How did old Japanese charm manuals address a child crying at night?

ID

JP-MAJ-0016

Topic

Japanese majinai

Answer

One version recited a verse into the left ear for a boy and right ear for a girl; other versions used household papers or written characters. The procedures combine bodily boundaries and gendered left-right classification.

Region

Japan

Period

Edo period; 17th–18th century sources

Evidence level

strong

Last verified

2026-10-06

Tags

Japanese magic, majinai, historical source

Sources

• Zōho Juso Chōhōki Taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全) / 1781 / https://touda.tohoku.ac.jp/collection/database/library/10020000002114
• Jakyō Jukin Hōsoku (邪兇呪禁法則) / 1684 / https://adeac.jp/iwasebunko/catalog/mp01002100

Conflicting evidence / caveats

• None recorded.

Related nodes

• None.

Machine-readable summary

{
  "id": "JP-MAJ-0016",
  "node_type": "fact",
  "topic": "Japanese majinai",
  "subject": "night crying in children",
  "question": "How did old Japanese charm manuals address a child crying at night?",
  "answer": "One version recited a verse into the left ear for a boy and right ear for a girl; other versions used household papers or written characters. The procedures combine bodily boundaries and gendered left-right classification.",
  "public_summary": "One version recited a verse into the left ear for a boy and right ear for a girl; other versions used household papers or written characters. The procedures combine bodily boundaries and gendered left-right classification.",
  "region": "Japan",
  "period": "Edo period; 17th–18th century sources",
  "evidence_level": "strong",
  "language": "en",
  "features": [
    "left-right distinction",
    "ear as boundary",
    "household charm"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Zōho Juso Chōhōki Taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全)",
      "date": "1781",
      "url": "https://touda.tohoku.ac.jp/collection/database/library/10020000002114"
    },
    {
      "title": "Jakyō Jukin Hōsoku (邪兇呪禁法則)",
      "date": "1684",
      "url": "https://adeac.jp/iwasebunko/catalog/mp01002100"
    }
  ],
  "conflicts": [],
  "related_ids": [],
  "tags": [
    "Japanese magic",
    "majinai",
    "historical source"
  ],
  "last_verified": "2026-10-06",
  "status": "published-ready",
  "search_signature": "fact|japan|edo period; 17th–18th century sources|japanese majinai|night crying in children|left-right distinction|ear as boundary|household charm",
  "uniqueness_key": "japanese majinai:night crying in children:edo period; 17th–18th century sources:zōho juso chōhōki taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全):1781;jakyō jukin hōsoku (邪兇呪禁法則):1684"
}