Abe no Seimei (安倍 晴明; February 21, 921 AD – October 31, 1005) was a Japanese onmyōji, a court official and specialist of Onmyōdō, during the middle of the Heian period. 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.
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 Abe no Masuki (安倍 益材), a "Master of the Palace Table" (大膳大夫, Daizen-no-daibu) or Abe no Shunzai (安倍 春材), a Kokushi of Awaji. Another candidate is Abe no Miushi, who appeared as a Minister of the Right (右大臣, Udaijin) in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Seimei might also have been a descendant of Abe no Nakamaro as Abe-no-Sukune-no-Seimei (安倍宿禰晴明). However, some other sources recorded his name as Abe-no-Asomi-no-Seimei (安倍朝臣晴明), which refers to the Abe-no-Asomi descending from Abe no Miushi. The name Sukune (宿禰), through the Abe clan, was taken from Naniwa no Imiki (難波忌寸), later Naniwa no Sukune, of the Naniwa clan (難波氏), also known as the Naniwa no Kishi (難波吉士), which Naniwa no Mitsuna, fl. 672) established.
According to Anderson, Abe no Seimei was a descendant of the poet Abe no Nakamaro and a disciple of Kamo no Tadayuki 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. 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.
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 Seimei Kikyō (晴明紋 / 晴明桔梗); 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.
According to legend, Abe no Seimei was not entirely human. His father, Abe no Yasuna (安倍 保名), was human. Still, his mother, Kuzunoha, was a kitsune (a "fox spirit"). 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 Hakudō Sennin (伯道上人) was Seimei's teacher from China. He had a wife named Rika (梨花) described in the Abe no Seimei Monogatari.
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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
Abe no Seimei is credited with the Senji Ryakketsu, an Onmyōdō primer.
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.