WARNING: SPOILERIFIC!!

Introduction

During my travels in Japan I noticed a large number of sights, sites, stories and statues that had link to Naruto. The more I learnt the more I understood that there is much cultural and religious symbolism within the story and the universe that it is set within. This has not been done in a tedious and overwrought Dan Brown DaVinci Code sort of a way, where it’s all supposed to have some great cosmic, mind-shattering significance, but I think more as a writer showing his love and pride for the many varied and totally unique aspects of Japanese culture.

I love the world of Naruto; it is vast and varied in terms of the nations and geography and I love the fact that it seems to be totally in it’s own time, with a peculiar mix of technology and mysticism that is both fantastic and backward at the same time. It is populated by a huge number of characters, whole are from a large number of cultures and races, and who are driven by a large number of motivations or needs. Many of them are complex, with intertwined histories and have been subjected to some life-changing events that have irrevocably shaped their futures, for better or worse. They are rarely black-n-white, with no completely irredeemably, heinous villains or flawless, untainted heroes.

But now I realise that there are many layers of symbolism which have subtly been woven into all layers of the characters, their context and their history, in a way that adds to but does not distract from the narrative. I feel that some of the shocking and unpredicted storyline twists have, in fact, been clearly foreshadowed by their symbolic parallels, but in a way that is only ever evident if you are familiar with the symbolism, and often only then in hindsight.

I think that as a fan of the series my understanding and appreciation of the series has been immeasurably improved for being able to set them in the wider cultural context and so I wanted to try and collate all the ones I had notice together into one place so that others might gain an appreciation of it all.

This is mostly the result of a huge amount of googleing, wiki-ing, reading various guide books and noticing and putting things together in my own head, and as much of it is based on mythology, there are usually a few variants to any legend and so I cannot guarantee its accuracy.

The ‘spiritual science’ of Naruto ;

Much of the mechanisms for the Naruto universe, particularly ninjutsu, are based on Buddhist mythology; Buddhism, along with Shintoism are the key religions in Japan today, in fact many Japanese see no conflict between saying they are both Buddhist and Shinto; their beliefs are not exclusive and both have their role in defining spirituality and explaining the world as it is. A Japanese person, for example, may have a Shinto wedding but a Buddhist funeral.

You can read my own glib, broad brush explanation of Buddhism in Japan for a basic run down of its tenets. If you can’t be bothered know this: Buddhism was an off-shoot of Hinduism, originally from India, and therefore much of its mythology is derived from there. There is more on Shinto later in the ‘Sharingan Jutsus’ section.

Chakra

The main force or power behind ninjutsu is that of Chakra; which is a slightly different from the original Hindu concept of spinning vortices that act as energy focal points within the body, although the meaning can vary depending on the interpretation. The word Chakra in fact mean ‘wheel’ and there are a number of these thought to be located at specific points around the body – most commonly 7 major ones, located along the bodies centreline at the crown, brow, throat, heart, solar plexus, sacral (upper pelvis) and base/prostate (lower pelvis). These points could very well also be the influence for the “8 gates” techniques used by Rock Lee and Might Guy, and there are said to be many more minor chakras, which are scattered across the entire body which manifest is Naruto as the many chakra points that are the target for Hyuuga ‘gentle fist’ techniques.

While the meaning is slightly different, there are many references to swirling or vortex like qualities of chakra within Naruto, both in the formation of a jutsu such as the rasengan and the “mixing” of physical and spiritual energy.

The 5 ‘Elements’

Within Naruto, Chakra is said to have 5 natures, which are derived from the Hindu/Buddhism concept of the 5 elements, or basic materials or forces that make up the universe; Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Lighting.

Lighting is more often translated as ‘Sky’ or ‘Void’, and given the kanji空, but Lighting is an accepted alternative, while Earth is represented as the Kanji 地 (chi) rather than the土(do) used within Naruto, but the parallels are immediately obvious.

Together they are known as the ‘Godai’ or great five, and are often depicted as gorinto, which are 5-piece towers found at Buddhist temples and cemeteries, where each piece represents an element from Earth at the bottom to Lightning/Void at the top.

In the Naruto universe these are the 5 major forms of ability, along with yin and yang, that ninja may use in order to perform ninjutsu; but for a far better explanation of what they all do and how they can be combined, I very highly recommend this article in Narutopedia, which is awesome.

Yin and Yang chakras are inspired by a Taoist concept of balance and complimentary opposites often symbolised by the Taijitu. With its entry into China, Buddhism has clearly been influenced by Taoism and has incorporated many of its ideas, including the Zodiac and yin-yang (much like Pagan and Christian traditions in Europe). This fusion of ‘pure’ Buddhist and Chinese philosophies such as Taoism and Confucianism then migrated in Japan, where the lines between them have become much more blurred.

Hand seals or ‘Mudras’:

The ability to control Chakra is governed with the use of hand seals which again is routed in Buddhist tradition; the use of proscribed hand position ‘mudras’ is both a Hindu and Buddhist practice, and has both symbolic and practical purpose; they are used to aid one in meditation, and in some case actually hold ones muscles and chest in a position to regulate breathing and focus concentration. They also are used in Hindu and Buddhist art for images of deities where the symbolic nature of the seal is important, either in a position that represents an important action from scripture/legend or as a sort of supernatural power, such as the “wish granting” mudra.

They are so significant that, for example in Thai (Theravada) Buddhism, a Buddha image can only be shown with his hands in one of these positions. While the seals of Naruto do not directly correspond to mudras, they will feel very familiar to someone who watches the series.

Many martial arts also incorporated mudras into their stances, and clearly this has been incorporated into Naruto as a method to focus chakra and perform Jutsus, which is fits very well with both the symbolic, supernatural and physical uses of mudras.

The Naruto Hand seals are themselves are based on the Chinese Zodiac, is not a purely Buddhist tradition, but one that has been made up from a number of Chinese folk legends and philosophies such as Feng Shui and Taoism, however, there is variant of the story that tells of 12 animals coming to say farewell to the Buddha as he was about to leave the Earth to enter Nirvana. Each of the Chinese zodiac animals has also been associated with one of the Buddhist 12 Heavenly Generals, or the 8 Protector deities, and as described above the two traditions have become fused in the Japanese mythology of Kanshi.

Dojutsu – the Third Eye?

The Third Eye is a concept common both in western and eastern cultures, but in Hindu- and Buddhism is said to be a symbol of enlightenment and an ability attributed to the brow chakra in imagination, visualisation, extra sensory perception and self mastery. While the link to Naruto is less obvious, it is possible that this is the inspiration for dojutsu or eye techniques such as the sharingan, byakugan and rinnegan.

Jutsu names and abilities

Many Jutsu names are pretty self explanatory, mainly being descriptions of the jutsu itself such as Gokakyu - “Giant Fireball”. However a few have a symbolic meaning behind them too.

Kirin

Sasuke’s devastating lightening technique is named after an Asian mythical beast, sometimes compared to the Unicorn, which is a chimera made up of a dragon’s body, the horns and legs of a deer and the tail of a lion. In Japan, it is ranked as the highest of all mythical beasts, followed by the dragon and phoenix, (incidentally also the names of Sasuke’s techniques) and is considered to be a benevolent, peaceful creature that brings the pure and just good luck, supposedly not even disturbing the grass it walks upon. However, it can become angry, spitting fire and using a host of other fearsome powers when it encounters evil-doers, bringing righteous retribution upon them.

Clearly, its vengeful nature is being alluded to in the symbolic nature that it used against Itachi and perhaps the fact that it does not successfully destroy him is an early indication that Itachi’s wrongdoing was not as heinous as first appeared.

Sharingan Jutsus

While many of the terms relating to general ninjutsu techniques are from the Buddhist tradition, those related to the Sharingan are from the other religion of Japan; Shinto.

Shinto is the original religion of Japan, and has its own gods (‘kami’) and creation myth that are totally unique to Japan and independent from other major religions. Izanagi and Izanami, both husband and wife and brother and sister, were summoned by the ancient spiritual gods to create the physical world – and so could be compared to “Adam and Eve”. They eventually gave birth to the islands of Japan, and a host of other gods. However when giving birth to Kagutsugi, the incarnation of fire Izanami was killed. In his grief Izanagi travelled to the hellish underworld ‘yomi’ to retrieve her, but after a series of trails was ultimately unsuccessful and this brought death to the living world.

Upon his return he completed a purification ritual and as he washed his face 3 new deities were born; Goddess of the Sun ‘Amaterasu’ was washed from his left eye, God of the Moon ‘Tsukuyomi’ from the right and God of the Sea and Storms ‘Susanoo’ from his nose.

This myth clearly explains the origin of Itachi’s, and subsequently Sasuke’s, mangekyo sharingan powers and why they are said to reside in a specific eye, as well as Danzo’s sharingan-powered death cheating forbidden Jutsu.

The vain Amaterasu and unruly Susanoo often feuded, and one such clash resulted in Susanoo being banished from Heaven and Amaterasu hiding herself in a cave. With the sun gone, darkness covered the world and everything began to die and so the other gods hatched a plan to coax her out; they placed a mirror outside the cave and began to sing and dance, causing so much noise that Amaterasu became curious about the commotion outside. She peeked outside and caught sight of a dazzlingly beautiful goddess (her own image in the mirror) and was so awestruck that the other gods managed to pull her out and block up the cave so she could not return. This mirror, the Yata no Kagami, became one of the 3 magical items that make up the Japanese Imperial Regalia, gifted by Amaterasu to the first human emperor of Japan.

Once banished from heaven for upsetting his sister Amaterasu, Susanoo roamed the world. He met an old couple and their daughter who were weeping in distress; they had once had 8 daughters, but an eight-headed serpent, Yamata no Orochi, had come year after year and had devoured them one each time, until there was just one left and now he was due to come again. Susanoo offered to slay the monster in exchange for the last daughter’s hand in marriage and they agreed.

When the snake was due to arrive, Susanoo placed eight vats of sake wine behind eight gates in a long fence, on its route and when the great serpent came, it drunk the sake and each head, separated, fell asleep allowing Susanoo to slay the beast by cutting it apart using his sword. Inside its tail it found a great magical sword, which he then gifted to his sister Amaterasu as a peaceful gesture to end their grievance.

Together with the mirror, it was given to the first emperor of Japan, and was passed down through the generations to the 12th emperor, who gave them to the legendary warrior Yamato. Yamato was ambushed in battle when the field he was crossing was set on fire, he furiously cut back the grass surrounding him with the sword, leading to it becoming the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi or ‘grass cutter sword’ and found that it could control the winds and fire, turning them back on his attackers.

The final battle of Sasuke and Itachi clearly echoes this myth; with Orochimaru’s form finally revealing itself as the eight-headed ‘hydra’ form only to be beheaded by Itachi’s Susanoo wielding a sword blade formed from sake spilled from a large gourd. Orochimaru frequently uses a Kusanagi sword hidden inside his own body and Susanoo defends Itachi using an impenetrable Yata-mirror shield.

Amaterasu also had a fractious relationship with her other brother, Tsukuyomi, which is why she leaves the sky every evening when he rises bringing about night. The exact meaning of Tsukuyomi is debated, but some say that the ‘yomi’ part is derived from the underworld that Izanagi travelled to, which is perhaps why Itachi’s Tsukuyomi genjutsu is similar to a personalised hell to those it is being used against.

Interestingly, the name of Kakashi Mangekyo sharingan jutsu – kamui- come from yet another uniquely Japanese religion, that of the Ainu. The Ainu are the indigenous people of northern Japan and had a host of their own gods or ‘kamui’, although now the word can mean the ‘strength and majesty of the gods’ in a more general way.

Character Symbolism and References

Many of the characters themselves in Naruto are inspired by Japanese culture, with particular their names being very indicative of their personality, abilities or role within the story.

Names

Uzumaki Naruto: ‘Uzumaki’ is a pun, meaning spiral, whirlpool or vortex, while ‘Naruto’ is the name of a place in southern Japan famous for its whirlpools. The symbolism becomes clear when you consider Naruto’s chaotic personality and whirling fighting style and use of Rasengan, which itself means ‘spiralling sphere’. This is also compounded his ‘alternative’ surname of ‘Namikaze’, which means wave and wind. Naruto’s character is fairly well indicated from the instant you learn his name…

Uchiha Sasuke: Uchiha is a slight variation on the word Uchiwa which is a small hand fan sometimes used to start or maintain a fire – the symbol of the Uchiha crest. Sasuke is the most stereotypical name for a ninja is Japan; much like having a knight called “Lancelot” or a wizard called “Merlin”. This comes from the legend of Sarutobi Sasuke, who is mostly likely a composite fictional character based on real historical figures, and has become the inspiration for a great many anime characters. Once again, from the instant we heard his name we are given an indication of Sasuke’s likely abilities and character.

Nara Shikamaru: This is another double reinforced name; ‘Shika’ is the Japanese for deer while ‘maru’ is used to form a male name. Nara is an ancient city in Japan famous for its large herds of tame deer. The Nara clan are known for their relationship with deer, and so this name again instantly gives a hint to family history. See also Ino-Shika-Cho.

Akimichi Chouji: Akimichi roughly translates as ‘autumn market street’ – so where vendors sell food from the abundant autumn harvests; a clear indication of the family trait of loving food. ‘Cho’ is butterfly, while ‘ji’ means second son, again the name of this character show a foreshadowing of event to come; when fighting the Sound Four, Choji transformed and grew butterfly wings of chakra. See also Ino-Shika-Cho.

Inuzuka Kiba: Inukuza means ‘dog house’ while Kiba means ‘fang’, again indicative of the relationship the clan has with ninja dogs and Kiba’s “fang over fang” jutsu where he and a Kiba transformed-Akamaru act as a tag team.

Hatake Kakashi: Hatake means ‘farm land/field’ while Kakashi means ‘scarecrow’, which once again can been seen to have two fold symbolism; firstly that he has an easy going, laid back personality even lazy personality alluded to be the rural and doll like qualities of his name, however it also ties in with his role as the ‘copy ninja’. Kakashi has made a name for himself by mimicking other ninjas, and his name and the fact that he continually covers his face is an indication that he wishes to hide his uniqueness and identity and make himself a mannequin or avatar, a versatile substitution that can morph for any occasion. He frequently uses clone, transformation and substitution ninja techiniques, in addition to the copy ability afforded to him by the sharingan, which in itself he use far more prolifically than any ‘true’ Uchiha sharingan user.

This is further pointed to by the symbol on Kakashi’s nin-dogs; the Henohenomoheji or ‘the hiragana man’ – a generic face made of letter characters - which in its self often used as the face for scarecrows in Japan.

Jiraiya & Tsunade: Together with Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Tsunade are almost lifted straight from Japanese legend, from The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya, which tells of a ninja who can transform into a toad who is in love with a Princess who uses snail magic and who is forced to battle a form comrade turned enemy who uses snake magic. The character relationships and summons directly mirror the tale.

Orochimaru: Orochimaru’s name has significance beyond that of the Tale of Gallant Jiraiya; Orochi literally means ‘great snake’ and there are many other Japanese and Asian legends that are linked to snakes, that are appropriate to his character such as those related to immortality and re-birth, most poignantly in that of the eight-headed serpent and Susanno described in the Sharingan Jutsus section, which is also where the legend of the Kusanagi sword used by Orochimaru.

Sarutobi: As stated above is the name of a legendary ninja and literally means ‘monkey jump’, which is also indicative of the third hokage, Hiruzen’s animal summons, Enma.

Itachi: Itachi means ‘weasel’; which in Japan, like in Europe are considered to be evil, devious and a bad omen and associated with death, and in some case it is believed that they are able to hypnotise or possess people, like Itachi’s genjutsu. It tricky nature is also indicative of Itachi’s misunderstood behaviour and hidden purpose.

Kisame: means ‘Demon Shark’ which is pretty self explanatory given his appearance and abilities, while the name of his sword Samehada means ‘shark skin’ but see also the Bijuu Section for more symbolism.

Sasori: means ‘Scorpion’ which is also the symbol used by Sasori on all of his puppets to identify them as his. Hs puppet armour Hiruko, the first form we see him in, also had a segmented, poisonous tail like the desert dwelling creature.

Hidan & Kakazu: the first kanji of both of their names are taken from the ‘rook’ and ‘bishop’ characters from Japanese chess-like game of shoji. This clearly links the two team mates as these are the two pieces that can be ‘promoted’ (meaning that their moves can be expanded during the game) to take on the moves of a ‘king’ piece in shoji and is also indicative of their immortal abilities, as unlike chess any piece in shoji can re-enter the game to fight again, known as a ‘drop’. However, it has greater significance when they are pitted against Shikamaru and Asuma, who habitually play shoji together, meaning that the shoji analogies and flashbacks had extra meaning to those who recognised the symbolism of the two Akatsuki members’ names.

Other Character based symbolism

Raijin and Fujin: The elemental alignment of the two main charcters in Naruto is also very symbolic, with Nartuo’s wind ability and Sasuke’s lightening ability mirroring that of Fuujin and Raijin, the Japanese gods of wind and lightening. They are shown in both Shinto and Buddhist art, and can often been seen acting as guardian at temples or gate across Japan. Fujin is typical shown holding a bag of wind on his shoulders while Raijin is shown with drums used to create thunder. These drums are often decorated with ‘tomoe’ or the 3 comma motif that is also recognisable as being the Sharingan.

Ino-Shika-Cho: ‘Ino-Shika-Cho’ is the known as a winning card hand in the game ‘Hanafuda’, much like a ‘full house’ in Poker etc. Hanafuda – or ‘flower cards’ involves collecting set of winning cards which are each decorated in individual designs. The Ino, Shika, Cho translates as Boar Deer and Butterfly, which as above, has been linked to the characters for other reasons. Perhaps, this also explains the reason for the Yamanaka being florists, further emphasising the symbolism.

The Six Paths of Pain: One of the main features of Buddhism is the belief in reincarnation; the rebirth of a being depending on their levels of good and bad karma. In Buddhist cosmology it is said that six domains or ‘paths’ within the ‘desire’ realm where physical beings that still feel pain and pleasure reside. These are known as deva(god), asura(demi god or demon), human, animal, preta(ghost) and naraka(hell) – although it is important not to confuse these terms with their Western/Judo-Christian definitions – and a being ascends or descend through these levels with each reincarnation depending on their karma, or how they lived their preceding life.

Animal symbolism

Bijuu: The concept of the tailed beasts themselves are also derived from Japanese legend, and have been discussed very comprehensibly on the Narutofan forums, but also share links with the 8 immortals (another Taoist import) and other myths already described here.

5 of the beasts are said to be elemental god or incarnations of the element; Kyuubi (9) for Fire, Ichibi (1) for Wind, Sanbi (3) for Water, Rokubi (6) for Lightening and Shichibi (7) for Earth. This is in keeping with the purpose of the bijuu being divided up between the nations and many of them are associated with the appropriate country.

Interestingly, the animals they are in Naruto at not those from legend; with only the Ichibi (racoon/ ‘Shukaku’), Nibi (cat/ ‘Nekomata’), Kyuubi (fox/ ‘Kitsune’) being identical to the mythology that inspired it. The most significant of these changes is that the Hachibi is not the Yamata no Orochi described earlier - perhaps as it was already felt that that symbolism had been already been used or would have confused people by making them think that Orochimaru was a jinchuuri or similar.

However that does not mean the other beasts have not left their mark on Naruto in other ways, particularly in the members of the Akatsuki, who were formed to seal the Bijuu:

In the myth the Sanbi was a shark with a unicorn-like horn known as ‘Isonade’, who had a servant known as Samehada, who was a fish that attached itself his belly, much like a remora. Isonade could absorb power by created by Samehada feeding; much like Kisame and his sword that can devour Chakra. Kisame himself, due to his enormous level of chakra, is often referred to as the ‘bijuu with no tail’.

The Shichibi was a badger names ‘Kaku’ associated with the Earth element; he could transform into anything provided he had clay to use, much like Deidara. The Yonbi was associated with poison like Sasori, while the Rokubi was a Itachi’s namesake a weasel; and of course Orochimaru was a former member of the Akatsuki!

Summons

As stated above in the Names section, many summons have been indicated by characters names, however some come from Japanese myth as well;

Taka: Sasuke’ summons of the Hawk was indicated both by his wings in curse seal form and the name of his team once he was free of Orochimaru’s influence. However its takes on an extra significance given the true identity of Tobi and his relationship to Sasuke, when compared to the Japanese phrase “tobi ga taka o umu ” meaning a ‘Hawk born from a Kite’ often in regard to a special child can be born from humble origins.

Kamatari/Kamaitachi: Temari’s summons, a weasel with a scythe and an eye patch is lifted pretty much straight from the myth of Kamaitachi, a weasel spirit that travelled on the winds and cut unsuspecting victims with its claws or scythe.



So Yeah.

More Info?

http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/buddhism.shtml