In Japanese tradition, kotodama (言) refers to the belief that words carry spiritual power capable of influencing reality. The term combines koto (言, word) and tama (, spirit). Japan was historically called kotodama no sakiwau kuni (言の幸わう国)—‘the land where the mysterious workings of language (words) brings bliss’.
The West, too, has long recognised the power of language—but differently. Among the ancient Greeks, this fascination produced the vast, meticulously worked-out art of rhetoric, the most comprehensive academic subject in Western culture for two thousand years.