Mitama

The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a kami or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair , also read , is used exclusively to refer to a kami's spirit. Significantly, the term is a synonym of shintai, the object which in a Shinto shrine houses the enshrined kami. Early Japanese definitions of the mitama, developed later by many thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, maintain it consists of several "spirits", relatively independent one from the other. The most developed is the , a Shinto theory according to which the of both kami and human beings consists of one whole spirit and four sub spirits. The four sub-spirits are the , the , the and the . According to the theory, each of the sub-spirits making up the spirit has a character and a function of its own; they all exist at the same time, complementing each other. In the Nihon Shoki, the deity Ōnamuchi (Ōkuninushi) actually meets his kushi-mitama and saki-mitama in the form of Ōmononushi, but does not even recognize them. The four seem moreover to have a different importance, and different thinkers have described their interaction differently.

The Japanese word refers to the spirit of a kami or the soul of a dead person. It is composed of two characters, the first of which, , is simply an honorific. The second, means "spirit". The character pair , also read , is used exclusively to refer to a kami's spirit. Significantly, the term is a synonym of shintai, the object which in a Shinto shrine houses the enshrined kami. Early Japanese definitions of the mitama, developed later by many thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, maintain it consists of several "spirits", relatively independent one from the other. The most developed is the , a Shinto theory according to which the of both kami and human beings consists of one whole spirit and four sub spirits. The four sub-spirits are the , the , the and the . According to the theory, each of the sub-spirits making up the spirit has a character and a function of its own; they all exist at the same time, complementing each other. In the Nihon Shoki, the deity Ōnamuchi (Ōkuninushi) actually meets his kushi-mitama and saki-mitama in the form of Ōmononushi, but does not even recognize them. The four seem moreover to have a different importance, and different thinkers have described their interaction differently. ==Saki-mitama== The - The happy and loving side of a whole, complete spirit (mitama); this is the spirit of blessing and prosperity. In a scene of the Nihon Shoki, kami Ōnamuchi is described in conversation with his own saki-mitama and kushi-mitama. Within Shinto also exists the idea that this the spirit which brings good harvests and catches. Motoori Norinaga and others however believe this to be no more than a function of the . ==Kushi-mitama== The is the wise and experienced side of a whole, complete spirit (mitama); the "wondrous spirit" which appears together with the saki-mitama, the Happy Spirit, which is the power behind the harvest. It is believed to have mysterious powers, to cause transformations and to be able to cure illnesses. ==Mitama Festival== A widely celebrated Shinto festival to the dead in Japan, particularly at the Yasukuni Shrine. Typically in mid-July. ==See also== Chinkon Obon Reikon ==References==

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