Jul
14
2010
手品
てじな [tejina] – ‘Hand’ (手) plus ‘wares’ (品) gives us the Japanese word for sleight-of-hand. The word 奇術 [kijutsu] is similar to ‘illusion’ and is typically used for larger-scale magic tricks. 魔術 [majutsu] (‘magic’) is a bigger word still, because it can also refer to mystical spell casting in addition to performance magic.
Older Japanese words include 手妻 [tezuma] and 品玉 [shinadama].
Too much to remember? Don’t worry, the Japanese understand マジック [majikku], which is equivalent in meaning to the broadly-defined 魔術.
Bonus
Words for magician, based on the words explained above.
- 手品師 [tejinashi]
- 奇術師 [kijutsushi]
- 魔法使い [mahouzukai]
- マジシャン [majishan]
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More from Nihonshock…
And don’t forget 魔法 for magical power, and 魔法者 for magician, or the ever popular 魔道士 for one who practices the way of magic. And also 魔法使い for one who uses magic. Yes, I read a lot of manga.
by: Matt Katch, Jul 14th at 9:53 pm