A Myriad Gods

I learnt a new word teaching a Business English class today. The topic of discussion was culture and we were talking specifically about how religion affects a culture. Most Japanese these days are not so religious but the Shinto and Buddhist religions have certainly helped to create the culture that they live in. Mr. Ohta then said to me, "In Japan, we don't have only one God, and we don't think just one God is important. We have many many Gods." And he taught me this word:

八百万の神 - やおよろずのかみ　= (according to my dictionary
) the multitudinous Shinto deities.

八　＝　８
百　＝　１００
万　＝　１０，０００
神　＝　gods

So literally 8000,000 gods but this number doesn't have a literal or specific meaning, it signifies a myriad, or a number beyond count. I asked why 8 million signifies a myriad and not 6 or 7. It's the shape of the kanji 八 my students said. "It spreads wide towards the base like a mountain," said Mr. Yokoyama, "So for Japanese 八 means something growing wider...". Anyway, said Mr. Ohta smiling, "For Japanese, Christ or Buddha are just another pair of Gods in 八百万の神. So when we have a festival it is at a Shinto shrine, and when we die our funeral is Buddhist, and when we get married, it's in a church." And then we all laughed.