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Kami of the Rising Sun

The kami, spirits, and creatures of Shinto myth, recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki.

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13 entries

A

AmaterasuGoddess of the SunThe sun goddess who shines in heaven — ruler of the Plain of High Heaven, ancestor of Japan's imperial line, and the kami enshrined at Ise.Deity

H

HachimanGod of War and ArcheryKami of war, archery and the bow, patron of the samurai and the first kami titled a bodhisattva, worshipped at tens of thousands of shrines.Deity

I

Inari (Inari Okami)Kami of Rice, Foxes and ProsperityKami of rice, sake and worldly prosperity, served by white foxes and worshipped at roughly a third of all Japanese shrines.DeityIzanagi and IzanamiThe Creator PairThe creator pair of Japanese myth: they stirred the first island out of the sea, bore the land itself, and were parted forever by death.Deity

K

KitsuneThe Fox SpiritsJapan's fox spirits — shapeshifters who gain tails and power with age, feared as deceivers and revered as the messengers of the rice kami Inari.Creature

O

Oni (Japanese Demons)Horned Demons of JapanHorned, fanged ogres of Japanese folklore: hell's wardens, mountain bandits and village guardians, driven out with beans every February.Creature

R

RaijinGod of ThunderThe thunder kami who drums the storm into being — oni-faced, ringed with taiko, and paired in Japanese art with the wind god Fujin.Deity

S

SusanooGod of StormsThe raging kami of sea and storm — expelled from heaven for wrecking his sister's fields, then redeemed in Izumo by slaying an eight-headed serpent.Deity

T

TakamagaharaThe High Plain of HeavenThe Plain of High Heaven — where the first kami came into being, where the gods hold council, and from which Amaterasu's line descended to rule the islands.RealmTenguMountain Goblins of JapanWinged mountain spirits of Japan: crow-beaked tricksters and long-nosed masters of the sword, once Buddhist demons, later guardians of the peaks.CreatureTsukuyomiGod of the MoonThe moon kami born from Izanagi's right eye — ruler of the night, whose single recorded act of violence set the sun and moon forever apart.Deity

Y

Yamata-no-OrochiEight-Headed SerpentThe eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent of Izumo — devourer of maidens, killed drunk by Susanoo, and the source of the imperial sword Kusanagi.CreatureYomi (Yomi-no-Kuni)The Land of the DeadThe land of the dead in Japan's oldest myths: a polluted country reached by a slope in Izumo, sealed with a boulder, with no judgment and no return.Realm