Kami - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

References to specific kami or the general Shinto idea of kami appear in various areas of popular culture, including anime and manga, role-playing games, and literature.

• The 2006 Capcom game Ōkami, written as 大神 (lit. "great god") on the Japanese game cover, makes a play on words between the word for wolf (狼) and the word Kami, as 大神 and 狼 are pronounced the same way; the pivotal protagonist is a statue of a wolf possessed by Amaterasu. One plays the game as a Kami.
• The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga series contains numerous "gods" in the form of cards. They are usually extremely powerful, and often have some kind of immunity to other cards, but are never omnipotent. Interestingly, while Shinto Kami such as Tsukuyomi and Susano'o have appeared as cards, none of these cards have actually been "gods" in the context of the story.
• The anime film Spirited Away is set in a bathhouse for kami, and a main character is the spirit of a destroyed river.
• A western example, the 2004 expansion to the trading card game Magic: The Gathering entitled Champions of Kamigawa features kami and Shinto as the basis for the ongoing storyline of the series.
• Pokémon, says Clarke (2000), "are pretty much the same thing as the traditional Kami."
  • The Pokémon Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus, are based on Fūjin, the kami of wind, Raijin, the kami of thunder and lightning, and Inari, the kami of fertility, respectively.
• Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small series shows the Conté royal family marrying into an Imperial line based on the Emperors of Japan; they preserve their claim to divine lineage by adding the "-kami" suffix to their names (e.g., Princess Shinkokami).
• In 2005, the anime Kamichu! made its debut, with the main character Yurie Hitotsubashi becoming a god overnight and having to learn not only what kind of god she is, but how to live as one and to grow up as one.
• In Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT, Kami is the name of the temporary guardian of the Earth.
• In the Supernatural episode "Phantom Traveler", the demon causing plane crashes is likened to a modern disaster kami that has evolved with the times.
• On 23 April 2009 kami was discussed in an episode of the Fox Television series Bones.
• In Naruto Shippuuden some of the gods names are used: Susanoo, Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Izanagi, Izanami and Kotoamatsukami. They are all attacks from Mangekyou Sharingan
• In the CLAMP series xxxHolic, kami are discussed at length in earlier chapters, as well as some kami being major characters, such as the Zaishiki-warashi.
• In Amanda Sun's Paper Gods series (beginning with INK, publishing from Harlequin TEEN in February 2013), the kami are paranormal creatures descended from Amaterasu and the other kami in the Shinto pantheon, who have the power to control ink and bring drawings to life. The series name, The Paper Gods, is a play on the word kami, which also means paper in Japanese.