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God (Kami)
When the English word God is translated into Japanese, it is generally
represented by the kanji (Chinese character) 神 and pronounced kami.
However, to avoid misunderstanding, it would be better to think of God,
神, and kami as three separate concepts.
“God” is the supreme being of monotheism and is customarily capitalized
to indicate the unique nature of the deity and draw a distinction with
the multiple gods of polytheism.
The written Japanese form, 神, is influenced by the Chinese meaning of
the character. Common words in both languages using this character, such
as 精神 (pronounced seishin in Japanese), meaning “spirit” or “mind,” and
神経 (shinkei), meaning “nerves,” are related to human mental qualities.
Pronounced shen in Chinese, the character 神 carries some divine
attributes, but they are of a decidedly low rank and far below those of
the highest power in Chinese theology, termed 天 (tian) or 上帝 (shangdi)
in Chinese.
Japan’s kami were traditionally thought of as anthropomorphized natural
phenomena. They included the kami that appear in the Kojiki (Record of
Ancient Matters) and the Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan), Japan’s
ancient records of myth and history, kami that were worshiped in
shrines, and everything possessing extraordinary qualities, including
the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, the sea, large rocks and trees,
and even some smaller plants, animals, and people. This is how they were
defined by the eighteenth-century scholar of Japanese classics Motoori
Norinaga. According to Motoori, anything that inspired awe and
sensitivity to ephemeral beauty (aware) was a kami.
For Japanese people who believe this, their country is a rich natural landscape with kami to be found wherever they turn—in short a kami no kuni or “country of kami.” If this phrase is translated into English as “God’s country,” it can be misunderstood as a fanatically nationalistic expression, but this is not what the phrase actually means.
A Blended Faith
Japan’s traditional faith, based on worship of kami, is known as Shintō.
There are no records to show what it was like in ancient times, and
many details are unclear. We cannot even say if there was a set of
beliefs and rituals sufficiently unified that we could call them Shintō.
It is likely that the religion came into being as a blend of different
elements, including the following:
*The nature worship of hunter-gatherers in the Jōmon period (ca. 15,000 BC–300 BC)
*The worship of clay figurines as symbols of crop fertility and the
shamanism introduced from the Korean Peninsula in the Yayoi Period, when
rice farming had taken hold (300 BC–250 AD)
*The bronze weapons and mirrors imported from China and used by chiefs in festivals and magic rituals
*The influence on rulers’ festival and funeral rituals from Chinese
divination, astronomy, calendar studies, and thinking related to the
legendary transcendental figures known as shinsen, or “divine immortals”
*The worship of family gods and the building of shrines by a range of local communities and groups
*The Japanese began to think of these elements together as Shintō after Buddhism spread to Japan and they compared the new religion with their traditional practices.
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