Hogwarts Legacy inspires Japanese fans to invent Satsuma Hogwarts & its own lore

Following the release of Hogwarts Legacy, the concept of Satsuma Hogwarts (薩摩ホグワーツ) has been created in Japan, and it’s drawing a lot of notice on Twitter.

Satsuma refers to the Satsuma Province, one of Japan’s former provinces that now forms the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture. The majority of the Satsuma Hogwarts tweets are users imagining what it would be like if there was a wizarding school located in the Satsuma of Harry Potter’s world.

＊日本語の記事はこちら (= the original Japanese article can be found here)

Japanese Twitter users are having fun establishing the setting of Satsuma Hogwarts. For example, there are tweets saying that students of Satsuma Hogwarts don’t settle their battles with magic but with “Chesuto.” The term “Chesuto” comes from Satsuma dialect and was used as a vigorous shout in Jigen-ryu swordsmanship, which was widely used in the Satsuma Province (Number Web).

In other words, the students of Satsuma Hogwarts settle matters with swords rather than magic. Jigen-ryu is a style of swordsmanship that places emphasis on ending battles instantly with the first strike, so no matter if an opponent attempts to cast the Disarming Charm (Expelliarmus) or the Killing Curse (Avada Kedavra), a Satsuma Hogwarts student will win the fight by cutting them down before they have even finished their incantation.

Jigen-ryu is also known for the especially spirited shouts used when attacking, so Satsuma Hogwarts students incant their spells with strange, intense voices—something that supposedly strengthens the spell’s effect. You can even see some tweets connecting this bit of fan-made lore to the manga Golden Kamuy, which features characters from Satsuma.

Incidentally, there is a line of dialogue in Hogwarts Legacy that references the Toyohashi Tengu, a team that competes in the Harry Potter world’s most popular sport, Quidditch. The team is based in Aichi Prefecture’s Toyohashi City and was mentioned in Quidditch Through the Ages, an official book in the Harry Potter series. The inclusion of this Japan-related reference in Hogwarts Legacy may have been one factor that contributed to the way that users have let their imaginations run wild with Satsuma Hogwarts.

From what we could confirm, the term Satsuma Hogwarts seems to have been thought up by Twitter user @Maguro_Maznaga. Their tweet explains that, at first, Satsuma Hogwarts referred to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students who come from Satsuma.

After this, the various theories relating to Satsuma Hogwarts thought up by different users started to get jumbled together, and soon, the meaning of the term had changed to a wizarding school located in Satsuma. @Maguro_Maznaga also expressed surprise at the way that Satsuma Hogwarts has taken off.

The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry takes its name from Hogwarts Castle, the main school building. It’s possible that in the fictitious Satsuma, there is also an impressive castle that is referred to as Hogwarts by the locals. Interestingly, the Harry Potter series does feature a wizarding school located in Japan named Mahoutokoro, but it is located on the volcanic island of South Iwo Jima and not in Satsuma.

Related article:
Hogwarts Legacy voice actor lends talent to Japan’s Satsuma Hogwarts meme

Written by. Marco Farinaccia based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2023-02-15 11:21 JST)