Jujutsu Kaisen: Liturgy of Black Blood/Jujutsu

## Jujutsu

**Jujutsu** (呪 (じゅ)術 (じゅつ),, *Jujutsu*?), also known as **Jujutsu Sorcery**, is the main power system of Jujutsu Kaisen: Liturgy of Black Blood.

# History

## Japan

 "*When man first killed without the need of using their own hands, that was the day Jujutsu was born.*"

— Wesley Ardianta
The earliest traces of Jujutsu can be traced back to the Yayoi period with Queen Himiko and her heir Queen Iyo who was said to have shamanic powers and used it in order to protect the kingdom of Yamatai.

During the Heian period was when Jujutsu became its most well known. A well known rivalry during this period was between the Jujutsu Sorcerer, Ashiya Dōman and the Reverse Cursed Technique user, Abe no Seimei who were constantly locked within a battle of attrition, one never being able to fully one-up the other. Along with this special grade curses were plentiful with spirits such as Ryōmen Sukuna, Tamamo-no-Mae, Kiyohime and Kijyō Kōyō.

A spot that was ripe with the activity of cursed spirits was Mount Ōe which was home to the special grade curse named Kugamimi no Mikasa before it was swiftly defeated by Ibaraki-dōji and Shuten-dōji. Ibaraki-dōji would then later be slain by Watanabe no Tsuna at Heian-kyō's Rashōmon. Another infamous anecdote came from Fujiwara no Akimitsu who was used as conduit for curses by Ashiya Dōman.

## Meiji Era

Main Article: *Jujutsu Kaisen: Strange Tale of the Imperial Capital*
During this period and the later periods of Japanese histories, many families of Jujutsu Sorcerers rise and fell. One that rose to great fame during the late Edo period was the Nakatogawa family, but after the arrival of western influence caused many members of the family to step away from Jujutsu. By the late Meiji era, the family's only hope in continuing their inherited technique is Takumi Nakatogawa who had exceptional skill with his inherited technique which he would pass down to his only son Hiroji Nakatogawa.

Modern Jujutsu institutions were set up during the Late-Meiji period with the Tokyo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, and Osaka schools being set up in order to protect Jujutsu sorcerers from the influence of western Jujutsu sorcerers as they were deemed to be 'too rigid'.

## Outside Japan

Outside of Japan however, Jujutsu took on many names. In Europe it was called "black magic" while in places such as Indonesia, Jujutsu became more well known as Ilmu Hitam.

### Indonesia

Conceptually the same, the study of Ilmu Hitam has continued on for centuries. A famous example of a Jujutsu Sorcerer is Gajah Mada who set a binding vow onto himself to exponentially increase his physical abilities, in order to conquer most of the Indonesian archipelago.

Shamanism has also been an integral part of Indonesian traditional religion, sometimes those in power would hire *dukuns* in order to hurt people out of jealousy using Santet or Long-Distance Jujutsu. Along with this, a technique was also developed as a method of blocking curse-based physical attacks called Debus which diffuses cursed energy upon physical impact.

# Cursed Energy

 **Debus** (不死身, (デブース), *Fujimi (Debūsu)*?, lit. *Invulnerability*): A type of martial arts originating from the Banten province. Debus grants the user the ability to diffuse an attack utilizing cursed energy by scattering the cursed energy upon impact.