▁explained ▁in ▁Sh ug endo ▁texts , ▁quite ▁correctly , ▁as ▁a ▁prepar atory ▁rit ual ▁of ▁protection , ▁to ▁cut ▁off ▁demon ic ▁influ ences ▁and ▁their ▁in ki ▁( v ital ▁subst ance ) ▁( W ater house , ▁ 1 9 9 6 ). ▁In ▁Japanese ▁folk - mag ic ▁and ▁on my odo , ▁the ▁nine ▁cut s ▁are ▁often ▁made ▁over ▁writing ▁or ▁a ▁picture , ▁to ▁gain ▁control ▁of ▁the ▁object ▁named ▁or ▁p ict ured . ▁Thus , ▁a ▁sail or ▁wish ing ▁to ▁be ▁protected ▁from ▁d row ning ▁might ▁write ▁them ▁over ▁the ▁kan ji ▁for ▁" se a " ▁or ▁" water ". ▁Author ▁and ▁historian ▁John ▁Stevens ▁notes ▁that ▁methods ▁of ▁or al ▁sex ▁using ▁k u ji - ki ri ▁were ▁employed ▁by ▁pract ition ers ▁of ▁T ach ik awa - ry u . ▁The ▁Fu ju ▁sh u ▁does ▁not ▁spell ▁out ▁every ▁rit ual ▁in ▁detail . ▁However , ▁in ▁several ▁of ▁the ▁k u ji - ki ri ▁rit uals ▁it ▁is ▁sp elled ▁out ▁that ▁the ▁stro kes ▁are ▁made ▁altern ately ▁horizontal ▁and ▁then ▁vertical : ▁five ▁horizontal ▁and ▁four ▁vertical ▁for ▁men ; ▁and ▁four ▁horizontal ▁and ▁five ▁vertical ▁for ▁woman . ▁A ▁modern ▁Japanese ▁text ▁l abeled ▁D ai ▁Mar ishi - T en ▁hij u / 大 <0xE6> <0x91> <0xA9> 利 子 天 <0xE7> <0xA7> <0x98> <0xE6> <0x8E> <0x88> ▁( N ine ▁sy ll ables ▁of ▁the ▁T act ics ▁of ▁the