Yuki Onna: Japan’s Snow Woman in Folklore and Legend
Yuki onna, the snow woman of Japanese folklore, is a yokai who appears in blizzards. Her origins, appearance, regional legends and modern echoes.
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Tengu: Japan’s Long-Nosed Mountain Yokai Explained
Tengu are Japan's long-nosed mountain yokai, part demon and part guardian. Here are their origins, types, powers, and the peaks where they are honored.
Tanuki: Japan’s Raccoon Dog and Shapeshifting Yokai
Tanuki are both Japan's real raccoon dogs and its most cheerful shapeshifting yokai. Here is the animal, the folklore, the statues and the eight lucky signs.
Japanese God of Death and War: Enma and Hachiman
The Japanese god of death is Enma Daio, judge of the Buddhist underworld, and the god of war is Hachiman, kami of warriors, archery and the samurai.
Kagutsuchi: The Japanese God of Fire and Volcanoes
Kagutsuchi is the Japanese god of fire and volcanoes, the kami whose birth killed Izanami. His myth, his shrines, and why Japan still honors him.
Japanese Fox Spirit: The Kitsune in Myth, Shrines, and Art
The Japanese fox spirit, or kitsune, is a shapeshifting yokai that serves Inari, gains a tail each century, and still turns up in shrines, masks and anime.
God in Japanese: Kami, Kamisama, and the Kanji 神 Explained
God in Japanese is kami, written 神 and read shin or jin in compounds. Here is what kami means, how it differs from God, and when to say kamisama.
Amaterasu Meaning: The Kanji 天照 and Every Name She Carries
Amaterasu means shining in heaven, written 天照 from ama (heaven) and terasu (shine). Her fuller names, Amaterasu Omikami and Ohirume no Muchi, each frame her differently.
Susanoo no Mikoto: Japan’s Storm God and the Serpent He Killed
Susanoo no Mikoto is Japan's god of storms and the sea. His birth, his exile from heaven, the eight-forked serpent he killed, and where he is worshipped.
Japanese Gods: The Shinto Pantheon From Kami to Lucky Gods
A map of the Japanese pantheon: what a kami is, how the deities are ranked, the major gods by domain, the Seven Lucky Gods, Buddhist crossovers, and people enshrined as kami.