神

Japanese Gods

Q: How many gods are in Shinto?

There is no fixed number. Shinto is said to have yaoyorozu no kami, "eight million gods", but the phrase means "countless". New kami can also be added, including the spirits of real people. Kokugakuin University's Encyclopedia of Shinto selected almost two hundred kami from the classics that have clearly described roles.

The Japanese word for a god is kami (神). Kokugakuin University's Basic Terms of Shinto defines it as a name for the objects of worship in Shinto, and as an honorific word that praises the sacred authority of spiritual beings. Nobody is sure where the word comes from. In the eighteenth century the scholar Motoori Norinaga argued that kami meant any being with extraordinary power or virtue that inspires awe, and he pointed out that this included evil beings as well as good ones. The same dictionary says kami can range from the spirits who brought heaven and earth into being, through the great ancestors of people, to plants, rocks, birds, beasts and fish.

Shinto is often said to have "eight million gods", yaoyorozu no kami (八百万の神). The number is not a count. The Nihon Kokugo Daijiten defines yaoyorozu as "a number without limit, countless", and its earliest example is from the Kojiki (712), where the gods meet on the riverbed of the Heavenly Yasu River. Chamberlain's 1882 translation of that scene calls them "the eight hundred myriad Deities". Kokugakuin's Basic Terms glosses the phrase as "ever-increasing myriad deities".

Kokugakuin's Encyclopedia of Shinto adds that the most important of these kami are the ones in the classics: the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki (720), the Fudoki provincial records and the Man'yōshū. Many shrines also honour real people, such as the scholar Sugawara no Michizane, and kami formed by mixing native belief with Buddhism, Daoism and Chinese yin-yang lore. The encyclopedia counts Ebisu, Daikoku and the Seven Lucky Gods among the gods of folk religion, although most of the Seven came from India and China.

Kami are not the same as yokai, the monsters and spirits of folklore, but the line between them is thin. The folklorist Yanagita Kunio thought yokai were gods who had fallen from worship. Komatsu Kazuhiko, writing in Heibonsha's encyclopedia, argues that yokai have existed alongside gods in every age. He also notes that a dangerous spirit could be turned into a kami by worshipping it. In the Hitachi Fudoki, some of the dragon-snake yato no kami who plagued the people are killed, and the rest are given a shrine and become protectors. This guide covers the best-known Japanese gods and links to our full articles on each.

The gods of creation

The Kojiki opens with a line of gods who appear in heaven while the earth is still drifting "like oil" on water. The last pair are Izanagi (伊邪那岐) and Izanami (伊邪那美). Kokugakuin's encyclopedia explains the names as coming from izanau, "to invite", with gi meaning male and mi female. They are the seventh generation of gods, but the first to do anything in the story.

Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they stir the sea with a jewelled spear. The brine that drips from its tip becomes the first island, Onogoro. They go down to it, marry, and give birth to the islands of Japan and then to gods of the sea, wind, trees, mountains and fields. Izanami dies giving birth to the fire god Kagutsuchi. Izanagi follows her to Yomi, the land of the dead, breaks her command not to look at her, and finds her body rotting. He flees and blocks the pass to Yomi with a boulder. Izanami swears to kill a thousand people a day, and Izanagi answers that he will cause fifteen hundred to be born. Kokugakuin's encyclopedia says this story was told as the origin of human life and death.

The Nihon Shoki tells much of this differently. In its main text Izanami does not die, and the visit to Yomi appears only in its variant accounts. The full story, with both versions, is on our page Izanagi and Izanami.

The three noble children

When Izanagi comes back from Yomi he washes in a river to remove its pollution. In the Kojiki, three gods are born as he washes his face. Izanagi rejoices that "at my final begetting" he has "gotten three illustrious children" (Chamberlain's translation). In the main text of the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and Izanami produce them together instead.

Amaterasu, the sun goddess

Amaterasu Ōmikami (天照大御神) is born from Izanagi's left eye and given the Plain of High Heaven to rule. She is the highest deity in the court myths and the ancestral deity of the imperial house. Her main shrine is the Inner Shrine of Ise Jingū. When her brother Susanoo wrecks her rice fields and weaving hall, she shuts herself in the Heavenly Rock Cave and the world goes dark, until the other gods lure her out with a mirror, jewels and a dance. That mirror became one of the three imperial regalia. Read our full article on Amaterasu and the story Amaterasu and the Heavenly Rock Cave.

Tsukuyomi, the moon god

Tsukuyomi (月読命) is born from Izanagi's right eye. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia says his name is thought to refer to "reading" (yomu) the phases of the moon (tsuki), and that he is usually taken as a male god. The Kojiki gives him the realm of night and then never mentions him again. A variant in the Nihon Shoki tells how he killed the food goddess Ukemochi, so that Amaterasu refused ever to see him again, which is why the sun and moon live apart. See Tsukuyomi's Banishment.

Susanoo, the unruly brother

Susanoo no Mikoto (須佐之男命) is born from Izanagi's nose. He is often called a storm god, but the Kokugakuin encyclopedia says only that he "has been associated with wind and rain". He weeps instead of ruling the sea, runs riot in heaven and is thrown out. On earth he becomes a hero: in Izumo he kills the eight-headed serpent Yamata no Orochi and finds the sword Kusanagi in its tail. Later he was identified with the plague god Gozu Tennō and worshipped at the Gion shrine in Kyoto, now Yasaka Shrine. Read our full article on Susanoo.

Gods of the land: Izumo

Many of the earthly myths in the Kojiki take place in Izumo, in what is now Shimane Prefecture. Their central figure is Ōkuninushi (大国主神), "Great Lord of the Land". Kokugakuin's encyclopedia lists many other names for him, including Ōnamuchi and Yachihoko. It suggests that Ōnamuchi was first a local land-making god of Izumo, later written into the court myths. The Kojiki makes him Susanoo's descendant in the sixth generation, and the Nihon Shoki main text makes him Susanoo's son.

His story is one of trials. He helps the skinned White Hare of Inaba, is killed twice by his eighty jealous brothers and brought back to life, and survives Susanoo's tests in the underworld with the help of Susanoo's daughter, Suseri-hime. With Susanoo's sword and bow he defeats his brothers. Then, with the tiny god Sukunabikona, he shapes the land.

Finally the heavenly gods demand the land for Amaterasu's descendants, and Ōkuninushi gives it up, asking only for a great dwelling. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia says he then withdrew to the "world of shade", the hidden world. He is enshrined at Izumo Taisha. From the medieval period he was also identified with Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, because their names share the same Sino-Japanese reading. His whole story is on our page Ōkuninushi's Trials.

Gods of sea, storm and sky

Watatsumi and Ryūjin

The sea god of the Kojiki is Watatsumi (綿津見神), whose name the Kokugakuin encyclopedia explains as "holder of the sea". In the best-known myth, the prince Hoori goes down to Watatsumi's palace, marries his daughter Toyotama-hime and returns with jewels that rule the tides. Through her, the chronicles trace the imperial line to the sea as well as to the sun. Watatsumi is not called a dragon in the chronicles. Ryūjin (龍神), the dragon god of the Dragon Palace, formed later. Nipponica describes him as an old native faith in water gods merged with dragon beliefs from China and Buddhism. Fishermen prayed to him for good catches and farmers for rain. See our article on Ryujin and the story Ryujin's Palace.

Raijin, the thunder god

Raijin (雷神) is the god of thunder and lightning, called Kaminari-sama in everyday speech. The oldest thunder gods in Japanese myth are the eight born in Izanami's rotting body in Yomi. The familiar figure with a ring of drums comes from Buddhist art. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia dates that image to around the Kamakura period (1185–1333). Thunder was feared, but it also brought the rain that rice needs, and the encyclopedia notes that inazuma, a word for lightning, contains ina, "rice". After Sugawara no Michizane died in exile in 903, lightning strikes in Kyoto were blamed on his angry spirit, and he was worshipped as a fire-and-thunder deity. Read our full article on Raijin.

Fūjin, the wind god

Fūjin (風神) carries a great bag of wind and is nearly always paired with Raijin, most famously in the Kamakura-period statues at Sanjūsangendō and in Tawaraya Sōtatsu's seventeenth-century screens. His image came from Buddhist art, and Nipponica traces it back to Central Asia. Japan's own wind kami in the chronicles are Shinatsuhiko and Shinatobe, and no images of them were made. No classical text makes Fūjin and Raijin brothers. Read our full article on Fūjin.

Takemikazuchi

Takemikazuchi is born from the blood on Izanagi's sword when he kills the fire god. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia describes him as the envoy who comes down to Izumo and persuades Ōkuninushi to hand over the land. In the Kojiki he also defeats Ōkuninushi's son Takeminakata in a trial of strength. He is worshipped at Kashima and Kasuga shrines. In popular belief the god of Kashima holds down the earthquake catfish with a buried stone, the kaname-ishi. The Kokugakuin encyclopedia's entry on earthquake kami notes that the chronicles give no god a clear role against earthquakes. His earthquake role grew later, out of legends about the stone. See our article on the Namazu.

Gods of everyday fortune

Inari

Inari (稲荷) is the kami of rice and the harvest, and one of the most widely worshipped deities in Japan. Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, the head shrine, says there are around 30,000 Inari shrines in the country, and dates the god's enshrinement on Mount Inari to 711. Over the centuries Inari came to bring business success and household safety too. "Inari" is really a name for a group of kami. The main one is Ukanomitama, the spirit of rice. The shrine is clear that Inari is not a fox: the stone foxes at Inari shrines stand for the god's messengers. Read our full article on Inari.

The Seven Lucky Gods

The Shichifukujin (七福神), the Seven Gods of Good Fortune, are Ebisu, Daikokuten, Bishamonten, Benzaiten, Fukurokuju, Jurōjin and Hotei. They show how Japanese religion combined traditions. Only Ebisu is native to Japan. Daikokuten, Bishamonten and Benzaiten came from India through Buddhism, and Fukurokuju, Jurōjin and Hotei came from China. Nipponica dates the group to the early Muromachi period, citing a procession of people dressed as the seven in Kyoto in 1420. They are best known aboard the takarabune, the treasure ship, whose picture is placed under the pillow at New Year for a lucky first dream. Read our full article on the Seven Lucky Gods.

Divine messengers

Some creatures are not gods themselves but serve them. The best known is Yatagarasu (八咫烏), the great crow sent from heaven to guide the legendary first emperor, Jimmu, through the mountains of Kumano. The two chronicles disagree on who sent it. The Kojiki names the heavenly deity Takamimusubi, and in the Nihon Shoki Amaterasu promises the crow to Jimmu in a dream. Neither chronicle mentions its legs. The three legs it has today, on Kumano shrine charms and on the badge of Japan's national football teams, came from the Chinese crow that lives in the sun. Read our full article on Yatagarasu.

The fox, or kitsune, plays the same role for Inari. Kokugakuin's encyclopedia traces several threads behind the link, including a farming belief that a fox led the mountain kami down to the rice fields in spring. Popular belief has often blurred messenger and god, but shrine priests have long discouraged it. See our article on the kitsune.

Quick list of Japanese gods

Izanagi and Izanami (伊邪那岐・伊邪那美): the creator couple who made the islands of Japan. Story
Amaterasu (天照大御神): the sun goddess, ruler of heaven and ancestor of the imperial line. Article
Tsukuyomi (月読命): the moon god, who rules the night. Story
Susanoo (須佐之男命): Amaterasu's unruly brother and slayer of the eight-headed serpent. Article
Ōkuninushi (大国主神): the Great Lord of the Land, god of Izumo Taisha. Story
Ryūjin (龍神): the dragon god of the sea and of rain. Article
Raijin (雷神): the thunder god with his ring of drums. Article
Fūjin (風神): the wind god with his bag of wind. Article
Inari (稲荷): the kami of rice, harvest and prosperity. Article
The Seven Lucky Gods (七福神): the seven gods of good fortune. Article
Yatagarasu (八咫烏): the divine crow that guided Emperor Jimmu. Article

Frequently asked questions

Who is the most important Japanese god?

Amaterasu, the sun goddess, is the highest deity in the court myths of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki. She rules heaven and is the ancestor of the imperial line, and her shrine at Ise has a special rank. Shinto has no single creed, though, and local shrines and households honour many other kami. Inari, for example, has around 30,000 shrines.

How many gods are in Shinto?

There is no fixed number. Shinto is said to have yaoyorozu no kami, "eight million gods", but the phrase means "countless". New kami can also be added, including the spirits of real people. Kokugakuin University's Encyclopedia of Shinto selected almost two hundred kami from the classics that have clearly described roles.

What is the difference between kami and yokai?

Kami are worshipped as gods. Yokai are the monsters, spirits and strange happenings of folklore. The line is not sharp. The folklorist Yanagita Kunio thought many yokai were gods who had lost their worshippers, and a feared spirit could become a kami if people gave it a shrine. Gods such as Raijin are also included in yokai collections.

Who is the Japanese god of thunder?

Raijin, also called Kaminari-sama, usually shown as a demon-like figure beating a ring of drums. The Kojiki also has eight thunder gods born in the body of the dead Izanami. The scholar Sugawara no Michizane was later worshipped as a fire-and-thunder deity.

Are the Seven Lucky Gods Japanese?

Only one of them is. Ebisu is native to Japan. Daikokuten, Bishamonten and Benzaiten came from India by way of Buddhism, and Fukurokuju, Jurōjin and Hotei came from China. They were grouped together in Japan, probably by the early Muromachi period.