Of course all cultures all have ways of indicating honorable protagonists, and just by themselves, these just establish Hiyori and Bishamon as good people worth emulating.
But it's one of those things that, after it's pointed out to you (as Buruma's hard-to-find but 1000% *completely* worthwhile book does, showing how the pattern is older than Edo kabuki), it's hard to unsee. He also has awesome chapters on father figures (oyabun/daimyo/emperors), and much more.
One thing I don't super-appreciate about #Noragami is it's classic Japanese media representation of "good women" being "good mothers".
The high schooler Hiyori, a badass astral fighter, spends most her time as a caregiver—including sitting with the Yukine (the Yato god's weapon) as he does his homework: about as 母もの ("mother thing") as you can get.
Even the supreme war deity Bishamon has a huge spirit family because she cannot abandon a lost soul.
See Ian Buruma's *Behind the Mask* for 🤯.