Sanmei (算命学)
Ten Main Stars Chart Your Destiny
Overview
Sanmei, or Sanmeigaku, is a Japanese destiny-calculation system rooted in Chinese stem-and-branch astrology yet developed into its own distinctive method. Like Four Pillars it begins from the birth date and the sexagenary calendar, but it organises the reading around two star families: the Ten Main Stars, which describe character, relationships, and life domains positioned around a personal chart, and the Twelve Fortune Stars, which trace the rising and waning of vital energy across a lifetime. Prized for its structured, almost diagrammatic view of a person, Sanmei is used in Japan for self-understanding, relationships, career direction, and reading the long arc of one’s fate.
Origin & history
Sanmeigaku descends from classical Chinese stem-branch destiny theory but was shaped into its modern Japanese form in the twentieth century. The scholar Takagi Jōji (高木乗) is widely credited with introducing and systematising Sanmeigaku in Japan, drawing on Chinese sources to construct its star-based framework.
Through the postwar period Sanmeigaku grew into an established school of Japanese fortune-telling, taught alongside Shichusuimei but offering a different lens — emphasising positional star charts over elemental balancing. It developed dedicated study societies and a body of literature, and remains a respected system consulted for in-depth life analysis rather than quick daily forecasts.
How it works
The birth date is converted through the sexagenary calendar into stems and branches, which are then translated into the Ten Main Stars and arranged in a positional chart — centre, plus the directions around it — each position governing a life domain such as self, partner, work, or social sphere. The Twelve Fortune Stars are layered on to gauge the strength of energy at each stage of life. The askTIAN API computes the star chart from a birth date and returns the central and surrounding Main Stars, the Twelve Fortune Stars, the life-domain placements, and an interpretive destiny summary.
Good for
- Deep character analysis
- Relationship and family dynamics
- Career and life-direction guidance
- Reading life-stage energy
- Long-term destiny overviews
- Self-understanding and growth
Use cases
Star Chart Build
Generate the positional chart of Ten Main Stars to read the self alongside partner, work, and social spheres in one structured view.
Life-Energy Map
Layer the Twelve Fortune Stars across the life stages to show where vitality peaks and where caution is wise.
Relationship Reading
Examine the stars governing the partner and family positions to illuminate close relationships and their patterns.
Direction Setting
Pairs well with coaching and life-planning tools that want a deep, position-based portrait rather than a single label.
Key terms
- Ten Main Stars
- The set of ten stars placed around a personal chart, each describing an aspect of character and a life domain such as self, partner, or career.
- Twelve Fortune Stars
- Twelve stages of vital energy, from birth-like emergence to decline, layered on the chart to read the strength of fortune across a lifetime.
- Positional chart
- The diagram that arranges the Main Stars by position — centre and surrounding directions — so each location maps to a specific area of life.
- Stem and branch
- The Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches of the sexagenary calendar, the raw birth-date data translated into Sanmeigaku’s stars.
API
The askTIAN Sanmei API computes the positional star chart from a birth date and returns the central and surrounding Ten Main Stars, the Twelve Fortune Stars, the life-domain placements, and an interpretive destiny summary with a 0–100 favourability score.
Endpoint: POST /trpc/japanese.sanmei — 5 TIAN Points. See the API documentation and Playground.