A word has spiritual power, it is a Japanese

I checked Amazon's Top Selling books page today. Well, I am a little bit disappointed to see that in Japan most of them are manga. In the UK, I could see how British people love Harry Potter and fantasy novels. And in the U.S people like to control things: money, success, work, weight, their life by positive thinking, religion, healing :-) Actually, those types of books, like new age, healing and rules for achieving success, are popular in Japan too. "The science of getting rich" by Wallace D. Wattles was ranked a top seller in Japan.

Speaking of new age, it was a big fad in the 90s and "Bashar" is still popular in Japan. "I had it all the time" by Alan Cohen was a well known positive thinking book, and Yoko Ono endorsed a book called "Your life can be full of good things" by Mayumi Harada. As for rules for success books Napoleon Hill is famous, of course, and "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen made pretty good sales. In the last few years the Japanese book "Lessons from a Jewish multimillionaire" by Ken Honda was big in Japan. He wrote some wisdom about money and how he was taught by wealthy Jewish men in the U.S.

Me?? I am a curious person. I love surprise, mystery, wondering at the world. If it seems to be interesting, I will read it, I will try anything. You know, things beyond all imagination could happen at any time, like this (Ghost!!) and this (Horn on head!!). I am open to those types of books too.

Then I found an interesting page today. The word "Arigato"= Thank you has power (JP). Actually we used the word "Kotodama" originally. It is a Shinto idea that each word has spiritual power. The page said that when you say Arigato 50,000 times, you will cry automatically full of a grateful feeling, and that some small happiness would happen to you. If you say Arigato 100,000 times, some better thing would happen. So, more Arigato will bring you more happiness. Look at this page, this page talks about the effect of Arigato too and they did an experiment. Three bottles of rice were filled up [is a bottle of rice a specific thing? or were three bottles just filled with rice?]. One bottle had a "baka" = A-hole, one bottle had no label, and one was labeled "Arigato". Then one year later, the Arigato bottle looked completely different from the others.

I tried to find the same idea (that a word has power or that saying Thank You can bring happiness to you) on Google, but I couldn't find any foreign sites. (Do you know of any?)  So, foreign people, does this make any sense? Will you tell me to stop kidding around? I am very curious if it will happen or not [if what will happen or not?]. What do you think?

Comments

[katrina]

If I said "Arigato" 50,000 times I'm sure I'd feel wonderful once I'd finished and possible cry from relief! I'm not sure that's to do with any special power for the actual word though, more like the meditative state that repetition creates in the mind. Of course, it helps if the word or phrase is a positive one.

The idea that words have such spritual power is something that many cultures share to an extent. You can find it in the Jewish religion (the names for G_D, aspects of the Kabbalah), Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. On the whole, it's the mystical parts of these religions that consider such things. It's certainly an idea that is very common in forms of witchcraft and magic. Or Viking runes for example.

Have a look at the wikipedia entry on mantra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra#Mantra_in_other_traditions_or_contexts

The Arigato bottle is interesting but is it a year or a month? The photograph on 11/27 looks different too. Hmm, I'm always suspicious! Like Mulder on the X-Files, I want to believe...

Maybe I'll try this experiment at home and put "okini" on one to see if Kansai-ben is more powerful!

what is arigato and sogoy and dane, tabadatshena .all japanes word pls

[Mari]

Hi There
I am superstitious!? Yes maybe.
I won't try arigato rice test, but I may try say arigato 50000times. I will let you know if something happy happen.

[tt]

haha.

mari, stop kidding around!

you're so superstitious
`_'

it would be a pretty big scientific (but mysterious) event if you could successfully and repeatedly get better results from an Arigato bottle compared to other bottles.

if it doesn't happen repeatedly, but only sometimes, then it's only coincidence.

but what you said DOES make sense. people also throw coins into fountains, in order to get their wishes and have good things happen. people having superstitions makes sense to me. it's one of the most normal things in the world.

(i do think words can have spiritual power. words can hurt peoples souls, or make them better. but i suppose it's really the person speaking who's doing that.)

crying and feeling grateful are very subjective personal things. it happens to people when they behold something powerful. but it's actually themselves, not the word they're repeating, or the deity somebody is thinking of.

besides, even on The Worst Day, some small happiness can happen to a person. so it would be pretty easy for someone to think that the word arigato was giving them the small happiness, when actually the happiness would have happened anyway.

i know of a lot of superstitions here in america, but not about words-- a word itself-- having spiritual power. (it's usually prayer/god, or just some behavior like throwing coins in fountains, knocking on wood to avoid "jinx"es, ...not walking under ladders... ...)

i'm pretty sure that if we want good things to happen in the world and in our lives, we have to do it ourselves.

sorry if i'm ruining anybody's picnic.

i can't read the text, but the arigato bottle "experiment" doesn't look like a real experiment. it doesn't use any scientific method. you would have to make sure that, to begin with, each bottle had the same contents, stability, and seal. then, if the word arigato actually has an effect on the bottle, it's worth investigating further.

you'd have to do it with a lot of bottles, or many times, to make sure it's not just coincidence.

--see, if this kind of stuff was true, you could take DICE and write arigato on the sevens, and roll lucky sevens every time.... or something like that. i think the same principle would tell us that we can avoid natural disaster by chanting.

but, if you try using an arigato strategy, and nothing good happens, you can just say "the word's spirit is angry or asleep, or doesn't want to help me" or "well, it's just not working Right Now."

maybe i'm going a little overboard.

[Sarmoung]

If I said "Arigato" 50,000 times I'm sure I'd feel wonderful once I'd finished and possible cry from relief! I'm not sure that's to do with any special power for the actual word though, more like the meditative state that repetition creates in the mind. Of course, it helps if the word or phrase is a positive one.

The idea that words have such spritual power is something that many cultures share to an extent. You can find it in the Jewish religion (the names for G_D, aspects of the Kabbalah), Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam. On the whole, it's the mystical parts of these religions that consider such things. It's certainly an idea that is very common in forms of witchcraft and magic. Or Viking runes for example.

Have a look at the wikipedia entry on mantra:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantra#Mantra_in_other_traditions_or_contexts

The Arigato bottle is interesting but is it a year or a month? The photograph on 11/27 looks different too. Hmm, I'm always suspicious! Like Mulder on the X-Files, I want to believe...

Maybe I'll try this experiment at home and put "okini" on one to see if Kansai-ben is more powerful!

[Martin]

"Kotodama" is such a wonderful concept. Thanks for introducing that in English. I think there is a similar idea behind the term "affirmation" in English, but "kotodama" is also so embedded in Japanese culture, much more than "affirmation".

I love the Japanese book called "The Hidden Message from water" by Masaru Emoto. Do you know it? You can find it on Amazon. It shows that water will benefit if you write a positive message on the water bottle. Here is a website: http://www.hado.net/index2.html

[Johan]

Do you perhaps mean something like this:
http://www.rosemaryaltea.com/power/weekly_lesson12.html

Theres some info here too, it seems its a part of Jewish faith:
http://www.barmitzva.org/Heal/Livecall/live5.html