SHINTO GLOSSARY
Aikido--Japanese martial art
Amaterasu OmiKami, the divinity of the Sun
Amatsumi (pollution from above)
Ame-no-iwato -- a cave
Ame no Minakanushi (the Master of the August Center of Heaven)
Ame no Ukihashi, (the Floating Bridge of Heaven)
Ameuzume OKami (Ame-no-uzume-no-Kami) --wife of Sarutahiko OKami
bonenkai, year end parties
bunke goshintai, a branch of the sacred worship object to represent the spirit of Sarutahiko OKami
Butsudo, the way of the Buddha
chinkon --Shinto spiritual exercises
chinkonto-- way of spiritual practice
chohai or morning worship
chowa or harmony
Daijinja (Grand Shrine--OKamiyashiro is another way of reading the same characters)
Daishizen--the great cosmos, the Great Nature,the vast cosmic setting into which we are born
Do or To is the Japanese word for a "way". It can be the ordinary word for a road
Ebisu (the guardian Kami particularly of merchants and also of rice fields)
fundoshi or loin cloth
Furitama ( "Soul Shaking")
gohei --white paper streamers, cut and folded sacred paper
Gon-Guji (Associate High Priest)
Gon-Negi (or junior priests)
Gosaijin or enshrined Kami
goshintai or object of reverence
gu -- suffix of shrines connected with imperial house
Guji --High Priest
gyo -- discipline
gyoji or events of the year
Gyomando --building where spirits of deceased are revered
hachimaki or headband
Haiden-- outer worship hall or sanctuary
Haraiden -- purification hall
harai-gushi, a wand of paper streamers
hatsumode -- New Year's celebration
Heian age (794-1185)
Heiden -- rooted room with walls
Honden (or Shinden) main worship sanctuary, main Shrine
Honji-Suijaku-Setsu, the idea of the one religion being the manifestation of
another
hongu or principal shrine
Ibuki ("Breathing")
Ichi-no-miya, i.e. number one shrines
Ireisai (a memorial ceremony for the war dead)
Ise -no-Ichi-no-Miya, which means the first shrine of the Ise district.
Izanagi no Mikoto (the Male Who Invites)
Izanami no Mikoto (the Female Who Invites)
Izumo Taisha, the Great Shrine of Izumo
jinja --shrine
Jinja Honcho or Voluntary Association of Shinto Shrines
Jinja Shinto (Shrine Shinto)
Jingu --shrine with imperial connection
Kagura --a re-enactment of the dance of Ameuzume-no-Mikoto
Kami -- divine (either plural or singular)
Kamidana, the shelf on which the miniature shrine is placed and the offerings made to the Kami
Kami Musubi no Kami (the Divine Producing Wondrous Kami)
Kami no Michi --the way of the Kami
kannagara, the way of the Kami, the way of the divine as perceived by the Japanese spirit, movements that go "along with the Kami," "Natural Religion"
Kannushi which carries more of the nuance of someone who is master in charge or guardian of the house in which the Kami resides.
kansha - simply giving things to the powers that make mankind their care
kempetai, the special police
Ki (which means Spirit in its causal aspect - Ki is a kind of energy source)
kigansai a prayer of purification for the peace of the world
kikinaoshi (meaning "obedient")
Kito a kind of purification and blessing
Kogakuin University was originally State Shinto college which was closed briefly after the War. It was under supervision of the Grand Shrines of Ise and was known as Ise-Senmon Gakko. This is now known as Kogaku-kan or Kogaku Center.
Kojiki which means "Record of Ancient Matters"
Kokka Shinto --State Shinto.
Kokuryuon-no-OKami (Kami of water, life and ki)
Kon, (the soul)
Kotodama the study of the origins of the meaning and use of words by reference to their sound and soul
Kotodamagaku the scientific method of studying Kotodama
kugyo , a kind of ascetic discipline
Kuni Tokotachi no Kami, (the Eternally Standing Heavenly Kami).
Kunitokotachi-no-Mikoto (the earthly Kami)
Kunistumi (pollution from below)
matsuri --the festivals
Mei -- life
Michihiko -- leader
miko or shrine maidens
misogi, the physical act of ritual purification in water
misogi harai -- purification under a free-standing waterfall
musubi -- horizontal knot; also the power of creativity
naihaiden -- inner sanctuary
nakaima -- literally "in the middle of now".
naorai -- ceremonial drinking with the Kami
Negi -- senior priest
Nen-chu-gyo-ji --literally "year-round-discipline-rituals"
ni-hai-ni-hakushi-ippai --two bows, two claps and a final bow
niju-ni-sha --the twenty-two very important shrines
Nihongi, the "Chronicles of Japan" written around the year 720,
Nihonshoki --Japanese classic
Ninigi-no-Mikoto --
noorito --words of ceremonial, ceremonial address to the Kami
O --an honorific, preceding many terms
Obarae --the two great days of national purification (June 30th and December 31st)
Obon --Buddhist festival for the souls of the ancestors
oharai or purification
Okuni-nushi-OKami, the Kami of happiness
omamori --a talisman
omotte sando, the main road into the shrine precincts
Onokoro-jima (the earth)
Oshogatsu--New Year
Rei (spirit)
Reishoan --Tea House
Rinne -- Buddhist term for transmigration of the soul
Saisei-Itchi the union of Religion and State in Kokka Shinto
sakaki, the evergreen tree
Sakashio, or purifying salt
sambo -- offering stand
sammi-sangen, the principle of the three elements that constitute existence: gas, liquid and solid
sampai or formal shrine worship
sando-- pathway
Sangen -- Three main factors
sangen-no-hosoku -- rule of three main factors
Sanshu-no-Jingi, the three sacred treasures of the Imperial Regalia, the Mirror, the Sword and the Jewel
Sarutahiko Daihongu-- Dai means great, hon means head and gu is a suffix which means shrine with an imperial connection. The same character for gu can also be read miya which can mean either shrine or palace.
Sarutahiko OKami --the head of the earthly Kami, the pioneer of the way of rightness and justice
shaku (the wooden flat stick carried by Shinto priests)
Shamusho or shrine offices
Shichi-Go-San, literally Seven-Five-Three--the children's festival
Shimenawa means the rope that marks off a purified area
shime-to-naru -- "To be a knot."
shinboku, the sacred tree
Shinden -- inclusive term for all Shrine halls
shinenkai or new year parties
Shingon or True Word Buddhism
Shinsen -- offerings to the Kami
Shinsenho --ancient ritual based on numerology
Shinshoku (literally Kami-employment)
shinko or faith
shinsen, the specially prepared food offerings to the enshrined Kami, rice, the sustainer of life, water the basis of life and salt, the purifier of life.
Shishido or Lion Hall
Shishimai or lion dance
Shi-shi-mai-shinji, the power of the lion dance
Showa age (1926-present)
Shugendo -- literally, the way of mountain asceticism
Susanoo-no-Mikoto the deity of the stars
Susuharai, a ceremonial house cleaning
Taisai or Great Festival around the third weekend of February each year
Taisho Era (1912-1926)
Takaamahara (the Plain of High Heaven, i.e. the entire universe, the cosmos
Takama-no-Hara can be interpreted as the solar system
TaKami Musubi no Kami (the High August producing Kami)
Takunan Juku -- a Senmon Gakko, a vocational college
tate -- vertical dimension
Te-mizu-ya --the ablution pavilion
torii --great gate
Tsukiyomi (the Deity of the Moon)
tsumi or impurity and wrong
Ujiko or Ujiko-sodai (the committee of representatives of the shrine"s parishioners)
ukeau --spirit of undertaking a mission
Umashi Ashikabi Hikoji no Kami (the Pleasant Reed Shoot Elderly Kami)
Waketama (separated individual souls), which is another way of saying "children of the Kami"
Yakuyuoke means a talisman, or omamori
yashiki-gami or household Kami, the guardian of the household
Yayoi age (primite, prehistoric age)
yoko or horizontal dimension
Yomi no Kuni --the underworld, the land of pollution
Yukinari Yamamoto -- elder brother of author
Yukiteru Yamamoto-- father of author
Yukiyasu Yamamoto--adopted son of author
