When thunder rolls across the Japanese sky, the sound is said to be the drumming of Raijin (雷神), the god of thunder and lightning. He is usually depicted as a fierce, muscular, demon-like figure with wild hair, horns, and a snarling face, surrounded by a ring of taiko drums that he beats with hammers to make the thunder. He rides on the clouds, often alongside his companion Fūjin (風神), the god of wind, who carries a great bag of winds over his shoulders.
Raijin is both feared and honoured. His storms can destroy crops and burn houses. But he also brings the rain that makes rice grow. Children are warned to cover their belly buttons during thunderstorms — because Raijin likes to eat them.
Names and Forms
Raijin is known by many names: Kaminari-sama (“honoured thunder”), Raiden-sama (“lord thunder and lightning”), Narukami (“sounding god”), and others. The word kaminari, “thunder,” is itself thought to derive from kami-nari, “the god’s sound” or “the god’s roar.”
In the oldest Japanese mythology, thunder is not a single god but many. In the Kojiki, when the god Izanagi descended into the underworld of Yomi to see his dead wife Izanami, he found her rotting body, and eight thunder gods (ikazuchi) had been born from it: in her head, breast, belly, genitals, and limbs. They pursued Izanagi as he fled (see Izanagi in Yomi). These thunder gods of death may be the ancestors of Raijin.
The Demon of the Drums
The classic image of Raijin comes from Buddhist art and folk tradition. He resembles an oni, with horns, fangs, and red skin, and sometimes a tiger-skin loincloth (see Oni: The Demons and Ogres of Japan). He is often shown with only three fingers on each hand, which some Buddhist interpreters said represented the past, present, and future.
His drums are arranged in a ring or arc around his body, like a halo. He strikes them with drumsticks or hammers, and the thunder rolls out.
Fūjin and Raijin
Raijin is almost always paired with Fūjin, the wind god, who is shown as a green-skinned demon carrying a huge bag of wind over his shoulders. When he opens the bag, the winds rush out.
The most famous depiction of the two gods is the pair of folding screens Fūjin Raijin-zu (“Wind God and Thunder God”) by the painter Tawaraya Sōtatsu (early seventeenth century), now at Kennin-ji temple in Kyoto and designated a National Treasure. Against a shimmering gold background, the two gods leap across the clouds, Fūjin on the right with his billowing bag and Raijin on the left with his drums. The composition was so admired that it was copied by later masters of the Rinpa school, including Ogata Kōrin and Sakai Hōitsu.
At Sanjūsangen-dō temple in Kyoto, famous for its thousand statues of the goddess Kannon, fierce wooden statues of Fūjin and Raijin from the thirteenth century guard the hall. At Sensō-ji temple in Tokyo’s Asakusa district, statues of Fūjin and Raijin stand in the great outer gate, the Kaminarimon (“Thunder Gate”), under its famous giant red lantern.
Protector and Punisher
Raijin was a protector of Buddhism as well as a force of nature. Together with Fūjin, he was one of the attendants of the thousand-armed Kannon, protecting the faithful.
In a famous historical legend, Raijin also played a part in the defence of Japan. When the Mongols under Kublai Khan invaded Japan in 1274 and again in 1281, great storms destroyed their fleets. These were the kamikaze, the “divine winds.” Some traditions credit Raijin and Fūjin with sending them.
Sugawara no Michizane
Another famous thunder legend concerns Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), a great scholar and statesman of the Heian period. Falsely accused by his rivals of plotting against the emperor, he was exiled to Dazaifu in Kyushu, where he died in misery.
After his death, disasters struck the capital. His enemies died one by one. In 930, lightning struck the imperial palace, killing several officials. People believed that Michizane’s angry spirit had become a thunder god. To appease him, the court restored his titles and built shrines in his honour. He was deified as Tenjin, the god of learning and scholarship, and today students throughout Japan visit Tenman-gū shrines to pray for success in their examinations.
Belly Buttons
The strangest part of Raijin’s lore is his supposed appetite for navels. Japanese parents traditionally warned their children to hide their belly buttons during thunderstorms, or Raijin would come down and eat them. Some said that he would take the navel of anyone who slept uncovered.
The belief may have a practical origin. Thunderstorms often bring a sudden drop in temperature, and parents wanted children to keep their stomachs covered to avoid catching cold. Another explanation is that lightning was feared to strike people exposed on open ground.
Raitaro: The Thunder Child
In a folk tale, a thunder god falls to earth and is rescued by a farmer. In gratitude, the god gives the childless farmer a son, Raitarō, who has power over the rain. The boy brings prosperity to the farmer’s fields for eighteen years, then turns into a white dragon and flies up to the sky. Tales like this show Raijin in his beneficent aspect, as a bringer of the rain that rice cultivation depends on.
Raiju: The Thunder Beast
Raijin is accompanied by Raijū (雷獣), the “thunder beast,” a creature of lightning in the form of a cat, a wolf, a weasel, or a ball of lightning. Raijū was said to sleep in people’s navels (another reason to cover them), and to leap from tree to tree during storms, leaving claw marks on trees struck by lightning.
Raijin Today
Raijin remains a vivid presence in Japanese culture. The Kaminarimon gate at Sensō-ji is one of Tokyo’s most visited landmarks. He appears in anime and video games, including Mortal Kombat, whose thunder god Raiden is loosely based on him, and the Naruto and Pokémon series (the legendary Pokémon Thundurus and Tornadus are modelled on Raijin and Fūjin). Tawaraya Sōtatsu’s golden screen is one of the most celebrated images of Japanese art, and the thunder god’s drums still echo across the summer sky.
Last reviewed: September 2026.