refers to the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", " magic word", and "sacred sound". The notion of ''kotodama'' presupposes that sounds can affect objects, and that ritual word usages can influence the environment, body,

mind The mind is that which thinks, feels, perceives, imagines, remembers, and wills. It covers the totality of mental phenomena, including both conscious processes, through which an individual is aware of external and internal circumstances ...

, and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

. Some interpret the belief as the discovery of commands words that can affect physiology and the mind.

Basis

This Japanese compound ''kotodama'' combines ''koto'' 言 "word; speech" and ''tama'' 霊 "spirit; soul" (or 魂 "soul; spirit; ghost")

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refe ...

as ''dama'' in ''

rendaku is a pronunciation change seen in some compound words in Japanese. When rendaku occurs, a voiceless consonant (such as ) is replaced with a voiced consonant (such as ) at the start of the second (or later) part of the compound. For example, t ...

''. In contrast, the unvoiced ''kototama'' pronunciation especially refers to , which was popularized by Onisaburo Deguchi in the Oomoto religion. This field takes the Japanese '' gojūon'' phonology as the mystical basis of words and meanings, in a way that is roughly analogous to Hebrew

Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...

Etymology

The etymology of ''kotodama'' is uncertain, but one explanation correlating words and events links two Japanese words pronounced ''koto'': this "word; words; speech" and 事 "situation; circumstances; state of affairs; occurrence; event; incident". These two ''

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

'' were used interchangeably in the name Kotoshironushi or , an oracular ''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'' mentioned in the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and ''

Nihon Shoki The or , sometimes translated as ''The Chronicles of Japan'', is the second-oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the , the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeol ...

''. ''Kotodama'' is related with Japanese words such as ''kotoage'' "words raised up; invoke the magical power of words", ''kotomuke'' "directed words; cause submission though the power of words", and ''jumon'' "magic spell; magic words; incantation".

Mythology

''Kotodama'' is a central concept in Japanese mythology,

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

, and Kokugaku. For example, the ''Kojiki'' describes an ''ukei'' (or ''seiyaku'') "covenant; trial by pledge" between the sibling gods Susanoo and Amaterasu, "Let each of us swear, and produce children." Uttering the divine words of the

divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...

ritual known as '' ukehi'' supposedly determines results, and in this case, Amaterasu giving birth to five male deities proved that Susanoo's intentions were pure.

Martial arts

''Kototama'' or ''kotodama'' is also fundamental to

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

, for instance, in the use of

kiai In Japanese martial arts a is a short shout uttered when performing an assault. Traditional Japanese dojo generally uses single syllables beginning with a vowel. The practice has become a part of Asian martial arts in popular culture, esp ...

. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of

aikido Aikido ( , , , ) is a gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practic ...

and a student of Deguchi, used ''kototama'' as a spiritual basis for his teachings. William Gleason says Ueshiba "created aikido based on the ''kototama'' principle," and quotes him that "Aikido is the superlative way to practice the ''kototama''. It is the means by which one realizes his true nature as a god and finds ultimate freedom." Mutsuro Nakazono, a disciple of Ueshiba, wrote books on the importance of ''kototama'' in aikido, such as ''The Kototama Principle'' in 1983.

Equivalences

While other cultures have parallels to ''kotodama'', such as

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

, yanling, mana, and

logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...

, some Japanese people believe the "word spirit" is unique to the Japanese language. One of the classical

names of Japan The word ''Japan'' is an endonym and exonym, exonym, and is used (in one form or another) by many languages. The Japanese language, Japanese names for Japan are () and (). They are both written in Japanese using the kanji . Since the third ce ...

is , a phrase that originated in the ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''.

References

External links

Kotodama
Encyclopedia of Shinto
KOTODAMA
Encyclopedia of Aikido
Kotodama: The Power of Words
A Videogame that teaches Japanese, Carnegie Mellon {{Japanese social terms Japanese mythology Japanese words and phrases Language and mysticism Shinto Vitalism