Kotodama

This Japanese compound kotodama combines koto 言 "word; speech" and tama 霊 "spirit; soul" (or 魂 "soul; spirit; ghost") voiced as dama in rendaku. In contrast, the unvoiced kototama pronunciation especially refers to {{nihongo|kototamagaku|言霊学||"study of kotodama"}}, 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.

The etymology of kotodama is uncertain, but one explanation correlating words and events links two Japanese words pronounced koto: this {{nihongo2|言}} "word; words; speech" and 事 "situation; circumstances; state of affairs; occurrence; event; incident". These two kanji were used interchangeably in the name Kotoshironushi {{nihongo2|事代主}} or {{nihongo2|言代主}}, an oracular kami mentioned in the Kojiki and Nihon shoki. Kotodama is related with Japanese words such as kotoage {{nihongo2|言挙}} "words raised up; invoke the magical power of words", kotomuke {{nihongo2|言向}} "directed words; cause submission though the power of words", and jumon {{nihongo2|呪文}} "magic spell; magic words; incantation".

Kotodama is a central concept in Japanese mythology, Shinto, and Kokugaku. For example, the Kojiki describes an ukei (or seiyaku) {{nihongo2|誓約}} "covenant; trial by pledge" between the sibling gods Susanoo and Amaterasu, "Let each of us swear, and produce children".{{Citation needed|date=January 2018}} Uttering the divine words of the Shinto divination ritual known as ukehi{{Clarify|date=March 2012}} supposedly determines results, and in this case, Amaterasu giving birth to five male deities proved that Susanoo's intentions were pure.

Kototama or kotodama is also fundamental to Japanese martial arts, for instance, in the use of kiai.{{Cn|date=May 2024}} Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido 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."{{cite book|last1=Gleason|first1=William|title=The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido|date=1994|publisher=Destiny Books|location=Rochester, Vermont|isbn=9780892815081|page=55|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S4JRDf6C4iMC&pg=PA55|access-date=6 November 2017|language=en}} Mutsuro Nakazono, a disciple of Ueshiba, wrote books on the importance of kototama in aikido, such as The Kototama Principle in 1983.{{cite book|last1=Gleason|first1=William|title=The Spiritual Foundations of Aikido|date=1995|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781620551226|page=194|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C18oDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT194|access-date=6 November 2017|language=en}}

While other cultures have parallels to kotodama, such as mantra, yanling, mana, and logos, some Japanese people believe the "word spirit" is unique to the Japanese language. One of the classical names of Japan is {{nihongo|kototama no sakiwau kuni|言霊の幸わう国||"the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss"}},{{cite book|title=Kenkyūsha's New Japanese-English Dictionary|date=2003|edition=5th|quote=the ⌈soul [spirit] of language; the miraculous power of ⌈language [a phrase, a spell].}}{{ISBN missing|date=November 2017}}{{Page needed|date=November 2017}} a phrase that originated in the Man'yōshū.

• {{section link|Ancient Egyptian conception of the soul#Ren (name, identity)}}
• Cledonism
• Dōongo / Dōon Igigo (同音語 / 同音異義語, lit. "Like-Sound Utterance" / "Like-Sound Different-Meaning Utterance")—Homophones, while not a-part of Shinto-in-&-of-themselves, occur in many things that are considered lucky are considered-so because they are homophones of things that are lucky (i.e. Jū Nana meaning, both 'great wealth'/'prosperity' and the number #17), and, likewise, many things that are considered unlucky are considered-so because they are homophones of things that are unlucky (i.e. Shizan meaning, both, 'stillborn' and the number #43). See also Tetraphobia, Japanese superstitions and Onomatopoeia.
• Linguistic relativity
• Law of contagion
• Magic word
• Mantra
• Norito
• Om
• Om mani padme hum
• Shabda
• Sympathetic magic
• True name

{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|kotodama}}

• [http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1216 Kotodama], Encyclopedia of Shinto
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071209213050/http://www.aikidojournal.com/encyclopedia?entryID=428 KOTODAMA], Encyclopedia of Aikido
• [http://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/jlls/kotodama/ Kotodama: The Power of Words], A Videogame that teaches Japanese, Carnegie Mellon

{{Japanese social terms}}

Category:Japanese mythology

Category:Japanese words and phrases

Category:Language and mysticism

Category:Shinto

Category:Vitalism