Asakura Yoh is a shaman, a person who communicates with ghosts. He enters the Shaman Fight, for whoever wins the tournament gets to commune with the Great Spirit, God . . . that and his fiance Anna wants to be the wife of the Shaman King. Helping him are his friends Manta, Horo Horo, Ryu, and his samurai ghost partner, Amidamaru.
Once every 500 years, there's an event called the Shaman Fight, and whoever wins becomes the Shaman King and can use the most powerful spirits ever. Asakura Yoh comes to Tokyo to train and become the Shaman King. Accompanied by many friends, he defeats many enemies along and the way, and gets more friends.