Extreme Makeover for a Heian-Era Wizard

Abstract

In 2000, observers of Japanese social life were amazed to see groups of schoolgirls massing at Shinto shrines dedicated to Abeno Seimei, a legendary sorcerer of the Heian era (794-1185 AD). Some noted that these visitors treated Seimei more like an idol than a kami (shrine deity). At a scholarly seminar on phantoms and the supernatural where Abeno Seimei was one of the topics for discussion, the venue could only hold sixty, but one hundred and twenty people came, many of them schoolgirls who tried to crowd into the room.1 Girls' interest in visiting Seimei shrines and hearing lectures about him were only part of a trajectory of exploding fascination with this historic figure. Seimei, a genuine person who most likely lived between 921 and 1005 AD, became the focus of intense cultural energy and was the subject of numerous manga, films, a TV series, novels, anime, and books. The question of why a medieval wizard became a modern icon and folk hero is intrinsically interesting, yet is also a useful case to consider in our exploration of trends in contemporary Japanese popular culture. I believe that his new celebrity status reveals multiple threads that might be fruitful to consider. The example of Abeno Seimei idolatry gives us a unique perspective from which to consider the role of the culture industry in fueling and buttressing