Shikigami (式神) are a kind of spirit summoned to serve a practitioner of onmyōdō, much like a western familiar. Shikigami cannot be seen by most people, but according to the Heian period onmyōji who were said to control them, shikigami often looked something like a child-sized oni demon. Although invisible, shikigami supposedly could, at the onmyōji's command, take a variety of human or animal forms, possess or bewitch people, and even cause bodily harm or death. “Megami” redirects here. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... In early modern English witchcraft, a familiar spirit, commonly called familiar (from Middle English familiar, related to family) or imp is a spirit who obeys a witch, conjurer, or other users of the supernatural, and serves and helps that person. ... The following text needs to be harmonized with text in the article History of Japan#Heian Period. ... A statue of a red oni wielding a tetsubo. ...

The famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei was believed to be particularly skilled at manipulating shikigami, and even had them performing odd jobs around the house. The Twelve Heavenly Generals were said to be among the shikigami that he employed. Abe no Seimei ) (921?-1005?) was an onmyoji, a leading specialist of onmyodo during the middle of the Heian Period in Japan. ...

References in anime and manga

• In manga series such as Yami no Matsuei, Mahou Sensei Negima and many others, shikigami are depicted as magical servants made from folded or cut paper. This is possibly related to ofuda, Shinto talismans made from paper, but it is also a play on the word shikigami itself. The second character of shikigami (神 kami "god, spirit") is pronounced in the same way as 紙 (kami "paper"): thus, shikigami could also mean "paper servant" if written with different kanji.

• In the anime OVA Doomed Megalopolis (an adaptation of the novel Teito Monogatari), the evil onmyōji, Kato Yasunori, is constantly seen summoning hundreds of black shikigami to perform his bidding. In this series, the evil shikigami are represented as blob-like monstrosities which can morph from one shape to another, or even be sliced in half and still continue functioning as two separate beings.

• In the anime series Shaman King, the grandfather of Yoh Asakura, Yohmei Asakura, utilizes sprite-like shikigami resembling small Totoro using tree leaves as mediums for them. Hao Asakura owns two shikigami, Zenki and Gouki, who is later on used by Anna Kyoyama after she is able to tame the two. Zenki and Gouki are giant shikagami; Zenki is red, has two horns and upward-pointing fangs, uses an axe and has one large eye; Kouki is blue, has one horn and downward-pointing fangs, uses a shield with a manji engraved on it and has five small eyes.

• In Zenki, Zenki and Gouki were shikigami of Ozunu Enno, the ancestor of Chiaki Enno, the protagonist. In the series itself, the two act as shikigami for Chiaki. Chiaki's hometown is also named Shikigami, an overt reference to the shikigami.

• Both Subaru Sumeragi and Seishirō Sakurazuka, onmyōji from Tokyo Babylon and X/1999, employ shikigami as summoned spies and also to spiritually attack opponents. Subaru's shikigami takes the form of a three headed white crow while Seishirō's is an eagle.

• Kikyo of InuYasha creates three shikigami when she is poisoned and needs to bide time to find a way to recover. Two of her shikigami take on the form of two girls, Kochō and Asuka, which are powerful enough to create entire barriers. They are also able to fly and serve as Kikyo's messengers. Kikyo creates a third shikigami in her image called "Hijiri-sama" (or "the Saint") who serves to distract and derail the plans of the antagonist of the story. Also, Tsubaki, creates several shikigami as well; which she uses to curse Kagome by utilizing a portion of her stolen life force to taint the Shikon Jewel. Kururugi from the video game Inuyasha: The Cursed Mask uses shikigami as weapons, to heal, and to defend. They often appear as varied creatures summoned from a pentagram and take various forms.

• Maggie Mui in the anime Read or Die: the TV, the middle sister of the three Paper Sisters, creates paper monsters to act as weapons and tools; they are sometimes referred to as shikigami — possibly based on the "kami" pun, above.

• Sarina (Mizuchi Saiou) of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX plays a deck supported by cards based off shikigami.

• Chin Yisou, a character of the anime and manga Saiyuki, turns himself into a shikigami by placing a mahjongg tile in an open wound before being killed by Cho Hakkai, and consequently is able to return later in the story as an enemy.

• In volume one of D.N.Angel, Yukiru Sugisaki added an extra story titled "N for Nishiki" in which an eight-year-old girl named Kokoro Nagahara and her older brother Kodama had to summon shikigami in order to protect them from demons. Two shikigami were featured: Kujo, a female shikigami, looked after the house and acts like a mothering figure to both Kodama and Kokoro, while the younger Nishiki is summoned subconsciously when a pupil at Kokoro's school is possessed and tries to kill her. Both take on a human form (Kujo appearing as a woman and Nishiki as a boy a little older than Kokoro) although Nishiki takes the form of a stuffed toy rabbit.

• The anime Onmyou Taisenki revolves around the use of shikigami as spirits or fallen deities summoned to fight each other. The main character, Riku Tachibana, has a shikigami named Byakko no Kogenta, a white tiger spirit.

• The Touhou game Perfect Cherry Blossom contains a boss who is a shikigami, and another who is the shikigami of that shikigami.

• The Atlus game Persona 2: Eternal Punishment includes an onmyōji celebrity and fortuneteller named Chizuru Ishigami. Her main shikigami is a black cat named Shiki, which she uses to lead the heroes around for a time, and she uses both robed creatures simply named "Shikigami" and clones of herself to assist in battle.

• It is likely that the paper birds in the Hayao Miyazaki movie Spirited Away, sent by the witch Zeniba, are in fact shikigami.

• In Japanese anime and manga Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Rokudō Meiko (六道 冥子), a sweet and innocent but extremely powerful teenage girl, directly controls twelve shikigami: Indara, Ajira, Kubira, Basara, Shindara, Sanchira, Haira, Makora, Shōtra, Anchira, Bikara, and Mekira. Normally they are under control, but whenever Meiko's feelings are disturbed, her "pets" destroy anything or anyone within their reach. Meiko is sensitive, weak-willed and easily hurt. In one episode, she uses her twelve shikigami to fight a man with only one shikigami to determine if her arranged marriage to him should be followed through.

• In the video game Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, shikigami appears as a monster, it retains the appearance of a long flat sheet of white paper with eyes.

• The disc animals in Kamen Rider Hibiki.

• In the video game Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven, shikigami take on the appearance of paper-like floating spirits, and a certain boss, Kagura, is responsible for summoning the shikigami.

Manga )   (pl. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Descendants of Darkness. ... Image:Ofuda pic 1. ... Shinto ) is the native religion of Japan and was once its state religion. ... Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji   ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the Arabic numerals. ... The main cast of the anime Cowboy Bebop (1998) (L to R: Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Ed Tivrusky, Faye Valentine, and Ein the dog) For the oleo-resin, see Animé (oleo-resin). ... The cover of ADVs DVD release of Doomed Megalopolis Doomed Megalopolis is an anime rendition of the Japanese literary epic Teito Monogatari (Hiroshi Aramata). ... Teito Monogatari is a massive Japanese epic written by Hiroshi Aramata in 1971. ... Serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump Shonen Jump Shonen Jump Banzai! Original run 1998 – 2004 No. ... Yoh Asakura Yoh Asakura Yoh Asakura ) is the main character in the anime and manga Shaman King. ... Yohmei Asakura Yohmei Asakura (麻倉葉明 Asakura Yōmei) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Shaman King. ... Hao Asakura (麻倉葉王 Asakura Hao, also written as ハオ Hao), known as Zeke Asakura in the English anime, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Shaman King. ... Anna Kyōyama in Shaman King Volume 6 Anna Kyōyama (恐山アンナ Kyōyama Anna) is a fictional character created by manga author Hiroyuki Takei. ... Manji is a Buddhist and Hindu symbol, usually representative of admirable qualities such as peace or intelligence or strength, depending on clockwise or counter-clockwise direction of the arms. ... Zenki ) is an anime. ... Tokyo Babylon (東京 BABYLON) is a shōjo manga series created by CLAMP. In 1991, it was made into a two-part anime OVA series, and the two OVAs are now available in the United States in both DVD and VHS. There is also a live action movie entitled Tokyo Babylon... X/1999, an early work of the hit all female manga-ka group CLAMP, details the apocalypse in a very literal adaptation of the Book of Revelation. ... Kikyo ) is a character in the manga and anime series InuYasha. ... This article is about the manga and anime series. ... Asuka as she appears in the manga. ... Tsubaki with white hair Tsubaki (椿) is a character in the manga and anime series Inuyasha. ... // Spoiler warning: The female version of the main character of InuYasha: Secret of the Cursed Mask. ... This article is about the Manga and Anime Ova. ... The Society of Light ) is a fictional cult in the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX in Japan) appearing between episodes 53-104. ... Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX ), is an anime spin-off of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. ... It has been suggested that Saiyuki Gaiden be merged into this article or section. ... This article discusses the four-player game of Chinese origin. ... Cho Hakkai ) is a fictional character in the manga and anime Saiyuki. ... D•N•Angel is a manga by Yukiru Sugisaki ) which was later adapted into an anime and a PS2 game, subtitled Crimson Wings. Yukiru Sugisakis wildly popular D•N•Angel manga began its manga run in Japan in Asuka Magazine in 1997 and inspired a hit 26-episode anime... Yukiru Sugisaki was born on December 26, a Capricorn with blood type O. Her hobbies are dramas, video games, and collecting rabbit things. Sugisakis face is rarely seen, as she prefers to draw herself with a rabbit face or mask in her manga profile images. ... Onmyou Taisenki (陰陽大戦記 Onmyō Taisenki) is an anime series, produced by Sunrise, and monthly manga series. ... An example of bullet hell in Perfect Cherry Blossom. ... An example of bullet hell in Perfect Cherry Blossom. ... Atlus is a Japanese computer and video game developer and publisher. ... Persona 2 is the sequel to the first Persona title for the Sony PlayStation. ... Hayao Miyazaki ) (Born January 5, 1941 in Tokyo, Japan) is a director of animated films and a co-founder of the animation studio and production company Studio Ghibli. ... Spirited Away, originally known in Japan as Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi ), is an Academy Award winning 2001 film by the Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli, written and directed by famed animator Hayao Miyazaki. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Kamen Rider Hibiki , translated as Masked Rider Echo Demon) is a Japanese tokusatsu superhero television series. ...

Other literary references

• In several of Laurence Yep's books (most notably the Tiger's Apprentice series), the antagonists use monsters that, when killed, turn into paper dolls.

Laurence Yep Laurence Yep (葉祥添, born June 14, 1948) is an award-winning Chinese American modern author. ...

References

• Mizuki, Shigeru (2003). Mujara 3: Kinki-hen. Tokyo: Soft Garage, p. 61. ISBN 4861330068. 

Shigeru Mizuki (水木しげる b. ...

External links

• Onmyōdō: Shikigami to wa
• Seimei Jinja FAQ: Shikigami

	Japanese Mythology & Folklore Image File history File linksMetadata Amaterasu_cave_crop. ... Japanese mythology is a very complex system of beliefs that embraces Shinto and Buddhist traditions as well as agriculture-based folk religion. ... Japanese folklore is the folklore of Japan. ...
	Mythic Texts and Folktales: Kojiki | Nihon Shoki | Otogizōshi | Yotsuya Kaidan Urashima Tarō | Kintarō | Momotarō | Tamamo-no-Mae Divinities: Izanami | Izanagi | Amaterasu Susanoo | Ama-no-Uzume | Inari List of divinities | Kami | Seven Lucky Gods Legendary Creatures: Oni | Kappa | Tengu | Tanuki | Fox | Yōkai | Dragon Mythical and Sacred Locations: Mt. Hiei | Mt. Fuji | Izumo | Ryūgū-jō | Takamagahara | Yomi Kojiki or Furukotofumi (古事記), also known in English as the Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving historical book recounting events of ancient earth in the Japanese language. ... Nihonshoki (日本書紀) is the second oldest history book about the ancient history of Japan. ... Illustration from otogizōshi tale, published c. ... Yotsuya Kaidan (四つ谷怪談) is a Japanese ghost story. ... Urashima Tarō ) is a Japanese fairy tale about a fisherman who rescues a turtle and is rewarded with a visit to the RyÅ«gÅ«-jō, the Dragon Palace. ... This article is about the Japanese folklore hero; for the Mortal Kombat character, see Kintaro (Mortal Kombat character). ... Bisque doll of Momotarō Momotarō (桃太郎) is a hero from Japanese folklore. ... Tamamo-no-Mae (玉藻前) is a legendary figure in Japanese mythology. ... In Japanese mythology, Izanami (Katakana: イザナミ; Kanji: 伊弉冉尊 or 伊邪那美命, meaning She who invites) is a goddess of both creation and death, as well as the former wife of the god Izanagi. ... 天瓊を以て滄海を探るの図. Painting by Eitaku Kobayashi (Meiji period). ... The Sun goddess emerging out of a cave, bringing sunlight back to the universe. ... Susanoo, (Japanese: 須佐之男命, Susanoo-no-mikoto; also romanized as Susano-o, Susa-no-o, and Susanowo) in Shinto is the god of the sea and storms. ... Categories: Stub | Japanese goddesses ... Inari and her fox spirits help the blacksmith Munechika forge the blade ko-kitsune-maru (Little Fox) in the late 10th century. ... This is a list of divinities native to Japanese beliefs and religious traditions. ... “Megami” redirects here. ... The seven fortune gods (七福神, shichi fukujin) in Japan refer to the seven gods of good fortune in Japanese folklore: ; . They are often the subject of netsuke carvings and other representations. ... A statue of a red oni wielding a tetsubo. ... This article does not adequately cite its references. ... Tengu and a Buddhist monk, by Kawanabe Kyōsai. ... Pottery statue of tanuki This article deals with tanuki in folklore; see Raccoon Dog for more information on the wild animal. ... Prince Hanzoku terrorized by a nine-tailed fox. ... ukiyo-e print of yōkai, by Aotoshi Matsui Yōkai apparitions, spirits, or demons, also romanized youkai, yokai, or yookai) are a class of obake, creatures in Japanese folklore (many with Chinese origins) ranging from the evil oni to the mischievous kitsune or snow woman Yuki-onna. ... Japanese Dragon water fountain in Fujiyoshida. ... Mount Hiei (Jp. ... Mount Fuji Mount Fuji , IPA: )   is the highest mountain in Japan. ... Izumo (Japanese: 出雲国; Izumo no kuni) was an old province of Japan which today consists of the eastern part of Shimane prefecture in the Chugoku region. ... In Japanese mythology, RyÅ«gÅ«-jō (竜宮城) is the undersea palace of RyÅ«jin, the dragon god of the sea. ... Takama-ga-hara (Japanese: 高天原), or The High Plain of Heaven, is a place in Japanese mythology. ... This article is about the location in japanese mythology. ...
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