I was reading Quora and one of the questions was asking why the Japanese use swastikas everywhere. This seems to be a question that never goes away. Some things tend to enter the general public knowledge and filter out from there to the point where it becomes common knowledge and we all know it. And some things no matter how often they are talked about just never make that journey to public knowledge and so they are asked again and again. This is one of those topics.
For those not familiar, it's true they are everywhere in Japan. But things are not quite as they seem.
The swastika is actually a very old religious symbol from India. Called svastika (स्वस्तिक) in Sanskrit, it generally holds a meaning of health, luck, success, prosperity, and that kind of thing. It spread from India all over the world. Before the Nazis took the symbol, it was fairly common in the West too for the same meaning. I suppose that's why the Nazis took it. Unfortunately for us all, their touch forever fouled the symbol in the West.
Even the Romans used it
Not so in Japan. Called a manji, it remains a sacred symbol, used on Buddhist temples and also to mark their location on maps.
Many people of my generation were probably first introduced to the manji in the Nintendo classic The Legend of Zelda where one of the dungeons is shaped like a manji.
Anyway, there isn't much more than that. There is some detail about left vs right facing. In various cultures they had slightly different meanings. But that is a minor point. (If you are curious, the Wikipedia article is extensive). The major points are:
- Symbol of good luck, used all over the world with that meaning
- Stolen and fouled by Hitler
- Tainted by his touch in the West
- Still used with the original meaning in the East
Here's a great video from Asia Boss, this one looking at the difference between a manji and a swastika and if the average Japanese person knows the difference. Spoilers: most don't. One of them also seems to think the nazi symbol would make a good band logo. 🤔
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David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. |
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