Japanese writing began with the introduction of kanji from China, which later also developed into hiragana & katakana.
But - on the border of history and myth - are other strange and purportedly ancient characters, called kamiyo moji η₯代ζε: "characters of the spirit age." 1/
But - on the border of history and myth - are other strange and purportedly ancient characters, called kamiyo moji η₯代ζε: "characters of the spirit age." 1/
Itβs been claimed these scripts predate the introduction of kanji by centuries. Each of the dozen or so different scripts that together are called kamiyo moji has a distinct style: Katakamuna looks like a series of electrical diagrams, Abiru seems similar to Korean hangul. 2/
Scholars have debated the authenticity of kamiyo moji since they were first published in printed form in the 17th century. Almost all experts now believe that they are not authentically ancient, but are rather antiquarian fakes, created at that time they were 'discovered'. 3/
Kamiyo moji appear on amulets and occasionally on shrine inscriptions across Japan. Notwithstanding the academic consensus that they are fakes, to this day, some still believe they are divine; representative of some ancient and quintessentially Japanese spiritual truth. 4/
For more on these Japanese "Spirit Scripts", read this Medium piece by Chris Gaul, which contains a useful bibliography. 5/
link.medium.com
link.medium.com
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