Description:
This article examines the conflict during the Tokugawa period between various Shugen organizations and onmyōji (diviners) associated with the Tsuchimikado family. The Tsuchimikado family was given both imperial and shogunate sanction in the late seventeenth century as the official headquarters for all onmyōji throughout the country. The Tsuchimikado family used this authority to try to bring all divination activity under their authority, leading to legal action against various people for their "unauthorized" performance of divination. This article examines a number of specific disputes and traces the development of this issue through the Tokugawa period. The differences between the Tōzan-ha and Honzan-ha Shugen organizations, and between the Edo and Osaka/Kyoto areas, in the way the disputes were handled and settled, are highlighted.