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Information gathered from “The Art of Inuyasha: Collection of original illustrations by Rumiko Takahashi”, Published by VIZ copyrighted 2003

Tetsusaiga (“steel-cleaving fang”): Normally it’s a rusty, battered old sword, but when used to protect humans, it changes to maximum strength. The scabbard that holds Tetsusaiga is said to keep the swords power in check, and therefore holds its own powers. It has been known to call Tetsusaiga in dire times. Tetsusaiga is Inuyasha’s legacy from his father and is hidden in the tomb inside Inuyasha’s eye. It was a defensive weapon the demon made himself from his own fang to guard Inuyasha’s mother. Because of this origin, Tetsusaiga works best when Inuyasha is defending a person. The full power of Tetsusaiga is still largely unknown. Made by Totosai

Robe of the Fire Rat: The fire-resistant, sword resistant hinezumi (“fire-rat”) cloak Inuyasha wears. The cloak Inuyasha has Kagome wear is woven from the fur of fire rats (hinezumi). It’s everyday clothing for him, but is stronger than any cheap armor according to Inuyasha. It remains intact after the attack by fire and Yura’s all-slicing “hair net” (kushinokago). Fire rats never appear in the story, but judging from the cloak, which is not dyed, they have red fur.

Human Inuyasha: Inuyasha on the 1st day of the new moon. He’s only half demon so sometimes he loses his power. On nights of the new moon his power falls to that of an ordinary human.

Headed Staff: Miroku’s weapon. It has no supernatural power, but is effective as a defense.

Hiraikotsu: Sango’s weapon. A boomerang-like weapon carved from the bone of a giant demon.

Tenseiga: Sesshomaru’s weapon [1 of 2]: The sword can revive the dead by killing the messenger from the other world. Made by Totosai

Jintojo: Jaken’s staff. The staff has two heads [old man and woman] on the top. The man’s head can emit flame. It can also detect the tomb of Inuyasha’s father.

The Hidden Tomb of Inuyasha’s Father: The tomb was built like this to hide the real location of Tetsusaiga. Its structure is a stone circle, and a stone platform and small shrine stand at the center of the circle. Discovered by Sesshomaru and Jaken, it is inside a black pearl hidden in Inuyasha’s left eye. The pearl is a gate into a different dimension, where they find the massive bones of the canine demon (Inuyasha’s father).

Demon Kiln: Where the ogress Urasue revives Kikyo. It’s inside a certain mountain.

Hearts: The alter ego’s that Naraku makes from his body are not always faithful to him. So Naraku removes their hearts to maintain control and prevent rebellion.

Tokijin: Sesshomaru’s weapon [2 of 2]: a.k.a. demon-fighting god – Made from the demon Goshinki by one of Totosai’s evil apprentices.

Shippo’s Sorcery: Shippo can do three kinds of sorcery: shape-shifting, signs and illusions. In his first appearance he is a pink demon; later he mimics a princess that Kotatsu is in love with, a mouse and a spider. He is not particularly skilled at using this sorcery, except when he takes on the shape of Kagome. Using signs, including acorns and mushrooms with eyes, he warns of danger. His illusions include the “big top,” which breaks off Manten’s two last hairs, and a jizo (“children’s guardian deity”) that grows in weight.

Noh Mask of Flesh [Nikuzuki No Men]: This mask was carved from a huge bodhi tree that held a shard of the jewel. Seeking a body of its own, it consumes people. In the modern world it seeks the Shikon shards that Kagome kept with her. The demon was beaten by Inuyasha.

Bokusen’on [Grandfather Wizard Nettle Tree”]: The scabbards of Tenseiga and Tetsusaiga are carved from branches of this 2,000-year-old nettle tree. The tree tells Sesshomaru why their father chose Inuyasha for Tetsusaiga.

Steel Bees: The stings of these demon bees are deadly enough to kill even Inuyasha. He borrows their honey to repair Tetsusaiga, which was bent almost in two in the battle with the Thunder (Raiju) brothers.

Bake- [Prefix Indicating “Demon]: Animals can be changed into demons with old age or the power of a shard of Jewel in their bodies, like Oomukade. When the bake-itachi (“demon weasel”) that pretended to be a statue of the Buddha was killed by Miroku, the bake-nezumi (“demon mouse”) was killed by Sango, and the bake-guma(“demon bear”) was killed by the Hell Wasps. Having killed the bear, the Wasps were given the mission of collecting the shards of the jewel as well as being on patrol.

Bakuryuha [“Explosive Flowing Wave”]: Known as the “Backlash Wave” in the English version. The secret of Tetsusaiga. Traps the enemy’s spirit in the Wind Scar and makes it flow the opposite way. Even Inuyasha doesn’t realize its power. He uses this technique against Ryokutsusei and destroys him.

Poison Flower Claws [“Dokkaso”]: Known as “Poison Fang” in the English version. Sesshomaru’s basic offensive technique. The poison in his claws melts the victim. It is so strong that it can rot Inuyasha’s robe of the fire rat.

Yokai [“Demon”]: Demons were part of ordinary life in the medieval period. Most that Inuyasha and friends fight are powerful ones. There are also many other nameless demons of various kinds, including the mountain fairies that Sesshomaru kills with Tetsusaiga, the “soldiers” that Naraku uses, messengers from hell, and the false water god’s gang.

Black Pearl: Where Inuyasha’s father chooses to seal up his bones so they will not turn violent. Inuyasha is unaware of this. Sesshomaru learns of it from the Un-mother and gouges the pearl out of Inuyasha’s eye. When he succeeds in opening the tomb using the Jintojo, he finds the vast alternate dimension where his father’s bones rest.

Midoriko [“Green Child”]: A priestess of great power. Fighting a legion of demons, she uses the last of her strength to merge the souls of all the demons into hers, which became the Jewel of Four Souls. Her mummified body is found in the village of the exterminators.

Blades of Blood [“Hijin Kesso”]: This is Inuyasha’s second basic offensive technique. He soaks his claws in blood and flicks his hand like a throwing knife to cut his adversary.

Exorcising Claws of Steel [“Sankon Tesso”]: Known as Iron Reaver Soul Stealer in the English version. Inuyasha’s basic offensive technique. He rips the enemy apart with his sharp claws. With this technique he can destroy primitive demons like Mistress Centipede Instantly.

Hungry Ghost [Gaki]: This is the messenger from hell to the person who’s just died. Sesshomaru’s Tenseiga revives the dead by slashing this messenger. Originally the gaki where the ones who fell into gakido (“way of the hungry ghost”), one of six evil ways described in Buddhism.

Kaze No Kizu [“Wind Scar”]: This is the rift in the flow of demon auras between friend and foe crashing into one another in battle. It offers the right path for Tetsusaiga to work to maximum effect. Slashing along the kaze no kizu is very basic to the mastery of Tetsusaiga. In his battle with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha succeeds in finding the kaze no kizu by smell.

Kumo No Kizuato [“Spider-Shaped Scar”]: The scar on Naraku’s back identifies him as Onigumo. It is the echo of the burns that Onigumo had over his entire body. Kikyo mentions that the spider-shaped scar persists, and cannot be scraped or burned away, as long as Onigumo’s obsession with Kikyo remains.

Prayer Beads [Nenju]: Kaede prepares a string of beads to control Inuyasha. It keeps Inuyasha from killing Kagome for the Shikon Jewel. Inuyasha can’t remove the beads on his own. Kagome’s subduing command of “Sit” triggers the power of the necklace, which she thinks up on the spur of the moment.

Shikon Shards: The Jewel of Four Souls is a mystery. Used by a demon or villain, it makes its owner more evil; used by one with a clean soul, it purifies him or her. More often it is an evil thing that increases its demonic power. Kagome and her friends collect 14 shards by the time they meet Sango. Then Kikyo steals them all, and then they have only the two they took from the birds of paradise.
The Jewel of Four Souls came into Kikyo’s hands from the exterminator village. It disappeared for centuries after Kikyo’s death, but reappears in the modern world with Kagome. Kagome’s party collects most of the shards, but the revived Kikyo steals them. As part of a plan unknown to us, Kikyo gives the shards to Naraku, who now has most of them.

Supernatural Power: Legends of divine power come down from ancient times. In the Chinese history known in Japan as Gishi Wajin Den, third-century Queen Himiko was described as “servant of evil who often deluded her people.” The priest Kuukai who established a temple in Koyasan, was known for his supernatural power. Kagome’s power gives her arrows an evil destroying aura and purifies the polluted shards of the Jewel.

The Bone-Eater’s Well: In the Warring States period, the well that in modern times is at Higurashi Shrine was used as a dump for the corpses of demons. It was said that the corpses disappeared in a few days, and that’s how the well came to be called Honekui (“bone-eating”). The well allows Kagome to travel between the modern and ancient worlds. Only Kagome and Inuyasha are able to do this.

Benigasumi [“Red Fog”]: Yura’s treasured demonic sword cuts only flesh and bone, without damaging hair. It’s an ideal weapon for Yura because it gives the hair-bound captive the fatal slash. Even after Yura’s hand is cut off by Inuyasha’s Blades of Blood, it continues to wield Red Fog (Benigasumi) and attack Inuyasha. Without Kagome’s help, Inuyasha might have lost his life to Red Fog.

Soul Transfer [“Tamautsushi”]: Even after her hand is cut off and her chest gouged out, Yura is so powerful that she drives Inuyasha to his wits end. Yura had transferred her soul into a comb inside a skull. It seems that soul transfer is only possible into an object with which one has a deep relationship.

FoxFire: A mysterious fire emitted by fox-type demons. Shippo’s fire is just enough to hold back the spider heads; a demon of his father’s class can stop an enemy attack even when he is physically dead and exists only as a pelt. Foxfire appears in legend all over Japan except Okinawa. A line of foxfire is referred to as a vixen’s wedding.

Jinki [“Human Container”]: Puppets made by Urasue from corpses and clay. Because she uses the bodies of soldiers killed in battler, her jinki tend to be defective. So she gives them various tricks and forms, like substituting a sword blade for a missing arm. The puppets, mostly guards of the demon kiln, are dangerous to humans but seem useless when facing demons like Inuyasha.

Demon [Oni]: This giant demon is a faithful soldier of Sesshomaru. It’s only weapon seems to be physical strength. It is swallowed up by Miroku’s mystic tunnel and killed. Legend says that oni – whose image was established around the Edo period – were one of two kinds: oni, which have physical substance, and mono, which are spirit entities.

Venom Wasps [Saimosho]: These are the Venom Wasps, given by Naraku to Sesshomaru to counter Miroku’s wind tunnel. The wasps willingly fly into the tunnel and poison Miroku’s body. In addition to keeping the tunnel sealed, their mission is to watch Kagome’s party and search out shards of the Jewel. For Naraku, the Venom Wasps are like intelligence operatives.
Taijiya No Sato [“Demon-Killer Village”]: This village is inhabited by a clan of people who exterminate demons professionally. It was here that the Shikon Jewel came into the world. To purify the Jewel after it returned home after 400 years, the villagers gave it to Kikyo. A plot by Naraku destroys the village and all but Sango are slaughtered.

Golems: These are demon puppets that Naraku controls. They are made of earth and a bit of Naraku’s hair wound onto a doll. Because they don’t carry strong demonic auras, even Sango doesn’t see their true nature. Naraku fears Kagome’s arrows, so he uses golems in his place when he appears to the Inuyasha party.

Metamorphosis: The state of half-demon Inuyasha awakening to his demon blood when his life is in danger. He experiences this for the first time when Tetsusaiga is smashed in battle with Goshinki. Because the blood he inherits from his dog-demon father is so strong, it attacks his human heart and sends him out of control. With every metamorphosis Inuyasha loses a bit of his human heart.

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