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Title |
Text |
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| 1 |
Kengyō |
One who has general responsibility for the management of a shrine or temple, derived from a Chinese term meaning "to investigate and consider." The term seems to have been in use from the beginning of the Tang period in China as a word for the duties of a certain type of Buddhi... |
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| 2 |
Kenkoku |
To establish a country, or to establish the foundations of a country for the first time. It refers to the birth of a nation. It is the same as hatsukuni ( chōkoku ). Generally, nations in the ancient past had histories of both tribulation and glory leading up to their establishment as cou... |
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| 3 |
Kenmusha |
"Jointly administered shrine." A shrine lacking its own parish priest that is served by a priest belonging to another shrine. This system is an inevitable result of the fact that the number of Shinto shrines far outstrips the number of available professional priests, an... |
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| 4 |
Kenpeishi |
Introduced after World War II, kenpeishi are emissaries sent by the Association of Shinto Shrines ( Jinja Honchō ) to its affiliated shrines to present offerings ( heihaku ) on behalf of the Association. The money for the offerings ( heihakuryou ) is provided by the Association on the ... |
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| 5 |
Kessai |
The same as saikai (purification through abstinence) and monoimi (abstinence). It is the purification of body and mind prior to a rite through the avoidance of contact with ritual pollution ( kegare ); this is done in order to perfect the qualifications of the person who serves as the ... |
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| 6 |
Ki matsuri |
"Tree festival." Held on the first Sunday in April at Itakiso Shrine in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture. The saijin (the main kami worshipped at the shrine) of Itakiso is Itakerunomikoto, son of Susanoonomikoto. It is said that in ancient time he descended to this pla... |
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| 7 |
Kiboku |
"Tortoise-shell divination" ( kiboku ) is an oracular method practiced since archaic times, whereby a tortoise shell is heated then the outcome of future events is foretold by interpreting the pattern of cracking on the shell. It is also called kizei or kitaku . A popular ... |
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| 8 |
Kibune matsuri |
A festival that was held on the first day of the fourth and eleventh months at Kibune Shrine in Sakyō Ward, Kyōto City, Kyōto Prefecture. The festival was observed on a grand scale prior to the Meiji Period (1600-1868) when the shrine had an auxiliary shrine ( sessha ) relationship to Ka... |
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| 9 |
Kigensetsu |
A holiday and ritual observed from the beginning of Meiji until just after the end of World War II to commemorate the founding of the nation through Emperor Jinmu's legendary ascension to the throne. The rite observed at the palace's three ritual halls is called Kigensetsu sai , while ... |
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| 10 |
Kikke Shintō |
The Shinto teachings transmitted by the Tachibana clan, said to have originated with Tachibana Moroe (684-787), but in fact likely organized only after the beginning of the Edo period. Kikke Shinto became widely known during the mid-Edo Hōei era (1704-1710), when Tamaki Masahide... |
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| 11 |
Kikueikai Kyōdan |
A religious movement founded in 1928 by the sculptor of Buddhist images Hayashi Shikō (1901-88). Shikō claimed an experience in which a golden sphere with the form of a "nine-star divination pattern" came floating towards him,1 after which he began to engage in spiritua... |
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| 12 |
Kikusui-sai |
"Floating chrysanthenum festival." An old-style festival held on October 29 at Futarayama Shrine in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. The day before the festival, yabusame (horseback archery) contests take place at a riding ground within the shrine precincts (s... |
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| 13 |
Kinensai |
A regular observance of the Ritsuryō state, also called toshigoi no matsuri . It ranks alongside the Tsukinamisai (in the sixth and twelfth months) and the Niinamesai (in the eleventh month) as one of the most important observances of the time, as shown by the relatively large amount ... |
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| 14 |
Kinki |
Taboo. To forbid any contact or proximity with things that should be abstained from. It is believed that to break the taboo would be to invite misfortune such as injury and illness. For example, people performing kami rites should avoid contact with polluted things for a specified pe... |
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| 15 |
Kinnō-sonnō |
Sonnō is reverence for the imperial house, while the Japanese kinnō adds a strong practical element to a sense of loyalty to the emperor. This type of imperial loyalty was advocated during the Edo period by the followers of Yamazaki Ansai, based on the Zhu Xi Neo-Confucian idea of obli... |
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| 16 |
Kinokuninomiyatsuko |
The kuni no miyatsuko (a provincial governor with ritual responsibilities) of the ancient Kii Province. As an administrator of ritual, this office endured for a long time after its introduction. The term occurs in both Kojiki and Nihon shoki , written with different characters, bu... |
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| 17 |
Kinsokuchi |
"Tabooed land," a type of sacred space. Normally found within a shrine's precincts ( keidaichi ) or related lands, humans are not permitted to enter tabooed land since it is believed that a divine spirit dwells or descends. Typical examples of tabooed land would incl... |
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| 18 |
Kisei |
Kisei , also pronounced as kishō , refers to entreating the kami through prayer and has the same meaning as kitō , kigan and kinen , and so forth. According to Shoku Nihongi , for example, one entry (twelfth month, tenth day, 740) describes how Fujiwara no Hirotsugu (?-740), while leadi... |
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| 19 |
Kishōmon |
When people form an agreement over a certain matter, they draw up a kishōmon , or "written pledge," to swear to the Shinto and Buddhist deities that they are not falsely representing the truth and will not violate the pledge. It is also simply called a kishō . The format of a ki... |
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| 20 |
Kisoi-bune |
A traditional event in which participants compete ( kisoi ) by rowing boats ( fune ). There are records that refer to Nagasaki peiron (Chinese-style dragon boat canoes) as kisoibune , but normally one writes the characters in reverse order and refers to these events as funakurabe or f... |
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