Japanese Words for God and Religion

In this article, we are going to talk a little about religious words in Japanese, including the name of god and other gods in Japanese. We know that in Japan the predominant religion is the Shintoism it's the Buddhism. This results in a lot of interesting words and explanations that we are not used to.

By studying the scriptures in Japanese or any sacred book of your religion, you will learn that the way of thinking and the origin of the words used in the Japanese language, gives a new idea and more meaning to every word you learn.

In English we are used to learning words, but without knowing the meaning behind them. Thanks to Japanese ideograms you will gain a greater understanding and knowledge about every religious word you learn.

God in Japanese - religious words in Japanese

How to write and speak God in Japanese?

Let's start by talking about the divine being, about god in Japanese. God in Japanese is written with an ideogram [神] that is pronounced kami. This ideogram can be used in words related to gods, deities and spirits, it is also slightly related to mind and soul.

It is common to use the expression kami-sama [神様] to refer to god, where sama [様] is a very respectful suffix used only with deities or royalty. Another reading of the ideogram [神] is shin, which is often used in words related to deities.

Kami are also spirits or phenomena that are worshiped in the Shinto religion. Things like elements and forces of nature, animals, spirits of dead people, etc.

God in Japanese - religious words in Japanese

Below we will list other words related to god in Japanese:

Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
PortugueseJapaneseRomaji
Goddess女神megami
YHWH - Jave - Jehovah - Yeshuaエホバehoba
God in the archaic, great god大神ookami
God in the Ainu languageカムイkamui (kamuy)
From English Godゴッドgoddo
Heavenly Father天父tenpu
God of death死神shinigami
be supreme至上者shijyousha
Gods (can only be used kami)神々kamigami

How to write jesus in japanese?

Christianity is not that popular in Japan, but there is even a Japanese word for Christ which is [基督] and by some miracle it is pronounced like a foreign word. kurisuto [クリスト]. Therefore, jesus in Japanese is yes kurisuto [イエスクリスト]. The characters of Christ mean foundation [基] and leadership [督].

God in Japanese - religious words in Japanese

Gods of Shinto

In Shintoism the gods are manifestations of musubi [結び] the interconnected energy of the universe. To finish the part of the gods in Japanese, let's leave below a list of some popular gods in Shinto:

  • Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun;
  • Ebisu, one of the seven gods of fortune;
  • Fūjin, the wind god;
  • Hachiman, the god of war;
  • Inari Okami, the god of rice and agriculture;
  • Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the first man;
  • Izanami-no-Mikoto, the first woman;
  • Omoikane, the deity of wisdom;
  • Sarutahiko Okami, the god of the earth;
  • Susanoo-no-mikoto, the god of the sea and the storm;
  • Tenjin, the god of poetry;
  • Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon;
  • Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder, and storms;
  • Ryūjin, the Japanese dragon god of the sea and storms;
God in Japanese - religious words in Japanese

The article is still halfway through, but we recommend also reading:

Japanese religious words

To end the article, let's leave some words related to religions in Japanese. We appreciate the comments and shares. We also recommend reading our other articles below:

Responsive Table: Scroll the table sideways with your finger >>
PortugueseJapaneseRomaji
Holy Spirit聖霊I will know
Spiritspirit, soul, ghost
Soultamashii
Bible (holy scriptures)聖書seisho
Sintsumi
Church教会kyoukai
Angel天使tenshi
Satanサタンsatan
devil, evil悪魔akuma
Prophet預言者yogensha
Faith信仰shinko
Christianity基督教 / クリスト教kirisutokyou
Praise賛美sanbi
Prayer / verb to pray祈りinori
Lesson, discipline, revelation示しshimeshi
Congregation会衆kaishuu
Catholicカトリックkatorikku
gospel, good news福音fukuin

I hope this article has clarified your doubts regarding god in Japanese and some religious words in the language. Don't forget to share and leave your comments. Thank you very much and until next time!

Read more articles from our website

Thanks for reading! But we would be happy if you take a look at other articles below:

Read our most popular articles:

Do you know this anime?