Part Two of our mini-series on the kami is also extracted from the Shinto Shrines book recently out from the University of Hawaii Press.  Illustrations are my own, and not those of the publication, as is the paragraphing.

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Sacred rocks can house kami of nature

Types of kami
Because kami worship was originally site specific in nature, there is a great variety and number. Even where the same kami has been enshrined in a different location, it will take on the local traditions of its new home. In addition, the multiple nature of kami is a factor in their elusive image. For example, a single kami has a rough nature (aramitama), gentle nature (nigimitama), wondrous nature, (kushimitama), and nurturing nature (sakimitama). These shikon (four spirits) are often enshrined separately. The complex nature of the Japanese language, whereby inconsistency even in naming is common, adds to the problem. It may be helpful to understand something of the “eight million” kami (yaoyorozu) of Shinto by looking at the various ways they are made manifest.

Kami of nature:
There are kami that reside in a certain place, or manifest in that place spontaneously or when called upon. Often the place is notable in some way: a waterfall, a mountain of distinct shape, a volcano, a large rock, a large or unusually shaped tree. Though there are many tales of kami making an appearance in humanoid or animal form (especially white animals), the manifestation is generally considered to be in the heart of the worshipper, or in the result that occurs from calling the kami (such as healing or an answered prayer). Kami of nature can also be manifest in the active forces such as rain, wind, thunder, fire, and sunshine.

Kami of folk worship:
What is sometimes called “Folk Shinto” pertains to the local beliefs and practices that grow spontaneously among the people of a given location. It is usually a result of an ad hoc blending of myths, legends, superstitions, literary works, or clan origins. It also reflects the degree of isolation or wider distribution of a particular clan or occupational group.

Dosojin from a roadside in Nagano Prefecture

Some folk kami, such as the dosojin (deities of roads and boundaries), tend to be phallic in nature, and are most often seen in male/female pairs. Such kami are generally related to the concerns of daily life such as agriculture, fishing, the hearth, fertility, disease prevention, and good or bad fortune. It could be argued that so-called “folk worship” is the origin of Shinto, its true source and the power that sustains it. Folk Shinto is closely related to shamanism and divination as well.

Kami of deification:
These are humans who were raised to the status of kami after death. There are numerous examples and various reasons for such enshrinement. For example, Emperor Ojin (r. A.D. 270–310) is enshrined as the kami Hachiman, who is revered as a protector of the country and a god of war. Thanks largely to his popularity among the samurai of the Kamakura period (1185–1333), there are said to be about 25,000 Hachiman shrines in Japan today.

A different case involves Sugawara no Michizane, enshrined as the kami Tenman Tenjin. Though he came to be considered a kami of education, he was originally enshrined to appease his vengeful ghost (goryo), which was thought to be causing plagues in the capital of Kyoto. Today there are about 10,000 Tenjin shrines throughout the country.

Another example is Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Edo shogun, who unified the country and who decided that after his death he should be enshrined as a kami, for the purpose of watching over the country. His descendants duly carried out his wish, and today the magnificent Nikko Toshogu is one of the most popular destinations in Japan for worshippers and tourists alike. It was mentioned above that deification of kami was somewhat akin to that of a saint, but it differs in that the attributes that make a kami are not decided by any central authority and the person concerned is generally a secular figure such as a scholar, a general, an ancestor or benefactor of a community or clan (uji), or a member of the imperial family.

The grave of Ieyasu at Tosho-gu, Nikko, where he is deified as Tosho Daigongen (Great Avatar of the Shining East)

Kami of shared belief: Kami that are common to a wide spectrum of geographical areas are generally those that have been spread from one original location. Such are the kami of the Kojiki and Nihon shoki—for example, Amaterasu, Susano-o, and Okuninushi—who were local kami proselytized into national figures, along with the beliefs surrounding them.

The process of enshrining the kami of one place in another location is called “dividing the spirit” (bunrei). Essentially, the kami is “invited” to enter into a new place and installed there in a ceremony called kanjo; there is no limitation on the number of places that a kami can be enshrined, nor is the power of the divided deity any less than the original. In addition to the Hachiman and Tenjin shrines mentioned above, Inari shrines are said to be the most frequent at about 32,000, followed by about 18,000 for Ise shrines. (However, though they enshrine Amaterasu and are called Ise shrines, the spirit is not divided from Ise Jingu).

This process was expedited during certain periods of history, when the right to enshrine a particular kami was sold, as was the case with the expansion of Inari (a rice kami) shrines—a sort of religious franchising. Enshrinement of these kami expanded to the extent that today, two-thirds of existing shrines are said to be of the Hachiman, Inari, Ise, or Tenjin lineages.

A word of caution: there are no precise figures on the number or type of enshrinements of a particular divinity. The numbers quoted in this book are from an old survey and probably represent guesswork more than actual accounting. (For example, the total number of just these shrines exceeds the overall number registered as religious bodies.) Indeed, the number of registered Hachiman shrines is said to be no more than two thousand. Since no comprehensive shrine count has ever been done, numbers are anecdotal and vary widely.

Red torii tunnels, characteristic of Inari shrines where the rice kami is enshrined

Playing for the kami... but what exactly is a kami?

Kami are central to Shinto.  Indeed, the very name Shinto means ‘way of the kami’.  So an obvious question is what exactly is or are kami?

In Shinto Shrines (University of Hawaii Press), Joseph Cali provides an admirably clear overview of the subject. Well, as co-author I would say that, wouldn’t I…   But I do stand in genuine admiration of what Joseph accomplished in the book, particularly in terms of a 50-page Introduction that is as objective and succinct as any account I’ve seen.  (The extract below is accompanied by my own photos.)

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Broad definition of Shinto
If there is one single, broad definition of Shinto, it would probably be “Shinto is a belief in kami.” Shinto is considered a “natural” as opposed to a revealed religion. It has no founder and no prophets. It has morality tales and myths that have been preserved in writings and influence its practices, but there is no doctrine such as the “Ten Commandments” that dictates the correct way to live as mandated by God. It is a belief system that developed over thousands of years at different locations within Japan, and is centered on local as opposed to universal beliefs.

Beliefs and practice can differ according to local custom

Nature is its primary source of inspiration and it has incorporated a number of elements from Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Chinese divination (called onmyodo in Japanese), and from different parts of Asia. Over the centuries many of the ancient, local beliefs were formalized and nationalized by the ruling and priestly classes. This included giving names to nameless kami and creating shrine buildings. Finally, a radical restructuring and standardization took place between the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries that is reflected in the Shinto we now find in most shrines.

What are kami ?
As mentioned above, Shinto can be defined as a belief in kami, which is usually translated as “god,” “deity,” or “spirit” (Japanese makes no distinction between singular and plural). Kami are not like the God of monotheistic religions or even like the Buddha. Although Shinto in the eighteenth century saw new sects emerge based on the concept of a singular creator divinity, they never held sway. Shinto is not only a polytheistic, but also a pantheistic faith, meaning that kami manifest in everything. It is also considered animistic, because its gods are in the forces and manifestations of nature.

Making offerings to the kami

The kami make themselves “present” in living beings, in the dead, in organic and inorganic matter, and in actions beyond the control of man such as earthquakes, storms, droughts, and plagues. The concept of kami also includes great people who are venerated as kami after they die and who are worshipped by subsequent generations as protectors or ancestor kami. This is somewhat akin to the Christian concept of sainthood—though people enshrined as kami were more often agents of power rather than of good works. There are times too, as in the case of the emperor, where a living person can be venerated as a kami.

Like the gods of Mount Olympus, kami perform both good and bad deeds, causing both bountiful harvests and disasters (though preventing the latter is de-emphasized in modern-day Shinto it was once the prime motivation of kami ritual). To gain the blessings and avoid the destructive actions of kami, offerings and prayers are directed to them on a regular basis. Such offerings traditionally consisted of cloth, food, swords, horses, and other valuable objects. These days offerings by priests are primarily food and drink, or sprigs of the sacred sakaki tree, while those from worshippers are usually monetary.

From the eighth century, kami were given official ranks that could be raised as a reward for good behavior. In this and other ways, kami came to be treated as if human, with similar emotions, needs, and desires. On the other hand, they were rarely portrayed in art in an anthropomorphic way, except under the influence of Buddhism. There is, however, one category of imported kami for whom visual representation is common: the shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods).

Eight myriad kami being borne on sakaki branches at an Izumo festival held every autumn

Who do you think might have written the following?

Amaterasu, sun goddess and primal deity in the Shinto pantheon

‘”The Sun is god!” cried J.M.W. Turner as he died, and plenty of other people have thought there was much in his analysis. The Aztecs agreed, and so did the pharaohs of Egypt. We are an arrogant lot these days, and we tend to underestimate the importance of our governor and creator.

We forget that we were once just a clod of cooled-down solar dust; we forget that without the Sun there would have been no photosynthesis, no hydrocarbons — and that it was the great celestial orb that effectively called life into being on Earth. In so far as we are able to heat our homes or turn on our computers or drive to work it is thanks to the unlocking of energy from the Sun.

As a species, we human beings have become so blind with conceit and self-love that we genuinely believe that the fate of the planet is in our hands — when the reality is that everything, or almost everything, depends on the behaviour and caprice of the gigantic thermonuclear fireball around which we revolve.’

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Well, it’s not a Shinto apologist, nor is it a new-age religionist…   it’s a British politician by the name of Boris Johnson writing an article about the vagaries of the weather in Britain, which is currently suffering from a blanket of snow and feeling miserable for itself.

But in writing of the sun as ‘our governor and creator’ the maverick politician seems to be hitting on a similar theme to ancient humans.  In acknowledging the solar primacy, perhaps we may come to recognise that conditions on earth depend on activity up there.  By allying itself with the rising sun, the nascent Japanese state may have been unconsciously tapping into a scientific, as well as a higher, truth.

Ceremony to welcome the sun rise on the longest day of the year at the Meoto Rocks at Ise