Kami

== History ==
{{see also|Mitama}}
While Shinto has no founder, no overarching doctrine, and no religious texts, the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}} (Records of Ancient Matters), written in 712 CE, and the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Nihon Shoki]]}} (Chronicles of Japan), written in 720 CE, contain the earliest record of Japanese creation myths. The {{Lang|ja-latn|Kojiki}} also includes descriptions of various ''kami''.<ref name="Yamakage" />{{rp|39}}

In the ancient traditions there were five defining characteristics of ''kami'':<ref name="Jones">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Lindsay|title=Encyclopedia of Religion|date=2005|publisher=Macmillan [u.a.]|location=New York|isbn=978-0-02-865734-9|pages=5071–5074|edition=2nd}}</ref>
# ''Kami'' are of two minds. They can nurture and love when respected, or they can cause destruction and disharmony when disregarded. ''Kami'' must be appeased in order to gain their favor and avoid their wrath. Traditionally, ''kami'' possess two [[soul]]s, one gentle (''[[Mitama|nigi-mitama]]'') and the other assertive (''[[mitama|ara-mitama]]''); additionally, in ''Yamakage Shinto'' (see ''[[Ko-Shintō]]''), ''kami'' have two additional souls that are hidden: one happy (''saki-mitama'') and one mysterious (''kushi-mitama'').<ref name="Yamakage" />{{rp|130}}
# ''Kami'' are not visible to the human realm. Instead, they inhabit sacred places, natural phenomena, or people during rituals that ask for their blessing.
# They are mobile, visiting their places of worship, of which there can be several, but never staying forever.
# There are many different varieties of ''kami''. There are 300 different classifications of ''kami'' listed in the {{Lang|ja-latn|[[Kojiki]]}}, and they all have different functions, such as the ''kami'' of wind, ''kami'' of entryways, and ''kami'' of roads.
# Lastly, all ''kami'' have a different guardianship or duty to the people around them. Just as the people have an obligation to keep the ''kami'' happy, the ''kami'' have to perform the specific function of the object, place, or idea they inhabit.
''Kami'' are an ever-changing concept, but their presence in Japanese life has remained constant. The ''kami's'' earliest roles were as earth-based spirits, assisting the early [[hunter-gatherer]] groups in their daily lives. They were worshipped as gods of the earth (mountains) and sea. As the cultivation of [[rice]] became increasingly important and predominant in Japan, the ''kami's'' identity shifted to more sustaining roles that were directly involved in the growth of crops; roles such as rain, earth, and rice.<ref name="Jones" /> This relationship between early Japanese people and the ''kami'' was manifested in rituals and ceremonies meant to entreat the ''kami'' to grow and protect the harvest. These rituals also became a symbol of power and strength for the early Emperors.<ref name="Ohnuki-Tierney">{{cite journal|last1=Ohnuki-Tierney|first1=Emiko|title=The Emperor of Japan as Deity (Kami)|journal=Ethnology|date=July 1991|volume=30|issue=3|pages=199–215|doi=10.2307/3773631|jstor=3773631|s2cid=102344236}}</ref>

There is a strong tradition of myth-histories in the Shinto faith; one such myth details the appearance of the first emperor, grandson of the Sun Goddess [[Amaterasu]]. In this myth, when Amaterasu sent her grandson to earth to rule, she gave him five rice grains, which had been grown in the fields of heaven ([[Takamagahara]]). This rice made it possible for him to transform the "wilderness".<ref name="Ohnuki-Tierney" />

Social and political strife have played a key role in the development of new sorts of ''kami'', specifically the ''goryō-shin'' (the sacred spirit ''kami''). ''[[Goryō]]'' are the vengeful spirits of the dead whose lives were cut short, but they were calmed by the devotion of Shinto followers and are now believed to punish those who do not honor the ''kami''.<ref name="Ohnuki-Tierney" />

The pantheon of ''kami'', like the ''kami'' themselves, is forever changing in definition and scope. As the needs of the people have shifted, so too have the domains and roles of the various ''kami''. Some examples of this are related to health, such as the ''kami'' of [[smallpox]] whose role was expanded to include all contagious diseases, or the ''kami'' of boils and growths who has also come to preside over [[cancer]]s and [[cancer treatments]].<ref name="Ohnuki-Tierney" />

In ancient [[Animism|animistic]] Japanese belief, ''kami'' were understood as simply the divine forces of nature. Worshippers in [[Ancient history|ancient]] Japan revered ''kami'' of nature which exhibited a particular beauty and power such as [[Ghost|ghosts]],<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Pearson |first1=Patricia O'Connell |title=World History: Our Human Story |last2=Holdren |first2=John |date=May 2021 |publisher=Sheridan Kentucky |isbn=978-1-60153-123-0 |location=Versailles, Kentucky |page=294}}</ref> the ocean,<ref name=":2" /> the sun,<ref name=":2" /> [[waterfalls]], mountains,<ref name=":2" /> boulders, animals,<ref name=":2" /> trees,<ref name=":2" /> grasses, [[rice]] paddies, [[thunder]],<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=280 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref> [[Echo|echoes]],<ref name=":1" /> [[Fox|foxes]] and [[Fox spirit|fox spirits]],<ref name=":1" /> and [[Chinese dragon|Asian dragons]].<ref name=":1" /> They strongly believed the spirits or resident ''kami'' deserved respect.

In 927 CE, the {{Nihongo||延喜式|''[[Engi-shiki]]''|extra=literally, Procedures of the [[Engi (era)|Engi Era]]}} was promulgated in fifty volumes. This, the first formal codification of Shinto rites and ''[[norito]]'' (liturgies and prayers) to survive, became the basis for all subsequent Shinto liturgical practice and efforts. It listed all of the 2,861 [[Shinto shrine]]s existing at the time, and the 3,131 official-recognized and enshrined ''kami''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Picken|first1=Stuart D.B.|title=Historical Dictionary of Shinto|date=2011|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7372-8|page=92|edition=2nd}}</ref> The number of ''kami'' has grown and far exceeded this figure through the following generations as there are over 2,446,000 individual ''kami'' enshrined in Tokyo's [[Yasukuni Shrine]] alone.<ref>{{cite web|title=Deities|url=http://www.yasukuni.or.jp/english/about/deities.html|website=Yasukuni Shrine|access-date=2016-06-29|language=en}}</ref>