is an epic

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

work; the

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

of natural history researcher and

polymath A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...

Hiroshi Aramata is a Japanese author, polymath, critic, translator and specialist in natural history, iconography and cartography. His most popular novel was ''Teito Monogatari'' (''Tale of the Capitol''), which has sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone. ...

. It began circulation in the literary magazine ''Monthly King Novel'' owned by

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

in 1983, and was published in 10 volumes over the course of 1985–1987. The novel is a romanticized retelling of the 20th-century history of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

from an

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

perspective. Widely regarded as the first novel to popularize onmyōdō and fūsui mythology in modern Japanese fiction,Reider, Noriko T. ''Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present''. Utah State University Press, 2010. () the work was a major success in its native country. It won the 1987

Nihon SF Taisho Award The is a Japanese science fiction award. It has been compared to the Nebula Award as it is given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan or SFWJ. The Grand Prize is selected from not only Science Fiction novels, but also various SF mo ...

, sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone, inspired several adaptations as well as a long running literary franchise. Likewise its influence can still be felt to this day.Harper, Jim. ''Flowers from Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film''. Noir Publishing. ()

Overview

The work is a re-imagining of the 20th century of Tokyo as influenced by the occult. Most of the subject matter builds upon references to classic Japanese and Chinese folklore, although the centerpiece of the mythology is the legend of

Taira no Masakado was a Heian period provincial magnate ('' gōzoku'') and samurai based in eastern Japan, notable for leading the first recorded uprising against the central government in Kyōto. Early life Masakado was one of the sons of Taira no Yoshimas ...

, a 10th-century warlord and ferocious onryo who was placated into a guardian

kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

through centuries of worship. The plot features many characters, both historical and fictional. Most of the narrative revolves around the cryptohistorical actions of

Yasunori Katō is a fictional character, the protagonistHiroshi Aramata, ''Birds of the World: as painted by 19th century artists'' (Crown Publishers 1989), p. 11, Reider, Noriko T. ''Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present'' Utah State U ...

, a mysterious former

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

who is himself a vengeful

oni An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess ...

; a descendant of the people who rebelled against the Japanese Empire in ancient times. With an incredible knowledge of the supernatural and allies in China,

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

; Katō dedicates his life to crippling Tokyo, the seat of power of the modern Japanese Empire. His ruinous ambitions bring him into conflict with some of 20th century Japan's greatest minds including industrialist

Eiichi Shibusawa was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double- ...

, onmyoji

Abe no Seimei was an ''onmyōji'', a leading specialist of ''Onmyōdō'' during the middle of the Heian period in Japan.Miller, Laura. "Extreme Makeover for a Heian-era Wizard". ''Mechademia 3: Limits of the Human''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Pres ...

's descendant

Yasumasa Hirai Yasumasa Hirai (平井保昌) is a fictional character from the historical fantasy novel ''Teito Monogatari'' by Hiroshi Aramata. He also appears in the prequel novel '' Teito Gendan'' Hirai is the direct descendant of Abe no Seimei and a master ...

, authors Koda Rohan and Izumi Kyoka; physicist

Torahiko Terada was a Japanese physicist and author who was born in Tokyo. He was a professor at Tokyo Imperial University, a researcher at RIKEN, and worked on a wide range of topics in physics. He was also a professor at the Earthquake Research Institute. As ...

, and author

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

. The resulting conflict, involving science, magic and politics; spans 90 years of Japan's history. The story begins near the end of the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

and ranges through the rest of the century. It reinvents major events such as the Great Kantō earthquake, the founding of Japan's first subway, the February 26 Incident, the

firebombing Firebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs. In popular usage, any act in which an incendiary ...

raids, the signing of the 1960 US Security Pact, and the ritual suicide of

. The narrative finally reaches its climax in 1998, the 73rd year of a fictional

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

List of characters

The historical characters who play primary or supporting roles in the story include: *

Tachibana no Hayanari was a Heian period Japanese government official, calligrapher, and member of the Tachibana family. He travelled to China in 804, returning in 806. He died while traveling to exile in Izu Province for supposed participation in an imperial success ...

Aterui (died 21, AD 802 in Enryaku) was the most prominent chief of the Isawa (胆沢) band of Emishi in northern Japan. The Emishi were an indigenous people of North Japan, who were considered hirsute barbarians by the Yamato Japanese. Life At ...

Tōyama Kagemoto was a hatamoto and an official of the Tokugawa shogunate during the Edo period of Japanese history. His ancestry was of the Minamoto clan of the Mino Province. His father, Kagemichi, was the magistrate of Nagasaki. Biography During his youth, K ...

Hirata Atsutane was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was , and his primary assumed name was . He also ...

* Hijikata Toshizō *

Ichimura Tetsunosuke was a Japanese member of the Shinsengumi and Hijikata Toshizō's page. Although commonly believed to be a fictional character, Ichimura Tetsunosuke was a real member of the Shinsengumi. History Born in 1854, Tetsunosuke was the third son of Ich ...

Enomoto Takeaki Viscount was a Japanese samurai and admiral of the Tokugawa navy of Bakumatsu period Japan, who remained faithful to the Tokugawa shogunate and fought against the new Meiji government until the end of the Boshin War. He later served in the Mei ...

* Edward and Henry Schnell * Prince Sawara *

Sugawara no Michizane was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian Period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in Kanshi poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the poem anthology '' Hyakunin Isshu'', he is know ...

Thomas Blakiston Thomas Wright Blakiston (27 December 1832 – 15 October 1891) was an English explorer and naturalist. Early life and career Born in Lymington, Hampshire, Blakiston was the son of Major John Blakiston. His grandfather was Sir Matthew Blakisto ...

Kōda Rohan , pen name , was a Japanese author. His daughter, Aya Kōda, was also a noted author who often wrote about him. Kōda wrote "The Icon of Liberty", also known as "The Buddha of Art" or "The Elegant Buddha", in 1889. A house (Kagyu-an or "snail ...

Satō Nobuhiro was a Japanese scientist and early advocate of Japanese Westernization. He is considered the founder of the "Greater East Asia" concept. Satō attempted to synthesize Western science (especially Astronomy) with Japanese political and philosophica ...

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German la ...

Hantaro Nagaoka was a Japanese physicist and a pioneer of Japanese physics during the Meiji period. Life Nagaoka was born in Nagasaki, Japan on August 19, 1865 and educated at the University of Tokyo. After graduating with a degree in physics in 1887, Naga ...

Karl Haushofer Karl Ernst Haushofer (27 August 1869 – 10 March 1946) was a German general, professor, geographer, and politician. Through his student Rudolf Hess, Haushofer's conception of Geopolitik influenced the development of Adolf Hitler's expansi ...

Shoma Morita , also read as Shōma Morita, was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and the founder of Morita therapy, a branch of clinical psychology strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism. In his capacity as the head of psychiatry for a large Tokyo hospital, Morita ...

Makoto Nishimura was a Japanese biologist. He is most renowned as the inventor of Gakutensoku, Japan's first functional robot. He was the father of actor Kō Nishimura. Biography Makoto was born on March 26, 1883 in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. During his life ...

Gakutensoku Gakutensoku (學天則, Japanese for "learning from the laws of nature"), the first robot to be built in the East, was created in Osaka in the late 1920s. The robot was designed and manufactured by biologist Makoto Nishimura (1883–1956, father ...

Shibusawa Eiichi was a Japanese industrialist widely known today as the "father of Japanese capitalism". He spearheaded the introduction of Western capitalism to Japan after the Meiji Restoration. He introduced many economic reforms including use of double- ...

Kyōka Izumi , real name , was a Japanese people, Japanese author of novels, short stories, and kabuki plays who was active during the Empire of Japan, prewar period. Kyōka's writing differed greatly from that of the naturalist writers who dominated the li ...

Akiko Yosano Yosano Akiko (Shinjitai: , seiji: ; 7 December 1878 – 29 May 1942) was the pen-name of a Japanese author, poet, pioneering feminist, pacifist, and social reformer, active in the late Meiji era as well as the Taishō and early Shōwa eras of ...

Masatoshi Ōkōchi Viscount was a Japanese physicist and business executive. He was the third director of the Riken Institute, a position which he assumed in 1921 and held for 25 years. During this period, he was notable for establishing the ''Riken Konzern'', ...

Noritsugu Hayakawa was a Japanese businessman. He is renowned for funding the construction of Japan's first subway system, now known as the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, which opened in 1927. Biography Early life Hayakawa was born into a family of politicians in Miyosak ...

Wajiro Kon was a Japanese architect, designer, and educator. He is renowned as the father of "modernology" (''kogengaku''), a branch of sociology which studied the changes in cityscape and people which emerged as a consequence of Tokyo becoming a modern me ...

Goto Shinpei GoTo (goto, GOTO, GO TO or other case combinations, depending on the programming language) is a statement found in many computer programming languages. It performs a one-way transfer of control to another line of code; in contrast a function ca ...

Korekiyo Takahashi Viscount was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Peers, as Prime Minister of Japan from 1921 to 1922, and as the head of the Bank of Japan and Ministry of Finance. Takahashi made many contributions to Japan's developm ...

*Kanji Nakajima *

Ikki Kita was a Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described socialist who has also been described as the "ideological father ...

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

Kanji Ishiwara was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. He and Itagaki Seishirō were the men primarily responsible for the Mukden Incident that took place in Manchuria in 1931. Early life Ishiwara was born in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Pref ...

Hideki Tojo Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...

Ōtani Kōzui (27 December 1876 – 5 October 1948) was the 22nd Abbot of the Nishi Honganji sub-sect of Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism in Kyoto, Japan. He is known for expeditions to Buddhist sites in Central Asia, such as Subashi. Career Between 1902 and 19 ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Shūmei Ōkawa was a Japanese nationalist and Pan-Asianist writer, known for his publications on Japanese history, philosophy of religion, Indian philosophy, and colonialism. Background Ōkawa was born in Sakata, Yamagata, Japan in 1886. He graduated fro ...

Masahiko Amakasu was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army imprisoned for his involvement in the Amakasu Incident, the extrajudicial execution of anarchists after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, who later became head of the Manchukuo Film Association. B ...

Hisaya Morishige was a Japanese actor and comedian. Born in Hirakata, Osaka, he graduated from Kitano Middle School (now Kitano High School), and attended Waseda University. He began his career as a stage actor, then became an announcer for NHK, working in ...

George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...

Fusako Shigenobu is a Japanese communist activist and founder of the disbanded militant group Japanese Red Army (JRA).< ...

*Kadokawa Gen'yoshi *

Haruki Kadokawa is a Japanese publisher, film producer, director and screenwriter. He was the son of Genyoshi Kadokawa and inherited the position of president of the publishing house Kadokawa Shoten in 1975. Under his guidance, the company soon branched into film ...

Volumes

The tenth volume of the novel, published in 1987, was originally intended to be the final volume. However, when the novel was republished in 1987–1989, additional eleventh and twelfth volumes were also written to supplement more of the story around 1945, the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When the novel was republished in 1995, volumes 11 and 12 were inserted in the chronologically appropriate spot between volumes 5 and 6. *Vol. 1: *Vol. 2: *Vol. 3: *Vol. 4: *Vol. 5: *Vol. 6: *Vol. 7: *Vol. 8: *Vol. 9: *Vol. 10: *Vol. 11: *Vol. 12:

List of publications

*10 volumes, 1985–1987, cover art by

Suehiro Maruo (born January 28, 1956 in Nagasaki, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter. Biography Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15, he moved to Tokyo and began ...

*12 volumes, 1987–1989, cover art by

Yoshitaka Amano is a Japanese visual artist, character designer, illustrator, a scenic designer for theatre and film, and a costume designer. He first came into prominence in the late 1960s working on the anime adaptation of ''Speed Racer''. Amano later became ...

*6 volumes, 1995, cover art by

Shou Tajima is a manga illustrator and anime character designer. He has done character designs for the anime '' Kai Doh Maru'', '' Otogi Zoshi'', the survival horror video game '' Galerians: Ash'', and the CGI OVA '' Galerians: Rion'', as well as '' Kill Bill ...

(this is the edition currently in print)

Concept and creation

The novel originally served as a minor side project for Hiroshi Aramata who, at the time, was focused on gathering materials for an upcoming natural history book he planned to publish. He was asked by the editor in chief of Kadokawa Shoten, Hiroshi Morinaga, to produce a fantasy themed work for their periodical '' Monthly King Novel''. At that time, Aramata had never written a fictional novel before. The initial idea for the story came from the legend of

. Aramata was fascinated by the legacy of his spirit and its superstitious impact on modern Japan. In addition, while participating in the creation of ''

Heibonsha World Encyclopedia The is one of Japan's two major encyclopedias, the other being the ''Encyclopedia Nipponica''. The ''World Encyclopedia'' is widely held to be the most complete and up-to-date encyclopedia in the Japanese language. Formats The Heibonsha ''World ...

'',

was inspired by discussions with

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

Komatsu Kazuhiko Komatsu may refer to: *Komatsu (surname), a Japanese surname *Komatsu, Ishikawa, a city in the Ishikawa prefecture in Japan *Komatsu Airport, an airport *Komatsu Limited, a company mostly known for manufacturing industrial machinery *Komatsu LAV, a ...

about sources of the strange and the mysterious in

Japanese folklore Japanese folklore encompasses the informally learned folk traditions of Japan and the Japanese people as expressed in its oral traditions, customs, and material culture. In Japanese, the term is used to describe folklore. The academic study o ...

. Around the same time, Aramata also read Murayama Shinichi's non fiction history of onmyodo ''Nihon Onmyodoshi Sosetsu''.

Legacy

''Teito Monogatari'', the novel and its various adaptations, is widely credited with pioneering a number of folklore tropes in popular Japanese fantasy media such as onmyodo, Feng shui,

shikigami (also read as ) is the term for a being from Japanese folklore. According to the Shinto scholar Inoue Nobutaka, it is thought to be some sort of , represented by a small ghost. The belief of ''shikigami'' originates from ''Onmyōdō''. Accord ...

kodoku , also called , , and is a type of poisonous magic found in Japanese folklore. It is the Japanese derivative of the Chinese gu (poison), Gu magic. To create kodoku, sorcerers would mix several insects in a jar, and let them kill one another unti ...

, shijie, gohō dōji and Kimon Tonkou.Japanese Review of TEITO MONOGATARI (1988)
Retrieved on 2012-8-07. Likewise it helped spark a surge of real life subcultural interest in these topics across the nation.Shūkyō Kenkyūkai, ''Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'', Volume 74, Issues 324-327, Pg. 273, University of Michigan, 2000 The success of ''Teito Monogatari'' inspired Baku Yumemakura to begin writing his '' Onmyoji'' novel series; a best-selling franchise which heavily influenced mainstream interest in onmyoji mysticism across Japan and the international scene. Other similarly themed franchises which emerged in the wake of the novel's success include Clamp's ''

Tokyo Babylon , also known as ''Tokyo Babylon: A Save Tokyo City Story'', is a Japanese manga series created by mangaka group Clamp. The series follows Subaru Sumeragi, the head of the Sumeragi clan, and his sister Hokuto, as they work to protect Tokyo ...

'' manga series, and Natsuhiko Kyogoku's ''Kyōgokudō'' (京極堂) series. Professor of

human geography Human geography or anthropogeography is the branch of geography that studies spatial relationships between human communities, cultures, economies, and their interactions with the environment. It analyzes spatial interdependencies between social i ...

Paul Waley Paul Waley, a greatnephew of the scholar and translator Arthur Waley, is senior lecturer in human geography at the University of Leeds, and the author of books an articles on Tokyo and other topics in urban studies, the history of Japan and rel ...

cites ''Teito Monogatari'' as a work that reminded a generation of general Japanese readers about Tokyo's former status as an

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

capital. Dr. Noriko T. Reider, associate professor of Japanese Studies at

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public research university in Oxford, Ohio. The university was founded in 1809, making it the second-oldest university in Ohio (behind Ohio University, founded in 1804) and the 10 ...

, credits ''Teito Monogatari'' with raising "the

's status and popularity greatly in modern times". In 2009 Higashi Masao, a notable authority in the field of Japanese

weird fiction Weird fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction originating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Weird fiction either eschews or radically reinterprets ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other traditional antagonists of supernatural horr ...

, wrote an article entitled "The Impact of ''Teito Monogatari''" where he discussed the novel's influence on contemporary Japanese supernatural fiction. Akira Okawada, a specialist in Japanese science fiction literature, wrote a similar article in 2010 discussing the work's influence on that respective genre.

Analysis

In her essay "Oni and Japanese Identity", Dr. Noriko T. Reider argues that the work is a heterotopic inversion of classical

mythology heavily influenced by the supernatural configuration brought about by World War II. She describes the novel as a "...heterotopic site where...contemporary representations of oni reflect past representations, where oni of the past are not simply superimposed upon the present but both act as extensions of each other in an odd continuum". The character of

Yasunori Kato Yasunori is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yasunori can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *安徳, "tranquil, benevolence" *安紀, "tranquil, chronicle" *安典, "tranqu ...

is intended as a homage to classic heroes from Japanese folklore such as Minamoto no Raiko (an imperial soldier related to oni) and

. Whereas those heroes were ardent defenders and valuable servants of the Empire though, Kato is presented as its worst possible enemy. This inversion is also reflected in the character of

, whom at the beginning is demonized by the narrator and the Japanese government as a national rebel and a threat. However, the story unfolds with him in the role of Tokyo's benevolent guardian deity worshiped by the various protectors of the city. The negative association becomes a positive one. Another example is found in the novel's fictional version of Emperor Hirohito. In pre-war Japanese culture, the Emperor was regarded as a divine figure incapable of human failing. In ''Teito Monogatari'' however, the Showa Emperor is presented as a frail figure who prolongs his life by unwittingly ingesting a nostrum made from human organs. This practice of cannibalism effectively puts him on the level of oni, a major paradox since the Emperor's divine status and the status of oni are incompatible with each other. If even the Emperor of Japan has the potential to become an oni, then when is an oni not an oni?

Spin-offs and prequels

*The series: Published 1993–2001. A multi-volume series starring Tatsuto Kuroda, the grandson of the feng shui expert Shigemaru Kuroda from ''Teito Monogatari'', as he struggles against various spiritual disturbances across Japan. The fourth volume of this series was made into an independent

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

film titled , released in 1997. *: Published 1995. A spin-off of the main story, set in 1998. The film (1995) is loosely based on it. *: Republished 2007–2011. A prequel to the original novel, set during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

. Illustrations by

Shigeru Mizuki was a Japanese manga artist and historian, best known for his manga series ''GeGeGe no Kitarō''. Born in a hospital in Osaka and raised in the city of Sakaiminato, Tottori, he later moved to Chōfu, Tokyo where he remained until his death ...

, with an introduction by

Natsuhiko Kyogoku is a Japanese mystery writer, who is a member of Ōsawa Office. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of Japan and the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan. Three of his novels have been turned into feature films; ''Mōryō no Hako'', which w ...

. *: Published 2001, republished in 2009. A follow-up to ''Teito Gendan'', set during the

Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government ...

. *: Published 2001. The "secret origins" of

. This collection features the writings of a multitude of Japanese authors. *: A 2005 fantasy film by

Takashi Miike is a Japanese film director, film producer and screenwriter. He has directed over one hundred theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. His films run through a variety of different genres, and range from violent a ...

leads an army of twisted

yōkai are a class of supernatural entities and spirits in Japanese folklore. The word is composed of the kanji for "attractive; calamity" and "apparition; mystery; suspicious." are also referred to as , or . Despite often being translated as suc ...

on an invasion of

. Was made in cooperation with

(who wrote the novel),

and

. *: A 2021 fantasy film by

. Sequel to the above film.

Adaptations

Stage

A humorous stage adaptation of the novel was performed by the

Tokyo Grand Guignol Theater Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

in the mid-1980s. It is most notable for introducing the talents of its star

Kyūsaku Shimada is a Japanese actor. History Shimada was originally part of the Tokyo Grand Guignol Theater group, formed by artist Norimizu Ameya. He stayed with the group until its dissolution in 1986. One of the productions the group undertook was an adaptat ...

, the actor who would become most associated with the image of the protagonist

in future film adaptations.

Manga

*, illustrated by

Kamui Fujiwara is a Japanese character designer and manga artist. Fujiwara's father was a soldier in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. He excelled in mathematics and computer science when in grade school. He graduated from the Kuwasawa Design Sch ...

, published by

in 1987 and republished in 1999. A visual adaptation of books 1–4. () *, illustrated by Yōsuke Takahashi, published by ''Dragon Comics'' in 1989 and republished by ''

'' in 2008. A visual adaptation of "Advent of the Devil" (book 5) and "Great War in the Capital" (book 6, formerly book 11). () *, illustrated by ', published by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

in ''

Big Comic Spirits is a weekly Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shogakukan. The first issue was published on October 14, 1980. Food, sports, romance and business are recurring themes in the magazine, and the stories often question conventional va ...

'' in 1987. It is currently unavailable in book form.

Film

*'' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis'' (1988) *'' Tokyo: The Last War'' (1989) *''

Doomed Megalopolis is a Japanese original video animation (OVA) series. It is an adaptation of the historical fantasy novel ''Teito Monogatari'' by Hiroshi Aramata. The anime is darker in tone, more violent, and more sexually explicit than any previous adaptat ...

'' (1991) In 1988, a cinematic adaptation of the same name, adapting the first four volumes of the novel, was released by

Toho Studios is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...

. The film received positive critical reception and was a commercial success, becoming one of the top ten highest grossing domestic movies of that year.John A. Lent. ''The Asian Film Industry'', pg. 41, Christopher Helm Publishers Ltd, February 22, 1990 The movie was eventually distributed to Western markets under the title '' Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis'' The success of this adaptation prompted the production of a sequel, '' Tokyo: The Last War'' (1989), loosely based on the 11th book, ''Great War in the Capital''. In 1991, the first cinematic adaptation was remade into a four-part

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

of the same name produced by Madhouse. The anime was adapted to the US by

Streamline Pictures Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English-dubbed Japanese animation. History Founding Founded in Los Angeles, California, in late 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first No ...

under the title ''

'' in 1995. Although the plot of the anime loosely parallels the original story, the production is renowned for being darker and more provocative than its source material or any other adaptation preceding it.

Video games

*: A

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

title published in 1999 by Bee Factory, Inc. Although marketed under the title ''Teito Monogatari'', it is actually an adaptation of the '' Sim-Feng Shui'' series.

References

{{reflist, colwidth=30em

External links

Outline of the novels

Catalog of books at Kadokawa Shoten.co.jp
1985 fantasy novels 1985 Japanese novels Dark fantasy novels Historical fantasy novels Japanese fantasy novels Monogatari Novels set in Tokyo Sequel novels Works about earthquakes 1923 Great Kantō earthquake