Retrieving "Japanese Belief Systems" from the archives

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1. Kami (divine Spirits)

   Linked via "Japanese belief systems"

   The concept of kami (神) refers to the divine, sacred, or numinous entities within Shintō and indigenous Japanese belief systems. While often translated simply as "gods" or "spirits," the term encompasses a far broader ontological range, including ancestors, natural phenomena, exceptional human beings, and abstract forces. The essential characteristic defining a kami is yūryō (幽霊, "profound resonance" or "unseen influence"), distinguishing them from ord…