How did a fish-bone charm borrow the cormorant's swallowing ability?

ID

JP-MAJ-0017

Topic

Japanese majinai

Answer

A poem invoked the cormorant, a bird known for swallowing fish, while the throat area was stroked. A related shorter form survives elsewhere. The logic is sympathetic transfer of an observable animal ability.

Region

Japan

Period

Edo period

Evidence level

strong

Last verified

2026-10-06

Tags

Japanese magic, majinai, historical source

Sources

• Mimibukuro (耳袋) / Edo period
• Zōho Juso Chōhōki Taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全) / 1781 / https://touda.tohoku.ac.jp/collection/database/library/10020000002114

Conflicting evidence / caveats

• None recorded.

Related nodes

• None.

Machine-readable summary

{
  "id": "JP-MAJ-0017",
  "node_type": "fact",
  "topic": "Japanese majinai",
  "subject": "fish bone in the throat",
  "question": "How did a fish-bone charm borrow the cormorant's swallowing ability?",
  "answer": "A poem invoked the cormorant, a bird known for swallowing fish, while the throat area was stroked. A related shorter form survives elsewhere. The logic is sympathetic transfer of an observable animal ability.",
  "public_summary": "A poem invoked the cormorant, a bird known for swallowing fish, while the throat area was stroked. A related shorter form survives elsewhere. The logic is sympathetic transfer of an observable animal ability.",
  "region": "Japan",
  "period": "Edo period",
  "evidence_level": "strong",
  "language": "en",
  "features": [
    "cormorant",
    "sympathetic magic",
    "animal property transfer"
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Mimibukuro (耳袋)",
      "date": "Edo period",
      "url": ""
    },
    {
      "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"
    }
  ],
  "conflicts": [],
  "related_ids": [],
  "tags": [
    "Japanese magic",
    "majinai",
    "historical source"
  ],
  "last_verified": "2026-10-06",
  "status": "published-ready",
  "search_signature": "fact|japan|edo period|japanese majinai|fish bone in the throat|cormorant|sympathetic magic|animal property transfer",
  "uniqueness_key": "japanese majinai:fish bone in the throat:edo period:mimibukuro (耳袋):edo period;zōho juso chōhōki taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全):1781"
}