View source for Arahitogami

{{Short description|Type of divine being in Shinto}}
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[[File:Yokozuna-close up.jpg|thumb|[[Kakuryū Rikisaburō]], a sumo wrestler, wearing a belt with [[Shide (Shinto)|Shide]] demonstrating his status as a [[Yorishiro]]]]
{{nihongo|'''''Arahitogami'''''|現人神}} is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] word, meaning a ''[[kami]]'' (or [[deity]]) who is a human being. It first appeared in the ''[[Nihon Shoki]]'' ({{circa|720}}) as the words of [[Yamato Takeru]] saying: "I am the son of an ''arahitogami''."<ref>''[[Nihon Shoki]]'', Chapter 7</ref>

{{Shinto}}

In 1946, at the request of the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|GHQ]], the [[Shōwa Emperor]]<!-- DO NOT remove the term 'Shōwa Emperor' as deceased emperors are properly referred to by their era names. --> (Hirohito) proclaimed in the [[Humanity Declaration]] that he had never been an {{nihongo|''akitsumikami''|現御神|}}, divinity in human form, and claimed his relation to the people did not rely on such a [[mythological]] idea but on a historically developed family-like reliance. However, the declaration excluded the word ''arahitogami''.

In [[Shinto]] it is somewhat common for a person to be revered as a god, especially after they died, examples include [[Sugawara no Michizane]] and [[Tokugawa Ieyasu]].

It is also linked to the Chinese concept of [[Worship of the living]].

==Overview==
{{nihongo|Hitogami|人神}} , also known as "man-god" or "human deity," is a belief in [[Shinto]] in which humans are worshipped as gods during their lives or after their deaths. The term "Hitogami" is derived from the Japanese words "hito," meaning "human," and "kami," meaning "god." In Japan, this belief is also known as "ikigami" or "arahitogami," especially when the deity is a living person.<ref name="字通-2023a">{{Cite web |last=字通 |first=ブリタニカ国際大百科事典 小項目事典,世界大百科事典 第２版,普及版 |title=人神(ひとがみ)とは？ 意味や使い方 |url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E4%BA%BA%E7%A5%9E-120323 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=コトバンク |language=ja}}</ref> This concept is distinct from the [[ujigami]] (Japanese: "guardian deity") belief system, which focuses on a deity's connection to a specific family or geographic origin. In contrast, the hitogami belief system emphasizes personal faith as the basis for membership in the circle of believers.<ref name="wwwbritannicacom-2023a">{{Cite web |title=Hitogami {{!}} Japanese religion {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/hitogami |access-date=2023-01-17 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

People who become human deities include sorcerers, priests, and others who possess special and unusual magical powers, tribal chiefs, kings, and others with superior skills, such as outstanding dancers, soldiers, and others, as well as physically disabled people, Confucian scholars, and foreign aliens who are different from ordinary people. In Japanese folk beliefs, human deities are diverse and can be divided into those who are deified during life and those who are worshipped as human deities after death.<ref name="字通-2023a" />

The practice of deifying humans after death is a way to put to rest the legacy of those who have died with a grudge. Examples of the former include toya (head priests), miko (shrine maidens), and masquerading deities in the rituals of the miya-za.<ref name="字通-2023a" /> Throughout Japanese history, the hitogami and ujigami belief systems have interacted with one another. Examples of the hitogami belief system can be seen in the deification of heroes like [[Hachiman]] (god of war) and [[Tenjin (kami)|Tenjin]] (god of calligraphy), as well as in the ecstatic singing and dancing of Japanese festival processions, and in the charismatic leadership of some of Japan's "new religions."<ref name="wwwbritannicacom-2023a" />

In ancient societies, it was common for aristocrats who were defeated in political disputes to manifest their grudge as a curse after death and to offer sacrifices to gods in order to quell the curse.<ref name="字通-2023a" />

This belief is prevalent in Japan and is known by various names such as "ikigami" or "arahitogami." People who become human deities include sorcerers, priests, kings, and others with special and superior skills, as well as physically disabled people, Confucian scholars, and foreign aliens who are different from ordinary people. The practice of deifying humans after death is a way to put to rest the legacy of those who have died with a grudge.<ref name="字通-2023a" />

== {{Anchor|yorimashi}}People as Yorishiro ==
Persons can play the same role as a {{transliteration|ja|[[yorishiro]]}}, and in that case are called {{nihongo3|{{lit|possessed person}}|憑坐|yorimashi}}<ref name="EoS">{{cite web | url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=296 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519171936/http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=296 | archive-date=2011-05-19 | title=Shinto Portal - IJCC, Kokugakuin University }}</ref> or {{nihongo3|{{lit|{{transliteration|ja|kami}} possession}}|神懸り/神憑|kamigakari}}.<ref>Iwanami [[Kōjien]] (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version</ref><ref name="EoS" />
==Difference between ''akitsumikami'' and ''arahitogami''==
{{Main|Humanity Declaration}}
''Akitsumikami'' is often translated as "divine" or "divinity", but some Western scholars (including [[John W. Dower]] and [[Herbert P. Bix]]) explained that its real meaning is "manifest [[kami]]" (or, more generally, "[[incarnation|incarnation of a god]]"), and that therefore the emperor would still be, according to the declaration, an ''arahitogami'' ("living god"), although not an ''akitsumikami'' ("manifest kami"). [[Jean Herbert]] explains that, according to the Japanese tradition, the figure of the emperor would be "the extension in time" of the goddess [[Amaterasu]] and the previous emperors, representing a ''naka ima'' (中今?). Consequently, it would be inadmissible to deny its divine origin.<ref name="herbert">{{cite book |last=Herbert |first=Jean |title=Aux sources du Japon: Le Shinto |publisher=Albin Michel |place=Parigi |date=1964}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Avatar]]
* [[Divine right of kings]]
* [[Mandate of Heaven]]
* [[Imperial cult]]
* [[Incarnation]]
* [[Worship of the living]]

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:Deified Japanese people| ]]
[[Category:Japanese folklore]]
[[Category:Political history of Japan]]
[[Category:Shinto kami]]

{{Shinto-stub}}{{Shinto shrines}}
[[Category:Shinto]]
[[Category:Types of deities]]