What Is Kyusei Kigaku (Nine Star Ki)? Reading Temperament from the Nine Stars of Your Birth Year, from the Luoshu to Japan’s Kigaku

“You are an Ippaku Suisei (One White Water Star).” “People of the Roppaku Kinsei (Six White Metal Star) have a strong sense of responsibility.” Perhaps you have seen phrases like these in fortune-telling or on a shrine calendar. This is Kyusei Kigaku (Nine Star Ki). From your birth year, it works out which of nine stars, from One White to Nine Purple, is yours, and from that star’s nature reads temperament, fortune, compatibility and even auspicious directions.

The names of the nine stars, such as “Ippaku Suisei” and “Jikoku Dosei,” pack a number, a color and one of the five elements into a single name, so at first they sound like a spell. This article unpicks that spell one piece at a time: what the star names mean, how to find your own star, and what the “month star” (getsumeisei) worked out from your birth month and the “inclined palace” (keishakyu), which shows where your temperament leans, are. Whenever a specialist term appears, we restate it in a “Put simply” quote box.

Auspicious directions (which way to go to improve your luck), one of the main pillars of Kyusei Kigaku, are covered in detail in our sister article, “What Is Auspicious Direction (Direction Fortune-Telling)?” Here we do not go deep into directions and focus on how to read the temperament of the nine stars. Later on we also add our own reflections that go beyond summarizing the origins.

Key points (a 3-minute summary)

• Kyusei Kigaku is a fortune-telling art developed in Japan that works out which of nine stars (One White Water Star to Nine Purple Fire Star) you belong to from your birth year, and reads temperament, fortune, compatibility and directions. It goes back to the yin-yang and five-elements thought of ancient China.
• The arrangement of the nine stars is said to originate from the “Luoshu” (Rakusho), a magic square said to have appeared on the shell of a turtle: a 3×3 layout of numbers in which every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15.
• Your own star (honmeisei) is found by adding up the digits of your birth year down to one digit and subtracting that from 11. The year changes not on New Year’s Day but at the start of spring (Risshun, around February 4), so people born in January to early February have the previous year’s star.
• Besides the honmeisei, there is a “month star” found from your birth month, and their combination is used to read the “inclined palace” (which palace your temperament leans toward). Think of it as reading in two layers: the outer face and the inner face.
• Sonoda Shinjiro is said to have put today’s Kyusei Kigaku together as “Kigaku,” but the year he did so differs between sources. It is also worth knowing that original sources are scarce and that there are critical views.
• No established scientific research confirms that it comes true. We recommend enjoying it lightly as a chance to look at yourself again, without labeling people by their stars.

What is Kyusei Kigaku? Reading temperament and fortune from the “star” of your birth year

Kyusei Kigaku classifies everyone by birth year into one of nine stars. The nine stars are: Ippaku Suisei (One White Water), Jikoku Dosei (Two Black Earth), Sanpeki Mokusei (Three Jade Wood), Shiroku Mokusei (Four Green Wood), Goo Dosei (Five Yellow Earth), Roppaku Kinsei (Six White Metal), Shichisekii Kinsei (Seven Red Metal), Happaku Dosei (Eight White Earth) and Kyushi Kasei (Nine Purple Fire). In each name, the “One, Two, Three…” is the star’s number, “White, Black, Jade, Green, Yellow, Red, Purple” is the star’s color, and the final “Water, Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire” shows one of the five elements (gogyo), the five qualities said to make up all things.

This classification has been used in two broad ways. One is to read a person’s inborn temperament and the flow of fortune through life. The other is as a direction art, to judge which directions are lucky and unlucky for a person. In Japan it has been known widely as a technique for choosing directions for moving house or travel.

Our “Kyusei Kigaku” tool handles the former, reading temperament and tendencies. It finds your honmeisei from your birth year and your month star from your birth month, then shows the “palace” your temperament leans toward from the combination of the two stars. Auspicious directions and the unlucky directions of the year are handled by a separate tool, “Direction Fortune (simple Kyusei Kigaku).”

Put simply, Kyusei Kigaku is “fortune-telling with nine personality types decided by birth year.” The “number” in a star’s name is a number, the “color” is an image color, and “Water, Earth, Wood, Metal, Fire” are the five elements showing that type’s nature.

An example used in this article: Person A’s nine stars

Kyusei Kigaku uses a slightly unusual calculation based on birth year, so an example helps. In this article we explain using a fictional “Person A,” with results actually calculated by our tool. Person A is a woman born on January 1, 2000 (not a real person).

Here is Person A’s result first. The honmeisei is “One White Water Star (Ippaku Suisei),” the month star is “Seven Red Metal Star (Shichisekii Kinsei),” and the inclined palace is “Gon Palace (Gonkyu).” Although born in 2000, the star is not “Nine Purple Fire Star” but “One White Water Star” because the birthday, January 1, comes before Risshun, the start of spring. We explain the reason in detail later. At the end of each chapter we read the actual result as “In Person A’s case.”

The origins of Kyusei Kigaku: from a turtle-shell magic square to Meiji and Taisho Japan

The legend of the Luoshu: nine numbers on a sacred turtle’s back

The starting point of the nine stars lies in a legend of ancient China. When Yu, said to be the founder of the Xia dynasty, was controlling floods on the Luo River, a sacred turtle appeared from the river, and on its shell dots were arranged in nine sections. This is said to be the “Luoshu” (Rakusho). Yu is said to have gained an idea from that pattern for governing the world.

The layout of the Luoshu is a magic square with the numbers 1 to 9 in a 3×3 grid. The arrangement is as follows (south is at the top, as on our nine-star board).

• Top row: 4, 9, 2
• Middle row: 3, 5, 7
• Bottom row: 8, 1, 6

Add any row, any column or either diagonal, and the sum is always 15. For ancient people, this mysterious balance hidden in numbers must have looked like the order of heaven and earth itself. The 5 sits in the center, and the other eight numbers surround it.

Put simply, the Luoshu is “a mysterious 3×3 arrangement of numbers, said to have appeared on a turtle’s shell, in which every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15.” The nine stars of Kyusei Kigaku are these nine numbers tied to colors and the five elements.

There is an explanation that the system of nine stars was completed in about the Tang dynasty, when the eight trigrams (hakke, the eight basic figures of the I Ching) and the five elements were tied to these nine numbers. However, explanations on this point also waver between sources, and a definite date cannot be confirmed. Here it is enough to grasp the broad flow: on the foundation of the legendary Luoshu, the system of nine stars took shape in combination with the ideas of the I Ching and the five elements.

Spread in Japan: the nine stars as a calendar note

In Japan the nine stars were used in Onmyodo (the way of yin and yang), applied to a person’s birth year and to directions, and came to be written into the calendar. According to one source, the “star of the day” that appears in calendars is, after the six-day cycle (rokuyo), the best-known kind of rekichu (notes on a calendar marking good and bad luck), and it can still be seen today on shrine calendars and wall calendars.

Daily notes such as “which star enters the center today” have blended into our lives more than you might think. But the present form, in which you work out your own “birth-year star” and read temperament and fortune, is a little newer and was put in order in modern Japan.

Sonoda Shinjiro and “Kigaku”: a founding period that sources disagree on

The person many sources name as the starting point of today’s Kyusei Kigaku is Sonoda Shinjiro (1876 to 1961). He was from Kiryu in Gunma Prefecture and, as a fortune-teller, is said to have used the name Ogino Chikaku. He is said to have simplified the nine-star art, drawing on the Edo-period “Kyusei Hokangaku” and similar works, and to have put it together as “Kigaku,” through which Kigaku became widely known in Japan.

The date, however, differs between sources. Some give Meiji 42 (1909), some Taisho 13 (1924), and others write Meiji 24 (1891). There is also a source that says it spread through lecture meetings in Taisho 14 (1925). “The year it was compiled,” “the year it spread,” or how the stages of systematization are counted may differ from source to source. Rather than declare which is correct, this site takes it broadly as “something that happened from the end of Meiji into Taisho.”

Sonoda is said to have left many works, including “Kigaku to Koun,” “Kigaku Shinkai,” “Homei Kagami,” and the 41-volume “Kigaku Zenshu.” The history of Kigaku as a direction art (Heian-period kata-tagae, the Demon Gate, Edo-period house physiognomy and so on) is written in detail in the sister article on direction fortune-telling.

Put simply, Kyusei Kigaku is “the idea of nine stars, derived from an ancient magic square (the Luoshu), reworked in modern Japan into a form easy to use as birth-year fortune-telling.”

The cast of the nine stars: what temperament does each star have?

From here we look at the nine stars one by one. Each star is linked to a five-element nature, its position on the “later heaven board” (koten teii ban, the standard arrangement in which the nine stars sit) and an image from nature. The impressions below are rough ones in our own words. In practice, the expression changes with birth month and with combinations with other stars.

One White Water Star (Ippaku Suisei): a supple star of adaptability, like water

Its element is water and its basic position is north. Like water, it fits any shape of container and can enter any gap, and adaptability is its strength. It is said to be a good listener and to become the lubricant of human relationships. On the other side, it can go along with the flow too much and let its own will blur.

Two Black Earth Star (Jikoku Dosei): a steady star that nurtures, like the earth

Its element is earth and its basic position is southwest. Like the earth, it has the power to grow things over time. Even without flashiness, it is said to excel at building up steadily behind the scenes. But it may take on too much and end up with a heavy burden.

Three Jade Wood Star (Sanpeki Mokusei): a star of quick reflexes, moving like thunder

Its element is wood and its basic position is east. It has thunder-like burst power, acts fast, and easily takes the first step in starting something new. Inspiration and drive are its strengths, but while it is good at starting, it may need to make a conscious effort to stick with things when perseverance is called for.

Four Green Wood Star (Shiroku Mokusei): a connector star that carries relationships, like the wind

Its element is wood and its basic position is southeast. Like the wind, it easily becomes a go-between that carries and links people and information. It is said to be blessed with trust and connections through others, but it may fall into indecision by paying attention in too many places.

Five Yellow Earth Star (Goo Dosei): a star of strong fortune, seated at the center of the board

Its element is earth and its basic position is the center. Among the nine stars it is the only one that belongs to no direction and sits in the middle of the board, a special star. It is said to carry waves of strong fortune that move things greatly, for better or worse, and to demand a wide vessel to receive that magnitude. It is also said to show its strength more when given responsible roles.

Hearing “strong star” may make you brace yourself, but this is not a matter of good or bad; it is an expression of the individuality of a wide swing in fortune. It is by no means a “bad star.”

Six White Metal Star (Roppaku Kinsei): a star of leadership with the viewpoint of heaven

Its element is metal and its basic position is northwest. It is said to have a high vantage point like the heavens, strong pride, and the leadership to be entrusted with responsible positions. Pride is a strength, but it may show up as stubbornness or difficulty in relying on others.

Seven Red Metal Star (Shichisekii Kinsei): a sociable star that draws people, like a marsh

Its element is metal and its basic position is west. Like a marsh (a waterside), it has a charm that naturally gathers people, and it is said to be blessed with talent for being sociable and making enjoyable occasions. The power to entertain people is a great weapon, but by putting enjoyment first it may let the steady parts slide.

Eight White Earth Star (Happaku Dosei): a star of transitions that sees the turning point, like a mountain

Its element is earth and its basic position is northeast. Solid like a mountain, it is said to excel at sensing turning points and the timing of change. It is cautious and has the strength of not moving once decided, but resistance to change may show strongly.

Nine Purple Fire Star (Kyushi Kasei): a star of sensibility that shines, like a flame

Its element is fire and its basic position is south. Like the sun or a flame, it shines intensely for a moment, and is said to have sharp sensibility and an affinity for honor and the spotlight. Passionate charm is its strength, but because it flares up quickly, it is a star to watch for cooling off quickly and for vanity coming first.

Put simply, the nine stars are likened to nine scenes of nature: “water, earth, thunder, wind, (the center), heaven, marsh, mountain and fire.” Picturing the scene of your own star makes its temperament much easier to imagine.

What deserves attention is that these explanations are not verdicts that “a person of that star is certainly like this.” It is impossible for everyone of the same star to have the same personality. Please read the star descriptions only as “tendencies” and “metaphors,” and gently pick up only the parts that fit you.

[Person A’s case] Person A’s honmeisei is the One White Water Star. It is read as a star that is supple like water, adaptable and a good listener, valued as a coordinator in human relationships. In our tool’s explanation, tendencies such as the following are shown: love is “a good listener’s attitude closes the distance,” work is “flexibility as a coordinator is valued,” and money is “steady management that goes with the flow suits.”

The foundation for reading stars: a simple look at the five elements and eight trigrams

The nine stars are assigned the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water). Between the five elements there are two kinds of relationship.

• Mutual generation (sosho), the relationship of nurturing each other: wood produces fire, fire produces earth, earth produces metal, metal produces water, and water produces wood.
• Mutual overcoming (sokoku), the relationship of holding each other in check: wood checks earth, earth checks water, water checks fire, fire checks metal, and metal checks wood.

For example, for a water star (One White Water Star), the wood stars (Three Jade Wood, Four Green Wood) are in the relationship of water nurturing wood, that is, “someone you pour your strength into and grow.” Conversely, water puts out fire, so with a fire star (Nine Purple Fire) it is said to easily become a tense relationship of clashing energies. Compatibility between stars (reading by the relationship between the five elements of two people’s honmeisei) rests on this idea too.

Another thing that comes up when speaking of the nature of the nine stars is the eight trigrams (hakke). They are the eight basic figures of the I Ching, each tied to an image of nature. On the nine-star board, one trigram sits in each of the eight positions other than the center.

• Kan: water. The north position (One White Water Star).
• Kon: earth. The southwest position (Two Black Earth Star).
• Shin: thunder. The east position (Three Jade Wood Star).
• Son: wind. The southeast position (Four Green Wood Star).
• Ken: heaven. The northwest position (Six White Metal Star).
• Da: marsh. The west position (Seven Red Metal Star).
• Gon: mountain. The northeast position (Eight White Earth Star).
• Ri: fire. The south position (Nine Purple Fire Star).

When we likened the nine stars earlier to “water, earth, thunder, wind, heaven, marsh, mountain and fire,” it came from the images of these eight trigrams. Only the Five Yellow Earth Star at the center sits in a special position with no trigram.

Put simply, the five elements are a compatibility chart of “cheering each other on (mutual generation) or putting the brakes on each other (mutual overcoming),” and the eight trigrams are “eight images of nature.” The nine stars overlay these two to express each one’s individuality.

How to find your honmeisei: add the digits of your birth year and subtract from 11

The honmeisei is your “basic star,” decided by your birth year. It never changes in your life. Our method of calculation is as follows.

1. Add up the digits of your birth year (Western calendar), repeating until you have one digit.
2. Subtract that number from 11.
3. If the answer is 0 or below, add 9; if it is greater than 9, subtract 9. This is the number of your honmeisei.

For example, for someone born in 1990: 1+9+9+0=19, then 1+9=10, then 1+0=1. 11-1=10, and subtracting 9 gives 1, that is, One White Water Star. Because of this calculation, the honmeisei number goes down by one with each year of birth. After One White it returns to 9, Nine Purple. It is a cycle that completes a round in nine years.

Using our tool to produce the honmeisei for a person born on June 1, year by year, gives the following.

• 1996: Four Green Wood Star
• 1997: Three Jade Wood Star
• 1998: Two Black Earth Star
• 1999: One White Water Star
• 2000: Nine Purple Fire Star
• 2001: Eight White Earth Star
• 2002: Seven Red Metal Star
• 2003: Six White Metal Star
• 2004: Five Yellow Earth Star

Put simply, the honmeisei is “one of nine types decided by a simple calculation using your birth year.” As years advance, the star number goes down by one, and after nine years it returns. That is why people nine years apart share the same honmeisei.

The year changes at the start of spring: people born in January or early February have the previous year’s star

Here is the biggest stumbling point. In Kyusei Kigaku the year changes not on New Year’s Day but at Risshun (the start of spring). Risshun is the day spring begins in the calendar, roughly February 4. So people born from January 1 up to about the day before Risshun have the previous year’s star. It is the same idea as the year pillar in Four Pillars of Destiny.

[Person A’s case] Person A was born on January 1, 2000. Because that is before Risshun (around February 4, 2000), we calculate not as 2000 but as the previous year, 1999. 1+9+9+9=28, then 2+8=10, then 1+0=1. 11-1=10, and subtracting 9 gives 1. So Person A is not “Nine Purple Fire Star” but “One White Water Star.” Incidentally, even among people born in 2000, checking with the tool shows the star splits here: February 3 gives One White Water Star and February 4 gives Nine Purple Fire Star.

However, the switch at Risshun actually happens at a certain time during the day. Our tool is a simple version that judges by date only, so for people born on the day of Risshun itself, depending on the time, the result may differ by one from the true star.

What is the month star? Another star found from your birth month

If the honmeisei is the “basic star” decided by birth year, the month star (getsumeisei) is “another star” decided by birth month. If the honmeisei is the face shown to the world, the outer face, it is sometimes explained that the month star represents the face shown only to those close to you, that is, your inner face and behavioral habits.

The month star is decided by the honmeisei and the birth month. The birth month is counted not by month of the solar calendar but by “setsu-getsu,” the month divided at setsu-iri (the twelve “setsu” among the twenty-four solar terms that mark the change of month). The honmeisei numbers fall into three groups, and for each group the month star for each month is fixed. The correspondence table produced with our tool is as follows.

• People whose honmeisei is One White, Four Green or Seven Red: Tora month (from Risshun) = Eight White, U month = Seven Red, Tatsu month = Six White, Mi month = Five Yellow, Uma month = Four Green, Hitsuji month = Three Jade, Saru month = Two Black, Tori month = One White, Inu month = Nine Purple, I month = Eight White, Ne month = Seven Red, Ushi month = Six White.
• People whose honmeisei is Two Black, Five Yellow or Eight White: Tora month = Two Black, U month = One White, Tatsu month = Nine Purple, Mi month = Eight White, Uma month = Seven Red, Hitsuji month = Six White, Saru month = Five Yellow, Tori month = Four Green, Inu month = Three Jade, I month = Two Black, Ne month = One White, Ushi month = Nine Purple.
• People whose honmeisei is Three Jade, Six White or Nine Purple: Tora month = Five Yellow, U month = Four Green, Tatsu month = Three Jade, Mi month = Two Black, Uma month = One White, Hitsuji month = Nine Purple, Saru month = Eight White, Tori month = Seven Red, Inu month = Six White, I month = Five Yellow, Ne month = Four Green, Ushi month = Three Jade.

The months are named by the twelve signs. The Tora month runs from Risshun to just before Keichitsu (roughly early February to early March), the U month from Keichitsu to just before Seimei, and so on, advancing about a month at a time. The Ne month runs from Taisetsu to just before Shokan (roughly early December to early January), and the Ushi month from Shokan to just before Risshun (roughly early January to early February).

Put simply, the month star is “a second star found by laying birth-month information over the star of your birth year (honmeisei).” It looks more finely, by month, at the nine types split by year, expressing that “even with the same honmeisei, the shade of the inner self differs by birth month.”

[Person A’s case] Person A’s honmeisei is One White, so she is in the One White, Four Green, Seven Red group. January 1, 2000 falls in the “Ne month,” from Taisetsu (early December) to Shokan (early January). In the table above, the Ne month is “Seven Red.” So Person A’s month star is the Seven Red Metal Star: a sociable star that draws people, like a marsh. It can be read that her outer face is the One White, adaptable like water, and that inside she holds the temperament of Seven Red, good at entertaining people.

What is the inclined palace? Which “palace” does your temperament lean toward?

The inclined palace (keishakyu) is a technique that reads, from the combination of the honmeisei and the month star, which of the eight palaces of the nine-star board your temperament leans toward. Palaces are linked to directions and trigram positions: the Kan palace (water), Kon palace (earth), Shin palace (thunder), Son palace (wind), Ken palace (heaven), Da palace (marsh), Gon palace (mountain) and Ri palace (fire), plus the central palace (chugu).

The picture of how to find it is this. Put the month star in the center of the nine-star board. The stars on the board then shift and rearrange. The palace where the honmeisei then sits is that person’s inclined palace. In the actual calculation, we shift the board by the number obtained by subtracting 5 from the month star’s number.

For example, when the month star is the Five Yellow Earth Star (the star that originally sits in the center), the board does not shift, so the honmeisei sits in its original position.

Put simply, the inclined palace is decided by “when you put the month star in the middle of the board, where does the honmeisei sit?” The direction and natural image (water, mountain, fire and so on) of the seat the honmeisei takes is read as the “lean” of your temperament.

A rough reading of temperament for each inclined palace is as follows.

• Kan palace (water): a temperament that quietly turns wisdom over, like water.
• Kon palace (earth): the embracing, nurturing power of the earth.
• Shin palace (thunder): the burst power and drive of thunder.
• Son palace (wind): the flexibility of wind, a temperament that values connection with people.
• Ken palace (heaven): the leadership and dignity of heaven.
• Da palace (marsh): the sociability and brilliance of a marsh.
• Gon palace (mountain): the caution of a mountain, the power to see turning points.
• Ri palace (fire): the intellect and insight of fire.
• Central palace: positioned at the center, the largeness of vessel and the makings of a late bloomer.

[Person A’s case] Person A’s month star is the Seven Red Metal Star. Put Seven Red in the center of the nine-star board and shift the board, and the position where the One White honmeisei sits is the northeast “Gon palace.” The Gon palace expresses the caution of a mountain and the power to see turning points. So it can be read that Person A’s outer face (One White Water Star) is supple like water, her inner shade (the Seven Red Metal month star) is friendly, and her overall temperament leans toward a mountain-like direction of carefully weighing turning points. When the three readings overlap, a three-dimensional portrait emerges: “gently close to people, but careful when deciding.”

Another example: Person B (a man born on May 15, 1990)

Person B is a man born on May 15, 1990. Because 1990 is a birth after Risshun, we calculate as 1990, and the honmeisei is One White Water Star. The birth month is the “Mi month,” from Rikka to just before Boshu, and for the One White, Four Green, Seven Red group the Mi month is “Five Yellow,” so the month star is the Five Yellow Earth Star. When the month star is Five Yellow, the board does not shift, so the One White honmeisei sits in its original position, the northern “Kan palace.” The Kan palace expresses a temperament that quietly turns wisdom over, like water. Even with the same One White Water Star as Person A, this is an example where the shade differs because the month star and inclined palace differ.

When the honmeisei and month star are the same star (central-palace lean)

Rarely, there are people whose honmeisei and month star are the same star. For example, for someone born on September 15, 1963, the honmeisei is One White Water Star and the birth month is the Tori month; in the One White, Four Green, Seven Red group, Tori month = One White, so the month star is also One White Water Star. This case where the honmeisei and month star overlap is traditionally called “chugu keisha” (central-palace lean) and the like, and because the ordinary shifting calculation cannot be done, it is explained that a special substitute table is used. Our tool adopts a substitute table whose contents agree across several sources, and in this example it gives the “Ri palace.”

Only for the combination in which both the honmeisei and the month star are the Five Yellow Earth Star, sources split by gender: “Da palace for men, Ken palace for women.” For example, someone born on August 15, 1968 falls under this. So in our tool, when the optional gender field is left blank, the inclined palace shows “cannot be determined,” and when male or female is chosen it is fixed and displayed.

How to read our “Kyusei Kigaku”

Let us match what we have covered to the results screen of our tool. When you enter your date of birth (gender is optional), a “Kyusei Kigaku” card appears.

• Honmeisei: The card’s heading shows the star’s name (such as One White Water Star). The card is colored to match the five elements.
• Star explanation: A one-sentence summary of the honmeisei’s temperament.
• Love, work and money: A phrase on the tendency in each, prepared for each honmeisei.
• Month star: The name of the second star found from the birth month (based on setsu-iri) and the honmeisei.
• [Inclined palace]: The name of the palace your temperament leans toward, found from the month star, and a phrase on that palace’s temperament.
• Note: An explanation of the inclined palace calculation, and a remark that the month star is a simple calculation based on setsu-iri.
• Gender (optional): Needed to fix the inclined palace only when both the honmeisei and the month star are Five Yellow Earth Star. For any other result, gender has no effect.

There are some points to keep in mind when using it. First, Risshun and setsu-iri are judged by date. Because time of day is not considered, people born on the day of Risshun or setsu-iri may get a result one star off from the actual one. Second, full Kyusei Kigaku also reads where your honmeisei has moved on the board in that year, that month and that day (the year board, month board and day board), but our tool does not cover these. Finally, directions (auspicious and unlucky) and the year’s Goo-satsu and Anken-satsu can be seen not in this “Kyusei Kigaku” but in the separate “Direction Fortune (simple Kyusei Kigaku).”

The result is one simple way of reading among many schools and readings. Enjoy it as a hint for self-understanding.

Quick glossary of Kyusei Kigaku terms

Here are the terms from the article in one line each. Use it as a dictionary when you are unsure.

• Kyusei (nine stars): The nine stars from One White Water Star to Nine Purple Fire Star.
• Rakusho (Luoshu): A 3×3 magic square said to have appeared on a turtle’s shell, whose rows, columns and diagonals add up to 15. The origin of the nine stars.
• Koten teii ban (later heaven board): The basic arrangement in which the nine stars sit as a standard.
• Gogyo (five elements): The five qualities of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.
• Sosho and sokoku: The relationships of “nurturing each other” and “checking each other” among the five elements.
• Hakke (eight trigrams): The eight basic figures of the I Ching. Tied to images of nature (water, earth, thunder, wind, heaven, marsh, mountain, fire).
• Honmeisei: The basic star decided by birth year. It never changes in life.
• Getsumeisei (month star): Another star decided by the honmeisei and the birth month.
• Keishakyu (inclined palace): The palace toward which temperament leans, read from the combination of the honmeisei and the month star.
• Chugu keisha (central-palace lean): The name for when the honmeisei and month star are the same star. A substitute table is used.
• Risshun (start of spring): The marker at which the year changes in Kyusei Kigaku. Roughly February 4.
• Setsu-iri: The day of entering one of the twelve “setsu” among the twenty-four solar terms that mark a change of month. The month division for the month star.
• Nenban, getsuban, nichiban (year, month and day boards): Boards showing which star enters the center each year, month or day (not covered on this site).
• Goo-satsu and anken-satsu: Directions to avoid in a given year. The domain of direction fortune-telling.
• Rekichu: Notes such as good and bad luck attached to a calendar. The star of the day, rokuyo and so on.

Criticism of Kyusei Kigaku, and limits worth knowing

Kyusei Kigaku also has critical views. In fairness, we introduce here the main points made in the sources we checked.

• The way of finding the honmeisei is the same for men and women. There is a pointed remark that the star from a birth year should properly differ between men and women (Wikipedia’s entry on Kyusei Kigaku also has a description to that effect).
• A remark that when Sonoda Shinjiro compiled Kigaku, the sources available were limited, so he filled in many parts with his own interpretation.
• As one example, a description that the division of directions was first taken at 45 degrees each and later changed to 30 or 60 degrees.
• The point that the source material of the original nine-star art has hardly survived, making verification difficult.

These depend largely on the standpoint and evaluation of the writers of the sources, and this site cannot say they are correct or mistaken. Still, it is worth knowing that Kyusei Kigaku is not an “unchanging teaching handed down in one form for thousands of years,” but a system reassembled by human hands in modern times.

Also, for any fortune-telling that divides people into nine types by birth year or month, including Kyusei Kigaku, it cannot be said that there is established scientific research confirming that it comes true. The classification is coarse, and it is natural that people of the same star walk entirely different lives.

How is Kyusei Kigaku used today?

In Japan, Kyusei Kigaku remains widely loved in books, shrine calendars, wall calendars, fortune-telling sites and apps. Some people use it to choose directions for moving house or travel, rebuilding a home, or the day to open a business, while others use it at New Year to check “this year’s fortune.”

If Four Pillars of Destiny, in our sister article, is a fortune-telling art that reads a detailed chart centered on the sexagenary cycle of the day of birth, Kyusei Kigaku is a relatively easy-to-grasp art that divides people into nine types centered on birth year. That ease makes it popular with beginners. On the other hand, as with Four Pillars, the way of reading and the idea of unlucky directions differ by school and by reader.

Note that there is no established research that statistically or scientifically confirms that fortune or personality judgments by Kyusei Kigaku come true. This site introduces this fortune-telling as a culture with a long history and system, and as a chance to look at yourself again.

Four tips for enjoying Kyusei Kigaku

1. Picture the “scene of your star”: Water, earth, thunder, wind, heaven, marsh, mountain, fire. Picturing the scene from nature of your own star or inclined palace lets your imagination go much further than a stiff personality test.
2. Pick up only what fits: The star descriptions are tendencies and metaphors. Gently pick up only the parts that feel “like me,” and do not worry about the parts that do not fit. That is a good way to enjoy it.
3. Check the stars of family and friends too: Because the honmeisei can be found from the birth year alone, it becomes a conversation starter about the stars of family and friends. Just get the other person’s permission and avoid using it to decide “this star means this kind of person.”
4. Do not panic if results differ: The handling of Risshun, the way of finding the month star and the calculation of the inclined palace can differ by site and reader. Comparing several results is also one way of enjoying it.

Reflections: why have people laid themselves over “nine stars”?

From here, instead of summarizing origins and mechanisms, we look at Kyusei Kigaku in our own way. What follows is not established theory but our own speculation and hypotheses, as we note in advance.

Can nine types alone describe a person? The power of “coarseness”

Kyusei Kigaku divides people into just nine types. Compared with the Four Pillars chart, which in theory can produce about half a million patterns, it is a strikingly coarse classification. In our view, this “coarseness” may be one reason Kyusei Kigaku has been loved for so long.

Nine you can remember. The star of your family, of friends, of colleagues. You can bring it into conversation casually. Without a difficult calculation, a single birth year puts everyone on the same footing. When fortune-telling moves from “something for experts” to “something for everyone,” coarseness of classification becomes a weapon. More than being fine and accurate, being “easy to talk about” is what roots fortune-telling in daily life.

Moreover, this classification completes a round in nine years. People nine years apart share the same star. Parents and children, or friends far apart in age, share the same star. This is speculation, but this feeling of “the same star across generations” may be part of why the nine stars are more than a personality classification and become a way of starting conversation that connects people.

The Luoshu’s “15”: an aesthetic of balance, transferred onto the classification of people

In the Luoshu magic square, every row, column and diagonal adds up to 15. From whichever direction you look, the sum is the same. For people of ancient times, this perfect balance must have looked like a form symbolizing the order of the universe.

This is our speculation, but Kyusei Kigaku may be a fortune-telling art that transferred this “aesthetic of balance” onto the human world. The nine stars have no ranking in which one is above and another below. Water, earth, thunder, wind, heaven, marsh, mountain and fire each sit in their own position on the board. It is not that someone is a “good star” and someone a “bad star”; all are beings sitting in different seats on the same board. Seen that way, the story of the nine stars looks like a miniature of a world in which diverse people coexist.

The Five Yellow Earth Star as “the center”: a star that sits next to no one

Among the nine stars, only the Five Yellow Earth Star belongs to no direction and sits in the middle of the board. A center surrounded by eight palaces. This also means it is not adjacent to any other star.

This is our speculation, but might the loneliness and responsibility of that position be layered over the way the Five Yellow Earth Star has been described as “carrying waves of strong fortune” and “needing a large vessel”? The center is visible from every direction but has nowhere to hide in any direction. That, perhaps, is why a story arose of a star that stands out, for better or worse, and moves things greatly.

What matters is that this is not a story of a “scary star.” A person who sits in the middle can be a place everyone around them can rely on. There is no need to brace yourself on reading the Five Yellow Earth Star’s description. A wide swing is also the flip side of great potential.

The honmeisei and month star: a second star so as not to fit “a single mold”

Dividing people into nine by the honmeisei alone is inevitably cramped. So the “month star” found from birth month is added. That gives 9 x 9 combinations. Adding the inclined palace as well, even the same honmeisei differs in the shade of the inner self and the lean of temperament.

This too is speculation, but the mechanisms of the month star and inclined palace look like an effort on the fortune-telling side to take in the feeling that “a person does not fit a single type.” Person A is supple like water (One White Water Star), friendly (Seven Red Metal Star) and cautious like a mountain (Gon palace). A portrait of Person A in which three scenes coexist may be much closer to the “humanness” we feel than a simple mold.

The creative act of “putting together”: what Sonoda Shinjiro did within Kyusei Kigaku

Tracing the history of Kyusei Kigaku, we see that a person named Sonoda Shinjiro played a large part. He is explained as having reworked the nine-star art, whose sources had grown scarce, into “Kigaku.” On the other hand, criticism has come out about how he put it together.

In our view, the history of fortune-telling may have been not “faithful inheritance of old teachings” but “a chain of editing.” Lost parts are filled in, overly complex parts are simplified, and it is recombined to suit the life of the times. Sonoda’s work also looks like one scene in that chain. That he draws criticism is the flip side of someone having “edited” so greatly.

That is why, I think, we can enjoy fortune-telling more richly if we look not only at its “correctness” but also at “when, who and out of what need it was given form.” In the era from the end of Meiji into Taisho, when the world moved greatly, Kigaku, tying directions to birth year, spread. Thinking about that background becomes an entrance to savoring Kyusei Kigaku not as mere fortune-telling but as a culture that reflects its times.

Why star names have “colors”

One White, Two Black, Three Jade, Four Green, Five Yellow, Six White, Seven Red, Eight White, Nine Purple. The names of the nine stars contain the names of colors: white, black, jade, green, yellow, red, purple. The names would work with numbers alone, so why are colors attached?

This is speculation, but perhaps it is because numbers alone do not easily bring a scene to mind. “Two Black (a black star, the color of the earth)” is much easier to picture than “the second star.” A design that packs three clues, number, color and five elements, into a single name would have been easy to memorize by word of mouth even in an age when many people could not read. The names of the stars may be a product of efforts to make them memorable.

Notes on approaching this fortune-telling

This article and our “Kyusei Kigaku” are provided as entertainment and as hints for self-understanding, and they do not guarantee results. They are no substitute for important decisions about medicine, law, investment, schooling, employment, marriage, moving house, or buying or rebuilding a home. Please consult experts or trustworthy people and decide for yourself.

Classification by star is not for labeling people, ranking them or hurting anyone. Avoiding or treating people in a discriminatory way because of their star, such as “I’m uncomfortable with people of that star” or “our stars are incompatible so I won’t date,” is not the true way to enjoy this fortune-telling. Please do not judge romantic, friendship or workplace relationships by stars alone.

If someone strongly stokes anxiety, for example “this year is an unlucky direction, so you must not move or change jobs” or “your star is bad, so you need prayers or purification,” and recommends costly reading fees, prayers or good-luck goods, please do not decide on the spot, take it home and think calmly. If a fortune-telling result makes you feel strong anxiety, or you cannot sleep or your low mood continues, please also consider consulting a medical institution or a public support line.

The descriptions of history and schools in this article are compiled in our own words from multiple sources. There are several theories on the origin of Kyusei Kigaku and on the year Sonoda Shinjiro compiled Kigaku, and descriptions differ between sources. Parts marked “our view” or “speculation” are this site’s own reflections and are not established theory.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is Kyusei Kigaku?

A. It is fortune-telling that works out which of nine stars, from One White Water Star to Nine Purple Fire Star, you are from your birth year, and reads temperament, fortune, compatibility and auspicious directions. It is rooted in the yin-yang and five-elements thought of ancient China, and its present form is said to have been put together in Japan from the end of Meiji into Taisho.

Q. What is the honmeisei and how do I find it?

A. It is your basic star, decided by your birth year. Add up the digits of your birth year to one digit and subtract from 11 (if 0 or below, add 9; if greater than 9, subtract 9). It never changes in your life.

Q. What is my honmeisei if I was born in January or early February?

A. In Kyusei Kigaku the year changes not on New Year’s Day but at Risshun (roughly February 4), so people born before Risshun have the previous year’s star. For example, someone born on January 1, 2000 has the star of 1999, One White Water Star.

Q. What is the month star?

A. It is another star decided by the honmeisei and the birth month (based on setsu-iri). If the honmeisei is the outer face, the month star is sometimes explained as representing your inner shade and behavioral habits.

Q. What is the inclined palace?

A. It is a technique that reads, from the combination of the honmeisei and month star, which of the eight palaces of the nine-star board your temperament leans toward. It is decided by the palace where the honmeisei sits when the month star is placed in the center of the board.

Q. Can the honmeisei and month star be the same star?

A. Yes. It is traditionally called “chugu keisha” and the like, and because the ordinary shifting calculation cannot be done, a substitute table is used to decide the palace. Only when both are Five Yellow Earth Star do sources split by gender, and on our site it is fixed and displayed when you fill in the optional gender field.

Q. Is the Five Yellow Earth Star a bad star?

A. No. It sits at the center of the board and is said to have a wide swing of fortune, but it is not a question of good or bad. It is also read as tending to show its strength in responsible roles.

Q. Are all people with the same honmeisei the same in personality?

A. No. Even under the same star, people are completely different depending on birth month (month star), environment and experience. Please take the star descriptions as tendencies and metaphors.

Q. Don’t men and women have different honmeisei in Kyusei Kigaku?

A. In Kyusei Kigaku the same method of finding is used for both men and women. As the article introduced, there is a critical remark that “properly the stars should differ between men and women.” Our tool follows the general method of Kyusei Kigaku (the same for men and women).

Q. How does Kyusei Kigaku differ from Four Pillars of Destiny?

A. Kyusei Kigaku is a relatively simple fortune-telling that works out one of nine stars from your birth year. Four Pillars of Destiny is a more detailed fortune-telling that converts the year, month, day and hour of birth into eight characters of the sexagenary cycle and reads them. Both rest on yin-yang and five-elements thought.

Q. Can I see auspicious directions or this year’s unlucky directions?

A. This “Kyusei Kigaku” tool does not show them. A separate tool, “Direction Fortune (simple Kyusei Kigaku),” lets you check well-matched directions, directions to be careful about, and the year’s Goo-satsu and Anken-satsu.

Q. Can I check compatibility?

A. Compatibility read from the relationship between the five elements of two people’s honmeisei can be seen in a separate “Kyusei Kigaku compatibility” tool. Please be careful not to decide human relationships by compatibility of stars.

Q. Why do results differ between sites and fortune-tellers?

A. The handling of Risshun (by date only, or down to the time), the way of finding the month star, the calculation of the inclined palace and each school’s way of reading all differ. Our tool is also a simple version that leaves those out.

Q. Does Kyusei Kigaku come true?

A. There is no established statistical or scientific research confirming that it does. This site introduces it as a culture with a long history and as a chance for self-understanding.

Q. Are the examples in the article (Person A and Person B) real people?

A. No. They are fictional people set up for explanation, and the star and palace results are those calculated with our tool.

Q. Is the Kyusei Kigaku tool free?

A. Yes, you can use it free of charge just by entering your date of birth (gender is optional). What you enter is calculated within your browser.

Related fortune-telling to try

Kyusei Kigaku reads a star from your birth year. Direction fortune-telling, which uses your star’s five elements to show well-matched and cautionary directions, and fortune-telling that reads compatibility from two people’s honmeisei will show another face of the same star when tried together.

For readers who want to go deeper

These are articles digging into the same theme from another angle.

• Explainer on Kyusei Kigaku compatibility
• Explainer on auspicious directions (direction fortune-telling)
• Explainer on the twelve zodiac signs (eto)

Sources consulted

This article was compiled in our own words with reference to the following sources (it is not a copy of their text). The honmeisei, month star and inclined palace of “Person A,” “Person B” and others in the article are results found by the same calculation method as our “Kyusei Kigaku” tool.

• Kyusei Kigaku – Wikipedia (Japanese)
• Kyusei (nine stars) – Wikipedia (Japanese)
• Sonoda Shinjiro – Wikipedia (Japanese)
• Sonoda Shinjiro – Weblio dictionary (Japanese)
• Basics of Kyusei Kigaku: history, origins, and quick-reference tables of honmeisei and month star – obatea (Japanese)
• Basic knowledge of Kyusei Kigaku – ak8mans (Japanese)
• The Luoshu magic square and the nine stars – Fusui Kaiun Guide (Japanese)
• A uniquely Japanese luck-opening art! The history of “Kyusei Kigaku” developed in the Edo period – Kami-sama ga Yadoru Kurashi (Japanese)

Suzuking. publishes investigation videos on ghost stories and haunted places on KARASU CHANNEL (YouTube).