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In the anime Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (精霊の守り人), when the Star Diviners
are speaking and do not wish for the contents of their conversation to be
heard, they say something like "There is no-one else in this room." or "This
room has only empty vessels." (depending on the translation, I guess). Then,
these other guys in the room (generally people who only light candles and the
like) pull a piece of cloth that hangs backwards from their 'hat', and cover
their faces. This piece of cloth has a symbol, that I guess is a Kanji (I do
not know many Kanji, so it is only a guess).

[![Symbol on a piece of cloth worn by these other people who light the
candles](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rtxdc.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rtxdc.png)

**What Kanji is this, and what is its meaning?**


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2013-01-14T15:47:25.817
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2023-05-03T11:12:34.647
2023-05-03T11:12:34.647
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question
symbolism seirei-no-moribito
What kanji is this, and what's its meaning?


It isn't kanji. The character you see here, and others, were invented for this
particular TV series. They're called [ヨゴ文字](http://cn5.jugem.jp/?cid=6) ("yogo
moji"), and this character in particular is a substitute for the kana `む`
("mu").

See the following charts for details:
[kana](http://cn5.img.jugem.jp/20080403_332244.png) and
[numbers](http://cn5.img.jugem.jp/20070806_151252.jpg)

As for what it means, given the context in your question, I would guess the
`む` on his mask is `無` ("nothing").

_(As an aside, these characters remind me of[Tangut
script](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangut_script).)_


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2013-01-14T18:24:12.217
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2013-01-17T12:39:43.903
2013-01-17T12:39:43.903
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answer