List of terms in The Twelve Kingdoms

The following are a list of the terms used in the anime The Twelve Kingdoms. There are many terms that are unique to this series.

Places
Kyokai: A large sea that separates Hourai from the Twelve Kingdoms. It is impossible to sail across it.

Hourai: The name for Japan in the Twelve Kingdoms. It is also referred to as Wa. Hourai can be accessed by passing through a shoku.

Mount Hou: A holy land where the kirin are hatched and cared for, and where the new ruler of a Kingdom is crowned.

Titles and other names
Kaikyaku: People who have been caught in a shoku and blown to the world of the Twelve Kingdoms.

Nyosen: Sennin that serve the kirin on Mt. Hou.

Saiho: The rank of a kirin, that of second-in-command.

Shusei: Shushei are people who do not belong to any particular country and travel around the world. They are usually entertainers.

Shuukou: The ruler of a province.

Taiho: The formal title of a kirin.

Taika: A person who is blown by a shoki into Horai when he or she is still inside a ranka. A Taika is born to human parents. If a taika returns to the Twelve Kingdoms, he or she will change to the "natural" state that he or she would have hatched as.

Gods
Gyoutei: The god of the harvest.

Koutei: The god who protects people from Youman.

Seioubo: The goddess who lives in the Gozan.

Sennin: An immortal. When a person becomes a sennin, he or she will not age; however, it can be reversed and then the person will age normally. Rulers become sennin when they ascend the throne. A normal person can become a sennin by petitioning the king or queen of a county or by fasting and praying to Seioubo. Most rulers make their advisors sennin. A sennin can also understand the languages of Horai and the Twelve Kingdoms. The only way of killing a sennin is by beheading.

Shinsen: The collective noun for gods and sennin.

Tentei: The creator god of the Tweleve Kingdoms. People also pray to Tentei when they want a ranka. It is said that Tentei selects the next ruler of each country through the kirin.

Creatures
Genbu: A holy creature, that resembles a turtle and is as big as a small island. It carries a new ruler from Mt. Hou to the kingdom and leaves a trail of clouds called a zuiun.

Hakuchi: A bird that is kept in each kindom's palace. It cries twice in its lifetime: once when the ruler is crowned, and one when the ruler dies. Its leg is used as the official seal when the kingdom has no ruler. A hakuchi is also called a nisei ("two cries").

Hanjyuu: A half-beast that has both a human and an animal form. Hanjyuu are considered lesser than humans by some countries.

Hinman: A youma that can possess a human. They possess great fighting skills.

Hou-Ou: A pair of birds in each kingdom. The hou is male and the ou is female. The ou of one country can communicate with the ou of another. The hou cries when the ou receives important news.

Kijyuu: A youjyuu that has been trained to carry people. Kijyuu are capable of flight.

Kirin: The holy creature that is bound to and chooses the ruler of each kingdom. It resembles a white horned deer; black kirin are rare. A kirin also possesses a human form. Kirin abhor the scent of blood, and killing a person near a kirin will greatly weaken it. A kirin will only bow before his or her ruler. Kirin are named after the kingdom that they are bound to, with "ki" and "rin" used for male and female kirin, respectively. (The male kirin of Tai is named Taiki and the female kirin of Hou is named Hourin.)

Nyokai: A Youma that is hatched previous to a kirin to guard the kirin's ranka and protect it when it is young. Nyokai are chimeras and each has a different form.

Shirei: The youma that are bound into service by a kirin. In return for their life-long service, the shirei are given permission to eat the kirin after his or her death.

Toutetsu: A shapeshifting youma. Only one toutetsu has ever been bound to a kirin.

Youma: Evil creatures with supernatural powers.

Other terms
Hekisojou: The crystal attached to the sword Suiguu. It has the power to heal wounds and ease hunger.

Shitsudou: The sickness that a kirin suffers when the ruler of a kingdom fails to govern properly. Shitsudou can only be cured if the ruler reforms.

Shoku: A magical storm that connects the Twelve Kingdoms to the real world. Kirin and rulers are capable of summoning shoku to cross between the worlds.

Shouzan: The pilgrimage to Mt Hou to be selected by a kirin to become the new ruler of a kingdom.

Suiguu: The sword of the kingdom of Kei. It contains a demon and can be used to scry. Only the ruler of Kei may wield it.

Ranka: The enchanted fruit that all life is hatched from. Ranka grow on trees called ribokus and yabokus.

Riboku: Trees bearing the ranka of humans, hanjyuu and kirin.

Yaboku: Trees bearing the ranka of plants and animals, including youma.