Kotodama

Kotodama or kototama (言霊^?, lit. "word spirit/soul") refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names.

English translations include "power of words", "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", "magic word", and "sacred sound".

The notion of kotodama presupposes that sounds can magically affect objects, and that ritual word usages can influence our environment, body, mind, and soul.

Kotodama is a central concept in Japanese mythology, Shinto, and Kokugaku. For example, the Kojiki describes an ukei (or seiyaku) 誓約 "covenant; pledge, written vow" between the sibling gods Susanoo and Amaterasu, "Let each of us swear, and produce children".^[1] Uttering the divine words of an ukehi^{[clarification needed]} 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. Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of aikido, 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 and finds ultimate freedom."^[2] Mutsuro Nakazono, a disciple of Ueshiba, wrote books on the importance of kototama in aikido.^[3]

While other cultures have animistic parallels to kotodama, such as mantra, mana, and logos, some Japanese people believe the "word spirit" is unique to the Japanese language. One of the classical names of Japan is kototama no sakiwau kuni (言霊の幸はう国^?, "the land where the mysterious workings of language bring bliss"),^[4] a phrase that originated in the Man'yōshū.

Kokugaku (Kyūjitai: 國學/Shinjitai: 国学; lit. National study) was a National revival, or school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics.^[1]