Female Shinto spirit

This figure represents a native spirit, or kami, in the form of a goddess; her name is not known. She is depicted as an aristocratic woman, dressed in a thick kimono-like garment. Images like this one were kept hidden away from public view in the innermost portions of Shinto shrines.

The core of Shinto is nature worship. Since ancient times the Japanese revered spirits who they believed existed abundantly in the natural world, in mountains, rocks, waterfalls, and trees. Kami were not depicted in a human form, male or female, until the ninth century, when the practice of making statues like this one emerged under the strong influence of Buddhist image-making.