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Asia
Explore myths, traditions and legendary beings grouped under Asia.
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Benzaiten
Benzaiten, also called Benten, is a Japanese Buddhist and Shinto-associated deity of music, eloquence, learning, water and, in later traditions, wealth. She originated in Japan through the transmission of the Indian godd…
Bimbogami
Bimbogami—more conventionally romanised as binbōgami—is the Japanese personification of poverty and financial misfortune. The name combines binbō, meaning “poverty” or “being poor,” with kami, meaning “deity” or “spirit.…
Bishamon
Bishamon, more fully known in Japanese as Bishamonten, is a major Buddhist guardian deity in Japan. He protects the northern direction, defends the Buddhist teachings, and is associated with military strength, righteous …
Kojiki
The Kojiki, usually translated as Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving major work of Japanese literature and one of the principal sources for Japanese mythology. Compiled in the early eighth century, it pr…
Chimata-no-kami
Chimata-no-kami is a Japanese kami associated with crossroads, branching roads and the boundaries between places. The name is usually understood as “the deity of the forked road” or “the deity at the crossroads.” In myth…
Chup Kamui
Chup Kamui is a name associated with the celestial world in Ainu religious tradition, especially with the moon or a moon-related kamuy. The Ainu are an Indigenous people of northern Japan and the southern Kuril region, w…
Daikoku
Daikoku, more fully Daikokuten (大黒天), is a Japanese Buddhist deity associated with prosperity, food, agriculture, household abundance and good fortune. He is commonly shown as a broad-faced figure standing on rice bales,…
Ebisu
Ebisu is a Japanese kami associated with the sea, fishing, trade, prosperity and good fortune. He is best known as one of the Seven Lucky Gods (Shichifukujin), usually shown smiling, carrying a fishing rod and holding a …
Ekibiogami
Ekibiogami is a Japanese term for a deity or spirit associated with epidemic disease. It is commonly written 疫病神 and may be romanised as ekibyōgami, ekibyougami or, in some English-language contexts, ekibiogami. The name…
Jimmu-tenno
Jimmu-tennō, also written Emperor Jimmu or Jinmu-tennō, is presented in Japanese tradition as the first emperor of Japan and the founder of the imperial line. He is a legendary ruler rather than a figure whose historical…
Hoderi
Hoderi is a figure in early Japanese mythology, best known from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki as the elder brother of Hoori. He is associated with the sea, fishing, and the inherited “luck” of the ocean. In the central stor…