All of them are called Yao-Yorozu no Kami, or “the Eight Million Gods.” Stories of these gods, showing their origin and geneology in relation to the Emperor, were collected from the Fudoki’s, and used to unify the nation. These Animistic beliefs and their association with Shamanism, gradually developed into Shintoism, and even today, those beliefs still reflect the close relationship of the Japanese to all of nature.