Japanese Pantheon

Kami

Kami are the sacred powers of Japanese religion: the great deities of the classical myths, but also mountains, waterfalls, ancient trees, ancestors, and remarkable people. Shinto, 'the way of the kami', names the practices that honour them at shrines across Japan. The name took on its modern sense relatively late, and for most of Japanese history kami worship was closely combined with Buddhism, the two separated by government order only in 1868.

The written myths

The classical myths are known from two court histories compiled in the early 8th century: the Kojiki ('Record of Ancient Matters', 712), written down by Ō no Yasumaro, and the Nihon Shoki ('Chronicles of Japan', 720), which records many variant versions side by side. Both begin with the creation of the islands by Izanagi and Izanami, tell of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, and her unruly brother Susanoo, the Izumo cycle of Ōkuninushi, and the descent of Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi to rule the land. They then run on into the reigns of legendary and historical emperors. Both were compiled to support the authority of the imperial house, which claims descent from Amaterasu, and they should be read with that purpose in mind. The provincial Fudoki gazetteers of the same period preserve local myths the court histories leave out.

Shrines and practice

The Ise Grand Shrine, dedicated to Amaterasu and rebuilt every twenty years, and Izumo Taisha, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, are the most important shrines associated with the myths. Practice centres on purification, offerings, seasonal festivals (matsuri), and prayer at shrines. The conventional date of 660 BCE for the first emperor, Jimmu, comes from the Nihon Shoki and is legendary, not historical.