Draft:Tsuchimikado Haruo

Comment: Note: This draft started from a complete copy of Onmyōji as it has a lot of redlinks with claims I want to keep. I will trim down into just the claim on an individual thing laterImmanuelle ❤️💚💙 (talk to the cutest Wikipedian) 01:48, 25 April 2023 (UTC)

Tsuchimikado Haruo [ja] is a topic related to Onmyodo

The policy of eliminating onmyōji in modern times and modern onmyōji[edit]

After Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, returned his power [ja] to Emperor Meiji, in the Meiji era, taking advantage of the confusion of the Meiji Restoration, Tsuchimikado Haruo [ja], the Head of Onmyō, requested that the Astronomical Department [ja] be confiscated by the Bureau of Onmyō and this was granted, expropriating all of the authority for astronomical observation and map surveying. Later, sensing that the government of Meiji Japan was planning to introduce the Western-style Gregorian calendar, Tsuchimikado Haruo insisted on the "Meiji Reformation" of the calendar to maintain the existing lunisolar calendar, but the proposal was never taken up due to his death.

On the contrary, when the leaders of the government of Meiji Japan received a proposal from Tsuchimikado Haruo to reform the calendar, those who were advocating the introduction of Western civilization opposed it, saying that the onmyōdō should be eliminated because there was a strong risk that the Bureau of Onmyō would become the center of opposition to the introduction of modern science to promote the introduction of advanced Western technology to develop the country and strengthen military power. In addition, "In direct rule by the Emperor, there can be no barbarism in which a vassal exercises real authority over the Emperor, nor any impertinence in which he directs the Emperor's actions. Moreover, it is inexcusable that onmyōdō, a technique of foreign (i.e., Chinese) origin, should be used in spite of the existence of Japan's Shinto." This argument resonated with both the pure Shintoists and the exclusionists, and the majority of them rejected onmyōdō. Furthermore, Tsuchimikado Harenaga [ja], who became the Head of Onmyō after the death of his father Tsuchimikado Haruo, was still a very young boy and could not spontaneously refute the claims.

The government of Meiji Japan took advantage of this period to force the abolition of the Bureau of Onmyō in 1870, and transferred its duties of astronomical observation and calendar arrangement to the Astronomical and Calendar Bureau of the University [ja] (now the University of Tokyo), the Navy Hydrographic Bureau [ja] of the Ministry of War, the Astronomical Bureau of the Ministry of Education, and the Observatory. Tsuchimikado Harenaga, the former Head of Onmyō, was appointed as the official in charge of the Astronomical Bureau of the University, but he was relieved of this position at the end of 1870, and astrology, onmyōdō, and the calendars were completely removed from the hands of the Tsuchimikado family. On 9 December 1870, a decree was issued banning the Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto [ja] and the spread of onmyōdō to the civilian population as it was a superstition.^{[note 1]} The Festival of the Deva and Naraka [ja], an onmyōdō ritual that had always been performed from the time of Emperor Go-Yōzei (1571–1617) until the reign of Emperor Kōmei (1831–1867), the last Emperor of the Edo period, was not performed for Emperor Meiji (1852–1912). The Tokugawa shoguns, like the Emperors, have always performed the festival every time they were given the position of shogun by the Emperors [ja]. The Tsuchimikado family lost their official position in charge of onmyōdō, and also lost the exclusive right to issue the license, and although they had no choice but to further transform the Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto into more shintoistically, they were deprived of their influence over private onmyōji in various regions.

Since the ban by the government of Meiji Japan, there has been no official event derived from onmyōdō, and there has been no popularity of onmyōdō in the private sector either. However, in reality, calendars derived from the onmyōdō still circulated unofficially, with Calendrical Notes [ja] gaining popularity and walking on their own. In particular, the Twelve Directions [ja] were heavily used, and there were many people who referred to them in rituals and codes of conduct.

After the Pacific War and the official repeal of the laws and ordinances prohibiting onmyōdō with the repeal of the old laws and ordinances of the Meiji era, the Six Days [ja], one of the Carendrical Notes once used by onmyōji, were preferred to the Twelve Directions and often appear on many calendars, but this is only used as a supplement. As for calendars related to fortune, the Takashima calendar (unrelated to the Jingū calendar [ja] of Ise Grand Shrine) of Takashima's I Ching Divination (no relation to Kaemon Takashima [ja], a businessman and I Ching diviner of the Meiji era) by Jingūkan (a publisher in Taitō City, Tokyo Metropolis) is relatively popular, but this is hardly onmyōdō.

Today, there are few people who rely on the arts of onmyōdō for general guidelines for behavior, and there is no trace of the authority of onmyōji that once flourished. The Association of Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto still exists in Ōi Town in the western part of Fukui Prefecture, in the area of Natashō in Wakasa Province, which used to be the territory of the Tsuchimikado family, as a religious organization that retains elements of onmyōdō, but it is far removed from the onmyōdō of the middle to late Heian period. Other than that, there are only a few vestiges of onmyōdō surviving in local onmyōji such as the Izanagi school [ja] in Kami City (formerly Monobe Village), Kōchi Prefecture. Based on the occult image of the spell-binding onmyōji of the Heian period, various creative works and characters were created to exaggerate their superhumanity and peculiarity. In particular, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, onmyōji became popular, and many works were created.

Overview of rituals in onmyōdō[edit]

As onmyōdō itself has diversified over time, its rituals have also not been uniform. Since the rituals of onmyōdō, including its influence with other religions, are still in the process of research, it is difficult to describe them in detail. When onmyōdō was first introduced to Japan, it is thought that it was strongly influenced by the so-called jugondō [ja]. In the "Onmyōryōshiki (Japanese: 陰陽寮式, literally: Procedures of the Bureau of Onmyō)" of the book "Engishiki," there is a record of the festivals held by onmyōji in the court. According to it, there are the nuo folk religion (setsubun), bonfire, kitchen God festival, death anniversary festival of the previous Emperor, new year's festival, and so on. Among them, in the nuo folk religion, it says that an onmyōji goes (to a stage) and reads the ritual text, the first half of which is a Classical Chinese text read aloud, and the second half is a declaration [ja] like liturgical incantations. In addition, the medieval book "Bunkanshō" gives an overview of several rituals. The rituals of onmyōdō consisted of large, medium, and small rituals, and it seems that they were used in different ways depending on the situation.

Among the representative rituals of onmyōdō are the Festival of the Great Emperor of the Sacred Mountain of the East, which is held to honor Dongyue Dadi, the ruler of human life, and the Festival of the Deva and Naraka, which was held every time an Emperor ascended to the throne. The "Bunkanshō" also mentions that there were various other onmyōdō rituals. The texts of some of these rituals are still extant.

In media[edit]

Books[edit]

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 [ja], written by Soichiro Watase, published in 2001
Shōnen Onmyōji, written by Mitsuru Yūki, published in 2001
Rental Magica, written by Makoto Sanda [ja], published in 2004
Bakemonogatari [ja], written by Nisio Isin, published in 2005
Fairy Navigator Runa, written by Miyoko Ikeda [ja], published in 2008
Tokyo Ravens, written by Kōhei Azano [ja], published in 2010

Manga and anime[edit]

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 [ja], 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 [ja], 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 [ja], 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[edit]

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[edit]

Kuon no Kizuna [ja], developed by FOG Inc., released in 1998
Tokyo Majin Gakuen, produced by Shūhō Imai [ja], released in 1998
Kuon, developed by FromSoftware, released in 2004
11eyes: Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shōjo, developed by Lass [ja], 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.^[1]

Footnotes[edit]

Notes[edit]

^ Therefore, at this point, both the Tsuchimikado family and the Kurahashi family [ja], a branch of the Tsuchimikado family, had left the onmyōdō and onmyōji was no longer an official position. On 21 May 1946, the Tensha Tsuchimikado Shinto was revived, but Yoshiko Tsuchimikado [ja] (born 1959) (a daughter of the last male head of the family, Noritada Tsuchimikado [ja] (1920–1994)), the current female head of the Tsuchimikado family has taken a stance of not being involved in any way. Therefore, since the Meiji era, there has been no such title as "onmyōji" or "Onmyōdō Sōke [ja]" in modern times, and aside from its existence in the private sector, there is no such thing as an onmyōji as an official position.

References[edit]

^ "Naraka: Bladepoint - New Hero Out Now!".