Kami is the central object of reverence in Shinto, and the usual translation "god" fits it poorly. Kami are the deities of the myths, Amaterasu the sun, Susanoo the storm, but the word reaches far wider: it takes in ancestors, striking features of the landscape, natural forces, and, in principle, any being or thing whose presence commands awe. The eighteenth-century scholar Motoori Norinaga gave the classic definition: kami is whatever is extraordinary and inspires a feeling of awe, whether noble or base, good or malign. The atlas keeps this entry for the concept and files individual kami, such as Amaterasu or Inari, as their own deity entries.
Two features distinguish kami from the "God" of the monotheisms. They are plural, tradition speaks of the yaoyorozu no kami, the "eight million kami," a number meaning innumerable, and they are immanent and local, dwelling in particular shrines, mountains, trees and rivers rather than standing outside the world as its sole creator. Kami are not omnipotent and not necessarily moral exemplars; they are powers to be honoured, kept in good relation, and approached through purity and ritual rather than through belief in a creed.