Naobi - Rectification
The power to correct wrongdoing and restore harmony after transgression.
Naobi is the divine power of rectification that straightens what has become crooked. When one commits wrongs that disturb harmony, naobi represents the possibility of restoration through purification, sincere repentance, and renewed right action.
The kami of naobi straightens what has become bent, restoring the natural way.
Naobi offers hope for moral restoration without the concept of eternal punishment.
Classical Shinto texts
Written about in
- What Shinto says about conflict with people close to you
Naobi is the power that straightens what has been bent. Because Norinaga names it as a kami, the repair is not something either party has to manufacture, and it works on the relationship rather than on the question of who was right.
- What Shinto says about starting again after a fall
What naobi puts right is the harmony your wrong disturbed, not your reputation, and the route back has three named steps: purification, sincere repentance, renewed right action. Motoori Norinaga treats it as a kami, which means the capacity to recover is not your willpower — it is something already in the world that you can ask for.