Ujigami - Clan Deity
The ancestral kami of a family or clan, serving as its special protector.
Ujigami are the ancestral kami that protect specific families or clans. Originally, these were the deified ancestors of noble families; later, the concept extended to local tutelary deities protecting all residents of an area. Ujigami shrines are centers of community identity.
The ujigami watches over all who live within its care, ancestor of our community.
Ujigami worship connects family identity with local shrine practice.
Shrine traditions
Written about in
- What Shinto says about family and ancestors
An ujigami is the ancestral kami of a family or clan. In many places the term widened to mean the protector of everyone living in the district, so the shrine anchors a neighbourhood as much as a bloodline.