Sumiyoshi Shrine and spirits of words

Sumiyoshi Shrine is located in the south of Osaka City. Its history is very long and the form of the architecture is particular. There are four main houses for praying and the form of the houses is called “Sumiyoshi-tsukuri”. The shrine is called the guarding-god of Osaka, in addition, it has other names, the god of good voyage, the god of purification(“harae”), the god of a safe birth, the god of Japanese poetry(“waka”) etc. In fact, the shrine enshrines four gods, Sokotutu-no-ono-mikoto, Nakatutu-no-ono-mikoto, Uwatutu-no-ono-mikoto, and Jingu Empress, and each of the four gods have a house.Three mikotos are noted in an ancient history-book, “Kojiki”, as they were born in the sea when Izanagi-no-mikoto underwent a purification after coming back from the world of death. then three mikotos are gods of voyage and god of purification. Jingu Empress is the god of safe birth, it was already written in this blog. However, the reason why it was named the god of Japanese poetry isn’t revealed and I can’t understand by the history of the shrine. So I will write about around the god of Japanese poetry, specifically, I will write about Japanese words. Because waka, Japanese poetry, is a short sentence of several words, “kotoba” or “koto-no-ha”, of seventeen sounds and a complex sentence including a lot of meanings. Furthermore, Kotoba or koto-no-ha is a spirit of “Koto”, “Kotodama”.

Kotodama; spirits of words

In the old anthology in Japan, “Manyosyu”, there is a phrase that Japan is a nation where the spirits of words, “Kotodama”, brings happiness and flourishes people. Furthermore, it includes the meaning that words materialize real events, so that a poet has to write a poem considering the power of his words. It is difficult for foreigners to understand, besides eventually even for the current Japanese people. The reason for difficulty is in mystery of Japanese words. The origins of Japanese words are different from other languages.

In the first place, newly-created Japanese words in ancient times were sounds at the beginning, and secondly sounds gave birth to meaning. And it brought the phenomenon that the sound of a word produced more than two meanings. For example, the sound of “asa” means morning, shallowness, linen and hunting. Furthermore, the sound of “Kami” that means god have other meanings, sunder, mountain, monster, lord, upward, hair, paper, biting etc. Of course, each Japanese words doesn’t have many meanings. There are a lot of words with one meaning that were translated into Japanese words due to importing words from China, India, Portugal, the Neither-lands and many countries after the reopening of Japan at the end of the Edo period. However, original Japanese words in ancient times have a lot of meanings like the previous examples. The influence by using words which have a lot of meanings, it has slightly difficulty to describe, makes Japanese people among distressed situations behave differently compared to foreign people in other countries. It surprised foreign people and they admired Japanese people in 2011. And in recent times it has annoyed foreign people to understand.

Collective behavior

Foreign people were surprised at the calm, polite, not breaking down and not hijacking behaviors of Japanese people after the devastating earthquake in 2011 that killed a lot of people and destroyed a lot of houses.

In addition, foreign people, especially foreign journalists, were annoyed to understand about the restraint of infections of COVID-19 in Japan. They knew that the political control of the Japanese government was inadequate compared with other countries. Nonetheless, Japanese people independently stayed at home and stoped business.

In the second case as well as the first case, Japanese people naturally had complaints to the government. Nonetheless, the behavior they unconsciously chose was not to strike out at the government but to be patience. Why?

One of several considerable answers is in the system of Japanese words. Japanese words have a lot of meaning, as well as opposite meaning. Japanese people have to understand a meaning of an opponent speaking from his Japanese words according to a situation. As a result, Japanese people unconsciously have a custom to be concerned about the meaning of another person. It forms unconscious non-literal conformity, which causes Japanese people to behave collectively in many situations. Then, when a matter of life for countless people happens, unconscious non-literal conformity makes Japanese people collectively choose a decent act.

The power of kotodama

Next, I will write about the power of kotodama. The power of kotodama is that a word materializes a real event. It means that if you pray for something with a word in sound, the word will materialize something true. Originally “kotoba” or “koto-no-ha” in Japanese which means a word is a leaf of “koto”. And “koto” has two meanings, a word of wish and an event. As a result, if you say a word, sounds of both a word of wish and a word of an event spontaneously shave the air. Finally, a word materializes a real event.   

Can you believe it? Besides you, almost all current Japanese people don’t believe it consciously. However, many Japanese people who don’t have their own religions visit shrines and temples naturally. Probably they may do so according to unconscious non-literal conformity. And they unconsciously may know that visiting shrines or temples make them happy. Because Japan is a nation where “Kotodama” brings happiness and flourishes people.