Magatsuhi-no-Kami are kami of Japan’s native Shinto belief system. Like other powerful kami, they are treated as a mighty, deity-like force that can directly influence the world on a massive scale. However, Magatsuhi-no-Kami stand out from the crowd by being the kami of disasters.
According to the Shinto creation myth, the Magatsuhi-no-Kami—or rather, Yasomagatsuhi-no-Kami, translated as “eighty myriads of disorder”—were born when Izanagi-no-Mikoto purified himself after his trip to Yomi. The impurities and pollutions he brought back with him washed away and formed into kami representing death, sickness, misfortune, and other ills.
Some traditions hold that Magatsuhi-no-Kami are entirely responsible for disasters. This interpretation states that all misfortunes and disorders in the world are the doing of these malicious entities. However, another interpretation argues that Magatsuhi-no-Kami actually grant humans the ability to be righteously furious in the face of injustice.
Later periods of Japanese history gave rise to the belief that worshipping Magatsuhi-no-Kami could help people avoid disasters. These entities then became guardians against evil. They were often enshrined with Naobi-no-Kami, kami of purification and avoiding disasters. Whatever the case, Magatsuhi-no-Kami are powerful spirits strongly associated with calamities both natural and man-made.
In Tale of Ronin, a series of natural disasters have begun to strike Japan. To make matters worse, the end of the Warring States period created great social unrest within the samurai class. Players may well encounter people who worry about and worship Magatsuhi-no-Kami in hopes of avoiding the calamities to come.