About the original

We calculate only from three books the founder wrote himself

Images of the books by Sonoda Shinjirō, who put Nine Star Ki together, are public at the National Diet Library. This site writes out the rules from their text and tables and shows them to you with page numbers.

Who was Sonoda Shinjirō?

Lived: 1876–1961
What he did: Around 1924, he is said to have put the way of reading the nine stars and directions together as “Ki-gaku” (the study of ki)
Publisher: Taishōkan (which also offered classes and readings)

In his preface to Kaisei Hōi Meikan, he says that the way the boards rotate is given exactly as in the old methods, and that how to use them comes from more than thirty years of practical experience.

The three books, and how this site uses them

Hōi Meikan

Kaisei Hōi Meikan (The Revised Mirror of Directions)

Edited by Sonoda Shinjirō | Taishōkan | 4th edition, 1934 | 57 spreads

The basis for the luck of directions. It contains the widths of the eight directions (30° and 60°), the year boundary (the time of the Start of Spring), which stars to use at each age, the definitions of lucky and unlucky directions, and tables of 180 year boards and 36 month boards.

On this site: birth stars, year and month boards, the luck of the eight directions

View in the National Diet Library Digital Collectionsdl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1102174

Urū Kaisetsu

Eto Kyūsei Urū Kaisetsu, with Sangō Genri (Commentary on the Leap Rule)

Sonoda Shinjirō | Taishōkan | 1930 | not for sale | 29 spreads

The rules for the star of each day. It sets the switch days between the period when the stars count up (the Yang sequence) and the period when they count down (the Yin sequence), the 60-day “leap” that corrects drift from the calendar, and where a day ends (midnight).

On this site: today's star, the day board, the switch days

View in the National Diet Library Digital Collectionsdl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1104437

Unsei Hiroku

Unsei Hiroku (The Secret Record of Fortunes), 1934 edition

Sonoda Shinjirō | 1934 | 68 spreads

A book that writes, for each of the nine stars, the fortune for the year and for each of the 12 months. Each month heading gives that star's lucky directions.

On this site: the order of the detailed chapters (work and money → home and travel → relationships → your health)

View in the National Diet Library Digital Collectionsdl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1089867

By “the original” we mean these three books (1930–1934). We have not looked at Sonoda Shinjirō's other works or at later teachings.

Three labels show where each point comes from

Stated in the original
Written as it is in the text, tables or figures.
Example: north, south, east and west are 30°, and the four corners 60° (Kaisei Hōi Meikan, original p. 4)

Derived from the original
Not written word for word, but settled by putting statements in the original side by side.
Example: year boards from 1984 on. The tables go up to 1983, but we continue the sequence, which repeats every 180 years.

Not in the original
Not set out anywhere in the three books. We do not fill these gaps with other books or schools; we show this label instead.
Examples: whether north means true north or magnetic north, how far away a direction starts to matter, how long the effect of a lucky direction lasts

Where we fill in what the original does not give

The calendar (dates and times of solar terms such as the Start of Spring)Calculated with modern astronomy, not with the calendar of the original's time. We check it against the almanac of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
Year boards from 1984 onThe original's tables go up to 1983. We continue the sequence, which repeats every 180 years. Derived from the original
The day boardThe original has no table for the day board. We build it from the rule for the center star and the order in which the stars are arranged. Derived from the original
How to combine the two starsThere is no rule for deciding when the year and month stars give different readings. This site shows as good only the directions that are “lucky for both stars.” Not in the original

The original text was read by this site from the public images. It has not been edited by a specialist, so misreadings are possible. Quotations keep the old character forms and old kana spelling.

How this differs from what you usually see

Four reasons results differ from quick-reference charts

Methods vary between schools and books. This is not a comparison of which is more accurate; it lays out the differences in where each comes from.

1The month star is used together with the year star

Common formLucky directions are found from the single star of your birth year (your birth star).

OriginalThe stars used change with age: the day star up to 60 days after birth, the month and day stars up to age 19, and the year and month stars from age 20.

「二十歲以上は、年月の本命二星を以て吉方を併用す。」Kaisei Hōi Meikan, original p. 9 (“From age 20, use the two birth stars of year and month together for lucky directions.”)

2Directions are 30° and 60° wide

Common formSome schools divide the eight directions into equal 45° parts.

OriginalIt sets north, south, east and west at 30° and the four corners at 60°. It also notes that the board diagrams are printed with equal widths only to make room for the characters.

「四正は各三十度。四隅は各六十度であつて、斯く定めて適用すると凡ての作用がよく符合するのである。」Kaisei Hōi Meikan, original p. 4 (“The four cardinal directions are 30° each and the four corners 60° each; set this way and applied, every effect matches well.”)

3The day's lucky direction carries the least weight

Common form“Today's lucky direction” is put at the center of each day.

OriginalIt teaches that the weight grows from day to month to year.

「日よりは月の吉方が貴く、月よりは年の吉方が重且つ大である」Kaisei Hōi Meikan, original p. 10 (“A lucky direction of the month is worth more than one of the day, and a lucky direction of the year is weightier and greater than one of the month.”)

This is why this site shows “this month's good directions” the largest.

4How the switch days of the day stars are set

Common formSchools differ on the switch days and on how to insert the “leap” that corrects the drift.

OriginalCounting starts from the Yang Wood Rat day closest to the winter or summer solstice. A day ends at midnight.

「冬至夏至に近き甲子の日を以て陽遁上元甲子一白を起し亦陰遁上元甲子九紫を中宮に起する原則によるものである」Eto Kyūsei Urū Kaisetsu, original p. 29 (“It follows the principle of starting the Yang sequence, Upper cycle, at Yang Wood Rat with One White, and the Yin sequence, Upper cycle, at Yang Wood Rat with Nine Purple at the center, on the Yang Wood Rat day nearest the winter or summer solstice.”)

The “common form” texts are samples. Before launch, we will record the title, year and page of each book compared before publishing them.

We check our answers against the original's worked example

Kaisei Hōi Meikan, original p. 8, has one example listing a date of birth and its stars.

Born	January 20, 1928
Year	Yin Fire Rabbit · 1 White	Before the Start of Spring, so the star of the previous year
Month	Yin Water Ox · 6 White	The Ox month, after Minor Cold
Day	Yin Earth Goat · 2 Black	Counted from the Yang Wood Rat day 27 days before the winter solstice

The day's “2 Black” does not match if you count from the Yang Wood Rat day after the winter solstice. Calculating by the original's rule, which counts from the Yang Wood Rat day closer to the solstice, gives the same answer. Derived from the original

We note misprints without correcting them

Page	As printed	Reading
original p. 21	「一白氷」	「一白水」 (One White Water)
original p. 41	「大德方」	「大歲方」 (Grand Year direction)
original p. 32	「月盤の端方」	「月盤の破方」 (the Breaker direction of the month board; our guess)

After transcribing the 180 year boards and 36 month boards, we checked every arrangement against each other.

Enter your date of birth to see boards that follow the originalFree · no sign-up