| Athletes International Ministry |
AIM |
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| Atlantic City |
AC |
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| Atsuta jingu |
A major shrine in Nagoya, nowadays popular for hatsu-mode visits. Among the enshrined kami is the sacred sword, ame-no-muraku-mono-tsurugi or kusanagi no tsurugi, one of the three imperial regalia (sanshu no shinki) The shrine was originally built in style but last rebuilt in 1935 in style |
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| Aun no kokyu |
Aun is the mystic (Sanskrit) syllable 'aum'. It is repeated fifty times by seven priests as part of the evening celebration on November 26th of the koden-shinjo-sai, a harvest matsuri conducted for the hereditary priest (rather than the kami) of the taisha The rite originated in the Kumano jinja, was transferred to the Kamosu jinja (Shimane) in the sixteenth century and to the nearby Izumo taisha in the period |
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| Austin Chinese Church |
ACC |
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| Australian Contemporary Tap |
ACT |
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| Authentic Christian Living |
ACL |
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| Awakening Change Together |
ACT |
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| Awashima-sama |
The popular name for Awaji The name derives from the accounts in the and of the first birth by sexual reproduction of the "leech child' hiru-ko and the island called aha/awa or ahaji/awaji. Belief in awashima-sama was popularised in the seventeenth century by wandering "ahashima" priest-healers specialising in gynaecological illnesses |
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| Awesome Heavenly Scripture |
AHS |
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| Azuchi-Momoyama period |
A thirty-year period following the Muromachi and preceding the Tokugawa. It was named after Nobunaga, Oda's castle at Azuchi on the shore of lake Biwa. Nobunaga was murdered and succeeded in 1582 by Hideyoshi, Toyotomi (died 1598) The period was marked by the first persecution of Christians (see Kakure kirishitan) in 1587. A meeting in 1593 between Ieyasu, Tokugawa and Fujiwara, Seika led subsequently to the adoption of neo-Confucianism as the official cult of the Togukawa shoguns |
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| Azuma-asobi |
'Eastern Entertainment'. Songs performed at the imperial court and at shrines such as the Oharano jinja, Kyoto (on April 8th) The style is derived from music offered to the Imperial court by inhabitants of the Eastern provinces, especially the Sagami and Suruga areas, as an expression of loyalty |
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| B'Siyata D'shmaya |
BSD |
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| Badly Behaved Christian |
BBC |
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| Baha'i Era |
BE |
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| Bahai Era |
BE |
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| Bahai Faith |
BF |
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| Bakemono |
Spirits possessed of evil powers. The term covers various spirits such as mono-no-ke (evil spirits) tengu (a bird-like spirit of the forest) and yamanba or yama-uba |
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| Bakufu |
Literally "tent-government'. The name of the feudal regime established at in 1185. It followed the epic "gempei" civil wars between the early samurai warriors of the Minamoto (Genji) and Taira (Heike) clans. To restrict the power of the sohei or monk-soldiers the emperor Go-shirakawa, who ruled from 1155-1158 but exercised power over a much longer period as an insei or 'retired monarch', had made alliances at different times with the provincial Taira and Minamoto clans. Their consequent battles for supremacy led to Minamoto, Yoritomo's establishment of the first bakufu government at Kamakura in 1185. In practice bakufu rule came to be exercised by the Hojo family as hereditary regents or deputies (shikken) to the shoguns, just as the had deputized for the emperors. The move to Kamakura (and subsequently to Edo, Tokyo) though it preserved many of the features of the system, effectively ended the government of the Kyoto emperors, apart from a two-year "restoration" achieved by emperor Go-Daigo in 1334-36 which preceded the Ashikaga shogunate. Many centuries later or fukko shinto scholars and activists sought to restore ritsuryo imperial rule; hence the "Restoration" |
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| Ban, Nobutomo |
A scholar and disciple of Motoori, Norinaga's son and successor Motoori, Ohira. He is respected as a scrupulous philologist in the tradition of Norinaga. he wrote a number of historical works and made a special study of the |
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