神 means “god, spirit, mind”

かみ · kami

Also: gods, soul

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

かみ, かん-, こう-

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

シン, ジン

JLPT N3 · Taught in grade 3 · 9 strokes

The story

An altar (礻) beside 申, a drawing of lightning splitting the sky: the power people bowed before. 神 is a god, and Shinto speaks of 八百万の神, "eight million gods", in mountains, rivers and trees, each honored at a 神社.

Used in 神社 (jinja, Shinto shrine), 神様 (kamisama, god), and 神経 (shinkei, nerve)

More from Spirit & Being

• 福 fortune
• 存 exist
• 精 refined
• 絶 cut off
• 願 wish
• 現 appear
• 在 be located
• 容 contain
• 状 condition

Learn 神 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji

Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.