Glossary of Shinto Names and Terms: M

magagoto 凶悪事

evil, distortion.

Twisted, crooked, distorted, and by extension "evil." Since Shinto does not conceive of absolute moral evil, however, maga is used to express the Shinto notion of sin as the state of something distorted from its normal "straight" condition.

Links

magagoto / Basic Terms of Shinto: Magatsuhi no kami
magagoto / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)
magagoto / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)

magatsuhi no kami 禍津日神

kami of disorder.

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Magatsuhi no kami.

Links

Magatsuhi no kami / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)
Magatsubi no kami / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)

mamemaki 豆まき

scatter good-luck beans.

A popular ritual performed on February 3rd or 4th of the solar calendar. According to the old luni-solar calendar the day setsubun marked the change of seasons from winter to spring. The custom of dispelling evil demons by throwing dried soybeans began in the Muromachi period.

Links

Scatter good-luck beans / Annual Events and the Transformation of Japanese Religious Life (by ISHII Kenji)

marebito マレビト

strangers from afar.

Originally a word denoting a guest. Orikuchi Shinobu theorized that marebito were spiritual entities from Tokoyo (the other world existing beyond the sea) which periodically visit village communities bringing happiness and good fortune to humans. Orikuchi believed marebito to be originally modeled after ancestral spirits.

Links

marebito / The Festival and Religion Boom: Irony of the "Age of the Heart" (by ASHIDA Tetsurô)
marebito / The Festival and Religion Boom: Irony of the "Age of the Heart" (by ASHIDA Tetsurô)
marebito / Evolution of the Concept of Kami (by ITÔ Mikiharu)
marebito / Some reflections on the Symposium (SONODA Minoru)

Maruyama-kyô 丸山教

A Shintô-based New Religion. Founded by Itô Rokurobee (1829-94). Propagation began in 1871. In the middle of the Meiji period it was deemed dangerous by the government and supressed. Presently, its headquarters are in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture; reported membership is approximately 10,000.

Links

Maruyama-kyô / Emperor and World Renewal in the New Religions: The Case of Shinsei Ryûjinkai (by TSUSHIMA Michihito)

matsuri 祭

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Matsuri.

Links

matsuri / PREFACE (by INOUE Nobutaka)
matsuri / The Sensation of Matsuri (by YANAGAWA Keiichi)
matsuri / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)
matsuri / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)
festivals / Divine Symbols in Japanese Festivals (by NAKAMAKI Hirochika)
Matsuri / Divine Symbols in Japanese Festivals (by NAKAMAKI Hirochika)
matsuri / Religious Space in the Village As Seen through Festival and Legend (by MOGI Sakae)
matsuri / Translator's Postscript (by Norman Havens)
matsuri / Preface (by INOUE Nobutaka)
Matsuri / Introduction (by INOUE Nobutaka)
matsuri / Introduction (by INOUE Nobutaka)
Matsuri / The Festival and Religion Boom: Irony of the "Age of the Heart" (by ASHIDA Tetsurô)
matsuri / The Festival and Religion Boom: Irony of the "Age of the Heart" (by ASHIDA Tetsurô)
matsuri / The Changing Face of Japanese Folk Beliefs (by Norman Havens)
matsuri / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)
matsuri / Secularity and profanation in Japanese religion (SONODA Minoru)
matsuri / Secularity: West and East (Peter L. BERGER)

Meiji Jingû 明治神宮

Meiji Shrine.

A major shrine in the Shibuya Ward of Tokyo enshrining Emperor Meiji and his empress (Shôken). The Chinza-sai, the ceremony for enshrining a kami, was performed in 1920. The shrine's outer garden area are home to motion picture theaters, sports facilities and a hall for conducting wedding receptions.

Links

Chokusai / Basic Terms of Shinto: Chokusai
Meiji Shrine / Annual Events and the Transformation of Japanese Religious Life (by ISHII Kenji)
Meiji Shrine / Perspectives toward Understanding the Concept of Kami (by INOUE Nobutaka)

miki 神酒

rice wine.

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Miki.

Links

libations of dedicated sake / Divine Symbols in Japanese Festivals (by NAKAMAKI Hirochika)
sacred rice wine / Religious Space in the Village As Seen through Festival and Legend (by MOGI Sakae)
rice wine / Local Newspaper Coverage of Folk Shamans in Aomori Prefecture (by IKEGAMI Yoshimasa)

miko 巫女

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Miko.

Links

Mikogami 御子神

offspring deities.

A term referring to kami who are the offspring of the principal kami worshiped at a shrine.

Links

Mikogami / Basic Terms of Shinto: Mikogami
his child / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)

mikoshi みこし

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Mikoshi.

Links

mikoshi / The Sensation of Matsuri (by YANAGAWA Keiichi)
mikoshi / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)
mikoshi / Religious Space in the Village As Seen through Festival and Legend (by MOGI Sakae)
mikoshi / Translator's Postscript (by Norman Havens)
mikoshi / The Festival and Religion Boom: Irony of the "Age of the Heart" (by ASHIDA Tetsurô)

mikuji 神籤

sacred lots.

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Mikuji, O-mikuji.

Links

sacred lots / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)

mimegumi みめぐみ

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Megumi.

Links

mimegumi / Amenominakanushi no Kami in Late Tokugawa Period Kokugaku (by SASAKI Kiyoshi)

Misogi-kyô 禊教

A sect of Kyôha Shintô. One of the pre-war Shintô Jûsampa. Founded by Inoue Masakane (1790-1849). Inoue began proselytizing in 1834, but his activities were suppressed by the Tokugawa Regime. The group subsequently split into two large factions. One merged with Taisei kyôkai and the other became the independent sect Misogi-kyô in 1894. Headquartered in Kitakoma County, Yamanashi Prefecture; reported membership is approximately 99,000.

Links

Kyôha Shintô / Kyôha Shintô
Misogikyô / Perspectives toward Understanding the Concept of Kami (by INOUE Nobutaka)

mitama 御魂

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Mitama no fuyu, Tamaya.

Links

miyaza 宮座

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Miyaza.

Links

miyaza / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)
miyaza / Divine Symbols in Japanese Festivals (by NAKAMAKI Hirochika)
miyaza / Divine Symbols in Japanese Festivals (by NAKAMAKI Hirochika)
miyaza / Translator's Postscript (by Norman Havens)

Motoori Norinaga 本居宣長

See Basic Terms of Shinto: Fukko Shintô, Hirata Atsutane (1776-1843), Kada no Azumamaro (1669-1736), Kami, Motoori, Norinaga (1730-1801), Shingaku¹.

Links

Motoori Norinaga / Festival and Sacred Transgression (by SONODA Minoru)
Motoori Norinaga / Perspectives toward Understanding the Concept of Kami (by INOUE Nobutaka)
Motoori Norinaga / Evolution of the Concept of Kami (by ITÔ Mikiharu)
Motoori Norinaga / Magatsubi no Kami and Motoori Norinaga's Theology (by UEDA Kenji)
Motoori Norinaga / Amenominakanushi no Kami in Late Tokugawa Period Kokugaku (by SASAKI Kiyoshi)
Motoori Norinaga / Immanent Legitimation: Reflections on the "Kami Concept" (by Norman Havens)
MOTOORI Norinaga / Early modern KOKUGAKU (National studies) and new KOKUGAKU: Their growth and significance (UCHINO Gorô)

Munakata no san joshin 宗像の三女神

Three female kami of Munakata Shrine.

Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime, and Tagorihime; the three female kami Amaterasu produced in a trial by pledge with Susanoo. They are enshrined at the Munakata Shrine in Fukuoka Prefecture. They are believed to be protectors of the nation, the Imperial Household, voyages by sea, and to be the kami of bountiful fishing.