Kami

Kami (Japanese: 神) is the Japanese word for the sacred presences central to Shinto[1]. The character is shared with the Chinese shen (spirit, divine being) but the Japanese kami covers a distinctive range. Translating kami as god or gods imports Western theological categories that fit poorly[2]. Kami names sacred presences that may include deities, ancestors, nature spirits, and even outstanding humans.

kami cannot be mapped neatly onto Western categories such as god or spirit without losing important nuance.

Kami are honored in Shinto shrines (jinja) across Japan[1]. The Shinto tradition holds that kami are present in many places and forms: in particular mountains, rocks, trees, and waterfalls; in ancestral spirits; in great historical figures; and in named deities of the Shinto pantheon including Amaterasu (the sun kami, ancestress of the imperial line), Susanoo, and many others[1]. The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki are the major mythological compilations, dating from the 8th century CE[3].

Daily Shinto practice involves reverence at shrines: passing through a torii gate marking the transition into sacred space, performing purification (temizu) at a water basin, offering prayer (often with a clap of the hands to gain the kami's attention), and sometimes receiving a charm or oracle[1]. Major life events (birth, coming of age, marriage) frequently involve shrine visits. Festivals (matsuri) throughout the year celebrate specific kami and seasonal cycles.

Kami are not understood as omnipotent creators in the Abrahamic sense[2]. They are sacred presences with particular domains and relationships. Their power and significance vary; some kami serve local communities, others have broader significance. The Shinto sensibility holds that the divine is plural, present, and relational rather than singular and transcendent in the monotheistic sense.

Many Japanese practice both Shinto and Buddhism without seeing the two as competing[1]. The historical interweaving of kami and Buddhist figures (honji suijaku doctrine) developed accounts of kami as manifestations of buddhas and vice versa, though the Meiji period (late 19th century) saw a formal separation of the two traditions.

Shinto studies has been a major field within Japanese religious studies. Helen Hardacre[1], Mark Teeuwen, John Breen[4], and others have produced significant scholarship on the historical development and contemporary practice of Shinto. Translation of kami has been a methodological concern; many scholars now leave the term untranslated to avoid the distortions of god or spirit.

• Shinto: A Historyby Helen Hardacre
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• A New History of Shintoby John Breen and Mark Teeuwen
  book