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Fūjin (風神) or Futen is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods.
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He is portrayed as a terrifying wizard-like demon, resembling a red headed green-skinned humanoid wearing a leopard skin, carrying a large bag of winds on his shoulders.
In Japanese art, the deity is often depicted together with Raijin, the god of lightning, thunder and storms.
Myths
According to Kojiki, Fujin (Shinatsuhiko) was born from Izanami.
Origins
The iconography of Fujin seems to have its origin in the cultural exchanges along the Silk Road. Starting with the Hellenistic period when Greece occupied parts of Central Asia and India, the Greek wind god Boreas became the god Wardo in Greco-Buddhist art, then a wind deity in China (frescoes of the Tarim Basin), and finally the Japanese Wind God Fujin.[1]
The wind god kept its symbol, the windbag, and its dishevelled appearance throughout this evolution.