Glossary
Terms from Shinto ritual, ancestral rites and the traditional calendar used in these pages, each linked to the articles that use it.
Amano-Iwato 天岩戸The heavenly rock cave in which Amaterasu-Ōmikami hid, as told in the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. The kami are said to have performed a rite to draw her out.iegami-sama 家神様The kami who protects a house. In this article I understand it as a presence that reflects the state of the house's ki.ie system 家制度The prewar family system under the Civil Code, in which the head of the house governed the family and the headship passed in principle to the eldest son. Abolished by the 1947 revision.iwakura 磐座A rock regarded as a dwelling or landing place of the kami. Such rocks have been objects of reverence since ancient times.ofuda お札A talisman received at a shrine, carrying the blessing of the kami. It is kept to protect a home or place.omamori お守りA small protective amulet received at a shrine, meant to be carried on your person. It protects the person who holds it.kashiwade 拍手The ritual clapping of the hands toward the kami. At shrines the common sequence is two bows, two claps, one bow. In this article I understand it as a gesture that clears negative ki and calls the kami, and also as a way to gauge the ki of a place.kamidana 神棚A shelf in the home for enshrining the kami. In this article, I take it as the best way to create an environment for prayer, though not something prayer requires.kotodama 言霊The spiritual power believed to dwell in words. In this article I take it as the power of naming to work upon the human heart.sakaki 榊An evergreen tree of the family Pentaphylacaceae (formerly placed in the tea family) used in Shinto rites. The character 榊 is a kokuji, created in Japan. In this article, I understand it as a marker of the boundary between the realm of the kami and that of people.Sanshu no Jingi 三種の神器The Three Sacred Treasures handed down as symbols of the imperial throne: the mirror, the sword and the jewel. In the late 1950s the name was also applied to the television, the washing machine and the refrigerator.jiai 慈愛in ordinary Japanese usage, deep and attentive affection, such as a parent feels for a child. In this article I take it as the state in which two things are present together: the work of handing on to the next generation what you received, which is ji, and the heart that turns to look back at the road you came by, which is ai.shokushin bunri 食寝分離The principle of separating the place for eating from the place for sleeping, proposed by the architect Uzo Nishiyama and central to the 51C design.Jingu Taima 神宮大麻The ofuda of Amaterasu Omikami from Ise Jingu, distributed to households through shrines across Japan.shinzenshiki 神前式a Japanese wedding ceremony in which a couple pledge their union before the kami. It is said to have spread from the Meiji era onward.chokkei 直系a direct bloodline, meaning the line that rises straight above you through parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.tsukinamisai 月次祭A monthly rite held at shrines on fixed days. The days vary by shrine, and many hold it on the 1st and 15th.nakaima 中今An old word for the present moment as the midpoint between past and future. In this article I take it as the view that the past flows through the present toward the future.hidari-jōi 左上位The traditional Japanese principle that the left ranks above the right. Many points of ritual etiquette are based on it.himorogi 神籬A temporary dwelling place prepared to invite the kami during a rite, usually made by standing an evergreen such as sakaki. The sakaki at the center of a ground-breaking altar is one example.butsudan 仏壇A Buddhist family altar in the home for the Buddha and the ancestors. In this article I take it, with the kamidana, as a seat for those no longer in this world.wakemitama 分霊Dividing the spirit of a kami enshrined at a shrine so that it may be worshipped elsewhere. In this article I take human life, too, as a portion divided from a greater life.