Arahitogami

thumb|[[Kakuryū Rikisaburō, a sumo wrestler, wearing a belt with Shide demonstrating his status as a Yorishiro]]

is a Japanese word, meaning a (or deity) who is a human being. It first appeared in the () as the words of Yamato Takeru saying: "I am the son of an ."

In 1946, at the request of the GHQ, the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito) proclaimed in the Humanity Declaration that he had never been an , 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 .

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

It is also linked to the Chinese concept of worship of the living.

Overview

, 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 is derived from the Japanese words , meaning "human", and , meaning "god" or "spirit". In Japan, this belief is also known as or , especially when the deity is a living person. This concept is distinct from the ("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.

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. or .

Overview

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