mitama
Mitama is a Japanese term meaning “spirit” or “soul,” with a sacred nuance common in Shinto and traditional Japanese thought. The word is often written 御霊 or 御魂 and read mitama, referring to the divine or essential life force that animates a person, ancestor, or sacred object. In Shinto, the mitama is typically distinguished from the physical body and is conceived as an aspect of a being that may be revered, propitiated, or deified.
In practice, mitama can be honored through household rites, offerings at shrines, and the veneration of ancestors
Mitama is related to other Japanese ideas of spirit and personhood, such as tamashii (soul) and kami