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.