 …the word kami signifies first the deities of heaven and earth who appear in the ancient records and the spirits of the shrines where they are worshiped. It is unnecessary to add that it includes birds and beasts, trees and plants, seas and mountains, and so forth. In ancient usage, anything whatsoever which was outside the ordinary, which possessed superior power or was awe-inspiriting was called kami…. Evil and mysterious things, if they are extraordinary and dreadful, are also called kami, and among human beings who are called kami, the successive generations of divine emperors are all included. (Kojiki-den  adapted from Holtom, 1938, quoted in SJT, 2001, 18.) 