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| An ancient ritsuryo term for affairs of state; political administration. Matsuri-goto was paired with matsuri meaning religious ceremonial, imperial rites, to indicate that government and ritual were interfused. The notion was revived in a modern form in the Meiji period with the elevation of the emperor to the status of a "manifest kami" to whom the people owed both civic allegiance and ritual devotion. See also Saisei itchi A Popular Dictionary of Shinto (Brian Bocking) | |||