The horagai is a traditional Japanese trumpet made from a large conch shell, long associated with yamabushi, the mountain ascetics of Shugendo, who blew it during rituals and while travelling through the mountains. It was also used as a signalling horn, its low call carrying over long distances. In modern film, anime and games, that same sound has become shorthand for ancient Japan, ritual and the arrival of a powerful figure. Creators now reuse the short blast because it instantly gives a scene a historical, ceremonial atmosphere without needing any dialogue.