蕃ばん神しん

noun

foreign god; barbarian deity

Historical term for a deity from outside Japan, often used in contexts contrasting native Shinto gods with foreign (especially Buddhist or Christian) deities. Can carry a derogatory or dismissive tone.

• 幕ばく末まつの攘じょう夷い論ろん者しゃは、キリスト教きょうの神かみを蕃ばん神しんと呼よんで排はい斥せきした。

  Late Edo period xenophobes called the Christian God a 'barbarian deity' and rejected it.