Raijin

Raijin is the Japanese deity of lightning, thunder, and storms, venerated in both Shinto tradition and Buddhist practice. He is known by several names, including Kaminari-sama and Narukami, reflecting the many facets of his power over the sky. His iconography appears widely across temples and shrines throughout Japan.

In artistic depictions, Raijin is typically shown as a fierce, wrathful figure standing atop a cloud, striking a ring of taiko drums adorned with tomoe symbols. His intense expression and dynamic pose convey the raw, fearsome energy of the storm. He is closely associated with the wind god Fūjin, and the two are frequently depicted as a pair in temple sculpture and painting.

Raijin is also said to be accompanied by his son Raitarō, a thunder deity in his own right, as well as by the mythical beast Raijū. The storm deity Susanoo-no-Mikoto is counted among his divine kin, further embedding Raijin within the broader family of storm-related kami in Japanese mythology.