Japanese Gods and Goddesses: The Kami of Shinto Mythology

Short answer

• In Shinto, Japanese gods and goddesses are kami: divine beings and spirits associated with nature, places, ancestors and powerful forces. The most important kami in the early myths are Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and ruler of the High Plain of Heaven; her brother Tsukuyomi, god of the moon and the night; and her brother Susanoo, god of storms and the sea. All three were born from the creator god Izanagi, who with the goddess Izanami is said in myth to have formed the islands of Japan. Beyond that central family, the kami most widely honored at shrines today include Inari, kami of rice, agriculture and prosperity, whose shrines are marked by fox statues and vermilion gates; Hachiman, kami of war and archery and a divine protector of Japan and its warriors; and Tenjin, the deified scholar Sugawara no Michizane, honored as the kami of learning and scholarship. A beloved later grouping, the Seven Lucky Gods, brings together seven deities of fortune from Shinto, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist roots, including Ebisu, Daikokuten and Benzaiten. The stories come mainly from two eighth century books, the Kojiki, compiled in 712, and the Nihon Shoki, compiled in 720. They preserve myth, genealogy and early tradition together, they do not always agree in detail, and scholars read them as sacred and political texts as well as story collections. That is why a careful introduction names its sources and treats differing versions as part of the tradition, not as errors to hide.

By Emma Hudson

Japanese gods and goddesses are called kami in Shinto, the indigenous tradition of Japan. The word kami covers far more than gods in the familiar sense. It can refer to great deities such as the sun goddess Amaterasu, to spirits of mountains, rivers and trees, to revered ancestors, and to awe-inspiring natural forces such as thunder and the sea. Traditional language speaks of eight million kami, a phrase that points to a countless number rather than a literal count.

This article introduces the best known kami clearly and respectfully, as mythology and living religious tradition, not as verified history. It starts with the creators Izanagi and Izanami, moves to their three famous children, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo, and then meets the kami people still honor at shrines across Japan today: Inari, Hachiman and Tenjin, followed by the Seven Lucky Gods as a group. Along the way it explains where the stories come from, mainly the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, and why versions sometimes differ.

If you came to this topic through Japanese names, you may also enjoy our guide to samurai names and what they mean, which shows how warrior culture, including devotion to Hachiman, shaped naming choices.

What Does Kami Mean?

Kami is often translated as god, deity or spirit, but none of those English words fits perfectly. In Shinto understanding, kami can be personal deities with names, myths and shrines, such as Amaterasu or Inari. Kami can also be the spirit felt in an old tree, a waterfall, a distinctive rock or a mountain. Ancestors and exceptional human beings can be enshrined as kami after death, which is how the scholar Sugawara no Michizane became Tenjin. Natural phenomena such as wind, thunder and growth can be kami too.

This breadth explains why lists of Japanese gods vary. A list drawn from the Kojiki centers on the creation family. A list drawn from shrine practice reflects which kami communities honor at tens of thousands of local shrines. Both answer different questions: who drives the early myths, and who do people visit and thank now. Shinto has no single scripture fixing one official pantheon. Practice centers on shrines, festivals, offerings and rites of gratitude and purification. A kami may have several names and aspects, and a story may be told one way in the Kojiki and another way in the Nihon Shoki.

Where the Stories Come From: The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki

Almost everything in the first half of this article traces back to two books compiled in the early eighth century, when the Japanese court set down oral tradition and genealogy in writing.

The Kojiki, usually translated as Records of Ancient Matters, was compiled in 712. It is the older of the two and the richer source for myth and genealogy, telling how Izanagi and Izanami created the islands and the gods and how Amaterasu came to rule the heavens.

The Nihon Shoki, usually translated as Chronicles of Japan, was compiled in 720 and written in classical Chinese. It covers much of the same ground but often gives a main account followed by variant traditions. Those variants show that early Japan itself preserved more than one telling, so no single retelling should be presented as the only version.

Britannica notes that these works also served to trace the imperial genealogy back to the foundation of the world and to strengthen the authority of the ruling line. Readers should hold two ideas at once: these are treasured sacred narratives in a living tradition, and they are also court documents shaped by their time. Shrine traditions and Kokugakuin University Encyclopedia of Shinto help fill out individual kami, but the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki remain the starting point.

Izanagi and Izanami: The Creator Pair

Their domain and symbols

Izanagi, whose name is often rendered as He Who Invites, and Izanami, She Who Invites, are the creator pair of Japanese myth. They are the last and most active of the early generations of gods, tasked by the heavenly kami with giving solid form to a drifting, watery world. Their shared symbols are the jeweled spear called Ame no Nuboko, the Floating Bridge of Heaven from which they stirred the sea, and the island of Onogoro, the first land formed in the story.

The creation of the islands

In the Kojiki account, Izanagi and Izanami stood on the Floating Bridge of Heaven and dipped the jeweled spear into the brine below. When they lifted it, droplets fell from the tip and congealed into Onogoro Island. The pair descended to the island, raised a heavenly pillar, built a palace, and performed a marriage rite by circling the pillar and greeting one another. Their first attempts produced imperfect offspring, and the myth explains that the rite had to be repeated with Izanagi speaking first. After the corrected rite, Izanami gave birth to the islands of Japan, remembered as the Eight Great Islands, and then to a host of kami of sea, wind, mountains, rivers and fields.

The birth of fire and the journey to Yomi

The creation story turns tragic when Izanami gives birth to Kagutsuchi, the fire god. Fatally burned, she dies and descends to Yomi, the land of the dead. Izanagi follows her there to bring her back. She tells him she has already eaten food cooked in Yomi, which binds her to that land, and asks him not to look at her. He breaks the condition, lights a flame, and sees her decayed form. He flees, pursued by the beings of Yomi, and blocks its entrance with a great boulder. Across that boulder Izanami vows that a thousand people will die each day, and Izanagi answers that fifteen hundred will be born. Izanami is therefore both a goddess of creation and a goddess associated with death, while Izanagi becomes the father of the next divine generation on his own.

Amaterasu: Goddess of the Sun

Her domain and symbols

Amaterasu, in full Amaterasu Omikami, is the goddess of the sun and the most important kami in the early myths. She rules Takamagahara, the High Plain of Heaven, and in mythic tradition she is the ancestress of the imperial family, through her grandson Ninigi, who is sent down to rule the earthly land. Her symbols include the sun itself, the mirror, which stands among the imperial regalia, and the sacred mirror enshrined at Ise Jingu, her principal shrine and one of the most revered shrines in Japan.

Her birth

After escaping Yomi, Izanagi purified himself by washing, a rite that reflects the lasting Shinto importance of purification. In the Kojiki telling, as he washed his left eye, Amaterasu was born. From his right eye came Tsukuyomi, and from his nose came Susanoo. These three are known as the Three Precious Children. Izanagi assigned Amaterasu the rule of heaven, Tsukuyomi the rule of the night, and Susanoo the rule of the sea. The Nihon Shoki gives variant accounts of their birth, including a version in which the three are born to Izanagi and Izanami together. The difference is a good example of why sources matter: the family relationships are stable across versions, while the precise manner of birth is not.

The cave and the return of light

Amaterasu’s most famous myth explains what happens when order breaks down. Susanoo, dissatisfied and unruly, came up to heaven and committed a series of outrages in her realm, damaging rice fields and defiling her sacred weaving hall, in the best known episode by throwing a flayed horse into the hall. Grieved and angered, Amaterasu withdrew into the Heavenly Rock Cave and sealed the door. With the sun hidden, heaven and earth fell into darkness.

The other kami gathered to draw her out. The goddess Ame no Uzume performed a lively, comic dance on an overturned tub, provoking laughter among the assembled gods. Curious at the merriment in a darkened world, Amaterasu opened the cave door a crack and asked what was happening. She was shown a mirror and told that a goddess more radiant than herself had arrived. As she leaned out, the strong god Tajikarao pulled her fully into the open, and a sacred rope was stretched behind her to bar her return. Light came back to the world.

The story carries several themes at once: the danger of unchecked disruption, the value of laughter and performance, represented by Uzume, properly a goddess in her own right, associated with dawn, mirth and the performing arts, and the communal effort needed to restore balance. Amaterasu’s authority is restored by the whole community of kami acting together, not by solitary power.

Tsukuyomi: God of the Moon

His domain and symbols

Tsukuyomi, also written Tsukiyomi and given in full as Tsukuyomi no Mikoto, is the god of the moon and ruler of the night. Born from Izanagi’s right eye in the Kojiki purification account, he is the second of the Three Precious Children. His symbol is the moon itself, and in art he is far less frequently depicted than either of his siblings, which matches his quiet place in the surviving texts.

Why so little is told about him

Readers are often surprised by how few myths feature Tsukuyomi. The Kojiki assigns him the night and then gives him almost no further adventures. That silence is itself a documented feature of the tradition, noted by scholars: Amaterasu and Susanoo receive extended narrative, while the moon god remains largely in the background.

The one substantial episode attached to Tsukuyomi appears in a Nihon Shoki tradition. Amaterasu sent him to visit Ukemochi, the goddess of food, who produced a feast by miraculous means, bringing forth food from her mouth. Tsukuyomi, disgusted by its manner of production, killed her. Amaterasu then declared she would never meet him face to face again, a myth used to explain why sun and moon appear separately. From Ukemochi’s body, in the same tradition, came grains, beans and silkworms. Because Tsukuyomi’s mythology is so brief, popular lists often invent details for him. What can be said with confidence is his domain, his birth, his rule of the night, and this episode. For lunar imagery in names, see Japanese names that mean dream and Japanese names that mean white.

Susanoo: God of Storms and the Sea

His domain and symbols

Susanoo, in full Susanoo no Mikoto, is the god of storms and the sea, the youngest of the Three Precious Children, born from Izanagi’s nose in the Kojiki account. Impetuous, emotional and destructive, he is also capable of heroism and tender feeling, which makes him the most dramatic figure in the early myths. His symbols include the storm, the sea, the sword, and the great serpent Yamata no Orochi, whom he defeats.

Banishment and the serpent of Izumo

Susanoo was assigned the sea but longed instead for his mother Izanami’s land of the dead, weeping and neglecting his domain until his father banished him. Before leaving, he ascended to heaven to bid Amaterasu farewell, setting in motion the quarrel and outrages that drove her into the cave. Expelled from heaven in turn, Susanoo descended to Izumo, in present day Shimane Prefecture, near the upper reaches of the Hi River.

There he found an elderly couple, Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi, weeping with their last daughter, Kushinada-hime. The serpent Yamata no Orochi, an eight headed and eight tailed monster whose body stretched across valleys and hills, had devoured their other seven daughters, one each year, and was coming for the eighth. Susanoo agreed to help in exchange for Kushinada-hime’s hand in marriage. He transformed her into a comb for safekeeping in his hair, had the couple brew strong, repeatedly refined sake, and set it out in eight vessels behind a fence with eight openings. Orochi came, drank with each head, fell into a drunken sleep, and Susanoo cut the serpent to pieces.

In one of the tails he found a remarkable sword, later known as Kusanagi no Tsurugi, counted among the imperial regalia, and presented it to Amaterasu in reconciliation. He then settled in Izumo, married Kushinada-hime, and became the ancestor of Okuninushi, the great kami of the Izumo tradition. Susanoo cannot be reduced to a villain. The figure who disrupts heaven also rescues a family on earth.

Inari: Kami of Rice and Prosperity

Inari, in full Inari Okami, is the kami of rice, agriculture, fertility, foxes, industry and general prosperity and worldly success. Inari is among the most widely honored kami in Japan. Inari shrines number in the tens of thousands and are commonly said to make up roughly a third of all Shinto shrines, with the head shrine at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, founded in the early eighth century on Mount Inari and famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates climbing the mountain.

Foxes, called kitsune, are Inari’s messengers. Pairs of fox statues guard Inari shrine entrances, sometimes holding a key, a jewel or a sheaf of rice. The vermilion gates, many donated by businesses and individuals in hope of prosperity or in thanks for it, connect Inari’s agricultural origins with a later role as patron of commerce. Inari is depicted in different forms across history and region, as an old man, as a young woman, and in other guises, so gender in popular summaries is best treated as fluid rather than fixed. Offerings traditionally include rice, sake and fried tofu, said to be a favorite of foxes, which is why the dish inari sushi carries the kami name.

Hachiman: Kami of War and Archery

Hachiman is the kami of war and archery, honored as a divine protector of Japan, of the imperial house and of warriors. Tradition identifies Hachiman with the spirit of the legendary Emperor Ojin, and Hachiman’s shrine network is one of the largest in Japan, numbering in the tens of thousands, with Usa Jingu in Oita Prefecture as the head shrine and Iwashimizu Hachimangu near Kyoto and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura among the most important. Hachiman’s symbol is the dove, regarded as the kami messenger, and Hachiman’s name refers to eight banners.

Hachiman also has a deep association with Buddhism. For centuries Hachiman was venerated as a bodhisattva as well, an example of the blending of kami worship and Buddhism known as shinbutsu shugo. Warriors of the Minamoto clan, founders of the Kamakura shogunate, adopted Hachiman as their patron, cementing the kami link to the samurai class.

One correction is worth making plainly, because short package summaries sometimes blur it. Hachiman is a kami of war, archery and protection, not a kami of learning. Scholarship and learning belong to Tenjin, the next kami in this article. Keeping those domains separate matters, since students praying for examination success visit Tenjin shrines, while Hachiman shrines are associated with protection, safe childbirth in some local traditions, and martial heritage. Readers interested in that martial world can continue with our guide to samurai names and what they mean, where Hachiman’s patronage of warriors forms part of the background.

Tenjin: Kami of Learning

Tenjin, in full Tenman Tenjin, is the kami of learning, scholarship, literature and calligraphy, and Tenjin’s story is unusual because it begins with a documented historical person. Sugawara no Michizane, who lived from 845 to 903, was a scholar of Chinese literature, a poet and a statesman of the Heian period. Born into a family of scholars, he passed the civil service examinations, served as a professor of literature, governed a province, was promoted under Emperor Uda, and was appointed Minister of the Right in 899 under Emperor Daigo, one of the highest offices at court. His rise threatened the powerful Fujiwara family. In 901 his rival Fujiwara no Tokihira convinced Emperor Daigo that Michizane was plotting against the throne, and Michizane was effectively exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu, where he died in 903.

After his death, disasters including lightning strikes on the imperial palace, fires, drought and the deaths of princes were attributed to his wronged and angry spirit. To pacify it, the court restored his rank posthumously, struck the record of his exile, and enshrined him. Kitano Tenmangu in Kyoto and Dazaifu Tenmangu in Fukuoka are his principal shrines. Over the centuries the feared spirit softened in popular devotion into a kindly patron of study. Today students visit Tenjin shrines before entrance examinations and return to give thanks. His symbols include the plum blossom, which he loved in poetry, and the ox, linked to legends of his funeral procession. Tenjin shows, more clearly than any other figure here, how a human being could become kami within recorded history.

The Seven Lucky Gods as a Group

The Seven Lucky Gods, called Shichifukujin in Japanese, are a group of seven deities of good fortune who are usually depicted traveling together on a treasure ship, the Takarabune, especially at New Year, when images of the ship are placed under pillows in hope of a lucky first dream. The grouping took its familiar form in the early modern period, around the seventeenth century, although each member is far older. The group is a showcase of Japan’s religious blending: its members come from Shinto, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist sources, gathered into one cheerful company.

The seven are usually listed as follows. Ebisu, god of fishermen, merchants and plentiful catches, shown with a fishing rod and a sea bream, is the only member whose origins are purely Japanese. Daikokuten, god of wealth, commerce and the household, stands on rice bales with a treasure bag and a wish-granting mallet, with roots in the Hindu deity Mahakala. Benzaiten, goddess of water, music, learning and the arts, plays the biwa and has roots in the Hindu goddess Sarasvati. She is the only goddess in the group. Bishamonten is the armored god of warriors and protection against evil, carrying a spear and a small pagoda. Hotei is the plump, laughing god of abundance and good health, shown with a large cloth sack. Jurojin is the god of wisdom and longevity, an elderly figure with a staff and scroll. Fukurokuju is the god of happiness, wealth and longevity, recognizable by his elongated forehead, and so similar in theme to Jurojin that the two are sometimes confused.

As a group, the Seven Lucky Gods address everyday hopes: a good catch, a healthy old age, enough wealth, skill in the arts and protection from harm. Pilgrimage circuits visiting seven shrines or temples, one for each lucky god, remain popular in many Japanese cities each January.

A Note on Raijin, Fujin and Other Kami

Raijin is the god of thunder and lightning, depicted beating a ring of drums to produce thunder. Fujin is the god of wind, depicted carrying a great bag from which the winds pour. The pair appear together in famous artworks, including the folding screens by Tawaraya Sotatsu. Neither belongs to the creation family, and neither should be confused with Susanoo, whose storm domain is tied to the sea. Among other goddesses, Konohanasakuya hime is associated with cherry blossoms and Mount Fuji and, in myth, marries Ninigi, Amaterasu’s grandson. Ame no Uzume, from the cave story above, is the goddess whose dance restored light to the world.

How to Read These Myths Well

Three habits help. First, treat the stories as sacred narratives that carry meaning about the world, the land and the community, rather than failed attempts at history. Ask what a story teaches about gratitude, purity, reciprocity and arrogance, themes that recur from Izanagi’s flight from Yomi to Michizane’s unjust exile. Second, expect variation. The Nihon Shoki itself preserves variant traditions side by side, and popular culture adds further invention, which is legitimate as art but should not be mistaken for the early sources. Third, remember that Shinto is a living tradition. The kami in this article are enshrined and visited today, at Ise, at Fushimi Inari, at Tenmangu shrines during examination season, and at small neighborhood shrines with no famous names at all. Names carry that living weight too, which is one reason guides to Japanese names that mean dream and Japanese names that mean white remain popular starting points for readers who meet this mythology through naming research.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a kami?

A kami is a deity or spirit in Shinto. The term covers great named gods such as Amaterasu, spirits of natural features such as mountains and waterfalls, revered ancestors, and exceptional human beings enshrined after death, such as Sugawara no Michizane, honored as Tenjin. Traditional phrasing speaks of eight million kami, meaning a countless number.

Who is the most important Japanese god or goddess?

In the early myths, Amaterasu, goddess of the sun and ruler of the High Plain of Heaven, holds the highest place. She is the central figure of the Yamato cycle of myths and, in mythic tradition, the ancestress of the imperial line. In everyday shrine practice, however, locally important kami such as Inari may be visited far more often, so importance depends on whether the question is about mythology or about lived devotion.

Who are the Three Precious Children?

The Three Precious Children are Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi and Susanoo. In the Kojiki, they are born as Izanagi purifies himself after returning from Yomi: Amaterasu from his left eye, Tsukuyomi from his right eye, and Susanoo from his nose. Izanagi assigns Amaterasu the heavens, Tsukuyomi the night, and Susanoo the sea.

What is the difference between the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki?

The Kojiki, compiled in 712, is the older work and the richer source for myth and genealogy. The Nihon Shoki, compiled in 720 in classical Chinese, covers similar material in a more formal chronicle style and frequently records variant traditions alongside its main account. Together they are the principal early sources for Japanese mythology, and they do not agree in every detail.

Are Amaterasu and Susanoo related?

Yes. In the myths they are siblings, two of the Three Precious Children of Izanagi. Their troubled relationship drives several major stories, including Susanoo’s outrages in heaven, Amaterasu’s withdrawal into the Heavenly Rock Cave, and their later reconciliation when Susanoo presents her with the sword found in the tail of Yamata no Orochi.

Who are the Seven Lucky Gods?

The Seven Lucky Gods, or Shichifukujin, are Ebisu, Daikokuten, Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Hotei, Jurojin and Fukurokuju. Grouped in their familiar form by around the seventeenth century, they represent good fortune in fishing and trade, wealth, the arts, protection, abundance, wisdom and longevity. They are drawn from Shinto, Buddhist, Hindu and Taoist sources, and only Ebisu is purely Japanese in origin. Benzaiten is the only goddess among the seven.

Is Inari male or female?

Inari has been depicted in different forms across regions and centuries, including as an old man and as a young woman, and is best described without a fixed gender in a general summary. Inari’s constant associations are rice, agriculture, foxes as messengers, prosperity and worldly success, honored at tens of thousands of shrines headed by Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto.

Was Tenjin a real person?

Yes. Tenjin is the deified form of Sugawara no Michizane, a Heian period scholar, poet and statesman who lived from 845 to 903. Exiled to Dazaifu after a court rivalry, he died there in 903. Disasters after his death were attributed to his angry spirit, and he was enshrined and eventually honored as the kami of learning and scholarship.

Sources & references

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Japanese mythology overview, covering the Kojiki, Nihon Shoki, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and Izanagi: https://www.Britannica.com/print/article/1323803
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Sugawara Michizane, covering his life from 845 to 903, his exile and his deification as Tenjin, patron of scholarship and literature: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sugawara-Michizane
• Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto, entries on individual kami and on Yamata no Orochi, consulted for deity domains and shrine traditions.
• World History Encyclopedia, Tenjin, covering Sugawara no Michizane from 845 to 903 and his evolution into the patron of scholarship: https://www.worldhistory.org/Tenjin/