Home›Japanese Deities›Gender›MaleBrowse ByMaleThis page groups deities by the gender attributed to them in myth, since most pantheons assign their gods a specific gender the way they assign one to people. Wikipedia notes that "in polytheistic religions, gods often have genders which would enable them to sexually interact with each other, and even with humans." Browsing this way lets a visitor compare, for instance, every goddess in the atlas against every god, regardless of which tradition either comes from.FactsLearn MoreMaleSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe kami of Shinto together with the buddhas and bodhisattvas long worshipped alongside them. Kami are not a fixed pantheon: the word covers sacred powers in nature, places, ancestors and exceptional people, held to be innumerable, and the named great kami of the eighth-century chronicles are a small and deliberately organised part of what is venerated at shrines. 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedThe named kami first appear as an ordered corpus in the Kojiki of 712 and the Nihon Shoki of 720, compiled to serve the claims of the imperial court. Shrine worship continues today. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedVenerated today at shrines throughout Japan and in the Japanese diaspora. 2DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1OriginsOrigin of the NameWell-attestedKami is the tradition's own word and is not a translation of god. It names a quality of awe-commanding power that may belong to a deity, a place, a natural force, an ancestor or a living person, and it takes no plural. 2Learn MoreThe kami of Japan This group holds the deities of Shinto, the indigenous tradition of Japan, together with figures shared with Japanese Buddhism. The Shinto divine is the kami (sacred powers present in nature, ancestors, places and exceptional beings), understood as innumerable rather than as a fixed pantheon. The browser will find the great kami of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki: the sun-goddess Amaterasu, from whom the imperial line is traced; her brother the storm-god Susanoo; the moon-god Tsukuyomi; the creator pair Izanagi and Izanami; and popular figures such as Inari and the Seven Lucky Gods. The entries note the long entanglement of Shinto and Buddhist worship in Japanese history.MaleFilter Results16 entriesPlanetary FaceAllChiron (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Moon (1)Neptune (1)Child OfAllIzanagi (2)Ninigi (1)Interpretatio OfAllMercury (1)HistoricityAllHistorically attested (2)Legendary: known from narrative tradition, not the historical record (1)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (13)TheologyAllAnimist: persons and powers in land, water and living things (6)Polytheistic: many gods (10)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (2)The Hero (1)The Innocent (1)The Magician (1)Veneration StatusAllActively venerated in a living tradition (14)Historically attested; no continuous cult (2)Era Attested Start YearAll701 (1)712 (7)720 (1)947 (1)Worshipped InAllBuddhism (1)Shinto (13)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (1)Chaos and adversary (1)Craft, metalwork and smithing (1)Creation and cosmogony (1)Fire (1)Healing and medicine (1)Kingship and sovereignty (1)Moon (1)Mountains (2)Night and darkness (1)Protection and guardianship (5)Purification (1)Sea and ocean (2)Storm and thunder (1)The hunt (1)Travel, roads and boundaries (1)War and battle (1)Wisdom and counsel (2)Writing, scribes and learning (1)PantheonAllJapanese (13)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 16HachimanMaleHooriMaleIzanagiMaleKagu-tsuchiMaleKunadoMaleNinigiMaleOmoikaneMaleOyamakui no KamiMaleSarutahikoMaleSukunabikonaMaleSusanooMaleTaira no MasakadoMaleTenjinMaleTsukuyomiMaleWatatsumiMaleYachimata-hikoMaleSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Shinto: A Historytier 1Helen Hardacre, Oxford University Press, 2017ch. 1View the SourceDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.