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Benten or Benzaiten – Kami associated with music and the arts.The famous Shiseido cosmetic company has a shrine devoted to Inari on top of its headquarters called Seidō Shrine. Inari – Kami of rice and harvest originally, but grew in popularity as a guardian of Buddhism and separately of business.Ebisu – A Kami associated with small business and commerce.Absorbed by Buddhism in medieval times as a bodhisattva (frequent references in the Tales of the Heike, for example). Hachiman – God of war, originally thought to have derived from the legendary Emperor Ōjin.Amaterasu – Goddess of the sun and associated with the Imperial family, who traditionally claims descent from this Kami.Ian Reader’s book lists some of the most well-known: In Japanese, there is a term for this: 八百万の神 ( yaoyorozu no kami) which means “eight million kami” literally, but really just means “countless kami”. One might compare this to ancient Greek religion with its Olympian gods, chthonic earth deities, spirits like nymphs, naiads, etc., plus foreign-imported deities from elsewhere. Kami come in all shapes and sizes, and embody many aspects of nature, but also include more celestial Kami as well. Shinto “divinites” or Kami (神), usually gets translated into English as “gods”, but they run the gamut. In the end, they’re all trying to commune with the Kami, to revere nature, and much emphasis is placed upon experiential wisdom. Variations exist throughout different parts of Japan, and according to Yamakage, each kannushi (priest) will have slightly different view of it. It has no founder, no doctrines, and no real central authority. Shintō (神道) is basically just the “Way of the Kami”.

These are the two primary sources for this post. Later, I found a Professor Ian Reader’s excellent and easy to read guide to Shinto. It’s not something I really believe in, but I felt that it was worth taking the time to delve into the culture and do things the Japanese way.īack then, I picked up a book on Shinto called The Essence of Shinto by a Shinto priest, or kannushi (神主), named Motohisa Yamakage to learn more. My personal interest in Shinto began years ago when I visited a few shrines here and there as a tourist and would pay respects to whatever kami or divinity dwelt within.

Shinto is a tricky subject in some ways because it’s deeply tied to Japan, and “Japan-ness” in a way that Buddhism, a foreign religion, is not. Taken by me at the excellent Hie Shrine in downtown Tokyo in 2017. With New Year’s just past, it’s a good time to explore this oft-misunderstood tradition. While I usually talk about Buddhism a lot, especially Japanese Buddhism, on the blog, I wanted to take some time to talk a little bit about the other religion in Japan: Shintoism.