Japanese films often go back in time to an era in which political intrigue and supernatural feats, resulting from a mastery of balancing ying with yang, play an important role. Directed by Yojiro Takita and based on a novel by Baku Yumemakura, Onmyoji (marketed in the United States as The Ying-Yang Master) provides plenty of magic and treachery. We are first told that the Mikado (emperor) abandoned Heijo (now called Nara), Japan's first capital city, in 794 to build Heian-kyo (a city that in the modern era is called Kyoto). When the film begins, about 150 years after the founding of Kyoto by the Emperor Kammu during the Heian period (794-1185), the court magician Doson (played by Hiroyuki Sanada) announces that a new defender of the Mikado (played by Ittoku Kishibe) is about to appear; the meaning of his statement is that the Mikado's favorite concubine will give birth to a son. However, the son turns out to be disfigured, obviously unlikely to be a warrior in time, and Doson fails in his efforts to use his magical powers to bring normality to the son. Accordingly, one of the two court ministers, Minamoto no Hiromasa (played by Hideaki Ito), decides to consult Abe no Seimei (played by Mansai Nomura), a magician outside the court. Seimei, indeed, successfully transforms the son into a normal child, but arouses the ire of Doson and thereby uncorks a sinister plot. Doson wants the Mikado and his line dead so that he can carry on the work of the former Mikado, Prince Sawara, who put a curse on Kyoto. The curse is held in check by his former spouse Lady Aone (played by Kyôko Koizumi), who as a result is condemned to eternal life. A showdown inevitably occurs, and good triumphs over evil through an unexpected sacrifice, while many supernatural feats and fights, rich costuming, and magnificent cinematography enliven the screen. Thus, in politics things are not always what they seem, and Onmyoji provides yet another example of shibai, the Japanese word for deception on a theatrical scale. MH

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