Onmyōji is a novel series written by Baku Yumemakura. It follows the story of a master in onmyōdō, a traditional Japanese cosmology. Published as individual short stories, Onmyōjifirst appeared as a serial in the publisher Bungeishunju's magazine All Yomimono in the September 1986 issue. In addition to these short stories collections, Yumemakura also wrote novel-length stories, and picture books have been published. A manga adaptation by Reiko Okano was published between 1993 and 2005; it won two major prizes, and spanned a sequel, Onmyōji: Tamatebako, released from 2010 to 2017. The novel series also inspired two live-action films directed by Yōjirō Takitain 2001 and 2003; two television dramas in 2001 and 2015; and another manga series, Onmyōji: Taki Yasha Hime, written by Munku Mitsuki between 2012 and 2015.
Publication
Written by Baku Yumemakura, the Onmyōji novel series first appeared as a serial in the Bungeishunju's All Yomimono in the September 1986 issue. Since then, the short stories published in the magazine have been compiled and published both in tankōbon and bunkoban format, with the first one published by Bungeishunju on August 10, 1988 and on February 9, 1991 in these formats respectively. Yumemakura also wrote novel-length stories; the first one was published in tankōbon by The Asahi Shimbun Company in 2000 and republished in bunkoban by Bungeishunju in 2003. A two-part novel was published in tankōbon in 2005 and in bunkoban in 2008 by Bungeishunju. Three picture books with illustrations by Yutaka Murakami have also been published by Bungeishunju in 2001, 2003 and 2005.
Short stories collections
Novel length-stories
Picture books
Adaptations
Manga
A manga adaptation by Reiko Okano was serialized from 1993 to 2005 in the seinen magazines Comic Burger and Comic Birz by and then the shōjo magazine Melody by Hakusensha. Scola compiled the series into tankōbon and released eight of them between July 1994 and December 1998. Later Hakusensha republished them and new ones for a total of 13 tankōbon released between July 12, 1999, and September 29, 2005. The first seven volumes were published in France by Delcourt between 2007 and 2013. Music for Onmyo-Ji, an accompanying image album with mangaka Okano's participation as performer, was released in 2000. An exhibit at the Kyoto International Manga Museum explored "the supernatural aspects of Kyoto" by using this manga as reference. The manga received the Grand Prize at the 2001 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The series also received the Seiun Award for best science fiction comic in 2006. Also, in 2011, Paul Gravett included it on the book 1001 Comics You Must Read Before You Die. A sequel manga series, also written by Okano, titled Onmyōji: Tamatebako was announced on October 28, 2010, and was serialized in Melody from December 28, 2010 to April 28, 2017. Between December 28, 2011, and July 28, 2017, seven bound volumes were released by Hakusensha. A manga adaptation of Onmyōji: Taki Yasha Hime written by Munku Mitsuki was serialized in Tokuma Shoten's magazine Monthly Comic Ryū between March 19, 2012, and December 20, 2015. Eight tankōbon volumes were released by Tokuma Shoten from September 13, 2012, to January 13, 2016.
Drama
The novel has been adapted into two different television dramas. The first starred Goro Inagaki and was broadcast by NHK in 2001. The second starred Somegoro Ichikawa and was broadcast by TV Asahi in 2015.
Films
It was adapted into a film in 2001 and it was followed by a sequel in 2003; both were directed by Yōjirō Takita.
