ofcourse they meant the Hindu god Shiva duh, that's why i'm saying it's strange for Japanese to turn Lord Shiva into Goddess Shiva.
While other Gods have the correct gender except Shiva, that's why i'm asking. I don't think the Japs were confused because of the long hair, anyway it's strange to me why they switch gender.
It's kinda of an insult to the Indian God to be honest
It may not be an intentional insult......let me explain.....
Japanese are mostly Buddhists and Buddhism is an offshoot of Hinduism....therefore, some beliefs,concepts, practices of Hinduism can be found in Buddhism too...but as Buddhism spread rapidly throughout the eastern part of the globe, it got mixed with the local beliefs, customs, traditions etc. and the 'original' teachings of Buddhism got somewhat changed(in some cases the change is drastic)....
Let me give you an example, few months back I was watching a documentary on....probably Discovery or History channel on Thailand..........there they showed how Thailand's Buddhist Monks performed some rituals on their followers........
Now, the rituals were supposed to be Buddhists but since I am a Hindu I could understand that they were part of Hinduism actually....and believe it or not, they literally turned devil into god and viceversa....the Monks were drawing tatoos on the followers(which is supposed to protect them from evil) in the name of Gods which they called
Lahu,
ketu-the Moon god, BUT according to Hindu mythology,
Rahu(not Lahu) is a devil(asura/danava) and
ketu(Rahu's body)......and he is hostile towards Moon which is regarded as a god......LOL