: 22 To be in harmony with the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is to be conscious of kannagara no michi ( 随神の道 or 惟神の道, 'the way of the kami'). Kami are believed to be 'hidden' from this world, and inhabit a complementary existence that mirrors our own: shinkai ( 神界, 'the world of the kami'). They are manifestations of musubi ( 結び), the interconnecting energy of the universe, and are considered exemplary of what humanity should strive towards. In Shinto, kami are not separate from nature, but are of nature, possessing positive and negative, and good and evil characteristics.

Traditionally, great leaders like the Emperor could be or became kami. Many kami are considered the ancient ancestors of entire clans (some ancestors became kami upon their death if they were able to embody the values and virtues of kami in life). 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. According to Motoori, anything that inspired awe and sensitivity to ephemeral beauty ( aware) was a kami.įor Japanese people who believe this, their country is a rich natural landscape with kami to be found wherever they turn - in short a kami no kuni or “country of kami.” If this phrase is translated into English as “God’s country,” it can be misunderstood as a fanatically nationalistic expression, but this is not what the phrase actually means.Kami ( Japanese: 神, ) are the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena, or holy powers that are venerated in the Shinto religion. This is how they were defined by the eighteenth-century scholar of Japanese classics Motoori Norinaga. They included the kami that appear in the Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and the Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan), Japan’s ancient records of myth and history, kami that were worshiped in shrines, and everything possessing extraordinary qualities, including the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, the sea, large rocks and trees, and even some smaller plants, animals, and people. Japan’s kami were traditionally thought of as anthropomorphized natural phenomena. Pronounced shen in Chinese, the character 神 carries some divine attributes, but they are of a decidedly low rank and far below those of the highest power in Chinese theology, termed 天 ( tian) or 上帝 ( shangdi) in Chinese. Common words in both languages using this character, such as 精神 (pronounced seishin in Japanese), meaning “spirit” or “mind,” and 神経 ( shinkei), meaning “nerves,” are related to human mental qualities. The written Japanese form, 神, is influenced by the Chinese meaning of the character. “God” is the supreme being of monotheism and is customarily capitalized to indicate the unique nature of the deity and draw a distinction with the multiple gods of polytheism. However, to avoid misunderstanding, it would be better to think of God, 神, and kami as three separate concepts. When the English word God is translated into Japanese, it is generally represented by the kanji (Chinese character) 神 and pronounced kami.

Representations of a pair of ancestral kami on display at Kokugakuin musuem, contradicting the notion that Japanese kami are all animist in origin Are Japanese kami extending their spiritual realm abroad, or are they kami independent of Japanese sovereignty? Rather than a kami no kuni, it would be preferable in these global times to promote the idea of a kami no sekai (world of kami). Recognition of kami outside Japan therefore becomes a complex issue. It’s the way it was used too in the days before WW2, when a nationalistic Japan sought to justify expansionism and rule over other countries. This is the way Hideyoshi used it in the sixteenth century when he expelled the Christian missionaries from the country. But by extension it also means that Japan is special. This could be interpreted to mean that the land of Japan is imbued with a numinous quality, since it is where the kami live. The passage concludes with the contentious issue of kami no kuni (country of kami). In the passage below light is shed on the nature of the Japanese concept of kami by contrasting the term with the Western idea of God and Chinese notions of ‘ shen’ (etymologically, Shinto derives from the Chinese ‘ shen dao’, way of the spirits). The site has some useful introductory essays on Japanese culture as a whole, and on Shinto in particular. It's often said Japanese kami are formless and unseen, yet Mt Miwa, pictured here, is worshipped directly as a kami in itself.

Kami in japanese kanji