Magatama

Image:Magatamas.JPG（Tokyo National Museum）]]

{{Nihongo||勾玉|Magatama|extra=less frequently {{lang|ja|曲玉}}}} are curved, comma-shaped beads that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through the Kofun period, approximately 1000 BCE to the 6th century CE.{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Kokushi Daijiten (国史大辞典) | title = Magatama | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ | access-date = 2012-04-02 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo|language=ja}} The beads, also described as "jewels", were made of primitive stone and earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun period were made almost exclusively of jade. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} originally served as decorative jewelry, but by the end of the Kofun period functioned as ceremonial and religious objects.

Jōmon period

{{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} first appeared in Japan in the Final Jōmon period (1000–300 BCE), and in this period were made from relatively simple, naturally occurring materials, including clay, talc, slate, quartz, gneiss, jadeite, nephrite, and serpentinite.{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (日本大百科全書 (ニッポニカ)) | title = Magatama | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/| access-date = 2012-03-26 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo|language=ja}} {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} from the Jōmon period were irregularly shaped, lacked continuity in form from region to region, and have been called "Stone Age {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}" for this reason. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} are thought to be an imitation of the teeth of large animals, pierced with a hole, which are found in earlier Jōmon remains.{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Dijitaru daijisen| title = Magatama | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/| access-date = 2012-04-01 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo|language=ja}} These resemble {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, but more recent scholarship indicates that these early Jōmon may have simply had a decorative function, and have no relationship to {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} in the Jōmon period appear to have moved from the purely decorative to having a status and ceremonial function by the end of the period.{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly |author-link=Nelly Naumann | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = From early to middle Jōmon | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 18 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}} A "middle Jōmon exchange network" may have existed, whereby {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} were produced in regions where materials for their manufacture were readily plentiful. Jade and talc examples produced in bead-making villages located in present-day Itoigawa, Niigata have been found at a large number of sites along the northern coast, in the central mountains, and in Kantō region.{{Citation | last = Barnes | first = Gina Lee | year = 1999 | title = The rise of civilization in East Asia: the archaeology of China, Korea and Japan | edition = 1st paperback | publisher = Thames and Hudson |location= New York | isbn = 9780500279748 | oclc = 43664418}}{{rp|30}}

=Archaeological sites (Jōmon)=

Examples of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} from the Jōmon period have been discovered in large numbers at the Kamegaoka site in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture. The Kamegaoka remains are among the largest known Jōmon settlement in Japan, and the {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, among other decorative objects found, may be an indicator of the high social status of the settlement.{{cite book | last1 = Aikens | first1 = C. Melvin | last2 = Higuchi | first2 =Takayasu | title = Prehistory of Japan |location= New York | publisher = Academic Press | series = Studies in archaeology | chapter = The Jomon period | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780120452804 | oclc = 7738449}}{{rp|165}}

Other sites associated with the Kamegaoka settlement have yielded {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, including the Ōboriya shell mound, in the northwest corner of Ōfunato Bay, which yielded a huge number of beads, as well as the Korekawa site, near Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture. Remains from the Korekawa site can be seen at the Korekawa Archaeological Museum in Hachinohe.{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = Final Jōmon in northeast Japan—the Kamegaoka culture | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 46 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}} Stone and clay {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} and {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}-like beads have also been discovered at the Amataki site, Ninohe, Iwate Prefecture, Osagata site, Ibaraki Prefecture, and the Kou site, Fujiidera, Osaka Prefecture.{{rp|173}} Numerous {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} at the Ōishi site, Bungo-ōno, Ōita Prefecture, Kyushu show signs of being used for ceremonial, rather than decorative, purposes.{{rp|181}}

The Sannai-Maruyama Site, excavated 1992 in Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, yielded three large jade beads measuring {{convert|5.5|×|6.5|cm}}.{{Cite book | last = Naumann | first = Nelly | year = 2000 | title = Japanese prehistory: the material and spiritual culture of the Jōmon period | chapter = From early to middle Jōmon | series = Asien- und Afrika-Studien der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin | volume = 6 | publisher = Harrassowitz |location=Wiesbaden | page = 15 | isbn = 9783447043298 | oclc = 45797690}}

Yayoi period

File:Magatama40.JPG|神戸市埋蔵文化財センター|Kōbeshi Maizō Bunkazai Sentā}}]]

{{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} in the Yayoi period (300 BCE – 300 CE) are notably different from Jōmon-period {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. The jewels moved from a primitive, non-standard form towards more polished and uniform form in this period.{{Cite book | editor = 川出孝雄 (Kawade Hikio) | year = 1959 | title = Nihon rekishi daijiten (日本歴史大辞典) | volume = 17 | publisher = Kawade Shōbō Shinsha (河出書房新社) |location= Tōkyō (東京) | language = ja | page = 54 | oclc = 20762728}} The technology to cut large gemstones and polish jewels notably advanced in the Yayoi period.{{Citation | last = Saitō | first = Tadashi | year = 1958 | title = Genshi (原始) | chapter = Seikatsu yōshiki no hatten (生活様式の発展) | series = Nihon zenshi (日本全史) | volume = 1 | publisher = Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | page = 82 | oclc = 35922174}} Refined materials such as jadeite, serpentinite, and glass replaced the less sophisticated materials of the Jōmon period. Yayoi period {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} are noted for their reverse C-shaped form, which by the end of the period had become an almost squared shape. From the Yayoi period onwards, {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} uniformly feature a bored hole that allowed the jewels to be held on a string.

The Yayoi period is marked by specific geographic centers specializing in {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} and the widespread trade of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. The period is marked by the formation of power centers that came to be individual states. The development of weapons increased in this period to protect increasingly developed rice fields and fishing rights. Trade greatly increased in this period, as did the specialization of production of certain items, including {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} producing areas exchanged their product with other products, specifically rice, leading to the widespread distribution of {{transl|ja|magatama}} across Japan.{{Citation | editor = Okada, Akio| year = 1959 | title = Nihon no hajimari (日本のはじまり) | chapter = Kuniguni no matomari (国々のまとまり) | series = Nihon no rekishi (日本の歴史) | volume = 1 | publisher = Yomiuri Shinbunsha |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | page = 110 | oclc = 33688869|display-editors=etal}} {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} were commonly used to create necklaces and bracelets worn on the wrists or ankles. The necklace was typically constructed of jadeite {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} separated by cylindrical bored-holed pieces of jasper. Small beads of dark-blue glass are also not uncommon on the necklace. The bracelet typically also used shells from the coastal areas of Shikoku and the Inland Sea, wood, and bronze.{{Citation | editor = Okada, Akio| year = 1959 | title = Nihon no hajimari (日本のはじまり) | chapter = Kawatte kita shakai seikatsu (変わってきた社会生活) | series = Nihon no rekishi (日本の歴史) | volume = 1 | publisher = Yomiuri Shinbunsha |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | page = 99 | oclc = 33688869|display-editors=etal}} In this period the use of the mirror, sword, and jewels as status symbols for village, and later regional leaders of all kinds, emerged in the Yayoi period, and point to the origin of the mirror, sword, and {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} as the Imperial Regalia of Japan.{{Citation | editor = Okada, Akio| year = 1959 | title = Nihon no hajimari (日本のはじまり) | series = Nihon no rekishi (日本の歴史) | volume = 1 | publisher = Yomiuri Shinbunsha |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | page = 122 | oclc = 33688869|display-editors=etal}}

The Records of the Three Kingdoms, the earliest historical document with a reference to Japan, describes the Wa people, an ancient country of Yamatai, and its queen, Himiko. The Record indicates that when Himiko died, her relative Iyo, a girl of 13, was made queen and sent a delegation of twenty officials under Yazuku, an imperial general, to offer tribute to the Northern Wei court. "The delegation visited the capital and offered to the court five thousand white gems and two pieces of carved jade, as well as twenty pieces of brocade with variegated designs."{{cite book | last = Tsunoda | first = Ryunosuke| title = Sources of Japanese tradition | publisher = Columbia University Press | location = New York | series = Records and civilization, sources and studies | chapter = The earliest records of Japan | pages = 8–16 | year = 1958 | isbn = 0231022549|display-authors=etal}} The carved jade in the Record likely describes a tribute of two jade {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}.

=Archaeological sites (Yayoi)=

File:Tamatsukuri-inari-jinja museum.jpeg

The large-scale Yayoi period remains at the Yoshinogari site, Yoshinogari and Kanzaki in Saga Prefecture revealed examples of lead glass {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} typical of the Yayoi period.{{cite book | last = Kidder | first = J. Edward | title = Himiko and Japan's elusive chiefdom of Yamatai archaeology, history, and mythology | publisher = University of Hawai'i Press | location = Honolulu | pages = 91 | year = 2007 | isbn = 9780824830359}} In 2003, the excavation of a large Yayoi period settlement in Tawaramoto, Nara also revealed two large jade {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, one {{convert|4.64|cm|in}}, the second {{convert|3.63|cm|in}} in length. The larger Tawaramoto {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} is the 10th-largest example found to date in Japan. Both jade {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} from the site are of unusually high-quality brilliant green jade.[http://www.47news.jp/CN/200309/CN2003091801000474.html 弥生で最大級のひすい製品　唐古・鍵遺跡出土の勾玉]{{in lang|ja}}

One known center of Yayoi {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} production was in the area of the Tamatsukuri Inari Shrine in Osaka. {{transliteration|ja|Tamatsukuri}} literally means "jewel making", and a guild, the Tamatsukuri-be, was active from the Yayoi period. An existing jewel at the shrine is said to have great spiritual power. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} appear on all sorts of implements of the present-day temple, including amulets, roof tiles, and lanterns. The inari female fox at the gate of a subshrine of Tamatsukuri Inari Shrine wears a necklace of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. The shrine has an exhibit on the history and production of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}.{{Citation | last = Smyers | first = Karen Ann | year = 1999 | title = The fox and the jewel: shared and private meanings in contemporary Japanese inari worship | chapter = Introducing Inari | publisher = University of Hawaii Press |location= Honolulu | pages = 23–24 | isbn = 9780824820589 | oclc = 39523475}}

Kofun period

Image:Magatamarm.jpg

Image:Magatamas.JPG

{{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} became very common in the Kofun period (250–536 CE), and by the end of the period almost all {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} tumuli contained {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. In the early Kofun period, {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} were made from jadeite as in earlier periods, but by the middle of the period were made from jasper, and by the end of the period, almost exclusively of agate and jade. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} capped by silver or gold also appear towards the end of the period. Large {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} made of talc, imitations of smaller ones made of more precious materials, were used as grave goods. {{transliteration|ja|Magatama}} are found in {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} tumuli across Japan from the period. Their use went from merely decorative to sacred and ceremonial grave goods.{{Citation | editor = Okada, Akio| year = 1959 | title = Nihon no hajimari (日本のはじまり) | series = Nihon no rekishi (日本の歴史) | volume = 1 | publisher = Yomiuri Shinbunsha |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | page = 29 | oclc = 33688869|display-editors=etal}} {{Nihongo||丁字頭勾玉|Chōjigashira magatama}} are {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} with inscriptions that look like flowers of the clove tree and have a hole suitable to attach to a string. These first appear in the Kofun period. Also in the Kofun period, {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} appear on necklaces, with several {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} set between bored cylinders. Archeological remains show evidence of similar ankle bracelets, but they are less common. Clay {{transliteration|ja|haniwa}} funerary objects of the Kofun period commonly depict people wearing the necklaces and ankle bracelets.{{Citation | last = Holtom | first = Daniel Clarence | year = 1928 | title = The Japanese Enthronement Ceremonies; with An Account of the Imperial Regalia | chapter = The Jewels | publisher = Kyo Bun Kwan | publication-place = Tokyo | url = https://archive.org/details/JapaneseEnthronementCeremonies | oclc = 1983823}}{{rp|33}}

=Archaeological sites (Kofun)=

Examples of stone {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} from the Kofun period are especially numerous. An excavation of the Kamegaoka {{transliteration|ja|Kofun}}, Kishiwada, Osaka, revealed a local who had been buried with a jade, jasper, and alabaster {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} necklace, as well as {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} placed near the feet. A bronze mirror imported from China accompanying the burial was dated to 239 CE.{{cite book | last1 = Aikens | first1 = C. Melvin | last2 = Higuchi | first2 =Takayasu | title = Prehistory of Japan |location= New York | publisher = Academic Press | series = Studies in archaeology | chapter = The Kofun period | pages = 264 | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780120452804 | oclc = 7738449}}{{rp|264}} The {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} is a Designated Historical Spot of the city of Kishiwada. Ceremonial offerings from a burial from the Kisami-Araida area of Shimoda, Shizuoka also revealed clay reproductions of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} used as effigies. The excavation of the Ubusuna {{transliteration|ja|Kofun}}[http://www.city.kyotango.kyoto.jp/service/digitalmuseum/siteibunkazai/ubusunayamakofun.html 史跡　産土山古墳]{{in lang|ja}} in Kyōtango, Kyoto yielded two fully intact {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} necklaces of jade and agate, with segments between {{convert|1.7|and|5.1|cm}} in length.{{rp|268}}

The large Muro Miyayama {{transliteration|ja|Kofun}} of Katsuragi, Nara, on the Yamato Plain, {{convert|238|mm}} in length, was plundered long before its excavation, but revealed 600 talc ceremonial {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} among other funerary objects, which also included 10 bronze Han Chinese mirrors.{{rp|275–276}} The Hiraide remains of Shiojiri, Nagano, one of the three largest prehistoric sites in Japan, and far from any regional power center, includes typical Kofun period remains, but also objects associated with modern Shinto ceremonial practice. Nevertheless, {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} in Hiraide reveal both plain and elaborate {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} among other funerary objects.{{cite book | last1 = Aikens | first1 = C. Melvin | last2 = Higuchi | first2 =Takayasu | title = Prehistory of Japan |location= New York | publisher = Academic Press | series = Studies in archaeology | chapter = Hiraide: village life during the Kofun period | pages = 303 | year = 1982 | isbn = 9780120452804 | oclc = 7738449}}

The Sakurai {{transliteration|ja|Kofun}} in Sakurai, Nara, excavated in 1949, represents a {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} from the final phase of the Kofun period, and is possibly from a ruler associated with the imperial family. The {{transliteration|ja|kofun}} is {{convert|25|m|ft}} high and shows evidence of being surrounded by a moat. Among the very large number of funerary objects were high-quality weapons, including swords, 10 mirrors, and a necklace of jadeite {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, agate cylinders, and glass beads used to make a {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}-style necklace.{{Citation | last = Inoue | first = Mitsusada | year = 1965 | title = Shinwa kara rekishi he (神話から歴史へ) | chapter = Nazo no seiki (なぞの世紀)| edition = Shohan | series = 日本の歴史 (Nihon no rekishi) | volume = 1 | publisher = Chūō Kōronsha |location= Tōkyō | language = ja | pages = 309–310 | oclc = 21390677}}

Origin of magatama forms

Archaeologists and historians are unable yet to explain what the origins of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} forms are, or whether these forms can be traced back to one convergent source. A number of explanations have been suggested, including:Nishimura, Y. (2018). The Evolution of Curved Beads (Magatama 勾玉/曲玉) in Jōmon Period Japan and the Development of Individual Ownership. Asian Perspectives 57(1), 105-158. University of Hawai'i Press. Retrieved October 18, 2018, from Project MUSE database.

They may be fashioned after animal fangs/teeth
They may be modeled after the shape of fetuses
They may be symbolic of the shape of the soul
They may be modeled after the shape of the moon
That there is meaning and connotation attached to the shape of the {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} itself (i.e. meaning comes from the form itself, and not that {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} has been patterned after anything else)

In Japanese mythology

File:Amaterasu.png

The {{transliteration|ja|Kojiki}} and {{transliteration|ja|Nihon Shoki}}, completed in the 8th century, have numerous references to {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}. They appear in the first chapter of the {{transliteration|ja|Nihon Shoki}}, which largely describes the mythology of Japan. Susanoo, god of the sea and storms, received five hundred {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} from Tamanoya no mikoto, or Ame-no-Futodama-no-mikoto, the jewel-making deity.{{Citation | last = Czaja | first = Michael | year = 1974 | title = Gods of myth and stone: phallicism in Japanese folk religion | chapter = The celestial matsuri | edition = 1st | publisher = Weatherhill |location= New York | page = 228 | isbn = 9780834800953 | oclc = 1085538}} Susanoo went to heaven and presented them to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, who bit off successive parts of the {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, and blew them away to create other deities.{{r|nihongi|r={{Citation |translator-last = Aston | translator-first = W. G. | year = 1972 | title = Nihongi; chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697 | chapter = Age of the gods | edition = 1st Tuttle | publisher = C.E. Tuttle Co. |location= Rutland, VT | url = https://archive.org/details/nihongichronicle0000unse | url-access = registration | isbn = 9780804809849 | oclc = 354027}}|p=37–39}} Tamanoya no mikoto remains the god of {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, glasses, and cameras. In the legend Amaterasu later shuts herself in a cave. Ama-no-Koyane-no-mikoto hung {{transliteration|ja|magatama}}, among other objects, on a five hundred-branch {{transliteration|ja|sakaki}} tree, to successfully lure Amaterasu from the cave.{{r|nihongi|p=40}} In the year 58, in the reign of the Emperor Suinin, the {{transliteration|ja|Nihon Shoki}} records that a dog killed and disemboweled a {{transliteration|ja|mujina}} (badger), and a {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} was discovered in its stomach. This {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} was presented to Suinin, who enshrined it at Isonokami Shrine, where it is said to presently reside.{{Citation |translator-last = Aston |translator-first = W. G. | year = 1972 | title = Nihongi; chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697 | chapter = Suinin | edition = 1st Tuttle | publisher = C.E. Tuttle Co. |location= Rutland, VT | url = https://archive.org/details/nihongichronicle0000unse | url-access = registration | pages = 184–185 | isbn = 9780804809849 | oclc = 354027}}{{Citation | last = Smyers | first = Karen Ann | year = 1999 | title = The fox and the jewel: shared and private meanings in contemporary Japanese inari worship | chapter = Symbolizing inari: the jewel | publisher = University of Hawaii Press |location= Honolulu | page = 126 | isbn = 9780824820589 | oclc = 39523475}} A similar practice is described again in the {{transliteration|ja|Nihon Shoki}} during the reign of the Emperor Chūai. Chūai made an inspection trip to the Tsukushi, or Kyūshū, and was presented with an enormous {{transliteration|ja|sakaki}} tree hung with {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} as well as other sacred objects.{{Citation |translator-last = Aston |translator-first = W. G. | year = 1972 | title = Nihongi; chronicles of Japan from the earliest times to A.D. 697 | chapter = Chiuai | edition = 1st Tuttle | publisher = C.E. Tuttle Co. |location= Rutland, VT | url = https://archive.org/details/nihongichronicle0000unse | url-access = registration | page = 221 | isbn = 9780804809849 | oclc = 354027}}

= Yasakani no Magatama=

A noted {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} is the {{Nihongo||八尺瓊勾玉|Yasakani no Magatama|extra=also {{lang|ja|八尺瓊曲玉}} and {{lang|ja|八坂瓊曲玉}}}}, one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan.{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Japan | title = Imperial regalia | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ | access-date = 2012-04-01 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo}} Swords, mirrors, and jewels were common objects of status for regional rulers in Japan as early as the Yayoi period, and were further widespread in the Kofun period, as shown by their ubiquitous presence in kofun tumuli. The {{transliteration|ja|Yasakani no Magatama}} is stored at the {{Nihongo||賢所|Kashiko-dokoro}}, the central shrine of the Three Palace Sanctuaries at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, and is used in the enthronement ceremony of the Emperor of Japan.

Daniel Clarence Holtom stated in 1928 in Japanese enthronement ceremonies; with an account of the imperial regalia that the {{transliteration|ja|Yasakani no Magatama}} is the only one of the three regalia that is used in its original form for ceremonies, preferring the use of replicas for the sword and mirror due to its delicate fragility.{{rp|55}} Replicas of the sword and mirror were made as early as the 9th century, and the originals were entrusted to other shrines.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

Usage in Ryūkyūan religion

D. C. Holtom stated that {{transliteration|ja|noro}} priestesses (Okinawan: {{transliteration|ryu|nūru}}) of the Ryukyu Kingdom wore {{transliteration|ja|magatama}} necklaces early in the 20th century for ceremonial purposes, but provides no other details.{{rp|37}}

In popular culture

In The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the Amber Relics, Dusk Relics, and Secret Stones are all based on the magatama.

In the Ace Attorney series, a magatama is frequently cited as the source of an ability that lets its wearer determine people's true intentions.

In Unconnected Marketeers, the 18th installment of Touhou Project, the character Misumaru Tamatsukuri is able to craft magatama. Aunn Komano, introduced in the 16th installment, Hidden Star in Four Seasons, has her ears designed in the shape of magatama.

In Blue Eye Samurai, the main character Mizu wore a blue magatama on her katana.

In Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir, the Kwagatama charms named after the magatama serve as a symbol of a bond between the kwami and their holder.

In Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, magatamas appear in the form of parasitic, insect-like creatures that grant their human hosts special, demonic powers.

In Ghostwire: Tokyo, magatamas are made of jade and are used for upgrading Akito's abilities. They can be obtained through side missions (37), and street stalls (three).

In Ōkami and its spiritual successor Ōkamiden, one of the weapon options (rosaries) are based on Amaterasu's magatama.

In The Irregular at Magic High School, magatama are a class of magical Relics with the ability to store magic sequences.

In Blue Seed, magatama are used as vessels to contain mitama which bestow power to those implanted with them. The series' plot is based on the Izumo cycle from Japanese mythology.

In Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus' Space Sword, Sailor Neptune's Deep Aqua Mirror, and Sailor Pluto's Garnet Orb are based on each item.

In the Japanese card game “Yu-Gi-Oh!”, “Hu-Li the Jewel Mikanko” is based on the “Yasakani no Magatama” - one of the “Three Imperial Regalia of Japan”.

In the anime and manga Toilet-Bound Hanako Kun the protagonist, Nene Yashiro, wears Magatama in her hair.