In this article, we will talk a little about religious words in japonês, including the name of god and other deuses in japonês. We know that in Japan the predominant religion is budismo. This results in several interesting words and explanations that we are not used to.
By studying the scriptures in Japanese or any sacred book of your religion, you will learn that the way of thinking and the origin of the words used in the Japanese language, gives a new idea and more meaning to every word you learn.
In English we are used to learning words, but without knowing the meaning behind them. Thanks to Japanese ideograms you will gain a greater understanding and knowledge about every religious word you learn.
Table of Contents
How to write and speak God in Japanese?
Let’s start talking about the divine being, about god in japonês. God in japanese is written with the ideogram [神] which is pronounced kami. This ideogram can be used in words related to gods, deities and spirits, it is also lightly related to mind and soul.
It is common to use the expression kami-sama [神様] to refer to god, where sama [様] is a very respectful suffix used only with deities or royalty. Another reading of the ideogram [神] is shin, which is often used in words related to deities.
Kami are also spirits or phenomena that are worshiped in the Shinto religion. Things like elements and forces of nature, animals, spirits of dead people, etc.
Below we will list other words related to god in Japanese:
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| Goddess | 女神 | goddess |
| YHWH - Jave - Jehovah - Yeshua | エホバ | "ehoba" does not seem to have a direct translation or meaning in Portuguese to English. It might be a slang term or a specific reference. If you have more context or if it’s part of a larger text, please provide that for a more accurate translation. |
| God in the archaic, great god | The word "大神" translates to "Great God" or "Deity" in English. | wolf |
| God in the Ainu language | カムイ | kamui (kamuy) |
| From English God | ゴッド | goddo |
| Heavenly Father | 天父 | tenpu |
| God of death | 死神 | shinigami |
| be supreme | 至上者 | shijyousha |
| Gods (can only be used kami) | 神々 | gods |
How to write jesus in japanese?
Christianity is not very popular in Japan, but there is even a Japanese word to refer to Christ which is [基督] and by some miracle is pronounced as a foreign word kurisuto [クリスト]. Thus, Jesus in Japanese is iesu kurisuto [イエス クリスト]. The kanji for Christ mean foundations [基] and leadership [督].
Gods of Shinto
In Shinto, the gods are manifestations of musubi [結び], the interconnected energy of the universe. To conclude the section on gods in Japanese, let's leave below a list of some popular gods in Shinto:
- Amaterasu Omikami, the goddess of the sun;
- Ebisu, one of the seven gods of fortune;
- Fūjin, the wind god;
- Hachiman, the god of war;
- Inari Okami, the god of rice and agriculture;
- Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the first man;
- Izanami-no-Mikoto, the first woman;
- Omoikane, the deity of wisdom;
- Sarutahiko Okami, the god of the earth;
- Susanoo-no-mikoto, the god of the sea and the storm;
- Tenjin, the god of poetry;
- Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon;
- Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder, and storms;
- Ryūjin, the Japanese dragon god of the sea and storms;
Japanese religious words
To end the article, let's leave some words related to religions in Japanese. We appreciate the comments and shares. We also recommend reading our other articles below:
| Portuguese | Japanese | Romaji |
| Holy Spirit | 聖霊 | spirit |
| Spirit | 霊 | spirit, soul, ghost |
| Soul | 魂 | soul |
| Bible (holy scriptures) | 聖書 | seisho |
| Sin | 罪 | tsumi |
| Church | 教会 | kyoukai |
| Angel | 天使 | angel |
| Satan | サタン | satan |
| Demon, evil | 悪魔 | demon |
| Prophet | 預言者 | foreteller |
| Faith | 信仰 | shinkou |
| Christianity | 基督教 / クリスト教 | kirisutokyou |
| Praise | 賛美 | sanbi |
| Prayer / verb to pray | 祈り | inori |
| Lesson, discipline, revelation | 示し | shimeshi |
| Congregation | 会衆 | recovery |
| Catholic | カトリック | catholic |
| gospel, good news | 福音 | gospel |
I hope this article has clarified your doubts regarding god in Japanese and some religious words in the language. Don't forget to share and leave your comments. Thank you very much and until next time!
