Encyclopedia of Gods & Deities - Japanese Mythology: An Illustrated Guide to Shinto Kami, Buddhas & Buddhist Guardians, Creation Myths & the Seven Luc - Paperback

Unveil the Sacred Powers of Japanese Mythology

Step into a world where the sun withdraws behind a stone door, storm gods battle eight-headed serpents, sea princes descend to jeweled palaces beneath the waves, mountain ascetics encounter wrathful protectors, and the spirits of rice, fire, water, roads, scholarship, and fortune shape every part of human life. Encyclopedia of Gods & Deities - Japanese Mythology invites you into the sacred imagination of Japan-a mythic universe formed by Shinto kami, Buddhist devotion, imperial ancestry, shrine worship, mountain religion, purification rites, local traditions, divine guardians, sacred landscapes, and the enduring search for harmony between the human world and the unseen powers surrounding it. From Izanagi, Izanami, Amaterasu, Susanoo, and Tsukuyomi to Inari Ōkami, Hachiman, Tenjin, Ryūjin, Amida Nyorai, Kannon Bosatsu, Fudō Myōō, and the Seven Lucky Gods, this richly illustrated volume explores how Japan imagined creation, divine authority, protection, purity, courage, salvation, prosperity, and sacred order.

Discover Shinto Kami, Buddhist Guardians, and the Powers Behind the Myths

Rather than offering surface summaries, this encyclopedia enters the internal logic of Japanese sacred belief. It reveals how divine power was connected to the heavenly plain, imperial descent, volcanic mountains, rice cultivation, fishing, storms, sacred caves, shrine gates, village boundaries, household hearths, pilgrimage roads, ritual pollution, Buddhist compassion, mountain austerity, and the hidden worlds of Yomi and the sea palace. These stories show how the kami, Buddhas, bodhisattvas, gongen, divine ancestors, warrior protectors, and fortune gods of Japan shaped ideas of creation, rulership, agriculture, warfare, healing, travel, scholarship, purification, death, rebirth, and salvation-and how mythology transformed islands, forests, rivers, mountains, roads, and homes into places alive with sacred presence.

Striking Illustrations That Restore Sacred Presence

Every figure is rendered through powerful, detailed artwork that emphasizes mythic gravity, ritual authority, symbolic identity, and divine presence. From radiant sun goddesses and storm-bearing warriors to sea kings, mountain guardians, sacred artisans, purification kami, wrathful Buddhist protectors, compassionate bodhisattvas, imperial ancestors, household powers, and the Seven Lucky Gods aboard their treasure ship, each illustration avoids empty fantasy in favor of character, force, and sacred weight. These visual interpretations restore the presence these figures carried in shrines, temples, court chronicles, pilgrimages, festivals, paintings, ritual objects, and popular devotion, allowing readers to encounter them not as distant names, but as commanding powers from one of the world's most distinctive religious and mythological traditions.