{{Short description|Spirit of a kami or the soul of a dead person}} {{Italic title|reason=:Category:Japanese words and phrases}} The Japanese word {{nihongo|'''''mitama'''''|御魂・御霊・神霊||'honorable spirit'}} refers to the spirit of a ''kami'' or the soul of a dead person.<ref>Iwanami {{nihongo|Kōjien|広辞苑}} Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version</ref> It is composed of two characters, the first of which, {{nihongo||御|'''mi'''|honorable}}, is simply an honorific. The second, {{nihongo|''tama''|魂・霊}} means "spirit". The character pair {{Lang|ja|神霊}}, also read {{Lang|ja-Latn|mitama}}, is used exclusively to refer to a ''kami's'' spirit.<ref name="tama">{{EOS|Tama|1232|Yonei Teruyoshi|February 10, 2011}}</ref> Significantly, the term {{nihongo|''mitamashiro''|御魂代||'mitama representative'}} is a synonym of ''shintai'', the object which in a Shinto shrine houses the enshrined ''kami''.
Early Japanese definitions of the ''mitama'', developed later by many thinkers like Motoori Norinaga, maintain it consists of several "spirits", relatively independent one from the other.<ref name="kas">{{cite book | last = Smyers | first = Karen Ann | title = The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship | pages=118–119 | publisher = University of Hawaii Press | year = 1999 | location = Honolulu | isbn = 0-8248-2102-5 | oclc = 231775156}}</ref> The most developed is the {{nihongo||一霊四魂|ichirei shikon}}, a Shinto theory according to which the {{nihongo|spirit|霊魂|reikon}} of both ''kami'' and human beings consists of one ''whole'' spirit and four ''sub'' spirits.<ref name="ichirei">* {{EOS|Ichirei shikon|1181|Yonei Teruyoshi|February 10, 2011}}</ref> The four sub-spirits are the {{nihongo||荒御霊・荒御魂|ara-mitama|Wild Spirit}}, the {{nihongo||和御霊・和御魂|nigi-mitama|Gentle Spirit}}, the {{nihongo||幸御魂|saki-mitama|Happy Spirit}} and the {{nihongo||奇御霊・奇御魂|kushi-mitama|Wondrous Spirit}}.
According to the theory, each of the sub-spirits making up the spirit has a character and a function of its own; they all exist at the same time, complementing each other.<ref name="ichirei"/> In the ''Nihon Shoki'', the deity Ōnamuchi (Ōkuninushi) actually meets his ''kushi-mitama'' and ''saki-mitama'' in the form of Ōmononushi, but does not even recognize them. The four seem moreover to have a different importance, and different thinkers have described their interaction differently.<ref name="kas"/>
=={{Lang|ja-Latn|Ara-mitama}} and {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}}== {{see also|Kami#History}} [[File:Aramatsuri-no-miya 02.jpg|thumb|210 px|Ise Shrine's Aramatsuri-no-miya is said to enshrine Amaterasu's {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}}.]] The {{nihongo||荒魂|Ara-Mitama|{{lit|Wild/Rampageous Spirit}}}} is the dynamic or rough and violent side of a spirit.<ref name=ara>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Yonei|first=Teruyoshi|title=Aramitama|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1180|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=Kokugakuin University|access-date=5 February 2011}}</ref><ref name=nigi>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Yonei|first=Teruyoshi|title=Nigimitama|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1470|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=Kokugakuin University|access-date=5 February 2011}}</ref> A ''kami's'' first appearance is as an {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}}, which must be pacified with appropriate pacification rites and worship so that the {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}} can appear.<ref name="ara"/><ref name="nigi"/>
The {{nihongo||和魂|Nigi-Mitama|{{lit|Harmonious/Gentle Spirit}}}} is the static side of a ''kami'', while the {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}} appears in times of peril. These two sub-spirits are usually considered opposites, and Motoori Norinaga believed the other two to be no more than aspects of the {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}}.<ref name="kas"/>
{{Lang|ja-Latn|Ara-mitama}} and {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}} are in any case independent agents, so much so that they can sometimes be enshrined separately in different locations and different ''shintai''. For example, Sumiyoshi Shrine in Shimonoseki enshrines the {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}} of the Sumiyoshi ''kami'', while Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka enshrines its {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}}.<ref name="ara"/> Ise Shrine has a sub-shrine called Aramatsuri-no-miya enshrining Amaterasu's {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}}. Atsuta-jingū has a ''sessha'' called Ichi-no-misaki Jinja for her {{Lang|ja-Latn|ara-mitama}} and a ''massha'' called Toosu-no-yashiro for her {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}}. No separate enshrinement of the ''mitama'' of a ''kami'' has taken place since the rationalization and systematization of Shinto actuated by the Meiji Restoration.<ref name="kas"/>
==''Saki-mitama''== The {{nihongo||幸魂|Saki-Mitama|{{lit|Happy/Lucky Spirit}}}} - The happy and loving side of a whole, complete spirit ('''mitama'''); this is the spirit of blessing and prosperity. In a scene of the Nihon Shoki, ''kami'' Ōnamuchi is described in conversation with his own ''saki-mitama'' and ''kushi-mitama''. Within Shinto also exists the idea that this the spirit which brings good harvests and catches. Motoori Norinaga and others however believe this to be no more than a function of the {{Lang|ja-Latn|nigi-mitama}}.<ref>{{EOS|Sakimitama|1219|Yonei Teruyoshi|February 10, 2011}}</ref>
==''Kushi-mitama''== The {{nihongo||奇魂|Kushi-mitama|{{lit|Miraculous/Wondrous Spirit}}}} is the wise and experienced side of a whole, complete spirit ('''mitama'''); the "wondrous spirit" which appears together with the ''saki-mitama'', the Happy Spirit, which is the power behind the harvest. It is believed to have mysterious powers, to cause transformations and to be able to cure illnesses.<ref>{{EOS|Kushimitama|1207|Yonei Teruyoshi|February 10, 2011}}</ref>
==Mitama Festival== {{Main|Yasukuni Shrine#Annual celebrations{{!}}Mitama Matsuri}} A widely celebrated Shinto festival to the dead in Japan, particularly at the Yasukuni Shrine. Typically in mid-July.
==See also== * Chinkon * Obon * Reikon * {{slink|Honda Chikaatsu|Theorems of the Great Three}}
==References== <references/>
Category:Shinto Category:Goryō faith Category:Souls Category:Spirits Category:Japanese ghosts