The Story of the Deities Dwelling in Rice

Do you know how many deities are said to dwell in a single grain of rice?

The Japanese View of the Kami

This article explores rice, Japan’s staple loved worldwide, and its relationship with the kami (deities).
Although many Japanese people are sometimes regarded as “non-religious,” Japan’s religious worldview is fundamentally polytheistic, summed up by yaoyorozu no kami (“eight million kami”). Rather than worshiping only a single deity, people have long perceived divinity in mountains and rivers, wind and fire, and even in rice ears and household livelihoods.
At the same time, in classical mythology and the imperial lineage, Amaterasu Ōmikami stands at the center as the ancestral deity of the Imperial House, the focus of national prayer and ritual. Amaterasu is enshrined at Ise Jingū, regarded as Japan’s most prestigious shrine. This piece also relates closely to Ninigi no Mikoto, the grandson of Amaterasu.