| Name ▲▼ | Origin ▲▼ | Description ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| God name "Ebisu" | Shinto / Japan | God of luck. The most popular of seven gods of fortune recognized in Shintoism and frequently linked with the god DAIKOKU. He is depicted as a fat, smiling and bearded fisherman holding a fishing rod in one hand and a sea bream in the other. The name does not appear in the clåśśical sacred texts Nibongi and Kojiki, but Ebisu is known to have been worshiped in ancient times among fishermen. From about the sixteenth century his character changed and he became a deity åśśociated with profit. Thus he is a patron of commerce and his picture hangs in most establishments. He is perhaps syncretized with the gods HIRUKO and KOTO-SHIRO-NUSHI. He may also be identified with Fudo, the god of knowledge. He does not join the rest of the Shinto pantheon in the great October festival at Izumo because he is deaf. His festival is celebrated concurrently in his own temple.... |
| Goddess name "Futo-Tama" | Shinto / Japan | Ancestral god. A significant deity in mythology because he took part in the divination and ritual necessary before the process of drawing the Sun goddess AMATERASU out of her cave could begin. He collected together various magical objects, pushed forward the perfect Divine mirror, recited the sacred liturgy and begged Amaterasu never again to hide her face. The guardian of Prince NINIGI, ancestor of the imperial dynasty, Futo-Tama is more specifically the ancestor of the Imba clan in Japan.... |
| Deities name "Futsu-Nushi-No-Kami" | Shinto / Japan | God of war. One of two deities who made the way clear for Prince NINIGI to descend to earth and begin the imperial dynasty. A tutelary deity of swordsmen and judoka artists. Linked with the god TAKE-MIKA-DZUCHI NO-KAMI.... |
| God name "Hachiman" | Shinto / Japan | God of war and peace. A deity whose origins are confused. The name does not appear in either of the sacred texts of Shintoism, but such a deity was probably worshiped in the distant past with the alternative title of HimeGami or Hime-O-Kami. The cult center was on the southern island of Kyushu at Usa. In modern Shintoism, Hachiman originates as a member of the imperial dynasty. Named Ojin-Tenno and born in AD 200 to the empress Jingu-Kogo, he greatly improved the living standards and culture of Japan during his remarkable reign. The place of his birth was marked by a sanctuary and several centuries after his death, a vision of a child KAMI appeared there to a priest. The kami identified himself by the Chinese ideogram representing the name Hachiman, and thus the link developed. The site is, today, the location of a magnificent shrine, the Umi-Hachiman-Gu, where Hachiman has been perceived as a god of war. Soldiers departing for battle once took with them relics from the shrine. Hachiman is also a deity of peace and a guardian of human life and, when pacifism dominated Japan during the post-war era, he became more strongly identified in the latter context.... |
| God name "Hara-Yama-Tsu-Mi" | Shinto / Japan | mountain god. Particularly the deity of wooded mountain slopes.... |
| Goddess name "Hi-No-Kagu-Tsuchi" | Shinto / Japan | Fire god. The deity whose birth caused the death by burning of the primordial goddess IZANAMI after which the eight thunders sprang from her corpse.... |
| Deity name "Hokushin-O-Kami" | Japan | Astral deity, Ursa Minor Japan / Shinto |
| Deity name "Houushin-O-Kami" | Shinto / Japan | Astral deity. The apotheosis of the little bear, Ursa Minor.... |
| Goddess name "Inar (rice-grower)" | Shinto / Japan | God (Goddess) of foodstuffs. The popular name of a god(dess) worshiped under the generic title Miketsu-No-Kami in the Shi-Den sanctuary of the imperial palace, but rarely elsewhere. The deity displays gender changes, develops many personalities and is revered extensively in Japan. Inari is often depicted as a bearded man riding a white fox but, in pictures sold at temple offices, (s)he is generally shown as a woman with long flowing hair, carrying sheafs of rice and sometimes, again, riding the white fox. Inari sanctuaries are painted bright red, unlike most other Shinto temples. They are further characterized by rows of wooden portals which form tunnels leading to the sanctuary. Sculptures of foxes are prolific (an animal endowed, in Japanese tradition, with supernatural powers) and the shrines are decorated with a special device, the Hoju-No-Tama, in the shape of a pear surrounded by small flames. Often identified with the food goddess TOYO-UKE-BIME.... |
| Goddess name "Ishi-Kori-Dome" | Shinto / Japan | God(dess) of stone cutters. Of ambiguous gender, this deity created the stone mold into which the bronze was cast to make the perfect Divine mirror. It was used so that AMATERASU, the Sun goddess, could see her glorious reflection and so be enticed from the dark cave where she had hidden herself to escape the excesses of the god SUSANO-WO. Ishi-Kori-Dome is also the tutelary deity of mirror makers and was one of the escorts for Prince NINIGI when he descended from heaven to earth. Generally invoked beside fire and smith KAMIS.... |
| Deity name "Jimmu" | Japan | The first emperor of Japan, direct descendant of Amaterasu, the supreme deity, and generally regarded as the ancestor of the present Japanese emperor. Jimmu is a Chinese-style name given to this emperor much later; his original name was Kamu-yamato-iwarehiko. Kamu means divine, and Yamato is the name of the loca- tion of the ancient capital. |
| God name "Kama-Gami" | Shinto / Japan | God of potters. Each kiln has a small stone statue of the deity standing upon it to which the potters offer sake and salt before lighting the fire. Also Kamadokami.... |
| Goddess name "Kami" | Shinto / Japan | Generic name for a deity. The title applied to the gods and goddesses of Shintoism.... |
| Deities name "Kami-Musubi-No-Kami (divine producing wondrous deity)" | Shinto / Japan | Creator being. The third in the list of primordial deities appearing in the Kojiki and Nibongi sacred texts. A remote and vaguely defined deity who was born alone in the cosmos and whose presence remains hidden from mankind. Probably influenced by Chinese religion.... |
| Goddess name "Kono-Hana-Sakuya-Hime-No-Kami" | Shinto / Japan | mountain goddess. The deity who guards the sacred Mount Fuji. A daughter of O-YAMA-TSU-MI and the consort of Prince NINIGI, her shrine is located on the summit of the mountain. She is also closely åśśociated with Mount Asama about 80 kilometers to the north.... |
| Goddess name "Ksitigarbha (womb of the earth)" | Buddhist / Mahayana | Goddess. Known exten sively from northern India to China and Japan. One of the group of female BODHISATTVAS or buddha designates. Color: yellow or green. Attrib utes: Book, bowl, jewel, staff and water jar. In China she is recognized as an underworld deity, Di zang. In Japan she becomes a guardian deity of påśśage, Jizo.... |
| God name "Kuku-Ki-Waka-Muro-Tsuna-Ne-NoKami" | Shinto / Japan | Guardian deity. The god who guards the house and its environs as a whole.... |
| God name "Kuku-Toshi-No-Kami" | Shinto / Japan | God of grain. The deity responsible for the harvest of full-grown rice. His shrines are often serviced by Buddhist priests.... |
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