Shinto in popular culture

There is a significant amount of reference to Shinto in Japanese popular culture, including film, manga, anime, and video games. Shinto religion is at the core of Japanese culture and history and as such greatly affects the outcome of pop culture in modern Japan. The references are pervasive and have significant relevance to modern life in Japan amongst the new generations.

This page lists works in Japanese or international popular culture that borrow significantly from Shinto myths, deities, and beliefs. It is not an exhaustive list of the many games, movies, manga and other cultural products that mention the religion or the names of its deities.

Amaterasu

Film

• In the 2003 film Onmyoji II, the story of Amaterasu (played by Kyōko Fukada) is revisited when the main character, based on Abe no Seimei (played by Mansai Nomura), assumes the role of the dancer in bringing the goddess back to earth.

• In the Stargate series, Amaterasu is a Goa'uld system lord who comes to Earth after Anubis's demise to the ancient device in Antarctica to form a temporary truce between Earth and the Goa'uld. She comes along with Lord Yu and Camulus.

Anime and manga

• In Dream Saga, the earth is destroyed and recreated whenever humans have polluted it. This is done when Susanoo, the god of destruction, consumes Amaterasu, the sun. The two main characters, Yuuki and Takaomi, are given key roles in the process.
• In the manga Urusei Yatsura, a parody of the famous 'cave story' is performed which ends when the gods decide they enjoy the burlesque spectacle outside the cave so much, they lock Amaterasu inside.
• In Naruto, Uchiha Clan members who achieve the Mangekyo Sharingan can use Amaterasu, an eye technique that releases black, eternal flames.

Video games

• In Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, a shrine to Amaterasu (Tensho Doijin) is used to invoke an eclipse. In the game, eclipses can contain anger and evil intentions (and Dracula's castle), just as Amaterasu contained Susanoo's rampage by hiding her light in a cave.
• In the video game Okami, Amaterasu is depicted as a white wolf and she is the main protagonist of the game. Like in the ancient legends she is the goddess of the sun, but controls many other powers as well by painting things. This depiction of Amaterasu is also a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
• In the PlayStation 2 video game Persona 4, Amaterasu is the ultimate persona of Yukiko Amagi.

Card Game

In the Card game Cardfight Vanguard (As well as the anime it is based on), there is a card named "CEO Amaterasu" which belongs to the Oracle Think Tank Clan.

Izanami and Izanagi

• Izanami is an antagonist in the PlayStation 2 video game Persona 4; Izanagi is the initial persona of the Protagonist.
• In the Okami video game, the characters Nagi and Nami are based off these.

Kagu-tsuchi

• Kagu-tsuchi is central to the plot of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. The Kagu-tsuchi sustains an embryonic world till its power can be drained to fuel a new creation; Izanami and Izanagi also appear.

Susanoo

• Tokusatsu films such as The Three Treasures (where he was played by Toshirō Mifune) and Yamato Takeru
• The 2003 film Onmyoji II, played by Hayato Ichihara.
• Anime, such as Dark Myth, Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, Blue Seed, where his ultimate goal is to make Japan a land of nature once more by turning every human into plants
• Susanoo the Brawler is an episodic comic by Elizabeth Watasin, appearing in Action Girl Comics, in which many members of the Japanese pantheon are incarnated as teenage girls.
• In Tenjou Tenge, Nagi Souichirou is possessed by the spirit of Susano'o when his spirit was transferred to the 'Ultimate Warrior'. Susano'o is seen as an unstoppable opponent of extreme power, who can only be defeated by Amaterasu.
• In the video game Okami, Susanoo (shortened to Susano) is a warrior, descended from Nagi.
• He is a playable character in Warriors Orochi 3