Meishodo

Meishodo, or Name Magic, is a magical discipline practiced by the Unicorn Clan. Unlike traditional Rokugani magic, meshodo does not call upon the kami. Meishodo instead uses the name of a thing uttered at its creation.

Origins
Meishodo was created outside of Rokugan and was first encountered by the Ki-Rin Clan in the City of Sorcerers in the first century IC. It was discovered by Iuchi, who presented it to Shinjo. Although Shinjo did not discourage his use of meishodo, she told Iuchi that it was only meant for mortals and that she could not listen to him talk about it or study it herself.

Functions
Instead of reading the meishodo spell from a scroll like traditional shugenja, a practitioner of meishodo holds a trinket with the spell bound to it and simply focuses on the trinket, which immediately creates the spell effect. The advantage of this over traditional spells is that traditional spells is its incredible speed, as traditional spells may take a long time to prepare and cast.

Meishodo has its drawbacks, however. While any spell that makes use of the kami can be replicated as meishodo, more complex spells cannot be created unless the practitioner is adept in the spell's element. Also, traditional spells can be memorized by shugenja but meishodo cannot be. Thus a meishodo user must be holding the meishodo trinket any time he wishes to use its power.

Views on Meishodo in Rokugan
Meishodo is viewed as strange and even blasphemous by the other clans, as it does not call upon the kami. This is viewed as disrespectful to the kami, who are revered within Rokugani culture.