or is a Japanese game popular during the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 that is also a form of divination

Divination

Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...

, based partially on Western table-turning

Table-turning

Table Turning or "Table Tipping" is a type of séance in which participants sit around a table, place their hands on it, and wait for rotations...

. The name kokkuri is an onomatopoeia meaning "to nod up and down", and refers to the movement of the actual kokkuri mechanism. The kanji used to write the word is an ateji

Ateji

In modern Japanese, primarily refers to kanji used phonetically to represent native or borrowed words, without regard to the meaning of the underlying characters. This is analogous to man'yōgana in pre-modern Japanese...

, although its characters reflect the popular belief that the movement of the mechanism is caused by supernatural agents (ko 狐, foxes

Kitsune

is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; in English, kitsune refers to them in this context. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume...

; gu 狗, tengu

Tengu

are a class of supernatural creatures found in Japanese folklore, art, theater, and literature. They are one of the best known yōkai and are sometimes worshipped as Shinto kami...

; ri 狸, tanuki

Tanuki

is the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...

).

The word kokkuri refers to the game, the actual physical apparatus, and the spirit(s) believed to possess the apparatus in order to communicate with humans. The physical mechanism is composed of three bamboo rods arranged to make a tripod, upon which is placed a small pot, which is covered by a cloth. Three or more people will place their hands upon the kokkuri and ask the spirits a question, which that spirit will in theory answer by moving the pot or remaining still.

Japanese folklorist Inoue Enryō

Inoue Enryo

, Japanese, Buddhist philosopher, educator, and nationalist; one of the most influential Buddhists of the Meiji era. Ordained as a priest in his father's Jodo Shinshu Ōtani branch 眞宗大谷派. Graduated with a doctorate from Tokyo Imperial University in 1896 focusing mainly on Western philosophy...

wrote about the kokkuri phenomenon, denouncing it as mere superstition, yet his efforts did not succeed in depopularizing the game. Some scientific figures of the age attempted to explain the phenomena with the more scientific sounding yet ultimately equally mysterious trope "human electricity".