{"id":1150,"date":"2026-08-14T10:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/?p=1150"},"modified":"2026-08-14T10:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T10:08:16","slug":"japanese-gods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Gods: The Shinto Pantheon From Kami to Lucky Gods"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-1.jpg\" alt=\"Ukiyo-e print of Amaterasu emerging from the cave as assembled kami watch and Ame-no-Uzume dances\" \/><figcaption>Assembled kami coax the sun goddess out of hiding<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Japanese gods are called kami, and the tradition keeps no fixed roster of them. Kami run from five primordial deities and seven generations of creator gods, through a few dozen major figures such as Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Inari, to around sixty minor kami, seven imported gods of good fortune, and a long tail of mountains, foxes, hearths, and dead emperors that were also treated as divine. Catalogues of named Japanese deities reach roughly a hundred entries, while Japan supports around 80,000 Shinto shrines, so the pantheon is best understood as a structure of layers rather than as a list of names.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#What_a_Kami_Actually_Is\" >What a Kami Actually Is<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#How_the_Japanese_Pantheon_Is_Organized\" >How the Japanese Pantheon Is Organized<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Izanagi_and_Izanami_the_Pair_Who_Made_the_Islands\" >Izanagi and Izanami, the Pair Who Made the Islands<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#The_Sun_the_Moon_and_the_Storm\" >The Sun, the Moon, and the Storm<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Gods_of_Weather_and_Natural_Force\" >Gods of Weather and Natural Force<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Gods_of_Rice_Work_and_Household_Luck\" >Gods of Rice, Work, and Household Luck<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#The_Seven_Lucky_Gods\" >The Seven Lucky Gods<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Buddhist_Figures_That_Share_the_Same_Space\" >Buddhist Figures That Share the Same Space<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#People_Who_Became_Kami\" >People Who Became Kami<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#FAQs\" >FAQs<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#What_are_Japanese_gods_called\" >What are Japanese gods called?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#How_many_Japanese_gods_are_there\" >How many Japanese gods are there?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-13\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Who_is_the_most_important_Japanese_god\" >Who is the most important Japanese god?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-14\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#What_is_the_difference_between_a_kami_and_a_yokai\" >What is the difference between a kami and a yokai?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-15\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Who_are_the_Seven_Lucky_Gods\" >Who are the Seven Lucky Gods?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-16\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Are_Japanese_gods_Shinto_or_Buddhist\" >Are Japanese gods Shinto or Buddhist?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-17\" href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/#Can_a_person_become_a_Japanese_god\" >Can a person become a Japanese god?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_a_Kami_Actually_Is\"><\/span>What a Kami Actually Is<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A kami is a divine presence rather than a named personality living in a separate realm. The sun, moon, and stars, seas, rivers, mountains, forests, and stones, animals such as foxes, wolves, and crows, and clan ancestors and honoured dead have all been worshipped as kami. Kami are plural and everywhere, which is why no source fixes their number.<\/p>\n<p>A kami is not a god in the Greek or Norse sense. Kokugakuin University&#8217;s scholarly survey of the concept describes a religion in which &#8220;celestial bodies, for example, the sun, the moon, and the stars, were often worshiped as the kami itself,&#8221; and in which &#8220;seas, rivers, lakes, mountains, forests, and stones were sometimes considered as places where kami stayed and at other times as the kami itself.&#8221; Animals belong to the same list. Snakes, deer, wolves, bears, monkeys, foxes, and crows were all worshipped as kami, as were clan ancestors and, later, individual dead people venerated as divine spirits.<\/p>\n<p>That breadth explains why no source gives a firm total. The same survey stresses that <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp\/ijcc\/wp\/cpjr\/kami\/intro.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">kami exist everywhere and are fundamentally plural<\/a>, described as a myriad rather than a countable set. Wikipedia&#8217;s catalogue of named Japanese deities runs to roughly a hundred entries across all its categories, and Japan supports around 80,000 Shinto shrines. Kami also sit inside the same body of <a href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-folklore\/\">Japanese folklore<\/a> as yokai and ghost stories without being the same kind of being. A kami is worshipped and enshrined. A yokai is encountered.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_the_Japanese_Pantheon_Is_Organized\"><\/span>How the Japanese Pantheon Is Organized<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Reference works on Japanese deities rank kami by generation and rank rather than by domain, following the 8th century chronicles <em>Kojiki<\/em> and <em>Nihon shoki<\/em>. The order runs from the five primordial Kotoamatsukami, through the seven generations of Kamiyonanayo that end with Izanagi and Izanami, to roughly twenty major kami, about sixty minor kami, and later additions of deified humans and Buddhist figures.<\/p>\n<p>The layers look like this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kotoamatsukami<\/strong>, the five primordial deities who appear before anything else exists, headed by Ame-no-Minakanushi, the Lord of the August Center of Heaven.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Kamiyonanayo<\/strong>, the seven generations of creation deities that follow, ending with the pair Izanagi and Izanami.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Major kami<\/strong>, roughly twenty principal figures with full myth cycles attached, which is where Amaterasu, Susanoo, Tsukuyomi, and Inari sit.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Minor kami<\/strong>, a much longer group of around sixty secondary deities, plus separate categories such as Yama-no-Kami for mountain gods.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deified humans and Buddhist figures<\/strong>, added later as historical people and imported deities were absorbed into the same system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A second way of cutting the pantheon works better for anyone trying to understand what a kami does rather than when it appeared. Kami of nature inhabit trees, rocks, the sun, and the moon. Gods from myth are the ones the chronicles narrate. Folklore deities grew out of local practice rather than court texts. Deified humans arrived by promotion. Most named kami fall into more than one of those four buckets.<\/p>\n<p>The principal named kami and their domains line up like this:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Kami<\/th>\n<th>Domain<\/th>\n<th>Layer of the pantheon<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Ame-no-Minakanushi<\/td>\n<td>The center of heaven<\/td>\n<td>Kotoamatsukami (primordial)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Izanagi and Izanami<\/td>\n<td>Creation of the islands and the gods<\/td>\n<td>Kamiyonanayo (seventh generation)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Amaterasu<\/td>\n<td>The sun; ancestress of the Imperial Household<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tsukuyomi<\/td>\n<td>The moon<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Susanoo<\/td>\n<td>Seas and storms<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ame-no-Uzume<\/td>\n<td>Dawn and dance<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ninigi<\/td>\n<td>Descent from heaven, civilization<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Raijin<\/td>\n<td>Thunder<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fujin<\/td>\n<td>Wind<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kagutsuchi<\/td>\n<td>Fire<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hoderi<\/td>\n<td>The sea<\/td>\n<td>Major kami<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Inari<\/td>\n<td>Rice, commerce, smithing, foxes<\/td>\n<td>Major kami, also a folk deity<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Ebisu<\/td>\n<td>Fishing, trade, work<\/td>\n<td>Folk deity, also one of the Seven Lucky Gods<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Izanagi_and_Izanami_the_Pair_Who_Made_the_Islands\"><\/span>Izanagi and Izanami, the Pair Who Made the Islands<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Izanagi and Izanami are the creator pair of the last of the seven generations of creation deities. Izanagi is the divine creator of the two, and Izanami is the goddess who bears the islands and the gods with him. Every later kami, including the sun goddess and her siblings, descends from that generation.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-2.jpg\" alt=\"Painted scroll of Izanagi and Izanami standing on clouds above the sea\" \/><figcaption>The creator pair above the still unformed sea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That descent is why almost every account of Japanese gods starts with <a href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/izanagi\/\">Izanagi<\/a> and his consort rather than with the primordial five. Their story continues past creation into death and separation, and it is the closest thing Shinto mythology has to a founding tragedy.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Sun_the_Moon_and_the_Storm\"><\/span>The Sun, the Moon, and the Storm<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo are the three sibling kami at the mythological core of the pantheon: the sun goddess, the moon god, and the god of seas and storms. Ame-no-Uzume, goddess of the dawn, and Ninigi, the grandson sent down from heaven, complete the group of deities most likely to appear in film, anime, and games.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/amaterasu-sun-goddess\/\">Amaterasu<\/a><\/strong> (\u5929\u7167\u5927\u795e) is the goddess of the sun and the purported ancestress of the Japanese Imperial Household, described in mythology reference works as the queen of heaven. Her cave episode is the single most retold myth in the tradition.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tsukuyomi<\/strong> is her brother and the god of the moon, the quieter half of a sun and moon pairing that ends in permanent separation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Susanoo<\/strong> rules the seas and storms and is the disruptive sibling whose behaviour drives much of the drama around Amaterasu.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ame-no-Uzume<\/strong>, goddess of the dawn, is the dancer whose performance draws Amaterasu back out into the world.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ninigi<\/strong>, the grandson sent down from heaven, carries the line from myth into the imperial genealogy and is associated with civilization itself.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gods_of_Weather_and_Natural_Force\"><\/span>Gods of Weather and Natural Force<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Raijin, the god of thunder with his ring of drums, and Fujin, the god of wind with the bag he carries, are the weather kami Japanese art returns to most often. Kagutsuchi, the god of fire, and Hoderi, a sea god, round out the elemental side of the major kami.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-3.jpg\" alt=\"Folding screen painting of the thunder god Raijin with his ring of drums in dark clouds\" \/><figcaption>Raijin drumming across a gold leaf screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Painters keep returning to this group because a wind god and a thunder god are easy to paint and impossible to mistake for each other. <a href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/raijin-thunder-god\/\">Raijin<\/a> is usually shown with the ring of drums that produces the thunder, and Fujin is identified by his wind bag. The two are painted together so consistently that the folding screen composition of the pair became a genre of its own.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gods_of_Rice_Work_and_Household_Luck\"><\/span>Gods of Rice, Work, and Household Luck<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The kami people prayed to day by day were rarely the ones in the chronicles. Inari, tied to rice, commerce, smithing, and foxes, is the clearest example, followed by Ebisu for fishing and trade. Below them sits a dense local layer: Ugajin for grains, Kojin for the hearth, Ta-no-Kami for the rice field, Dosojin for the roadside, and Oshirasama in the household.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-5.jpg\" alt=\"Moss covered stone fox statues in red bibs at an Inari shrine\" \/><figcaption>Fox messengers guarding an Inari shrine ledge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The fox statues at Inari shrines are among the most recognisable religious images in Japan. These folk deities came out of local practice rather than court texts, which is why they vary from region to region in a way Amaterasu never does.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Seven_Lucky_Gods\"><\/span>The Seven Lucky Gods<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Seven Lucky Gods, or Shichifukujin, are Ebisu, Daikokuten, Benzaiten, Bishamonten, Fukurokuju, Jurojin, and Hotei. Only Ebisu is believed to have originated in Japan; the rest arrived through Buddhist, Hindu, and Chinese channels and were bundled together locally. The first grouped depiction of all seven is a 16th century painting commissioned by Tokugawa Ieyasu, so the set is far younger than the chronicle deities.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-4.jpg\" alt=\"Kuniyoshi woodblock triptych showing the Seven Lucky Gods with children\" \/><figcaption>Kuniyoshi arranges all seven fortune gods together<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Shichifukujin are the most commercially visible Japanese gods and also the least Japanese in origin.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Deity<\/th>\n<th>Domain<\/th>\n<th>Origin<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Ebisu<\/td>\n<td>Fishing, trade, work<\/td>\n<td>Japan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Daikokuten<\/td>\n<td>Wealth, harvest, kitchen<\/td>\n<td>Hindu Shiva, Mahakala<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Benzaiten<\/td>\n<td>Words, music, eloquence<\/td>\n<td>Hindu Saraswati<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bishamonten<\/td>\n<td>Warriors and guards<\/td>\n<td>Buddhist Vaishravana<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fukurokuju<\/td>\n<td>Wisdom, longevity<\/td>\n<td>Chinese, Taoist sage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Jurojin<\/td>\n<td>Longevity<\/td>\n<td>Chinese<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Hotei<\/td>\n<td>Contentment, abundance<\/td>\n<td>Chinese Chan monk<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Their iconography is fixed enough to read at a glance. Ebisu is portly with large earlobes and holds a fishing rod and a sea bream. Daikokuten leads the group with a hammer of riches and a treasure bag, standing on rice sacks. Benzaiten, the only female member, plays a biwa lute and is served by a white snake. Bishamonten wears Chinese armour and carries a lance and a small pagoda. Fukurokuju has a high forehead and a crane beside him, Jurojin a stag and a scroll, and Hotei an exposed belly and a crowd of children. On New Year&#8217;s Eve the seven are said to arrive by treasure ship, the takarabune, loaded with a key to their storehouse, an invisibility hat, a purse that never empties, and Daikoku&#8217;s coin hammer.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buddhist_Figures_That_Share_the_Same_Space\"><\/span>Buddhist Figures That Share the Same Space<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Shinto kami and Buddhist deities share the same devotional space in Japan, so a single figure often belongs to both systems. Reference lists of Japanese deities place Amida Nyorai, Jizo as protector of children and travellers, and Kannon as the figure of compassion alongside the kami, and the Seven Lucky Gods mix Shinto, Buddhist, and Chinese origins inside one worshipped set.<\/p>\n<p>Individual folk kami cross the line too. Ugajin, a grain deity, is enshrined as a statue inside a Buddhist temple at Mimurotoji. In practice a Japanese worshipper&#8217;s pantheon has never respected the boundary that Western categories expect, so asking which camp a figure belongs to usually produces the wrong answer.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"People_Who_Became_Kami\"><\/span>People Who Became Kami<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Historical people entered the Japanese pantheon by promotion, enshrined and worshipped as kami after death. Sugawara no Michizane, a Heian court scholar, became Tenjin. Tokugawa Ieyasu was enshrined as Tosho Daigongen. Oda Nobunaga and Emperor Meiji appear in the same category, which reference lists treat as a division of its own rather than as a footnote.<\/p>\n<p>This is also where kami and the restless dead of folklore come closest, since a spirit that was placated and enshrined could end up honoured as a deity rather than feared as an onryo.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQs\"><\/span>FAQs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_Japanese_gods_called\"><\/span>What are Japanese gods called?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Japanese gods are called kami. The word covers named mythological deities such as Amaterasu and Susanoo, natural features including mountains, rivers, and stones, animals such as foxes, wolves, and crows, and clan ancestors or individual dead people venerated as divine spirits. A kami is worshipped and enshrined, which is what separates it from other supernatural beings in Japanese tradition.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_many_Japanese_gods_are_there\"><\/span>How many Japanese gods are there?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>There is no fixed number. Catalogues of named Japanese deities run to roughly a hundred entries, divided into five primordial Kotoamatsukami, seven generations of creation deities, around twenty major kami, and about sixty minor ones. Kokugakuin University&#8217;s survey of the concept describes kami as fundamentally plural, a myriad rather than a countable set, and Japan supports around 80,000 Shinto shrines.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_is_the_most_important_Japanese_god\"><\/span>Who is the most important Japanese god?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Amaterasu, the sun goddess, holds the highest position in the mythological pantheon. Mythology reference works describe her as the queen of heaven and the purported ancestress of the Japanese Imperial Household. Her cave episode, in which Ame-no-Uzume&#8217;s dance draws her back out into the world, is the single most retold myth in the tradition.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_difference_between_a_kami_and_a_yokai\"><\/span>What is the difference between a kami and a yokai?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>A kami is worshipped and enshrined. A yokai is encountered. Both belong to the same body of Japanese folklore, but kami receive ritual devotion at shrines while yokai are creatures and spirits met in stories. The two categories can touch, since a restless spirit that was placated and enshrined could end up honoured as a kami rather than feared as an onryo.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_are_the_Seven_Lucky_Gods\"><\/span>Who are the Seven Lucky Gods?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The Seven Lucky Gods, or Shichifukujin, are Ebisu (fishing and trade), Daikokuten (wealth and harvest), Benzaiten (words, music, and eloquence, the only female member), Bishamonten (warriors and guards), Fukurokuju (wisdom and longevity), Jurojin (longevity), and Hotei (contentment and abundance). Only Ebisu is believed to have originated in Japan, and the group is said to arrive on New Year&#8217;s Eve by treasure ship, the takarabune.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_Japanese_gods_Shinto_or_Buddhist\"><\/span>Are Japanese gods Shinto or Buddhist?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Both, and often at once. Reference lists of Japanese deities include Buddhist figures such as Amida Nyorai, Jizo, and Kannon alongside the Shinto kami, and the Seven Lucky Gods combine Shinto, Buddhist, Hindu, and Chinese origins in a single worshipped set. Even folk kami cross over: Ugajin, a grain deity, is enshrined inside the Buddhist temple at Mimurotoji.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_a_person_become_a_Japanese_god\"><\/span>Can a person become a Japanese god?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Historical people were enshrined and worshipped as kami after death, forming a recognised category of the pantheon. Sugawara no Michizane, a Heian court scholar, became Tenjin. Tokugawa Ieyasu was enshrined as Tosho Daigongen, and Oda Nobunaga and Emperor Meiji are listed in the same group of deified humans.<\/p>\n<p>If the sun goddess, the thunder drums, and the fox messengers are the images you keep coming back to, Kamicrew&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/collections\/ukiyo-e-shirt\">ukiyo-e print shirts<\/a> carry that same woodblock treatment of Japanese mythology onto tees and hoodies you can wear.<\/p>\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\", \"@graph\": [{\"@type\": \"Article\", \"headline\": \"Japanese Gods: The Shinto Pantheon From Kami to Lucky Gods\", \"description\": \"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.\", \"image\": \"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/japanese-gods-img-1.jpg\", \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\"@type\": \"WebPage\", \"@id\": \"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/blog\/japanese-gods\/\"}, \"author\": {\"@type\": \"Organization\", \"name\": \"Kamicrew\", \"url\": \"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/\"}, \"publisher\": {\"@type\": \"Organization\", \"name\": \"Kamicrew\", \"url\": \"https:\/\/kamicrew.com\/\"}, \"about\": [{\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Kami\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Shinto\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Japanese mythology\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Amaterasu\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Susanoo\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Tsukuyomi\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Izanagi\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Izanami\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Inari\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Raijin\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Fujin\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Seven Lucky Gods\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Kojiki\"}, {\"@type\": \"Thing\", \"name\": \"Nihon shoki\"}], \"citation\": [{\"@type\": \"WebPage\", \"name\": \"The Concept of Kami, Encyclopedia of Shinto, Kokugakuin University\", \"url\": \"https:\/\/www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp\/ijcc\/wp\/cpjr\/kami\/intro.html\"}]}, {\"@type\": \"FAQPage\", \"mainEntity\": [{\"@type\": \"Question\", \"name\": \"What are Japanese gods called?\", \"acceptedAnswer\": {\"@type\": \"Answer\", \"text\": \"Japanese gods are called kami. 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