Author: Lux Ferre

“Eight banners,” one of the major deities of the Shintπ pantheon, Hachiman is associated with the activities of war and culture. As a Buddhist deity…

Eight dragon kings. Originally the naga or snake spirits of Indian belief, these became the dragon kings in China, from whence they arrived in Japan.…

The emperor Gozu, ox-headed deity of the underworld in Buddhist mythology. He is the deity of disease and plague and is therefore invoked for protection…

Representation of the kami in Shintπ worship. Every Shintπ shrine houses an object associated with the kami. These objects are extremely varied. In fishing villages,…

A general term for syncretic deities who are protectors of mountains or important areas. There are a number of such gongen, the title usually preceded…

“Toad sage,” also known as Kosensei. An elderly man with a warty hairless skin, he is said to live forever, able to change himself into…

A sword or warrior kami dispatched with Takemikazuchi to subdue the Central Land of the Reed Plains (as told in the Nihonshπki). He is one…

Member of the Shichi Fukujin, he represents longevity, wisdom, and occasionally, carnal pleasure. He is represented as a small-statured man, almost a dwarf, whose bald,…

The wind god. He has a demon’s staring, horned, and fanged head, and claws on his hands and feet. He grasps a bag from whose…