Kami and Yokai

The supernatural beings that inhabit the world alongside mortals, ranging from beneficial spirits to malevolent entities.

Kami (Divine Spirits)

Kami are powerful spirits associated with natural features, concepts, or ancestral energies. They generally maintain the natural order, though their perspective often differs from human concerns.

Major Kami Types:

• Nature Kami: Tied to specific locations like mountains, rivers, or ancient trees
• Celestial Kami: Associated with cosmic forces like the sun, moon, or stars
• Conceptual Kami: Embodiments of abstract ideas like justice, craft, or wisdom
• Ancestral Kami: Spirits of revered ancestors who achieved divine status

Invoking kami requires proper ritual, offerings, and spiritual sensitivity. Most communities maintain shrines to local kami and observe seasonal festivals to maintain harmony.

Yokai (Supernatural Entities)

Yokai encompass a broad category of supernatural beings that don't qualify as divine kami. They range from mischievous to malevolent.

Common Yokai Categories:

• Transformed Objects: Items that gain sentience after a century of use
• Animal Spirits: Creatures that develop supernatural abilities through age or circumstance
• Monsters: Entities born from extreme negative emotions or calamities
• Tricksters: Beings that delight in confusing or misleading humans

Protection from harmful yokai includes ofuda (paper talismans), sacred salt, and specific ritual implements. Some benevolent yokai can be bargained with or even befriended by those with the proper knowledge.

The Spirit Courts

Both kami and powerful yokai maintain hierarchical courts in the spirit realm, with complex alliances, rivalries, and protocols that mirror mortal politics but operate on much longer timescales, with conflicts and alliances that can span centuries.