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Title |
Text |
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| 1 |
Nagoshi no harae |
Also called nagoshi , minatsuki barae , or aranigo no harae , this refers to the "great purification" ( ōharae ) performed on the last day of the sixth month of the lunar calendar. A great purification was held at the imperial court on the last day of the sixth and twelfth month... |
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| 2 |
Nanajūgozen sai |
"Seventy-five trays festival." A rite that takes place in spring and fall on the second Sundays of May and October at Kibitsu Shrine in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture. The ritual entails presenting seventy-five trays of food offerings ( shinsen ) to the seventy-five d... |
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| 3 |
Nanohana matsuri |
"Rape blossom festival." A rite held the first day of the snake in April at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. Ceremonies that function as rites to indicate the start of a period of astinence ( monoimi ) for the festival are held at the shrine... |
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| 4 |
Naorai |
A banquet that accompanies a matsuri . Usually understood as sharing a meal of the offerings made at the festival after its conclusion, the naorai is one of the constituent elements of matsuri. According to the Association of Shinto Shrines' Jinja saishiki , naorai are included ... |
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| 5 |
Nasubi shinji |
"Eggplant rite." A rite held September 27–28 at Suga Shrine in Daitō Town, Ōhara District, Shimane Prefecture. Eggplants ( nasubi ) are cut into two pieces; the blossom-end sections are cut with four notches and presented before the shrine's altar. Eggplants cut in this ... |
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| 6 |
Nedari matsuri |
"Blackmail festival." A rite held on the first day of the rooster in November at Toyosumi Shrine in Yui Town, Ihara District, Shizuoka Prefecture. Winter cod, sea bream, and abalone are served on cutting boards for a ritual banquet meal. The size of each serving is fixed, a... |
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| 7 |
Nemurinagashi no shinji |
A rite held on August 6 at Aso Shrine in Ichinomiya Town, Aso District, Kumamoto Prefecture. After a ceremony at Tazuwara Shrine, one of Aso's auxiliary shrines ( sessha ), a group of youths led by a lantern attached to a long staff ( takaharijōchin ) sing rice-planting songs as they com... |
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| 8 |
Nenjū gyōji |
"Annual events," a general term for the communal events that are held by people at the same time every year. Many of these observances have religious elements and even today not a few of them have a close connection to Shintō, such as hatsumōde , setsubun , and so forth. The te... |
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| 9 |
Nenneko shinji |
"Baby coat rite." A rite held on December 1 at Konoha Shrine in Koza Town, Higashi-Muro District, Wakayama Prefecture, to pray for easy childbirth and the healthy growth of children. Starting around 9:30 a.m., the baby nursing ritual ( komori no shinji ) begins. After r... |
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| 10 |
Niiname sai |
Literally, "First Taste Celebration," niiname sai refers to the set of harvest festivals in November carried out at the imperial palace and at shrines throughout the country. Complements the Kinen sai , a rite involving prayers for a healthy crop and held on the fourth da... |
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| 11 |
Nijūshi sekki |
"The twenty-four seasonal divides." Established to mark precise turning points within the annual seasonal cycle, the nijūshi sekki comprise a calendar divided into twenty-four points beginning with risshun ("the beginning of spring") and ending with da... |
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| 12 |
Nirai-kanai |
The name for the other world across the sea (or, on the seabed) where the deities dwell, and from where they bring both good fortune and catastrophe to the human world. Belief in this realm is found in the southwestern islands stretching from Amami to Okinawa. In most places, this realm ... |
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| 13 |
Noro |
The senior female celebrant in villages in Amami and Okinawa. Noro means "to pray" or "to report to the deities," and also refers to the person who engages in those activities. Norokumoi and norokumo also are used, with kumoi and kumo being honorifics. The ori... |
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| 14 |
Nukiho no shinji |
"Harvested rice ear rite." A rite held October 9 at Hikawa Shrine in Ōmiya City, Saitama Prefecture. Dumplings made from grains harvested that year are presented before the altar along with newly harvested ears of rice. On October 29, a harvested rice ear festival ( nukih... |
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| 15 |
Nusubito matsuri |
"Thief's festival." A festival held November 24–25 at Karino Shrine in Kaibara Town, Hikami District, Hyōgo Prefecture. The festival's name is said to derive from the legend that the shrine's enshrined deity ( saijin ) was a thief chased away by the Ōyama deity. Another l... |
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| 16 |
Nyōdō sai |
A festival that begins December 31 and ends before daybreak on January 1 at Ōmiwa Shrine in Sakurai City, Nara Prefecture. At midnight, the priest ( shinshoku ) uses a fireboard and drill to kindle a purified flame ( imibi ) to serve as a "divine fire" ( goshinka ). Following t... |
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| 17 |
Nōmai shinji |
"Nō and dance rite." A festival held on February 15 at Ugan Shrine in Ikeda Town, Imadate District, Fukui Prefecture. Four den-gaku dance pieces and five Nō plays are performed at the shrine's hall of worship ( haiden ). These pieces are followed by a notto piece in which a ma... |
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| 18 |
Nōryōsen kōsai |
"Processional festival for boats to enjoy the summer evening cool." A rite held August 7 at Takebe Shrine in Ōtsu City, Shiga Prefecture. On August 1, a sakaki offering ceremony ( sakakitate shinji ) is held at the shrine's hall of worship ( haiden ). Following this, partic... |
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| 19 |
Obi matsuri |
" Obi festival." A rite of prayer for safe childbirth held once every three years from October 13-15 at Ōi Shrine in Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture. A daimyō gyōretsu (the reenactment of the procession of a feudal lord) follows a shin'yo togyo (portable shrine process... |
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| 20 |
Obotsu-kagura |
A term used in a region that stretches from Amami to the Okinawa archipelago that refers to the other world where the kami dwell. The words obotsu and kagura have basically the same meaning and are used to form a couplet. According to the Chūzan seikan (Mirror of Chūzan, 1650) and the Oki... |
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