Chapter 4: Shinto Music and Ritual
On-Matsuri
A festival instigated in 1136 to appease the gods, specifically Wakamiya (an agrarian deity, son of the main Kasuga deities) and overcome the famine caused by pestilence. It is executed in Kasuga Shrine, a shrine built to honor the tutelary deities of the Fujiwara family.
Seino
An ancient dance, almost forgotten. Six men in white robes wear masks and dance, accompanied by simple melodies on the flute and drum. An old man from Tsukushi said that if this dance is performed, the being from the sea, Isora, would emerge.
Miko-mai
Dance by young maidens.
Matsuri
Festivals held every spring and fall to please the kami of each Japanese clan and village. It brings people into intimate contact with the deity and elevates them out of the ordinary world to a special, scared space.
Fujiwara Tadamichi
He erected a new shrine to Wakamiya.
Bugaku
Japanese court dances accompanied by court music (gagaku), where dancers often wear elaborate masks
Hongyou
Main ceremony of a matsuri
Kaigyou
Part of the matsuri that breaks the spell.
Kami-okuri
Part of the matsuri when the deity is taken back and installed in their permanent shrine. This signifies the renewal of time and order, a reimposition of human will over territory.
Zengyou
Preparation and spells for a matsuri.
Kiyomeru
Purification rites for matsuri
Hadan
The breaking up of the omikoshi.
Kami-matsuri
The heart of the matsuri, intended to placate the deity, transform it and entice it to accept the renewal of time and order.
Sarugaku
The precursor to Noh Theater.
Yutate kagura
a dance centered around Ise shrine. Boiling water is places in the center of the sacred area, and thekagura is performed around it. The hot water acts as purification.
Kagura
a generic term for the music used to entertain and placate the deities during matsuri, as well as to purify the space that the deities would visit.
Omikoshi
a small portable shrine carried once a year to give special blessings to an area
Otabisho
a temporary shrine half-way between the Kasuga shrine and the town.
Dengaku
field rice-planting dance, ritual by common people for the gods. It is to ensure a good crop of the five gokoku grains.
Yamato-mai
folk dance from Yamato performed by men in ancient costume of civil bureaucrats.
Mi-kagura
music of the court or large urban shrines, danced by young women, miko-mai. Originally danced by boys, but later, virgin girls danced it.
Azuma asobi
originally a folk dance performed in East Japan, later incorporated into the court and danced by boys.
Yamabushi kagura
ritual dances by mountain hermits.
Minaorai
the "re-worldlization" of priests.
Kami-mukae
the deity is retrieved from their permanent shrine.
Sato-kagura
the music, song, and dance of smaller local shrines.
