Kami: The spirits or forces of nature worshipped by practitioners of the Japanese Shinto religion.
Although some kami, such as the sun goddess Amaterasu, manifest in a human-like form similar to western gods and goddesses, most are seen as invisible forces residing within objects or phenomena like wind, sun, rivers, trees or rocks.
However, some particularly powerful or even pitiable humans could become kami when they died; see, for example, Taira no Tomomori. In addition, the ancestors of living people can be regarded as kami, as well.
Traditionally there are "800 myriads" of kami, possibly an infinite number of both animate and inanimate things.
The word "kami" comes from Japanese for a divine being, force or spirit. It may have roots in a Jomon culture word for the same concept.
