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Episode 123 - Kami

"Megami" redirects here. For other uses, see Megami (disambiguation) and Kami (disambiguation).
Part of a series on
Shinto
Shinto
Practices and beliefs
Kami Ritual dance Ritual purity Polytheism Animism Japanese festivals Mythology
Shinto shrines
List of Shinto shrines Ichinomiya Twenty-Two Shrines Modern system of ranked Shinto shrines Association of Shinto Shrines Shinto architecture
Notable Kami
Amaterasu Sarutahiko Ame no Uzume Inari Izanagi Izanami Susanoo Tsukuyomi
Important literature
Kojiki (ca. 711 CE) Nihon Shoki (720 CE) Fudoki (713-723 CE) Shoku Nihongi (797 CE) Rikkokushi (8th and 9th centuries CE) Kogo Shūi (807 CE) Kujiki (807 to 936 CE) Engishiki (927 CE)
See also
Religion in Japan Glossary of Shinto List of Japanese deities Sacred objects Japanese Buddhism Edo Neo-Confucianism Koshintō Mythical creatures
Shinto torii icon vermillion.svg Shinto portal
v t e
Kami (Japanese: 神?) [káꜜmì]) are the spirits or phenomena that are worshiped in the religion of Shinto. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, as well as beings and the qualities that these beings express, and include the spirits of venerated dead persons. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans, and some ancestors became kami upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of kami in life. Traditionally, great or sensational leaders like the King could be kami.[1]
In Shinto, kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, good and evil characteristics. They are manifestations of musubi (結び),[2] the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. Kami are believed to be “hidden” from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own, shinkai [the world of the kami] (神界).[3] To be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi [the way of the kami] (随神の道 or 惟神の道).[2]

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