Kodama in Japanese means "tree spirit" or "spirit of the trees."

“Kodama” is a Japanese word that has several meanings. Although it is always pronounced the same way, it can mean totally different things depending on the context and the kanjis used. In this article, we will see the main meanings of Kodama in Japanese.

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Kodama – Spirit of the Forest

One of the most common meanings of “Kodama” is “spirit of the trees” or “spirit of the forest,” a youkai from Japanese folklore. These creatures are often described as benevolent spirits that bring luck, serenity, and wisdom. If you type the word “Kodama” into Google Images, you will likely see small white beings with large eyes. This is a representation created by Hayao Miyazaki in “Princess Mononoke,” a famous film from the Ghibli Studios.

Read also: Itsuki – The scariest of all youkai!

However, one of the most famous depictions of Kodama was imagined by the Ukiyo-e artist Toriyama Sekien, back in the 18th century. There are infinite variations of Kodama.

In some illustrations, they are green humanoid creatures resembling plants. In others, they look more like ghosts or luminous entities.

Written in Kanji:

• 木霊 or 木魂

It is believed that these spirits become angry when they feel the environment being harmed.

For more details about this Youkai, I recommend reading the article from the Legend Hunters portal. Click here to read.

Kodama – Echo and Reverberation

Kodama also means “Echo” or “Reverberation.” This phenomenon of a word having the meaning of an entity or creature while simultaneously meaning “Echo” also occurs with “Yamabiko” (山彦、やまびこ), which designates both a mountain guardian deity and the “echo” we hear.

Kodama – Shinkansen Service

Kodama is known as one of the main Shinkansen (Bullet Train) services. It runs on the Tōkaidō and Sanyō lines and stops at all stations, being considerably slower than the other available options.

It is not usually used for travel between large cities (metropolises). In these cases, the Nozomi or Hikari is more frequently used. Kodama-type trains are generally used to go to or return from smaller cities, like Atami, for example. The prices vary depending on the type of transportation.

In any case, it is important to keep in mind the names of the three main ones: Kodama, Nozomi, and Hikari.

Usually written in Hiragana.

Written in Kana:

• こだま

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Kodama – Small Watermelon

The “Kodama Suika” – 小玉スイカ (こだますいか) is a small watermelon with uniform sweetness that usually measures half the size of a regular watermelon.

This is not the first time that things related to watermelons have been addressed on Suki Desu. We have already talked about yellow and square watermelons in two other posts.

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Kodama – Small Sphere

Kodama also has the reading 小玉 (こだま, kodama) which literally means “small sphere.”

小 is the kanji for small. 玉 is the kanji for sphere, jewel, etc.

Other possible meanings

• In some contexts of geology, sound studies, and physics, the word Kodama may refer to sound waves that echo from a certain environment.
• Kodama can also be the name of a fictional character. It appears in RPGs, board games, mangas, animes, and light novels.
• There is a famous anime director named Kenji Kodama. His name is written as follows: こだま兼嗣.
• Kodama-gin (小玉銀) was a silver coin that circulated in Japan during the Edo period (1603 – 1868). It literally means “small jewel of silver” or “small sphere of silver.”

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