How did a skin-disease charm manipulate the written character for 'bug'?

ID

JP-MAJ-0019

Topic

Japanese majinai

Answer

For a condition called tamushi, one procedure wrote 虫 ('bug' or 'worm') on cut rhubarb root. The named cause was externalized into a written character that could be physically manipulated.

Region

Japan

Period

Edo period; 1781 source

Evidence level

medium

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

Conflicting evidence / caveats

• None recorded.

Related nodes

• None.

Machine-readable summary

{
  "id": "JP-MAJ-0019",
  "node_type": "fact",
  "topic": "Japanese majinai",
  "subject": "tamushi skin-disease charm",
  "question": "How did a skin-disease charm manipulate the written character for 'bug'?",
  "answer": "For a condition called tamushi, one procedure wrote 虫 ('bug' or 'worm') on cut rhubarb root. The named cause was externalized into a written character that could be physically manipulated.",
  "public_summary": "For a condition called tamushi, one procedure wrote 虫 ('bug' or 'worm') on cut rhubarb root. The named cause was externalized into a written character that could be physically manipulated.",
  "region": "Japan",
  "period": "Edo period; 1781 source",
  "evidence_level": "medium",
  "language": "en",
  "features": [
    "written character",
    "externalization",
    "plant material"
  ],
  "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"
    }
  ],
  "conflicts": [],
  "related_ids": [],
  "tags": [
    "Japanese magic",
    "majinai",
    "historical source"
  ],
  "last_verified": "2026-10-06",
  "status": "published-ready",
  "search_signature": "fact|japan|edo period; 1781 source|japanese majinai|tamushi skin-disease charm|written character|externalization|plant material",
  "uniqueness_key": "japanese majinai:tamushi skin-disease charm:edo period; 1781 source:zōho juso chōhōki taizen (増補咒咀調法記大全):1781"
}