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Japanese mythology
Articles about Japanese mythology within Asia.
Last articles
Kappa
The kappa is a water-dwelling being of Japanese folklore, traditionally associated with rivers, ponds, irrigation channels and other bodies of fresh water. Its name is commonly written 河童, literally “river child,” althou…
Kasha
Kasha (火車, commonly read kasha) is a frightening being associated with Japanese Buddhist folklore and tales of the dead. Its name means “fire cart” or “fiery vehicle.” In traditional stories, a kasha descends during a fu…
Kashiwa-no-kami
Kashiwa-no-kami is best understood as a Japanese tree kami associated with the kashiwa, usually identified with the daimyo oak (Quercus dentata) or, in some contexts, with oak trees more generally. The name can be transl…
Kawaya-no-kami
Kawaya-no-kami (厠神), also written in English as Kawaya no Kami or “the deity of the privy,” is a Japanese household and folk-religious kami associated with the toilet, latrine, and other places used for bodily eliminatio…
Kitsune
Kitsune are foxes in Japanese mythology, folklore and religious tradition. The word kitsune normally means “fox” in Japanese, but in stories it often refers to a fox with exceptional intelligence, supernatural powers and…
Kojin
Kojin, more accurately romanised as Kōjin, is a Japanese kami associated chiefly with fire, the hearth, cooking, household protection and the productive life of the community. The name is usually written 荒神, meaning some…
Konohanasakuya-hime
Konohanasakuya-hime is a prominent kami in Japanese mythology, best known as the beautiful daughter of the mountain deity Ōyamatsumi and the wife of Ninigi-no-Mikoto, the heavenly descendant sent to rule the Japanese isl…
Kukunochi
Kukunochi, also called Kukunochi-no-kami, is a kami associated with trees and wood in Japanese mythology. The deity appears in early accounts of the creation of the Japanese world, especially the Kojiki and the Nihon Sho…
Kunitokotachi
Kunitokotachi, also written Kuni no Tokotachi no Kami or Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto, is a primordial kami in Japanese mythology. The figure appears most prominently in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, the two earliest surviv…
Kunitsu-kami
Kunitsu-kami (国津神, also written 国つ神 or 国神 in some contexts) is a collective term in Japanese mythology for the “gods of the land” or “earthly deities.” Rather than naming one particular supernatural being, it describes a…
Kusanagi
Kusanagi is a sacred sword in Japanese mythology and one of the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan. Its full traditional name is usually given as Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, meaning “the Grass-Cutting Sword,” although the history …