Kami
For alternate uses of Kami, see Kami (disambiguation). |
Amaterasu, one of the central kami in the Shinto faith |
is the
Japanese word for the objects of worship in the
Shinto faith. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity," Shinto scholars point out that such a translation can cause a serious misunderstanding of the term (Ono, 1962). In some instances, such as
Izanagi and
Izanami, kami are personified deities, similar to the gods of
ancient Greece or
Rome. In other cases, such as the phenomenon of growth, natural objects, the
spirits dwelling in trees, or forces of nature, translating "kami" exclusively as "god" or "deity" would be a gross mischaracterization.
In its usage within
Shinto, the word is an honorific (See:
Japanese titles and
Japanese honorifics) for noble, sacred spirits, which implies a sense of respect or adoration for their virtues and authority. Since all beings have such spirits, human beings (and indeed all beings) could be considered kami or potential kami. However, because the Japanese never use an honorific to refer to themselves or to a member of a group to which they belong, it is uncommon for a normal human being to be referred to as a kami (Ono, 1962).
Because Japanese does not normally distinguish singular and plural in
nouns, it is sometimes unclear whether
kami refers to a single or multiple entities. When a plural concept is absolutely necessary, the term or is used. Female kami are sometimes referred to as . It is often said that there are - in Japanese the number "eight-million" is often used to imply infinity.
"Kami" are the central objects of worship for the
Shinto faith. Shinto began as the various ancient
animistic folk religions of Japan, and only became a unified religion in response to the influences of other religions brought into Japan from abroad. Thus, the concept of kami was developed first in various regional folk religions before being unified into the single religion of Shinto. As a result, the nature of what can be called "kami" is very broad and encompasses many different concepts and phenomena.
Some of the objects or phenomena designated as kami are qualities of growth, fertility, and production; natural phenomena like
wind and
thunder; natural objects like the
sun,
mountains,
rivers,
trees, and
rocks; some
animals; and
ancestral spirits. Included within the designation of ancestral spirits are spirits of the ancestors of the
Imperial House of Japan, but also ancestors of noble families as well as the spirits of the ancestors of common people.
There are other spirits designated as kami as well. For example, the guardian spirits of the land, occupations, and skills; spirits of Japanese heroes, men of outstanding deeds or virtues, and those who have contributed to civilization, culture and human welfare; those who have died for the state or the community (See:
Yasukuni Shrine); and the pitiable dead. Not only spirits superior to man can be considered kami, but also spirits that are considered pitiable or weak have been considered kami in Shinto.
The concept of kami has been changed and refined since ancient times, although anything that was considered to be kami by ancient people will still be considered kami in "modern"
Shinto. ("Modern" meaning since it was formalized into a unified religion under the influence of foreign religions like
Buddhism.) Even within modern Shinto, there are no clearly defined criteria for what should or should not be worshipped as kami. The difference between modern Shinto and the ancient animistic religions is mainly a refinement of the kami-concept, rather than a difference in definitions.
In the ancient animistic religions,
kami were understood as simply the divine forces of nature. Worshippers in ancient Japan revered creations of nature which exhibited a particular beauty and power such as
waterfalls, mountains, boulders, animals, trees, grasses and even
rice paddies. They strongly believed the spirits or resident
kami deserved respect.
Although the ancient designations are still adhered to, in modern Shinto many priests also consider kami to be
anthropomorphic spirits, with nobility and authority. These include such mythological figures as
Amaterasu, the sun goddess of the Shinto pantheon. Although these kami can be considered deities, they are not considered
omnipotent or
omniscient. In the myths of Amaterasu, for example, she could not see the events of the human world. She also had to use divination rituals to see the future.
The
kami traditionally possessed two souls, one gentle (
nigi-mitama) and the other aggressive (
ara-mitama). This human but powerful form of kami was also divided into
amutsu-kami ("the heavenly deities") and
kunitsu-kami ("the gods of the earthly realm"). A deity would behave differently according to which soul was in control at a given time. In many ways, this was representative of nature's sudden changes and would explain why there were
kami for every meteorological event: snowfall, rain, typhoons, floods, lightning and volcanoes.
The ancestors of a particular family can also be worshipped as
kami. In this sense, these
kami were worshipped not because of their godly powers, but because of a distinct quality or value. These
kami were regional and many shrines (
hokora) were built in honour of these
kami. In many cases, people who once lived can thus be deified as gods; an example of this is
Tenjin, who was
Sugawara no Michizane (
845-
903) in life.
In his
1946 Ningen-sengen radio broadcast, the emperor
Hirohito declared that he is not an
akitsumikami (manifest kami). However, after this declaration, Hirohito asked for permission from the occupying forces to worship his ancestors, and, upon receiving permission, he worshipped
Amaterasu, thus implying that he was of divine descent.
In the
2004 expansion to
Magic: The Gathering, entitled
Champions of Kamigawa, kami and
Shinto are the basis for the ongoing storyline of the series. The set has stayed surprisingly true to the
Japanese mythology, using actual kami names instead of inventing ones. In Kamigawa, the Kami have been angered by the actions of a human lord. This anger has sparked the "Kami War", in which the noble kami spirits turn against their human worshippers.
In another card game,
Legend of the Five Rings, the religion of the official fiction, heaviliy derivative of real-world Eastern Religion, places great emphasis on the veneration of Kami for each of the five "Rings": Air, Earth, Fire, Water and Void. Often anthropomorphic and always behaving in a manner associated with their "Ring", they were powerful forces prayed to for great power by spellcasters, or
Shugenja.
In the
DragonBall anime and
manga series, the
alien being who watches and protects the earth bears the name of Kami.
Another of the most popular
anime and
manga series is
Kosuke Fujishima's work
Aa! Megami-Sama, known in
English as
Ah! My Goddess or
Oh My Goddess!.
The first game of the
Megami Tensei ("Reincarnation of the Goddess")
computer role-playing game series featured a
character who was the
reincarnation of the Shinto kami
Izanami.
In the online game
Ultima Online, a demonic entity known as "Kami of Drought" has appeared in the Asian-themed continent of the
Tokuno islands found in that game's map. Though, the relationship between the kami of the Shinto religion and this demonic entity seems to stop at the name.
Another MMORPG,
The Saga of Ryzom, has a faction where the gods, who protect the planet, are called the Kami. In this game, they are spirits that can use magic, teleportation, and can take any visual appearance.
The television
anime series
Kamichu, which featured a young girl who became a kami overnight.
The "Old Powers" featuring in
Ursula LeGuin's
Earthsea books could also be identified as Kami, in that they are consciousness in the form of stones, hills, or caverns, although LeGuin seems more influenced by
Taoism.
James Clavell's
Thrump-o-Moto involves a "Kami Tree" which is "as tall as the sky and golden red". This description has led readers to imagine that the
Sequoia trees also possess kami.
Hayao Miyazaki's films
My Neighbour Totoro,
Princess Mononoke and
Spirited Away all feature kami and
yōkai, or beings which have much in common with them. A few of them are taken from Shintoism, some are completely new creations and many others are original interpretations of traditionally abstract kami.
*
Izanami, the first woman
*
Izanagi, the first man
*
Amaterasu, the
sun goddess*
Susanoo,
god of
storms and
seas
*
Inari, god of
rice*
List of Shinto kami*
Kotoamatsukami*
Religions of Japan*
A Contemplation on the Kami and Guardian of the Ise-Jingu Mai Shrine*
A Contemplation on Atsuta-no-Ookami - The Kami of the Sword
*
