Seidai-Myōjin (精大明神 Seidaimyōjin) is a monkey-like kami.
Appearance[]
Seidai-Myōjin resembles a monkey with a glowing ball floating on top of their head. They wear a spotted, blue kimono.
History[]
Video Games[]
- Seidai-Myōjin appears in GeGeGe no Kitarō: Yōkai Yokochō as an E-Rank yōkai.
Legend[]
Illustration of Seidai-Myōjin
Seidai-Myōjin is the kami of the game kemari. He is enshrined in Hirano Shrine, Matsumoto, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. He is said to be the manifestation of the kami Sarutahiko Ōkami. Since kemari isn't practiced as much as during the Heian Period, Seidai-Myōjin is now considered the kami of all ball games, being particularly popular with soccer players.
During the reign of Emperor Go-Toba, Heian Period nobleman Fujiwara no Narimichi practiced kemari for 7,000 days straight, kicking the ball. On the final night of practice, Fujiwara was visited by three spirits that looked either like young boys or monkeys, and all three were holding kemari balls and wore a golden ball on top of their heads. The three spirits said they were the spirits of kemari, and said "In an era when people love kemari, the country will prosper, good people will govern, good fortune will be brought, people will live longer, and there will be no illness. Furthermore, while people's minds are constantly troubled, kemari lovers, when they stand in the garden, will only think of the ball, and their minds will become lighter, creating connections that will have a positive effect on reincarnation and increasing their merit." The three spirits then explained that if a kemari player is called by name, the three of them will automatically appear by them and help in the game, but only if the place they're playing it has willow trees, since those plants act as their mode of transportation. The three spirits then left.
Shigeru Mizuki merged both Seidai-Myōjin and the kemari spirits into a single kami, though when recounting the legend of the latter, he renamed Fujiwara no Narimichi into Dainagon Narimichi.