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Who Is Amaterasu? The Sun Kami in the Kojiki and at Ise
Amaterasu is the sun kami of Shinto, honored as the ancestral kami of the imperial house and enshrined at the Inner Shrine of Ise. Her story comes from two early eighth-century court chronicles, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, which differ on her birth and on why she entered the cave.
Who Is Susanoo? The Storm Kami, the Serpent and the Sword
Susanoo is a Shinto kami known from the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki as a disruptive figure in heaven and an orderly ruler in Izumo, where he slays a serpent and finds a sword. He is honored today at Susa Shrine and, through the Gion faith, at Yasaka Shrine.
Who Is Izanami? Creator Kami, Death and the Land of Yomi
Izanami is the kami who, with Izanagi, bears the islands and many other kami in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, dies giving birth to the fire kami, and remains in Yomi. The two chronicles differ on her death, her burial and her part in the birth of the sun kami.
Who Is Inari? The Rice Kami of Fushimi, Foxes and Torii
Inari is the Shinto kami of rice and food, honored at Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto and at Inari shrines across Japan. The kami is identified with Ukanomitama of the Kojiki, and foxes are its messengers, not the kami itself.
Who Is Hachiman? Usa, Emperor Ojin and the Warrior Guardian
Hachiman is a Shinto kami whose cult began at Usa in northern Kyushu and who is generally identified with the deified Emperor Ojin. Records show oracles, a Buddhist title and a later role as guardian of warriors, while the oldest chronicles do not name him.
Who Is Tsukuyomi? The Moon Kami in the Chronicles and at Ise
Tsukuyomi is the moon kami of Shinto and a sibling of Amaterasu. The Kojiki records only his birth and his rule over the night, while the Nihon Shoki adds variant tales. He is honored today at two shrines of Ise and in village moon-waiting customs.
Who Is Raijin? The Thunder Kami in Shrines, Temples and Screens
Raijin is the thunder kami of Japan, known from early chronicles, farm and shrine custom, and later temple statues and painted screens. This page keeps the shrine tradition, the Buddhist guardian and the artists' image apart, and says what each source can show.
Who Is Tenjin? Sugawara no Michizane as Scholar, Spirit and Kami
Tenjin is the kami into which the scholar-official Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) was deified after dying in exile. This page gives the history first, then the oracles, the lightning omens, the two great Tenmangu shrines and the later role as deity of learning.
Who Is Sarutahiko? The Kami Who Guided Ninigi, at Tsubaki and Ise
Sarutahiko is the earthly kami who meets the descending Ninigi at a crossroads and guides him. The Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki tell the scene differently, and only the Kojiki records his death. He is honored today at Tsubaki Grand Shrine and at a shrine in Ise.
What Is a Kappa? River Lore, Edo Prints and the Oldest Records
The kappa is a water being of Japanese folk belief, known by many regional names. It is recorded in dictionaries, Edo encyclopedias and prints, and in collectors' books from 1894 and 1910, and some shrines honor it as a water kami.
Who Is the Tengu? From a Barking Star to the Mountain Ascetic
The tengu is a winged, long-nosed mountain being tied to ascetics called yamabushi. Its name first appears in a court chronicle about a thundering star, and later tales, prints and temple traditions shaped the figure, which some temples still honor.
What Is a Kitsune? Shrine Messenger, Fox Wife and Possession Belief
The kitsune is the fox of Japanese folklore, a shape-shifting wife and a possessing spirit in tales that came from China, and also the messenger of Inari at shrines. These are separate traditions, known from tales, shrine pages and records of belief.
What Is a Tanuki? The Real Animal, the Shape-Shifter and the Statue
The tanuki is a real wild canid of Japan, a shape-changer in old and regional tales, and the glazed good-luck figure at shop doors. The sources differ on its earliest record, and the figure dates only to the early 1950s.
What Is a Bakeneko? Old Cats, Split Tails and the Nabeshima Tale
The bakeneko is the household cat that, in Japanese folk belief and Edo ghost stories, changes after long years and takes human form. Sources blur it with the nekomata, and its best-known tale, from Saga, was staged only in the nineteenth century.
What Is the Baku? Tracing the Dream-Eater from Chinese Screens to Pillows
The baku is a composite beast from Chinese texts that Japanese folk belief turned into a swallower of nightmares. Its record runs from a ninth-century Chinese preface through Edo-period carvings and pillows to Hearn's account of the call made after a bad dream.
What Is the Kamaitachi? The Unseen Cut in Edo Books and Snow Country
The kamaitachi is the unseen cause blamed in Japanese regional folk belief for a clean cut that appears without a blow. Its record runs from a 1666 tale collection and Sekien's 1776 picture to Edo-period notes and a 1929 physicist's essay.
Who Are the Namahage? The Masked Visitors of Oga and the UNESCO Listing
The Namahage are masked young men who visit houses on the Oga Peninsula in Akita at New Year, regarded in local belief as visiting deities. Records begin with an 1811 travel journal; UNESCO lists the custom only within a group of ten rituals.
What Is the Zashiki-warashi? The House Child of Tono and Its First Tales
The Zashiki-warashi is a child-like house spirit of Iwate and the Tohoku region, said to bring prosperity while it stays and decline when it leaves. The earliest record we read is Yanagita Kunio's 1910 Tono Monogatari, tales 17 and 18.
What Is a Yurei? The White-Robed Dead of Edo Books and Stage
A yurei is the soul of someone who died in anger, grief or attachment and could not pass on. The pale, white-robed figure is mostly an Edo-period image, built from funeral dress, printed books, theater and storytelling.
Onryo: Wronged Spirits, Michizane and the Oiwa of the Stage
Onryo is the belief that a person who died wronged can harm the living until appeased. It grew from Heian court fears and goryo rites, notably the case of Sugawara no Michizane, and later fed stage tales such as Oiwa.
Yuki-onna: Regional Tales and Hearn's 1904 Retelling Compared
Yuki-onna is the figure of the snowy night: a woman in white who in some tales kills, in others gives gifts or melts away. Regional versions vary widely, but the best-known story is Lafcadio Hearn's 1904 retelling in Kwaidan.
Rokurokubi: Stretching Necks, Flying Heads and Hearn's Retelling
Rokurokubi names two kinds of night phenomenon: a neck that stretches while the head stays attached, and a head that leaves the body to wander. The flying-head idea has Chinese roots; Edo books and shows spread it, and Hearn retold it in 1904.
Nopperabo and Mujina: Who Is Faceless in Hearn's Tale?
Nopperabo is the Japanese name for a figure with no eyes, nose or mouth. Hearn's 1904 story of it is titled "Mujina," after an animal, and never uses the word; the oldest records are secondhand and the naming is tangled.
Who Is the Jorogumo? Spider Woman Tales From Edo Books to Joren Falls
The jorogumo is a spider that takes the shape of a beautiful woman. Its oldest verified tales are in printed Edo-period collections of strange stories, and its best-known local legend is told at Joren Falls in Izu.
The Gashadokuro: A Giant of Bones, Its 1844 Print and 1966 Name
The gashadokuro is a giant of bones said to rise from the unburied dead. Its image comes from an 1840s woodblock print made for a story, while the name and description are modern, first traced to a 1966 magazine article.
The Funayurei: Sea Ghosts, the Bottomless Ladle and the Heike
The funayurei are the restless dead of the sea in Japanese coastal tradition, said to ask sailors for a ladle. The custom is recorded in folklore; the link to the Heike of Dan-no-ura comes from an Edo-period picture book.
Tsukumogami: When Old Tools Wake, and the Hundred-Year Claim Checked
The tsukumogami are old tools and household objects that wake and turn on their owners. The idea is best documented in a Muromachi-period companion tale and in picture scrolls, and its famous hundred-year rule rests on an uncertain source.
Who Is Momotaro? The Peach Boy Tale from Edo Picture Books to Meiji Schoolbooks
Momotaro is a Japanese folktale about a boy who sets out with a dog, a monkey and a pheasant for an island of ogres. It is known from Edo-period picture books, and Meiji-era books and schoolbooks fixed its modern form.
Who Is Urashima Taro? The Fisherman, the Tortoise and the Box in Early Records
Urashima Taro is a fisherman of Japanese legend who visits a land beneath the sea and returns to a changed world. His story appears in an early chronicle, a provincial record and a poem, and later in medieval tales and Meiji retellings.
Who Is Kintaro? The Strong Boy of Mount Ashigara and the Warrior Behind Him
Kintaro is a legendary strong boy raised in the Mount Ashigara hills, later said to have become the warrior Sakata no Kintoki. The warrior is named in medieval tale collections, while the childhood story comes mostly from Edo-period works and prints.
Who Is Issun-boshi? The Tiny Hero of the Otogizoshi and His Bowl Boat
Issun-boshi is a tiny hero of a Japanese tale who sails to the capital in a bowl, defeats an ogre and gains a magic mallet. The medieval text is an Otogizoshi story, and the gentler children's version is much later.
Who Is Yamato Takeru? The Prince of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, Compared
Yamato Takeru is a prince-hero of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, sent west and east by his father, given the sword Kusanagi and said to die as a white bird. The two chronicles differ, and he is a legendary figure, not a verified person.
Who Is Tamamo-no-Mae? The Fox Court Lady and the Killing Stone
Tamamo-no-Mae is a court lady who is unmasked as a fox and hunted on the Nasu plain. She is a legend built from medieval tales, a printed book of 1653, Noh and puppet theater, not a figure of worship.
Who Is Shuten-doji? The Ogre of Mount Oe in Scrolls and Tales
Shuten-doji is the ogre chief of a mountain palace in a medieval tale, defeated by a warrior band with help from the gods of three shrines. Its oldest surviving form is a fourteenth-century picture scroll. It is legend, not worship.
Who Is Kaguya-hime? The Shining Child of a Heian Prose Tale
Kaguya-hime is the heroine of an anonymous Heian-period prose story: a child found glowing in a plant stalk who sets her suitors impossible tasks and returns to her own people. Her source is a written literary tale, not a cult.
Who Was Raiko? The Real Heian Warrior Behind the Monster Legends
Raiko is a real Heian-period warrior, 948 to 1021, whose name later became attached to legends of an ogre hunt and a giant spider. The legends come from medieval scrolls, war tales and theater, written centuries after his death.
Who Is Jizo? The Roadside Bodhisattva of Children and Travelers
A Buddhist bodhisattva shown as a monk with a staff and a wish-granting jewel. Worship in Japan is attested from the Nara period; the roadside, child-protecting and riverbank-of-stones traditions are later layers of temple practice and folk belief.
Who Is Kannon? Compassion, Many Forms and Thirty-Three Temples
A Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion known in many forms, from a plain crowned figure to versions with eleven faces or a thousand arms. Temples, the Lotus Sutra and a thirty-three-temple pilgrimage keep the devotion alive today.
Who Is Fudo Myoo? The Fierce Protector of Esoteric Buddhism
A fierce protector of Shingon and Tendai practice, shown with a sword, a rope and a halo of flames. Temples read his glare as compassion aimed at delusion; the sources range from sutras and temple halls to a temple's own founding story.
Who Is Bishamonten? Armored Guardian of the North and Lucky God
A Buddhist guardian of the north, armored and holding a treasure pagoda, worshipped on his own as Bishamonten and as one of the Four Guardian Kings. Sources place his role as a lucky god after the Muromachi period.
Who Is Benzaiten? The Water Goddess of Music, Eloquence and Luck
A goddess of music, learning, eloquence and wealth, adopted from an Indian river goddess into Buddhism and then Shinto. Her temples stand near water, and she was counted among the Seven Lucky Gods by the Muromachi period.
Who Is Ebisu? The Luck Deity of Fishers and Markets at Nishinomiya
Ebisu is a luck deity of fishers, merchants and farmers, counted among the Seven Lucky Gods and honored above all at Nishinomiya Shrine. The old chronicles never name him; the link to a child set adrift in a reed boat comes from later shrine tradition.
Who Is Daikokuten? Kitchen Guardian, Mallet-Bearer and Lucky God
Daikokuten is a Buddhist luck deity, counted among the Seven Lucky Gods, who began as an Indian kitchen guardian and was later identified with the kami Okuninushi. The records are a seventh-century traveler's report, temple tradition and Edo-period art.
Who Is Ryujin? The Dragon King of the Sea, From Chronicle to Rain Rite
Ryujin is the dragon king of sea and rain in Japanese belief, built from a native water snake, Chinese dragons and Buddhist rain kings. The Kojiki's sea palace has a sea kami and no dragon; the earliest dragon we could verify is in the Nihon Shoki.
What Are Komainu? The Paired Guardians at Shrine and Temple Gates
Komainu are the paired guardian statues placed at the entrances of shrines and temples, usually with one mouth open and one closed. The form came from Tang China, and sources show the two figures once had different names.