Power words: what are they, and what meanings do they have?


Can someone explain the “power words” in Japanese? I remember learning that it
was once thought that Japanese had reached a level of completeness beyond many
other languages because of certain words with complex meaning that
distinctively occurred in Japanese. What are these words, and what do they
mean?

I also remember learning that this concept became less important after the mid
20th century. Do they still have relevance to modern Japanese life?




I strongly suspect that the book you mention in your explanatory comment was
referring (perhaps in a somewhat garbled way) to the notion of
[kotodama](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A) 言霊, particularly
as elaborated in the writings of Motoori Norinaga（本居宣長) and other members of
the Edo-period
[kokugaku](https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/spr2009/entries/kokugaku-
school/) (国学) movement (often glossed in English as the "National Learning,"
"Native Studies," or "Nativist" movement).

_Kotodama_ doesn't actually mean "power words," but something more like "the
soul of a word," "the spirits of words," or "the spirit of [the Japanese]
language." However, the concept of _kotodama_ does ascribe mystical power to
certain Japanese words or combinations of words which, when spoken aloud in a
ritual setting, were believed to have the ability to alter reality itself. The
belief that this power was unique to the Japanese language and made Japan a
special land [dates all the way back to the ancient poetry collection known as
_Man'yôshû_
(万葉集)](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%A0%E3%81%BE%E3%81%AE%E3%81%95%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8F%E3%81%86%E3%81%8F%E3%81%AB),
which was Motoori Norinaga's source for both the term and the concept. And it
seems that because this notion of magical power is so central to the concept
of _kotodama_ , [the term is sometimes (mis)translated into English as "power
words"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotodama).

Many of the nativists' ideas about Japanese uniqueness and superiority – very
much including their ideas about _kotodama_ – were quite influential among
twentieth-century Japanese nationalists, who adapted them for use in official
and unofficial propaganda in the period before and during World War II. (You
can read a little bit about how the notion of _kotodama_ informed propaganda
and wartime government policy in [this blog
post](https://blog.oup.com/2014/05/kotodama-japanese-spirit-of-language/) by a
sociolinguist at Oxford University.) After the end of the war, nativist claims
about Japanese superiority were suppressed by the Occupation authorities and
critiqued by Japanese intellectuals, and for the most part, these ideas fell
out of favor. However, even today there are people in Japan who believe in
[some version of
_kotodama_](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%81%84%E3%81%84%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%8F%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%82%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8B-%E3%80%8C%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AE%E5%8A%9B-%E3%80%8C%E9%AD%82%E3%81%AE%E5%A3%B0%E3%80%8D%E3%82%92%E7%A5%9E%E6%A7%98%E3%81%AF%E8%81%9E%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-%E7%8E%8B%E6%A7%98%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E9%BB%92%E6%88%8C/dp/4837968619/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&dchild=1&keywords=%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A&qid=1602111226&sr=8-5).




I strongly suspect that the book you mention in your explanatory comment was
referring (perhaps in a somewhat garbled way) to the notion of
[kotodama](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A) 言霊, particularly
as elaborated in the writings of Motoori Norinaga（本居宣長) and other members of
the Edo-period
[kokugaku](https://stanford.library.sydney.edu.au/archives/spr2009/entries/kokugaku-
school/) (国学) movement (often glossed in English as the "National Learning,"
"Native Studies," or "Nativist" movement).

_Kotodama_ doesn't actually mean "power words," but something more like "the
soul of a word," "the spirits of words," or "the spirit of [the Japanese]
language." However, the concept of _kotodama_ does ascribe mystical power to
certain Japanese words or combinations of words which, when spoken aloud in a
ritual setting, were believed to have the ability to alter reality itself. The
belief that this power was unique to the Japanese language and made Japan a
special land [dates all the way back to the ancient poetry collection known as
_Man'yôshû_
(万葉集)](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%A0%E3%81%BE%E3%81%AE%E3%81%95%E3%81%8D%E3%82%8F%E3%81%86%E3%81%8F%E3%81%AB),
which was Motoori Norinaga's source for both the term and the concept. And it
seems that because this notion of magical power is so central to the concept
of _kotodama_ , [the term is sometimes (mis)translated into English as "power
words"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotodama).

Many of the nativists' ideas about Japanese uniqueness and superiority – very
much including their ideas about _kotodama_ – were quite influential among
twentieth-century Japanese nationalists, who adapted them for use in official
and unofficial propaganda in the period before and during World War II. (You
can read a little bit about how the notion of _kotodama_ informed propaganda
and wartime government policy in [this blog
post](https://blog.oup.com/2014/05/kotodama-japanese-spirit-of-language/) by a
sociolinguist at Oxford University.) After the end of the war, nativist claims
about Japanese superiority were suppressed by the Occupation authorities and
critiqued by Japanese intellectuals, and for the most part, these ideas fell
out of favor. However, even today there are people in Japan who believe in
[some version of
_kotodama_](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%81%84%E3%81%84%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8C%E3%81%9F%E3%81%8F%E3%81%95%E3%82%93%E3%82%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8F%E3%82%8B-%E3%80%8C%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A%E3%80%8D%E3%81%AE%E5%8A%9B-%E3%80%8C%E9%AD%82%E3%81%AE%E5%A3%B0%E3%80%8D%E3%82%92%E7%A5%9E%E6%A7%98%E3%81%AF%E8%81%9E%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99-%E7%8E%8B%E6%A7%98%E6%96%87%E5%BA%AB-%E9%BB%92%E6%88%8C/dp/4837968619/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&dchild=1&keywords=%E8%A8%80%E9%9C%8A&qid=1602111226&sr=8-5).

