Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that these beings express, and/or the spirits of venerated dead people. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans. Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor could be or became kami.
Shinto is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners Shintoists, although adherents rarely use that term themselves. There is no central authority in control of Shinto, with much diversity of belief and practice evident among practitioners.
Amaterasu Ōmikami, often called Amaterasu for short, also known as Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (大日孁貴神), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (kami) of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, as the ruler of the heavenly realm Takamagahara and as the mythical ancestress of the Imperial House of Japan via her grandson Ninigi. Along with two of her siblings she ranks as one of the "Three Precious Children", the three most important offspring of the creator god Izanagi.
Susanoo, often referred to by the honorific title Susanoo-no-Mikoto, is a kami in Japanese mythology. The younger brother of Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and mythical ancestress of the Japanese imperial line, he is a multifaceted deity with contradictory characteristics, being portrayed in various stories either as a wild, impetuous god associated with the sea and storms, as a heroic figure who killed a monstrous serpent, or as a local deity linked with the harvest and agriculture. Syncretic beliefs of the Gion cult that arose after the introduction of Buddhism to Japan also saw Susanoo becoming conflated with deities of pestilence and disease.
Misogi (禊) is a Japanese Shinto practice of ritual purification by washing the entire body. Misogi is related to another Shinto purification ritual, harae. Thus, both are collectively referred to as misogiharae (禊祓).
Izanami (イザナミ), formally referred to with the honorific Izanami-no-Mikoto, is the creator deity of both creation and death in Japanese mythology, as well as the Shinto mother goddess. She and her brother-husband Izanagi are the last of the seven generations of primordial deities that manifested after the formation of heaven and earth. Izanami and Izanagi are held to be the creators of the Japanese archipelago and the progenitors of many deities, which include the sun goddess Amaterasu, the moon deity Tsukuyomi and the storm god Susanoo. In mythology, she is the direct ancestor of the Japanese imperial family.
Norito (祝詞) are liturgical texts or ritual incantations in Shinto, usually addressed to a given kami.
Ōkuninushi, also known as Ō(a)namuchi or Ō(a)namochi among other variants, is a kami in Japanese mythology. He is one of the central deities in the cycle of myths recorded in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki alongside the sun goddess Amaterasu and her brother, the wild god Susanoo, who is reckoned to be either Ōkuninushi's distant ancestor or father. In these texts, Ōkuninushi (Ōnamuchi) is portrayed as the head of the kunitsukami, the gods of the earth, and the original ruler of the terrestrial world, named Ashihara no Nakatsukuni. When the heavenly deities (amatsukami) headed by Amaterasu demanded that he relinquish his rule over the land, Ōkuninushi agreed to their terms and withdrew into the unseen world, which was given to him to rule over in exchange. Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi then came down from heaven to govern Ashihara no Nakatsukuni and eventually became the ancestor of the Japanese imperial line.
An ōnusa or simply nusa or Taima is a wooden wand traditionally used in Shinto purification rituals.
Chōzu-ya or temizu-ya (手水舎) is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as temizu or chōzu. The pavilion contains a large water-filled basin called a chōzubachi.
This is the glossary of Shinto, including major terms on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk (*) are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries.
Kegare is the Japanese term for a state of pollution and defilement, important particularly in Shinto as a religious term. Typical causes of kegare are the contact with any form of death, childbirth, disease, and menstruation, and acts such as rape. In Shinto, kegare is a form of tsumi, which needs to be somehow remedied by the person responsible. This condition can be remedied through purification rites called misogi and harae. Kegare can have an adverse impact not only on the person directly affected, but also to the community they belong to.
In Japanese mythology and folklore, Somin Shōrai was a poor man who gave food and shelter to a certain god in the guise of a traveler who was looking for a place to stay. As a reward, the god provided Somin Shōrai's family a means to save themselves from an oncoming pestilence that eventually claimed the lives of those who had turned him away earlier. The story of Somin Shōrai is the basis for the Shinto custom of walking through a large ring of twisted miscanthus reeds during the beginning of summer at many Shinto shrines across Japan. Talismans bearing Somin Shōrai's name are also popularly held to ward off disease and misfortune.
Sarutahiko Ōkami is a deity of the Japanese religion of Shinto; he is the leader of the earthly kami. Norito also mentions him with the title Daimyōjin instead of Ōkami. Sarutahiko Ōkami was the head of the kunitsukami and in the Jinnō Shōtōki is said to have been the ancestor of Otanomikoto.
Yoshida Shintō (吉田神道), also frequently referred to as Yuiitsu Shintō, was a prominent sect of Shintō that arose during the Sengoku period through the teachings and work of Yoshida Kanetomo. The sect was originally an effort to organize Shintō teachings into a coherent structure in order to assert its authority vis-a-vis Buddhism. However, by the Edo period, Yoshida Shintō continued to dominate the Shintō discourse, and influenced Neo-Confucian thinkers such as Hayashi Razan and Yamazaki Ansai in formulating a Neo-Confucian Shinto doctrine. Yoshida Shinto's dominance rivaled that of Ise Shintō. Yoshida Shrine was the center of this sect.
Oharae no Kotoba (大祓のことば) is one of the Noritos in Shinto rituals. It is also called Nakatomi Saimon, Nakatomi Exorcism Words, or Nakatomi Exorcism for short, because it was originally used in the Ōharae-shiki ceremony and the Nakatomi clan was solely responsible for reading it. A typical example can be found in Enki-Shiki, Volume 8, under the title June New Year's Eve Exorcism. In general, the term "Daihourishi" refers to the words to be proclaimed to the participants of the event, while the term "Nakatomihourai" refers to a modified version of the words to be performed before the shrine or gods.
Shinto is a religion native to Japan with a centuries'-long history tied to various influences in origin.
Sect Shinto refers to several independent organized Shinto groups that were excluded by Japanese law in 1882 from government-run State Shinto. These independent groups have more developed belief systems than mainstream Shrine Shinto, which focuses more on rituals. Many such groups are organized into the Association of Sectarian Shinto. Before World War II, Sect Shinto consisted of 13 denominations, which were referred to as the 13 Shinto schools. Since then, there have been additions and withdrawals of membership.
Jingū Taima is an ōnusa wrapped in clean Ise washi and issued by the Ise Grand Shrine. They are a form of ofuda. The Association of Shinto Shrines recommends every household have at least three Ofuda in their Kamidana, a Jingu Taima, an Ujigami ofuda, and another deity one personally chooses.
Ōharae-shiki is a Shinto ritual also known as the Great Purification. The name Oharae literally means Great Harae.
