言霊 (kotodama) as a Japanese Ancient Wisdom about Words

I want to introduce one of the Japanese words which has existed since ancient times. This is the word to refer a concept, and there isn’t an exact word to translate it into English. ‘言霊(pronounced ‘kotodama,’) is composed of two words; ‘言う(to say/tell)’ and ‘霊(spirit).’ ‘言霊 (kotodama)’ is first seen on the ancient song book compiled between the fifth and eighth century. The word means a mysterious and excellent power which lives in each word. In ancient times, people believed in that power: a word brings about the exact phenomenon that it means.

There have been growing signs of an economic recession. It seems impossible to spend just one day without seeing, hearing, and saying words related to the recent economy, such as ‘recession,’ ‘depression,’ or ’crises’. I have recently met many people who state things like, "the economy is very bad and it is only going to get worse." Because they make these statements with such certainty, I feel as if they contribute to making the economy worse, which is most likely the last thing they hope. Every time I encounter that situation, I remember ‘言霊 (kotodama)’ and carefully frame what I am going to say.

Japanese tradition says that the word you say will return to you. That means if you curse something or someone, the curse word will return to you, thus you actually curse yourself! As I have been teaching Japanese, I have noticed that Japanese has very few curse words than those in English. Perhaps I’ve watched too much “South Park,” but it seems English is littered in swear words. Japanese in early times believed the power of the word, and I believe they didn’t underestimate the influence of the words they spoke.

I think ‘言霊 (kotodama)’ is a wonderful word and I keep its concept in mind. If I don’t want something happen, I don’t talk about it. The bad economy might be the reality, however, you don’t always have to talk about it, like you talk about the weather, do you? The more you affirm the bad economy, the stronger it becomes. Do you want the bad economy to become disastrous? According to ‘言霊 (kotodama,)’ the word ‘bad’ has the power to manifest the phenomenon as well as the word ‘overcome,’ ‘thrive,’ ‘better,’ ‘good,’ ‘flourish.’