Teito Monogatari

Teito Monogatari (帝都物語, lit., The Tale of the Imperial Capital?) is an epic historical dark fantasy/science fiction novel written by fantasy literature scholar and natural history specialist Hiroshi Aramata. It began circulation in a literary magazine owned by Kadokawa Shoten in 1983, and was eventually published in 12 individual volumes across 1985–1989. The story is a romanticized reconstruction of the 20th century history of Tokyo from an occultist perspective. It is renowned for being the first major work to popularize esoteric topics such as onmyodo mysticism and feng shui mythology in the world of Japanese supernatural fiction. It is also generally regarded as a heavily researched historical fiction in its own right. In 1987, the novel won the eighth Nihon SF Taisho Award for Best Japanese Science Fiction/Fantasy story. As of 2007 it has sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone.

The story revolves around Yasunori Katō, a mysterious former lieutenant of the Imperial Japanese Army, as well as a powerful onmyoji and an oni; the embodiment of the curse of the indigenous tribes of the Japanese islands who fought against the Yamato Court in ancient times. With his incredible knowledge of the supernatural and allies in China, Korea, and Taiwan; Katō becomes obsessed with destroying Tokyo, the seat of power of the modern Japanese Empire. Several fictional characters, such as Abe no Seimei's descendant Yasumasa Hirai and the valiant miko Keiko Tatsumiya, band together with historical personages, such as Koda Rohan, Izumi Kyoka, and Yukio Mishima; to stop Katō and save Tokyo. This culminates in an underground war filled with science, magic and politics which spans multiple generations. The narrative begins near the end Meiji Period and recreates major historical events such as the Great Kanto Earthquake, the founding of Japan's first subway, the February 26 Incident, the firebombing raids, the signing of the 1960 US Security Pact, and the ritual suicide of Yukio Mishima. The story finally reaches its climax in 1998, the 73rd year of a fictional Shōwa period.

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. His expectations were completely shattered when Teito Monogatari went on to become an incredible success with over 3 million copies sold in its first four years of publication.

Although the groundwork for the "occult dark fantasy" genre had already been laid through the works of popular authors such as Hideyuki Kikuchi and Baku Yumemakura, Teito Monogatari greatly expanded its scope and subject matter. Thus the work is generally considered the beginning of a new wave of scholarly and artistic popular interest in Eastern occult phenomena (usually simplified as just the "onmyodo boom"; although it also promoted interest in other subjects as well). Likewise many modern Japanese artists and scholars attribute inspiration to the work and its influence can still be felt to this very day.

The success of the novel started a franchise with spin-off works and prequels which elaborate on the history and backstory of the main novel.