ANST-701 Lessons

The students quickly take their seats in the Ancient Studies classroom, their eyes drawn to the top of the professor’s desk. A long, thin sword with a slight curve in the blade rests gently on the desk. The professor notices the students’ interest and smiles.

Welcome once again to Ancient Studies. I see you have all been drawn to the fierce beauty of this sword. While I wish I could demonstrate its grace, it is in fact on loan from a friend on the condition that I not attempt to use it. You see, my last attempt to master the skills of a samurai ended in utmost failure along with an extended stay in the hospital wing. Nevertheless, it is a thing of beauty - although quite deadly. 

If we can tear our eyes away from the sword for a bit, I would like to speak a little more about kanji - specifically about the magical kanji and its applications. However, I promise we will come back to the sword near the end of our lesson when we discuss kotodama in martial arts..

Magical Kanji 

You may recall from our previous lesson that Japanese culture has always placed great value in the power of words - especially the power of an object or living creature’s true name. It stands to reason, then, that the symbols  represent those words and names are equally as significant, and indeed they are. For those of you not familiar with Japanese writing, the system uses what are called kanji. Instead of the letters which represent certain sounds that you and I are used to using, kanji are logograms - that is symbols that represent words and/or phrases. 

While a relatively simple concept to understand, what this logographic system means is that there are an immense number of kanji (over 6,000), with varying levels of use. There are only 26 letters in our alphabet to memorize - imagine having to learn thousands! To complicate things even more, when two kanji are written beside each other, they can have an altered meaning. Instead of the typical meaning of “fire,” a kanji could mean “smoke” or “cook.” If this type of study delights your brain, I highly suggest that you study Ancient Runes - it’s a delightful course filled with just these sorts of complexities.

Now kanji can be subdivided into groups - much like the aetts of Elder Futhark, the language of the Norse. Some of these groups are based on regional dialects, while others are for specific professions or practices. The group we are most interested in for the purposes of this class is colloquially known as the Koto-Kanji, the magical kanji.

Before you all get excited about me showing you a secret set of symbols, I will remind you of the Japanese belief in the power of names, and also that you need willpower to use magic. You see, there is no “secret magical set of kanji characters.” The characters that make up the Koto-Kanji are pulled from various kanji subsets - it is the concentration and willpower used when writing or otherwise forming these kanji that make them magical.

Let’s look at an example:

The image I have just drawn for you is the kanji representing “fire.” If a Muggle student were to write this on a paper for school, absolutely nothing would happen. If a magical student were to write this on a paper with no magical willpower behind it, absolutely nothing would happen. If, however, a magical student was having a particularly horrid day and was quite enraged about having to write their paper, and they willed it to burn while writing out this specific kanji, well, let’s just hope that there was quick access to water and spare parchment for another attempt at the assignment!

While this is a basic example of how the Koto-Kanji are used, it really is as simple as applying the correct amount of willpower to activate the symbol, as long as you have drawn the symbol correctly. Therein lies the true challenge of the Koto-Kanji: drawing them perfectly. Not only does the symbol have to look perfect - each line at a certain angle and proportional to the others - but  each stroke of the brush (or the foot, as we will discuss later) must be made in a certain direction and in a certain order for there to be any chance of the magic being successful. Just one degree off on an angle or one brush stroke slightly too long is enough for the magic to fail. Absolute perfection is needed to be successful, which is why it takes decades to master the art of the Koto-Kanji.

Some of the other kanji that are magical in nature are air, water, up, down, stone,tree and many more. Some of their effects may surprise you, as your intent when using them also has an impact on the resulting magic. 

For example, the kanji “stone” can be used for several purposes, the most common being to petrify a person (along the same vein as in the Fully Body-Bind Curse) or to protect something or someone with a shield (along the lines of the Shield Charm). In the second example, specifically, the amount of willpower, coupled with the number of wizards writing the kanji, and the number of times the kanji is written on the target at the same time, would increase the strength, range, and durability of the spell.

If you were to ask me how many Koto-Kanji there are, I am afraid that I would be unable to answer. There are certainly a few hundred that have obvious magical manifestations, however the ability to combine kanji together to make more complex effects leaves the total number rather nebulous. As with our charms masters, the Koto-Kanji masters of Japan are constantly, carefully experimenting to find new combinations of kanji that have a magical effect. 

The wizard who was perhaps the most prolific in terms of the discovery and application of magical kanji to this point in our history was Abe no Seimei, a wizard employed as an onmyoji during the Japanese classical period. In fact, he was considered the greatest onmyoji in the history of Japan. In addition to being an exceptional seer, he was also incredibly adept at astrological divination, as well as transfiguration and the application of Koto-Kanji in these pursuits.

One of his most famous feats (of which there are many) was during a magical showdown between Abe and his nemesis, Ashiya Doman, who wanted to embarrass Abe and take his position close to the emperor. During this particular event, Ashiya attempted to prove his divinatory prowess over Abe by secretly placing fifteen oranges inside a box, and then “divining” that there were fifteen oranges in the box in front of the royal court. Seeing through Ashiya’s scam, Abe quietly transfigured the oranges into rats, and then “divined” that there were fifteen rats in the box. 

Thinking that he had finally won the battle for Abe’s position, Ashiya opened the box with a flourish, only to have it erupt with rats, who scattered throughout the room. Embarrassed with failure, Ashiya conceded defeat and challenged Abe no more.

Kotodama in Martial Arts

The application of kotodama and Koto-Kanji is not limited simply to inscriptions on paper and stone and the manipulation of objects. One of the more beautiful and deadly applications lies within the practice of martial arts. 

In any martial arts practice, the students study various forms, called kata, which are specific series of movements that almost trace a pattern with the body. In fact, some of those forms are not only a pattern, but a very specific, very special pattern - they are Koto-Kanji. 

Some of you look a bit stunned, and some of you look a bit confused. Allow me to explain further. What this means is that some of the kata trace a Koto-Kanji onto the earth. Akin to our example of written Koto-Kanji, if, and only if, a wizard puts enough willpower into their tracing of the Koto-Kanji, there will be a magical reaction. If they trace the “fire” kanji, they will indeed produce fire. As martial arts were created mostly for warfare, this application of the fire Koto-Kanji produces a large blast of fire that travels along the ground from the origin (the place where the wizard traced the Koto-Kanji) to the intended target. The volume and intensity of the blast is determined by the amount of willpower used. 

When no willpower is applied during the tracing of these Koto-Kanji, there is still an effect, albeit an aesthetic one. These particular kata, when viewed by the audience, seem a bit more graceful, a bit more mesmerising, and perhaps a bit more deadly.

Most recently, this effect has been demonstrated in the martial art Aikido, invented by Morihei Ueshiba in the 1920s. While certainly not ancient by any unit of measure, Morihei deserves mention as there was a specific moment in time when the art he created began to manifest magical properties, which we will discuss a bit later.

It is very important to note that Aikido is an art that focuses on protection, not harm. In fact, it goes so far as to defend the practitioner in such a manner as to not injure the attacker either. Translated into English, Aikido means “the way of harmonious spirit.” Obviously, being more at one with yourself is a good thing all around, that indeed does increase your ability to achieve anything you set your mind to. However, in addition, it can also be seen as useful from a magical standpoint. If your spirit is fully harmonious, you are at peace and know exactly what you want and not pretend it to yourself otherwise. This removes any potential barriers of willpower. To clarify, if part of you wants to punch your friend in the face, but you also secretly want to kiss them instead, your willpower (and indeed focus) is split, meaning you won’t be able successfully use magic to sock your friend in the nose, or will at least be far less likely to.

Indeed, Morihei was a wizard. He studied under the great Ju-Jitsu masters (another form of martial arts), who were not magic folk, and developed his own form of martial arts based on those studies. In 1925, Ueshiba had some sort of a spiritual revelation, which he explained to his students (a mix of Muggles and wizards), as if "a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body, and changed my body into a golden one." While a strange explanation, the students noticed a distinct change in his practice of Aikido - his skill had greatly increased and his forms were more graceful than ever before.

Given what we know of the Koto-Kanji, we can assume from this description that Morihei mastered the ability to incorporate magical kanji into the kata of Aikido. There would be no fire or ice or earthquakes resulting from activating these kanji, as the nature of Aikido is self-defence and protection. Indeed, it is more likely to see the Koto-Kanji “stone” in this practice in order to briefly keep the attacker in place as you move to flip them onto the ground.

There are several other forms of martial arts that have Koto-Kanji within their practice. Many have included these forms since their conceptions, but others have added them through the passage of time as wizards have been introduced to their practices. Ju-Jitsu and Judo, for example, were created by Muggles, but over time have developed magical forms by their wizard practitioners. 

Now, martial artists do not have the only claim on using their bodies to draw Koto-Kanji. These forms were first implemented by none other than the samurai warriors that I mentioned at the beginning of class. The ways of the samurai are a bit more clouded in mystery, and their creation of the Koto-Kanji in battle is a bit harder to discern, but it is there, as the effects of the magic can clearly be seen in swords that seem to move as if possessed by an incredibly strong and agile force. So, too, do the warriors themselves move in ways that seem impossible to achieve by average folk. Hence the reason I have always been drawn to the sword on my desk - the ability to move like a samurai is incredibly tempting.

Conclusion

Alas, we do not have time to study all of these arts and practices and we have also run out of time to study more of the ancient Japanese culture and magic. It is time for us to bid farewell to the land of the rising sun and move slightly west to the ancient civilizations of China, which we will begin to study next lesson. In the meantime, you will have a practical assignment on Koto-Kanji to complete this week, as well as a quiz on today’s lesson. I wish you the best of luck this week and shall see you again soon.

Image credits here, here, here, and here
Original lesson written by Professor Liria Morgan