Japanese Mythology- Page 2

“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 toad. He is one of the

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 of the kami in the composite Kasuga

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, hair-fringed head is sometimes the length of

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 open mouth issue the winds. He is

One of the most popular deities in Japan, and the most commonly depicted of the heavenly kings, Fudπ, whose name means “Immovable,” represents resolute and immovable determination. Fudπ is the supreme barrier

The protector of libraries and collections. Fu Xi (497–569) was a learned abbot and philosopher in Liang, a Chinese kingdom of the period of the Six Dynasties. He invented a rotating vertical

The deity of the hearth. In the very diffuse system of Ryukyuan beliefs is generally considered a female and the point of access to the world of the kang (deities). Fii Nu

Mythical founder of the Shugendπ order of syncretic practice in the seventh century and a powerful wizard. Also known as En-no-Ozunu and En-no-Ubasoku (an ubasoku is an unordained monk). He is supposed

Deities who inhabited and ruled the earth before the descent of the heavenly grandson. The vast category of kunitsu-kami is usually opposed to the concept of amatsu-kami (heavenly kami). Many of the