| Kyoha Shinto |
"Sect Shinto'. An administrative category applied to certain religious groups. It emerged as a result of government legislation in 1876 designed to give all kinds of independent religious movements, some of which focused on a particular kami, a legal status. The "sects" had names ending in -kyo (literally: teaching) and were so called to differentiate them from the institutions of the state-sponsored 'national teaching' (kokkyo, taikyo) which evolved into the "non-religious" form of shrine Shinto (see Kokka Shinto) The number, names and indeed nature of the groups did not remain constant; among the sects with Shinto affiliations some like Jingukyo did not persist as sects and all the groups eventually incorporated key teachings of the emperor system. In 1921 the Kyoha Shinto Rengo-kai, the official association of Shinto sects had thirteen groups, into which were forcibly incorporated many smaller groups which regrouped after 1945. The thirteen sects included revelatory "new" religious movements originating in the pre-Meiji period such as Tenrikyo, Kurozumi-kyo and together with sects which had begun as shrine-supporting networks formed by shrine administrators (e.g. Shinto Taisei-kyo, Ontake-kyo, Shinto Taikyo) Omoto-kyo which is sometimes listed as one of the thirteen came under the auspices of The list also included Izumo oyashiro-kyo, Jikko-kyo, Misogi-kyo, Shinshu-kyo, Shinto shuseiha and Shinri-kyo. Numerous other sects in modern Japan classified as 'sect Shinto' developed from or were classified under the thirteen recognised prewar sects and there are around fifty 'new sect shinto" organisations which began after 1945. In 1970 Tenri-kyo repudiated its Shinto identity. Kyoha shinto is also referred to as Shuha shinto |
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| Seikyo bunri |
"Separation of Government (sei) and religion (kyo) A policy declaration of 1882 intended to clarify the position of religions in relation to government, in the context of debate about the nature of "religion" in modernising Japan. It paved the way for the redefinition of Shinto as 'not a religion' (hi-shukyo) It led to the recognition of religious "sects" of Shinto |
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| Bekka |
"Set apart" (i.e. sacred) fire. It is often generated by rubbing wood and is used in rites of purification (saikai) before a ritual |
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| Nanakusa |
"Seven herbs" day, 7th January. It is the first of the five or seasonal days. On this one families eat rice soup made with seven seasonal herbs (nanakusa) to welcome the spring. It may also be offered to kami. There is an autumn version of the soup called aki-nanakusa |
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| Tanabata |
"Seventh night' usually translated as 'star festival" since it celebrates a legend from old China of the romance between a heavenly cowherd and a weaving girl. They neglected their work through love for each other and were punished by the god of the skies who ordered them to be set apart at each end of the ama-no-gawa, the celestial river or milky way. They were to work hard and could see each other only on the seventh day of the seventh month. On this day they could enter the celestial river because the god of the skies was away attending Buddhist sutra-chanting. The festival was officially recognised in 755 and was one of the five main annual festivals until the restoration. Tanabata involves the whole family and is widely celebrated in homes and schools regardless of religious affiliation. People connected with agriculture and weaving pray for help with these occupations, and youngsters enjoy making their own wishes on paper stars or star-spangled tanzaku (narrow paper strips for poetry) The major venue for the celebration of tanabata is the city of Sendai in the north-east of Japan, where homes display decorations of tanzaku hung from bamboo poles and the streets are decorated with great colourful paper streamers. The date of the festival is July 7th of the lunar calendar and like other big tanabata festivals in the north of Japan, which are based in towns rather than at shrines or temples, the Sendai tanabata takes place in August (6-8th) Tanabata tends to merge with celebrations in mid-August |
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| Shinmei-zukuri |
"Shinmei-style'. The primal style of shrine architecture (- zukuri) used for the main shrine (mi-shoden) of jingu (which is the only example technically known as Yui-itsu-shinmei, 'unique shinmei') and for some shrines elsewhere. The Atsuta jinja was rebuilt in 1935 in shinmei style. It is one of the oldest styles and features primitive building techniques in a spare and immaculate straight-line design, apparently deriving from Polynesian or south Chinese storehouse architecture. Rebuilt on adjoining plots every twenty years (see Shikinen sengu) the Ise shrine is thought to preserve virtually its original form. It is made of unpainted wood with two supporting pillars for the ridgepole, a verandah and a thatched roof with ten logs (katsuogi) placed across the ridgepole at intervals and two long slender bargeboards (chigi) pierced with 'wind holes" (kaze-kiri) projecting in an X shape above the ridgepole at each end |
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| Shokonsha |
"Shokon" means to invoke or invite the spirits of the dead, specifically the war dead. A shokonsha is a type of shrine dedicated since the period to past military heroes and the spirits of the war dead. In Meiji-era Tokyo 'the Shokonsha' referred to the jinja Initially there were twenty-seven "special" shokonsha shrines (bekkaku-kampei-sha) enshrining well-known loyal servants of the emperors and unifiers of the country. By 1901 there were 138 shrines classified as shokonsha; all were renamed jinja 'nation-protecting shrines" in 1939. Prefectural gokoku jinja were set up after the Russo-Japanese war and recognised as shokonsha. Below these were local public or private war memorials such as chukonhi (memorials to loyal spirits) Many of the non-shrine war memorials located in schools and other public areas were destroyed under the Directive but major memorials containing the remains of the war dead such as the chureito (tower to loyal spirits) in Okayama which is built within the Okayama gokoku shrine precincts may be seen. See |
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| Jinja shinto |
"Shrine Shinto'. One of a number of modern academic terms used in both the administration and analysis of In the Directive it was one of the synonyms of 'state Shinto'. It has been defined by the Honcho as 'the traditional religious practices carried on in shrines throughout Japan's history, as well as the attitudes to life which support these practices'. Critics have suggested that using even the term "Shinto" in its modern sense to refer to the past is problematic. Shinto since 1945 has been different from the so-called 'kokka shinto' (state Shinto) of 1868-1945, and "Shinto" in turn differed markedly from the socio-religious arrangements of Japan in the preceding eras when the term "Shinto" had different meanings and shrine practices were incorporated within a predominantly Buddhist world-view (see Shinto) It is probably advisable to reserve the term 'shrine shinto' for the form of Shinto which has existed since 1945 in Japan in which shrines are on the same constitutional footing as all other religious institutions, have no doubt carried forward from prewar days an expectation of centralised guidance, but are financially independent of the state and are no longer guided by government decrees. In this sense 'shrine Shinto" means the beliefs and practices currently associated with the shrines, particularly those who look to the Jinja Honcho for guidance |
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| Shrine Shinto |
"Shrine Shinto'. One of a number of modern academic terms used in both the administration and analysis of In the Directive it was one of the synonyms of 'state Shinto'. It has been defined by the Honcho as 'the traditional religious practices carried on in shrines throughout Japan's history, as well as the attitudes to life which support these practices'. Critics have suggested that using even the term "Shinto" in its modern sense to refer to the past is problematic. Shinto since 1945 has been different from the so-called 'kokka shinto' (state Shinto) of 1868-1945, and "Shinto" in turn differed markedly from the socio-religious arrangements of Japan in the preceding eras when the term "Shinto" had different meanings and shrine practices were incorporated within a predominantly Buddhist world-view (see Shinto) It is probably advisable to reserve the term 'shrine shinto' for the form of Shinto which has existed since 1945 in Japan in which shrines are on the same constitutional footing as all other religious institutions, have no doubt carried forward from prewar days an expectation of centralised guidance, but are financially independent of the state and are no longer guided by government decrees. In this sense 'shrine Shinto" means the beliefs and practices currently associated with the shrines, particularly those who look to the Jinja Honcho for guidance |
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| Kokuheisha |
"Shrine receiving offerings from the local government." The second rank of formally recognised shrines (after kampeisha) in the Engi-Shiki. Revived as a post-Meiji shrine rank. See |
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| Jinja fukkyu |
"Shrine restoration'. An official term recognised in the prewar Shrine Administration Law, which presupposes an understanding of gappei It refers to the process by which the deity of a central, merged shrine was enshrined in one of the shrines which had been merged with it, thus re-establishing the previously abolished shrine. However the officially approved deity so "restored" was not necessarily the same as the local kami who had originally been "merged", so from the point of view of local people it was likely that no "restoration" was taking place. In the unofficial form of 'shrine restoration' (which has been termed by scholars jinja fukushi to differentiate it from the legal term jinja fukkyu) local residents resurrected their local shrine in some unauthorised form after jinja gappei, perhaps by using a building as a for their absent kami. This was a defiant move in pre-war times. Since 1945 the "recognition" of shrines was no longer a matter for government so restoration of previously-merged shrines could and did take place where local support for such a move existed |
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| Sengu |
"Shrine transfer'. Also go-sengu, or shikinen-gosenza-sai (special-year enshrinement rite) or similar. It refers to the practice of transferring a kami from one shrine building to another one which has been newly-built, or from the main shrine to an during a or simply from one shrine to another in cases where the kami has two 'houses'. Before the Tokugawa period the practice of transferring a kami to a shrine in a private residence was also widespread. The best-known type of sengu is the sengu 'special ceremony-year transfer" carried out every twenty years at the jingu, in which Amaterasu is transferred at dead of night to the new neighbouring shrine. The sengu procession is a profoundly dramatic and solemn ritual event marked by various taboos (imi) See also no gi. Other sengu at intervals of about a generation are carried out elsewhere, sometimes at shrines of quite small villages. The cost of periodic rebuilding is substantial and now has to be met (including at Ise) by voluntary contributions. Torches (taimatsu) lanterns (chochin) etc. may be used to suggest night-time even where the sengu ceremony actually takes place in daylight |
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| Kampeisha |
"Shrines receiving offerings from the jingikan" (i.e. from the emperor) A post-Meiji shrine rank. Kampeisha taisha were of this kind. See seido |
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| Sutanpu bukku |
"Stamp book" widely used by shrine visitors and pilgrims to collect the rubber-stamp seals of shrines |
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| Toka |
"Stamping song'. A rite of Chinese origin traditionally carried out as a haru-matsuri (spring festival) around the time of the first full moon of the new year. Participants form a procession and stamp the earth while singing to pacify the spirit of the earth in order to secure a good harvest. A rather formal toka jinji 'stamping dance rite' is conducted by priests at the Jingu to pray for a good harvest. It includes divination (bokusen) by the sound of a small drum and a toka no sechie or 'stamping song banquet" preceded by ten minutes of The Atsuta rite, now held on January 11th, is listed among the annual festivals of the shrine in the period. Toka may also mean '10th day'; see Toka ebisu |
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| Natsu-matsuri |
"Summer festivals'. A collective term for the numerous mainly small-scale village festivals held in the summer, ostensibly to guard crops against pests and adverse conditions. There are some major natsu-matsuri held at Kyoto shrines, notably at the Yasaka-jinja (=the Gion matsuri) on 17-24th July, the Kitano Tenmangu on 4th August and the Iwashimizu Hachimangu on 15th September. At the Kumano-nachi taisha, Wakayama, teams carrying down from the summit of the mountain and teams carrying torches up join in a tussle when they meet. At the Itsukushima-jinja, Miyajima, Hiroshima on the nearest Sunday to July 18th by the old lunar calendar, a kind of look-out tower of poles is erected in the sea and a hoju, a symbol of the soul (tama) or jewel derived from Taoism, distantly connected with protection against fire, is hung from it. Youths compete and cooperate with each other to raise one person high enough to reach the hoju and achieve good luck, in the festival known as tama-tori-sai 'Tama-grabbing'. The Nebuta or Neputa "drowsiness" festival though not formally connected with Shinto or Buddhism is also widely celebrated in early August in northern Japan with huge images of kabuki actors and other intense characters, the object being to dispel summer sleepiness |
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| Jisha |
"Temple-shrine'. Traditional religious centres which evolved out of the relationship between one or more shrines and Buddhist temples, usually implying the identification of each kami with a Buddha or bodhisattva (bosatsu) and the integration of beliefs and ritual practices. The constituent elements of the jisha were "separated" in the bunri of 1868 prior to the emergence of late 19th century Shinto |
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| Okage-mairi |
"Thanks" or "Blessings" visits. It refers to mass pilgrimages to jingu during the Tokugawa period which took place at irregular intervals, the largest—involving 2-5 million people each time—at approximately sixty-year intervals (1705, 1771 and 1830) There were many other nation-wide or smaller okage-mairi during this period. The early pilgrimages were relatively restrained, with pious travellers dressed in white, while later okage-mairi such as the largest in 1830 began spontaneously with rumours that Ise talismans were falling from the sky (o-fuda furi) and led to mass excitement as workers, men women and children left their homes with or without permission and converged on Ise, supported on their way by members of the communities through which they passed who were keen to gain merit and prevent too much disorder by helping the pilgrims along. The pilgrimages mingled religious devotion and adventure with manifold secular pleasures and a spirit of ritual rebellion which sought "world-renewal" (yo-naoshi) readjustment of the inequalities between different classes of society. These outbreaks of popular devotion were deeply deplored by most thinkers |
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| Gobusho |
"The Five Shinto Scriptures'. The name given in the late seventeenth century by Deguchi, Nobuyoshi to a collection of thirteenth-century texts of Watarai (or Ise) Five scriptures purporting to be ancient secret works restricted to members of the Watarai family aged over sixty had been produced at that time to show that the Ise outer shrine (Watarai) lineage had a scriptural canon equivalent to that of the Confucians and Buddhists. The first volume "yamato-hime-seiki" for example explains that Great Japan is a divine land, that the safety of the land depends on the assistance of the kami, that the spiritual power of the kami is augmented when the state shows reverence, etc.. The texts were influential in the development of various views of Shinto as a way of life for ordinary people (see e.g. Yoshida, Kanetomo, Suiga shinto, Hayashi, Razan) The existence of this work stimulated no Azumamaro (1669—1736) to conduct investigations into the ancient Japanese classics; researches which led to the development of the movement |
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| Shinto Gobusho |
"The Five Shinto Scriptures'. The name given in the late seventeenth century by Deguchi, Nobuyoshi to a collection of thirteenth-century texts of Watarai (or Ise) Five scriptures purporting to be ancient secret works restricted to members of the Watarai family aged over sixty had been produced at that time to show that the Ise outer shrine (Watarai) lineage had a scriptural canon equivalent to that of the Confucians and Buddhists. The first volume "yamato-hime-seiki" for example explains that Great Japan is a divine land, that the safety of the land depends on the assistance of the kami, that the spiritual power of the kami is augmented when the state shows reverence, etc.. The texts were influential in the development of various views of Shinto as a way of life for ordinary people (see e.g. Yoshida, Kanetomo, Suiga shinto, Hayashi, Razan) The existence of this work stimulated no Azumamaro (1669—1736) to conduct investigations into the ancient Japanese classics; researches which led to the development of the movement |
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