The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1700 page)

(Lat., ‘nothing obstructs’). The approval in
Roman Catholicism
granted by the officially appointed censor to books requiring permission before being published. The nihil obstat precedes and is required for the
imprimatur
.

 
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(Jap.). Chronicle of Japan, the first of the six histories (
rikkokushi
). In 681 the emperor Temmu appointed Prince Kawashima, his nephew, and eleven men to compile an official version of the imperial genealogy and ancient records, and it is commonly believed that this was the initial stage of the making of the
Nihongi
. The work, written in Chinese, was compiled in 720.
The
Nihongi
seems to have been written in response to the need for an official chronicle equal to the Chinese historical records. The Chinese view of the sage king became a model for instituting the Japanese monarchic system with a major modification. The Japanese monarchic system was based on the continuance of the imperial lineage, which excluded the Chinese view of changing rulership by means of revolution. The unbroken imperial lineage was extended far into the mythological age by historicizing myth.

 
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Nihon J
ka Ry
h
.

Early form of
Sekai Ky
seiky
.

 
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(Jap., ‘festival of new food’). In
Shinto
, an important annual rite celebrated by the emperor in the eleventh month in which he makes an offering of the newly harvested rice to the
kami
of heaven and earth and partakes of the rice offering in communion with the kami. In recent times the day on which the niiname-sai is held, 23 Nov., has been designated as a new national holiday, Labour Thanksgiving Day (
Kinr
Kansha no Hi
). A popular expression of the imperial niiname-sai is the widely celebrated autumn festival (
aki matsuri
) in which the people gather at the shrines to offer thanks to the kami for an abundant harvest.

 
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