<h2>What is this thing?</h2>
<p>The bead that looks like a &quot;9&quot; or a comma is called a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><strong>magatama</strong></a>.
Magatama appeared in prehistoric Japan (approximately ca. 1,000 BC to the 6th century AD) and were made of primitive stone and earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun period were made almost exclusively of jade.</p>
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/PZao4.jpg" alt="Evolution of magatama" /></p>
<p>It is not known why magatama look the way they are.
They may be fashioned after animal fangs or the shape of fetuses.
Moreover, they look like a part of the taijitu, which is also shown in the first episode of <em>Arjuna</em>:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/d9z6rm.jpg" alt="Arjuna using the taijitu as a shield" /></p>
<p>In anime and manga, characters named or modeled after Susanoo, god of the sea and storms, almost always possess a magatama.
For example, Susanoo in <em>Akame ga Kill!</em> has the <a href="https://akamegakill.fandom.com/wiki/Susanoo#Trump_Card" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yasakani no Magatama</a>, one of the three <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Regalia_of_Japan" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Imperial Regalia of Japan</a> that represents benevolence, on his chest:</p>
<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5zl5bm.jpg" alt="Susanoo in Akame ga Kill!" /></p>
<p>The connection between magatama and Susanoo can be found in Japanese mythology: Susanoo received five hundred magatama from Tamanoya no mikoto, or Ame-no-Futodama-no-mikoto, the jewel-making deity, and presented them to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, when he went to heaven.</p>
<h2>Why is it embedded in the forehead?</h2>
<p>As the <em>Akame ga Kill!</em> example has shown, the magatama need not be embedded in the forehead.
In fact, in an extreme example found in <em>Blue Seed</em>, eight magatama are embedded in various body parts of Mamoru Kusanagi: four in the chest, two in the knees, and another two in the back of his hands.
As far as I know, it is never explained why the magatama is embedded in Juna's and Susano-Oh's forehead and not in a different body part of theirs.
I suspect that it is purely an artistic decision, and because the forehead is the commonest place for the third eye, which, like the magatama, is a source of mystical powers.</p>
<p><a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/19528/8486">Charon Styx</a> made a good point that the reason why the magatama is embedded in the forehead, rather than worn as a pendant, is to show the characters' divinity: that they have innate noble responsibilities and divine powers that can not be taken away from them.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2015-03-31T16:46:15.360Z
2024-08-24T03:22:35.377Z
2024-08-24T03:22:35.377Z
Gao
<blockquote>
  <p>Magatama (勾玉?), less frequently (曲玉), are curved, comma-shaped beads
  that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through
  the Kofun period, approximately ca. 1,000 BC to the 6th century AD.The
  beads, also described as jewels, were made of primitive stone and
  earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun
  period were made almost exclusively of jade. Magatama originally
  served as decorative jewelry, but by the end of the Kofun period
  functioned as ceremonial and religious objects. Archaeological
  evidence suggests that magatama were produced in specific areas of
  Japan and were widely dispersed through the entirety of the Japanese
  archipelago by trade routes.</p>
  
  <p>The Kojiki and Nihon shoki, completed in the 8th century, have
  numerous references to magatama. They appear in the early in the first
  chapter of the Nihon shoki, which largely describes the mythology of
  Japan. Susanoo, god of the sea and storms, received five hundred
  magatama from Tamanoya no mikoto, or Ame-no-Futodama-no-mikoto, the
  jewel-making deity. Susanoo went to heaven and presented them to his
  sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, who bit off successive parts of the
  magatama, and blew them away to create other deities. Tamanoya no
  mikoto remains the kami god of magatama, glasses, and cameras. </p>
  
  <p>In the legend Amaterasu later shuts herself in a cave.
  Ama-no-Koyane-no-mikoto hung magatama, among other objects, on a five
  hundred-branch sakaki tree, to successfully lure Amaterasu from the
  cave. </p>
  
  <p>In the year 58, in the reign of the Emperor Suinin, the Nihon shoki
  records that a dog kills and disembowels a mujina, a type of badger,
  and a magatama was discovered in its stomach. This magatama was
  presented to Suinin, who enshrined it at Isonokami Shrine, where it is
  said to presently reside. A similar practice is described again in the
  Nihon shoki during the reign of the Emperor Chūai. Chūai made an
  inspection trip to the Tsukushi, or Kyūshū, and was presented with an
  enormous sakaki tree hung with magatama as well as other sacred
  objects.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><sub>Source: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a></sub></p>

<p>I believe that the Magatama in the anime is attached to the forehead/characters instead of a pendant is to show the character's divinity</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-02-20T23:39:18.317Z
2015-02-20T23:52:11.027Z
2015-02-20T23:52:11.027Z
Charon Styx
<p>As opposed to being worn as a pendant or something?</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2hnlob.jpg" alt="Juna Ariyoshi"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FxkXub.jpg" alt="Arjuna"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tlwkKb.jpg" alt="Susano-Oh"></p>

<tropes><arjuna><blue-seed>
What is this bluish "9" thing and why is it embedded in Juna's and Susano-Oh's forehead?
# What is this bluish "9" thing and why is it embedded in Juna's and Susano-Oh's forehead?
Posted by: username_0 on 2015-02-14
As opposed to being worn as a pendant or something?

![Juna Ariyoshi](https://i.sstatic.net/2hnlob.jpg)![Arjuna](https://i.sstatic.net/FxkXub.jpg)![Susano-Oh](https://i.sstatic.net/tlwkKb.jpg)
**Tags:** tropes arjuna blue-seed
---
## 2 answers
### Answer by username_0 on 2015-03-31. Score: 3 | Accepted answer
## What is this thing?

The bead that looks like a "9" or a comma is called a [**magatama**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama).
Magatama appeared in prehistoric Japan (approximately ca. 1,000 BC to the 6th century AD) and were made of primitive stone and earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun period were made almost exclusively of jade.

![Evolution of magatama](https://i.sstatic.net/PZao4.jpg)

It is not known why magatama look the way they are.
They may be fashioned after animal fangs or the shape of fetuses.
Moreover, they look like a part of the taijitu, which is also shown in the first episode of *Arjuna*:

![Arjuna using the taijitu as a shield](https://i.sstatic.net/d9z6rm.jpg)

In anime and manga, characters named or modeled after Susanoo, god of the sea and storms, almost always possess a magatama.
For example, Susanoo in *Akame ga Kill!* has the [Yasakani no Magatama](https://akamegakill.fandom.com/wiki/Susanoo#Trump_Card), one of the three [Imperial Regalia of Japan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Regalia_of_Japan) that represents benevolence, on his chest:

![Susanoo in Akame ga Kill!](https://i.sstatic.net/5zl5bm.jpg)

The connection between magatama and Susanoo can be found in Japanese mythology: Susanoo received five hundred magatama from Tamanoya no mikoto, or Ame-no-Futodama-no-mikoto, the jewel-making deity, and presented them to his sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, when he went to heaven.

## Why is it embedded in the forehead?

As the *Akame ga Kill!* example has shown, the magatama need not be embedded in the forehead.
In fact, in an extreme example found in *Blue Seed*, eight magatama are embedded in various body parts of Mamoru Kusanagi: four in the chest, two in the knees, and another two in the back of his hands.
As far as I know, it is never explained why the magatama is embedded in Juna's and Susano-Oh's forehead and not in a different body part of theirs.
I suspect that it is purely an artistic decision, and because the forehead is the commonest place for the third eye, which, like the magatama, is a source of mystical powers.

[Charon Styx](https://anime.stackexchange.com/a/19528/8486) made a good point that the reason why the magatama is embedded in the forehead, rather than worn as a pendant, is to show the characters' divinity: that they have innate noble responsibilities and divine powers that can not be taken away from them.
---
### Answer by username_1 on 2015-02-20. Score: 4
> Magatama (勾玉?), less frequently (曲玉), are curved, comma-shaped beads
> that appeared in prehistoric Japan from the Final Jōmon period through
> the Kofun period, approximately ca. 1,000 BC to the 6th century AD.The
> beads, also described as jewels, were made of primitive stone and
> earthen materials in the early period, but by the end of the Kofun
> period were made almost exclusively of jade. Magatama originally
> served as decorative jewelry, but by the end of the Kofun period
> functioned as ceremonial and religious objects. Archaeological
> evidence suggests that magatama were produced in specific areas of
> Japan and were widely dispersed through the entirety of the Japanese
> archipelago by trade routes.
>
> The Kojiki and Nihon shoki, completed in the 8th century, have
> numerous references to magatama. They appear in the early in the first
> chapter of the Nihon shoki, which largely describes the mythology of
> Japan. Susanoo, god of the sea and storms, received five hundred
> magatama from Tamanoya no mikoto, or Ame-no-Futodama-no-mikoto, the
> jewel-making deity. Susanoo went to heaven and presented them to his
> sister, the sun goddess Amaterasu, who bit off successive parts of the
> magatama, and blew them away to create other deities. Tamanoya no
> mikoto remains the kami god of magatama, glasses, and cameras.
>
> In the legend Amaterasu later shuts herself in a cave.
> Ama-no-Koyane-no-mikoto hung magatama, among other objects, on a five
> hundred-branch sakaki tree, to successfully lure Amaterasu from the
> cave.
>
> In the year 58, in the reign of the Emperor Suinin, the Nihon shoki
> records that a dog kills and disembowels a mujina, a type of badger,
> and a magatama was discovered in its stomach. This magatama was
> presented to Suinin, who enshrined it at Isonokami Shrine, where it is
> said to presently reside. A similar practice is described again in the
> Nihon shoki during the reign of the Emperor Chūai. Chūai made an
> inspection trip to the Tsukushi, or Kyūshū, and was presented with an
> enormous sakaki tree hung with magatama as well as other sacred
> objects.

Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magatama)

I believe that the Magatama in the anime is attached to the forehead/characters instead of a pendant is to show the character's divinity
---
