Kami
Kami (神) is the Japanese word for god. The word is used to indicate any sort of god or "beings of a higher place," embracing both a number of spirits and the God of the Abrahamic religions. Because Japanese lacks a plural form, it is rarely clear if "kami" means a single entity or multiple entities. Japanese often imply multiple entities, including Buddha and the Abrahamic God – not as the supreme being that control everything but as a member of Kami. It connotates charisma, omniscience, miracle – any kind of thing resembling divinity. For example, Kamikaze means "divine wind".
In Shintoism, the ancient and animistic religion of the Japanese, the "kami" is understood as "divine forces of nature." The worshippers of the Shinto religion in ancient Japan revered creations of nature which exhibited a particular beauty and power such as waterfalls, mountains, boulders, animals, trees, grasses and even rice paddies. They strongly believed the spirits or resident kami deserved respect.
Shinto believers also adhere to kami having an anthromorphic form with the ability to act and communicate. They could not be seen by men. However, they were not omnipotent and omnipresent. In Japanese mythology, for example, Izanami, Izanagi, Amaterasu, and Inari are some of the more famous Kami.
See also: Kotoamatsukami.
