakura Onmyodo as being deeply intertwined with other religious traditions.

Onmyodo Studies in the West

Western studies on Onmyodo have yet to be fully developed. This does not mean the topic has received no attention in the West. The interest shown in Onmyodo in Europe even predates Saito Tsutomu's work. For instance, Sev- erini's 1874 publication, although it does not make any explicit reference to the word Onmyodo, actually deals with calendrical beliefs that are part of Onmyodo lore. However, no further works were forthcoming before the late 1950s. Again, European research on Onmyodo managed to precede Japanese research: Frank's seminal research on Heian directional taboos was first pub- lished in 1958, and yet the Japanese translation had to wait until after the revival of Onmyodo studies, and came out only in 1989. In a similar way, Tubielewicz (1980) was published in Socialist Poland, but garnered almost no attention at all, and is still widely unknown. Regarding more contemporary topics, such as Izanagi, the studies conducted by French anthropologist Simone Mauclaire since the 1990s should not be overlooked (Mauclaire 2010). However, these works appear mostly as "stand-alones," and did not create a trend in Western Japanese studies. This situation is starting to change, mainly thanks to the incre- mental dynamism of Onmyodo scholarship in Japan, and to the interest shown in the topic by researchers working on other aspects of Japanese religions. Schol- ars such as Ooms (2009) and Como (2009) have shed new light on the role of Onmyodo-related conceptions in the early Nara period. In 2009, Columbia Uni- versity's Center for Japanese Religions, headed by Bernard Faure, organized the first Onmyodo Symposium, which gathered most of the Japanese specialists on the subject as well as scholars from the West. The results of this gathering will be published soon in a special issue of the Cahiers d'Extrême Asie. The authors of this introduction, who attended the event, were delighted to see that young students from the United States and Europe were attempting to dig deeper into Onmyodo studies. We hope the publication of these two special issues will help established scholars as well as newcomers to continue to widen their scope and contribute to our understanding of Japanese Onmyodo.

Summary of the Contents of this Special Issue

In this special issue, Masuo Shin'ichiro's essay on the influence of Daoism on the formation of Onmyodo examines the kind of official positions that were held by onmyoji as bureaucrats in the government offices of the Onmyoryo from the sixth to the eleventh centuries. It builds on the history of Onmyodo as expounded in Yamashita Katsuaki's pioneering work on Onmyodo and the religious culture of the Heian period (1996), and develops it further, especially by explaining how Daoist texts were utilized. At this time the officials of the Onmyoryo were expected to make predictions based on lucky or unlucky omens, but by the end of the Nara Period, they also performed "quelling ceremonies." These quelling ceremonies expanded to include the quelling of vengeful spirits and natural disasters, leading to the formation of various Onmyodo rituals. There was also the compilation of Japanese Onmyodo texts, based on Chinese yin-yang texts. Japanese innovations included the naming of the twelve deities of the realm of the dead, and placing Tai- zan Fukun oooo as lord of the dead. In this way various Daoist elements were transmitted to Japan. In the past there was a general identification of Onmyodo with Daoism, and, on the other hand, attempts to emphasize the differences between them, but Masuo's research reveals the relationship between Onmyodo and Daoism in a concrete way.

Ross Bender's study of auspicious omens during the Nara Period focuses on "good omens" during the reign of Empress Koken/Shotoku, and the "theology of auspicious omens" that followed in this period. There was a plethora of good omens reported during the reign of Koken/Shotoku (749--770), but almost none during the intermediate reign of Junnin (758--764). The good omens were particu- larly welcomed during the reign of Shotoku (764--770), when it was believed that the many good omens reflected the virtues of Empress Shotoku and supported her reign. On the other hand, there was a significant scarcity of bad omens which would have been proof of the ruler's lack of virtue. Thus, this reflects an intent to underscore political legitimacy on the part of Empress Shotoku, whose own political powers were in doubt in the midst of various social strife and rebellions. It is clear that the empress herself, the court, bureaucrats, Buddhist monks, the Department of Divinities (Jingikan), officials of the Onmyoryo, local government officials, and the editors of the Shoku Nihongi all cooperated in creating a "theol- ogy of auspicious omens."

Shigeta Shin'ichi's article is on Abe no Seimei and attempts to extract the his- torical elements of his life-which, for the most part, are hidden in the mist of traditional tales-by examining reliable historical texts from the records of this era. Shigeta has produced a historical timeline showing the various historical activities of Abe no Seimei, which indicate that Seimei was involved in a vari- ety of magical techniques. Abe no Seimei was an onmyoji of the Imperial office during the reign of Emperor Ichijo (986--1011), performing various divinations and incantations for the emperor, and making arrangements for his daily sched- ule. During this period, rituals centering on the lord of the dead (Taizan Fukun) became popular. Shigeta speculates that it was Abe no Seimei who was respon- sible for this development. Again, Seimei only became a top onmyoji late in his life, after he turned sixty. He attained the Fourth Rank and was recognized as an official "Master of Onmyodo" at the advanced age of eighty. Shigeta opines that if Abe no Seimei had not lived to such an old age, he probably would not be so famous today and through the ages.

Carolyn Pang's study of shikigami takes a look at a phenomenon that is well- known among Japanese but has not yet been carefully researched. Many Jap- anese scholars have hesitated to study the shikigami that appear in traditional tales as a topic of historical research, since they do not appear very frequently in the materials studied by historians. Western scholars who have shown an inter- est in shikigami have translated the term variously with Western concepts such as "spirit," "genie," or "familiar," which fail to capture the meaning of shikigami. Pang attempts to rectify the situation by discussing the various meanings implied by shikigami, and points out that it cannot be reduced to a single mean- ing. Pang delineates various types or meanings: a metaphorical reference to a form of augury, an expression of human perception, a form of useful energy, a type of magical curse, or a kind of supernatural being. It would be interesting to see if these various meanings of shikigami would also apply to other types of "attendant deities" that are manipulated by religious figures.

The article by Yanagihara Toshiaki on Onmyodo in the Muromachi period is a simplified summary of his research. One of the contributions of Yanagihara's research is that he has overturned the assumption, going back to the work of Murayama Shoichi, that Muromachi was a period of decline for Onmyodo. He clarifies the Onmyodo policy of the Muromachi government and shows that, on the contrary, this was a period when Onmyodo bloomed. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu had usurped all of the powers of the aristocracy/Imperial Court and placed them under his control. For this purpose, Yoshimitsu had to control not only police and taxation powers, but also the rights to incantations. The Onmyodo rituals were performed as national prayers, along with the Buddhist "esoteric rites of the Kitayama villa." As the performer of these rites, Yoshimitsu showed that he was the true "king/ruler" of the country. Based on Yanagihara's research, Ima- tani Akira published his study of "kingship in the Muromachi period" (1990). Another recent addition in this area is Kimura Sumiko's research on Onmyodo and temple society in the Muromachi period (2012).

Moving ahead to the early modern period, the article by Hayashi Makoto attempts to clarify the characteristics of Onmyodo in the Edo period, in con- trast to that of the medieval period. Onmyodo had spread throughout society and developed into various branches during the medieval period, such as that of the Imperial Court, the warrior class, and the common people. In the early modern period, however, onmyoji were centrally organized under the umbrella of the Tsuchimikado family and subject to a unified control, thus resulting in an identifiable group of onmyoji. The Tsuchimikado family, with an eye toward their role in the emerging society, received the vermillion seal of the Shogun Tsunayoshi that granted them official recognition for control over the followers of Onmyodo. Henceforth onmyoji actively challenged shugenja, Shinto priests, Shinto dance performers, and so forth, obstinately proclaiming their rights with regard to divination. Through these disputes it was determined that divination was the proper responsibility of onmyoji, and that anyone who wished to per- form divination had to be licensed by the Tsuchimikado family. The Tsuchi- mikado family was also involved in producing the annual calendar. Through this calendar, various taboos such as directional divinities, and lucky or unlucky days, were disseminated in the daily lives of the common people.

Finally, Matthias Hayek looks at changes in divination practices in the late seventeenth century, with a focus on the influence of Baba Nobutake. Baba is a famous figure, but very little research has been done to shed light on his actual activities. Hayek shows how Baba carefully studied numerous texts on divina- tion and, realizing that the old hexagram and group divination of the past were no longer applicable to his era, developed a new type of divination aimed at the individual. Baba organized these methods so that they could be understood and applied even by uneducated followers (a proto-"Divination for Dummies"), such as using the palm as a method for memorization. For advanced specialists he transmitted precise knowledge concerning the Book of Changes. Thus Hayek shows how the techniques for divination were changed considerably by Baba during the end of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, with results in the modern period that were quite different from that of the medieval period. This article is the first (in either Japanese or Western languages) to present such research on these changes in divination techniques. Hayek has also presented a detailed analy- sis of hexagram divination in his article "The Eight Trigrams and Their Changes: An Inquiry into Japanese Early Modern Divination" (JJRS 38/2 [2011]: 329--68).

Acknowledgements

The editors would like to thank the translators, Joseph P. Elacqua, Gaynor Seki- mori, Jon Morris, and Dylan Luers, not only for their timely translations, but also for providing supplemental information that is helpful for the English or Western reader. Finally, the guest editors would like to address their thanks to the editorial staff and advisory board of the JJRS for their support and patience throughout the preparation of this special issue.

References

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additional references in western languages

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Frank, Bernard

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Mauclaire, Simone

2010 Magie et divination dans l'enseignement de l'Izanagi-ryo. In Divination et magie dans les cultures de l'Orient, Jean-Marie Durand and Antoine Jaquet, eds., 305--21. Cahiers de l'Institut du Proche-Orient Ancien du Collège de France, III, Paris: Maisonneuve.

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Tubielewicz, Jolanta

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