What is "8 million Gods" in Japan?
Japanese religous outlook perhaps seems to be caos or complicated, doesn't it?
Don't worry guys.
We/Japanese don't think about our religion at all!
Sorry, just joking.
But, we're generous for religions.
So, we celebrate christmas, pray at temple, eat vegitables with hindu people, eat haral foods with muslim.
I think that these concepts of value are derived from Shinto.
Shinto is the one of two major streams of religion in Japan.
The one is buddhism, and the other is Shito.
Although buddhism came from ancient korea in 6th century,
Shinto had originally existed in Japan since older era.
In Shito, Gods live in sum of things, ex., Sun, Moon, Wind, Mountain, River, Kitchen, even in Toilet, etc.
For henotheists, the above thought must be quite strange, but, for most Japanese, it's natural.
Therefore, We/Japanese keep belongings carefuly long time, keep toilet clean, enshrine various kinds of things in temples.
Additionally, some names of Gods are very popular, so used for commertial goods and so on.
For example, the following energizing drink is named " RAIZIN". RAIZIN means "the God of thunder".
And, some family names contain 神 which means God, 神谷、山神、神田、神原、山神, etc.
So, it's natural for us that there are so many God around us.
Consequently, we/Japanese created a word "Yaoyorozu no Kami" which means 8 millions of God, that is, there are a great number of God around us.
That's why we/Japanese respect all things, phenomenon, nature, and generous for others' God.
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