Shinshi

In Shinto, an animal is a messenger of Kami, or a member of Kami's family who is considered to be in contact with this world on behalf of Kami's will. The animals are also called "messengers of the gods," "tsukawasame," or misaki. Sometimes, they are considered to be gods themselves. The animals that have been the subject of this study range from mammals to birds, reptiles, and imaginary creatures.

Chickens, the divine messengers, roaming free at Ise Shrine.

The story of a particular animal transmitting the will of a god can be found in Japanese mythology. In the account of Emperor Keikō in Nihon Shoki, it is said that the Mount Ibuki god Araburukami appeared to Yamato Takeru in the form of a serpent, and that Takeru said, "The serpent must be a messenger of Araburukami." The Empress of the Chronicles of Japan In the Empress Kōgyoku of the Chronicles of Japan (4th year, New Year's article), there is a description of a monkey that could not be seen, but was heard crying, and people believed it to be a messenger of the great god Ise, and judged good or bad fortune by its voice. In the same Emperor Sujin account, Omononushi himself visits his wife in the form of a snake.[1]

In Fusō Sakki, a book published in the middle of the Heian, it is said that a person who shot and killed a white fox (shiratoume) in the vicinity of the Ise Shrine was exiled to the region, suggesting that there was a belief in spiritual foxes in ancient times.[2]

As time went on, the animals that were regarded as divine messengers became fixed based on the mythological descriptions of the deity or the auspiciousness of the shrine, and were even raised within the precincts of the shrine. In addition, animals that were originally divine messengers, such as the fox at Inari Shrine, came to be worshipped. It is thought that the animals themselves were seen as spiritual beings of some kind, irrespective of the gods.

Some of the animals that are considered to be divine messengers include: