| D'ni Restoration Council |
DRC |
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| tope |
dagoba |
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| Dai-gongen |
Avatar, incarnation, manifestation. Commonly dai-gongen "great gongen'. An incarnation or temporary manifestation of a "Buddha" or Formal designations of kami as gongen seem to have occurred mainly towards the end of the period, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Gongen were a focus of worship and devotion associated particularly with pre- Meiji yamabushi (mountain ascetics) but the yamabushi system was virtually destroyed and gongen given "Shinto" names as part of the bunri campaign. Examples of kami as gongen include dai-gongen and Akiba-gongen. Hachiman was regarded as a gongen of Amida Buddha and Tokugawa, Ieyasu as Tosho-dai-gongen (at Nikko) Other notable shrines designated as gongen were Atsuta, Yoshino and Kumano. See also |
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| Dai-guji |
A special rank of high priest at the ISE shrine whose role is to assist the imperial representative (saishu) in rites and administration of the shrine |
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| Daijosai |
'Great new food festival'. A ritual undertaken by the new emperor at the beginning of his reign. It takes place within a temporary sacred compound at the imperial palace called the daijogu and follows the ceremony of accession (senso) and enthronement (sokui rei) The daijosai takes place at the first occurrence of the Niinamesai (new rice) ritual after the enthronement. First fruits are offered by the new emperor to his imperial ancestors including Amaterasu. A meal including boiled and steamed rice and is shared with the kami. The rice and wine derive from different fields (regions) entitled yuki and suki. The ritual is held in the building called the yukiden before midnight and again in the sukiden before dawn. One interpretation holds that the ritual honours the kami and that the emperor ingests strength and protection through the food. Another view is that the ceremony, which involves objects such as a cloak and couch, is a rite of passage, a kind of incubation of the new emperor, during which he is infused with the soul of Amaterasu |
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| Daikoku |
A syncretic deity uniting the Indian god Mahakala with the kami O-kuni-nushi (great land-possessor, which can also be read dai-koku) and identified variously as the god of the kitchen, of wealth or fortune, and especially in Kyushu as kami of the ricefields and of agriculture. Saicho (Dengyo daishi) who may have introduced the worship of Daikoku to Japan, enshrined him at Mt. Hiei. He was linked in popular belief from the medieval period with the god In the Tokugawa period shusse ('success') daikoku was widely revered as the god of ambition and achievement. He is now generally represented as one of the shichifukujin, in which form he appears wearing a black hat, with a bag over his shoulder and holding a wish-fulfilling mallet |
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| Daikoku-ten |
A syncretic deity uniting the Indian god Mahakala with the kami O-kuni-nushi (great land-possessor, which can also be read dai-koku) and identified variously as the god of the kitchen, of wealth or fortune, and especially in Kyushu as kami of the ricefields and of agriculture. Saicho (Dengyo daishi) who may have introduced the worship of Daikoku to Japan, enshrined him at Mt. Hiei. He was linked in popular belief from the medieval period with the god In the Tokugawa period shusse ('success') daikoku was widely revered as the god of ambition and achievement. He is now generally represented as one of the shichifukujin, in which form he appears wearing a black hat, with a bag over his shoulder and holding a wish-fulfilling mallet |
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| Daikyo |
The 'Great teaching', one of the names for the new national religion promulgated by the early government, elements of which developed into modern Shinto. See senpu undo |
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| Daikyo-in |
The "Great Teaching Institute'. A government agency founded shortly after the restoration to spread the daikyo or 'Great Teaching' through the 'Great Promulgation Campaign" (Taikyo senpu undo) Although the institute was headed by Shinto administrators, was avowedly anti-Christian and accepted Buddhists only if they were prepared to teach and perform rites in a Shinto idiom, the institute was not at the time identified as Shinto but was conceived of as a trans-denominational institution, the basis of a state religion |
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| Daily Inspirations For Songwriters |
DIFS |
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| Daimyo |
'Great names'. The territorial lords of feudal Japan. Under the system of the Tokugawa period they were responsible to the for ruling their own feudal domains up to the restoration in 1868. Though historically the wealthiest and most powerful rulers in Japan, they were technically lower in social status than the kuge, the ancient aristocracy surrounding the imperial family who for centuries lived in reduced circumstances in Kyoto and who re-emerged with 19th-century titles of count, baron etc. when the daimyo fell from grace and from power in the Meiji restoration |
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| Dainichi nyorai |
Mahavairochana Buddha. The Buddha of great light. The dharmakaya (body of the dharma) Buddha who is the central object of worship and focus of meditation of the Buddhist sect. From at least the eleventh century Amaterasu and Toyo-uke were identified as a manifestation of Dainichi under the auspices of shinto and the theory, according to which the inner and outer shrines of jingu were a manifestation of the dual aspects of Dainichi |
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| Dajokan |
Great Council of State, presided over by the Chancellor, dajo-daijin and responsible for According to the ancient system the Dajokan together with the constituted the two branches of government. What is often called "the Dajokan system" was the form of organisation used for the government from its inception in 1868 until 1885 when a cabinet style government was formed. Initially it vested authority in a single source, the Dajokan, following what it proclaimed to be the ancient principle of itchi 'unity of rites and government'. In the following year the was created as an agency of government equal or superior to the Dajokan |
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| Dalton Church Of God |
DCOG |
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| Dango |
Rice-flour dumplings cooked by the New Year bonfire. Like they are popularly believed to give protection from illness |
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| Dark Angels Of Sin |
DAS |
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| Dashi |
A collective term for ornate ceremonial floats of various kinds in the shape of a boat, shrine or mountain, used at festivals. Dashi come in various sizes and are carried or drawn by a vehicle. Their design may be derived from the earlier shimeshi-no-yama or 'marking mountains', miniature decorated mountains of earth which indicated the place where the kami should descend to taste the offerings of new rice at the daijo-e (see daijosai) The most spectacular are seen at the matsuri (July 17-24) where the hoko type is 24 metres high and is pulled by about 50 men. Other names for the dashi are yamaboko, hikiyama, mai-guruma, odori-guruma and |
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| Daughters Of Rebecca |
DOR |
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| Davidson College Presbyterian Church |
DCPC |
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| Dazaifu Tenman-gu |
The shrine at Dazaifu, Kyushu, established in 905 two years after his death for the spirit of Sugawara Michizane. A form of exorcism of demons called -sube is performed there on January 7th in which demons are escorted from the shrine |
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