| National Evangelization Teams |
NET |
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| National Pastoral Musicians |
NPM |
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| National Religious Broadcasters |
NRB |
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| National Theological Accreditating Foundation |
NTAF |
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| National Training Camp |
NTC |
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| National Youth Ministries |
NYM |
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| Nationwide Youth Roundup |
NYR |
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| Nativ |
Nativity |
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| Natsu-matsuri |
"Summer festivals'. A collective term for the numerous mainly small-scale village festivals held in the summer, ostensibly to guard crops against pests and adverse conditions. There are some major natsu-matsuri held at Kyoto shrines, notably at the Yasaka-jinja (=the Gion matsuri) on 17-24th July, the Kitano Tenmangu on 4th August and the Iwashimizu Hachimangu on 15th September. At the Kumano-nachi taisha, Wakayama, teams carrying down from the summit of the mountain and teams carrying torches up join in a tussle when they meet. At the Itsukushima-jinja, Miyajima, Hiroshima on the nearest Sunday to July 18th by the old lunar calendar, a kind of look-out tower of poles is erected in the sea and a hoju, a symbol of the soul (tama) or jewel derived from Taoism, distantly connected with protection against fire, is hung from it. Youths compete and cooperate with each other to raise one person high enough to reach the hoju and achieve good luck, in the festival known as tama-tori-sai 'Tama-grabbing'. The Nebuta or Neputa "drowsiness" festival though not formally connected with Shinto or Buddhism is also widely celebrated in early August in northern Japan with huge images of kabuki actors and other intense characters, the object being to dispel summer sleepiness |
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| Nazarene Compassionate Ministries International |
NCMI |
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| Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, Inc. |
NCM |
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| Nazarene Missions International |
NMI |
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| Nazarene Youth Congress |
NYC |
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| Nazarene Youth International |
NYI |
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| Negai |
Usually o-negai. A prayer or worshipful request addressed to the kami or Buddhas, for example inscribed on an In ordinary speech "o-negai shimasu means 'Would you please...?" |
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| Neighborhood Bible Time |
NBT |
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| Neighborhood Christian Center in Decatur, Alabama |
NCCD |
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| Neighborhood Evangelism Training |
NET |
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| Nenchu gyoji |
"Events through the year'. The annual cycle of [religious] observances. Japanese religion at every level is profoundly calendrical, normally structured around an annual cycle of festivals and special days referred to as nenchu gyoji. Details vary from region to region and among different religious institutions. Shinto shrines, like Buddhist temples and new religious movements virtually define themselves by their particular nenchu gyoji which contain, as well as nationally-celebrated festivals such as niinamesai, etc., the special festivals or rites of the shrine celebrating its founding or other significant events in its history. The nenchu gyoji may include events dated according to the lunar or solar calendar. The traditional lunar calendar, which required an extra month to be inserted every three years was replaced by the Western-style (solar) calendar in 1872. Many festivals are still scheduled by the lunar calendar. Three main methods are used to determine the festival's date in the solar calendar. These are (1) One month is added to the lunar date (e.g. the 15th day of the 7th lunar month ('15th July') becomes the 15th day of the 8th solar month (15th August)) The festival is held on the same date in the solar calendar as was scheduled in the lunar calendar (15th day of 7th month becomes 15th July) The festival remains fixed by the lunar calendar and therefore moves around the solar calendar like the Muslim Ramadan and to some extent the Christian Easter. In Tokugawa religion the annual ritual calendar combined Buddhist, community and shrine-rites, organised broadly around the plus New Year (shogatsu) and festivals. In the 1870's following the restoration a new annual calendar of rites was introduced. It emphasised rites for previous emperors in the 'unbroken lineage" and for the first time synchronised the nenchu gyoji of shrines throughout the country with the annual ritual cycle of the imperial household (koshitsu saishi) giving a central role to the emperor as priest of the nation. The new ritual calendar gradually superseded the old, especially after the Russo-Japanese war (1904-6) when the annual rites were introduced into schools and promoted by local authorities |
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| Nenju gyoji |
"Events through the year'. The annual cycle of [religious] observances. Japanese religion at every level is profoundly calendrical, normally structured around an annual cycle of festivals and special days referred to as nenchu gyoji. Details vary from region to region and among different religious institutions. Shinto shrines, like Buddhist temples and new religious movements virtually define themselves by their particular nenchu gyoji which contain, as well as nationally-celebrated festivals such as niinamesai, etc., the special festivals or rites of the shrine celebrating its founding or other significant events in its history. The nenchu gyoji may include events dated according to the lunar or solar calendar. The traditional lunar calendar, which required an extra month to be inserted every three years was replaced by the Western-style (solar) calendar in 1872. Many festivals are still scheduled by the lunar calendar. Three main methods are used to determine the festival's date in the solar calendar. These are (1) One month is added to the lunar date (e.g. the 15th day of the 7th lunar month ('15th July') becomes the 15th day of the 8th solar month (15th August)) The festival is held on the same date in the solar calendar as was scheduled in the lunar calendar (15th day of 7th month becomes 15th July) The festival remains fixed by the lunar calendar and therefore moves around the solar calendar like the Muslim Ramadan and to some extent the Christian Easter. In Tokugawa religion the annual ritual calendar combined Buddhist, community and shrine-rites, organised broadly around the plus New Year (shogatsu) and festivals. In the 1870's following the restoration a new annual calendar of rites was introduced. It emphasised rites for previous emperors in the 'unbroken lineage" and for the first time synchronised the nenchu gyoji of shrines throughout the country with the annual ritual cycle of the imperial household (koshitsu saishi) giving a central role to the emperor as priest of the nation. The new ritual calendar gradually superseded the old, especially after the Russo-Japanese war (1904-6) when the annual rites were introduced into schools and promoted by local authorities |
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