Kuwabara kuwabara

is a phrase used in the Japanese language to ward off lightning.  It is analogous to the English phrase "knock on wood" to prevent bad luck.  

The word kuwabara literally means 'mulberry field'.  According to one explanation, there is a Chinese legend that mulberry trees are not struck by lightning.  In contrast, journalist Moku Jōya asserts that the "origin of kuwabara is not definitely known, but it has nothing to do with mulberry plants, though it means 'mulberry fields." 

In popular culture 

The phrase was used in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater by antagonist Colonel Volgin, a character with the ability to control electricity.  It has also been used in various Japanese animation; including Inuyasha, Urusei Yatsura, Sekirei, Aku no Hana, and Yu Yu Hakusho.  In a well-known monologue, the Yu Yu Hakusho character Kazuma Kuwabara remarks, "A mulberry is a tree, Kuwabara is a man."  The phrase also used in season 2 episode 18 of Mushi-Shi entitled "Lightning's End" and in Street Fighter X Tekken by Yoshimitsu

In mythology 

Back in the 9th century, there was one Japanese aristocrat called Sugawara no Michizane.  Sugawara Michizane, who died bearing a heavy grudge after being trapped and exiled to Kyushu, threw his fierce anger in the form of his thunderbolts as a god of lightning.  In 930, Seiryoden of the Court was struck by a large thunderbolt.  The Master of Onmyo (yin-yang) told that this misfortune was the work of the vengeful spirit of Michizane.  Those who trapped Michizane trembled with fear and tried to placate the curse by dedicating a prayer to his vengeful ghost, thus leading to the construction of  Kitano Shrine. 

The land that Michizane owned was known as Kuwabara, so people thought it would be a good idea to claim the land he/she is standing on is a part of Kuwabara, so that Michizane would hesitate to strike his own people. 
People of such an era chanted "Kuwabara, Kuwabara" when they heard the rumble of thunder as a method of reminding Michizane not to strike them.  This saying often appears in the literature of the Heian period, with elements such as "Tsureduregusa", a spell to cast away thunder.  The very people living in Kuwabara at that time relied on the Kuwabara spell, and the land of Kuwabara is said to have remained unharmed by lightning for that reason. 

References
Mock Joya, Mock Joya's Things Japanese.  Tokyo: The Japan Times, Ltd. (1985) p. 341

Category:Japanese culture
Category:Japanese mythology
Category:Japanese words and phrases
Category:Superstitions of Japan