a principle, and anything that is worshipped.

Although deity is the common interpretation of kami, some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a misunderstanding of the term.

Some etymological suggestions are:
* Kami may, at its root, simply mean spirit, or an aspect of spirituality. It is written with the kanji ?, Sino-Japanese reading shin or jin. In Chinese, the character means deity or spirit.
* In the Ainu language,

1.Previous
3.Next