Jindai moji

"Jindai moji" (Japanese: _ja. 神代文字 “script of the age of the gods”), also read as "kamiyo moji", are characters ("moji") comprising a writing system promoted by Japanese nationalists in the 1930s as a native Japanese script predating Japan's exposure to Chinese writing. Although apparently predating this Japanese nationalism, they are now generally acknowledged as a historical hoax; however, they are still found in various Shinto shrines, including the Ise Shrine, and used in some Shinto ceremonies and amulets.

Some versions, particularly the "Ahiru Moji", are copies or derivatives of the Korean phonetic script Hangul. Others are vaguely pictographic or runic in appearance.

"Jindai moji" were taught during the height of Japanese nationalism before World War II and mentioned in Japanese scholarly books. Today, they are acknowledged as recent fabrications, although some nationalists and Shintoists still argue for their authenticity.

Recently, "Jindai moji" has been picked up by Korean non-mainstream historians as an evidence of a hypothetical "Garimto (가림토) script," which they claim to be a basis of both "Jindai moji" and Hangul. This theory is rejected by most scholars as groundless.

Sources

* http://www.docoja.com:8080/jisho/mainword?dbname=histg&mainword=Jindai_moji
* http://www.ontopia.net/i18n/script.jsp?id=jindai
* http://www.page.sannet.ne.jp/tsuzuki/sinmoji.htm - Japanese only, but shows many different scripts, not just Hangul derivatives

External links

* http://www.langmaker.com/db/alp_jindaimoji.htm
* http://www.mmtaylor.net/Literacy_Book/DOCS/Jindai_Moji.html