[Jujutsu Kaisen & Japanese Mythology]: Where Do "Curses" Come From? The Moment a God Fell into a Special Grade Cursed Spirit in the Kojiki's Underworld

A World Where Negative Emotions Take Shape

The anime Jujutsu Kaisen depicts a world where human negative emotions become "Cursed Energy," giving rise to grotesque monsters. The appearance of these "Cursed Spirits," born from human stagnation—such as fear, regret, and jealousy—has left a massive impact on audiences worldwide. However, in Japan, this concept of a "curse" is by no means a piece of fiction invented from scratch by modern creators. How was Japan's oldest, original "curse" born? Its origin is recorded in a highly visceral and grotesque manner within a 1,300-year-old myth.

A Special Grade Cursed Object Named "Kegare" (Impurity)

In the anime, curses manifest in places where people gather or where energy stagnates. This operates on the exact same system as the concept of "Kegare" in Japanese Shintoism. Ancient Japanese people believed that the extreme depletion of life force and a state of absolute stagnation were the sources of all calamities (curses).

The true essence of this is depicted in the episode of Izanami, the mother goddess who created the nation of Japan, when she lost her life and descended to "Yomi-no-Kuni," the world of the dead.

The Moment a God Transforms into a "Monster"

To meet his deceased wife, her husband, Izanagi, stepped into the pitch-black Underworld. When he called out, "Our creation of the world is not yet finished, let us return," Izanami replied, "I have already eaten the food of the Underworld, so I cannot return immediately. I will consult with the gods of Yomi, so please, do not look at me."

However, unable to wait, Izanagi broke the taboo. He lit a flame and looked upon her. What he saw was not the beautiful goddess of his past. Her entire body was writhing with countless maggots, her flesh rotting and melting away. Furthermore, from her head, chest, and stomach, eight grotesque monsters known as the "Eight Thunder Gods" had been born and were roaring.

It was the exact moment the Goddess of Creation had transformed into an ultimate mass of "Kegare"—or, in modern terms, a "Special Grade Cursed Spirit."

Gods and Curses Share the Same Root

A sacred being can suddenly invert into a bringer of the most terrifying calamity. In Japanese mythology, there is no absolute "good" or "evil." Even gods, if they stagnate, rot, and cling to attachments, will mercilessly fall and become terrifying curses. Enraged that her hideous form had been seen, Izanami unleashed a cursed army of hideous women of the Underworld, hunting her husband to the ends of the earth. This is the very manifestation of stagnated negative energy attempting to drag the living down into the same dark abyss.

The instinctive fear of "curses" we feel through the anime screen is proof that the fear ancient Japanese people felt toward "Kegare" in the darkness and the stench of death still lives on within us.

Experience this visceral terror and madness, where even gods fall and become horrifying monsters. Step into the unflinching realism of Japanese mythology in the story of KAMIYO.

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