This kotodama no nenju necklace was inspired by the manga and anime
series Inu yasha.
Inu-Yasha's nenju necklace, which was "given to him" by
the miko Kaede, is one of the more distinctive objects associated
with that character (except for maybe his red kimono made of Hi-Nezumi
- fire rat, or the sword Tetsusaiga ).
Only all natural materials would due for this creation to make it
authentic.
After watching many hours of Inuyasha, our artists chose black onyx
as the best choice for Inuyasha's mala beads, and buffalo bone or
white quartz for the magatama beads.
Black onyx is associated with the supernatural in many cultures including
ancient Japan.
Black onyx is formed by silicon dioxide deposited in gas cavities
of lava.
Being that Japan has many volcanoes, black onyx could be found around
Kaede's village, and could easily be formed into the beads necessary
to restrain a hanyou dog.
Also, black onyx is very reflective, and will appear as dark purple
when worn on a red kimono in bright sunlight, or black in normal lighting
conditions just like Inuyasha's nenju.
Magatama beads represent: the yin-yang, a growing / sprouting seed,
a human sperm cell, an embryo, they are part of the Japanese imperial
regalia, and are the jewels worn by the sun goddess Amaterasu no Okami
in Japanese mysticism.
Many shinto shrines have magatama beads inside.
If you wear magatama you gain the protection of kami, which are good
spirits.
We offer a choice of either buffalo bone, or white quartz magatama
beads being that both bone, and quartz could be found in or around
Kaede's village.
Forty-nine large 10mm black onyx beads, or eighty-nine 4mm black onyx
beads have been strung on strong 3 strand silk thread (authentic nenju
rosaries use silk thread) separated by a choice of either genuine
hand carved water buffalo bone tusks (resemble canine teeth) or white
quartz claws / fangs.
The kotodama no nenju necklace worn by Inuyasha has an incantation
or spell put on it so that when the word Osuwari, which means sit
in Japanese, is spoken by Kagome he does just that - he sits.
We feel our customers wouldn't like to be violently flung to the ground
when the word sit is spoken out loud, and so we have not included
that feature.
• 49
Black Onyx 3/8" (10mm) beads, or 89 3/16" (4mm) Black Onyx
beads
• Choice of Magatama - 10 Hand-carved 1" (20mm) water buffalo
bone tusks, White Quartz Claw / Fangs, or 18 1/4 inch (8mm) water
buffalo magatama
• Necklace length is 25 inches, or 18.5 inches
• 100 % genuine strong 3 strand silk thread
• Sterling silver T insert into O style clasp, or sterling silver
hook clasp
• Hand-crafted from all natural materials
• No glues, artificial dyes, or synthetics are used
• We apply the same techniques used since ancient times to create
this necklace
