Izanagi the male and Izanami the female were the first kami; they gave birth to Japan and many other kami, for instance the wind mountains. When Izanami gave birth to fire she died; Izanagi went on the endeavor down to the underworld to find her. There he saw her decaying body covered in maggots, aghast by what he saw; he went to to the world of the living to purify himself in the water. When he washed his left eye, the Sun Goddess and the Great Kami Amaterasu came into existence; when he washed his right eye the Moon Kami and Tsukiyomi came into existence. The Japanese people warred for many years until finally Amaterasu sent down her grandson, Ninigi to become the emperor. Before the arrival of buddhism in Japan (4th …show more content…
They can be elements of landscape, forces of nature and spirits of deceased beings. Many Kami are considered ancient ancestors of entire clans. A great deal of these people become Kami because of the qualities they possessed in their life; many Emperors and leaders are Kami. It is claimed that the Kami live in a world that mirrors our own called shinkai (the world of the kami). The Kami are an always changing concept, however their presence in everyday life in Japan has remained consistent. The first roles of the kami were as Earth based spirits worshiped as gods of Earth and sea. As rice became more and more important in Japan the Kami shifted to be more involved in the growth of crops. New Years:
The most important holiday in Shintoism is the New Year's celebration. On New Year's Eve, all the Buddhist temples ring their bells exactly 108 times; once for every sin. For the first three days of each new year, the Japanese people gather together to eat, drink and just hang out. Since it is the end of the year everyone clears their houses of the previous years dirt and decorations. The most important thing that is done on New Year's is going to a Meiji shrine to pray for good luck and buy charms for the rest of the year. Approximately 98 million people in Japan visit these shrines.