{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_46038/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_46038","id":"gutenberg_46038","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46038","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - Other","Category: History - Religious","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Shinto"],"text":"Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n file which includes the original illustrations.\n See 46038-h.htm or 46038-h.zip:\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/46038/pg46038-images.html)\n or\n (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46038/46038-h.zip)\n\n\n Images of the original pages are available through\n Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries. See\n https://archive.org/details/shintowayofgods00astouoft\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\n Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).\n\n Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).\n\n Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original\n have not been changed.\n\n\n\n\n\nSHINTO\n\n(The Way Of The Gods)\n\nby\n\nW. G. ASTON, C.M.G, D.Lit.\n\nAuthor of\n'A Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language,' 'A Grammar of the\nJapanese Written Language,' 'The Nihongi' (Translation),\n'A History of Japanese Literature,' &c.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLongmans, Green, and Co.\n39 Paternoster Row, London\nNew York and Bombay\n1905\nAll rights reserved\n\n\n\n\nTABLE OF CONTENTS.\n\n CHAP. PAGE.\n I. MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO 1\n II. GENERAL FEATURES--PERSONIFICATION 5\n III. GENERAL FEATURES--DEIFICATION OF MEN 36\n IV. GENERAL FEATURES--FUNCTIONS OF GODS, &C. 65\n V. MYTH 75\n VI. THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE 84\n VII. THE PANTHEON--NATURE-DEITIES 121\n VIII. THE PANTHEON--MAN-DEITIES 177\n IX. THE PRIESTHOOD 200\n X. WORSHIP 208\n XI. MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY 241\n XII. CEREMONIAL 268\n XIII. MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION 327\n XIV. DECAY OF SHINTO. MODERN SECTS 359\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n PAGE.\n _Ohonamochi and his Double_ 28-29\n _The Sun-Goddess issuing from the Rock-Cave of Heaven_ 98-99\n _Sun Worship at the Twin-Rocks of Ise_ 130-31\n _Hohodemi at the Court of Toyotama-hiko_ 149\n _Kedzurikake_. The one on the right is the ordinary form,\n the other a special kind called _ihaigi_ 192\n _Oho-nusa_.\n (From Dr. Florenz's paper in the _T.A.S.J._) 214\n _Gohei_ 215\n _Ema_ (Horse-picture) 222\n _Mikoshi_ 224-25\n _Himorogi_. (From the _T.A.S.J._) 226\n _Shrines of Ise_ 229-30\n _Toriwi_ 233\n _Chi no wa_ 266-67\n _Misogi, or Purification Ceremony_ 298-99\n _Tsuina, or Expulsion of Devils_ 310-11\n _Wayside Shrines_ 366\n\n\n\n\nABBREVIATIONS.\n\nCh. K.--Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's translation of the _Kojiki_.\n\n_Nihongi_.--Translation of the _Nihongi_ by W. G. Aston.\n\n_T.A.S.J._--Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\nFor \"Welhausen,\" note to p. 113, read _Wellhausen_.\n\nFor \"of,\" p. 12, l. 18, read _on_.\n\nP. 335, l. 24, read _to do her behests_.\n\n\n\n\nADDENDA.\n\nAdd, bottom of p. 60, \"St. Augustine says, in his 'Civitas Dei,' that\nfuneral observances are rather solace to the living than help to the\ndead.\"\n\nP. 41, line 25, after \"deities\" insert \"a phrase which closely\nresembles the 'Zembla Bogh' used of the Czar by Russians.\"\n\nP. 31, add to first note, \"The Romans had an evil counterpart of\nJupiter, viz., Vediovis or Vejovis.\"\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nAs compared with the great religions of the world, Shinto, the old\n_Kami_ cult of Japan, is decidedly rudimentary in its character. Its\npolytheism, the want of a Supreme Deity, the comparative absence of\nimages and of a moral code, its feeble personifications and hesitating\ngrasp of the conception of spirit, the practical non-recognition of a\nfuture state, and the general absence of a deep, earnest faith--all\nstamp it as perhaps the least developed of religions which have an\nadequate literary record. Still, it is not a primitive cult. It had an\norganized priesthood and an elaborate ritual. The general civilization\nof the Japanese when Shinto assumed the form in which we know it had\nleft the primitive stage far behind. They were already an agricultural\nnation, a circumstance by which Shinto has been deeply influenced. They\nhad a settled government, and possessed the arts of brewing, making\npottery, building ships and bridges, and working in metals. It is not\namong such surroundings that we can expect to find a primitive form of\nreligion.\n\nThe present treatise has two objects. It is intended, primarily and\nchiefly, as a repertory of the more significant facts of Shinto for the\nuse of scientific students of religion. It also comprises an outline\ntheory of the origin and earlier stages of the development of religion,\nprepared with special reference to the Shinto evidence. The subject is\ntreated from a positive, not from a negative or agnostic standpoint,\nReligion being regarded as a normal function, not a disease, of\nhumanity. This element of the work owes much to the continental\nscholars R\u00e9ville, Goblet D'Alviella, and Pfleiderer.\n\nIn anthropological matters, I have been much indebted to Dr. Tylor's\n'Primitive Culture' and Mr. J. G. Frazer's 'Golden Bough.' I should not\nomit to express my obligations to my friend Mr. J. Troup for assistance\nwith the proofs and for a number of useful corrections and suggestions.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nMATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO.\n\n\n=Prehistoric Shinto=.--Ethnologists are agreed that the predominant\nelement of the Japanese race came to Japan by way of Korea from that\npart of Asia which lies north of China, probably by a succession of\nimmigrations which extended over many centuries. It is useless to\nspeculate as to what rudiments of religious belief the ancestors of the\nJapanese race may have brought with them from their continental home.\nSun-worship has long been a central feature of Tartar religions, as it\nis of Shinto; but such a coincidence proves nothing, as this cult is\nuniversal among nations in the barbaric stage of civilization. It is\nimpossible to say whether or not an acquaintance with the old State\nreligion of China--essentially a nature-worship--had an influence on\nthe prehistoric development of Shinto. The circumstance that the Sun\nwas the chief deity of the latter and Heaven of the former is adverse\nto this supposition. Nor is there anything in Japan which corresponds\nwith the Shangti of the ancient Chinese.\n\nThere are definite traces of a Korean element in Shinto. A Kara no Kami\n(God of Kara in Korea) was worshipped in the Imperial Palace. There\nwere numerous shrines in honour of Kara-Kuni Idate no Kami. Susa no wo\nand Futsunushi have Korean associations.\n\nUntil the beginning of the fifth century of our era, writing was\npractically unknown in Japan. It is certain, however, that a\nconsiderable body of myth, together with formal rituals, was already in\nexistence, having been transmitted from generation to generation by the\n_Nakatomi_ and _Imbe_, two hereditary priestly corporations attached\nto the Mikado's Court. We hear also of _Kataribe_, or corporations of\nreciters, who were established in various provinces, especially in\nIdzumo, a primaeval centre of Shinto worship. They are mentioned in the\n_Nihongi_ under the date A.D. 465, and were still in existence in the\nfifteenth century. Unfortunately we know little about them beyond the\ncircumstance that they attended at the capital, and delivered their\nrecitals of \"ancient words\" on the occasion of the Mikado's coronation.\nThese must have helped to furnish material for the written mythical and\nquasi-historical narratives which have come down to us.\n\n=Kojiki=.--The oldest of these is a work entitled the _Kojiki_, or\n'Records of Ancient Matters.' It was compiled by Imperial order, and\ncompleted in A.D. 712. The preface states that it was taken down from\nthe lips of one Hiyeda no Are, who had so wonderful a memory that he\ncould \"repeat with his mouth whatever was placed before his eyes and\nrecord in his heart whatever struck his ears.\" English readers may\nstudy this work in an accurate translation contributed by Mr. B. H.\nChamberlain to the _Transactions_ of the Asiatic Society of Japan in\n1882. It is preceded by a valuable introduction.\n\n=Nihongi=.--The mythical narrative of the _Nihongi_, or 'Chronicles of\nJapan,' also an official compilation (A.D. 720), is not quite so full\nas that of the _Kojiki_, and it has the disadvantage of being composed\nin the Chinese language. But it has one feature of great interest. The\nauthor, or some nearly contemporary writer, has added to the original\ntext a number of variants of the current myths, thus enabling us to\ncorrect any impression of uniformity or consistency which might be\nleft by the perusal of the _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_ alone. These addenda\nshow that there was then in existence a large body of frequently\nirreconcilable mythical material, which these works are attempts to\nharmonize. A translation of the _Nihongi_ by the present writer forms\nSupplement I. of the _Transactions_ of the Japan Society (1896). Dr.\nFlorenz's excellent German version of the mythical part of this work\nmay also be consulted with advantage. It has copious notes.\n\n=Kiujiki=.--A third source of information respecting the mythical lore\nof Japan is the _Kiujiki_. A work with this name was compiled A.D. 620,\n_i.e._, one hundred years before the _Nihongi_, but the book now known\nby that title has been condemned as a forgery by native critics. Their\narguments, however, are not quite convincing. The _Kiujiki_ is in any\ncase a very old book, and we may accept it provisionally as of equal\nauthority with the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. It contains little which is\nnot also to be found in these two works. Unlike them, the _Kiujiki_\nmakes no attempt to be consistent. It is a mere jumble of mythical\nmaterial, distinct and conflicting versions of the same narrative being\noften dovetailed into one another in the most clumsy fashion. It has\nnot been translated.\n\n=Idzumo Fudoki=.--This work, a topography of the province of Idzumo,\nwas compiled about A.D. 733. It contains a few mythical passages.\n\n=The Kogoshiui= was written in 807. It adds a very little to the\ninformation contained in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_.\n\n=Sh\u00f4jiroku=.--In this work, which is a sort of peerage of Japan (815),\nthe descent of many of the noble families is traced from the deities of\nthe Shinto Pantheon.\n\n=Yengishiki=.--Our principal source of information for the ceremonial\nof Shinto is the _Yengishiki_, or 'Institutes of the Period Yengi'\n(901-923). It gives a minute description of the official Shinto ritual\nas then practised, together with Red Snow Algatwenty-seven of the principal prayers\nused in worship. These prayers, called _norito_, were now, so far as we\nknow, for the first time reduced to writing, but many of them must be\nin substance several hundreds of years older. Some have been translated\nby Sir Ernest Satow for the Asiatic Society of Japan (1879-81), and the\nseries is now being continued by Dr. Karl Florenz, whose translation of\nthe _Ohoharahi_ (1899) is a notable addition to the English reader's\nmeans of studying Shinto.\n\n=Moto[:o]ri and Hirata=.--The writings of the native scholars Moto[:o]ri,\nHirata, and others during the second half of the eighteenth century\nand the first half of the nineteenth are an indispensable source of\ninformation. No part of this voluminous literature has been, or is\nlikely to be, translated. The English reader will find a good account\nof it in Sir Ernest Satow's 'Revival of Pure Shinto,' contributed\nto the _Transactions_ of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1875. By\n\"Pure Shinto\" is meant the Shinto of the _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and\n_Yengishiki_, as opposed to the corrupt forms of this religion which\nsprang up under Buddhist influence in later times.\n\nThe above-named works contain fairly ample materials for the study of\nthe older Shinto. They have the advantage of showing us this religion\nas seen by the Japanese themselves, thus leaving no room for the\nintroduction of those errors which so often arise from the unconscious\nimportation of modern European and Christian ideas into the accounts\nof other rudimentary cults. It should be observed that it is the State\nreligion to which these records chiefly relate. Of the popular beliefs\nand practices at this time we are told but little.\n\nThe _Nihongi_, and, to a lesser extent, the _Kojiki_, are somewhat\ninfluenced by Chinese ideas; but this element is generally\nrecognizable. Buddhism was introduced into Japan towards the middle\nof the sixth century, and was widely propagated under the regency of\nSh\u00f4toku Daishi, who died A.D. 621; but there is little or no trace of\nit in the older Shinto. For a long time there was a marked antagonism\nbetween the two religions which served to protect the latter from such\nadulteration.\n\n=The F\u016bzoku Gwah\u014d=, a modern illustrated magazine, is a rich store\nof information respecting modern Shinto and the folk-lore and\nsuperstitions which are associated with it.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nGENERAL FEATURES.--PERSONIFICATION.\n\n\n=Religion=.--Religion, a general term which includes all our relations\nto the Divine, is a cord of three strands, namely, Emotion, Thought,\nand Conduct. Emotion comprises gratitude, hope, and fear. Thought\nyields conceptions and beliefs. Religious conduct consists in doing\nthat which is pleasing to the superior powers, and in refraining from\nacts which are thought to be offensive to them. It includes worship,\npurity, and morality.\n\nThese elements of religion are inseparable. Emotion stimulates and\nsharpens the intellectual faculties, which in turn provide fresh food\nfor emotion. Each without the other is evanescent and barren. Nothing\nworthy of the name of religion is possible without a long succession of\nalternate moods of thought and feeling.\n\nEmotion and thought lead in all healthy minds to action of some sort.\nMan is impelled by his very nature to testify his gratitude to the\npowers on which he feels himself dependent, to express his hopes of\nfuture blessings from them, and to avoid acts which might offend\nthem. Moreover, as a social animal, he is prompted to communicate\nhis religious thoughts and feelings to his fellow men. Without such\nintercommunication, no religion is possible. No individual man ever\nevolved a religion out of his own inner consciousness alone.\n\n=Emotional Source of Religion=.--The emotional basis of religion\nis gratitude, love, and hope, rather than fear. If life is worth\nliving--and what sane man doubts it?--there are necessarily far more\nfrequent occasions for the former than for the latter. The statement of\nthe old Roman poet that \"Primus in orbe Deus fecit timor\" is untrue\neven of the Greek and Roman mythology to which he more particularly\nreferred. Zeus, the Shining One, the Father of Gods and Men, though\nhe may occasionally destroy a wicked man with his thunder, is loved\nrather than feared. \"Alma Venus, hominum divomque voluptas,\" is not the\noffspring of our terrors. Nor is Ceres, Bacchus, Here Eileithuia, or\nKora. In Mars, by an exception the malignant quality predominates.\n\nShinto is essentially a religion of gratitude and love. The great Gods,\nsuch as the Sun-Goddess and the Deity of Food, are beneficent beings.\nThey are addressed as parents, or dear divine ancestors, and their\nfestivals have a joyous character.[1] An eighth-century poet says,\n\"Every living man may feast his eyes with tokens of their love.\" The\n_Kogoshiui_ tells us that when the Sun-Goddess emerged from her cave,\n\"Heaven above at length became clear, and all people could see each\nother's faces distinctly. They stretched forth their hands and danced\nand sang together, exclaiming, 'Oh! how delightful! how pleasant! how\nclear!'\" The _Nihongi_ says that on the same occasion all the Gods\nrejoiced greatly. Have we not here a rudiment of the beatific vision\nwhich in its higher developments embraces not only the sunlight but all\nthings in Heaven and earth, and hell itself, founded, as Dante says,\nby the _primo Amore_? Even the boisterous Rain-Storm God, who of the\n_Dii Majores_ most nearly approaches the type of an evil deity, has his\ngood points. The demons of disease and calamity are for the most part\nobscure and nameless personages.\n\n=Intellectual Basis of Religion. The Idea of God=.--A God may be\ndefined as a sentient being possessed of superhuman power. The phrase\n\"supernatural being,\" which is sometimes used as equivalent to God, is\nopen to objection The word \"supernatural\" belongs to the vocabulary\nof a comparatively scientific age. To the savage, phenomena are\nordinary or strange, not natural or supernatural. Moreover, there are\nmany objects of worship which are not at all supernatural, as, for\ninstance, the sun. \"Spiritual being\" is insufficiently comprehensive\nas an equivalent for God. The Lama of Tibet is a God; but he is not a\nspiritual being. Neither is the Wind nor the Moon. The assumption that\nGods are always spirits has been the source of much confusion.\n\n=Kami=.--The most common and comprehensive word for deity in the\nJapanese language is _Kami_. It is probably connected with _kaburu_, to\ncover, and has the general meaning of \"above,\" \"superior.\" _Kami_ is\nthe part of Japan which lies near the capital, as opposed to _Shimo_,\nthe lower country or provinces. _Kaha-kami_ means the upper waters of a\nriver. _Kami no ke_, or simply _kami_, is the hair of the head. _Kami_\nis applied not only to Gods, but to Mikados and nobles. The heads of\nState Departments were at one time called _Kami_, and in later times\nthis word became equivalent to our \"Lord\" in territorial titles. _O\nKami_ is frequently said vaguely of \"the authorities,\" while _O Kami\nSan_ is the domestic authority, namely, \"the mistress.\" Whether _Kami_\nis used of Gods or men, it is in both cases a secondary application of\nthe general meaning \"upper.\" The Gods are _Kami_ because they reside\nin Heaven (_superi, caelicoli_, \u1f49\u03bd\u03c1\u03b1\u03bd\u03af\u03c9\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2, Most High, Father in\nHeaven); men are _Kami_ on account of their higher rank. No doubt both\ngain prestige by their association under the same title--the Gods by a\nreflection from the pomp and ceremony which attend on mortal _Kami_;\nand men by assimilation with the transcendent power and glory of the\ngreat nature-deities.\n\nWhy should height come to be everywhere associated with excellence and\nrank? Herbert Spencer's characteristic contribution[2] to the solution\nof this problem is as follows: \"In battle it is important to get the\nforce of gravity to fight on your side, and hence the anxiety to seize\na position above that of the foe. Conversely the combatant who is\nthrown down cannot further resist without struggling against his own\nweight as well as against his antagonist's strength. Hence being below\nis so habitually associated with defeat as to have made maintainance of\nthis relation (literally expressed by the words superior and inferior)\na leading element in ceremony at large.\" To this it may be added that\nthe upper part of the human body--namely, the head--is also the most\nimportant and honourable. \"Chief\" is derived from _caput_: \"capital,\"\nas an adjective, means excellent. \"Headman,\" \"head-centre,\" \"head\nand front of my offending,\" are familiar phrases which involve the\nassumption of the superior importance of the head. A Japanese raises to\nhis head a present or other object to which he wishes to show respect.\nA further and decisive consideration is the circumstance that the most\nincomparably glorious, excellent, and majestic thing with which we\nare acquainted is also immeasurably the highest. Even pre-religious\nman cannot have been wholly insensible to the glory of the sky--\"hoc\nsublime candens\"--with its sun and moon, its dawns and sunsets, its\nclouds, thunders, and storms. No wonder that the words heavenly and\ncelestial have come to convey the idea of supreme excellence.\n\nThe following quotations will help us to realize more fully what the\nJapanese mean by the word _Kami_. Moto\u00f6ri says:--\n\n\"The term _Kami_ is applied in the first place to the various deities\nof Heaven and Earth who are mentioned in the ancient records as well as\nto their spirits (_mi-tama_) which reside in the shrines where they are\nworshipped. Moreover, not only human beings, but birds, beasts, plants\nand trees, seas and mountains, and all other things whatsoever which\ndeserve to be dreaded and revered for the extraordinary and pre-eminent\npowers which they possess, are called _Kami_. They need not be eminent\nfor surpassing nobleness, goodness, or serviceableness alone. Malignant\nand uncanny beings are also called _Kami_ if only they are the objects\nof general dread.[3] Among _Kami_ who are human beings I need hardly\nmention first of all the successive Mikados--with reverence be it\nspoken.... Then there have been numerous examples of divine human\nbeings, both in ancient and modern times, who, although not accepted by\nthe nation generally, are treated as gods, each of his several dignity,\nin a single province, village, or family.... Amongst _Kami_ who are not\nhuman beings I need hardly mention Thunder [in Japanese _Naru kami_\nor the Sounding God]. There are also the Dragon, the Echo [called in\nJapanese _Ko-dama_ or the Tree Spirit], and the Fox, who are _Kami_ by\nreason of their uncanny and fearful natures. The term _Kami_ is applied\nin the _Nihongi_ and _Many\u014dshiu_ to the tiger and wolf. Izanagi gave\nto the fruit of the peach and to the jewels round his neck names which\nimplied that they were _Kami_.... There are many cases of seas and\nmountains being called _Kami_. It is not their spirits which are meant.\nThe word was applied directly to the seas[4] or mountains themselves as\nbeing very awful things.\"\n\nHirata defines _kami_ as a term which comprises all things strange,\nwondrous, and possessing _isao_ or virtue. A recent dictionary gives\nthe following essentially modern definitions of this word :--\n\n_Kami_. 1. Something which has no form but is only spirit, has\nunlimited supernatural power, dispenses calamity and good fortune,\npunishes crime and rewards virtue. 2. Sovereigns of all times, wise and\nvirtuous men, valorous and heroic persons whose spirits are prayed to\nafter their death. 3. Divine things which transcend human intellect. 4.\nThe Christian God, Creator, Supreme Lord.\n\n=Double Current of Religious Thought=.--If we accept the definition of\na God as a sentient being possessed of superhuman power, it follows\nthat the idea of God may be arrived at in two ways. We may ascribe\nsense to those superhuman elemental powers of whose action we are\ndaily witnesses, or we may reverse this process and endow sentient\nbeings, especially men, with powers which they do not actually\npossess. In other words, the idea of God may be arrived at either by\npersonification or by deification.\n\nStrictly speaking, the first of these processes is the only legitimate\none. The second involves the assumption that man may be or may become\nGod. But without questioning the reality of an intimate union of the\nhuman with the divine, both in this world and the next, it is better to\nmaintain a clear distinction between these two terms. Ultimately, after\nthe errors of anthropomorphism, polytheism, and spiritism have been\neliminated, the two methods of arriving at the idea of God yield the\nsubstantially identical formulas:--\n\n A. God = infinite power + absolute humanity.\n B. God = absolute humanity + infinite power.\n\nBut in the stage of religious progress represented by Shinto, we are\nfar indeed from such a result.\n\nThe priority of the second of these two processes has been assumed or\ncontended for by many writers, notably by Herbert Spencer. Others argue\nthat there can be no deification until the idea of deity has somehow\nbeen arrived at previously, as for example, by the personification of\nnatural powers. It appears to me impossible to say which of the two\ncomes first in order of time. The germs of both may be observed at a\nstage of intellectual development prior to all religion. Children,\nas we have all observed, sometimes personify inanimate objects. I\nhave known a boy of three years of age complain that, \"Bad mustard\ndid bite my tongue.\" The baby who cries for the moon credits his\nnurse--ignorantly, of course--with powers far transcending those\nof humanity. The argument that there can be no deification without\na previous acquaintance with the idea of deity loses sight of the\ncircumstance that deity is a compound conception, which combines\nthe ideas of great power and sense. Of these two a man has sense\nalready. To make him a God all that is necessary is to ascribe to him\ntranscendent power. Deification, therefore, does not necessarily imply\na previous knowledge of the conception of deity. In practice, however,\nmen are usually deified by being raised to the level of already known\ndeities.[5]\n\nEach of these two processes rests on a basis of truth. The\npersonification of natural objects and powers springs from some\nglimmering notion that the so-called inanimate world is really alive.\nEverything physical has its metaphysical counterpart. There is no\nmotion without something akin to sensation, and no sensation without\nmotion. As all our sensations, emotions, and thoughts are accompanied\nby corresponding disturbances of the molecules of our brain and nervous\nsystem, so all natural phenomena have associated with them something\nvarying in quality and intensity, for which our human language has no\nbetter word than sensation, while along with the sum of the infinitely\ninterwoven physical energies of the universe there goes what we, in our\nimperfect speech, must call emotion, purpose, thought.\n\nOrdinarily the lower animal, the child, the savage, and the primitive\nman do not realize this truth. Under the pressure of imperious\npractical necessities they recognize with sufficient accuracy the\ndifference between the animate and the inanimate. They do not take\nthe further step of seeing that there is animation in the so-called\ninanimate. Sense and volition are not habitually attributed by them to\ninanimate objects. Much less do they assume, as we are sometimes told,\nthe presence in them of a conscious agent not visible to the senses.\nThere are, however, exceptions to this rule. Some of these are simple\nmistakes. I have known a dog take a doll for a living person, and only\ndiscover his error after close examination and long consideration. A\nlarge stone-ware image of the Buddhist Saint Daruma, of stern aspect,\nwhich stood in my garden in T\u014dki\u014d, caused unmistakable alarm to stray\ndogs who unexpectedly found themselves face to face with it. Children\nsometimes beat inanimate objects by which they have been hurt, and\nsavages have been known to regard a watch as a living being.\n\nA second exception is the case of conscious make-believe, of which we\nmay observe instances in the play of children, and even of the lower\nanimals. Errors and fancies of this kind do not constitute religion,\nthough they may prepare the way for it. A time comes, however, when\nsome savage or primitive man, gifted beyond his fellows, arrives\nat a partial and hesitating recognition of the truth that with the\nenergies of nature there really goes something of the same kind that\nhe is conscious of in himself, and has learned to recognize in his\nfellow beings--namely, sense and will. He sees the sun move across\nthe heavens, diffusing light and warmth, and says to himself, \"He is\nalive.\" With the intellectual perception there is associated emotion.\nHe feels that the sun is kind to him, and bows his head as he would to\nhis chief, partly to express his thanks and partly in order that others\nmay share his thoughts and feelings. This is religion. It comprises the\nthree elements of thought, emotion, and action. Religion is at first\nexceptional. Every primitive man is not a seer or maker of religious\nmyth. His ordinary attitude towards the powers of nature is that of the\nChinaman, who thought that the moon was \"all the same lamp pigeon.\"\nHe is an unconscious Agnostic, and knows nothing of volition in the\ninanimate world.\n\nThe deification of men, although involving a contradiction in terms,\nhas yet a substantial and most important truth associated with it.\nGreat captains, wise rulers, inspired poets, sages and seers, whether\nalive or dead, deserve honour to which it is not easy to place a limit.\nNapoleon said that one of his generals was worth an army division. Who\nshall estimate the value to their respective races, and, indeed, to\nhumanity, of such men as Shakespeare, Confucius, Mahomet, or Buddha?\nNor are they dead. They live in their works, and subjectively in\nthe hearts and minds of their countrymen. And may we not go a step\nfurther? Our actions, even the most insignificant, do not remain\nlocked up in ourselves. As by sensation the whole universe affects us,\nso does every impulse of our ego react upon the universe, leaving an\nimpression which is indelible. The physical world is different for the\nmost trifling act of the meanest human being that ever lived. All our\nemotions and thoughts have a counterpart in our physical constitution,\nwhich is resolvable into motion, and is therefore indestructible. The\ndoctrine of the conservation of energy is the physical counterpart of\nthe doctrine of the immortality of the soul. Each involves the other.\nAssuming, therefore, that all motion is accompanied by something\nakin to sensation, it will be seen that dead men may continue to have\nperhaps even a sentient existence equal to the sum of the reactions of\ntheir ego upon its environment, animate or inanimate, during life. It\nis the remembered total energies of the man which, I take it, form the\nobject of honour and worship after he is dead, and not his corpse or\nghost. The latter is a mere accident, of secondary origin, and is by no\nmeans universally recognized.\n\nIn justification of man-worship, it may also be pleaded that if the\nnature-deity is truer, the man-deity is nearer to us and more capable\nof vivid realization. And as it is from the sympathetic recognition\nof life in our fellow men that we proceed to the recognition of life\nin the so-called inanimate universe, so it is by the contemplation of\nthe highest types of humanity that we are able to refine and exalt our\nconception of divinity.\n\nThe two great sources of religious thought, personification and\ndeification, are constantly intermingling their streams and reacting\nupon each other. A deity who begins his career as a Nature-God often in\ncourse of time loses this quality, and becomes hardly distinguishable\nfrom a magnified man. The Zeus of Homer is an example. He is much\nmore the Father of Gods and men than a Sky or Weather-God. In Japan\nit is only the scholar who recognizes in Susa no wo the deity of the\nRain-storm. To the people even Tensh\u014ddaijin (the Sun Goddess) is\nnothing more than the great providential deity who resides at Ise. Her\nsolar quality is practically forgotten. Men, on the other hand, may be\nexalted to such a height by the ascription to them of nature-powers\nthat their original humanity is much obscured.\n\nIt is sometimes difficult to determine to which of the two currents\nof religious thought a particular deity belongs. For example, we find\na sword worshipped as a deity. Is it on account of its wonderful\ncutting property, or because it was once an offering to a nature or a\nman-deity, and had therefore at length absorbed to itself a portion\nof his divinity? Or is it the Excalibur of some forgotten deified\nchieftain? There is no general answer to such questions. They must be\ndecided, if at all, by the evidence in each case. To call objects of\nthis kind \"fetishes\" helps us nothing. In the _Yengishiki_ we find\nmention of a shrine to Iha no hime (the lady of the rock). At first\nsight this looks like a Nature-God. But when we find that an Iha no\nhime was the mother of the Mikado Richiu (end of fourth century) it\nseems more probable that the Iha no hime of this shrine was a deified\nmortal.\n\nIn Shinto it is the first of the two great currents of religious\nthought with which we are chiefly concerned. It is based much more on\nthe conception--fragmentary, shallow, and imperfect as it is--of the\nuniverse as sentient than on the recognition of pre-eminent qualities\nin human beings, alive or dead. It springs primarily from gratitude\nto--and, though in a less degree, fear of--the great natural powers\non which our existence depends. The desire to commemorate the virtues\nand services of great men and to perpetuate a loving remembrance of\ndeparted parents and forefathers takes a secondary place.\n\n=Classification of Deities=.--Both Nature-Gods and Man-Gods may be\ndeities of individuals, of classes, or of abstract qualities. We have,\ntherefore, six classes of Gods, as follows:--\n\n_Nature-Gods_.\n\n Individuals, as the Sun.\n Classes, as the God of Trees.\n Properties, as the God of Growth.\n\n_Man-Gods_.\n\n Individuals, as Temmangu.\n Classes, as Koyane.\n Properties, as Ta-jikara no wo (Hand-strength-male).\n\nThis is the logical sequence; but it by no means follows that all Gods\nof individuals precede all Gods of classes, or that there were no\ndeities of abstractions before some of the later individual or class\ndeities were evolved.\n\nThe distinction between individual objects deified and deities of\nclasses is not always well maintained in Shinto. It is doubtful, for\nexample, whether Kamado no Kami is the God of all cooking furnaces, or\nwhether there is a separate God for each. Different worshippers might\ngive different answers. The habitual neglect by the Japanese nation of\nthe grammatical distinction between singular and plural is a potent\nobstacle to clearness in such matters.\n\n=Phases of Conception=.--The conception of individual parts of the\nuniverse as deities passes through the phases represented in the\nfollowing formulas:--\n\nI. The Sun (Moon, Wind, Sea, &c.) is alive.\n\nII. The Sun is a man, a father, a chief or a king--first rhetorically,\nand then literally.\n\nIII. The Sun is a material object, ruled by an unseen but not\nincorporeal being with human form and passions.\n\nIV. The Sun is (_a_) a material object ruled by an anthropomorphic\nbeing which has a spiritual double, or (_b_)is animated by a spiritual\nbeing.\n\nThese formulas exhibit the logical sequence of development. In practice\nthe various phases are found to overlap one another considerably. Even\nin the latest Shinto the direct conception of the natural object as\nalive is not forgotten.\n\nThe first stage,[6] in which we have the religious conception before\nit is clothed in myth or metaphor, is abundantly exemplified in\nShinto. A well, for example, is, like Horace's \"Fons Bandusi\u00e6,\"\nworshipped without name or myth attached to it, or anything to show\nwhether it is regarded as male or female. The same is the case with\nsites, buildings, provinces, trees, all of which are deified and have\nreligious rites in their honour without any very definite personality\nbeing attributed to them. They are simply thought of as in some sort\nof way living things. Mud and sand are dubbed _Kami_, and there the\npersonification ends. There are a good many colourless deities of\nthis kind in Shinto. Moto\u00f6ri declares explicitly that when a sea or a\nmountain is called _Kami_, it is not the spirit of the sea or mountain\nwhich is meant, but the sea or mountain itself. A poet of the Manyoshiu\nsays of Fujiyama:--\n\n Of Yamato, the Land of Sunrise,\n It is the peace-giver, it is the God,\n It is the treasure.\n\nWhen a kitchen wench at the present day speaks of the\n_Hettsui-sama_--_sama_ is a honorific and personifying word--she means\nthe cooking-furnace itself regarded as a God, not a spirit inhabiting\nit. She will even speak of the plasterer making a _Hettsui-sama_.\n\nThe second or anthropomorphic stage of the development of the idea\nof God arises out of the rhetorical necessity of rendering more\nvivid, even at the expense of exact truth, the presentation of the\nconception of the powers of nature as living things. Finding that the\nbare assertion that they are alive produces little impression, the\npoet or seer goes a step further, and boldly ascribes to them human\nform, passions, actions, and character. Myth and metaphor are his\ninstruments. The God has bodily parts, parents, sex, and children. He\neats, drinks, is angry or alarmed, loves, fights, weaves, cultivates\nthe ground, fishes, hunts, and dies. With the advance of social\norganization he is a chief or a king. Sometimes in these metaphors\nwe can trace a special application to the deity's natural functions.\nSometimes they are introduced merely for general effect. The results\nof this process for good and for evil are written large in the pages\nof human history. It is, on the one hand, the indispensable means\nby which the high intuitions of the seer are brought home, more or\nless imperfectly, to the multitude. On the other hand, the true\noriginal nature divinity is often lost sight of in a profusion of\nanthropomorphic fancies, and nothing is left but a magnified man,\nwhose ultimate fate it is to be disavowed by advancing knowledge and\nenlightenment.\n\nIt has been said that the primitive man knows no distinction between\nfancy and reality. In truth, life would be impossible for such a\nsimpleton. However primitive he may be, he cannot hold a fire in\nhis hand by thinking of the frosty Caucasus. The difference between\na real dinner and an imaginary one is palpable even to his limited\nintelligence. The hunter who could not distinguish between the game of\nhis imagination and the reality could never earn a living. He would be\nfit only for an imbecile asylum. The child is well aware that his mud\npies are not fit to eat. The savage woman who pretends to herself that\na stone is her lost baby, knows in her heart that this is nothing more\nthan make-believe. Even a dog appreciates the distinction between a\nreal rat and the object which it pleases him to fancy one, and worries\naccordingly. The seer is conscious that his anthropomorphic language is\nonly metaphorical. Dante felt this when he said:--\n\n Per questo la Scrittura condescende\n A nostra facultate e piedi e mano\n Attribuisce a Dio ed altro intende.\n\nMetaphor is of the very essence of myth. But the literal-minded vulgar\nare at all times prone to confound the _altro_ which is clothed in myth\nand metaphor with its outward husk, and the literal-minded scholar\nor scientific man is often little better. Hirata says that \"what we\ncall _kami_ are all men. Even among men those who are excellent are\ncalled _kami_. The natural difference between men and Gods is that the\nGods are high and men are low, owing to the greater care taken by the\ncreator deities in producing the former.\" He thinks that the Shinto\ndeities are about ten feet high.\n\nThe humanization of the nature deities is reflected in the vocabulary\nof Shinto. The term _mioya_, or \"august parent,\" is frequently used of\nthem. _Tsuchi_ or _tsutsu_, old forms of _chichi_, father, occurs in\nthe names of several. It is primarily by no means physical fatherhood\nwhich is meant in such cases, although there are no doubt vulgar minds\nwho are unable to rise above this conception and have thereby done much\nto corrupt religion.\n\nIn Western religions a God must be either male or female. The\ngrammatical structure of their languages compels Europeans to say\neither he or she in speaking of deities. In Japan this necessity does\nnot exist. The forms of Japanese speech take little account of sex.\nMany Shinto deities have no sex at all. In others sex is indicated by\nthe incidents of the myth or by the additions of such terminations as\n_wo_ male, _me_ female. There are several pairs of married deities. In\nart, sex is comparatively little distinguished in Japan.\n\nThe reason for attributing one sex to a deity rather than the other\nis not always evident. Provinces and mountains are sometimes male\nand sometimes female. The Food Goddess is naturally feminine, as\nrepresenting the productive principle of nature, and perhaps also\nbecause cooking is the business of women. The male sex is more suitable\nto Susa no wo's violent character as the Rain-storm. Warlike gods like\nHachiman are naturally masculine.\n\nThe \"chieftain\" conception of divinity is represented by the use of\nthe word _wo_, male, _i.e._, virile or valiant one, in many of the\nnames of deities, and by the ascription to some of warlike qualities.\nThere is nothing to show that these are deified chieftains. On the\ncontrary, the term _wo_ is applied, like _tsuchi_, father, to what\nare unmistakably nature deities, such as the Sea-Gods Soko-tsutsu-wo\n(bottom-father-male) Naka-tsutsu-wo (middle-father-male), and\nUwa-tsutsu-wo (upper-father-male), produced by the lustrations of\nIzanagi in the sea after his return from Yomi.\n\n_Tohe_, another word for chieftain, occurs in the name of the Wind-God,\nShina tsu tohe.\n\n_Nushi_, master, is found in the names of several deities.\n\nThe application to the Shinto deities of words implying sovereignty\nis illustrated by _sube_ or _sume_, which enters into a number of\ncompounds relating to the Gods or Mikados. This word means \"to collect\ntogether into one,\" and hence \"to hold general rule over.\" _Sumera_ or\n_sumeragi no mikoto_ is the Mikado. Several deities enjoy the honorary\nepithet of _Sume-gami_, or _Subera-gami_.\n\n_Mi-koto_, august thing, is also applied equally to Gods and Mikados,\nand in ancient times even to parents. It is nearly equivalent to our\n\"majesty.\"\n\n_Wake_, a branch, that is to say, a branch of the imperial family, a\nprince, is applied to deities.\n\n_Hiko_ and _hime_ occur frequently in the names of gods. These words\nmean literally sun-child and sun-female, but in practice they are\nequivalent to prince and princess, or lord and lady. In the history\nof these words one may observe the operation of both of the great\ncurrents of deity-forming thought. _Hi_, sun, is used as an epithet for\nthe glorification of human personages, and the compounds _hiko_ and\n_hime_ are in turn applied to nature powers as a personifying term. The\nWind-God is a _hiko_.\n\nThe rhetorical impulse to realize in its various phases the human\ncharacter of the nature deities of Shinto has produced a number of\nsubsidiary personages, who are attached to them as wives, children,\nministers, or attendants. Some of these are also nature deities. In\nothers we find a union of the two deity-making tendencies. Thus Koyane,\nby the circumstance of his descent from Musubi, the God of Growth, and\nby his position of high-priest to the Sun-Goddess, belongs to the\ncategory of nature deities, while as an embodiment of the collective\nhumanity of the Nakatomi sacerdotal corporation, whose ancestor he is\nfeigned to be, he belongs to the class of deified human beings.\n\nIn Japan, the myth and metaphor-making faculty--in other words the\nimagination--though prolific enough, is comparatively feeble. The\nancient Japanese especially were appreciably more neglectful than\nWestern races of the distinction between the animate and the inanimate,\nand there was therefore less scope for the play of fancy in which\nreligious personification consists. Like other Far-Eastern peoples,\nthey realized the personal conception of deity with less intensity\nthan the Aryan or Semitic nations. In this respect Homer and the\nBible stand at the opposite pole from Confucius, whose _Tien_ has as\nlittle about it of humanity as is possible for a being who is said\nto know, to command, to reward, and to punish. Shinto approaches\nConfucianism in this respect. There is, no doubt, a profuse creation of\npersonified nature-deities, but we find on examination that they are\nshadowy personages with ill-defined functions and characters wanting\nin consistency. Moreover, owing to the neglect by the Japanese of\ngrammatical forms indicating number, it is frequently hard to tell\nwhether a given name is that of one deity or of several. Musubi, the\nGod of Growth, is sometimes one God, sometimes two, while at a later\nperiod he became split up into five or more deities. The Wind-God is at\none time a single deity, at another a married couple. Susa no wo has in\nrecent times been made into a trinity. Such fissiparous reproduction\nof deities is characteristic of a low degree of organization.[7] To\nmeet the difficulties arising from this state of things Moto\u00f6ri,\nin the eighteenth century, propounded his theory of _bun-shin_, or\n\"fractional bodies,\" which may remind us of the \"three persons and one\nsubstance\" of Christian theology. Hirata, his pupil, speaking of the\nthree Sea-deities, Uha tsutsu no wo, Naka tsutsu no wo, and Soko tsutsu\nno wo, says: \"This deity, although, strictly speaking, born as three\ndeities, is described as though one deity were present. This is to be\nunderstood of the God dividing his person and again uniting it. The\ndescent of the _Adzumi no Muraji_ (a noble family) from him shows that\nin this respect he is to be regarded as one.\"\n\nThe circumstance that many of the Gods, like the Japanese themselves,\nhave numerous aliases, adds to the uncertainty. The nomina and the\nnumina do not invariably go together. There is sometimes reason to\nsuspect that it is the same God who appears under different names,\nwhile, on the other hand, the same name may cover what are in reality\ntwo or more different deities.\n\nThere were no arts of sculpture or painting in Japan before their\nintroduction from China in historical times, and the consequent want\nof images and pictures for which Shinto has been commended must have\ncontributed materially to prevent the Gods from acquiring distinct\npersonalities like those of ancient Greece.\n\nThe feeble grasp of personality indicated by the above facts is\nprofoundly characteristic of the Japanese genius. It is illustrated\nby their unimaginative literature, which makes but sparing use of\npersonification, allegory, and metaphor, by their drama, with its\nlate and imperfect development, and by their art, which has produced\nlittle monumental sculpture or portrait painting of importance. It may\nalso be traced in the grammar, which has practically no gender, thus\nshowing that the Japanese mind is comparatively careless of marking the\ndistinction between animate and inanimate and male and female. The law\ntakes far less cognizance of the individual and more of the family than\nwith us. Another fact of the same order is the neglect of distinctions\nof person shown by the sparing use of personal and other pronouns. In\na passage translated from Japanese into English, without any intention\nof illustrating this fact, there occur only six pronouns in the former\nagainst nearly one hundred in the latter. The verb has no person.\n_Yuku_ for example, means equally I go, thou goest, he goes, we go, you\ngo, and they go. It is true that person may be indicated by the use of\nhonorifics to mark the second person and humble forms for the first,\nbut even when these are taken into account, the absence from Japanese\nof indications of person is very remarkable.\n\nHerbert Spencer, in his 'Principles of Sociology,' suggests that the\ncomparative fewness of personal pronouns in the languages of the\nFar East is owing to the circumstance that they \"establish with the\nindividual addressed a relation too immediate to be allowed where\ndistance is to be maintained.\" Now, not only is it possible, and even\ncommon, for pronouns to be used for the express purpose of magnifying\nthe distance between the speaker and the person whom he addresses, as\nin the case of the German _er_ when used as a pronoun of the second\nperson, but Spencer's explanation does not meet the case of pronouns of\nthe third person, which are just as rare in these languages as those of\nthe first and second. Nor is there anything in the relations between\nmen of high and low degree in these countries which is so radically\ndifferent from those which have prevailed in Europe as to produce such\na far-reaching difference in the language of all classes of society.\nThe truth is that these nations do not _avoid_ pronouns. Their minds\nare still in a stage of development in which they have not yet realized\nthe advantages in clearness of expression which are to be gained by a\nmore systematic distribution of their ideas into the three categories\nof first, second, and third person. It is with them not a matter of\netiquette, but of poverty of imagination, that power which, as Mr. P.\nLowell has remarked, is to the mental development what spontaneous\nvariation is to organic development.[8]\n\nIn Stages I. and II. of the evolution of nature-deities, it is\nthe nature power or object itself which is the deity. Stage II.\n(Anthropomorphism), so long as it is not meant literally, is not\ninconsistent with a direct worship of natural objects and phenomena.\nBut the vulgar are always prone to mistake metaphor for reality. When\nthey are told that the Sun is a goddess, who walks, weaves, wears\narmour, sows rice, and so on, they take these statements literally,\ncombining an implicit belief in them with the worship of the Sun\nitself. Even Moto\u00f6ri says that it is the actual Sun in Heaven which\nwe worship as Amaterasu no Oho-Kami (the Heaven-shining-great Deity),\nwhile he believes at the same time that the Sun-myth of the _Kojiki_\nis real history. A time comes when it is objected that the Sun has no\narms or legs necessary for the performance of the actions attributed to\nher. It is pointed out that the wind has no bodily form at all. Instead\nof going back to the true explanation--that these things are only\nmetaphorical, the literal-minded man prefers to accept the suggestion\n(which brings us to Stage III.) that the deity is not the actual sun,\nor wind, or sea, or mountain, but a powerful being who rules it.\nSuch beings, however, are not at first conceived of as in any way\nincorporeal.\n\nThere is considerable confusion observable in Shinto between Stages I.\nand II. and Stage III. We have seen that Moto\u00f6ri identified Ama-terasu\nwith the Sun. His pupil Hirata, on the other hand, says that the\nSun-Goddess was born on earth, and was sent up to Heaven as \"Ruler\nof the Sun.\" And while it is true that a sea may be directly called\n_Kami_, we have also a Sea-God, Toyotama-hiko, who is as clearly\ndistinguished from the physical ocean as Neptune is. This fluctuation\nis common to all mythologies. Greek literature is full of examples\nof reverence paid at one time to natural objects and phenomena, and\nat another to deities which rule them. They adored Apollo as well as\nHelios. Muir, in the introduction to vol. v. of his 'Sanskrit Texts,'\nsays:--\"The same visible object was at different times regarded\ndiversely as being either a portion of the inanimate universe, or\nan animated being and a cosmical power. Thus in the Vedic hymns,\nthe sun, the sky, and the earth are severally considered, sometimes\nas natural objects governed by particular gods, and sometimes as\nthemselves gods who generate and control other beings.\" Our own poets\nare not a whit disturbed by such inconsistencies. In 'Paradise Lost'\nthe Sun is apostrophized in one place as the \"God of this new world,\"\nwhile in another passage of the same poem we have a \"Uriel, Regent of\nthe Sun.\" Shakespeare, in the 'Tempest,' puts into the mouth of an\nanthropomorphic Iris the words:--\n\n The Queen of the Sky,\n Whose watery arch and messenger am I.\n\n=Spiritism=.--We now come to Stage IV., or spiritism. The great and\nobvious difficulties connected with the anthropomorphic conception\nof deity, even in the modified form of a belief in corporeal beings\ndetached from natural phenomena, led to spiritism, which may be defined\nas a partial or complete negation of the material properties of the\nGods. Spiritism is therefore far from being a \"primitive\" religious\ndevelopment, as is so often supposed. \"Primitive man,\" it has been\nsaid, \"thinks that the world is pervaded by spiritual forces.\" I\nwould rather describe his mental attitude as a piecemeal conception\nof the universe as alive, just as he looks on his fellow man as alive\nwithout analyzing him into the two distinct entities of body and soul.\nA dog knows quite well the difference between alive and dead; but\nthe distinction between body and soul is far beyond his intellectual\ncapacity.\n\nIn Japan the process of spiritualizing the Gods has not gone very far.\nLike the Gods of the Homeric Olympus,[9] the Shinto deities are, on the\nwhole, unspiritual beings.\n\nThe doctrine of spiritism is associated in Shinto with the word\n_Mitama_, for which \"spirit\" is the nearest English equivalent.\nStrictly speaking, the _Mitama_ is not the God, but an emanation or\neffluence from him, which inhabits his temple, and is the vehicle of\nhis action at a distance from the place where he himself resides.\nIt therefore corresponds to the Shekinah (that which dwells) of the\nJews, and, though in a less marked degree, to the Roman _numen_. The\nShekinah, like the _Mitama_, is a later development. Where Habakkuk,\nii. 20, says, \"The Lord is in his holy temple,\" the Targums have,\n\"Jehovah was pleased to cause his Shekinah to dwell in his holy\ntemple.\" I cannot see that the Shekinah and _Mitama_ owe anything to\nthe analogous doctrine of the separability of the human soul and body.\nThe ghost is not the parent of either.[10]\n\nThe unavoidable assumption that an anthropomorphic God can act at a\ndistance from his own abode in Heaven or elsewhere really involves the\ndoctrine of spiritism, though time and thought are required for its\ndevelopment. It is clearly not the Sun-Goddess herself who lives in\nIse. Her true place is in Heaven; but she is present in some way on\nearth, as is proved by her answering the prayers which are addressed to\nher at her shrine. The explanation which is ultimately forthcoming is\nthat it is the _Mitama_, or spirit, of the Goddess which resides there.\nWe have here a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the omnipresence of\ndeity.\n\nThe etymology of the word _Mitama_ will repay examination. _Mi_ is\nsimply a honorific prefix. _Tama_ contains the root of the verb _tabu_,\nto give, more often met with in its lengthened form _tamafu_. _Tama_\nretains its original signification in _tama-mono_, a gift thing,\nand _toshi-dama_, a new year's present. _Tama_ next means something\nvaluable, as a jewel. Then, as jewels are mostly globular in shape,\nit has come to mean anything round. At the same time, owing to its\nprecious quality, it is used symbolically for the sacred emanation from\nthe God which dwells in his shrine, and also for that most precious\nthing, the human life or soul.[11]\n\nThe meaning of _tama_ is illustrated by the following story, which is\nrelated in the _Nihongi_ of Ohonamochi, the Creator or Kosmos-deity of\nIdzumo myth:--\n\n\"_Coming at last to the province of Idzumo, he spake and said; 'This\nCentral Land of Reed-plains had been always waste and wild. The very\nrocks, trees, and herbs were all given to violence. But I have now\nreduced them to submission, and there is none that is not compliant!'\nTherefore he said finally: 'It is I, and I alone, who now govern this\nland. Is there perchance any one who could join with me in governing\nthe world?' Upon this a divine radiance_[12] _illuminated the sea, and\nof a sudden there was something which floated towards him and said:\n'Were I not here, how couldst thou subdue this land? It is because of\nmy presence that thou hast been able to accomplish this mighty task!\n'Who art thou?' asked Ohonamochi. It replied and said: 'I am thy spirit\n(tama) of good luck, the wondrous spirit.' Then said Ohonamochi:\n'True; I know, therefore, that thou art my spirit (tama) of good luck,\nthe wondrous spirit. Where dost thou now wish to dwell?' The spirit\nanswered and said: 'I wish to dwell on Mount Mimoro, in the province\nof Yamato.' Accordingly he built a shrine in that place and made the\nspirit to go and dwell there. This is the God of Oho-miwa.\"_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe distinction between the God and his spiritual double so clearly\nindicated in this extract is often neglected and the deity of Miwa\nspoken of simply as Ohonamochi. The same uncertainty as to the\nspiritual character of the God is reflected in his names Oho-kuni-nushi\n(great-country-master) and Oho-kuni-dama (great-country-spirit), and in\na legend told of him in the _Kojiki_, where he is corporeal enough to\nhave a child by a mortal woman and yet sufficiently spiritual to pass\nthrough a keyhole.\n\nIn the _Idzumo Fudoki_, Susa no wo speaks of the village of Susa as the\nplace where his _mitama_ was settled, that is to say, where a shrine\nwas dedicated to him. The _Nihongi_ states that Izanami's _mitama_ was\nworshipped at Kumano with music and offerings of flowers. In a modern\nbook the Hi no mitama (spirit of the Sun) is not the Sun-Goddess, but a\nseparate deity of a lower class.\n\nThe element _tama_ enters into the names of several deities. The\nFood-Goddess is called either Ukemochi no Kami or Uka no mitama.[13]\nBut the meaning \"spirit\" is not applicable in every case in which a\nGod's name contains this element. Futo-dama, for example, the name of\nthe supposed ancestor of the Imbe priestly corporation, probably means\n\"great gift or offering.\" Yorodzu-dama no Kami is not the God of ten\nthousand spirits, but the God of ten thousand offerings.\n\nIt is a curious circumstance that in later times the _mitama_ par\nexcellence were the phallic Sahe no Kami. Their festival was formerly\ncalled the _mitama matsuri_. It is now known by the Chinese equivalent\n_Gori\u014dye_.\n\nIn a few cases the _mitama_ is in duplicate, a _nigi-mitama_, or gentle\nspirit, and an _ara-mitama_, or rough spirit.[14] In the _Idzumo\nFudoki_ a man who is praying for revenge calls upon the _nigi-tama_ of\nthe _Oho-kami_ (great deity) to remain quiet, and asks the _ara-tama_\nto attend to his petition. The legendary Empress Jingo was attended\non her expedition to Korea by two such sea-god _mitama_, one to guard\nher person, the other to lead the van of her army. But we hear little\nof this distinction in the older records. The _aragami-matsuri_\n(rough-God-festival) of later days was a sort of saturnalia when\nlicense was permitted to servants.\n\nThe _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ do not theorize about the _mitama_. Hirata's\nstatement that they do not distinguish between the _utsushi-mi-mi_\n(real-august-body)[15] and the _mitama_ of the Gods is, as the case\nof Ohonamochi shows, not quite correct. But there is much foundation\nfor it. In one myth, for example, the Sun-Goddess in handing over the\ndivine mirror to Ninigi, enjoins on him to regard it as her _mitama_,\nand in another version of the story to look upon it as herself.\n\nAnother indication of an advance towards spirituality in the older\nShinto literature is the distinction which is made between _araha-goto_\n(public things) and _kakure-goto_ (hidden things), the former term\nbeing applied to temporal and the latter to spiritual matters, namely,\nthe service of the unseen Gods. Mystery is not the vital element of\nreligion. It depends on what we know, not on what we do not know.\nStill, there perhaps never was a religion which did not betray some\nfeeling that what we know is only an infinitesimal portion of that\ninfinite sum of knowledge for which mankind is possessed with an\neternal yearning. Religion, though not based in mystery, must always\nproceed, like other knowledge, from the known towards the unknown.\nA good deal, however, that is mysterious in religion is of our own\nmaking. Hirata, when he can find no way out of the difficulties arising\nfrom his crude, literal-minded anthropomorphism, constantly resorts to\nthe time-honoured expedient of declaring his problems mysteries which\ntranscend human intelligence, exclaiming, \"Oh! how wonderful! Oh! how\nstrange! Oh! how strange! Oh! how wonderful!\"\n\nMoto\u00f6ri and Hirata account for the invisibility of such Gods as Musubi,\nthe God of Growth, by the theory that since the Age of the Gods they\nhave removed further from the earth, so that they are now beyond the\nscope of human vision. In other respects, however, they have, under\nunacknowledged Chinese influence, greatly developed the hints of the\nspiritual nature of the Gods which are found in the _Kojiki_ and\n_Nihongi_. Of the _mitama_, Moto\u00f6ri says[16]:--\n\n_\"In general, when such or such a God is mentioned in the old\nscriptures, we must distinguish between the real God and his mitama.\nThe real God is his actual body; the mitama is his divine spirit: the\nmitama-shiro (spirit-token) is the thing, be it a mirror or aught else,\nto which the divine spirit attaches itself. It is commonly called the\nShintai (God-body). Now both the real body and the spirit are spoken\nof simply as the God. Thus when we are told that Amaterasu no Ohokami\nwas entrusted to Toyo-suki-iri-bime and Yamato no Oho-kuni-dama to\nNunaki-iri-bime, it is not to be supposed that the real bodies of these\ntwo deities were in the Imperial Palace. It is unquestionably their\nmitama-shiro which are spoken of as if they were the real bodies....\nAgain, when we are told in the history of the same reign that the\nMikado assembled the eighty myriads of Gods on the plain of Kami-asachi\nand inquired of them by divination, this is not like the assembly\nin the divine age of the real Gods in the Plain of High Heaven. The\ninvitation is to their mitama.\"_\n\nThe same writer says that of the attendant deities who came down from\nHeaven with Ninigi, some came in their real bodies, some as _mitama_.\nAmong the former he naturally classes all those who are represented as\nhaving human descendants. Hirata regards this as a discovery which will\nendure to all ages.\n\nThe following quotation from Hirata's _Koshiden_ (vi. 9) illustrates\nfurther the ideas of this school of theology regarding the spiritual\nnature of the Gods:--\n\n_\"Both this God(Chigaheshi) and Kunado[17] were produced by the great\nmitama of the great God Izanagi applying itself earnestly to preventing\nthe entrance into this world of the things coming furiously from the\nLand of Yomi, and which accordingly became separated from him and\nadhered to a staff and a stone. Remaining there, it (the mitama) did\ngood service in both cases. These Gods, moreover, sometimes reveal\ntheir real bodies and dispense blessings. This may not be doubted. We\nfind below that Kunado no Kami acted as a guide to Futsunushi; and that\nChigaheshi no Oho-Kami was two deities distinguished as hiko and hime\n(prince and princess).\"_\n\nHirata thinks that Gods (and men too) have two doubles, the _nigi-tama_\nand an _aratama_ mentioned above. These he distinguishes from the\n_Zentai no mitama_, or \"spirit of the entire body.\" But he admits\nthat these distinctions are not recognized in the old Shinto. There\nis no limit to the subdivision of the _mitama_. Hirata explains that\nthe deity is like a fire, which may be communicated to a lamp or to\nfirewood while the original fire remains the same. \"But the world knows\nnot this.\" In other words, this is a philosophic refinement too subtle\nfor the popular taste.\n\nWhile the old records rarely distinguish between the God's real body\nand his _mitama_, in later times the _mitama_ is often confounded\nwith the _mitama-shiro_ (spirit-token), or _shintai_ (god-body)\nas the concrete representative of the God is called. Even in the\n_Nihongi_ there is a case in which a sword is called Futsu no mitama.\nThe _Kiujiki_ calls the mirror of the Sun-Goddess her _mitama_. The\n_Shinto Mi\u014dmoku_ (1699) says that Futsu no mitama is the sword of the\ngreat deity of Kashima, and speaks of the Toyo-uka no mitama (the\nFood-spirit) as being, or residing in, a stone. Hirata himself calls\na stone idol the _mitama_ of the God, and speaks of the Sun-Goddess's\n_mitama_ as going backward and forward between Ise and the sky. The\nunspiritual vulgar naturally find it hard to distinguish between the\nspirit of the God and its concrete representative.\n\nThe doctrine of the separability of the human body and soul, and of the\ncontinued existence of the latter after death, whether in a material\nor semi-material form, or as a pure spirit, may have been a factor in\nthe spiritualizing of the cruder anthropomorphic conceptions of deity.\nBut there is little or no evidence to this effect in the old Shinto\nscriptures, and the above pages show that other important influences\nwere at work in producing this result. Whether the idea of God had its\norigin in the doctrine of separable human souls is a question which may\nbe left to the discerning reader's judgment.\n\n=Gods of Classes and Qualities=.--No language is possible without some\nexercise of the powers of generalization and abstraction. In Japanese,\nhowever, we miss many of the more general, and especially of the more\nabstract, conceptions embodied in European languages, a circumstance\nwhich limits the scope of the personifying faculty, none too vigorous\nin itself. Supposing that we take the series of conceptions beginning\nwith the concrete individual tree, and passing through evergreen\noak, oak, tree, and vegetable, to the definitive generalization of\nthe universe. The Japanese language has no word for vegetable except\n_s\u014dmoku_, a recent compound of Chinese origin. The word for universe is\n_Ame-tsuchi_ (Heaven + earth) which is almost certainly a translation\nof the Chinese _ten-chi_. The consequence is that neither the class\nof vegetables nor the universe is recognized in the Japanese scheme\nof nature-deities. Individual trees are deified, and there is a God\nof trees, but that is all. The neglect of grammatical number in the\nJapanese language often obscures the distinction between the Gods of\nindividual objects and of classes. _Ki no Kami_ means equally the God\nof the tree and the God of trees.[18]\n\nThere is a marked poverty of abstract terms in the Japanese language,\nand the personification of abstract qualities is correspondingly\nrestricted. There is scarcely anything in Shinto to compare with the\nnumerous personified abstractions of Greek and Roman mythology. Izanagi\nand Izanami, embodiments of the creative or generative powers of\nnature, are probably not originally Japanese, but an echo of the _Yin_\nand _Yang_ of Chinese philosophy. I have a suspicion that Musubi, the\nGod of Growth, may yet be traced to a Chinese source.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] At the festival of Nifu Mi\u014djin in Ki\u012b, when the procession bearing\nofferings arrives before the shrine, the village chief calls out in\na loud voice, \"According to our annual custom, let us all laugh.\" To\nwhich a hearty response is given. This is because this God does not go\nto Idzumo for an annual visit like the others.\n\n[2] 'Sociology,' p. 153.\n\n[3] Compare with this the following description of the _huacas_ of\nthe ancient Peruvians. \"All those things which from their beauty and\nexcellence are superior to other things of a like kind; things that are\nugly and monstrous or that cause horror and fright; things out of the\nusual course of nature.\"\n\n[4] In the spirit of Wordsworth's\n\n \"Listen, the mighty being is awake\n And doth with his eternal motion make\n A noise like thunder everlastingly.\"\n\n\n[5] M. Goblet d'Alviella says: \"I maintain that neither of these two\nforms of worship necessarily presupposes the other; but that man having\nbeen led by different roads to personify the souls of the dead on the\none hand and natural objects and phenomena on the other, subsequently\nattributed to both alike the character of mysterious superhuman beings.\nLet us add that this must have taken place everywhere, for there is not\na people on earth in which we do not come upon these forms of belief\nside by side and intermingled.\" Dr. Pfleiderer's view is substantially\nidentical.\n\n[6] Max M\u00fcller speaks of \"that ancient stratum of thought which\npostulated an agent in the sky, the sun, &c.\" This is really a\nsecondary conception.\n\n[7] It was not unknown in ancient Greece and Rome. Zeus, Hercules, and\nother deities became divided up in this way.\n\n[8] \"Mr. Tyler has justly observed that the true lesson of the new\nscience of Comparative Mythology is the barrenness in primitive times\nof the faculty which we most associate with mental fertility, the\nimagination.... Among these multitudes (the millions of men who fill\nwhat we vaguely call the East) Literature, Religion, and Art--or what\ncorrespond to them--move always within a distinctly drawn circle of\nunchanging notions.... This condition of thought is rather the infancy\nof the human mind prolonged than a different maturity from that most\nfamiliar to us.\"--Maine, 'Early History of Institutions,' pp. 225-6.\nThis characteristic of the mental development of the races of the Far\nEast is discussed in 'A Comparative Study of the Japanese and Korean\nLanguages,' by W. G. Aston, in the _Transactions_ of the Royal Asiatic\nSociety, August, 1879, and more fully by Mr. Percival Lowell, in\nhis 'Soul of the Far East,' 1888. See also Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's'\nKojiki,' Introd., lxvi.\n\n[9] Homer implicitly denies the spirituality of his Gods when he\nsays that the Hercules which was summoned up by Ulysses was only his\n_eidolon_, or phantom, the real man being in Olympus among the happy\nGods.\n\n[10] See an instructive article on 'Shekinah' in Dr. Hastings's\n'Dictionary of the Bible'.\n\n[11] \"And mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of\nman.\"--'Macbeth,' Act III. scene i.\n\n[12] The Shekinah was also associated with a divine radiance, or glory.\n\n[13] _Mi mi_ (august body) in the names of others involves a more\nmaterial conception of deity.\n\n[14] Corresponding to the _mo acha_, uncle of peace, and _ski acha_,\nrough uncle, of the Ainus.\n\n[15] Homer's \u03ac\u03bd\u03c4\u03cc\u03c2\n\n[16] _Sakitake no Ben, 21_.\n\n[17] See Index.\n\n[18] For deities of classes consult Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,'\nii. 242.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nDEIFICATION OF MEN.\n\n\nThe importance of the deification of human beings in Shinto has been\ngrossly exaggerated both by European scholars and by modern Japanese\nwriters. Grant Allen, for example, says, in his 'Evolution of the\nIdea of God': \"We know that some whole great national creeds, like\nthe Shinto of Japan, recognize no deities at all, save living kings\nand dead ancestral spirits.\" He was probably misled by the old writer\nKaempfer, whose ignorance of the subject is stupendous. The truth\nis that Shinto is derived in a much less degree from the second of\nthe two great currents of religious thought than from the first. It\nhas comparatively little worship of human beings. In the _Kojiki_,\n_Nihongi_, and _Yengishiki_ we meet with hardly anything of this\nelement. None of their great Gods are individual human beings, though\nat a later period a few deities of this class attained to considerable\neminence and popularity. An analysis of a list of \"Greater Shrines,\"\nprepared in the tenth century, yields the following results: Of the\nGods comprised in it, seventeen are nature deities, one is a sword,\nwhich probably represented a nature deity, two are more or less\nlegendary deceased Mikados, one is the deified type and supposed\nancestor of a priestly corporation, one is the ancestor of an empress,\nand one a deceased statesman.\n\n=Deified Individual Men=.--Like Nature-Gods, Man-Gods may be divided\ninto three classes--namely, deified individual men, deified classes of\nmen, and deified human qualities. The first of these classes comprises\nthe Mikados, living or dead, and numerous heroes, of whom Yamato-dake,\nthe legendary conqueror of the eastern part of Japan, and Sugahara\n(Tenjin), the god of learning, may be quoted as examples.\n\n=Phases of Conception=.--They are variously conceived of, as follow:--\n\nI. X, alive or dead, is a great man, worthy of our love, reverence,\ngratitude, or fear.\n\nII. X, sometimes when alive, more frequently when dead, is possessed of\nsuperhuman powers, usually borrowed from those of nature, such as the\ncontrol of the weather and the seasons, and of diseases.\n\nIII. X's powers reside not in his body but in a more or less spiritual\nemanation from it.\n\nIn the first of these three phases, man-worship is not religion. So\nlong as a man is honoured for those qualities only which he really\npossesses or possessed, he cannot be called a God. But although\nrational man-worship is not in itself religion, it is a necessary\nfactor in its development. Our sentiments of gratitude and awe towards\nthe great nature-powers spring up in hearts already prepared by the\nfeelings which we entertain towards our parents, superiors, and other\nfellow-men. Whether individually or collectively, a man loves his\nparents before he loves God. The outward signs of divine worship are\nalmost exclusively in the first place acts of reverence towards men. A\nman bows his head or makes presents to his superiors before he worships\nor sacrifices to a deity.\n\nThere is a tendency to restrict the word worship to the adoration of\ndeity. Thus, when we speak of ancestor-worship, we are apt to think of\nit as implying deification. But there is much worship of living and\ndead men which is perfectly rational, and implies no ascription to them\nof superhuman powers.\n\nThe second, or religious, phase of man-worship involves the assumption\nthat some men are possessed of powers of a kind different from those\nof ordinary mortals. The mere exaggeration of the human faculties\nmay produce an inferior sort of deity, but no really great man-God\ncan be produced without borrowing some of the transcendent powers of\nNature, or in some way identifying him with that increasing cosmic\npurpose, which from one point of view is tendency and evolution, and\nfrom another is a loving Providence. Until this is done a deified\nking, ancestor, or ghost (if there be such a thing) is a poor specimen\nof a God. To become a deity of any consequence, the man-God must\nmake rain, avert floods, control the seasons, send and stay plagues,\nwield thunderbolts, ride upon the storm, or even act as Creator of\nthe world.[19] When the practice of deifying men was once established\nit was enough to entitle them Gods, the term itself implying the\npossession of those powers which we call supernatural, but which are\nonly so when predicated of men.\n\n=Deification of Mikados=.--The misunderstanding of metaphorical\nlanguage is a fertile source of apotheosis. The deification of the\nMikados is a case in point. The Mikado is called \"the Heavenly\nGrandchild,\" his courtiers are \"men above the clouds,\" rural districts\nare spoken of as \"distant from Heaven,\" that is, from the Imperial\nPalace. The heir to the throne was styled _hi no miko_, or \"august\nchild of the Sun,\" and his residence _hi no miya_, \"the august house of\nthe Sun.\" The native names of many of the Mikados contain the element\n_hiko_, or \"Sun-child.\" The appearance in Court of the Empress Suiko\n(A.D. 612) is compared to the sun issuing from the clouds. _Tenshi_, or\n\"Son of Heaven,\" a Chinese term freely applied to the Mikado in later\ntimes, is a variant of the same idea, which, it need hardly be said,\nis known in other countries besides Japan. The Chinese Emperor is said\nto call the sun his elder brother, and the moon his sister. Images of\nthe sun and moon were depicted on the banners which were borne before\nhim on State occasions. The same practice had been adopted in Japan as\nearly as A.D. 700, and there is a relic of it at the present day in the\nJapanese national flag, which is a red sun on a white ground.[20] The\nancient kings of Egypt called themselves earthly suns. Our own poet\nWaller, addressing James II., says:--\n\n To your great merrit given,\n A title to be called the sonne of Heaven.\n\nLet us not pass by these metaphors with a disdainful smile, as mere\nunsubstantial poetic fancies. They are more or less rude attempts to\ngive expression to the very important truth that the benefits which\na nation derives from the rule of a wise and good sovereign are\ncomparable to the blessings of the sun's warmth and light. As Browning,\nin 'Saul,' has well said:--\n\n Each deed thou hast done\n Dies, revives, goes to work in the world, and is as the sun\n Looking down on the earth, though clouds spoil him,\n though tempests efface,\n Can find nothing his own deed produced not, must everywhere trace\n The results of his past summer prime--so each ray of thy will,\n Every flash of thy passion and prowess long over, shall thrill\n Thy whole people, the countless, with ardour till they too give forth\n A like cheer to their sons, who in turn fill the south and the north\n With the radiance thy deed was the germ of----.\n\nIt may be objected that it is contrary to the general law of human\ndevelopment to make the higher metaphorical conception precede the\nlower physical one. It is no doubt true that the physical idea of\nfatherhood must come before the metaphorical use of this relationship.\nBut it does not follow that when once the metaphor is arrived at, it\nmay not relapse into its original physical acceptation. The forces\nwhich produce religious progress act by waves, with intervals of\nstagnation or retrogression. Even when the general religious condition\nof a country is advancing it will be found that the lower popular\nstratum of thought consists less of undeveloped germs of future\nprogress than of a breccia of the debased or imperfectly assimilated\nideas of the wise men of preceding generations. In this retrograde\nmovement a large part is played by the invincible tendency of the\nvulgar to give metaphors their literal signification. This, I take it,\nis the source of the numerous actual children or descendants of the Sun\nand other deities who are found all over the world, in Greece, Peru,\nJapan, and elsewhere. The sequence of ideas may be thus represented:--\n\nI. The King or sage is like the Sun.\n\nII. He is (rhetorically) a Sun, or the Sun's brother or offspring.\n\nIII. He is actually descended from the Sun in the _n_th generation, the\nintermediate links of the genealogy being _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, &c., and\nhe is therefore himself a divinity.\n\nHerbert Spencer, in his 'Sociology,' says:--\n\n\"There are proofs that like confusion of metaphor with fact leads to\nSun-worship. Complimentary naming after the sun occurs everywhere, and\nwhere it is associated with power, becomes inherited. The chiefs of\nthe Hurons bore the name of the Sun; and Humboldt remarks that 'the\n\"Sun-Kings\" among the Natches recall to mind the Heliades of the first\neastern colony of Rhodes.' Out of numerous illustrations from Egypt may\nbe quoted an inscription from Silsilis--'Hail to thee! King of Egypt!\nSun of the foreign peoples ... Life, salvation, health to him! he is\na shining Sun.' In such cases, then, worship of the ancestor readily\nbecomes worship of the Sun.... Personalization of the wind had an\norigin of this kind.\"\n\n\"Nature-worship, then, is but an aberrant form of ghost-worship.\"\n\nSurely this is an inversion of the true order of things. Why do\nkings bear the name of Sun, or child of the Sun? Is it not because\nthe Sun is already looked upon as a glorious being (a God?) with whom\nit is an honour to be associated? Herbert Spencer himself speaks of\n\"_complimentary_ naming after the Sun.\" The Chinese call deification\n_hai-ten_, or \"matching with Heaven,\" showing that with them at least\nit is the man who acquires his divinity by being placed on a level with\nHeaven, not _vice vers\u00e2_. Worship of the Sun must be anterior to the\nvery existence of Mikados, and there are certainly more substantial\nreasons for it than the transfer to him, suggested by metaphorical\nlanguage, of the reverence paid to human sovereigns or ancestors.\n\nThe deification of living Mikados was titular rather than real.\nI am not aware that any specific so-called miraculous powers[21]\nwere authoritatively claimed for them. In 645 a Japanese minister,\naddressing some envoys from Korea, described his sovereign as \"the\nEmperor of Japan, who rules the world as a manifest deity.\" The same\nofficial recognized the Korean princes as \"Sons of the Gods.\" The\nMikado Keik\u014d, admiring the strength and courage of his son Yamatodake,\nsays to him: \"Whereas in outward form thou art our child, in reality\nthou art a God.\" The Mikados called themselves, in notifications and\nelsewhere, _Akitsu Kami_, that is, manifest or incarnate deities, and\nclaimed a general authority over the Gods of Japan. Y\u016briaku conversed\non equal terms with the God Hito-koto-nushi. He expected obedience from\nthe Thunder-God, but speedily had cause to repent his audacity.[22]\n\nThe honours paid to deceased Mikados stand on a somewhat different\nfooting. There is little, however, in the earlier period of Shinto to\ndistinguish the respect shown to deceased Mikados from the customary\nobservances towards the undeified dead. The _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ have\nhardly a trace of any practical recognition of their divinity. We are\ntold in the _Nihongi_ (A.D. 679) that the Mikado Temmu did reverence\nto the tomb of his mother who had died eighteen years before. In 681\nworship was paid (no doubt by the Mikado) to the august spirit of the\nMikado's grandfather (or ancestor). There is nothing in these notices\nto show that divine worship is intended. An oath made by Yemishi or\nAinus, when tendering their submission in 581, is more to the point.\nThey pray that \"if we break this oath, may all the Gods of Heaven and\nEarth, and also the spirits of the Mikados destroy our race.\" Still\nit must be remembered that the author of the _Nihongi_ was a profound\nChinese scholar, and that his work is deeply tinctured with Chinese\nideas. I should not be surprised to find that the above oath was simply\ncopied from some Chinese book.\n\nIn the time of the _Yengishiki_ (tenth century) the honours paid to\ndeceased Mikados had become regularized, and offerings similar to those\nmade to nature-deities were tendered to them periodically. It is,\nhowever, a significant circumstance that of the twenty-seven _norito_\ncontained in that work not one relates to their worship, and that the\ncare of their tombs did not belong to the Department of Shinto. Hirata\nprotests vigorously against a modern practice of using a Chinese word\nmeaning Imperial Mausoleum for the shrines of Ise and Kamo.\n\nAs early as the ninth century there are several cases of prayers\naddressed to deceased Mikados for rain, to stay a curse sent by them\nfor disrespect to their tombs, for the restoration of the Mikado's\nhealth, for preservation from calamity, &c. In more recent times\nshrines were erected to them, and prayers put up for blessings which it\nis far beyond the power of man to grant. Under the name of Hachiman,\nthe Mikado Ojin, visibly owing to Chinese and Buddhist influences,\nbecame an important deity in later Shinto. The same may be said of the\nEmpress Jingo. The _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ treat both as mere mortals.\n\nThe honours paid to deceased Mikados were much neglected before the\nRestoration of 1868. At present they consist in four solemn mourning\nservices held in the Palace, one on the anniversary of the death of\nthe late Emperor, the second on that of the death of Jimmu Tenn\u014d, the\nthird and fourth in spring and autumn, in memory of all the Imperial\nancestors.[23] Embassies are also despatched to the Imperial tombs\n(_misasagi_), which now have _toriwi_ (the distinctive Shinto honorary\ngateway) erected in front of them. Two of the Mikados, namely, Ojin and\nKwammu, have special State shrines dedicated to them. Concurrent with\nthe enhancement of the political prestige of the Crown there has been\na strong tendency in the present reign to increase the respect paid to\nthe Imperial House, so that it now amounts to something like religious\nworship. The ceremony of the _naishi dokoro_,[24] which in ancient\ntimes was in honour of the sacred sun-mirror, now includes the tablets\nof the deceased Mikados.\n\n=Other Deifications=.--Even in the case of the deification of living\nand dead Mikados there is much room for suspicion of foreign influence.\nOf the deification of other men I find no clear evidence in the older\nrecords. It is probable, however, that some of the numerous obscure\ndeities mentioned in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ are deified men. A\nnumber of the legendary and historical personages named in these works\nwere deified at a subsequent period. Others have been added from time\nto time. The case of the God of Suha has a special interest. Here the\nGod's living descendant, real or supposed, is regarded as a God, and\na cave (probably a tomb) occupies the place of the shrine. A fuller\naccount of this cult is given below.[25] The high-priest of the Great\nShrine of Idzumo is called an _iki-gami_, or living deity. Not only\ngood but bad men might be deified or canonized, as in the case of the\narchrebel Masakado, the robber Kumasaka Chohan, and in our own day,\nNishitaro Buntar\u014d, the murderer of Mori, the Minister for Education.\n\nLafcadio Hearn, in his 'Gleanings in Buddha Fields,' tells a typical\nstory of the deification of a living man. A certain Hamaguchi Gohei,\nhead man of his village, saved the lives of his fellow villagers from\ndestruction by a tidal wave, at the sacrifice of his crop of rice,\nwhich he set fire to in order to attract them away from the sea-shore\nto the higher ground. \"So they declared him a God, and thereafter\ncalled him Hamaguchi Daimy\u014djin, and when they rebuilt their village,\nthey built a temple to the spirit of him, and fixed above the front\nof it a tablet bearing his name in Chinese text of gold; and they\nworshipped him there, with prayer and with offerings.... He continued\nto live in his old thatched home upon the hill, while his soul was\nbeing worshipped in the shrine below. A hundred years and more he has\nbeen dead; but his temple, they tell me, still stands, and the people\nstill pray to the ghost of the good old farmer to help them in time of\nfear or trouble.\"\n\n=Ancestor-Worship=.--If we restrict this term to the religious cult\nof one's own ancestors, as in China, this form of religion has hardly\nany place in Shinto. The only case of it, except in modern times\nand under foreign influences, is that of the Mikados, and even then\nthere is no evidence of its existence before the sixth century. The\nterm ancestor-worship is often used more generally of the worship of\ndead men of former generations. There is no good reason, however,\nfor distinguishing between the cult of dead and that of living men.\nIf the former is the more common, it is because absence and lapse of\ntime are usually necessary to allow their obviously human character to\nbe forgotten and to raise the popular imagination to the height of\nattributing to them superhuman powers. Deification is the result of\nan exaggerated appreciation of what the man was during life, though\nthere is often associated with this primary reason the ascription of\nimaginary powers to his corpse or ghost.\n\nIt is often assumed by English writers that Shinto is substantially,\nor at least is based on, ancestor-worship. The modern Japanese, imbued\nwith Chinese ideas, throw them back into the old Shinto, and have\npersuaded themselves that it contains a far more important element\nof this kind than is actually the case. A recent Japanese writer\nsays: \"Ancestor-worship was the basis of Shinto. The divinities,\nwhether celestial or terrestrial, were the progenitors of the nation,\nfrom the sovereign and the princes surrounding the throne to the\nnobles who discharged the services of the State and the soldiers\nwho fought its battles.\" Hirata, notwithstanding his anti-Chinese\nprejudices, was unable to resist the influence of Chinese ideas as\nregards ancestor-worship. He devotes vol. x. of his 'Tamadasuki' to\nthe inculcation of an ancestor-worship which is plainly nothing but\nthe well-known Chinese cult. His _tama-ya_ (spirit-house, or domestic\nancestral shrine) is a Chinese institution under a Japanese name, and\nthe _tama-shiro_, or spirit-token, is the Chinese _ihai_ (ancestral\ntablet). He would have his followers address their prayers, as in\nChina, to their ancestors of every generation, from the parents of\nthe worshipper up to the \"Great Ancestor,\" the founder of the family.\nTheir spirits (_mitama_) are to be adjured to avert evil from their\ndescendants, to keep watch over them by night and day, and to grant\nthem prosperity and long life. This is genuine ancestor-worship, but it\nis not Shinto. It was to meet the case of a failure of direct heirs to\ncontinue such ancestor-worship that the practice of adoption, unknown\nin ancient Japan, was introduced from China. The truth is that only\na very small part of the Japanese nation knew, or pretended to know,\nanything about their ancestors. Even of those who had genealogies, many\ntraced their descent from mere undeified mortals, some being Koreans or\nChinese. There remain in the _Sh\u014djiroku_ and elsewhere a good number of\ngenealogies in which the descent of noble families from Shinto deities\nis recorded. To what class do these deities belong? It is impossible to\nassert that some may not be genuine deified ancestors, though I cannot\npoint to any undoubted case of this kind. Many are nature-deities.\nThe descent of the imperial family from the Sun-Goddess is a typical\nexample. The God of Growth, Kuni-toko-tachi, the Yatagarasu or\nSun-Crow, the sword Futsunushi, and many other nature-deities appear\namong the ancestors of the _Sh\u014djiroku_. In the 'Ideals of the East,' a\nwork recently published in English by Mr. Takakura Okasu, the author\nspeaks of the \"immaculate ancestrism of Ise and Idzumo.\" The so-called\nancestral Gods worshipped at these places are the Sun-Goddess, the\nFood-Goddess, Ohonamochi (an Earth-God) and Susa no wo (the Rainstorm).\nDr. E. Caird's observation that \"in the majority of cases it is not\nthat the being worshipped is conceived of by his worshipper as a God\nbecause he is an ancestor, but rather that he is conceived as an\nancestor because he is believed to be their God,\"[26] obviously applies\nto this feature of Shinto.\n\nOther nobles traced their lineage from, and paid a special worship\nto, personages who never existed as individual human beings. Such is\nKoyane, the reputed ancestor, but really only a personified type of the\nNakatomi priestly corporation.\n\nIf we have any regard for correct terminology we must call this\nrecognition of nature-deities and class-types as ancestors not\nancestor-worship, but pseudo-ancestor-worship. When Britain's sons\ndeclare, as they do with sufficient emphasis, that \"Britannia rules\nthe waves,\" is this ancestor-worship? Or supposing that Macaulay's\nNew Zealander found a remnant of the English people worshipping John\nBull as their reputed ancestor, would he be right to conclude that\nancestor-worship was an English institution?\n\n=Uji-Gami=.--These pseudo-ancestors are called in Japanese _uji-gami_,\nor surname gods. The _uji_ were originally official designations,\nwhether of Court officials or of local officials or chieftains, which,\nas these offices became hereditary, took the character of hereditary\ntitles, and eventually became mere surnames. They may be compared with\nsuch titles as Duke of Wellington or with surnames like Chamberlain,\nConstable, or Baillie. In ancient times the common people had no\nsurnames, and therefore no ancestor-worship, pseudo or real.\n\nThe word _uji_ is also used collectively of the noble house of persons\nbearing the same surname. It does not seem a very ancient institution,\nand must date from a time when an organized Government had already been\nestablished. Of the cult of the _Uji-gami_ as such we know very little.\nThe _Kojiki_ mentions the fact of various deities being worshipped by\ncertain noble families. A modern authority says: \"All descendants of\ndeities had _uji_. Every _uji_ consisted of members called _ukara_. The\nchief of the _uji_ was termed the _uji no kami_ (the superior of the\n_uji_). It was his duty, on festival occasions, to convene the _ukara_\nfor the worship of the ancestral God.\" In later times the _Uji-gami_\nbecame simply the tutelary deity of one's birthplace, and was also\ncalled _ubusuna_ (birth-sand). Infants born in his jurisdiction are\npresented to him soon after birth, and parturient women pray to him\nfor relief. They also procure earth from the site of his shrine, in\nthe belief that it has a magical power to assist their delivery. The\nsame earth is credited with the property of relaxing the rigidity\nof a corpse.\n\nThe modern _Uji-gami_ are taken indiscriminately from all classes\nof deities, perhaps including even a few genuine ancestors. One or\ntwo Indian deities have been made _Uji-gami_. The Nakatomi had three\n_Uji-gami_--namely, Take-mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi, and Koyane. Noble\nfamilies have been known to change their _Uji-gami_,\n\nThe _Uji-gami_ correspond in some respects to the Greek \u03ac\u03c1\u03c7\u03b7\u03b3\u03cc\u03c2.[Greek: arch\u00eaghos]\n\n=Biso=.--Analogous to the _Uji-gami_ are the trades-deities of modern\ntimes. They are called _biso_ (author or inventor), and may be either\nnature-deities, deceased men, or merely the deified type of the\nparticular trade or profession. Wrestlers worship Nomi no Sukune,\nwho was probably a real person, and Chinese doctors the legendary\nChinese Emperor Shinnung. Confucian pundits worship Confucius, poets\nhonour Hitomaro, and Haikwai poets Bash\u00f4. Professors of the art\nof tea-drinking show reverence to the founder of that particular\nbranch of it which they practise. Soothsayers, _miko_, football\nplayers, flower-arrangers, and actors worship the so-called ancestral\ngods of their several professions. There is a _Kaji-so-sha_, or\nblacksmith-ancestor-shrine. Carpenters, for some reason, have adopted\nSh\u014dtoku Daishi, an Imperial Prince who lived in the seventh century,\nas their patron. Merchants worship Yebisu. They also pay some sort of\nrespect to Fukusuke,[27] a dwarfish figure with a large head, attired\nin the ceremonial _kami-shimo_, and seated in a squatting position,\nwhich may often be seen in the larger shops. A figure of a cat with\nuplifted paw, called the _maneki-neko_, or \"beckoning cat,\" and a\nrecumbent cow covered with rugs are also objects of respect with them.\nIt is in many cases a question whether the honour shown amounts really\nto divine worship.\n\n=Spirits=.--The older Shinto scriptures afford but scanty evidence of\nthe spiritualization of deified human beings. In the _Nihongi_ there\nis one reference to the worship of a Mikado's _mitama_ (spirit). In\nanother case the _mitama_ of the Mikados are called upon to punish\noath-breakers. Yamato-dake's _mitama_ is in one place said to have\nbeen changed into a white bird. Of the _mitama_ of ordinary undeified\nhuman beings there is no mention in the _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_; but,\nof course, this may be owing to the imperfection of the record.\n_Tamashi\u00ef_, a derivative of _tama_, is the ordinary word for soul at\nthe present day, and is undoubtedly of considerable antiquity. Still\nthere are cases where we should expect to find _mitama_ spoken of, but\nwhere a more material conception--namely, that of metamorphosis--takes\nits place. Among several instances of this kind may be quoted that of\nYamato-dake. He died, and was buried, upon which he took the form of a\nwhite bird, which flew away leaving the tomb empty. The modern name for\nghost testifies to the prevalence of this conception in Japan. It is\n_bake-mono_, or \"transformation,\" and is applied to foxes which change\ninto human form as well as to the ghosts of the dead and to hobgoblins\nof uncertain origin. _Bake-mono_ are not worshipped in Japan, any more\nthan ghosts are with ourselves, but there is a beginning of reverence\nto them in the honorific particle _o_ which is frequently prefixed\nto the word, especially by women. There are no proper ghosts in the\n_Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_, although the writers of these works were fond\nof recording strange and miraculous occurrences. The metamorphosed\nappearances mentioned in them are never phantoms with a resemblance\nto the human form, and possess no spiritual qualities. Even now the\n_bakemono_, though differing little from our ghost, is quite distinct\nfrom the human _mitama_ or _tamashi\u00ef_ (soul).\n\nTama, as we have seen above,[28] may mean either a jewel, a round\nobject, or the effluence of a deity or a spirit. Here literal-minded\nDullness, with whom the Gods themselves contend in vain, leaps to\nthe conclusion that the physical globular _tama_ is not merely a\nsymbol of the soul, but the soul itself. By the ignorant in modern\ntimes it is conceived of as a small round black object, which has\nthe power of leaving the body during sleep. The popular name for the\nwill-of-the-wisp, namely, _hito-dama_ (man-ball-soul) enshrines a like\nsuperstition.[29] It is asserted that the souls of the newly dead have\nbeen seen to float away over the eaves and roof as a transparent globe\nof impalpable essence.\n\nWe may compare with these Japanese notions the following cases, which I\nquote from Herbert Spencer's 'Sociology': \"According to Ximenes, when a\nlord died in Vera Cruz, the first thing they did after his death was to\nput a precious stone in his mouth. The object of it was that the stone\nshould receive his soul. The Mexicans along with a man's remains put\na gem of more or less value, which they said would serve him in place\nof a heart in the other world.\" Such material conceptions of the soul\nare to be found everywhere. Mr. Hartland, in his 'Legend of Perseus,'\nobserves: \"To the savage, as to our own forefathers, and to the folk\nof all civilized countries still, the idea of an incorporeal soul is\nincomprehensible. It is everywhere in the lower culture conceived of as\nmaterial, though capable of changing its form and appearance without\nlosing its identity.\"[30] Hirata, after pointing out correctly that the\n_mitama_ (jewel or spirit) is so called because there is nothing in the\nbody so precious as the soul, immediately relapses into a more material\nconception when he proceeds to explain that, although we cannot discern\nits shape, seen from the Gods it must have the shape of a jewel (that\nis, spherical).[31]\n\nThe history of the _mitama_ suggests that the material, or partially\nmaterial, conceptions of the soul are a comparatively recent\ndevelopment. Though religion is on the whole progressive, it by\nno means follows that all movements of religious thought are in a\nforward direction. The spiritual edifice which poets and seers build\nup is being constantly reduced to ruin by the inept handling of the\nmaterial-minded vulgar, to be reared anew by others more splendid than\nbefore. But let us not mistake the ruin for the first courses of a new\nbuilding, the dead husk for the living germ. Ghosts and ball-souls are\naberrant conceptions which belong to the former category. The dullards\nto whom such notions are due are quite incapable of originating the\npregnant, though artificial, conception of body and soul as two\ndistinct entities.\n\nLet me add a few more etymological facts which bear on the question of\nspirituality.\n\n_Mi-kage_, or \"august shadow,\" is an ancient synonym for _mi-tama_. It\nis unnecessary to suppose that anything but a metaphorical meaning was\noriginally intended. There is, however, a modern superstition that when\na man is near his death his shadow becomes thinner.\n\nThe ordinary Japanese word for \"to die\" is _shinuru_, that is to say,\n\"breath-depart.\" Death is also called concealment, long concealment,\nbody-concealment, rock-concealment (in allusion to the practice of\nburial in dolmens), change, and ending. In the case of the Gods, death\nis called divine departure or divine ascent.\n\n_Iki_, \"breath,\" one of the vital functions, is put by metonymy for\ntheir sum, that is, life. It has not, like our word \"spirit\" and the\nGreek \"psyche,\" taken the further step of coming to mean the human\nsoul, except we identify it with the _ke_ of _hotoke_, which has been\nplausibly derived from _hito_, \"man,\" and _ke_, \"spirit.\" It is now\nthe common Buddhist term for Buddha and his saints, and also for the\nspirits of the sainted dead. The material-minded man, as usual, drags\nit down to his own level. To him the corpse at a funeral is the\n_hotoke_. It is not certain, however, that the element _ke_ of this\nword is not of Chinese origin, China, always far in advance of Japan in\nspirituality, has exercised a profound influence on the development of\nJapanese ideas regarding spiritual matters.\n\nAnother material conception of the life or soul is contained in a poem\nof the _Many\u00f4shiu_, in which a fisherman named Urashima is related to\nhave found his way to the _Toko yo no kuni_, or \"Eternal Land.\" When\nabout to return to earth he received from his wife a casket, with\nthe injunction that he must not open it. He does open it, upon which\nhis life or soul comes out and flies away like a white cloud to the\n\"Eternal Land.\" He dies soon after. But this is a poetic fancy, open to\nstrong suspicions of Chinese inspiration.\n\nThere is a ceremony called _iki-mitama_ (living soul), which consists\nin paying respect to an absent parent, &c., as if he were present.\nAnother similar practice is that of _kage-zen_ (shadow-food), in which\na meal is set out for an absent member of the family, especially when\nit is not known whether he is dead or alive. The term _iki-su-dama_\n(living spirit) is applied to the angry spirit (double?) of a living\nperson, which is supposed to work a curse, sometimes unknown even to\nhimself. _Su-dama_ are defined as the essences of woods or mountains,\nwhich assume a metamorphosed form--elves, as we should say. All these\nare comparatively modern ideas.\n\nThe _Shinto Do-itsu_, a modern Shinto manual, frankly adopts the\nChinese views of the soul. A manual of this sect has the following:\n\"The _kom-paku_ are in China the animal and rational souls. When a man\ndies, his _kon_ goes up to Heaven and his _haku_ returns to Earth.\nMan at birth derives his breath (or life) from Heaven and Earth.\nTherefore when he dies it returns to Heaven and Earth. The _kon_ is the\n_yang_ or male, positive spirit; the _haku_ is the _yin_ or female,\nnegative spirit (_tama_). In everything there is the _yin_ and the\n_yang_ heart. All men have _ki_ (breath), _kei_ (form), and _sei_\n(life). The _kon_ rules the _ki_ and the _sei_. The _haku_ rules the\nform and the body. _Ki_ means literally breath, on which man's life\ndepends. From the Buddhist point of view there are two functions of the\nmaterial body, namely, life and death, each of which has its soul. The\n_saki-dama_ (spirit of luck) is the _kon_; the _kushi-dama_ (wondrous\nspirit) is the _haku_.[32] Again the five viscera have each a God in\nshape like a man.\"\n\n=State of the Dead=.--Like the Old Testament, the ancient Japanese\nrecords afford but few and uncertain glimpses of the condition of the\ndead. The doctrine of the immortality of the soul is nowhere taught\nexplicitly. There are no prayers for the dead or for happiness in a\nfuture life. There is a land of _yomi_ (darkness) which corresponds\nto the Greek Hades and the Hebrew She\u00f6l. It is also termed _Ne no\nkuni_ (root-land), _Soko no kuni_ (bottom-land), _Shita-tsu-kuni_\n(lower-land), or the _Yaso-kumade_, that is to say, the eighty\nroad-windings, a euphemistic phrase resembling our \"going on a long\njourney.\" Yomi, however, does not seem to be peopled by human beings\nor ghosts. Nor do we find any actual cases of their descending thither\nat death, although the conception was no doubt originally a metaphor\nfor the grave. In the _Nihongi_ myth we find that where one version\nspeaks of Izanami in Yomi, another uses the expression \"temporary\nburying-place.\" The same work mentions an opinion that the \"Even Pass\nof Yomi\" is not any place in particular, but means only the space of\ntime when the breath fails on the approach of death. The _Kojiki_,\nafter relating the death and burial of Izanami on Mount Hiba, at the\nboundary of the Land of Idzumo, goes on to speak of her descent to Yomi\nas if it were the same thing. From this it would appear that to many\npersons, even in these early times, Yomi was a tolerably transparent\nmetaphor for the state of the dead. How difficult it is for even\nlearned and intelligent men to rise above the literal interpretation of\nmetaphor is illustrated by the fact that Moto\u00f6ri treats this suggestion\nwith great scorn, pointing out that there is an actual entrance to Yomi\nin the province of Idzumo.\n\nIzanami went to Yomi when she died. She is called the Great Deity of\nYomi. It is also spoken of as the abode of Susa no wo, who, according\nto one myth, was appointed to rule this region. We also hear of the\ndeities of Yomi, the armies of Yomi, the ugly females of Yomi, and the\nRoad-Wardens of Yomi. Thunder-Gods are said to have been generated\nthere from the dead body of Izanami. All these are probably various\npersonifications of death and disease.\n\nIn modern times Yomi has been identified with _Jigoku_, the inferno of\nthe Buddhists, which is a place of torture for the wicked. Our own word\nhell has undergone a similar change of application.\n\nIn the _Many\u014dshiu_ heaven is mentioned as the destination of a deceased\nMikado, while in the very same poem a prince is spoken of as dwelling\nin his tomb in silence and solitude. The _Toko-yo no kuni_, or Eternal\nLand, is another home of the dead. The God Sukunabikona went thither\nwhen he died. So did a brother of the first Mikado, Jimmu. The _Toko-yo\nno kuni_ is identified by some with H\u014drai-san, the Chinese island\nparadise of the Eastern Sea, and by others with China itself. The\norange is said to have been introduced from the _Toko-yo no kuni_.\nIn the Many\u014dshiu poem of Urashima, the _Toko-yo no kuni_ is the same\nas the submarine palace of the Sea-Gods, where death and old age\nare unknown. _Toko-yo tachi_ (ye immortal ones!) is a complimentary\nexclamation in a poem of the _Nihongi_.\n\nThe most definite statement regarding the continued existence of men\nafter death occurs in the _Nihongi_ under the legendary date A.D.\n367:--\n\n_\"The Yemishi rebelled. Tamichi was sent to attack them. He was worsted\nby the Yemishi, and slain at the harbour of Ishimi. Now one of his\nfollowers obtained Tamichi's armlet and gave it to his wife, who\nembraced the armlet and strangled herself. When the men of that time\nheard of this they shed tears. After this the Yemishi again made an\nincursion and dug up Tamichi's tomb, upon which a great serpent started\nup with glaring eyes and came out of the tomb. It bit the Yemishi, who\nwere every one affected by the serpent's poison, so that many of them\ndied, and only one or two escaped. Therefore the men of that time said:\n'Although dead Tamichi at last had his revenge. How can it be said that\nthe dead have no knowledge?'\"_\n\nEvidently at this time there were two opinions on the subject. Moto\u00f6ri\nsays that this is a subject which transcends human comprehension. He\nleans to the view of the old books, that men when they die go to the\nLand of Yomi, in preference to the sceptical ratiocinations of the\nChinese sophists. Hirata takes a more decided attitude. He points to\nthe story just quoted as an example of dead men executing vengeance\nupon those who were their enemies during life.\n\n=Funeral Customs=.--Let us now inquire whether anything is to be\nlearned regarding the views of the ancient Japanese as to the condition\nof the dead from their funeral customs. The bodies of nobles, princes,\nand sovereigns were deposited in megalithic vaults which were covered\nby huge mounds of earth.[33] Pending the construction of these, the\nbody was placed temporarily in a building called a _moya_, or mourning\nhouse. It was enclosed in a wooden coffin and in some cases in a\nsarcophagus of stone or earthenware. These sarcophagi have been found\nto contain traces of cinnabar.[34] In all the more modern megalithic\ntombs the entrance faces the south. This arrangement is connected with\nthe idea, common to the Japanese with the Chinese and other far-eastern\nraces, that the north is the most honourable quarter. The Mikado, on\nstate occasions, stands on the north side of the Hall of Audience. His\npalace fronts the south. Immediately after death corpses are laid with\nthe head to the north, a position scrupulously avoided by many Japanese\nfor sleep. They say they are unworthy of so great honour.\n\nWith the more eminent dead there were buried food, weapons, ornaments,\nvessels of pottery, and other valuables. Eulogies were pronounced over\nthem, and music was performed at the funeral. Posthumous honours--a\nChinese institution--were conferred on those who had merited them by\ndistinguished services. In the more ancient times human sacrifices Were\nmade at the tombs of deceased Mikados and princes. The _Nihongi_, under\nthe legendary date B.C. 2, states:--\n\n_\"10th month, 5th day. Yamato-hiko, the Mikado's younger brother by the\nmother's side, died._\n\n_\"11th month, 2nd day. Yamato-hiko was buried at Tsuki-zaka in Musa.\nThereupon his personal attendants were assembled, and were all buried\nalive upright in the precinct of the tomb. For several days they died\nnot, but wept and wailed day and night. At last they died and rotted.\nDogs and crows gathered and ate them._\n\n_\"The Emperor, hearing the sound of their weeping and wailing, was\ngrieved at heart, and commanded his high officers, saying 'It is a very\npainful thing to force those whom one has loved in life to follow\nhim in death. Though it be an ancient custom, why follow it if it is\nbad? From this time forward, take counsel so as to put a stop to the\nfollowing of the dead.'_\n\n_\"A.D. 3, 7th month, 6th day. The Empress Hibasu-hime no Mikoto died.\nSome time before the burial, the Emperor commanded his Ministers,\nsaying: 'We have already recognized that the practice of following\nthe dead is not good. What should now be done in performing this\nburial?' Thereupon Nomi no Sukune came forward and said: 'It is not\ngood to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. How can\nsuch a practice be handed down to posterity? I beg leave to propose an\nexpedient which I will submit to Your Majesty.' So he sent messengers\nto summon up from the Land of Idzumo a hundred men of the clay-workers'\nBe. He himself directed the men of the clay-workers' Be to take clay\nand form therewith shapes of men, horses, and various objects, which\nhe presented to the Emperor, saying: 'Henceforward let it be the law\nfor future ages to substitute things of clay for living men, and to\nset them up at tumuli.' Then the Emperor was greatly rejoiced, and\ncommanded Nomi no Sukune, saying: 'Thy expedient hath greatly pleased\nOur heart.' So the things of clay were first set up at the tomb of\nHibasu-hime no Mikoto. And a name was given to these clay objects.[35]\nThey were called haniwa, or clay rings._\n\n_\"Then a decree was issued, saying: 'Henceforth these clay figures must\nbe set up at tumuli: let not men be harmed.' The Emperor bountifully\nrewarded Nomi no Sukune for this service, and also bestowed on him\na kneading-place, and appointed him to the official charge of the\nclay-workers' Be. His original title was therefore changed, and he was\ncalled Hashi no Omi. This was how it came to pass that the Hashi no\nMuraji superintend the burials of the Emperors.\"_\n\nThis narrative is too much in accordance with what we know of other\nraces in the barbaric stage of culture to allow us to doubt that we\nhave here a genuine bit of history, though perhaps the details may\nbe inaccurate, and the chronology is certainly wrong. In an ancient\nChinese notice of Japan we read that \"at this time (A.D. 247) Queen\nHimeko died. A great mound was raised over her, and more than a hundred\nof her male and female attendants followed her in death.\"\n\nFuneral human sacrifice is well known to have existed among the Manchu\nTartars and other races of North-Eastern Asia until modern times. The\nJesuit missionary Du Halde relates that the Emperor Shunchi, of the\nT'sing dynasty (died 1662), inconsolable for the loss of his wife\nand infant child, \"signified by his will that thirty men should kill\nthemselves to appease her manes, which ceremony the Chinese look upon\nwith horror, and was abolished by the care of his successor\"--the\nfamous Kanghi.\n\nAnother missionary, Alvarez Semedo, in his history of the Tartar\ninvasion, says: \"It is the custome of the Tartars, when any man of\nquality dieth, to cast into that fire which consumes the dead corpse as\nmany Servants, Women, and Horses with Bows and Arrows as may be fit to\natend and serve them in the next life.\"\n\nThis custom was also practised in China in the most ancient times,\nthough long condemned as barbarous. An ode in the 'Sheking' laments the\ndeath of three brothers who were sacrificed at the funeral of Duke Muh,\nB.C. 621. When the Emperor She Hwang-ti died, B.C. 209, his son Urh\nsaid, \"My father's palace-ladies who have no children must not leave\nthe tomb,\" and compelled them all to follow him in death. Their number\nwas very great.\n\nA King of Kokury\u00f6 in Corea died A.D. 248. He was beloved for his\nvirtues, and many of his household wished to die with him. His\nsuccessor forbade them to do so, saying that it was not a proper\ncustom. Many of them, however, committed suicide at the tomb.\n('Tongkam,' iii. 20.)\n\nIn A.D. 502, Silla prohibited the custom of burying people alive at the\nfunerals of the sovereigns. Before this time five men and five women\nwere put to death at the King's tomb. ('Tongkam,' v. 5.)\n\nCases of suicide at the tomb of a beloved lord or sovereign have not\nbeen uncommon in Japan even in modern times. There was one in 1868.\n\nThe Japanese, like the Chinese, make no distinction between voluntary\ndeaths and human sacrifices. Both are called _jun-shi_, a term which\nmeans \"following in death.\" Indeed, as we may see by the Indian suttee,\nit is often hard to draw the line between these two forms of what is\nreally the same custom.\n\nIn the case of common people, of course, no such costly form of burial\ncould have been practised. It was called _no-okuri_ (sending to a moor\nor waste place), by which simple interment, or perhaps exposure at a\ndistance from human habitations, was probably meant. The offerings\nconsisted of a little rice and water.\n\nIt is often assumed as too obvious to require proof that such funeral\ncustoms as these imply a belief in the continued sentient existence\nof the dead. It is taken for granted that it is for their personal\ncomfort and gratification that wives and attendants are put to death\nand offerings of food deposited at the tomb.[36] 'If we reflect,\nhowever, on the reasons for our own funeral observances, which are less\ndifferent in principle from those of barbarous nations than we are\nwilling to admit, we shall see cause to doubt whether this is really\nthe ruling motive. Most of us have laid flowers on the coffin of some\ndear one, or erected a tombstone to his memory, or subscribed for a\nmonument to a statesman who in life has deserved well of his country.\nWere these things done for the physical gratification of the dead? We\ncannot divide them in principle from more barbarous rites. We do not\nsuppose that the dead see or smell the wreaths laid upon the coffin.\nWhy should it be thought that in a more barbarous state of society it\nis believed that they enjoy the society of the wife who is sacrificed\nat the tomb?\n\nThe ruling motives for such rites are to be sought elsewhere. In\naddition to the practical considerations which, as Sir Alfred Lyall\nhas shown, are potent in the case of the Indian suttee, it is to be\nremembered that the memory of the great dead is a national asset of\nthe highest value (as the memory of our parents is in the domestic\ncircle), and that it is worth while going to great expense in order to\nperpetuate it. In an age before writing or epic poems existed, cruel\nsacrifices, pyramids, great tumuli, and other rude monuments were more\nnecessary for this purpose than they are in our day. And if barbarians\nsacrificed human beings, do not we spend the financial equivalent of\nmany human lives in statues, memorials, and otherwise useless funeral\npageantry? The difference between them and us lies not so much in the\nmotive as in the lower value placed by them on human life.\n\nThe truth is that offerings to the dead, from a flower or a few grains\nof rice to a human victim, are partly a symbolical language addressed\nto the deceased, and partly constitute an appeal for sympathy by the\nmourners and a response by their friends. They symbolize the union of\nhearts among those who have suffered by a common bereavement. We must\nalso allow something for the despair which counts nothing that is left\nof any value, and prompts the survivors to beating of breasts, tearing\nof garments, cutting the flesh, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, lavish\nexpenditure, and even suicide.\n\nYet it must be admitted that there is a broad, though secondary and\nlower, current of opinion, which holds that the dead benefit in some\nmore or less obscure physical sense by the offerings at their tombs.\nHirata believed that food offered to the dead loses its savour more\nrapidly than other food. The ghosts summoned up by Ulysses from Erebus\neagerly lapped up the blood offered them. This, although poetry, no\ndoubt represents a real belief.\n\nMr. Andrew Lang mentions the case of an Irish peasant woman, who, when\nher husband died, killed his horse, and, to some one who reproached\nher for her folly, replied, \"Would you have my man go about on foot\nin the next world?\" But may we not suspect that the real motive of my\ncountrywoman's action was to express dumbly to the world the love she\nbore her husband by sacrificing something which she valued highly, and\nthat the answer quoted was nothing more than a consciously frivolous\nreason, invented for the benefit of an unsympathetic, dull-minded\nintruder?\n\nWhether or not the dead, apart from any physical benefit from funeral\nofferings, are grateful for the affectionate remembrance which they\nsymbolize, it may be doubted whether the recognition of such a feeling\non their part enters very largely into our motives. Was it for the\ngratification of Nelson's spirit that the column was erected in\nTrafalgar Square? Or do those who annually deposit primroses before the\nstatue of Lord Beaconsfield think that his spirit is sensible of this\nobservance?\n\nFuneral ceremonies were not recognized as having anything to do with\nthe older Shinto. It avoided everything connected with death, which was\nregarded as a source of pollution. Not until the revolution of 1868 was\nthere instituted an authorized form of Shinto burial.[37]\n\n=Deified Classes of Men=.--In the older Shinto this category of\ndeities had more importance than it has at present. Several of the\npseudo-ancestors are in reality deified types, analogous to such\nconceptions as Tommy Atkins or Mrs. Grundy. As a general rule they\nhave two aspects, one as man-Gods, and another as satellites of the\nSun-Goddess, a nature deity. They are more particularly described in a\nlater chapter.\n\n=Deities of Human Qualities=.--As might be expected, Shinto has\ncomparatively few deities of this class. It is represented by the Gods\nof Pestilence, of Good and Ill Luck, the phallic deities, and the\n_oni_, or demons of disease. Such deified abstractions as the Fates,\nthe Furies, Old Age, Time, Themis, Fear, Love, &c., are conspicuously\nabsent.\n\nIt will be observed that both of the two great currents of\nreligion-making thought are concerned in the evolution of the last\ntwo categories of man-deities. They involve not only the exaltation\nof human types and qualities to the rank of divinity, but the\npersonification of these general and abstract conceptions. This\ncomplication indicates that they belong to a secondary stage of\ndevelopment. Ta-jikara no wo (hand-strength-male), for example, is\nnot a primary deity of the Japanese Pantheon. He is little more than\nan ornamental adjunct to the myth of the Sun-Goddess. It may be\ngathered from the myths of the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ that the phallic\ndeities--personifications of lusty animal vigour--were at first mere\nmagical appliances, which were afterwards personified and raised to\ndivine rank. It was a personified human abstraction--namely, Psyche,\nwho was described by Keats as\n\n The latest born and loveliest by far\n Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy.\n\nMnemosyne, Styx, and all the numerous deified abstractions of humanity\nin Greek mythology are obviously of later origin than Gaia and Ouranos,\nor even Zeus and Here.\n\nIt is on the narrow basis of these two secondary classes of conceptions\nthat Comte strove to establish his Religion of Humanity. But it is\ndifficult to conceive how on Positivist principles Humanity, whether we\nregard it as a class or as a quality, could have a sentient existence\nor transcendent power, without a combination of which there can be no\ndeity and no religion, properly so called. His worship of deceased\nindividual men is open to the same objection. Comte's recognition of\nnature-deities is brief and contemptuous. He allows a certain reverence\nto the Sun and Earth as \"fetishes.\"[38]\n\n=Animals In Shinto=.--Animals may be worshipped for their own sakes,\nas wonderful, terrible, or uncanny beings. The tiger, the serpent, and\nthe wolf are for this reason called Kami. But there are no shrines in\ntheir honour, and they have no regular cult. A more common reason for\nhonouring animals is their association with some deity as his servants\nor messengers. Thus the deer is sacred to Take-mika-tsuchi at Kasuga,\nthe monkey is sacred at Hiyoshi, the pigeon to the God Hachiman, the\nwhite egret at the shrine of Kebi no Miya, the tortoise at Matsuno\u00f6,\nand the crow at Kumano. The _wani_, or sea-monster, belongs to the\nsea-God, and the dragon belongs to (or is) Taka okami (the rain-God).\nThere is also mention of a thunder-beast. In later times the rat is\nsacred to Daikokusama. The pheasant is the messenger of the Gods\ngenerally. The best-known case of the worship of an associated animal\nis that of Inari, the rice-God, whose attendant foxes are mistaken by\nthe ignorant for the God himself, and whose effigies have offerings of\nfood made to them. The mythical _Yatagarasu_, or Sun-Crow, had formerly\na shrine in its honour. The stone _Koma-inu_ (Korean dogs), seen in\nfront of many Shinto shrines, are meant not as Gods, but as guardians,\nlike the Buddhist Ni\u014d. They are a later introduction.\n\nThe Gods are sometimes represented as assuming animal form. Kushiyatama\nno Kami changes into a cormorant, Koto-shiro-nushi into a _wani_\n(sea-monster or dragon) eight fathoms long. The God of Ohoyama takes\nthe form of a white deer. The most usual form assumed by deities is\nthat of a snake, serpent, or dragon. Ohonamochi, in his amours with\na mortal princess, showed himself to her as a small snake. In the\nYamato-dake legend, there is a mountain-deity who takes the shape of\na great serpent. At the command of the Mikado Y\u016briaku, the God of\nMimuro was brought to him by one of his courtiers. It was a serpent.\nWater-Gods are usually serpents or dragons.\n\n=Totemism=.--I find no distinct traces of totemism in ancient Japan.\nTattooing, which some have associated with this form of belief, existed\nas a means of distinguishing rank and occupation. The most probable\nderivation of the tribal name _Kumaso_ is from _kuma_, bear, and _oso_,\notter. A very few surnames are taken from names of animals. Dances, in\nwhich the performers represented various animals, were common.\n\nThe piecemeal immigration of the Japanese race from the continent of\nAsia must have done much to break up their original tribal system and\nto destroy any institutions associated with it.\n\nThe law of exogamy, with which totemism is connected, was very narrow\nin its operation in ancient Japan.[39]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[19] \"Laotze finit par n'\u00eatre plus que le principe vital universel\nexistant avant le ciel et la terre et qui s'est plu \u00e0 chaque \u00e9poque a\nse montrer sous les traits d'un personnage quelconque souvent des plus\nobscurs.\"--'Religion de la Chine,' De Harlez.\n\n[20] See a paper on the _Hi no maru_ (sun-circle) in the _T. A. S. J._,\nNov. 8th, 1893.\n\n[21] Such as touching for scrofula or the assurance of fine weather.\n\n[22] The statements of Kaempfer, in his 'History of Japan,' regarding\nthe sacred character of the Mikado's person cannot be depended on. His\naccount of Shinto generally is grossly erroneous, or rather imaginary.\n\n[23] 'Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.\n\n[24] See Index, _sub voce_.\n\n[25] See Index--'Suha.'\n\n[26] 'Evolution of Religion,' p. 239.\n\n[27] Fuku means good fortune.\n\n[28] See p. 27.\n\n[29] In Teutonic mythology the will-of-the-wisps are souls which have\nnot attained heavenly peace.\n\n[30] See also Mr. Frazer's 'Golden Bough,' ii. 297.\n\n[31] The Stoics held that the world was not only animated and immortal,\nbut likewise happy and round, because Plato says that that is the most\nperfect form.\n\n[32] Hirata denies this.\n\n[33] For full details of the construction of the Japanese dolmen, the\nreader may consult two admirable papers by Mr. W. Gowland, in the Japan\nSociety's _Transactions_, 1897-8, and the _Journal_ of the Society of\nAntiquaries, 1897.\n\n[34] \"Blood, which is the life, is the food frequently offered to the\ndead.... By a substitution of similars, it is considered sufficient to\ncolour the corpse, or some part thereof, with some red substance taking\nthe place thereof.\"--Jevons, 'Introduction to the History of Religion,'\np. 52. But see Index--'Red.'\n\n[35] Some of these figures are still in existence, and one may be\nseen in the British Museum, where it constitutes the chief treasure\nof the Gowland Collection. The Uyeno Museum, in Tokio, also possesses\nspecimens, both of men and horses.\n\n[36] \"Rites, performed at graves, becoming afterwards religious rites\nperformed at altars in temples, were at first acts done for the benefit\nof the ghost.\"--Herbert Spencer's 'Sociology,' ii. 8.\n\n[37] See an article by Mr. W. H. Lay in _T. A. S. J._, 1891.\n\n[38] \"Comte ramenait toutes les religions \u00e0 l'adoration de l'homme\npar l'homme. Comte, il est vrai, ne faisait pas de l'homme individuel\nl'objet du culte normal: il proposait \u00e0 nos adorations l'homme en tant\nqu' esp\u00e8ce en tant qu' humanit\u00e9 et parvenait \u00e0 deployer une v\u00e9ritable\nmysticit\u00e9 sur cette \u00e9troite base.\"--Reville, 'Prolegomena,' p. 26.\n\n[39] See Index--'Incest.'\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nGENERAL FEATURES.\n\n\n=Functions of Gods=.--Nature deities seldom confine themselves to\ntheir proper nature functions. Shinto exhibits an increasing tendency\nto recognize in them a providence that influences human affairs.\nEven in the older Shinto there are examples of the Gods exercising\na providential care for mankind outside of their proper spheres of\naction. The Sun-Goddess not only bestows light on the world, but\npreserves the seeds of grain for her beloved human beings. She watches\nspecially over the welfare of her descendants the Mikados. Susa no wo,\nthe Rain-storm personified, is the provider of all kinds of useful\ntrees. Practically, all the deities are prayed to for a good harvest,\nor for rain. Even man-Gods, like Temmangu, may be appealed to for\nthis purpose. Any God may send an earthquake or a pestilence. In 853\nthere was a great epidemic of smallpox. An oracle from Tsukiyomi, the\nMoon-God, indicated the means of obtaining relief from this plague,\nand since then people of every class pray to him when it is prevalent.\nThe _Ujigami_ and _Chinju_, family and local protective Gods, might\nbe chosen from any class of deities. A modern Japanese writer[40]\nsays: \"No one knows what spirit of heaven or earth is venerated at the\nSuiteng\u016b,[41] in Tokyo. But despite the anonymity of the God, people\ncredit him with power to protect against all perils of sea and flood,\nagainst burglary, and, by a strange juxtaposition of spheres of\ninfluence, against the pains of parturition. The deity of Inari secures\nefficacy for prayer and abundance of crops; the Taisha [great shrine of\nIdzumo] presides over wedlock; the Kompira shares with the Suiteng\u016b the\nprivilege of guarding those that 'go down to the deep.' The rest confer\nprosperity, avert sickness, cure sterility, bestow literary talent,\nendow with warlike powers, and so on.\"\n\n=Polytheistic Character of Shinto=.--A nature-worship, such as the\nolder Shinto was in substance, is inevitably polytheistic. The worship\nof a single nature-God, as the Sun, is indeed conceivable. But in\npractice, the same impulse which leads to the personification of one\nnature object or phenomenon never rests there. The Living Universe is\na possible monotheistic nature-deity. But this conception requires\na greater amount of scientific knowledge than the ancient Japanese\npossessed. They had necessarily only imperfect and fragmentary glimpses\nof the vision splendid.\n\nThere is some evidence that Shinto took the place of a still grosser\nand more indiscriminate polytheism. We are told that Take-mika-tsuchi\nand Futsunushi prepared Japan for the advent of Ninigi by clearing it\nof savage deities who in the daytime buzzed like summer flies and at\nnight shone like fire-pots, while even the rocks, trees, and foam of\nwater had all power of speech.\n\nThe number of Shinto deities is very great. The Yengishiki enumerates\n3,132 officially recognized shrines, and although the same Gods are\nreckoned more than once, as being worshipped in different places,\nstill their name is legion. They are popularly spoken of as eighty\nmyriads, eight hundred myriads, or fifteen hundred myriads. The number\nof effective deities fluctuates greatly. Oblivion disposes of many.\nThe identification of distinct deities is another cause of depletion\nin their ranks. This happens very readily in a country where, to\nparody Pope's line, \"most deities have no characters at all.\" On the\nother hand their numbers are recruited from time to time by new Gods\nproduced by various processes. The same deity, worshipped at different\nplaces, comes to be recognized as so many different deities. Horus\nin ancient Egypt, the Virgin Mary in Italy, and many of the Greek\nand Roman deities illustrate this principle. We may be sure that the\nEphesians would have resented any attempt to identify their Diana\nwith that of other cities. This process is facilitated in Japan by\nthe practice of speaking of the God, not by his name, but by that of\nhis place of residence--another illustration of the impersonal habit\nof the Japanese mind already noticed. Indeed the Japanese care little\nwhat God it is that is worshipped at any particular place. It is enough\nfor the average pilgrim to know that some powerful deity resides\nthere. A poem composed at the great shrine of Ise says: \"What it is\nthat dwelleth here I know not, yet my heart is filled with gratitude\nand the tears trickle down.\" Of one of the \"Greater Shrines\" of the\nYengishiki Murray's 'Handbook' informs us that \"considerable divergence\nexists among scholars as to the identity of the Gods to whom this\ntemple is dedicated.\" During the present reign Kompira was converted\nby the Japanese Government from a Buddhist to a Shinto deity, without\ndetriment to the popularity of his shrine as a resort of pilgrims.\nThe same God may have greater credit for efficacy in one place than\nanother. Thus the Inari of a certain village has a high reputation for\nthe recovery of stolen property. Such specialties were recognized even\nby the Government, which awarded different ranks to the same deity at\ndifferent places. Distinctions of this kind, of course, facilitate the\ndisruption of one deity into several. Another cause of multiplication\nis the mistake of supposing the same deity with different epithets\nto be different Gods. In modern times the Shinto Pantheon has been\nrecruited pretty largely from the ranks of human beings. Trees are\nstill deified, and we have sometimes a new deity making his appearance\nfrom nobody knows where.\n\nThe polytheistic character of Shinto is intimately connected with\nthe weakness of the Central Government of Japan during the period of\nits development. Or perhaps it may be more correct to say that it is\nanother manifestation of the same want of national cohesion.[42] The\nancient Mikados were anything but autocrats. Their authority was almost\nalways overshadowed by the influence of ministers who struggled among\nthemselves for the direction of the power nominally vested in the\nsovereign. The Central Government had little effective jurisdiction\nbeyond the capital and the five home provinces. No wonder that under\nthese circumstances local deities retained their vitality and prestige.\n\nMonotheism was an impossibility in ancient Japan. But we may trace\ncertain tendencies in this direction which are not without interest. A\nnation may pass from polytheism to monotheism in three ways: Firstly,\nby singling out one deity and causing him to absorb the functions and\nthe worship of the rest; secondly, by a fresh deification of a wider\nconception of the universe; and thirdly, by the dethroning of the\nnative deities in favour of a single God of foreign origin. It is this\nlast, the most usual fate of polytheisms, which threatens the old Gods\nof Japan. Weakened by the encroachments of Buddhism and the paralyzing\ninfluence of Chinese sceptical philosophy, they already begin to feel\n\n The rays of Bethlehem blind their dusky eyne.\n\nOur business, however, is with the past, not with the future. The\nfirst of the three paths which lead to monotheism is illustrated by\nthe tendency to ascribe to several of the Shinto deities a certain\nsuperiority over the others. The Sun-Goddess, Kuni-toko-tachi, the\nfirst God in point of time according to the _Nihongi_, Ame no mi naka\nnushi, and in Idzumo, Ohonamochi have been in turn exalted to a unique\nposition by their adherents. But, for reasons which will appear when\nwe come to examine these deities more closely, none of them really\ndeserves the title of Supreme Being. Max M\u00fcller's opinion that \"the\nbelief in a Supreme Being is inevitable\" is not borne out by the facts\nof Shinto.\n\nThe second path, which leads to monotheism through a more comprehensive\nconception of the universe, is exemplified by the Creator deities,\nIzanagi and Izanami, personifications of the male and female principles\nof Nature, and still more so by Musubi, the God of Growth, which might\nconceivably have developed into a Pantheistic Supreme Being. But\nphilosophic abstractions of this kind are unfitted for human nature's\ndaily food. Musubi never acquired much hold on the people, though at\none time his worship held a very prominent place at the Court of the\nMikados. He eventually split up, first into two, then into a group of\ndeities, and finally became almost wholly neglected.\n\nThe _Nihongi_, under the date A.D. 644, gives the following account\nof a blind and abortive movement towards a supreme monotheistic deity\nwhich claims from us a measure of sympathy:--\n\n_\"A man of the neighbourhood of the River Fuji, in the East Country,\nnamed Ohofube no Ohoshi, urged his fellow-villagers to worship an\ninsect, saying: 'This is the God of the Everlasting World. Those\nwho worship this God will have long life and riches.' At length the\nwizards [kannagi] and witches [miko] pretending an inspiration of the\nGods, said: 'Those who worship the God of the Everlasting World will,\nif poor, become rich, and, if old, will become young again.' So they\nmore and more persuaded the people to cast out the valuables of their\nhouses, and to set out by the roadside sake, vegetables, and the six\ndomestic animals. They also made them cry out: 'The new riches have\ncome!' Both in the country and in the metropolis people took the insect\nof the Everlasting World and, placing it in a pure place, with song and\ndance invoked happiness. They threw away their treasures, but to no\npurpose whatever. The loss and waste was extreme. Hereupon Kahakatsu,\nKadono no Hada no Miyakko, was wroth that the people should be so much\ndeluded, and slew Ohofube no Ohoshi. The wizards and witches were\nintimidated, and ceased to persuade people to this worship. The men of\nthat time made a song, saying:_\n\n _Udzumasa\n Has executed\n The God of the Everlasting World\n Who we were told\n Was the very God of Gods._\n\n_\"This insect is usually bred on orange trees, and sometimes on\nthe hosoki. It is over four inches in length, and about as thick\nas a thumb. It is of a grass-green colour with black spots, and in\nappearance very much resembles the silkworm.\"_\n\nWe may note here the popular identification of the prophet with the\nGod whom he served, and the worship of a caterpillar, which apparently\nplayed the part of the ear of corn in the Eleusinian mysteries.\n\n=Shintai=.--Concurrent with the development of the spirituality of\nShinto there arose a greater necessity for some visible concrete token\nof the presence of the God.[43] This is known as the _mitama-shiro_\n(spirit representative, spirit-token), or more commonly as the\n_shintai_ (god-body). The _shintai_ varies much in form. It is\nfrequently a mirror or a sword, but may also be a tablet with the\nGod's name, a sprig of sakaki, a gohei, a bow and arrows, a pillow,\na pot, a string of beads, a tree or river-bank, or even the shrine\nitself. A stone is a very common _shintai_, doubtless because it is\ninexpensive and imperishable. The _shintai_ is usually enclosed in a\nbox, which is opened so seldom that sometimes the priest himself does\nnot know what it contains. It is not always the same for the same God\nworshipped in different places.\n\nThe _shintai_ in some respects resembles the Greek \u03ac\u03b3\u03b1\u03bb\u03bc\u03ac. Both were\noriginally offerings which became tokens of the God's presence, and by\nvirtue of immemorial association with the deities to whom they were\npresented came at length to be regarded as sharing their divinity.\nThe \u03ac\u03b3\u03b1\u03bb\u03bc\u03b1, however, developed into the statue, while the _shintai_,\nwith a very few exceptions of later origin, did not take this form.\nBroadly speaking, Shinto has no idols. There is usually no attempt to\ngive the _shintai_ any resemblance to the supposed form of the God\nwhom it represents. A few exceptions may be noted. The mirror of the\nSun-Goddess, which was in reality originally an offering, is stated in\none of the myths to have been made in imitation of the form of the sun.\nThe phallic Gods, Yachimata-hiko and Yachimata-hime, were represented\nby human figures. The scarecrow God, Kuhe-biko, may be regarded as a\nrude idol. In the province of Noto there are stone idols said to be the\nimages of the Gods Sukuna-bikona and Ohonamochi. The pictures of the\nGods sold at Shinto shrines in the present day are owing to Chinese or\nBuddhist influence.\n\nIn the old language the word _hashira_, pillar, is added to the\nnumerals for deities and Mikados. For instance, \"three Gods\" is\n_Kami mi-hashira_, that is to say, \"three pillars of Gods.\" Now in\nKorea, a country inhabited by a race closely allied to the Japanese,\nthere are seen by the roadsides posts carved at the top into a rude\nsemblance of the human form.[44] Some serve as milestones, and some\nare erected at the outskirts of villages to keep away the demon\nsmall-pox. These figures are called the Opang Chang-gun, or Generals\nof the Five Quarters. The name is Chinese, but the deities themselves\nmay nevertheless be of Korean origin. If the ancient Japanese had rude\nfigures of this kind it would explain the use of _hashira_, pillar,\nas a numeral for Gods. I am rather disposed, however, to surmise that\nthe use of this term was really owing to the fact that the symbols of\ndivinity most familiar to the ancient Japanese were the phallic emblems\nset up everywhere by the roadsides. The term _wo-bashira_, applied to\nthe phallic end-post of the parapet of a bridge, contains the same\nelement.[45]\n\nThere is a tendency in Japan, as in other countries, for the token of\nthe God to become regarded, firstly, as the seat of his real presence,\nand, secondly, as the God himself. Many persons do not distinguish\nbetween the mitama and the shintai, and some go so far as to confound\nthe latter with the God's _utsushi-mi_, or real body. This is a form of\nidolatry. The shintai may even be erected into an independent deity.\nThe mirror, which is the shintai of the Sun-Goddess, is the object\nof a separate worship, under the name of Ame kakasu no kami. Even\nat the present day religious honours are paid to this mirror or its\nrepresentative.[46] The sword Futsu no mitama has shrines dedicated to\nit. Another sword, called Kusanagi, has been worshipped for centuries\nat Atsuta, near Nagoya. It was this sword which Susa no wo found in\nthe tail of the great serpent slain by him to rescue the Japanese\nAndromeda, and sent as an offering to his sister the Sun-Goddess.\nFetish worship of this kind is a later and degenerate form of religion;\nand must not be confounded with the worship of the great nature-deities.\n\nSome artificial inanimate objects of worship are not shintai, but are\nworshipped for their own sakes as helpers of humanity. The fire-place\nis honoured as a deity. Potters at the present day pay respect to their\nbellows, which are allowed one day of rest annually, and have offerings\nmade them. The superstitious Japanese housewife still, on the 12th day\nof the 2nd month, gives her needles a holiday, laying them down on\ntheir side and making them little offerings of cakes, &c.[47]\n\nThe absence of idols from Shinto is not owing, as in Judaism and Islam,\nto a reaction against the evils caused by the use of anthropomorphic\npictures and images, but to the low artistic development of the\nJapanese nation before the awakening impulse was received from China.\nIt indicated weakness rather than strength. Much of the vagueness\nwhich characterizes the Japanese conceptions of their Gods would\nhave been avoided by a freer use of images. In principle the image\nand the metaphor are the same. There is no more harm in representing\na God, pictorially or in sculpture, as an old man than there is in\naddressing him as Father, though practically a wide experience shows\nthat the common people do not stop here in either case. There is a\nstrong tendency to debase religion by attributing special virtue to the\nparticular physical object of devotion, or even to forget that there is\na God of which it is only a very imperfect symbol.\n\n=The Infinite=.--Max M\u00fcller says that without the faculty of\napprehending the Infinite there can be no religion. In that case\nShinto is not a religion. The Gods are not conceived of as infinite.\nThey are superior, swift, brave, bright, rich, &c., but not immortal,\nomnipresent, omniscient, or possessed of infinite power. Where the\nword infinite is used it is said of infinite time. We hear of the\ninfinite succession of the Mikados, and of infinite or perpetual night\n(_tokoyami_). Perhaps what Max M\u00fcller really meant was \"transcendent,\"\nthat is, beyond man's power to rival, or even fully to comprehend.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[40] In 'Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.\n\n[41] Dr. Florenz, in his 'Japanische Mythologie,' says that Sui-teng\u016b\nis a fusion of the Sumiyoshi Sea-Gods with the Indian Sea-God Sui-ten,\nthat is, Varuna, subsequently identified with the youthful Emperor\nAntoku (who lost his life by drowning in 1185).\n\n[42] \"The different peoples conceived and developed this divine\nhierarchy _pari passu_ with their own approximation to political unity\"\n(Goblet d'Alviella, Hibbert Lectures). Aristotle recognized the same\nprinciple.\n\n[43] \"The symbol or permanent object, at and through which the\nworshipper came into direct contact with the God, was not lacking\nin any Semitic place of worship, but had not always the same\nform, and was sometimes a natural object, sometimes an artificial\nerection.\"--Robertson Smith, 'Religion of the Semites,' p. 160.\n\n[44]\n\n simulacra que maesta deorum\n Arte carent, c\u00e6sis extant informia truncis.\n\nLucan, 'Pharsalia.'\n\n[45] See Index--_Sake no kami_.\n\n[46] See Index--_Naishidokoro_.\n\n[47] In an official report by Mr. H. Risley he says that at the time of\nthe spring equinox there is a festival (in India) called Sri Panchami,\nwhen it is incumbent on every religious-minded person to worship the\nimplements or insignia of the vocation by which he lives.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nMYTH.\n\n\n=Nature of Myth=.--Myth and religion have distinct sources. We have\nseen above[48] that there is a phase of religion antecedent to\nmyth. On the other hand, the earliest form of myth has no religious\nsignificance. It is the result of an idle play of fancy without any\ndefinite purpose. I have known a child of two or three years of age,\nwho, when he saw a light cloud pass over the rising moon, exclaimed\n\"She is putting on her clothes.\" Not that he believed the moon to be an\nanimated being, or that he thought that clouds were really her clothes.\nHis childish imagination was stirred by an instinctive impulse, to\nbe compared with that which prompts the gambolling of a kitten who\nrushes from one place to another without any definite object, or to\nthe butting of a young ruminant before his horns have grown. Closely\nrelated to such spontaneous efforts is the myth invented solely for\nthe amusement of the hearer. May we not place in this category some of\nthe nature myths of savages which to all appearance have no worship\nor belief associated with them, and belong to a pre-religious stage\nof development. Then we have the myths which are explanatory of some\ncustom, rite, natural phenomenon, political institution, names of\nplaces or persons, &c. With these we may associate the genealogical\nmyth. There is also the blunder myth, arising frequently from a\nmisunderstanding of language, and the lie--a myth framed with intent to\ndeceive. All these classes of fiction are abundantly exemplified in the\nold Japanese books.\n\nMore important for our present purpose is the religious myth, that\n\n Mysterious veil, of brightness made,\n At once the lustre and the shade\n\nof religious conceptions. Like the metaphor, of which it may be\nregarded as an expansion, it suggests the True by means of the Untrue.\nIt is an acknowledged necessity of religious teaching. In the infancy\nof language there is no other means of expressing spiritual verities\nthan by physical symbols--in other words by myth and metaphor. And even\nwhen a language has acquired some capacity for the direct expression\nof spiritual facts, it is found that the old methods must still be\nresorted to in order to excite the interest and impress the imagination\nof the ignorant multitude. It is not to be supposed that the makers\nof such myths believed that they were true in their natural physical\nacceptation. Take for example the parable of the prodigal son. There is\nno reason to believe that the \"far country,\" \"the husks that the swine\ndid eat,\" \"the fatted calf,\" and the prodigal himself were not figments\nof Our Lord's imagination. Nor if the story had been true in all its\ndetails would this circumstance have added one whit to the value of\nthe lesson taught by it. I believe that the author of the Mosaic story\nof the Fall of Man would be much surprised to know that his drama,\nwhich deals so forcibly in concrete form with temptation, sin, and\nits punishment, had been taken by the world for many centuries as a\nnarrative of actual fact.\n\nSome high authorities apply a different measure to pagan and savage\nmyth. Dr. Pfleiderer, in his 'Philosophy of Religion,' says that\n\"it must be carefully borne in mind that the religious phantasy, in\nproducing such poetic symbolical legends, is not in the habit of\ndistinguishing, nor can distinguish between the ideal truth and its\nsensible investment.\" The late Mr. Fiske held substantially the same\nview. He goes so far as to apply it to Dante, whose \"Charon beating\nthe lagging shades with his oar,\" \"Satan crushing in his monstrous\njaws the arch-traitors Judas, Brutus, and Cassius,\" \"Bertrand de Born\nlooking at his own dissevered head,\" he regards as \"in the minds of\nDante and his readers living, terrible realities.\" True it is that\na stern reality underlies these grotesque fancies. But it is not of\nthe physical order. No one knew better than Dante the virtue of the\n_altro intende_ in such matters. We may be quite sure that he did not\nbelieve in a real inscription over the gate of Hell, in Italian _terza\nrima_, and composed by himself. It is a mistake, I submit, to imagine\nhim, \"like Katerfelto, with his hair on end at his own wonders.\" When\nDickens tells us that he decidedly looked on his heroes as living\npersons we must take this statement _cum grano salis_. We know what\nwould have happened if some one had offered him, by way of payment,\na cheque bearing the signature of Mr. Boffin, Dombey & Son, or the\nBrothers Cheeryble.\n\nMere inferences are often taken for facts, but, under normal\nconditions, the imaginative man is not the dupe of his own inventive\nfaculty. It may be said that, however true this may be of more modern\nreligious myth, the attitude of the \"primitive man\" towards the naive\ncreations of his fancy is different. Strictly speaking, there is no\nsuch thing as a primitive man. However far we may go back, we shall\nfind men with parents, and preceded by an infinite line of ancestors.\nStill there can be no harm in using this term to designate mankind\nat some ill-defined stage of progress above the highest lower animal\nand below the savage of our own days. Strange things are told us of\nthe primitive man. He is said to be unable to distinguish between his\nimaginations and facts, and that he is in the habit of taking his\ndreams[49] for real occurrences. Fiske says: \"Our primitive ancestors\nknew nothing about laws of nature, nothing about physical forces,\nnothing about the relations of cause and effect, nothing about the\nnecessary regularity of things.... The only force they knew was the\nforce of which they were directly conscious--the force of will.\nAccordingly, they imagined all the outward world to be endowed with\nvolition and to be directed by it.\" Of course our primitive ancestors\nexpressed themselves differently from ourselves. They did not talk\nabout laws of nature and the necessary regularity of things. But can\nwe conceive them ignorant of the law of the regular alternation of\nnight and day, of summer and winter, of the phases of the moon? Did\nnot the \"primitive man\" know just as well as Newton that when an\napple is detached from a tree it falls to the ground? He knew that\nfrom a blow as cause we may expect pain, wounds, or even death as the\neffect. He had sufficient acquaintance with dynamics to be aware that\nhe could not raise himself from the ground more than a few feet, and\nwith chemistry to have learnt that the savour of food is improved or\nspoilt, according to circumstances, by the application of fire. Nor\nis it true that he ascribed all forces to volition. It is only by\nexception that the child, the savage, and the primitive man attribute\nlife to inanimate things. This requires imagination, a faculty which is\nnotoriously feebler with them than with the adult civilized man. The\nprogress of humanity is from a sporadic towards a general recognition\nof will in or behind the material universe, from fitful and sportive\nfancies involving this idea to an earnest and steady conviction of\nits truth, and from the fragmentary personification of the part as\nanimated to the conception of a living, universal whole. Agnosticism,\nwhich ignores volition in matter, belongs, therefore, to the lower end\nof the scale of progress. Where it appears in civilized man, it is a\ncase of arrested development. The average savage is a materialist, who\nassociates volition with the energies of nature in a much less thorough\nand systematic way than the Christian, who believes that a sparrow\ncannot fall to the ground without the Father.\n\nWe must not confound the primitive maker of religious myth with the\nprimitive man. It would lead to error if we modelled our idea of the\naverage modern European on Bunyan, Milton, or Dante.\n\nIt is sometimes asserted that the impossible and miraculous occurrences\nwhich we so often meet with in the narratives of the prim\u00e6val\nmyth-maker are to him true. Why should he be limited to fact in this\nway? No doubt his standard of truth is different from our own. He\nwould regard as possible many things which we know to be impossible.\nBut is it necessary to suppose that his knowledge that a thing was\nimpossible should prevent him, any more than our modern storytellers,\nfrom utilizing it in his imaginative work? Jules Verne well knew that\na voyage round the moon is an impossibility. The unknown author or\nauthors of 'Cinderella' surely need not be credited with a belief\nthat pumpkins can be converted into coaches by the stroke of a fairy\nwand; the inventor of the story of the birth of Minerva from the brain\nof Jupiter knew quite well that such obstetrical operations were not\nfeasible; and it is unnecessary to believe that the myth-makers of\nthe _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ thought that children could be produced by\ncrunching jewels in the mouth and spitting them out.\n\nThere is, however, an exception to the rule that a storyteller does not\nbelieve in the truth of his own inventions. It is notoriously possible\nfor the author of a fictitious narrative to become, after a time,\nunable to distinguish it from a statement of actual facts. There is a\ncase on record in which a learned judge communicated to the Psychical\nSociety in perfect good faith a ghost story, all the principal features\nof which were proved to be imaginary. They had their origin in his own\ntalent as a distinguished raconteur. But this is a morbid phenomenon\nwhich must not be confounded with the normal action of the imagination\nin the child, the savage, or the primitive (or, indeed, any other)\nmyth-maker.\n\nThe inability to distinguish between imagination and fact is really not\na special characteristic of the primitive man or savage, but of the\nliteral-minded of all ages, in presence of the creations of imaginative\ngenius. Some few primitive men may distinguish between the spiritual\nkernel and its imaginative envelopment. But for the multitude this is\nimpossible. Unable to discriminate between these two elements, and\ndimly conscious that the whole is a valuable possession, they wisely\naccept it indiscriminately as actual fact.\n\nDe Gubernatis, in his 'Zoological Mythology,' relates a story which\nillustrates the respective attitudes of the myth-maker and his hearers.\nHe tells us that \"when he was four years old, as he was walking one\nday with a brother, the latter pointed to a fantastical cloud on the\nhorizon, and cried, 'Look down there: that is a hungry wolf running\nafter the sheep.' He convinced me so entirely of that cloud being\nreally a hungry wolf that I instantly took to my heels and escaped\nprecipitately into the house.\" Take, again, the following sun-myth,\nfresh coined from the mint of Mr. George Meredith:--\n\n\"The sun is coming down to earth, and the fields and the waters shout\nto him golden shouts. He comes, and his heralds run before him, and\ntouch the leaves of oaks and planes and beeches lucid green and the\npine stems redder gold: leaving brightest footprints upon thickly\nweeded banks, where the foxglove's last upper bells incline and bramble\nshoots wander amid moist herbage,\" &c.\n\nThis myth, like the old Greek tales of Prometheus and Tantalus, which\nWordsworth calls\n\n Fictions in form, but in their substance truths,\n\nhas a spiritual significance of which Mr. Meredith cannot have been\nunconscious. Though nobody at the present day supposes that the author\nor his readers take it for a narrative of actual events, cannot we\nfancy Macaulay's New Zealander, being told as a fact some traditional,\ntime-worn, corrupt, and ill-interpreted version of it, and, especially\nif he is a literal-minded philosopher, wondering how it was possible\nfor the English to believe in such a concatenation of anthropomorphic\nfancies?\n\nThe literal acceptation of myth or metaphor is not confined to the\nlower class of intellect. It was a \"teacher of Israel\" who could not\nsee how \"a man could enter into his mother's womb and be born again.\"\nMoto\u00f6ri and Hirata, highly educated scholars, well versed in Chinese\nand Indian religious literature, received the stories of the _Kojiki_\nand _Nihongi_ as genuine history.\n\nEven Dante and Milton, men of profound spiritual insight, probably\naccepted in their most literal sense some of the imaginative figments\nof their predecessors.\n\nThere have always been literal-minded unbelievers, who reject the myth\nand its religious contents without discrimination, and simply value it,\nif at all, for its aesthetic merits. Of them, as of the literal-minded\nbeliever, \"Si exempla requiris, circumspice.\"\n\nThe history of the religious myth may be summarized as follows: A,\na man of genius, creates it, clearly distinguishing in his own mind\nbetween the kernel of religious truth and its imaginative embodiment.\nHis disciples B and C understand him thoroughly. In this stage a myth\nis called a parable or allegory. Many myths proceed no further. D, F,\nH, * * * T and V, unable to discriminate the true element from the\nfalse, accept the whole confusedly as actual fact. E, G, * * S and U\nare dense to its religious significance, and think it idle nonsense, or\nat best, simply a good story. W and X have a glimmering notion that the\nimaginative part cannot be literally true, but do not dare to question\nit, lest they should sacrifice at the same time the valuable religious\nkernel. Z is a philosophic inquirer who, not without difficulty,\nregains the standpoint of B and C. But by this time the myth has been\nsuperseded as a vehicle of religious truth by fuller and more exact\nforms of expression.\n\nThe chief ideas underlying Japanese myth are, firstly, the\nconception--piecemeal it is true, and inadequate--of the so-called\ninanimate universe as being really instinct with sentient life, and\nexercising a loving providential care over mankind;[50] and secondly,\nthe doctrine that honour and obedience are due to the sovereign whose\nbeneficent rule secures to the people blessings comparable to that of\nthe sun's light and warmth. For such, I take it, is the real meaning\nof the story by which the Mikados are feigned to be descendants of the\nSun-Goddess. It is the Japanese version of the doctrine of the divine\nright of kings. Without these and similar vital elements Japanese\nmyth would be nothing more than what some writers have supposed it, a\nfarrago of absurdities, and its examination would belong not to the\nphysiology, but to the pathology of the human mind.\n\nIt can hardly be maintained, however, that the poets and seers of\nancient Japan achieved much success in clothing their spiritual\nconceptions in mythical form. There is little force or beauty in their\nstories, and there is a plentiful admixture of matter which, to us at\nleast, is frivolous, revolting, or devoid of religious significance.\n\nThere is no summer and winter myth in the old Japanese books, no deluge\nmyth, and no eclipse myth. There is, strange to say, no earthquake\nmyth, and but one solitary mention of a God of Earthquakes. There are\nno astral myths, no \"Returning Saviour\" myth, and no \"Journey of the\nDead\" beyond the bare mention of an \"Even Pass of Yomi,\" or Hades. The\ncreation of mankind is not accounted for.\n\n=Myth and Ritual=.--When a myth and a ceremony relate to the same\nsubject-matter, which comes first in order of time? Is the ceremony a\ndramatic commemoration of the events related in the myth, or, _vice\nvers\u00e2_, is the myth an attempt to explain the origin of the ceremony?\nSome go so far as to say that ritual is the source of all religious\nmyth. The late Mr. D. G. Brinton, on the other hand, held that \"every\nrite is originally based on a myth.\" Robertson Smith's view was that\n\"in almost every case the myth was derived from the ritual, and not\nthe ritual from the myth.\" No general rule can be laid down in these\ncases. Every such question must be decided according to the available\nevidence. A myth is a narrative, and a ceremony a kind of dramatic\npeformance. It will not be disputed that dramas have been founded on\nnarratives, and that narratives are sometimes taken from dramas, as\nin the case of Lamb's 'Tales from Shakespeare.' Novels are every day\ndramatized, and the reverse process, though not common with ourselves,\nis familiar in Japan. Several of the Shinto deities are worshipped\nfor no other reason than because they are mentioned in the myths of\nthe _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. It was probably the mythical account of\nthe friendship of Ajisuki and Ame-waka-hiko which led to shrines\nbeing erected to these deities side by side at Idzumo. A literal\ninterpretation of the obviously allegorical story of Iha-naga-hime\nand Kono-saku-hime led, in later times, to an actual cult of these\npersonages. On the other hand, the ceremony of religious ablution is\ncertainly older than the myth which represents Izanagi as washing in\nthe sea in order to remove the pollutions of the land of Yomi. The\nworship of the Sun is assuredly not the outcome, but the source, of the\nJapanese solar myths, though it may owe to them some of its more modern\nfeatures.\n\nMany myths have no ceremonial associated with them, and there is much\nceremony for which the myth-makers have not attempted to account.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[48] P. 16.\n\n[49] See above, p. 12, and Index--'Dreams,'\n\n[50] See Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' second edition, i. 285.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE.\n\n\nNo really adequate idea of the old Japanese myths can be gained without\na direct study of the _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and _Kiujiki_, with all\ntheir repetitions, inconsistencies, and obscurities. In the following\noutline, taken mainly from the two first-named works, a selection has\nbeen made of such incidents as have an interest and significance for\nEuropean students of mythology.\n\nBoth the _Nihongi_ and the _Kiujiki_ begin with a passage which is\njustly repudiated by the modern school of Shinto theologians as in\nreality belonging to the materialistic philosophy of China.[51] It runs\nas follows:--\n\n _\"Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and\n Yo[52] not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg, which\n was of obscurely defined limits, and contained germs. The purer and\n clearer part was thinly diffused and formed Heaven, while the heavier\n and grosser element settled down and became Earth. The finer element\n easily became a united body, but the consolidation of the heavy and\n gross element was accomplished with difficulty. Heaven was therefore\n formed first, and Earth established subsequently. Thereafter divine\n beings were produced between them.\"_\n\nPfleiderer says:[53] \"There is not unfrequently found in the mythology\nof the nature-religions a combination of Theogony and a Divine\nformation of matter in such a way that the Gods--whether one or all of\nthem--are the first products of chaos, but then they form the rest of\nthe world out of it. In the Indian mythology Prajapati proceeded out of\nthe golden world-egg and then became the creative former of the world.\nLikewise in the Chald\u00e6an mythology the great Gods arose at first out of\nchaos, and they then created the other Gods and the living beings of\nheaven and earth.\"\n\nBut are not such speculations later accretions on the original myth?\nIn Japan, at any rate, formation out of chaos is undoubtedly an\nafterthought.\n\n=First Gods=.--We have next what is called \"the seven generations\nof Gods,\" ending with the creator-deities, Izanagi and Izanami.\nOf the first six of these generations the most confused and\ncontradictory accounts are given in the various authorities. There\nis no agreement as to the name of the first God on the list. The\n_Nihongi_ tells us that the first deity produced between Heaven and\nEarth while still in a state of chaos sprang up like a reed-shoot,\nwhich then changed into a God,[54] and was called Kuni-toko-tachi\nno Mikoto,[55] or \"Earth-eternal-stand augustness.\" The _Kojiki_\ncalls the first God Ame no mi-naka nushi no Kami, that is to say,\n\"Heaven-august-centre-master-deity,\" identified by some with the\nPolar Star, a hypothesis for which there is no other ground than the\nname itself. The same authority gives Kuni-toko-tachi a place lower\ndown in the genealogical table. The _Kiujiki_ has a first God called\nAme yudzuru hi ame no sagiri kuni yudzuru tsuki kuni no sagiri, and\ndescribes him (or her, for there is no indication of sex) as the\n\"Heavenly Parent.\" It is impossible to translate this rigmarole; but as\nit contains the words \"earth,\" \"sun,\" \"moon,\" and \"mist,\" a nature-deity is evidently\nintended. Both the _Kojiki_ and _Kiujiki_ first Gods disappear at once\nfrom the mythical record. There is little trace of their worship in\nlater times, and they must be pronounced mere abortive attempts at\ndeity-making. Two other first deities are mentioned in the various\nmyths quoted in the _Nihongi_, namely, Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji\n(sweet-reed-shoot-prince-father) and Ama-toko-tachi\n(Heaven-eternal-stand). The latter forms, along with Kuni-toko-tachi,\none of those pairs of deities, not necessarily male and female, which\nare common in Japanese mythology. An enumeration of the Gods of the\nfive generations which follow would be tedious and unprofitable.\nSome of them had probably no existence outside of the imagination of\nindividual writers. They were doubtless invented or collected in order\nto provide a genealogy for Izanagi and Izanami. With one exception,\nthey have left no trace in myth or in ceremonial. There are no\nshrines in their honour. Little is to be learnt from their names, the\nderivation of which is often doubtful. Several of them, however, show\nthat the divinely mysterious process of growth, so all-important to an\nagricultural nation, had attracted attention.[56]\n\nMusubi no Kami (the God of Growth), who forms the sixth generation\nof deities, is a genuine divinity, of whom more remains to be said\nhereafter.\n\n=Izanagi and Izanami=.--The seventh generation consisted of two\ndeities, Izanagi and Izanami. It is with them that Japanese myth really\nbegins, all that precedes being merely introductory and for the most\npart of comparatively recent origin.\n\nThe _Nihongi_ tells us that--\n\n_\"Izanagi and Izanami stood on the floating bridge of Heaven, and held\ncounsel together, saying 'Is there not a country beneath?' Thereupon\nthey thrust down the 'Jewel-Spear of Heaven' (Ame no tama-boko) and\ngroping about with it, found the ocean. The brine which dripped from\nthe point of the spear coagulated and formed an island which received\nthe name of Onogoro-jima or the 'Self-Coagulating Island.' The two\ndeities thereupon descended and dwelt there. Accordingly they wished to\nbe united as husband and wife, and to produce countries. So they made\nOnogoro-jima the pillar of the centre of the land.\"_\n\nThe _Kojiki_ says that Izanagi and Izanami were commanded by all the\nheavenly deities \"to regulate and fully consolidate\" the floating\nland beneath. But all the accounts, the _Kojiki_ included, proceed\nto represent the islands of Japan as having been generated by them\nin the ordinary manner. We have therefore three distinct conceptions\nof creation in Japanese myth--first as generation in the most\nliteral sense, second, as reducing to order, and third, as growth\n(_Musubi_).[57]\n\nThe \"floating bridge of Heaven\" is no doubt the rainbow. It is\nrepresented on earth by the _Sori-bashi_ or _Taiko-bashi_ (drum-bridge)\na semi-circular bridge over a pond before some Shinto shrines. It has\ntoo steep a slope for ordinary use, and is reserved for the Deity and\nfor the priest on solemn occasions, the custom having been in this\ninstance probably suggested by the myth.\n\nThe _Ame no tama-boko_ or Jewel-Spear of Heaven has been the subject of\nmuch dissertation. Hirata, whose view is endorsed by several eminent\nscholars, native and foreign, thinks that it is a phallus. Its use in\ncreating, which in Japanese myth is the same thing as begetting, the\nfirst island, countenances this idea. The derivation of _tama-boko_\nalso lends itself to it. _Tama_ may be rendered ball or knob as well\nas jewel, and the _tama-boko_ might therefore be a shaft surmounted\nby a knob representing the glans, reminding us of the spears tipped\nwith pine cones which were carried by the Bacchantes in the Dionysia.\nWe have another Japanese case of a conventionalized phallus in the\n_wo-bashira_.[58] Moreover, on the theory that the _tama-boko_ is a\nphallus, we have a satisfactory explanation of the circumstance that\n_tama-boko no_ is used as a standing epithet of _michi_, road, which\nhas puzzled Japanese scholars. The _tama-boko no michi_ would then mean\n\"the road where phallic symbols are set up.\" There is abundant evidence\nthat objects of this kind were a familiar sight by the roadsides near\nthe capital in ancient times. The poet Tsura-yuki (tenth century) has\nleft a short poem in which he expresses his intention of praying to the\nTamaboko no chiburi no kami when starting on a journey. The Chiburi\nno kami were the phallic road deities, protectors of travellers.\nNotwithstanding the Japanese poets' habit of using stock epithets\nwithout much regard to their proper meaning, this juxtaposition is\nhighly suggestive. Another name for the phallic Sahe no kami[59] was\nChimata no kami, or road-fork-gods, because they had no temples and\nwere worshipped by the road-sides and at cross-ways. The road between\nUtsu-nomiya and Nikk\u00f4, when I travelled along it in 1870, was still a\n_tama-boko no michi_--in the phallic sense.[60] Another link between\nthe _hoko_ and the phallus is suggested by a statement in the _Shiki\nMonogatari_ that the weapon which formed, and still forms, the central\nobject in the great _Gori\u014dye_ festival procession at Kioto is known\nas the _Sai no hoko_. Now the _Gori\u014dye_ is a survival of the old\nfestival in honour of the phallic Sahe no kami.\n\nBut in mythology one explanation does not necessarily exclude another\nand apparently contradictory one. Whether the myth-makers had in their\nminds the phallus conception of the _tama-boko_--and I am persuaded\nthat they had--it is impossible in this connexion to ignore the\nfunction of the _hoko_, or spear, as a symbol of authority. Herbert\nSpencer[61] has shown how universally the spear has this meaning.\nBritannia's trident is a familiar example. Theseus, in the 'Hippolytus'\nof Euripides, speaks of \"the land ruled by my spear.\" Lances or\narrows are emblems of authority in Korea. In Japan itself there is\nan abundance of similar evidence. In the _Nihongi_ we hear of local\ngovernors being granted shields and spears in token of authority. When\nOhonamochi abdicates in favour of Ninigi he delivers over the Kuni-muke\nno hiro-boko, or land-subduing-broad-spear. The epithet Ya-chi-boko no\nkami, or God of eight thousand spears, applied to the same deity, has a\nsimilar symbolical meaning. The Empress Jing\u014d set up her spear at the\npalace gate of the King of Silla, in Korea, as a token of conquest. A\nholly spear, eight fathoms long, was given to Prince Yamatodake when he\nwas despatched on his expedition to subdue Eastern Japan.\n\nIt will be observed that the _tama-boko_ as a phallus belongs to the\ngenerative conception of creation, and as a spear to the idea of it as\na cosmic or regulating process:--\n\n_\"The two deities having descended on Onogoro-jima erected there\nan eight fathom house with an august central pillar. Then Izanagi\naddressed Izanami, saying: 'How is thy body formed?' Izanami replied,\n'My body is completely formed except one part which is incomplete.'\nThen Izanagi said, 'My body is completely formed and there is one\npart which is superfluous. Suppose that we supplement that which is_\n_incomplete in thee with that which is superfluous in me, and thereby\nprocreate lands.' Izanami replied, 'It is well.' Then Izanagi said,\n'Let me and thee go round the heavenly august pillar, and having met at\nthe other side, let us become united in wedlock.' This being agreed to,\nhe said, 'Do thou go round from the left, and I will go round from the\nright.' When they had gone round, Izanami spoke first and exclaimed,\n'How delightful! I have met a lovely youth.' Izanagi then said, 'How\ndelightful! I have met a lovely maiden.' Afterwards he said, 'It was\nunlucky for the woman to speak first.' The child which was the first\noffspring of their union was the Hiruko (leech-child), which at the age\nof three was still unable to stand upright, and was therefore placed in\na reed-boat and sent adrift.\"_\n\nThe \"eight fathom house\" built by Izanagi and Izanami as a preliminary\nto their marriage is the _fuseya_, or nuptial hut, several times\nreferred to in the old records. It was erected less for practical\npurposes than to avoid the ceremonial contamination of the ordinary\ndwelling-house by the consummation of a marriage within it.\n\nThe number eight is often met with in Japanese myth. It would be a\nmistake, however, to regard it as in any way sacred. The primary\nmeaning of _yatsu_ is \"many,\" and it might be better to translate it so\nin this passage.\n\nThe central pillar of a house (corresponding to our king-post) is\nat the present day an object of honour in Japan as in many other\ncountries. In the case of Shinto shrines, it is called the _Nakago\nno mibashira_ (central august pillar), and in ordinary houses the\n_Daikoku-bashira_. The circumambulation of the central post by\nIzanagi and Izanami reminds us of the Hindu _pradakchina_.[62]\nHirata's conjecture that we have here an ancient marriage rite is very\nplausible. The circumambulation of the dwelling, the fire, a tree, or\nan altar by the bride and bridegroom is a familiar feature of marriage\nritual. It does not follow that the Japanese rite had a religious\ncharacter. Nothing in the mythical record suggests that this is the\ncase, and at no time in Japanese history has the marriage ceremony\nhad the sanction of religion. Shinto neither consecrates wedlock nor\ncondemns adultery.\n\nIt must not be inferred from this narrative that unions between\nbrothers and sisters of the full blood were permitted by ancient\nJapanese custom. Cain and Abel must have married their own sisters, but\nthis proves nothing against the morality of the Jews. The necessity\nof the story is the compelling motive in both cases. It is true that\nmarriages were allowed between a man and his sister by the father's\nside only, but we learn from the _Nihongi_[63] that in the case of full\nbrothers and sisters such connexions were considered criminal. The fact\nthat _imo_, younger sister, is also used in addressing a wife proves no\nmore than the \"How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride!\" of the Song\nof Solomon. The author of the myth of the Sun-Goddess endeavours to\nsmooth over the difficulty of her conjugal relations with her brother\nSusa no wo by giving them a miraculous character.\n\nThe story of the abandonment of Hiruko by his parents, like the similar\nlegends of Sargon and Moses, is evidence that the custom of casting\naway weakly or deformed infants was known to the authors. The real\nsignificance of the Hiruko myth will be shown hereafter.\n\nThe two deities next gave birth to the islands of Japan. Of the birth\nof Tsukushi, now called Kiushiu, the _Kojiki_ says:--\n\n_\"Next they gave birth to the island of Tsukushi. This island\nlikewise has four faces, and each face has a name. So the\nland of Tsukushi is called Shira-bi-wake (white-sun-youth);\nthe land of Toyo is called Toyo-bi-wake (rich-sun-youth);\nthe land of Hi is called Take-hi-mukahi-toyo-kuji-hine-wake\n(brave-sun-confronting-rich-wondrous-lord-youth); the land of Kumaso is\ncalled Take-bi-wake (brave-sun-youth).\"_\n\nAt this point the _Nihongi_ inserts the rationalistic observation that\nthe islands of Tsushima and Iki with the small islands in various parts\nwere produced by the coagulation of the salt water.\n\nIzanagi and Izanami then procreated a number of deities, among\nwhom were Iha-tsuchi-biko (rock-earth-prince), Oho-ya-biko\n(great-house-prince), the Wind-Gods, a variety of marine deities,\nAme no Mikumari (the heavenly water distributor), the God of Moors\n(who is also the God of Herbs and Grasses), the God of Trees, the\nGods of Mountains and Valleys, and the Goddess of Food. The last\ndeity to be produced was the God of Fire, Kagu-tsuchi, also called\nHo-musubi (fire-growth). In giving birth to him Izanami was burnt\nso that she sickened and lay down. From her vomit, f\u00e6ces, and urine\nwere born deities which personify the elements[64] of metal, water,\nand clay, while from the tears which Izanagi shed when she died there\nwas produced a deity called Naki-saha-me, or the Weeping Female.\nIn his rage and grief, Izanagi drew his sword and cut Kagu-tsuchi\nto pieces, generating thereby a number of deities. Of these two\nwere widely worshipped in later times. One, named Take-mika-tsuchi\n(brave-awful-father), is the God of the famous shrine of Kashima in the\neast of Japan. The other, named Futsunushi, is worshipped under the\nform of a sword at Kadori in the same neighbourhood. Izanami, by one\naccount, was buried at the village of Arima at Kumano, in the province\nof Ki\u00ef.\n\n_\"In the time of flowers the inhabitants worship her mitama by\nofferings of flowers. They also worship her with drums, flutes, flags,\nsinging and dancing.\"_\n\nWhen she died Izanami went to the land of Yomi, or darkness.\n\n_\"Thereafter Izanagi went after Izanami, and entered the land of Yomi.\nWhen he rejoined her, they conversed together. Izanami said: 'My lord\nand husband, why is thy coming so late? I have already eaten of the\ncooking-furnace of Yomi. But I am about to lie down to rest. Do not\nthou look on me.' Izanagi did not give ear to her, but secretly took\nhis many-toothed comb, and breaking off its end-tooth[65] made of\nit a torch and looked at her. Her body was already putrid, maggots\nswarmed over it, and the eight thunder-gods had been generated in her\nvarious members. Izanagi, greatly shocked, exclaimed, 'What a hideous\nand polluted land I have come to unawares!' So he speedily ran away.\nIzanami was angry, and said, 'Why didst thou not observe that which I\ncharged thee? Now am I put to shame.' So she sent the Ugly Females of\nYomi to pursue and slay him. Izanagi, in his flight, threw down his\nmany-toothed comb, which forthwith became changed into bamboo-shoots.\nThe Ugly Females pulled them up and ate them. When they had done eating\nthem they again gave chase. He then threw down his headdress, which\nbecame changed into grapes, and so once more delayed his pursuers.\nOn reaching the foot of the 'Even Pass of Yomi' he gathered three\npeaches[66] that were growing there, and smote his pursuers with them,\nso that they all fled back. Moreover, he said to the peaches, 'As ye\nhave helped me, so must ye help all living people in the Central Land\nof Reed-plains when they are in trouble.' And he gave them the title\nOho-kamu-dzu-mi no mikoto (their augustness great-divine fruit). This\nwas the origin of the custom of exorcising evil spirits by means of\npeaches._\n\n_\"At the Even Pass of Yomi, Izanagi was overtaken by Izanami herself.\nHe took a great rock[67] and blocked up the pass with it, pronouncing\nat the same time the formula of divorce--namely, 'Our relationship is\nsevered.' He also said, 'Come no further,' and threw down his staff,\nwhich was called Funado no Kami (pass-not-place-deity), or Kunado\nno Kami (come-not-place-deity). Moreover, he threw down his girdle,\nwhich was called Nagachiha no Kami. Moreover, he threw down his\nupper garment, which was called Wadzurahi no Kami (God of disease).\nMoreover, he threw down his trowsers, which were called Aki-guhi no\nKami. Moreover, he threw down his shoes, which were called Chi-shiki no\nKami.\"_\n\nThe _Kojiki_ represents Izanami as assuming the position of the \"Great\nDeity of Yomi,\" a personification of death. In this character she says\nto Izanagi, \"If thou dost so (divorce me), I will in one day strangle\nto death a thousand of the people of thy land.\" To which he replied\n\"If thou dost so, I will in one day build a thousand and five hundred\nparturition houses.\"\n\nThe fatal consequences of tasting the food of the lower regions are\nwell known to mythologists. Proserpine's return to the upper world\nbecame impossible when once\n\n Puniceum curv\u00e2 decerpserat arbore pomum\n Sumpta que pallenti septem de cortice grana\n Presserat ore suo.\n\nThe same principle is recognized in Indian myth:\n\n Three nights within his (Yama's) mansion stay,\n But taste not, though a guest, his food.[68]\n\nThe natural aversion of human beings from touching or even looking on\nthe dead is made a characteristic of the Gods in Greek mythology as\nwell as in Japanese myth. Artemis, in the 'Hippolytus' of Euripides,\nsays, \"It is not _themis_ for me to look upon the dead.\"\n\nThe \"Even Pass of Yomi\" takes the place of the water to be crossed of\nother mythologies. Grimm, in his 'Teutonic Mythology,' says that \"to\nDeath is ascribed a highway levelled, smooth, and kept in repair, on\nwhich the dead travel.\"\n\nOn returning from Yomi, Izanagi's first care was to bathe in the sea\nin order to purify himself from the pollutions which he had contracted\nby his visit to the Land of Yomi. A number of deities were generated\nby this process, among whom were the Gods of Good and Ill Luck, and\ncertain ocean deities held to be the ancestors of some families of\nlocal chieftains and worshipped by them. The Sun-Goddess was born from\nthe washing of his left eye, and the Moon-God from that of his right,\nwhile a third deity, named Susa no wo, was generated from the washing\nof his nose. To the Sun-Goddess Izanagi gave charge of the \"Plain of\nHigh Heaven,\" and to the Moon-God was allotted the realm of night. Susa\nno wo was at first appointed to rule the sea, but he cried and wept\ntill his beard grew down to the pit of his stomach. He wept the green\nmountains bare and the seas and rivers dry. Izanagi inquired of him,\n\"Why dost thou continually weep?\" He answered, \"I wish to follow my\nmother to the Nether Land.\" Izanagi said, \"Go, as thy heart bids thee,\"\nand drove him away.\n\nAnother account of the birth of these three deities says that they were\nborn to Izanagi and Izanami on earth before the descent to Yomi. The\nSun-Goddess was sent up to Heaven by the \"Pillar of Heaven,\" which then\nserved as a means of communication. Heaven and earth were still \"not\nfar separated.\" _Ame no mi-hashira_ (Heaven-august-pillar) is one of\nthe names of the Wind-God. An island is described as \"Heaven's single\npillar.\" Other myths speak of the _Ama no iha-bune_, or Rock-boat\nof Heaven, as used for communication by the deities. There is also\nmention of an _Ama no hashidate_ (Heaven-bridge-erection) which is\ndistinguished by Hirata from the \"Pillar of Heaven.\" He thinks the\nformer was a sort of pier used by the Rock-boat of Heaven. A spit of\nland two miles long and 190 feet broad near Miyadzu in Tango is now\ncalled by this name.[69]\n\n_Ame_, or the firmament, where the Gods live, is to be distinguished\nfrom _Oho-sora_, the Great Void, which is the space between heaven and\nearth.\n\nIzanagi's ablutions (_harahi_)[70] represent a wide-spread rite.\nThey remind us of Juno's lustration by Iris after a visit to Hades,\nand of Dante's immersion in Lethe when he had completed his ascent\nthrough Purgatory and was preparing for admission to the circles of\nParadise. Alcestis, after her rescue by Herakles from Thanatos, had\nto be purified, and was not allowed to speak for three days. We have\nin the Japanese myth the counterpart of a custom described by Chinese\ntravellers to Japan centuries before the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ were\nwritten. It was then, we are informed, the practice, when the funeral\nwas over, for the whole family of the deceased to go into the water and\nwash. Lustration is a wide-world practice,[71] and the myth was clearly\nsuggested by it, not _vice vers\u00e2_.\n\nIzanagi's career having come to an end, he built himself an abode\nof gloom in the island of Ahaji, where he dwelt in silence and\nconcealment. Another account says that he ascended to Heaven, where he\ndwelt in the smaller Palace of the Sun.\n\nIt will be observed that Izanagi was not immortal, and that he did not\ngo to Yomi when he died.\n\n=Susa no wo=.--The mythical narrative now turns to the doings of the\nSun-Goddess and her brother Susa no wo (the rainstorm personified).\n\nSusa no wo, before proceeding to take up his charge as Ruler of\nthe Nether Region, ascended to Heaven to take leave of his elder\nsister, the Sun-Goddess. By reason of the fierceness of his divine\nnature there was a commotion in the sea, and the hills and mountains\ngroaned aloud as he passed upwards. The Sun-Goddess, in alarm,\narrayed herself in manly garb, and confronted her brother[72] wearing\nher royal necklace of jewels, and armed with sword and bow and\narrows. The pair stood face to face on opposite sides of the River\nof Heaven.[73] Susa no wo then assured his sister of the purity of\nhis intentions, and proposed to her that they should each produce\nchildren by biting off and crunching parts of the jewels and swords\nwhich they wore and blowing away the fragments.[74] Eight children\nborn in this way were worshipped in after times as the _Hach\u00f4ji_,\nor eight princely children. They figure largely in the Sh\u00f4jiroku\ngenealogies of Japanese noble families. Through one of them, named\nMasa-ya-a-katsu-kachi-haya-hi-ama-no-oshi-ho-mi-mi, the Mikados trace\ntheir descent from the Sun-Goddess. _A-Katsu_ means I conquer. The\nallusion is to Susa no wo's having triumphantly proved the purity of\nhis intentions by producing male children.[75]\n\nSusa no wo's subsequent proceedings were very rude and unseemly. He\nbroke down the divisions between the rice-fields belonging to his\nsister, sowed them over again, let loose in them the piebald colt of\nHeaven, and committed nuisances in the hall where she was celebrating\nthe solemn festival of first-fruits. The climax to his misdeeds was\nto flay a piebald colt of Heaven with a backward flaying and to fling\nit into the sacred weaving-hall where the Sun-Goddess was engaged in\nweaving the garments of the deities. She was so deeply indignant at\nthis last insult that she entered the Rock-cave of Heaven and left the\nworld to darkness.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe piebald colt of Heaven may be compared to Prisni, the speckled\ncow of Indian myth, which is explained as a personification of the\nvariegated appearance of the starry heavens.\n\nThe retirement of the Sun-Goddess to the Rock-cave of Heaven produced\ngreat consternation among the heavenly deities. They met on the dry\nbed of the River of Heaven and took counsel how they should entice\nher from her seclusion. By the advice of Omohi-kane no Mikoto (the\nThought-combiner or Counsellor deity) the long-singing birds of the\nEternal Land (cocks)[76] were made to utter their prolonged cry before\nthe door of the cave. Ame no Koyane no Mikoto, ancestor of the Nakatomi\nand Futodama no Mikoto, ancestor of the Imbe, dug up by the roots a\nfive-hundred branched true _Sakaki_ tree of Heaven and hung on its\nhigher branches strings of jewels, on its middle branches a mirror, and\non its lower branches pieces of cloth. Then they recited their liturgy\nin her honour. Moreover, Ame no Uzume (the Dread Female of Heaven)\narrayed herself in a fantastic manner, kindled a fire and standing on\na tub which resounded when she stamped upon it, performed a (not very\ndecent) mimic dance and gave forth an inspired utterance. The Plain\nof High Heaven shook, and the eight hundred myriad deities laughed\ntogether. The Sun-Goddess wondered how Ame no Uzume and the other gods\ncould be so jolly while the world was wrapped in complete darkness,\nand peeped out from the half-opened door of the cave. She was at once\nseized by Ta-jikara no wo (Hand-strength-male) and prevented by main\nforce from re-entering, to the great joy of all the deities.\n\nSusa no wo was then tried by a council of Gods, who mulcted him in a\nfine of a thousand tables of purification offerings. They also pulled\nout the nails of his fingers and toes, and banished him to the land of\nYomi. Finally Ame no Koyane, the ancestor of the Nakatomi, recited his\nOho-harahi or \"Great purification\" liturgy.\n\nThe above episode is the kernel of the mythical lore of Japan.\nBelonging to the class of light and darkness myths, it professes to\ngive the origin of some of the principal ceremonies of the Shinto\nreligion as they were practised at the Mikado's Court at the time\nwhen they became current. In addition to the Nakatomi and Imbe,\nsome versions of the story show the Sun-Goddess surrounded by other\nofficials, such as jewel-makers, mirror-makers, &c., obviously borrowed\nfrom the actual functionaries of the Court, and introduced with an eye\nto genealogical requirements. By a curious coincidence, the Smith-God\nattached to her train, like the Cyclops of Greek myth, has but one eye.\n\nAme no Uzume, the Dread Female of Heaven, who danced and gave forth\nan inspired utterance before the Rock-cave where the Sun Goddess was\nhidden, is the supposed ancestor of the Sarume (monkey-women) or\nfemale mimes attached to the Mikado's Court, whose performances were\nthe origin of the pantomimic religious dances still kept up in Japan\nand known as _Kagura_, while her divinely inspired utterance is the\nprototype of the revelations of the Miko, or Shinto priestesses. One\nversion of the story gives us the actual words used by Uzume on this\noccasion--namely, _Hi_, _fu_, _mi_, _yo_, _itsu_, _mu_, _nana_, _ya_,\n_kokono_, _towo_. A Japanese baby knows that these are simply the\nnumerals from one to ten. But they have given much trouble to later\nShintoists, who have endeavoured to read into them a deep mythical\nsignification.\n\nThe fire kindled by her is the prototype of the _nihabi_, or \"courtyard\nfire,\" of Shinto ceremonial. It is plainly one of those numerous\nimitative magic devices for making sunshine, of which Mr. Frazer has\ngiven several examples.[77]\n\nModern Shinto explains the darkness produced by the Sun-Goddess's\nretirement as emblematic of the darkness of sin. The renewal of light\ntypifies repentance. Of course, this was far from the thoughts of the\noriginal myth-makers.\n\nSusa no wo did not at once proceed to the land of Yomi. He went and\nbegged food of the Food-Goddess, who produced dainty things of all\nkinds from various parts of her body, and offered them to him. But Susa\nno wo took offence at her proceedings, which he considered filthy, and\nat once slew her. Whereupon there were produced in her head silkworms,\nin her eyes rice, in her ears millet, in her nose small beans, in her\ngenitals barley, and in her fundament large beans. These Musubi, the\nGod of Growth, took and caused to be used as seeds.\n\nThe above is the _Kojiki_ version of the story. The _Nihongi_ makes\nthe Moon-God the culprit, and gives it as the reason of his alienation\nfrom the Sun-Goddess, who had sent him to visit the Food-Goddess. This\nis not the only attempt of myth-makers to account for the aloofness\nmaintained by these two deities. The same variant of this episode makes\nthe Sun-Goddess the recipient of the various seeds produced in the body\nof the Food-Goddess:--\n\n_\"She was rejoiced, and said, 'These are the things which the race of\nvisible men will eat and live.' So she made the millet, the panic, the\nwheat and the beans the seed for the dry fields, and the rice she made\nthe seed for the water-fields. Therefore she appointed a Mura-gimi\n(village-lord) of Heaven, and forthwith sowed for the first time the\nrice-seed in the narrow fields and in the long fields of Heaven.\"_\n\nProbably in the slaying of the Food-Goddess we have an echo of some\nof those practices so fully examined by Mr. Frazer, in which the\nCorn-maiden, or other representative of the corn, is slain--a tragedy\nof perennial interest to mankind. Witness the rape of Persephone and\nthe death of John Barleycorn. Susa no wo then visited Corea, but not\nfinding that country to his liking, returned to Japan, and went to the\nprovince of Idzumo.\n\n_\"Here he observed a chopstick floating down the river Hi, so thinking\nthat there must be people living further up the stream, he went in\nquest of them, and found an old man and an old woman weeping, with a\nyoung maiden set between them. He asked of them, 'Who are ye?' The\nold man replied, 'Thy servant is a deity of earth, and his name is\nAshinadzuchi, son of the great God of the Mountain. My wife's name\nis Tenadzuchi, and my daughter is called Kushinada hime.' He further\ninquired, 'Why weep ye?' He answered, saying, 'I have had eight\nchildren, girls; but the eight-forked serpent of Koshi came year after\nyear and devoured them. It is now the time of its coming, and therefore\ndo we weep.' 'Describe to me this serpent,' said Susa no wo. 'Its eyes\nare as red as the winter cherry. It has one body with eight heads and\neight tails. Moreover, its body is overgrown with moss, pines and\ncedars. Its length extends over eight valleys and eight hills. Its\nbelly is always all bloody and inflamed to look upon.' Then Susa no\nwo said to the old man, 'If this be thy daughter, wilt thou give her\nunto me?' 'With reverence be it said,' replied the old man, 'I know not\nthy honourable name.' 'I am the elder brother of the Sun-Goddess, and\nhave now come down from heaven,' replied Susa no wo. Then the deities\nAshinadzuchi and Tenadzuchi said, 'In that case, with reverence we\noffer her to thee.' Susa no wo straightway took that young maiden and\nchanged her into a many-toothed comb, which he stuck into his hair,\nand said to the deities Ashinadzuchi and Tenadzuchi, 'Do ye brew some\nsak\u00e9 of eight-fold strength. Also make a fence round about, and in\nthat fence let there be eight doors, at each door let there be eight\nstands, on each stand let there be a sak\u00e9-tub, and let each sak\u00e9-tub\nbe filled with the sak\u00e9 of eight-fold strength. Then wait.' So having\nprepared everything in accordance with his august bidding, they\nwaited. Then the eight-forked serpent came, indeed, as had been said,\nand bending down one head into each of the tubs, lapped up the sak\u00e9.\nHereupon it became drunken, and all the heads lay down to sleep, when\nstraightway Susa no wo drew his ten-span sword from his girdle and slew\nthe serpent, so that the river had its current changed to blood. Now,\nwhen he cut the middle part of the tail the edge of his august sword\nwas broken. Wondering at this, he pierced it and split it open, when he\nfound that within there was a great sharp sword. He took this sword,\nand thinking it a wonderful thing, reported his discovery to the Sun\nGoddess. This is the great sword Kusanagi (Herb-queller).\"_\n\nOn the occasion of his marriage to Kushinada hime, Susa no wo composed\nthe following verses:--\n\n _Many clouds arise,_\n _On all sides a manifold fence:_\n _To receive within it the spouses,_\n _They form a manifold fence,_\n _Ah! that manifold fence!_\n\nEventually he entered the Nether Land.\n\nFew of my readers will require to have pointed out to them the striking\nresemblance of this story to that of Perseus and Andromeda, or will\nneed to be referred to Mr. Sidney Hartland's 'Legend of Perseus,'\nin which everything relating to its numerous variants has been so\nthoroughly examined. I would direct special attention to chapter\nxviii. of this work, where the hypothesis is offered, \"that we have\nin this incident a reminiscence of the abolition of human sacrifices\nto deities in the shape of the lower animals.... In certain stages of\ncivilization, sacrifices of the kind are practised, and are frequently\noffered to water-spirits conceived in animal form.... It may, of\ncourse, be that the monster sent to devour Andromeda is to be regarded\nsimply as the personification of water, or of specific rivers in their\nsinister aspect.\"[78]\n\nThe circumstance that the scene of this episode in Susa no wo's career\nis the bank of a river is therefore by no means immaterial. Indeed,\nwe may plausibly conjecture that the description of the serpent with\nits eight (or many) heads and eight tails, its length extending over\neight valleys and eight hills, its body overgrown with moss, pines,\nand cedars, and its propensity for devouring human beings is nothing\nmore than a fanciful representation of the river, with its serpentine\ncourse, its numerous tributaries and branches, its wooded banks, and\nthe danger by drowning in its pools or at its fords.\n\nThe poem ascribed to Susa no wo cannot be older than the sixth or\nseventh century. The word translated \"on all sides,\" is _idzumo_. There\nis therefore a punning allusion to the province of that name. The\n\"manifold fence,\" is the \"nuptial hut,\" already referred to.[79]\n\n=Ohonamochi=.--Susa no wo had numerous children, among whom were\nOho-toshi (great harvest), and Uka no mitama[80] (food-spirit). The\nmost famous of his progeny was a God called Ohonamochi. This is the\nGreat Deity of Idzumo, a place second only to Ise for sanctity.\n\nOhonamochi's eighty brothers went to pay court to a female deity named\nYakami-hime, taking him with them as porter \"to carry the bag.\" On\narriving at Cape Keta, they found a naked hare lying on the ground.\nThe brothers maliciously advised the hare to bathe in the sea, and\nthen expose himself to the wind on the slope of a high mountain. The\nhare did so, with the result that when the sea-water dried, his skin\nsplit, and he was weeping with pain, when Ohonamochi came up in the\nrear of the party. He had pity on it, and taught it remedies which\ngave relief. The grateful hare promised that he should have the lady\nYakami-hime in marriage, and not his brothers. When their suit was\naccordingly rejected, they devised several plans for the destruction of\nOhonamochi, which were all unsuccessful. He was then advised to go to\nthe \"Netherdistant land,\" the abode of Susa no wo.\n\n\"_In accordance with this counsel, he went to the dwelling of Susa\nno wo. On arriving there he was met by his daughter Suseri-hime,\nwho married him, and then returning within told her father that a\nvery beautiful deity had arrived. The Great Deity came out, and\nlooking at him said, 'This is the deity called the Ugly-male-deity\nof the Reed-Plain. Thereupon he invited him in, and made him sleep\nin the snake-chamber. Now his wife Suseri-hime gave her husband a\nsnake-scarf, saying, 'When the snakes are about to bite thee, drive\nthem away by waving this scarf thrice.' He did as she had instructed\nhim, and the snakes were quieted, so that he came forth again after\na peaceful sleep. Again, on the night of the next day, he was put\ninto the centipede and wasp chamber; but as his wife again gave him a\ncentipede-and-wasp scarf, and instructed him as before, he came forth\nunharmed. Again Susa no wo shot a whizzing arrow into the middle of\na great moor, and bid him fetch it. When Ohonamochi went out to the\nmoor, Susa no wo set fire to it all round. Ohonamochi could find no way\nof escape until a rat appeared, and said, 'Within 'tis hollow-hollow,\nwithout 'tis narrow-narrow.' Hearing this, Ohonamochi stamped upon the\nplace, and fell in, and hid himself until the fire had burnt past.\nThen the rat came with the whizzing arrow in its mouth and presented\nit to him. The feathers of the arrow had all been gnawed by the rat's\nchildren. Hereupon his wife Suseri-hime came weeping and bringing the\nfuneral things. Her father, the Great Deity, thinking that Ohonamochi\nwas already dead, went out and stood on the moor. Ohonamochi brought\nhim the arrow and presented it to him. Susa no wo took him into the\nhouse, and calling him into a large chamber of many mats, bid him\ncatch the lice on his head. Ohonamochi looked at his head, and saw\nthat it was swarming with centipedes. Then his wife gave him berries\nof the muku tree and red earth. He chewed up the berries and took\nthe red earth into his mouth. Then he spat them out, and the Great\nDeity thought that he had chewed up and spat out the centipedes, and\nfeeling fond of him in his heart, fell asleep. Ohonamochi then took\nhold of the hair of the Great Deity and tied it to the rafters of the\nchamber. Blocking up the door with a five-hundred-pull rock, he took\nhis wife Suseri-hime on his back and made his escape, carrying with\nhim the Great Deity's live-sword, live bow and arrows, and speaking\nlute of Heaven. The speaking lute of Heaven brushed against a tree and\nthe earth resounded. The Great Deity was startled out of his sleep by\nthe sound and pulled down the chamber. But while he was unloosing his\nhair from the rafters Ohonamochi fled a long way off. The Great Deity\npursued him to the Even Pass of Yomi, and looking at him from afar,\ncalled to him and said, 'With the live sword and live bow and arrows\nwhich thou bearest, pursue thy half-brethren till they lie down on the\nlower slopes of the passes, pursue them till they are swept into the\nriver rapids. Be thou the deity Oho-kuni-nushi (great-land-master)\nand the deity Utsushi-kuni-dama (real-land-spirit). Make my daughter\nSuseri-hime thy consort, and basing thy stout palace-pillars on the\nbottom rock at the foot of Mount Uka, and exalting thy crossbeams to\nthe Plain of High Heaven, dwell there, thou rogue.' When Ohonamochi had\ndriven away and dispersed the eighty deities, he pursued them till they\nlay down on the lower slopes of every pass, and pursued them till they\nwere swept into the rapids of every river. Then did he begin to make\nthe land._\"\n\nHe was assisted in doing so by a dwarf deity called Sukuna-bikona,\nwho wore garments of bird skins and came over the sea in a tiny boat.\nThere is probably some echo of real history in the myths of Susa no\nwo, Ohonamochi, and Sukuna-bikona. Idzumo, the scene of their doings,\nwas one of the earliest centres of civilization and religion in\nJapan, and its position over against Korea is significant in view of\nthe legends which connect Susa no wo with that country. The incident\nof Sukuna-bikona's arrival by sea, clothed in bird skins, seems to\nindicate an acquaintance with some northern tribes, who, like the\nKurile islanders at this day, wore garments of this material.\n\nThis Ohonamochi myth belongs to a class of stories the main features\nof which have been thus outlined by Mr. A. Lang: \"A young man is\nbrought to the home of a hostile animal, a giant, cannibal, wizard, or\nmalevolent king. He is put by his unfriendly host to various severe\ntrials, in which it is hoped that he will perish. In each trial he is\nassisted by the daughter of his host. After achieving the adventures,\nhe elopes with the girl and is pursued by the father.\" Mr. Lang goes on\nto speak of the articles thrown down by the runaways in their flight.\nThis part of the story belongs in Japanese myth to the history of\nIzanagi and Izanami.[81]\n\n=Ninigi=.--The dynasty of Susa no wo was not recognized by the Gods\nof Heaven. They sent down several other deities to prepare the world\nfor the advent of Ninigi, a grandchild of the Sun-Goddess, as its\nruler. Some versions of the story make Taka-musubi the chief actor\nin these proceedings, in others the Sun-Goddess is more prominent.\nOne of the deities sent down for this purpose was Ame-waka-hiko\n(heaven-young-prince). The _Nihongi_ says:--\n\n\"_As soon as he arrived he took to wife Shita-teru-hime, the daughter\nof Utsushi-kuni-dama. Accordingly he remained, and said: 'I, too,\nwish to govern the Central Land of Reed-Plains.' He never reported\nthe result of his mission. At this time Taka-musubi, wondering why\nhe was so long in coming and making his report, sent the pheasant\nNa-naki to observe. The pheasant flew down and perched on the top of a\nmany-branched cassia-tree which grew before Ame-waka-hiko's gate. Now\nAma-no Sagu-me (heaven-spying-woman) saw this, and told Ame-waka-hiko,\nsaying: 'A strange bird has come and is perched on the top of the\ncassia-tree.' Then Ame-waka-hiko took the heavenly deer-bow and the\nheavenly feathered arrows which had been given him by Taka-mi-musubi no\nMikoto, and shot the pheasant, so that it died. The arrow having passed\nthrough the pheasant's breast, came before where Taka-mi-musubi no Kami\nwas sitting. Then Taka-mi-musubi no Kami, seeing this arrow, said:\n'This arrow I formerly gave to Ame-waka-hiko. It is stained with blood,\nit may be because he has been fighting with the Earthly Deities.'\nThereupon Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto took up the arrow and flung it back\ndown (to earth). This arrow, when it fell, hit Ame-waka-hiko on the\ntop of his breast. At this time Ame-waka-hiko was lying down after the\nfeast of first-fruits, and when hit by the arrow died immediately._\"\n\n\"_The sound of the weeping and mourning of Ame-waka-hiko's wife\nShita-teru-hime reached Heaven. At this time Ame no Kuni-dama, hearing\nthe voice of her crying, straightway knew that her son, Ame-waka-hiko,\nwas dead, and sent down a swift wind to bring the body up to Heaven.\nForthwith a mortuary house was made, in which it was temporarily\ndeposited. The river-geese were made head-hanging bearers and also\nbroom-bearers, the kingfisher was made the representative of the\ndeceased, the sparrows were made the pounding-women, and the wrens\nthe mourners. Altogether the assembled birds were entrusted with the\nmatter._\"\n\n\"_For eight days and eight nights they wept and sang dirges._\"\n\n=Futsunushi and Take-mika-tsuchi=.--Finally, the deities Futsunushi\nand Take-mika-tsuchi[82] were sent down to prepare Japan for Ninigi's\nreception.\n\n\"_The two deities descended and arrived at the Little Shore of Itasa\nin Idzumo, and asked Ohonamochi, saying: 'Wilt thou deliver up this\ncountry to the Heavenly Deity, or not?' He answered and said: 'I will\nnot allow it.' Thereupon Futsunushi returned upwards, and made his\nreport. Now Taka-mi-musubi sent the two Gods back again, and commanded\nOhonamochi, saying: 'Having now heard what thou hast said, I find\nthat there is profound reason in thy words. Therefore again I issue\nmy commands to thee more circumstantially, that is to say: Let the\npublic matters which thou hast charge of be conducted by my grandchild,\nand do thou rule divine affairs. Moreover, if thou wilt dwell in the\npalace of Ama no Hi-sumi, I will now build it for thee. I will take a\nthousand fathom rope of the (bark of the) paper mulberry, and tie it\nin 180 knots. As to the dimensions of the building of the palace, its\npillars shall be high and massy, and its planks broad and thick. I will\nalso cultivate thy rice-fields for thee, and, for thy provision when\nthou goest to take pleasure on the sea, I will make for thee a high\nbridge, a floating bridge, and also a Heavenly bird-boat. Moreover,\non the Tranquil River of Heaven I will make a flying bridge. I will\nalso make for thee white shields of 180 seams, and Ame no Ho-hi no\nMikoto shall be the president of the festivals in thy honour.' Hereupon\nOhonamochi answered and said: 'The instructions of the Heavenly Deity\nare so courteous that I may not presume to disobey his commands. Let\nthe August Grandchild direct the public affairs of which I have charge.\nI will retire and direct secret matters.' So he introduced Kunado no\nKami to the two Gods, saying: 'He will take my place and will yield\nrespectful obedience. I will withdraw and depart hence.' He forthwith\ninvested him with the pure Yasaka jewels, and then became concealed for\never. Therefore Futsunushi no Kami appointed Kunado no Kami as guide,\nand went on a circuit of pacification. Any who were rebellious to his\nauthority he put to death, while those who rendered obedience were\nrewarded. The chiefs of those who at this time rendered obedience were\nOho-mono-nushi and Koto-shiro-nushi._\"\n\nAnother version adds that--\n\n\"_He took the broad spear[83] which he had used as a staff when he\nwas pacifying the land, and gave it to the two Gods saying: 'By means\nof this spear I was at last successful. If the Heavenly Grandchild\nwill use this spear to rule the land, he will undoubtedly subdue it\nto tranquillity. I am now about to withdraw to the concealment of the\neighty road-windings.' Having said these words, he at length became\nconcealed.[84] Thereupon the two Gods put to death all the rebellious\nspirits and Deities._\"\n\nWhen Ninigi was about to descend to earth, the Sun-Goddess addressed\nhim, saying:\n\n\"_'This Reed-plain-1500-autumns-fair-ears Land is the region which my\ndescendants shall be lords of. Do thou, my August Grandchild, proceed\nthither and govern it. Go! and may prosperity attend thy dynasty, and\nmay it, like Heaven and Earth, endure for ever.' When he was about to\ndescend, one who had been sent in advance to clear the way, returned\nand said: 'There is one God who dwells at the eight-crossroads of\nHeaven, the length of whose nose is seven hands, and whose stature is\nmore than seven fathoms. Moreover, a light shines from his mouth and\nfrom his posteriors. His eye-balls are like an eight-hand mirror, and\nhave a ruddy glow like the physalis.' Thereupon he sent one of his\nattendant Deities to go and make inquiry. Now among all the eighty\nmyriads of Deities, there was not one who could confront him and make\ninquiry. Therefore he specially commanded Ame no Uzume, saying: 'Thou\nart superior to others in the power of thy looks. Thou hadst better go\nand question him.' So Ame no Uzume forthwith bared her breasts, and,\npushing down the band of her garment below her navel, confronted him\nwith a mocking laugh. Then the God of the crossways asked her saying:\n'Ame no Uzume! What meanest thou by this behaviour?' She answered\nand said: 'I make bold to ask who art thou, that dost thus remain in\nthe road by which the child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is to make his\nprogress?' The God of the crossways answered and said: 'I have heard\nthat the child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is now about to descend, and\ntherefore I have come respectfully to meet and attend upon him. My\nname is Saruta-hiko no Oho-kami.' Then Ame no Uzume again inquired of\nhim, saying: 'Wilt thou go before me, or shall I go before thee?' He\nanswered and said: 'I will go before and be his harbinger.' Ame no\nUzume returned and reported these circumstances. Thereupon the August\nGrandchild, leaving the heavenly rock-seat, and thrusting apart the\neight-piled clouds of Heaven, clove his way with an awful way-cleaving,\nand descended to earth._\"\n\nHe alighted on a mountain in the western island of Kiushiu. He was\nattended by the ancestors of the five _be_, or hereditary government\ncorporations, viz.: the Nakatomi, the Imbe, the Sarume, the\nmirror-makers _be_, and the jewellers _be_, to which some accounts add\nseveral others.\n\nNinigi took to wife Konohana-sakuyahime (the lady blooming like the\nflowers of the trees). Her father Oho-yamatsu mi (great-mountain\nperson) had offered him both his daughters, but the elder was\nrejected by Ninigi as being too ugly. Her name was Iha-naga-hime\n(rock-long-lady). The consequences of this choice were disastrous to\nhis descendants. Iha-naga-hime, in her shame and resentment, uttered a\ncurse and said: \"The race of visible men shall change swiftly like the\nflowers of the trees and shall decay and pass away.\" This is the reason\nwhy the life of man is so short.\n\nWhen the time came for the younger sister's delivery, she shut herself\nup in a doorless shed, which, on the birth of her three children,\nshe set fire to, with the object of clearing herself from certain\nsuspicions which her husband had entertained of her fidelity. \"If,\"\nsaid she, \"the children are really the offspring of the Heavenly\nGrandchild, the fire cannot harm them.\" The children and their mother\ncame forth unhurt, and were thereupon recognized by Ninigi as his true\noffspring and wife.\n\nThe \"doorless shed\" here mentioned, is a \"parturition house.\"[85] It\nwas the custom in ancient Japan for women, when the time drew near for\ntheir delivery, to retire to a shed specially constructed to receive\nthem, so that contamination to the dwelling-house might be avoided.\nThis was still the practice in the island of Hachij\u014d in 1878, and even\nin Japan no longer than a century ago.\n\nThe burning of the parturition house represents the ordeal by fire,\nwhich, with the ordeal by boiling water or mud, is well known in Japan.\n\n=Ho no Susori and Hohodemi=.--The story concerns itself no further with\nthe youngest of these three children. Of the others, the elder, named\nHo no Susori, became a fisherman, and the younger, Hohodemi, a hunter.\n\nHo no Susori once proposed to his brother to exchange their respective\ncallings. Hohodemi accordingly gave over to his elder brother his bow\nand arrows and received a fishhook in return. But neither of them\nprofited by the exchange, so Ho no Susori gave back to his brother the\nbow and arrows and demanded from him the fish-hook.\n\nHohodemi, however, had in the meantime lost it in the sea. He took\nhis sword and forged from it a number of new fish-hooks which he\npiled up in a winnowing tray and offered to his brother by way of\ncompensation. But the latter would have none but his own, and demanded\nit so vehemently of Hohodemi as to grieve him bitterly. Hohodemi went\ndown to the sea-shore and stood there lamenting, when there appeared to\nhim the Old Man of the Sea, by whose advice he descended into the sea\ndepths to the abode of the God of the Sea, a stately palace with lofty\ntowers and battlements. Before the gate there was a well, and over the\nwell grew a thick-branching cassia tree, into which Hohodemi climbed.\nThe Sea-God's daughter Toyo-tama-hime (rich jewel maiden) then came\nout from the palace to draw water. She saw Hohodemi's face reflected\nin the well, and returning within reported to her father that she had\nseen a beautiful youth in the tree which grew by the well. Hohodemi was\ncourteously received by the Sea-God, Toyo-tama-hiko (rich jewel prince)\nwho when he heard his errand, summoned before him all the fishes of\nthe sea and made inquiry of them for the lost fish hook, which was\neventually discovered in the mouth of the Tai. Toyo-tama-hiko delivered\nit to Hohodemi, telling him when he gave it back to his brother to say\n\"a hook of poverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of downfall,\" to spit twice\nand to hand it over with averted face.\n\nHohodemi married the Sea-God's daughter Toyo-tama-hime and remained\nwith her for three years. He then became home-sick and returned to\nthe upper world. On the beach where he came to land, he built for his\nwife, who was soon to follow, a parturition house which he thatched\nwith cormorant's feathers. The roofing was still unfinished when she\narrived, riding on a great tortoise. She went straight into the hut,\nbegging her husband not to look at her. But Hohodemi's curiosity was\ntoo strong for him. He peeped in, and behold! his wife had become\nchanged into a _wani_ (sea-monster or dragon), eight fathoms long.\nDeeply indignant at the disgrace put upon her, Toyo-tama-hime abandoned\nher new-born child to the care of her sister, and barring behind her\nthe sea-path in such a way that from that day to this all communication\nbetween the realms of land and sea has been cut off, returned hastily\nto her father's palace.\n\nThe child thus born was the father of Jimmu Tenno, the first human\nsovereign of Japan.\n\nHohodemi's troubles with his elder brother were renewed on his arrival\nhome. He was obliged to use against him two talismans given him by his\nfather-in-law. One of these had the virtue of making the tide flow and\nsubmerge Ho no Susori and thus compel him to sue for mercy (another\naccount says that Hohodemi whistled and thereby raised the wind and the\nsea). Then by a second talisman the tide was made to recede and Ho no\nSusori's life was spared. He yielded complete submission to his younger\nbrother, and promised that he and his descendants to all generations\nwould serve Hohodemi and his successors as mimes and bondservants. The\n_Nihongi_ adds that in that day it was still customary for the Hayato\n(or Imperial guards), who were descended from Ho no Susori, to perform\na mimic dance before the Mikados, the descendants and successors of\nHohodemi, in which the drowning struggles of their ancestor were\nrepresented.\n\nThe castle-gate and the tree before it, at the bottom of which is\na well which serves as a mirror, form a combination not unknown to\nEuropean folk-lore. We may also note the partiality evinced for the\nyounger of two brothers, the virtue of spitting and of set forms of\nspeech to bring good or ill luck, and of whistling to raise the wind.\n\nThere are several features in this story which betray a recent origin\nand foreign influences. A comparatively advanced civilization is\nindicated by the sword and fish-hooks forged of iron (the Homeric\nfish-hook was of horn). The institution of the Hayato as Imperial\nGuards belongs to a period not very long antecedent to the date of\nthe _Nihongi_ and _Kojiki_. The palace of the sea-depths and its\nDragon-king are of Chinese, and therefore of recent, origin. The\ncomparatively modern character of this important link in the genealogy\nwhich traces back the descent of the Mikados to the Sun-Goddess\nconfirms the view that the so-called ancestor-worship of the ancient\nJapanese is a later accretion upon what was in its origin a worship of\nthe powers of Nature.\n\n=Jimmu Tenn\u00f4=.--Though it is difficult to draw clearly a line which\nshall divide religious myth from legend with an historical kernel, we\nmay conveniently assume that in Japan the latter begins with the story\nof Jimmu, as it has in all probability a foundation in actual fact,\nnamely, the conquest of Central Japan by an invading army from the\nwestern island of Kiushiu some centuries before the Christian epoch.\n\nJimmu Tenn\u00f4 is said to have been the youngest of four brothers, who\nlived in the province of Hiuga.\n\nWhen he reached the age of forty-five, he addressed his elder\nbrothers and his children, saying: \"Of old, our Heavenly Deities,\nTaka-mi-musubi, and Oho-hiru-me, gave this land of fair rice-ears of\nthe fertile reed-plain to our Heavenly ancestor, Hiko-ho no ninigi. Now\nI have heard from the old sea-father that in the east there is a fair\nland encircled by blue mountains. Let us make our capital there.\" So\non the fifth day of the tenth month of the year corresponding to B.C.\n607[86] they sailed northwards, and passing through the Bungo Channel\narrived at Usa,[87] near the Strait of Shimonoseki.\n\nAt this time there appeared the ancestors of the local chieftains of\nUsa, named Usa-tsu-hiko and Usa-tsu-hime, who built a palace raised on\none pillar on the bank of the River Usa, and offered them a banquet.\nThen, by imperial command, Usa-tsu-hime was given in marriage to the\nEmperor's attendant minister Ama no tane, the remote ancestor of the\nNakatomi House.\n\nProceeding on their voyage eastwards through the inland sea, Jimmu and\nhis brothers arrived at the entrance of the river which falls into\nthe sea near \u00d4saka. Here they encountered a swift current, for which\nreason that place was called _Nami-haya_ (wave-swift) or _Nami-hana_\n(wave-flower) of which _Nani-ha_ (a later poetical name of \u00d4saka) was\nthought a corruption.[88]\n\nThe first encounter of Jimmu's forces with the inhabitants of this part\nof Japan was not to their advantage:--\n\n\"_The Emperor was vexed, and said: 'I am the descendant of the\nSun-Goddess, and if I proceed against the Sun to attack the enemy, I\nshall act contrary to the way of Heaven. Better to retreat and make a\nshow of weakness. Then sacrificing to the Gods of Heaven and Earth, and\nbringing on our backs the might of the Sun-Goddess, let us follow her\nrays and trample them down.'_\"\n\nSubsequently he proceeded southwards to Kumano, in the province of Ki\u00ef,\nwhere he embarked with his army in the \"Rock-boat of Heaven.\" In the\nmidst of the sea they suddenly met with a violent wind, and Jimmu's\nship was tossed about. Then Ina-ihi, one of Jimmu's elder brothers,\nexclaimed, \"Alas! my ancestors were Heavenly Deities and my mother was\na Goddess of the Sea. Why do they harass me by land, and why, moreover,\ndo they harass me by sea.\" So he drew his sword and plunged into the\nsea, where he became changed into the God Sabimochi.[89] Another\nbrother of the Emperor, Mike Irino, also indignant at this, said: \"My\nmother and my aunt are both Sea-Goddesses: why do they raise great\nbillows to overwhelm us?\" So treading upon the waves, he went to the\nEternal Land.\n\nAt this time the Gods belched up a poisonous vapour, which paralyzed\nthe energies of Jimmu's troops.\n\n\"_Then there was there a man by name Kumano no Takakuraji, who had\na dream, in which Ama-terasu no Ohokami spoke to Take-mika-tsuchi\nno Kami, saying: 'I still hear a sound of disturbance from the\nCentral Land of Reed-Plains. Do thou again go and chastise it.'\nTake-mika-tsuchi no Kami answered and said: 'Even if I go not, I can\nsend down my sword, with which I subdued the land, upon which the\ncountry will of its own accord become peaceful.' To this Ama-terasu no\nKami assented. Thereupon Take-mika-tsuchi no Kami addressed Takakuraji,\nsaying: 'My sword, which is called Futsu no Mitama, I will now place\nin thy storehouse. Do thou take it and present it to the Heavenly\nGrandchild.' Takakuraji said: 'Yes,' and thereupon awoke. The next\nmorning, as instructed in his dream, he opened the storehouse, and\non looking in there was indeed there a sword which had fallen down\n(from Heaven), and was standing point upwards on the plank floor of\nthe storehouse. So he took it and offered it to the Emperor. Then\nAma-terasu no Oho-kami instructed the Emperor in a dream of the night,\nsaying: 'I will now send thee the Yata-garasu,[90] make it thy guide\nthrough the land.' Upon which the Yata-garasu came flying down from the\nVoid, and served as a guide to the army._\"\n\nThe progress of the Imperial troops being again obstructed by the\nenemy, the Emperor prayed and then fell asleep. The Heavenly Deity\nappeared to him in a dream, and instructed him to take earth from\nwithin the shrine of the Heavenly Mount Kagu, and of it to make eighty\nheavenly platters. Moreover, he was to make sacred jars, and therewith\nsacrifice to the Gods of Heaven and Earth, pronouncing at the same\ntime a solemn imprecation. This had the desired effect of dispersing\nthe enemy. The Emperor proceeded to utter a vow, saying: \"I will now\nmake _ame_[91] in the eighty platters, using no water. If the _ame_\nforms, then shall I assuredly, without effort and without recourse to\narms, reduce the Empire to peace.\" The _ame_ became formed of itself.\n\nAgain he made a vow, saying:--\n\n\n\"'_I will now take the sacred jars and sink them in the River Nifu. If\nthe fishes, great or small, become every one drunken and are carried\ndown the stream like floating leaves, then shall I assuredly succeed in\nestablishing the land.' So he sank the jars in the river, with their\nmouths turned downward, and after a while the fish all came to the\nsurface, gaping and gasping as they floated down the stream._\"\n\nThe Emperor then commanded Michi no Omi, saying:\n\n\"'_We are now in person[92] about to celebrate a festival to\nTaka-mi-musubi. I appoint thee Ruler of the festival, and grant thee\nthe title of Idzu-hime.[93] The earthen jars which are set up shall\nbe called the Idzube, or sacred jars; the fire shall be called Idzu\nno Kagu-tsuchi, or sacred-fire-father; the water shall be called Idzu\nno Midzu-ha no me, or sacred-water-female; the food shall be called\nIdzu-uka no me, or sacred-food-female; the firewood shall be called\nIdzu no Yama-tsuchi, or sacred-mountain-father; and the grass shall be\ncalled Idzu no No-tsuchi, or sacred-moor-father._'\"\n\n\"_In Winter, the 10th month, on the 1st day,[94] the Emperor tasted\nthe food of the Idzube, and arraying his troops set forth upon his\nmarch._\"\n\nAmong those who made submission to Jimmu was Nigi-haya-hi, of whom it\nis told that he was a child of the Heavenly Deity, who had come down\nfrom Heaven riding in the \"Rock-boat of Heaven,\" and married the sister\nof a local chieftain named Naga-sune-hiko (Prince Long-shanks). His\nname and that of his son appear very frequently in the _Sh\u00f4jiroku_\ngenealogies.\n\nJimmu took to wife a daughter of the God Koto-shiro-nushi, or,\naccording to the _Kojiki_, Oho-mono-nushi, by a mortal woman, and\nhaving established his capital at Kashi-habara, in Yamato, B.C.\n660,[95] reigned there until his death, B.C. 585, at the age of 127.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[51] See 'Rig-veda,' x. 129, for a similar rationalistic dissertation\non the origin of the universe. Here and below the italics indicate\ntranslations.\n\n[52] In Chinese, _Yin_ and _Yang_. The _Yin_ is the dark, negative,\npassive, feminine, and terrene principle; the _Yang_ is light,\npositive, active, male, and celestial.\n\n[53] 'Philosophy of Religion,' i. 269.\n\n[54] \"Into human shape\" is another version.\n\n[55] I shall usually omit this purely honorific addition to the names\nof Japanese Gods and sovereigns.\n\n[56] Hirata says that \"the five generations of deities which in the\n_Kojiki_ precede Izanagi and Izanami are only names descriptive of the\nsuccessive stages of formation of these deities. Their functions are\nobscure, and they have no shrines or worship. They are unnecessary, as\nall that are required are two Gods for the creation of Heaven, two of\nYomi and two of Earth.\"\n\n[57] There is a close association in Hebrew between the ideas of\ncreation and begetting. _Bara_, create, and _jalad_, beget, are often\ninterchanged.\n\n[58] See Index.\n\n[59] See Index.\n\n[60] It was deprived of this character soon after by order of the\nMikado's Government, the only monument of the old cult left standing\nbeing Nantai (male form), a mountain which towers above Nikko to the\nheight of 8,500 feet.\n\n[61] 'Sociology,' ii. 177.\n\n[62] See Index, 'Circumambulation.' Also Simpson's 'Praying Wheel,' p.\n285, and Jevons's 'Introduction to Religion,' p. 210. The corresponding\nHighland ceremony, called Deasil, is described in Sir Walter Scott's\n'Fair Maid of Perth.' See also Brand's 'British Antiquities.'\n\n[63] I 324.\n\n[64] A strong suspicion of Chinese origin attaches to these elemental\ngods.\n\n[65] The significance of the _wo-bashira_, or end-tooth, is explained\nelsewhere. See Index.\n\n[66] See Index--'Peach.'\n\n[67] Deified as _Chi-gaheshi no Oho-kami_ (road-send-back-great-deity).\n\n[68] Muir's 'Sanskrit Texts,' v. 320.\n\n[69] See Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 408.\n\n[70] See Index.\n\n[71] See Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' ii. 435.\n\n[72] As Horus, in Egyptian myth, confronts the powers of darkness.\n\n[73] The Milky Way: a Chinese expression.\n\n[74] This is one of several miraculous births and pregnancies in\nJapanese myth. Mankind have a rooted propensity for imagining that\nit is possible to improve on the means ordained for this purpose by\nDivine Providence. See Mr. Hartland's 'Legend of Perseus' for numerous\nexamples.\n\n[75] The _Kiujiki_ makes Masa-ya, &c., the son of the Sun-Goddess by\nTakamusubi.\n\n[76] Represented at Ise by dancers called _tonako_ (bird-cry).\n\n[77] 'The Golden Bough,' second edition, i. 115.\n\n[78] See index--'River-deities.'\n\n[79] See above, p. 90.\n\n[80] Another authority makes Uka no mitama a daughter of Izanagi and\nIzanami.\n\n[81] See above, p. 93.\n\n[82] See Index--_Futsunushi_.\n\n[83] Like Odin, who lends his spear Gungmir to heroes to win victories\nwith.\n\n[84] _I.e._, died.\n\n[85] It was an Arab custom in certain places to build a hut outside the\ncamp, where the parturient woman had to stay for a time.--Welhausen.\n\n[86] There was no official recognition of the art of writing in Japan\nuntil A.D. 405, and no mention of calendars until A.D. 553. So much for\nthe authenticity of the above date.\n\n[87] Usa is not on the direct route from Hiuga to Yamato. It was no\ndoubt introduced because this place was anciently a famous centre of\nShinto worship.\n\n[88] This is a specimen of the numerous derivations of the Jimmu\nnarrative. The Idzumo Fudoki is also full of infantile etymologies,\nwhich have usually a scrap of legend attached to them.\n\n[89] Blade-holder.\n\n[90] _Yata-garasu_ means eight-hand-crow. The guidance of conquerors\nor colonists to their destination by a supernatural bird or beast is a\nfamiliar feature of old-world story.\n\n[91] _Ame_ is the name of a sweet substance made from millet, of the\nsame nature as our malt extract.\n\n[92] The Mikado deputed most of his priestly functions to the Nakatomi.\n\n[93] _Idzu-hime_ means dread or sacred princess. _Michi no Omi_\n(minister of the way) seems therefore to have been given a feminine\ntitle for the occasion, no doubt because the office was usually held by\nwomen.\n\n[94] It was at this season of the year that the harvest festival,\nor rather the festival of tasting the new rice, was celebrated. See\nIndex--_Nihiname_.\n\n[95] Japanese history is said to begin from this date. In reality\nnothing deserving the name existed for nearly one thousand years more.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE PANTHEON--NATURE DEITIES.\n\n\n1. GODS OF INDIVIDUALS AND GODS OF CLASSES.\n\n\nThe neglect of indications of number in the Japanese language often\nrenders it impossible to say whether a God belongs to an individual\nnatural object or phenomenon or to a class. I therefore take these two\nclasses of deities together, noting the distinction wherever it is\npossible or desirable.\n\n=The Sun-Goddess=.--The most eminent of the Shinto deities is the\nSun-Goddess. Nor is this surprising. If, as Scotus Erigena has\nwell said, \"every visible and invisible creature is a theophany or\nappearance of God,\" what more striking aspect of Him can there be to\nthe uncultured mind than the Sun? In a later stage of intellectual\ndevelopment men find a fuller revelation of Him in the moral order\nof the world, in the laws of human progress, and in the spiritual\nexperiences of saints and sages, culminating in a synthesis of all the\ndivine aspects of the universe in one harmonious whole. But, naturally\nenough, there is little of this in Shinto. The ancient Japanese\nrecognized the divinity of the universe in a very imperfect, piecemeal\nfashion, and almost exclusively in those physical aspects by which\nthey were more directly affected. Among these the light and warmth\nof the Sun and the sources of their daily food held the chief place.\nSun-worship is specially natural to the Japanese as an agricultural\npeople. Almost all the peasant's doings are in some way dependent on,\nor regulated by, the Sun.\n\nThe application of the term \"fetish\" to the Sun considered as an\nobject of adoration is to be deprecated. It implies a stigma which\nis altogether out of place. Socrates prayed to the Sun; \u00c6schylus's\nPrometheus appeals to him against the tyranny of Zeus; in Sophocles's'\n\u0152dipus Tyrannus' the Chorus swears by \"the Sun, chief of all the Gods\";\nPlato says that \"the soul of the Sun should be deemed a God by every\none who has the least particle of sense\"; Goethe admitted his claims to\nworship; Don Quixote swears by God and by the Sun in the same breath,\nand Tristram Shandy \"by the great God of Day.\" Milton, in the character\nof Satan, it is true, addresses the Sun in terms of awe and wonder,\nand Swinburne calls him \"the living and visible God.\" The name of the\nfirst day of the week still remains to show what an important place he\nheld in the religion of our forefathers. The association of the ideas\nof light, splendour, and brightness with divinity has its origin in a\nprim\u00e6val sun-worship. William the Conqueror swore \"by the splendour\nof God.\" _Divine_ contains the root _div_, brightness. Milton calls\nlight \"of the eternal co-eternal beam.\" No doubt so long as a nation is\nhesitating between sun-worship and a higher form of religion there is\na reason for treating the former with contempt and aversion. No form\nof faith is so odious--because of the danger of relapse--as that from\nwhich we have emerged with painful effort to something higher. But\nsuch intolerance is no longer needed. It is now unnecessary to punish\nwith death the worship of the sun, moon, and stars,[96] or even to\nstigmatize it as fetish-worship.\n\nThe meaning of the word fetish has become so blurred by indiscriminate\nuse that there is a temptation to discard it altogether. It is\nfrequently applied to all concrete objects of devotion, including not\nonly great nature-gods, like the earth and sun, but their symbols,\nimages, and seats of their real presence, which have no intrinsic\ndivinity of their own, and are only worshipped by reason of their\nassociation with genuine deities. The same objects, after their\nassociation with the God has been forgotten and they are blindly adored\nas if they were themselves Gods, form a third class of fetishes. The\nsword of the shrine of Atsuta is an example. Probably originally an\noffering and then a _shintai_, it is still worshipped, for no known\nreason except, perhaps, an empiric belief in the efficacy of prayers\naddressed to it. Implements of trade, honoured for the help which\nthey render to man, are a fourth class. To these we may add a fifth,\nconsisting of stones, sticks, feathers, &c., worshipped for their\nimaginary virtues or for no definite reason at all.\n\nThe indiscriminate application of the term fetish to objects of all\nthese five classes is highly inconvenient, especially when we come to\ndiscuss the question whether fetishism is a primitive form of religion.\nThe answer depends entirely on the kind of fetish which is intended. If\nthe word is used at all, it would be better to confine it to the last\nthree of these classes.\n\nThe Sun-Goddess is described as the Ruler of Heaven and as \"unrivalled\nin dignity.\" She wears royal insignia, is surrounded by ministers,\nof whom the Court of the Mikado is the obvious prototype, and is\nspoken of in terms appropriate to personages of sovereign rank. She is\nselected as the ancestor from whom the Mikados derive their descent and\nauthority. Yet she is hardly what we understand by a Supreme Being. Her\npower does not extend to the sea or to the Land of Yomi. Her charge as\nRuler even of Heaven was conferred on her by her parents, and did not\nby any means involve absolute control. When grossly insulted by her\nyounger brother, instead of inflicting on him condign punishment, she\nhid in a cave, from which she was partly enticed, partly dragged, by\nthe other deities. This is not the behaviour of a Supreme Being. The\npunishment of the culprit and other important celestial matters are\ndetermined, not by the fiat of the so-called Ruler of Heaven, but by\na Council of the Gods. The celestial constitution, like its earthly\ncounterpart, was far from being an absolute monarchy. The epithet\n_sumera_, translated \"sovran,\" and derived from a verb _sumeru_, which\nmeans \"to hold general rule,\" is applied not only to the Sun-Goddess\nbut to many other deities--the Wind-Gods, for example--and also to\nthe Mikados. The same is the case with _Mikoto_, which corresponds\nroughly to our \"majesty.\" Of course Japan is not the only country which\nattributes royalty to the Sun. Milton speaks of the Sun's \"sovran vital\nlamp.\"\n\nIn some parts of the Shinto mythical narrative it is the actual\nSun that the author has in view, as when he speaks of her radiance\nilluminating the universe, or of the world being left to darkness when\nshe entered the Rock-cave. Elsewhere she is an anthropomorphic being,\nwith no specially solar characteristics. She wears armour, celebrates\nthe feast of first-fruits, cultivates rice, &c. Inconsistencies of this\nkind are inherent in all nature myths, and trouble their authors not a\nwhit. Some of the modern theologians, however, are much perplexed by\nthem. Moto\u00f6ri concludes that \"this great deity actually is the Sun in\nHeaven, which even now illuminates the world before our eyes, a fact\nwhich is extremely clear from the divine writings.\" His pupil Hirata,\non the other hand, holds that the Sun-Goddess is not the Ruler of\nHeaven but the Ruler of the Sun, a distinction which never occurred\nto the myth-makers. Another modern writer attempts to smooth over\ndifficulties by the explanation that the Sun-Goddess is actually a\nfemale goddess, but, owing to the radiance which flows from her, seen\nfrom a distance she appears round.\n\nThe transparent character of the names by which the Sun-Goddess is\nknown is a formidable obstacle to the tendency to neglect her solar\nquality and to give prominence to the anthropomorphic side of her\ncharacter. Her most usual appellation is Ama terasu no Oho-kami, or\nthe Heaven-shining-great-deity. She is also called Ama-terasu hiru-me,\nor Heaven-shining sun-female--more briefly Hiru-me, Ama terasu mi\noya, or Heaven-shining august parent, and other variants. Of these\nnames European writers have generally adopted Ama-terasu, which, like\nPhoibos, is in reality a mere epithet, and is applied to other deities.\nHirume, or sun-female, is more expressive, and probably older.\n\nIn modern times the appellation Ama-terasu no Oho-kami is little used,\nits Chinese equivalent Tensh\u014ddaijin being substituted. Partly under\ncover of a name which is less clearly intelligible to the multitude,\nthe tendency has become accentuated to throw her solar functions into\nthe background and to conceive of her simply as a general Providence,\nat the expense of other deities. In other words, she has made a\ndistinct advance towards the position of a supreme monotheistic deity.\n\nEven in ancient times there was some recognition of the Sun-Goddess\nas a Providence that watches over human affairs, more especially the\nwelfare of the Mikado and his Government. She provided Jimmu with\nthe _yatagarasu_, or Sun-crow, as a guide to his army. The following\nprayer, addressed to her in 870 by envoys despatched to Ise with\nofferings, illustrates this conception of her character:--\n\n\"_By order of the Mikado we declare with deepest reverence in the\nspacious presence of (with awe be her name pronounced) the Sovran Great\nHeaven-shining Deity, whose praises are fulfilled in the Great Shrine,\nwhose pillars are broad-based on the nethermost rocks, and whose\ncross-beams rise aloft to the Plain of High Heaven on the bank of the\nRiver Isuzu in Uji, of Watarahi in Ise, as follows_:--\n\n\"_Since the past sixth month reports have been received from the\nDazaifu[97] that two pirate-ships of Shiraki[98] appeared at Aratsu,\nin the district of Naka, in the province of Chikuzen, and carried\noff as plunder the silk of a tribute-ship of the province of Buzen.\nMoreover, that there having been an omen of a crane which alighted on\nthe arsenal of the Government House, the diviners declared that it\npresaged war with a neighbouring country. Also that there had been\nearthquakes with storms and floods in the province of Hizen by which\nall the houses had been overturned and many of the inhabitants swept\naway. Even the old men affirmed that no such great calamity had ever\nbeen heard of before._\n\n_\"Meanwhile news was received from the province of Michinoku of an\nunusually disastrous earthquake, and from other provinces grave\ncalamities were reported._\n\n_\"The mutual enmity between those men of Shiraki and our Land of Yamato\nhas existed for long ages. Their present invasion of our territory,\nhowever, and their plunder of tribute, show that they have no fear\nof us. When we reflect on this, it seems possible that a germ of war\nmay spring from it. Our government has for a long time had no warlike\nexpeditions, the provision for defence has been wholly forgotten,\nand we cannot but look forward to war with dread and caution. But\nour Japan is known as the country of the Gods. If the Gods deign to\nhelp and protect it, what foe will dare to approach it? Much more so,\nseeing that the Great Deity in her capacity (with awe be it spoken)\nas ancestress of the Mikado bestows light and protection on the\nUnder-Heaven which he governs. How, therefore, shall she not deign to\nrestrain and ward off outrages by strangers from foreign lands as soon\nas she becomes aware of them?_\n\n_\"Under these circumstances, we (the names of the envoys follow)\npresent these great offerings by the hands of Komaye, Imbe no Sukune,\nVice-Minister of the Bureau of Imbe, who, hanging stout straps on weak\nshoulders, has purely prepared and brought them hither. Be pleased\ngraciously to hearken to this memorial. But if unfortunately such\nhostile acts as we have spoken of should be committed let the (with\nawe be it spoken) Great Deity, placing herself at the head of all the\ndeities of the land, stay and ward off, sweep away and expel the enemy\nbefore his first arrow is shot. Should his designs ripen so far that\nhis ships must come hither, let them not enter within our borders,\nbut send them back to drift and founder. Suffer not the solid reasons\nfor our country being feared as the Divine Country to be sodden and\ndestroyed. If, apart from these, there should be danger of rebellion\nor riot by savages, or of disturbance by brigands at home, or again of\ndrought, flood or storm, of pestilence or famine such as would cause\ngreat disaster to the State or deep sorrow to the people, deign to\nsweep away and destroy it utterly before it takes form. Be pleased to\nlet the Under-Heaven be free from alarms and all the country enjoy\npeace by thy help and protection. Grant thy gracious favour to the\nSovran Grandchild, guarding his august person by day and by night, firm\nand enduring as Heaven and Earth, as the Sun and the Moon._\n\n _\"Declared with deep reverence.\"_\n\nThe solar character of Ama-terasu or Tensh\u014ddaijin having become\nobscured, the people have personified the Sun afresh under the\nnames of Nichi-rin sama (sun-wheel-personage) and O tent\u014d sama\n(august-heaven-path-personage). To the lower class of Japanese at the\npresent day, and especially to women and children, O tent\u014d sama is the\nactual sun--sexless, mythless, and unencumbered by any formal cult,\nbut looked up to as a moral being who rewards the good, punishes the\nwicked, and enforces oaths made in his name. In his 'Religions of\nJapan,' Dr. Griffis says: \"To the common people the Sun is actually\na God, as none can doubt who sees them worshipping it morning and\nevening. The writer can never forget one of many similar scenes in\nTokio, when, late one afternoon, O tent\u014d sama, which had been hidden\nbehind clouds for a fortnight, shone out on the muddy streets. In\na moment, as with the promptness of a military drill, scores of\npeople rushed out of their houses, and with faces westward, kneeling,\nsquatting, began prayer and worship before the great luminary.\"\n\nI reproduce a drawing by a Japanese artist of a famous spot on the\ncoast of Ise to which pilgrims resort in order to worship the sun as\nhe rises over distant Fujiyama. The _tori-wi_, which in some prints of\nthis scene is seen in the foreground, fulfils the same function as the\ngreat trilithon at Stonehenge, viz., to mark the direction of worship.\nI have seen the eastern wall of a private courtyard which was pierced\nwith a round hole for the convenience of worshipping the morning sun.\n\nThere is a modern custom, called _himachi_ (sun-waiting), of keeping\nawake the whole night of the 5th day of the 10th month in order to\nworship the sun on his rising. The rules of religious purity must be\nobserved from the previous day. Many persons assemble at Takanaha,\nUheno, Atago, and other open places in Tokio to worship the rising Sun\non the first day of the year. This is called _hatsu no hi no de_ (the\nfirst sunrise).\n\nThe myths mention several other deities which, although not identical\nwith Ama-terasu or Hirume, are plainly of solar origin. Such is\nWaka-hirume (young-sun-female), who, according to Moto\u00f6ri, is the\nMorning Sun. The Ise shrine is sometimes called Asa-hi no Jinja,\nthat is to say, the shrine of the Morning Sun. One version of the\nnames of the three children of Ninigi calls them Ho no akari (fire or\nsun-light), Ho no susori (fire or sun-advance), and Ho no wori (fire or\nsun-subside), originally, it may be suspected, names for the rising,\nnoonday, and setting sun. Such a distinction is recognized in Egyptian\nmythology. The mythical founder of the dynasty which preceded Jimmu\nin Yamato was called Nigi-haya-hi--that is, gentle-swift-sun--and\nhe is said to have come flying down from Heaven. One myth gives him\nthe epithet _Ama-teru kuni-teru_ (Heaven-shining, earth-shining).\nI am disposed to regard this personage as the Sun-deity of the\nearlier Yamato Japanese, from whom their chieftains were feigned to\nbe descended. Even in _Sh\u014djiroku_ times many noble families traced\ntheir descent from him, as the Mikados did from Hirume. There are a\ngood many other names suggestive of solar deities. But here caution\nis necessary, in view of the habit, common to the Japanese with other\nnations, of borrowing solar epithets for the adornment of human beings.\nThere is a Take-hi (brave-sun) in the _Nihongi_ who is unquestionably\na mere mortal. And what could be more solar than Takama no hara hiro\nnu hime (high-heaven-plain-broad-moor-princess), the last word meaning\netymologically \"sun-female\"? Yet this is indubitably the name of an\nhistorical Empress who came to the throne A.D. 687. The Mikado K\u014dtoku's\nJapanese name was Ame-yorodzu-toyo-hi (heaven-myriad-abundant-sun).\n\nAlthough Shinto contains no formal system of ethics, moral elements\nare not wanting in the character of the Sun-Goddess as delineated in\nthe ancient myths. She exhibits the virtues of courage and forbearance\nin her dealings with her mischievous younger brother Susa no wo. She\nis wroth with the Moon-God when he slays the Goddess of Food, and\nbanishes him from her presence. Her loving care for mankind is shown\nby her preserving for their use the seeds of grain and other useful\nvegetables, and by setting them the example of cultivating rice. There\nis a recognition of her beneficent character in the joy of Gods and men\nwhen she emerged from the Rock-cave.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe circumstance that, according to one story, the Sun-Goddess\nwas produced from the left and the Moon-God from the right eye of\nIzanagi is suggestive of the influence of China, where the left takes\nprecedence of the right. Compare the Chinese myth of P'anku: \"P'anku\ncame into being in the great waste; his beginning is unknown. In dying\nhe gave birth to the material universe. His breath was transmuted into\nthe wind and clouds, his voice into thunder, his left eye into the\nsun, and his right eye into the moon.\" Hirata endeavours to combat\nthe obvious inference from this comparison by pointing out that the\nsun is masculine in China and feminine in Japan. How little weight is\ndue to this objection appears from the fact that two so nearly allied\nnations as the English and the Germans differ in the sex which they\nattribute to the sun, as do also closely related tribes of Australian\naborigines and Ainus of Yezo. And does not Shakespeare make the sun\nboth masculine and feminine in the same sentence, when he says, \"The\nblessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloured taffeta\"? There\nis, moreover, unsuspected by Hirata and his fellow-theologians, an\nunmistakeable vestige in the old myths of an obsolete or abortive\nmasculine Sun-deity. We are told that the first child of Izanagi and\nIzanami was Hiruko. Hiru-ko is written with Chinese characters, which\nmean \"leech-child\"; and it is stated that when this God had completed\nhis third year he was still unable to stand upright. He was therefore\nplaced in a reed-boat and sent adrift. But the original author of the\nHiru-ko was never guilty of such a palpable absurdity as to make a\nleech the first-born of creation, preceding even the Sun and the Moon.\nHiruko is in reality simply a masculine form of Hirume, the Sun-female,\njust as _hiko_, prince, is of _hime_, princess; _musuko_, boy, of\n_musume_, girl; and _otoko_, youth, of _otome_, maiden. Egypt had a\nSun-God Ra and a Sun-Goddess R\u00e2t.\n\nNo doubt with the greater development of the Sun-Goddess myth it was\nfelt that there was no room for a male Sun-God. The tag of story which\nis appended to the leech derivation is one of those perversions of\ntrue myth which arise from an ignorant misunderstanding or a wilful\nmisapplication of language.\n\nThe leech-child can hardly be reckoned among the effective deities of\nShinto. In modern times, however, he has, for some inscrutable reason,\nbeen identified with a widely worshipped deity of unknown origin called\nEbisu. This God has to all appearance nothing in common either with\nthe sun or the leech. He is a favourite subject of the artist, and is\nusually depicted with a smiling countenance (_emi_ or _ebi_ means to\nsmile), in ancient Japanese costume, and holding a fishing-rod while\na _tahi_ struggles at the end of his line. He is reckoned one of the\nseven Gods of good fortune, and is a favourite deity to pray to for\nsuccess in trade. Merchants hold a great feast in his honour on the\n20th day of the 10th month.\n\nThe ascription of the female sex to the most prominent among the Shinto\nGods is not owing merely to caprice. Myth-makers have often more\nsubstantial reasons for their fancies than might be supposed. In the\npresent case there is evidence that women played a very important part\nin the real world of ancient Japan as well as in that of imagination.\nWomen rulers were at this time a familiar phenomenon. Both Japanese\nand Chinese history give us glimpses of a female Mikado who lived\nabout A.D. 200, and whose commanding ability and strong character have\nnot been wholly obscured by the mists of legend. Women chieftains\nare frequently mentioned. Indeed the Chinese seem to have thought\nthat feminine government was the rule in Japan, for their historians\nfrequently refer to it as the \"Queen-country.\" In more historical times\nseveral of the Mikados were women. In some families descent was traced\nby the female line. From the _Kojiki_ we learn that in Suinin's time it\nwas the custom for the mother to give children their names.\n\nOne might think that so obviously solar a Goddess as the\nHeaven-shining-great-deity, or Sun-female, whose abode is the \"Plain\nof High Heaven,\" who fills the universe with her radiance and leaves\nit to darkness when she conceals herself, and who is even spoken of\nin so many words as the \"Deity of the Sun,\" would have escaped the\ntemerarious touch of the Euhemerist. Yet I have before me a 'History of\nthe Empire of Japan,' compiled by doctors of the Imperial University,\nand published in 1893 by order of the Japanese Government, which speaks\nof the principles of rice-culture and the arts of weaving, mining,\nand of making swords, hats, and pantaloons being known in the reign\nof Ama-terasu. Other writers are even more precise. Much to Moto\u00f6ri's\nindignation, they say bluntly that she was a mortal empress who reigned\nin a locality on earth called Takama no hara (the Plain of High Heaven).\n\n=Yatakagami=.--The _shintai_ of the Sun-Goddess is a mirror,[99]\nsometimes called the _yatakagami_, or eight-hand-mirror, probably\nbecause it had a number of leaves or projections round it. It is\nalso called the _hi-kagami_ (sun-mirror) or _hi-gata no kagami_\n(sun-form-mirror). It appears from the _Nihongi_ that similar mirrors\nwere honoured in Korea. Ama no hihoko is stated to have brought a\nsun-mirror from that country in B.C. 27.\n\nThe mythical notices of the _yatakagami_ represent it in various\naspects. It is mentioned in the _Kojiki_ among the offerings made\nto the Sun-Goddess to propitiate her after her retirement to the\nRock-cave of Heaven. In the same passage Uzume calls it \"a deity more\nillustrious than thine (the Sun-Goddess's) augustness.\" When the\nSun-Goddess and Musubi sent down Ninigi to rule the earth they gave him\nthe _yatakagami_, saying: \"Regard this mirror exactly as our _mitama_,\nand reverence it as if reverencing us.\" The _Nihongi_ adds: \"Let it be\nwith thee on thy couch and in thy hall, and let it be to thee a holy\nmirror.\" The _yatakagami_ is frequently spoken of as if it were the\nSun-Goddess herself, and is even called \"the Great God of Ise.\" Another\nsun-mirror received an independent worship at Kumano. The _Nihongi_\nsays, under the date B.C. 92:--\n\n\"_Before this the two Gods Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and Yamato no\nOho-kuni-dama were worshipped together within the Emperor's Great\nHall. He dreaded, however, the power of these Gods, and did not feel\nsecure in their dwelling together. Therefore he entrusted Ama-terasu\nno Oho-kami to Toyo-suki-iri-bime no Mikoto to be worshipped at the\nvillage of Kasanuhi, in Yamato._\"\n\nHere we must understand that it was the sun-mirror which was sent away\nfrom the palace. It was subsequently (B.C. 5) enshrined at Ise, where\nit is to this day preserved with the greatest care and reverence.[100]\nIt is about eight inches in diameter.\n\nIn ancient Peru, the Sun-God was represented by a golden disc, the\nMoon-Goddess by one of silver.\n\nWe find, however, that in _A.D._ 507 a sacred mirror was still\npreserved in the Imperial palace as one of the regalia. It was\ndestroyed by fire in the eleventh century, but its successor is\nto this day transmitted from sovereign to sovereign as a token of\nroyal authority. The religious ceremony in its honour is described\nbelow.[101] Associated with the mirror as regalia were a sword and a\njewel. These three objects are presented to the Mikado on his accession\nwith great ceremony. In ancient times there were probably only two\nregalia, the mirror and the sword. The latter was lost in the sea at\nthe battle of Danno\u00fcra. But such losses are not irreparable.\n\nThe Sun-Goddess in her capacity as sovereign is attended by a Court of\nminor deities who belong to the class of man-deities, and will be dealt\nwith in the next chapter.\n\n=Yatagarasu=.--Like the Greek Phoibos, who had his \u03ba\u03af\u03c1\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2,[102] the\nEgyptian Ra, who was accompanied by a hawk, and the Peruvian Sun-God,\nwho was attended by a condor, the Sun-Goddess is provided with a\nbird as her messenger and attendant. This bird is called in Japanese\n_ya-ta-garasu_, which means \"eight-hand-crow.\" It is not, however, a\nJapanese invention, but is borrowed from China, where it is called the\nSun-crow or Golden Crow, and described as a bird with three claws and\nof a red colour which roosts in the sun. It is mentioned in a Chinese\npoem written B.C. 314. Possibly it may be traced even further back. A\nthree-legged bird was figured on coins of Pamphylia and Lycia in very\nancient times. In Japan the _yatagarasu_, as a symbol of the Sun, was\ndepicted on the banners set up in front of the Imperial Palace on State\noccasions as a mark of sovereignty. This custom is known to go back to\nA.D. 700, and is probably much older.\n\nThe Euhemerists have tried their hand on the _yatagarasu_. Mr.\nTakahashi Gor\u00f4 informs us in his dictionary that this was the name\nof one of Jimmu Tenn\u00f4's generals, and Klaproth thinks it probable\nthat the \"corbeau \u00e0 huit pattes designe la boussole dont Zimmu s'est\nservi pour se guider dans son expedition.\" A Japanese noble family\nclaimed descent from it, and a shrine in its honour is mentioned in the\n_Yengishiki_.[103]\n\nThere is a God called Ame no hi-washi (heaven-sun-eagle), which,\nalthough not to be identified with the _yatagarasu_, is no doubt a\nproduct of the same tendency to associate birds with the Gods. Both are\ninhabitants of the same celestial region.\n\n=Susa no wo=.--The history of Susa no wo[104] illustrates the tendency\nof Nature-Gods to have their original character obscured by the\nanthropomorphic fancies of successive myth-makers. The _Kojiki_ and\n_Nihongi_ accounts of him are extremely vague and contradictory. Later\nJapanese, writers have identified him with the Moon-God, with an\nIndian Hades deity named Godzu Tenn\u00f4, and with Emma, the Rhadamanthus\nof the Buddhist Hell. He has also been made a God of Pestilence, of\nLove and Wedlock, or of War. European scholars have described him as a\n\"rotating-heavens God\" or as \"evidently a human being.\" Dr. Buckley,\nof Chicago, was the first to suggest[105] that he is the Rain-storm.\nWe need not adopt every detail of this scholar's explanations, and\nindeed no one theory can solve all the problems presented by the\nmutually inconsistent stories related of this deity, but there can be\nno hesitation in accepting Dr. Buckley's view as substantially correct.\nIt is as the Rain-storm that he is \"continually weeping, wailing, and\nfuming with rage\"; that he \"weeps the mountains bare and the seas and\nrivers dry\"; that he is a lover of destruction;[106] that \"by reason of\nthe fierceness of his divine nature he causes a commotion in the sea\nand makes the hills and mountains groan aloud\" when he ascends through\ncloud and mist to visit his elder sister the Sun-Goddess. Torrent\nGoddesses are born from the fragments of his sword. He breaks down the\ndivisions between the rice-fields and defiles his sister's dwelling,\ndisgusting her so that she hides in a cave and leaves the world to\ndarkness. He is further represented as going down to earth at the\nseason of continuous rains, and as wearing a broad hat and a rain-coat.\nWhen he marries, the nuptial hut to which he retires with his wife is\nbuilt of thick clouds. The sword which he takes from the serpent's tail\nis called _ama no mura-kumo_, that is to say, \"the gathering clouds of\nHeaven.\" Another appropriate name for the weapon of a rain-storm deity\nis _kusa-nagi_, \"the herb-queller.\" His wife's name, Inada-hime (the\nrice-field lady), is probably not without significance.\n\nBut mythology is rarely consistent. An explanation which suits one\nepisode of a story may fail altogether when applied to others. There is\nnothing of the rain-storm about the Susa no wo who rescues a Japanese\nAndromeda from the great serpent which comes to devour her, or in the\nprovider of timber and fruit-trees for mankind, or in the names and\nattributes of his very numerous children. His visit to Korea can hardly\nhave a rain-storm significance. Moreover, it is impossible to pass over\nthe explicit statement of the _Nihongi_ that he was appointed to rule\nthe land of Yomi. A _Kojiki_ myth[107] gives an account of his abode\nhere in which no trace of his rain-storm quality is perceptible.\n\nDr. Florenz summarily rejects Hirata's theory that Susa no wo is\nidentical with the Moon-God Tsuki-yomi. It must be admitted that if\nthis deity ever had a lunar quality it had become forgotten in the\ntimes of the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. Both these works distinguish him\nunmistakably from the Moon-God. Nor is the European student likely\nto adopt the literal-minded Hirata's notion that the land of Yomi at\nfirst situated at the bottom of the Earth, became detached after Susa\nno wo was made its ruler, and was placed in the sky where we now see\nit--as the moon. Yet there is something to be said for his contention\nthat the two deities were originally identical. The analogy of other\nmythologies[108] suggests that a God whose relations with the Sun are\nat one time marital and at another hostile must be the Moon. There\nis nothing strange in the darkness of night and of the grave being\npresided over by the same divinity. Persephone, Queen of Hades, was a\nMoon-Goddess. The original identity of Susa no wo and Tsukiyomi would\naccount for both deities being severally described in different myths\nas the slayer of the Food-Goddess and as the Ruler of the Sea-plain.\nIt would also explain why the diviners at Ise ascribed to a curse from\nTsukiyomi a storm of wind and rain which in 772 uprooted trees and\ndestroyed houses. In an old book quoted by Hirata, Susa no wo is called\nHaya-Sasura no Kami, \"swift-banishment-deity.\" His daughter while in\nYomi is called Suseri-hime, probably identical with the Sasura-hime of\nthe _norito_[109] who dwells in the Root-country, and whose business\nit is to \"banish\" and get rid of the pollutions of the people. A\nMany\u014dshiu poem calls the moon Sasurahe-otoko, that is to say, the\nbanished or vagabond youth. All this establishes a presumption that\nSusa no wo was at one time a lunar deity. If so he would appear in\nthree closely related aspects, the darkness of the storm, of the grave,\nand of night. Brinton, writing without any special reference to Japan,\nobserves[110]:--\"Associated with the gloom of night was the darkness of\nthe storm, which in many mythologies is contrasted with the sunshine in\nsome divine struggle. Endless are the tales and rites which bear upon\nthis contest in early religions.\"\n\nIf we remember the attributes of our own \"Prince of Darkness,\" we\nshall not be surprised to find traces of a tendency to make of\nSusa no wo a personification of the evil principle. He is the arch\noffender of Japanese myth. The crimes committed by him against the\nSun-Goddess agree closely with the so-called \"celestial offences\"\nof the Great Purification Ceremony. Hence his identification with\nthe horned Godzu Tenn\u00f4, a minister of the Buddhist hell. The _Shinto\nMiomoku_, which makes of him a Trinity under the name Samp\u00f4 Kw\u00f4jin\n(three-treasure-rough-god), consisting of Kami Susa no wo, Haya Susa\nno wo, and plain Susa no wo, by the epithet \"rough,\" recognizes the\nsinister aspect of his character. We may note the same element _ara_,\nrough, in the name of the Moon-god's shrine at Ise, namely, Aratama no\nMiya.\n\nSeveral of Susa no wo's acts have an unmistakably beneficent character,\nas his rescue of Inada hime, and his provision of useful trees for\nman. The modern worship of him as (with his wife) a deity of love and\nwedlock also recognizes a beneficent aspect of his nature. Hirata\nexplains this contradiction by the theory that he is beneficent when\nhis _nigi-tama_ (gentle spirit) is in the ascendant, and malignant when\nhis _ara-tama_ (rough-spirit) gets the upper hand, as in the leading\ncase of Jekyll and Hyde, reported by R. L. Stevenson. The female deity\nof Yomi, Sasura-hime, is called by Hirata a _waki-dama_ (side spirit,\nor double) of Susa no wo, forming with him a dual divinity, as in the\ncase of the Wind-Gods.\n\nEtymology helps us little in determining Susa no wo's character. The\nordinary derivation connects his name with the verb _susamu_, to be\nimpetuous. Hence the \"Impetuous Male\" of English translators. It\nagrees well with the rainstorm conception of this deity. There is at\nthe present day a festival celebrated in his honour at Onomachi in\nBingo, described as follows by a Japanese writer: \"The procession is\na tumultuous trial of speed and strength. Bands of strong men seize\nthe sacred cars, race with them to the sea, and having plunged in\nbreast-deep, their burden held aloft, dash back at full speed to\nthe shrine. There refreshments are served out, and then the race is\nresumed, the goal being the central flag among a number set up in a\nlarge plain. Their feet beat time to a wildly shouted chorus, and they\nsweep along wholly regardless of obstacles or collisions.\" The ceremony\nhere described is no doubt intended as a dramatic representation of\nthe impetuous character of the God. The _susamu_ etymology derives\nsome support from a comparison of that of Woden, from _vatha_ (the\nmodern German _wuthen_), to go violently, to rush, and of Hermes, from\n\u03b4\u03c1\u03bc\u03ac\u03c9; but it is after all questionable. It implies a noun _susa_,\nimpetuosity, which does not exist. Moreover, one of Susa no wo's wife's\nnames was Susa no yatsu mimi, where it is not disputed that Susa is the\nname of a town in Idzumo. There is a legend which represents Susa no\nwo as giving his name to this place and allowing his _mitama_ to rest\nhere. Susa no wo would therefore be simply the male (God) of Susa, a\nterritorial title (of Tsukiyomi?) for which there are many parallels in\nJapanese mythology.[111]\n\nThe _shintai_ of Susa no wo, or rather of his supposed modern\nrepresentative, Godzu Tenn\u00f4, is a _naginata_, or halbert. But there is\nsome reason to think that the great festival of Gori\u014dye, now held in\nhis honour at Kioto, was originally that of the Sahe no kami, and that\nthe _hoko_ or _naginata_ carried in procession on this occasion is a\nsubstitute for an older phallus.\n\n=Tsukl-yomi=.--This God, although worshipped in many places, Ise and\nKadono amongst others, is hardly one of the greater gods of Japan.\nThe usual derivation of his name is from _tsuki_, moon, and _yomi_,\ndarkness. It is to be observed, however, that this _yomi_ is often\nwritten with a character which implies a derivation from _yomu_,\nto reckon, a word which contains the same root as _yubi_, finger.\n\"Moon-reckoner\" is not an inappropriate name for a luminary which is\nrecognized in so many countries as a measurer of time. Tsuki-yomi was\nrepresented at Ise as a man riding on a horse, clad in purple and girt\nwith a golden sword. Another _shintai_ of his was a mirror. Live horses\nwere offered to him annually. The _Kiujiki_ mentions a Moon-God among\nthe suite of Ninigi when he descended to earth, and states that he\nwas the ancestor of the _agata-nushi_ (local chiefs) of Iki. This was\nprobably a local Moon-deity.\n\nThe phases of the Moon are not recognized in Japanese myth.\n\n_Tsuki-machi_ (moon-waiting). On the 17th or 23rd of the lunar month,\npeople assemble to greet the rising moon. Ritual purity must be\nobserved beforehand. This custom illustrates the tendency to revert to\nthe direct worship of nature when the myths have become obscured by\ntime and no longer fulfil their original purpose.\n\n=Star-God=.--There is only one mention of a Star-God in the _Nihongi_.\nHe is called Amatsu mika hoshi (dread star of Heaven), or Ame no Kagase\nwo (scarecrow male of Heaven), and was one of the malignant deities\nconquered by Futsunushi and Mika-tsuchi in preparation for Ninigi's\ndescent to earth. The scarecrow is regarded as a sort of deity. He is\nsaid to know everything in the empire, though he cannot walk.\n\nThe worship of Tanabata (Vega) and of the North Star is also known in\nJapan. But these cults have been introduced from China. They are not\nShinto.\n\n=Ame no minaka-nushi=.--The Sky is not deified in Japan as it is\nin China. _Ame_ is the region where the Gods dwell, not itself\na God. Possibly, however, we should regard Ame no mi-naka-nushi\n(heaven-august-centre-master), as a personification of the sky, which\nhas already reached that secondary phase in which the God has become\ndistinct from the natural phenomenon. Some have endeavoured to make of\nhim a sort of Supreme Being. But his cult is recent. Moto\u00f6ri says that\nhe was not worshipped in ancient times. In the _Sh\u014djiroku_ he is the\nancestor of several noble families.\n\n=Earth-Gods=.--Comte calls Earth a great fetish. There are the same\nobjections to calling the Earth a fetish as there are to applying\nthis epithet to the Sun. \u00c6schylus's All-Mother Earth, and Swinburne's\nHertha, ought not to be so stigmatized. The Earth is not a factitious\n(_feiti\u00e7o_, fetish) object of adoration, but a real divinity. It\nshould not be discarded or neglected, but, along with other primary\nobjects of worship, merged in the supreme synthesis of all the glimpses\nof the Divine which are vouchsafed to us.\n\nSeveral phases of earth worship are exemplified in Shinto. The\nsimplest of all is the _ji-matsuri_, or _ji-chin-sai_ (earth-festival\nor earth-calming-festival), which is the ceremony of propitiating\nthe site of a new building, or a piece of ground to be reclaimed for\ncultivation. Here it is the ground itself that is worshipped, without\ndistinction of sex, or the adjunct of myth, metaphor, or personal name.\nThis practice is as old as the _Yengishiki_, and is not extinct at\nthe present day. Many peasants make sacrifice to the _ta no kami_, or\nrice-field god, when preparing the ground for a crop, though here we\nperhaps pass into the next stage, in which the God is something apart\nfrom the rice-field itself. A similar phase of thought is implied\nby the use of such terms as _Iku-kuni_[112] (living country), and\n_Taru-kuni_ (perfect country), though here too the _norito_ of Praying\nfor Harvest, has already taken the further step of regarding this deity\nas a God who \"rules\" the islands of Japan. _Ikushima_ (living island or\nregion), is also used both for the country regarded as a God and for\nthe God of the country.\n\nWe have seen above that several of the provinces had two names, one\ngeographical, the other when considered as a God or Goddess, like our\nBritain and Britannia, Scotland and Caledonia.\n\nA still further stage of progress is illustrated by the terms\n_kuni-dama_ (country spirit), and _iku-dama_ (live spirit). _Kuni-dama_\nis a general term for deified localities. _Iku-dama_, which has the\nsame meaning, is a contraction for _iku kuni-dama_. Moto\u00f6ri says that\nany God who has done service by \"making\" a country or province is\nworshipped in that province as the Kuni-dama or Oho-kuni-dama. The\n_Ichi no miya_ (No. 1 shrines) of later times represent the old Gods of\nlocalities.\n\nThe Kunari no kami, or Kunari-hime, were also apparently local\nearth-deities. Kunari is for _kuni-nari_ (earth-become).\n\n=Ohonamochi=.--In the case of the great Earth-God of Japan, namely,\nOhonamochi, the direct worship and personification of the country have\nalready retired into the background. The myths speak of him not as the\nland itself, but as the maker of the land. His functions are variously\ndescribed as constructing, measuring out, consolidating, subduing, and\nordering or governing. The _Idzumo Fudoki_ frequently calls him the\n_ame no shita tsukurashishi Oho-kami_, that is to say, \"the great God\nwho made the Under-Heaven.\" The spear which he carries is indicative of\nwarlike prowess and political sway, while the mattock given to him by\none myth points rather to agricultural development. He is also, along\nwith Sukuna-bikona, the instructor of mankind in the arts of medicine\nand magic. The usual tendency to enlarge the sphere of nature deities\nby attributing to them providential powers is illustrated by a poem in\nthe _Many\u014dshiu_ in which he is appealed to for the protection of the\nship of an envoy who was about to proceed to China.\n\nHe could assume the form of a snake or of a human being.\n\nThe name Ohonamochi tells us nothing. It means great-name-possessor,\nand is simply honorific. An alternative title is Oho-kuni-nushi,\nor great land-master, Kuni-nushi being perhaps an honorary epithet\nequivalent to \"king.\" Another name of this deity, Oho-kuni-dama\n(great land spirit), is more significant. It shows that he was\nregarded as one of the Kuni-dama or earth-deities mentioned above. His\nEarth-God quality is also implied by the _alias_ Oho-toko-nushi, or\ngreat-place-master.\n\nThis God belongs mainly to the Idzumo group of myths. He is the son\nof Susa no wo, also an Idzumo God. The great centre of his worship\nto this day, and the holiest spot in Japan, next after Ise, is\nKidzuki, a town in that province. His shrine here[113] is known all\nover Japan as the _Taisha_, or Great Shrine, and was formerly of\nexceptional magnificence. There is a widespread belief that all the\nGods of Japan resort hither in the tenth month, which is therefore\ncalled _Kami-na-dzuki_, or the godless month. But Hirata's suggestion\nthat _Kami-na-dzuki_ is really for _Kami-name-dzuki_, the divine\ntasting-month, that is, the month of the harvest festival, is very\nplausible. Kaempfer transfers this annual visit of the Gods from Idzumo\nto the Mikado's palace, a blundering account of a myth which itself\nrests on a blunder.\n\nThe story of his deposition[114] by Take-mika-dzuchi and Futsunushi is\nprobably an echo of a real historical event, when the rulers of Idzumo\nwere compelled to yield up their temporal power to the conquerors of\nYamato, retaining however, their control of spiritual matters.\n\nMiwa, in Yamato, was another seat of this deity's worship. To be more\nexact, it was his _nigi-tama_, or gentle spirit, which was worshipped\nhere. He is also associated with the numerous shrines called Sann\u014d or\nHiye. The Sono no kami (garden deity), to whom there was a shrine in\nthe Palace, is also believed to be Ohomononushi, the _nigi-tama_ of\nOhonamochi. Along with Sukuna-bikona he is worshipped at Kanda, Tokio,\nas showing special favour to the inhabitants of that city (_Yedokko no\nmitama no kami_). These two deities are supposed to grant protection\nagainst small-pox.\n\nThe _Kojiki_ story of Ohonamochi's adventures in Yomi[115] has no\napparent connexion with his status as an Earth-God. Dr. Buckley argues\nthat the Ohonamochi of this narrative is a Moon-God, and that his\neighty brothers are the stars. I think it will be found to contain\nforeign and later elements, and that the introduction of Ohonamochi's\nname is merely accidental. The _Nihongi_ passes it over in silence.\nThe _shintai_ of Ohonamochi is a necklace of jewels. His _nigi-tama_,\nor gentle spirit, is represented by a mirror, the _shintai_ of the\n_ara-tama_, or rough spirit, being a spear.\n\n=Asuha=.--An obscure deity, called Asuha no kami, said to be the child\nof Oho-toshi, the Harvest-God, is referred to in one of the _norito_.\nMoto\u00f6ri fails to identify him or her. Hirata thinks that Asuha is for\n_ashiba_, that is, foot-place, and that it means the plot of ground\non which the dwelling stands. He mentions a practice by persons whose\nfriends were absent on pilgrimages of making a model of a house with a\nthatched roof to which they offered tea and rice every morning. They\ncould not tell him what God it was whom they wished to propitiate.\nHirata had no doubt that it was Asuha. He quotes an old poem which\nsays: \"Until he returns, I will pray to the God Asuha of the middle of\nthe courtyard.\" Sir E. Satow calls Asuha no kami the \"guardian deity\"\nof the courtyard. I do not deny that this conception existed. But\nwe must not lose sight of the earlier phase of thought in which the\ncourtyard is itself the deity.\n\n=Other Earth-Gods=.--Another obscure earth-deity is Haigi no kami, said\nto be the God of the space between the door of the house and the outer\ngate. The soil of the earth is deified under the names of Uhijini,\nSuhijini, and Hani-yasu-hime, personifications of mud, sand, and clay\nrespectively. The two former are just mentioned in myth. _Hani-yasu_\nmeans \"clay easy,\" the latter adjective indicating its plastic quality.\nClay was probably deified because it forms the material for the Kamado,\nor kitchen-furnace, and is therefore deserving of gratitude for its\nservice in restraining the unruly element fire. The water-gourd was\ndeified for the same reason.\n\n=Earthquake-Gods=.--The old myths say nothing about earthquakes, and\nalthough they are mentioned several times in the historical part of the\n_Nihongi_, in only one case[116] is a God of Earthquakes spoken of.\nIn A.D. 684 there was a great earthquake, and a new island was formed\nat Idzu. A drumming sound was heard, which was thought to be made by\nthe Gods in constructing it. The _Shoku-nihongi_, a continuation of\nthe _Nihongi_, states that in the reign of Sh\u014dmu (724-48), there were\nshrines to the God of Earthquakes in all the provinces. But any God\nmight cause an earthquake. There is a legend that the God of Kashima\n(Take-mika-dzuchi) sealed down the Earthquake-God--he has no particular\nname--by placing over him the _Kaname-ishi_, or pivot-stone, which is\nstill to be seen near his shrine.\n\nThe comparative insignificance of this deity in a country so\nnotoriously subject to these convulsions as Japan is an instructive\ncommentary on Buckle's well-known views of their importance in\npromoting superstition.\n\n=Mountain-Gods=.--Most mountains of importance have their deity, who\nsometimes belongs to the general pantheon and is at others a specific\nmountain deity. The Mountain-God sometimes assumes the form of a\nserpent.\n\nThough Japan has one hundred volcanoes, of which half are more or less\nactive, the feelings excited by volcanic phenomena have left little\ntrace in the religion. The _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and _Norito_ do not\nrecognize any worship of volcanoes. Perhaps the Aso-tsu-hiko and\nAso-tsu-hime of the _Nihongi_[117] are to be reckoned an exception.\nThese are no doubt personifications of Mount Aso, a remarkable volcano\nin the province of Higo, which is frequently referred to in later\nhistory. The drying up or overflowing of a lake within its crater was\nsupposed to portend famine, pestilence, drought, or the death of the\nsovereign. A ninth-century notice states that the Mikado informed the\nSun-Goddess that \"the miraculous pond in the district of Aso recently\ndried up for about four hundred feet, and in the province of Idzu there\nhas been an earthquake. After divination I learnt that a drought,\nplague, or war would ensue. In order that this land might be peacefully\nruled by the Sun-Goddess, I, having chosen a day of happy omen, send\nout the messengers (named) and present offerings.\" On another similar\noccasion, the God Hachiman was appealed to for help. The God (or Gods),\nhowever, of Aso itself was not wholly neglected. There were shrines to\nhim on the mountain, with hereditary guardians to attend to them, and\nwe hear of an offering of a horse. But volcano gods were in no high\nestimation. In 860 a Satsuma volcano received the junior branch of a\nlower division of the fourth rank, which is much as if Vesuvius were\nawarded the Italian equivalent for a D.S.O.\n\nA great eruption of a mountain in Deha in the ninth century was\nattributed to the wrath of Oho-mono-imi (the Food-Goddess), on account\nof a pollution of the mountain water by dead bodies.\n\nFuji no yama is worshipped under the name of Sengen or Asama. At the\npresent day nearly every volcano has its deity and a small shrine.\n\n=Mountain Class-Deities=.--The _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ mention a\nMountain-God or Gods,[118] called Yama tsu mi (mountain-body), as\namong the children of Izanagi and Izanami, or as born from the blood\nof Kagutsuchi when slain by his father. We hear little more of him or\nthem. The Mountain-God was worshipped before cutting trees for shrines\nor palaces.\n\n=Sea-Gods=.--The chief sea-deities of Shinto are the three Gods\nproduced by Izanagi[119] when he washed in the sea after his\nreturn from Yomi. They are named respectively Soko-tsu-wata-dzu-mi\n(bottom-sea-body), Naka-tsu-wata-dzu-mi (middle-sea-body) and\nUha-tsu-wata-dz-umi (upper-sea-body). Their chief shrine is at\nSumiyoshi, near Sakai, and they are prayed to for rescue from shipwreck\nand for fair winds.[120] These three Gods are frequently spoken of as\none. Hirata identifies them with Toyotama-hiko, whose legend is related\nabove.[121]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWith Toyotama-hiko there is associated a fabulous animal called a\n_wani_, usually written with the Chinese character for crocodile. There\ncan be little doubt that the _wani_ is really the Chinese dragon. It\nis frequently so represented in Japanese pictures. I have before me a\nprint which shows Toyotama-hiko and his daughter with dragons' heads\nappearing over their human ones. This shows that he was conceived of\nnot only as a Lord of Dragons, but as a dragon himself. His daughter,\nwho in one version of the story changes at the moment of child-bearing\ninto a _wani_ as her true form, in another is converted into a dragon.\nIn Japanese myth the serpent or dragon is almost always associated with\nwater in some of its forms.\n\nWe also hear of a Shiho-tsuchi, or brine-father, and of local harbour\ndeities.\n\n=River-Gods=.--The River Gods have no individual names. They are\ncalled generally _midzu-chi_, or water-father. Japanese dictionaries\ndescribe the _midzu-chi_ as an animal of the dragon species with four\nlegs. Hepburn, in his 'Japanese-English Dictionary,' calls it a large\nwater-snake. The difference is not material. The dragon-kings of\nChinese myth (of whom Toyotama-hiko is an echo) are in India the Naga\nRaja, or cobra-kings.\n\nThe conception of a stream as a snake, serpent, or dragon, or of one of\nthese animals as the embodiment of a water-deity is widespread. Dennys,\nin his 'Folk-Lore of China,' quotes from the _North China Herald_\nthe following: \"The River-God is in every case a small water-snake\nwhich popular fancy has converted into a deity.\" Robertson-Smith,\nin his 'Religion of the Semites,' says that \"the living power that\ninhabits sacred waters and gives them their miraculous or healing\nquality is very often held to be a serpent, a huge dragon, or water\nmonster.\" Reville tells us that \"Le serpent joue en effet un grand r\u00f4le\nsymbolique dans le culte de Tlaloc (the Mexican Rain and Water God) en\ntant qu'il represente l'eau qui coule, les nuages, les cours d'eau.\"\nIt is easy to understand how a river, with its sinuous course and its\nmysterious movement without legs, should come to be thought of as a\ngreat serpent, especially if we remember the aquatic habits of some of\nthe ophidia. Rivers have their favourable and their maleficent aspects.\nOn the one hand they furnish water for irrigation, and on the other\nthey cause destruction and loss of life by their floods, metaphorically\nexpressed by the serpent's poison. The River-Gods are prayed to for\nrain in time of drought. We hear oftener of their sinister aspect.\nThe Perseus and Andromeda incident related above is probably a trace\nof former human sacrifices to rivers, of which further evidence is\nafforded by the following extracts from the _Nihongi_:--\n\n_\"A.D. 379. This year, at a fork of the River Kahashima, in the central\ndivision of the Province of Kibi, there was a great water-dragon which\nharassed the people. Now when travellers were passing that place on\ntheir journey, they were sure to be affected by its poison, so that\nmany died. Hereupon Agatamori, the ancestor of the Omi of Kasa, a man\nof fierce temper and of great bodily strength, stood over the pool of\nthe river-fork and flung into the water three whole calabashes, saying:\n'Thou art continually belching up poison and therewithal plaguing\ntravellers. I will kill thee, thou water-dragon. If thou canst sink\nthese calabashes, then will I take myself away, but if thou canst not\nsink them, then will I cut thy body to pieces.' Now the water-dragon\nchanged itself into a deer and tried to draw down the calabashes,\nbut the calabashes would not sink. So with upraised sword he entered\nthe water and slew the water-dragon. He further sought out the\nwater-dragon's fellows. Now the tribe of all the water-dragons filled a\ncave in the bottom of the pool. He slew them every one, and the water\nof the river became changed to blood. Therefore that water was called\nthe pool of Agatamori.\"_\n\n_\"A.D. 323. In order to prevent the overflowing of the Northern river\nthe Mamuta embankment was constructed. At this time there were two\nparts of the construction which gave way and could not be stopped\nup. Then the Emperor had a dream, in which he was admonished by a\nGod, saying: 'There are a man of Musashi named Koha-kubi and a man of\nKahachi named Koromo no ko, the Muraji of Mamuta. Let these two men be\nsacrificed to the River-God, and thou wilt surely be enabled to close\nthe gaps.' So he sought for these two men, and having found them,\noffered them to the River-God. Hereupon Koha-kubi wept and lamented,\nand plunging into the water, died. So that embankment was completed.\nKoroma no ko, however, took two whole calabashes, and standing over\nthe water which could not be dammed, plunged the two calabashes into\nthe mid-stream and prayed, saying: 'O thou River-God, who hast sent\nthe curse [to remove which] I have now come hither as a sacrifice!\nIf thou dost persist in thy desire to have me, sink these calabashes\nand let them not rise to the surface. Then shall I know that thou art\na true God, and will enter the water of my own accord. But if thou\ncanst not sink the calabashes, I shall, of course, know that thou art\na false God, for whom why should I spend my life in vain?' Hereupon a\nwhirlwind arose suddenly which drew with it the calabashes and tried to\nsubmerge them in the water. But the calabashes, dancing on the waves,\nwould not sink, and floated far away over the wide waters. In this\nway that embankment was completed, although Koromo no ko did not die.\nAccordingly Koromo no ko's cleverness saved his life. Therefore the men\nof that time gave a name to these two places, calling them 'Koha-kubi's\nGap' and 'Koromo no ko's Gap.'\"_\n\nThese stories, like that of Perseus and Andromeda, and the Roman\nlegend that Hercules substituted images of straw for the living men\nhurled into the Tiber from the Sublician bridge, belong to a period\nwhen the belief in the efficacy of human sacrifice for propitiating\nriver-deities had been considerably shaken. The abolition of sacrifices\nof living men at the tombs of deceased Mikados is part of the same\nmovement in the direction of a greater regard for human life. The\ndecay of the cult of rivers is also to be inferred from a statement\nin the _Nihongi_ (A.D. 642) that prayers to the River-Gods for rain\nwere condemned by the Government as yielding no good result. Reading\nBuddhist Sutras was equally ineffectual, but prayers by the Mikado to\nthe four quarters of Heaven in Chinese fashion were more successful.\n\nThere is a superstition at the present day that the mouths and pools\nof rivers are haunted by monsters called _kappa_, which destroy human\nbeings and domestic animals.\n\n=Rain-Gods=.--Two special Rain-Gods are mentioned in the\n_Nihongi_, namely, Kura o Kami (valley-august-god) and Taka-o-Kami\n(height-august-god). Both are often called simply O Kami, and are\nconceived of as having dragon shape. But praying for rain was by no\nmeans confined to them. The _Yengishiki_ gives a list of eighty-five\nshrines to which messengers were despatched by the Court to pray\nfor rain. These included many river and water deities, such as the\nYamaguchi (mountain-mouth) and Mi-kumari (water-distributor) Gods;\nbut the Wind-God, the Rice-God, the Thunder-God, and many others were\nadded. Even deified men like Temmang\u016b; might be prayed to for rain.\nThe following is a modern method of causing rain. A procession is\nformed, a Shinto priest carrying _gohei_ at its head. Next to him\nfollows a conch-blower, and then some men carrying a dragon made of\nstraw, bamboo, &c. Two flags inscribed to the Dragon-kings come after.\nNext follows a drum, then the people in disorderly rout, shouting,\n\"The black clouds of the honourable peak: from the west the rain comes\npouring.\" The ceremony ends by the straw dragon being plunged into a\nwaterfall.\n\nWater from the sacred lake of Haruna is supposed to produce rain. It is\ncarried to the required place by relays of couriers, for if it stopped\non the way the rain would fall there instead.\n\n=Well-Gods=.--Sacred wells are known in Japan. They are called _mi-wi_\n(august well) or _mana-wi_ (true well). There is one at Kitsuki, in\nIdzumo, called the _ama no manawi_ (heaven-true-well), whence sacred\nwater is drawn. Wells or well-gods are widely worshipped, usually in\nassociation with such household deities as Ashiba no Kami (the site\ndeity) and Kamado no Kami (the furnace deity). We hear of an Iku-wi no\nKami (live-well-god) and a Fuku-wi no Kami (luck-well-god). Special\nwells were sunk for the water used in the _ohonihe_ ceremony, and\nworship paid to them.\n\nWell-diggers (_idohori_) at the present day sometimes purify the ground\npreviously to beginning their operations and set up _gohei_. In fine\nweather, at night, they apply their ears to the ground, when they can\nhear the water-veins below. Old wells should not be wholly closed, or\nblindness to one of the family will be the result. Hence to appease\nthe God of the well a bamboo is let down into it before filling it up.\nWells are worshipped at the New Year.\n\n=Water-Gods=.--The element of water generally is deified under the name\nof Midzuha no me (water-female). She is said to have been produced from\nthe urine of Izanami when dying, or, according to another account, from\nthe blood of Kagu-tsuchi when he was slain by Izanagi.[122] The Jimmu\nlegend says that the water used in sacrifice to Musubi was entitled\nIdzu no Midzuha no me, that is to say, \"sacred-water-female,\" thus\nidentifying the element with the deity to whom it belongs.\n\n=Wind-Gods=.--The _Nihongi_ speaks of one Wind-God named Shinatsu-hiko\n(wind-long-prince). He was produced from Izanagi's breath when he\npuffed away the mists which surrounded the newly formed country of\nJapan.[123] The conception of the wind as the breath of the Gods is\nalso found in the Vedas and elsewhere. In the latter part of the\n_Nihongi_ frequent mention is made of embassies to Tatsuta, in Yamato,\nto pray to the Wind-Gods for a good harvest. A _norito_ addressed to\nthem[124] makes two Wind-Gods--one masculine, named Shinatsu-hiko,\nand one feminine, called Shinatobe. They are also referred to as Ame\nno Mihashira (august-pillar[125] of Heaven) and Kuni no Mihashira\n(august-pillar of Earth). Hirata supposes that it was by them that\ncommunication was maintained between earth and sky in the Age of the\nGods, and that it is due to their agency that the prayers of men are\nheard in Heaven. Their _shintai_ is a mirror.\n\nAnother Wind-God is Hayachi, that is, the swift father, or perhaps\nswift wind. He is more especially the whirlwind. He acted as the\nmessenger of the Gods in bringing up to Heaven the body of Ame no\nwaka-hiko, who had died on earth.\n\n=Take-mika-dzuchi and Futsunushi=.--There is much confusion as to the\ncharacter and functions of these two deities. They are associated in\nmyth and in worship.[126] Their two oldest shrines at Kashima and\nKadori are close to one another, and they are worshipped together at\nKasuga and other places. Indeed Hirata argues that they are one and\nthe same deity. He points out that Futsunushi is not mentioned in the\n_Kojiki_ story of the pacification of Japan in preparation for the\nadvent of Ninigi, and that the same authority gives Toyo-futsu no Kami\nand Take-futsu no Kami as alternative names of Take-mika-dzuchi. On the\nother hand, the Jimmu legend calls Futsu no mitama,[127] apparently a\nvariant of Futsunushi, the sword of Take-mika-dzuchi, and ascribes a\ndifferent parentage to these two deities. There are other features in\nthe _Nihongi_ myths which are inconsistent with the theory that they\nare identical.\n\nTake-mika-dzuchi means \"brave-dread-father.\" His name is frequently\nwritten with Chinese characters which imply that he is identical with\nIka-dzuchi, or the Thunder-God. This is probably correct, although\nit is to be remembered that Ika-dzuchi had in more ancient times the\nmore general signification \"dread father,\" and is applied to other than\nthunder deities.\n\nIn Futsu-nushi the latter element admittedly means \"master.\" But I\ncannot accept Moto\u00f6ri's explanation of _futsu_ as an onomatopoetic word\nexpressing the sound made when a thing is cleanly cut or snapped off.\n\nThe following facts suggest a different derivation:--\n\n1. The Sun-mirror (_hi-kagami_, which may also mean \"fire-mirror\") is\ncalled in one writing[128] the Ma-futsu no kagami (true-fire-mirror).\n\n2. Ama no hihoko is said to have brought over with him from Korea a\n_hi-kagami_.\n\n3. _Futsu_ is the regular Japanese phonetic equivalent of the Korean\n_pul_, \"fire.\" In Furu-no mitama and Furu-musubi (for Ho-musubi)\nwe have an intermediate form between _futsu_ and _pul_. There is a\nGod called Saji-futsu or Satsu-futsu, for which the Korean phonetic\nequivalent would be _Sal-pul_. This would mean \"living fire\" (Cicero's\n\"ignis animal\"). I have no doubt that Saji-futsu is an _alias_ of\nFutsu-nushi.\n\n4. Futsunushi was produced from the blood of Kagu-tsuchi, the God of\nFire, when the latter was slain by Izanagi.\n\nThe inference from these data is that Futsunushi is a Fire-God of\nKorean origin.[129]\n\nBut while there is a strong probability that Take-mika-dzuchi and\nFutsunushi were originally Thunder and Fire deities, by a tendency\nwhich there is for nature-gods to become credited with providential\nfunctions, to the neglect or oblivion of their proper natural powers,\nthese two deities have in historical times been universally recognized\nas war-gods. The myth which represents them as subduing Ohonamochi and\nmakes Futsu no mitama a sword contains the germ of this view of their\ncharacter. A poet of the _Many\u014dshiu_ speaks of praying to the God\nof Kashima when about to start on a warlike expedition. Fencing and\nhorsemanship were under Futsunushi's special protection. The _shintai_\nof both Gods, to some worshippers the Gods themselves, were swords.\nThat of Take-mika-dzuchi was a sword, five feet long, which at the\nannual Kashima festival was drawn from its sheath and worshipped by the\npriests,[130] all the people present wearing swords and drawing them\nbefore the shrine. It is probably as a war-god that he was constituted\nthe Ujigami of the arrow-makers, and that offerings of horses were made\nto him. When savage tribes were subdued or foreign invaders repulsed\nthese Gods led the van and were followed by the other deities. They\nwere supposed to extend their special favour and protection to the\nMikado, who sent frequent embassies to their various shrines. They\nwere also prayed to for a calm passage for envoys to China, and for\nchildren. Predictions of the quality of the harvest were recently,\nand probably still are, hawked about by persons in the garb of Shinto\npriests, called Kashima no koto-fure, that is to say, \"notifications\nfrom Kashima.\" Believers in the ghost and grave theory of the origin\nof religion will be interested to learn that not far from Kashima\nthere is a large sepulchral mound called Kame-yama (pot-hill). On\nthe 8th day of the 1st month an Imperial envoy offers _gohei_ here\nand recites a _norito_. There are dances and music, and the mound is\nsolemnly circumambulated. Traditions exist of a great battle in this\nneighbourhood. Smaller sepulchral mounds are also met with here, as at\nall ancient centres of authority in Japan.\n\n=Ika-dzuchi=.--Take-mika-dzuchi having been converted into a war-deity\nand general Providence, the Thunder itself continued to be worshipped\nunder the name of Ika-dzuchi, \"dread father,\" which is short for Naru\nika-dzuchi, \"the sounding dread father.\" He is also called Naru kami,\nor \"the sounding God.\" _Kami-nari_ (god-sound) is the modern word for\nthunder. There are numerous shrines to this deity. By the Ika-dzuchi,\nwhich were generated from the putrefying corpse of Izanami, we must\nunderstand not thunders but personified diseases, the word being taken\nin its etymological signification. The _Kojiki_, however, in this\npassage does undoubtedly say \"thunders.\" The distinction into \"eight\nthunders\" is a fancy of the writer, little recognized in later ritual.\nThe _Nihongi_ ignores it.\n\nThe following story from the _Nihongi_ illustrates Japanese ideas\nrespecting the Thunder-God:--\n\n_\"A.D. 618. This year Kahabe no Omi was sent to the province of Aki\nwith orders to build ships. On arriving at the mountain, he sought\nfor ship timber. Having found good timber, he marked it and was about\nto cut it, when a man appeared, and said: 'This is a thunder-tree,\nand must not be cut.' Kahabe no Omi said: 'Shall even the Thunder-God\noppose the Imperial commands?' So having offered many mitegura, he sent\nworkmen to cut down the timber. Straightway a great rain fell, and it\nthundered and lightened. Hereupon Kahabe no Omi drew his sword, and\nsaid: 'O Thunder-God, harm not the workmen; it is my person that thou\nshouldst injure.' So he looked up and waited. But although the God\nthundered more than ten times, he could not harm Kahabe no Omi. Then\nhe changed himself into a small fish, which stuck between the branches\nof the tree. Kahabe no Omi forthwith took the fish and burnt it. So at\nlast the ships were built.\"_\n\n=Other Fire-Gods=.--Futsunushi's quality as a Fire-God had been\nquite forgotten even in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ times. But there\nare several other Fire-Gods, or perhaps we should rather say local\nor occasional variants of the same deity. Kagu-tsuchi, or \"radiant\nfather,\" is the name given to a Fire-God in the _Nihongi_, where he is\nsaid to have caused the death of his mother Izanami. _Kagu_ contains\nthe same root as _kagayaku_, to shine. It also occurs in _Kaguyama_, a\nsacred mountain in Yamato, from which the needful objects for sacrifice\nwere in early times provided. This God is worshipped under the name of\nHo-musubi or \"fire-growth\"[131] on the summit of Atago, a mountain near\nKi\u014dto. There are many hill-shrines to this deity near other cities in\nJapan. His business is to give protection against conflagrations.\n\nThe Jimmu legend speaks as if fire-worship arose from the deification\nof the sacrificial fire. But there must have been other reasons. The\ndomestic fire renders important services to mankind, and its relation\nto the sun is unmistakable. Indeed the Japanese call fire and sun\nby the same name, _hi_. Fire has also its terrible aspect, which is\nrecognized in myth and _norito_.[132]\n\nHirata identifies the God with the element. He is obviously a class,\nand not an individual God. There is a festival at the present day\ncalled the Hi-taki-matsuri (fire-kindle-festival), when bonfires are\nlit, and small offerings made to the flames.\n\n=Furnace Gods=.--Along with the Gods of Fire we may place the deities\nof the domestic cooking furnace, namely Kamado no Kami and Kudo no\nKami. They are barely mentioned in the _Kojiki_ and not at all in\nthe _Nihongi_. They have no myth, and although there is a _norito_\naddressed to them it contains nothing characteristic. This worship\nis nevertheless general, from the Mikado's palace to the home of\nthe peasant. Sometimes we find a single deity, sometimes a married\npair called Okitsu-hiko and Okitsu-hime, sometimes as many as eight\nco-existing furnace-gods are met with. The vulgar call him an\n_aragami_ (rough deity), and represent him with three heads, a notion\nwhich, according to Hirata, is taken from Indian myth. Usually the\ncooking furnace is the deity. The Japanese kitchen wench at the present\nday calls her cooking range Hettsui-sama, the termination _sama_\nimplying personification and respect. She thinks it unlucky to lay\ndown an edge-tool on it. But the God is also conceived of as detached\nfrom the furnace. Thus he is said to have taught the art of cooking to\nmankind. In that case the _kama_, or pot, is his _shintai_, or material\nrepresentative. There was a Kama-matsuri (pot festival) at Ki\u014dto before\nthe revolution. It was celebrated at the beginning of the year, when\nShinto priests read _harahi_. The pot was addressed in song and adjured\nto bring plenty of customers, usually by dyers and others in whose\nbusiness caldrons were used.\n\n=Ukemochi (the Food Goddess)=.--Cicero, in his treatise 'De Natura\nDeorum,' asks whether any one is mad enough to believe that the food we\neat is actually a God. The modern student of religion has no difficulty\nin answering this question in the affirmative. \"Eating the God\" is\na well-known institution, from the custom of the Ainus of Yezo, who\nworship a bear,[133] caught and caged for the purpose, and wind up the\nfestival in his honour by eating him, up to the most solemn rite of\nRoman Catholic Christianity. An Ainu prayer, quoted by Mr. Batchelor,\ncontains the following words: \"O thou God! O thou divine cereal, do\nthou nourish the people. I now partake of thee. I worship thee and give\nthee thanks.\" Gratitude in the first place to, and then for, our daily\nbread, is an important factor in the early growth of religion. Without\nit we should have had no Roman Ceres, no Mexican Maize-God Centliotl,\nand no Ukemochi. I do not find the direct worship of our daily food in\nShinto, though perhaps a trace of an older identification of the food\nwith the God is to be recognized in the myth which represents the\nFood-Goddess as producing from her mouth and other parts of her body\nviands for the entertainment of the Moon-God. Hirata is indignant at\nthe idea that there is anything metaphorical about this story.\n\nIt is usually the offerings of food which are deified. Jimmu is said\nto have directed that the food-offerings to Taka-musubi should be\ncalled Idzu-uka no me (sacred-food-female), which is another name for\nUke-mochi. In a work of the eighth century the Sun-Goddess is said to\nhave appeared to the Mikado Y\u016briaku in a dream. She complained to him\nof her loneliness at Ise, and directed that \"Aga mi ketsu no kami\"\nshould be sent for to Tamba in order to keep her company. This was\nthe legendary origin of the worship of the Food-Goddess in the outer\nshrine (Geku) of Ise. As Moto\u00f6ri points out, Aga mi ketsu no kami means\n\"the deity of the food offered to me.\" But in this last instance the\noffering and the deity of the offering are no longer identical.\n\nIt was usual for the participants in the ceremony to consume the food\noffered to the Gods. We are told that Jimmu \"tasted the food of the\nsacred jars.\" The Mikado at all times followed this rule, notably\nat the _Nihiname_, or harvest festival, when he partook of ordinary\nfood with, but after, the Gods. He does not \"eat the God,\" but only\nassociates himself with the deity as his table-companion--a very simple\nand intelligible form of communion. It is on the same principle that\nin modern times pilgrims to Ise buy from the priests and eat the rice\nwhich has been offered to the Gods.\n\nThere is some confusion in regard to Ukemochi. Her aliases are very\nnumerous, if, indeed, we ought not to reckon some of them as distinct\ndeities. No doubt food was deified over and over again in many places.\nThe etymology of most of her names is sufficiently transparent. They\ncontain the element _ke_ or _ka_, \"food.\" One of these, namely Uka no\nmitama, or the spirit of food, should be mentioned, as it embodies a\nmore advanced and spiritual conception of the nature of this deity.\n\nThe parentage of the Food-Goddess is variously given in different\nmyths. One story makes her the daughter of Izanagi and Izanami, and\nanother of Susa no wo. The latter is, perhaps, an expression of the\nidea that the rainstorm fits the rice-fields for producing grain.\n\nAfter the Sun-Goddess, Uke-mochi is, perhaps (especially if we identify\nher with Inari), the most universally popular deity in Japan. She was\none of the eight deities of the Jingikwan, and was worshipped at four\nof the twenty-two Greater Shrines, of which a list was made in 1039.\nThere is abundant evidence that her cult was not confined to the State\nceremonies. Hirata calls her an _ihe no kami_, or household deity.\n\nThe Sake (rice-beer) God is sometimes the same as the Food-Goddess, and\nat others Sukuna-bikona.\n\n=Inari=.--Notwithstanding the difference of sex, and to some extent of\nfunction, the Rice-God Inari is generally recognized by the Japanese\nas identical with Uke-mochi. Inari, it is explained, is only the name\nof the locality of her best-known shrine near Ki\u00f4to, first established\nin 711. It is not to be doubted that in Japan the name of the place of\nhis worship has frequently been converted into the name of the God. In\nthe present case, however, it may be suspected that the reverse process\nhas taken place. Might not Inari be _ine_, rice in a growing state, and\n_ri_, a termination implying personality?\n\nNaturally Inari is much prayed to for agricultural prosperity. But, as\nso often happens, the functions of this God have been enlarged so as\nto make him a sort of general Providence who watches over all human\nconcerns. In a recent Japanese novel he is supplicated by a wife to\nmake her husband faithful; by a mother to cause her son to divorce an\nobnoxious daughter-in-law; by a wrestler for victory in his contests;\nby a _geisha_ for a wealthy protector who will give her plenty of\nmoney and rich clothes, and, getting tired of her within a month, will\ndismiss her with a handsome present. He is also appealed to for the\nrestoration of stolen property, to avert pestilence, to cure colds,\nto give wealth and prosperity, and to unite friends. The Ki\u00f4to Inari\nis the special patron of swordsmiths and of _j\u014dr\u014ds_. Another Inari is\ncelebrated for his protection of children from small-pox and measles.\nPeople who desire his help in this way offer at his shrine a red clay\nmonkey, and take away with them one which has been deposited there by a\nprevious worshipper.\n\nThe _shintai_ of Inari is a stone, or a wooden ticket with his name\ninscribed on it. He is represented as an elderly man with a long beard\nriding upright on a white fox. The fox is always associated with this\ndeity. A pair of these animals carved in wood or stone may usually be\nseen in front of his shrines. According to the modern theologians,\nthe fox is properly his servant or messenger. But there is a more\nignorant current of opinion which takes the animal for the God himself.\nKlaproth finds in Japanese books that \"the people in Japan worship the\n_inari_ (fox) as a tutelar God: little temples are dedicated to him in\nmany houses, especially of the commoner folk. They ask his advice in\ndifficulties, and set rice or beans for him at night. They take him to\nbe a _kami_, _i.e._, the soul of a good man deceased.\" Be it observed\nthat _inari_ does not mean fox, and that a _kami_ is something quite\ndifferent from \"the soul of a good man deceased.\" It is just possible,\nhowever, that in this case the ignorant multitude are right, and that\nthe fox is a duplicate representative of the rice or rice-deity. Mr.\nFrazer, in his 'Golden Bough,' adduces many instances of the Corn-God\nbeing represented by animals. \"In Poitou, the spirit of the corn\nappears to be conceived in the shape of a fox.\"\n\nThe festival of Inari is held on the first \"horse\" day of the second\nmonth. The Sh\u014dguns celebrated it with great ceremony, of which dramatic\nperformances (_n\u014d_) were a part.\n\n=Harvest-Gods=.--The Harvest-Gods, of which there are several,\nas Oho-toshi no Kami (Great-Harvest-God), Mitoshi no Kami\n(August-Harvest-God), Waka-toshi no Kami (Young-Harvest-God), are not\nvery clearly distinguished from the food and grain deities. A myth\nrelating to one of these deities will be found below, p. 196.\n\nThe liturgy entitled 'Praying for Harvest' was addressed to all the\nchief deities.[134]\n\nThe worship of the Sun and of Grain, Harvest and Growth deities,\nwhich forms so important a part of Shinto, is characteristic of an\nagricultural nation. It is emphasized by the ancient custom of the\nMikado tilling land in person, and by the Miko at Kasuga planting rice\nannually with much ceremony.\n\n=Tree-Gods=.--Individual trees of great age and size are everywhere\nworshipped in Japan. An ancient example of this cult is mentioned\nabove, p. 158. At the present day the sacred trees are often to be seen\ngirt with _shimenaha_[135] and with tiny shrines at the bottom. The\nnovelist Bakin, writing in the early part of the nineteenth century,\ntells of one which he visited near Uraga. It was a common-looking fir\nwhich had been struck by lightning, no doubt, Bakin says, before the\nspirit took up its abode there. This tree healed diseases of all kinds\nand brought luck to fishermen. People with sore eyes carried away the\nwater which collected in a hollow part, and washed their eyes with it.\nIncense was burned to it.\n\nAt the shrine of Kamo in Ki\u00f4to there are two _sakaki_ (sacred\nevergreen) trees, which are joined together by a branch which has grown\nfrom one trunk into that of the other. These trees are much visited by\nwomen who desire to live in harmony with their husbands. A small red\n_tori-wi_ in front of them shows that they are considered sacred.[136]\nHere the emblem of unity has come to be regarded as having intrinsic\nvirtue.\n\nA Kami-gi (God-tree) was often planted in front of Shinto shrines. It\nwas sometimes set in a portable box, which could be carried about by\nthe devotees. A case is recorded in which this was done for the sake\nof protection to the bearers. The sacred tree of Japan is the _cleyera\njaponica_. It is an evergreen, as the name, derived from _sakayuru_, to\nflourish, indicates.\n\nThere is a modern custom in places where fruit trees are grown for two\nmen to go out into the orchard. One climbs up a tree while the other\nstands at the bottom with an axe. The latter asks whether it will have\na good crop the next season, and threatens to cut it down if it fails\nto do so. Hereupon the man above answers for the tree, promising that\nit will bear plentifully. In Hitachi at the time of the Sai (or Sahe)\nno Kami feast (the first full moon of the year) a gruel is made of\nrice coloured red[137] with _adzuki_ beans. This is sprinkled on the\nfruit trees of the neighbourhood. The man who does so wears the straw\ncovering of a rice-bag by way of hat, and takes with him an axe and the\ngruel vessel, saying to each tree, \"Will you bear--will you bear, of\nbags 1,000 bags, of sacks 1,000 sacks? Say that you will bear.\" \"I will\nbear, I will bear.\" Then he gives the tree three cuts with the axe, and\npours the gruel on it.\n\nSimilar customs are found all over the world. M. D'Alviella, in his\nHibbert Lectures, quotes as follows: \"Ibn al Awam's agricultural\ntreatise recommends the intimidation of trees that refuse to produce\nfruit. 'You are to flog them mildly and threaten to cut them down if\nthey go on bearing no fruit.'\" The Bohemian Slavs used to say to the\ngarden trees, \"Bud! ye trees, bud! or I will strip you of your bark.\"\nBrand's 'Popular Antiquities of Britain' records several variants of\nthis custom. \"On Christmas Eve,\" he says, \"the farmers and their men\nin Devonshire take a large bowl of cider, with a toast in it, and\ncarrying it in state to the orchard, they salute the apple-trees with\nmuch ceremony, in order to make them bear well the next season.\" This\nsalutation consists in throwing some of the cider about the roots\nof the tree, placing bits of the toast on the branches, and then,\n\"encircling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, they drink\nthe following toast several times:--\n\n 'Here's to thee, old apple-tree\n Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow,\n And whence thou mayst bear apples enow!\n Hats-full! caps-full!\n Bushel, bushel sacks-full!\n And my pockets full, too! Hurra!'\"\n\nMr. J. G. Frazer has treated this subject with his usual fulness in\n'The Golden Bough.'\n\nI suspect that the pleasure we take in dramatic make-believe has more\nto do with such practices than any belief in their practical efficacy,\nand that they rather contain the germ of a religious cult of trees than\nare a survival of a primitive tree-worship.\n\n=Kukunochi=.--The older records mention a Kukunochi (trees-father),\na Ki no mi-oya no Kami (tree-august-parent-deity). There is\nalso a Ko-mata no Kami (tree-fork-deity) and a Ha-mori no Kami\n(leaf-guardian-deity). These are class-deities.\n\n=Kaya nu hime=.--The deity of herbs and grasses is called Kaya nu\nhime (reed-lady), or Nu-dzuchi (moor-father) or Kaya no mi-oya no\nKami (reed-august-parent-deity). The chief reason for deifying trees\nand reeds was that they furnish materials for house-building, and are\ntherefore deserving of our gratitude and worship.\n\n=Ko-dama=.--The echo is called in Japan Ko-dama, or tree spirit.\n\n=House-Gods=.--Our knowledge of these deities is chiefly derived from\na _norito_ in the _Yengishiki_.[138] One part of this ritual speaks\nof Yabune, which may be either singular or plural; but further on in\nthe same document we find Yabune Kukunochi and Yabune Toyo-uke-hime.\nPerhaps an original single deity has been split up into a wedded pair\nby a process of which Shinto affords other examples. _Ya_ is \"house,\"\nand _fune_, which usually means \"ship,\" may also be applied to other\nwooden vessels, such as troughs or tubs. The _ya-bune_ is therefore\nthe shell[139] of the house. Kukunochi, as we have just seen, is the\nname of the Tree-God. Toyo-uke-hime, which means abundant-food-lady,\nhas been identified with the Food-Goddess; but it is more probable that\nthe prefix _yabune_ was intended to distinguish her from that deity,\nas the same prefix made of Kukunochi a distinct God from the ordinary\nTree-God. The functions of these Gods was to guard the palace building\nfrom harm of all kinds. No doubt each household had also its Yabune\nno Kami. Hirata, in his _Tamadasuki_, gives a prayer to this deity\nintended for general use.\n\nThe Oho-toma-hiko and Oho-toma-hime of the _Nihongi_ and the\nOho-ya-hiko of the _Kojiki_ are also House-Gods. Nothing is known of\nthem.\n\nA certain sanctity attached to the central pillar of the house, called\nDaikoku-bashira or Imi-bashira (sacred pillar). The Daikoku-bashira is\nworshipped in some places on the 14th of the 1st month by offerings of\nrice-ears, flowers, rice bags, &c. The date indicates a connexion with\nthe phallic Sahe no Kami.[140]\n\n=Privy-God=.--There is in modern times a God of the privy, who has no\nparticular name, sex, or mythic record. Hirata, in his _Tamadasuki_,\nhas provided a special form of prayer to him. He himself was his\ndevout worshipper. He saluted the God on entering and leaving, and,\nthat people might not forget this duty, recommends that a card be\nnailed on the door, with the inscription \"Ojigi,\" or \"good manners.\"\nAccording to him privies, as well as dunghills and all unclean places,\nare a favourite resort of evil spirits. They are haunted by flies\nand maggots, which are the fractional souls of bad men (a Buddhist\nnotion?). There is, therefore, all the greater need to put ourselves\nunder the protection of the presiding deity of the place. He deprecates\nspitting into it (which causes ophthalmia) or defiling it, and says\nthat women who sweep it out daily and make offering to the God of a\nlight on the last day of each month will be free from diseases below\nthe girdle.\n\nAll this shows that the original identity of demons and diseases has\nnot yet been wholly lost sight of in Japan.\n\n=Gate-Gods=.--Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-door) and Toyo-iha-mado\n(rich-rock-door). These two Gods are known to us from the _norito_\nentitled Mikado no matsuri.[141] They are obviously personifications of\nthe gates of the Palace. But the difficulty presents itself that these\nGods are (apparently) two in number, these two being differentiated\nout of one original deity by the honorary epithets _kushi_ and _toyo_,\nwhile the gates of the Palace were much more numerous. If it is the\ngate itself, and not the spirit of the gate, which is worshipped, there\nought to be as many Gods as gates. Hirata would no doubt explain this\nby saying that there are really only two Gods, but that each gate is\noccupied by a _mitama_, or emanation from them. It seems more probable\nthat the ancient Japanese had no very definite ideas on the subject.\nThey conceived of the gates as in some way or another instinct with\nlife and exercising certain protective functions; but whether there\nwere two deities for each gate or two for all collectively was a\nquestion which did not occur to them. It must be remembered that the\nJapanese language seldom takes the trouble to distinguish between\nsingular and plural. This is merely another way of saying that the\nnation is comparatively indifferent to number, whether of Gods or\ngates. Whether the Gate-divinity is one or several does not trouble\nthem.\n\n\nGODS OF ABSTRACTIONS.\n\n=Izanagi and Izanami=.--The conspicuous position given by the mythical\nnarrative[142] to these personifications of the dual creative powers\nof the universe has little to correspond with it in cult and ritual.\nAlthough they are no doubt to be reckoned among the _Dii majores_ of\nJapan, they occupy a much lower place than the Sun-Goddess and the\nFood-Goddess.\n\nIzanagi and Izanami are evidently creations of subsequent date to the\nSun-Goddess and other concrete deities, for whose existence they were\nintended to account. I have little doubt that they were suggested by\nthe _Yin_ and _Yang_,[143] or female and male principles of Chinese\nphilosophy. Indeed there is a passage in the _Nihongi_ in which these\nterms are actually applied to them. It may be said, and Moto\u00f6ri does\nsay, that the _Yin_ and _Yang_ are foreign ideas which have found\ntheir way into a purely native myth. We must remember, however, that\nthe Japanese myths as we have them date from a period three centuries\nafter the introduction of Chinese learning into Japan, and that there\nwas communication with China hundreds of years earlier still. It\nwould, therefore, not be strange if some knowledge of the fundamental\nprinciple of Chinese philosophy and science had reached the Japanese\nlong before the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ were written.\n\nI conjecture that the early part of the _Nihongi_, taken in the order\nof the original composition of the myths which it comprises, would\nbe somewhat as follows:--First the Sun-myth, which is the nucleus of\nall, next that of the creation by Izanagi and Izanami, then the more\nabstract Musubi and a number of ill-defined creations of some idle\nfancy which precede him. Last of all was composed the philosophic proem\nwith which the book opens.\n\nIzanagi and Izanami belong to that stage of religious progress in which\nthe conception has been reached of powerful sentient beings separate\nfrom external nature. Untrue in itself, it has served a useful purpose.\nIt is obviously easier for nations with little scientific knowledge\nto conceive of the same being as a ruler or parent of the Sun, Moon,\nand Earth, with all its human concerns, than to recognize in these\nphenomena a harmonious living whole. The common parentage of Izanagi\nand Izanami formed a link of union between the different aspects of\nnature which did not previously exist, and thus was in so far a step\ntowards monotheism.\n\nThe manner of creation is variously represented. In no case is anything\nmade out of nothing. The first act of creation was the formation\nof an island out of the drippings of the brine of the chaos-ocean\nfrom a spear. The other parts of Japan and many of the deities were\nproduced by the ordinary process of generation. The functions of\nIzanagi and Izanami are elsewhere described as \"putting in order and\nfully consolidating\" the floating land beneath. This is precisely what\nOhonamochi is represented as doing several generations of Gods later.\nDeities were also produced from Izanagi's clothing and staff which he\nthrew down on his flight from Yomi, and from his eyes and nose when\nhe washed in the sea to remove the impurity contracted by his visit\nthither. The Wind-God was his breath and the Gods of Water and Clay\nwere formed of the urine and f\u0153ces of Izanami when she was about to\ndie. These ideas, though not quite identical with, are closely related\nto the legends of other countries which describe the creation of the\nuniverse from the fragments of a fabulous anthropomorphic being. The\nChinese myth of P'anku has been already quoted.[144] Norse story tells\nhow \"the vast frame of the world-giant Hymi was completely cut up by\nthe sons of Bor, with Woden at their head. From Hymi's flesh they made\nthe earth, from his bones the mountains, from his skull the heavens,\nfrom his blood the sea.\"[145]\n\nThere is nothing spiritual about these two deities. All their actions\nare modelled not on those of ghosts, but on those of living men. Even\nwhen Izanami dies and goes down to the land of Yomi, she does not\nbecome a ghost, but a putrefying corpse.\n\nTheir _shintai_ is a mirror.\n\nA Japanese writer[146] says: \"In the beginning of all sentient things\nwe have two Supreme Beings, Izanagi and Izanami.\" Even if we admit the\npossible existence of two Supreme Beings, Izanagi and Izanami hardly\nrealize our conception of the Supreme. They acted by command of other\npre-existing deities, and their creation is limited. It does not\ninclude all the Gods, and, as is only natural, is confined to Japan.\nThe creation of mankind is nowhere accounted for in Japanese myth.\nThere is, however, a modicum of truth in this writer's statement.\nThough not the first sentient beings, Izanagi and Izanami are the first\nwho stand out with any distinct characterization, and, although not\nsupreme, they represent a movement, feeble and abortive it is true,\ntowards the co-ordination of all the aspects of divinity in one Supreme\nBeing.\n\nMoto\u00f6ri proposed, and most European scholars have accepted, a\nderivation of Izanagi and Izanami from _izanafu_, a verb which means\nto invite, to instigate, the terminations _gi_ and _mi_ meaning\nrespectively male deity and female deity. Hence the translation\n\"Male who invites\" and \"Female who invites.\" There are, however,\ngrave difficulties in the way of this interpretation. It is scarcely\nappropriate in the case of the female deity. Moreover, we must take\ninto account the fact that these are not the only pairs of deities\nin which the terminations _nagi_ and _nami_ occur. We have also\nan Aha-nagi (foam-God) and Aha-nami (foam-Goddess), a Tsura-nagi\n(bubble-God) and Tsura-nami (bubble-Goddess), and a Sa-nagi (rapid-God)\nand Sa-nami (rapid-Goddess), in all of which _na_ does not belong to\nthe first part of the word, but is put for _no_, the genitive particle,\nby a letter-change of which we have other examples. The first element\nof Izanagi is, therefore, not _izana_ but _iza_, which is met with as\nan exclamation of incitement. The harshness of making an interjection\nfollowed by a genitive particle is obvious. I am disposed to prefer\nthe derivation which takes Iza as the name of a place. The _Nihongi_\nmentions a \"true well\" of Isa or Iza. There are two places called Isa\nin Hitachi, and an Isa no Jinja, or shrine of Isa, in Idzumo. It is\neven possible that these Gods are simply the Gods of Ise (Ise no gi and\nIse no mi). A similar letter-change takes place in _manabuta_, eyelid,\nfor _me no futa_, and _tanasuye_ for _te no suye_. The difference\nbetween _s_ and _z_ is of little consequence in Japanese.\n\n=Musubi, the God of Growth=.--Musubi illustrates a different conception\nof creation from that of the myths of Ohonamochi and Izanagi and\nIzanami. This God is the abstract process of growth personified--that\nis, a power immanent in nature and not external to it. The emotion\nwhich prompts this personification--so natural to an agricultural\npeople--is well portrayed in the words of a Kafir to the French\ntraveller M. Arbrouseille: \"Do I know how the corn sprouts? Yesterday\nthere was not a blade in my field: to-day I returned to the field\nand found some. Who can have given the earth the wisdom and power\nto produce it? Then I buried my head in both hands.\" But while the\nemotion is the same, the Japanese conception differs. Musubi means\ngrowth or production. It is connected with the word _umu_, to bear, to\nbring forth, and with _musu_, to grow, to be born. _Musu_ is said of\nmoss growing on a stone and of ice forming on water. _Musuko_, a boy,\nand _musume_, a girl, contain the same element. As a God's name, Musubi\nis usually found with one of the laudatory adjectives, _taka_, high, or\n_kamu_, divine, prefixed to it. To these the honorific particle _mi_\nis commonly added, giving the forms Taka-mi-musubi and Kamu-mi-musubi.\nEven in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ these are recognized as two distinct\ndeities. The _Yengishiki_ (901-922) enumerates three more Musubi\ndeities, and to these still others might be added. In poetry a single\nGod Musubi is alone met with, and the _Wami\u014dsh\u014d_ recognizes but one\nsuch deity. Probably the division into several persons was an esoteric\nrefinement of which the people took little heed.\n\nWhether we have regard to his name or to the somewhat meagre notices\nin the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_, there is nothing spiritual in the\nJapanese conception of Musubi. But the scribes learned in Chinese who\ncommitted the old myths to writing sometimes use characters which imply\na spiritual view of his nature. They mean \"producing-spirit.\"\n\nHe is also called _mi oya_, or august parent. Hirata thinks that\nTaka-musubi and Kamu-musubi are husband and wife, the Kamurogi\n(progenitor) and Kamuromi (progenitrix) of the _norito_, and condemns\nhis master Moto\u00f6ri for holding that we have in these deities a unity\nin duality and a duality in unity. But his reasons are not quite\nconvincing, and there is a passage in the _Kojiki_ which cannot be\nreconciled with his view. The same author points out the resemblance of\nthis God to the Hindu Siva, who represents the fructifying principle,\nthe generating power that pervades the universe, producing sun, moon,\nstars, animals, and plants. Siva is represented in his temples by a\nphallus, and Hirata conjectures that this was likewise the _shintai_\nof Musubi.\n\nMusubi is sometimes called the Inochi no Kami, or God of life. The\ncreation of mankind is attributed to him in a poem of the _Jiu-i-shiu_,\nwhere a rejected lover exclaims:--\n\n \"I hate not thee,\n It is the God I hate,\n Great Musubi:--\n Why did he men create\n Unto so hard a fate?\"\n\nThe _Kojik_i speaks of the two deities Taka-musubi and Kamu-musubi as\nforming the second and third generations of Gods. The original text of\nthe _Nihongi_ omits all mention of them in this part of the narrative,\nbut in a note there is a quotation from \"one writing\" in which they are\nnamed. In the various accounts of the measures taken to prepare the\nearth for occupation by Ninigi sometimes the Sun-Goddess is represented\nas giving instructions, sometimes Taka-musubi, sometimes both together,\nand sometimes Taka-musubi alone. Jimmu, in making mention of the two\ndeities, gives precedence to Taka-musubi. This discordance in the\nvarious myths seems to indicate a struggle for ascendancy between the\nrespective adherents of Musubi and the Sun-Goddess. The _Nihongi_\nstates that in A.D. 487 (a fairly trustworthy date), by request of the\nMoon-God and the Sun-Goddess, the worship of Taka-mi-musubi, whom these\ntwo deities call their ancestor and the Creator of Heaven and Earth,\nwas established in two places, and grants of lands and of peasants made\nfor the maintenance of the shrines. This is possibly the beginning of\nthe official worship of this God. In 859 several Musubi deities were\nraised to the first grade of the first rank. In the tenth century eight\nshrines to various Musubi deities existed within the Palace. With the\nofficial classes Musubi was a dangerous rival to the Sun-Goddess, more\nespecially during the Augustan age of Japanese literature. But he\nwas too philosophical for popular favour. His worship is now greatly\nneglected. The Musubu no Kami of the present day is identified with the\nChinese Gekka-r\u014djin (moon-under-old-man), who presides over the fates\nof lovers. The strips of cloth frequently seen hung on bushes by the\nroadsides are offerings to him. The second meaning of Musubi, namely,\n\"to tie,\" has no doubt something to do with this new view of the God's\nfunction.\n\nThe _Sh\u014djiroku_ traces the descent of a large number of the noble\nfamilies of Japan from the various forms of Musubi. This is a literal\nrendering of a statement which, in one sense, is true of everybody. We\nall resemble Topsy.\n\n=Kuni-toko-tachi=.--I place this deity provisionally among the\npersonifications of abstractions. The name means literally\n\"earth-eternal-stand.\" He is, therefore, apparently a deification of\nthe durability of earth. Moto\u00f6ri and Hirata take _toko_ as for _soko_,\nbottom or limit. This would make this deity a personification of the\nhorizon, or perhaps more accurately Lucretius's \"flammantia m\u00e6nia\nmundi.\" He has no sex and no special characteristics. He is barely\nmentioned in myth, and his cult, which is comparatively modern, was no\ndoubt, as Hirata suggests, a result of the prominent position given\nhim in the _Nihongi_ as the first God in point of time, and as the\nancestor of the Sun-Goddess, before whom he was therefore entitled to\nprecedence. He was identified with the Taikyoku, or \"Great Absolute,\"\nof the Chinese philosophers, was said to be immortal, and to comprise\nall the Gods in himself, was called \"the name of the nameless, the\nform of that which has no form,\" and, in short, erected into a Supreme\nBeing. In the fourteenth century an unsuccessful attempt was made to\nsubstitute him for the Food-Goddess as the deity of the outer shrine\nof Ise. At the present day he is worshipped at Mount Ontake, in the\nprovince of Shinano, a place much resorted to by pilgrims.\n\nO tent\u014d-sama (august-heaven-way-personage) was probably originally\na personification of the natural order of things--Laotze's _tao_, or\nPindar's \u039d\u1f40\u03bc\u03bf\u03c2, the \u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b9\u03bb\u03b5\u03bd\u03c2 of Gods and men. But this is too abstract\nfor the common Japanese. To them O tent\u014d-sama is the Sun itself,\nendowed, it is true, with certain moral attributes.\n\nDrought and Famine deities belong to this class. None of these is of\nmuch importance.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[96] Deuteronomy iv. 19; xvii. 3.\n\n[97] The Vice-Royalty of Kiushiu.\n\n[98] In Korea.\n\n[99] See above, p. 70; also Index--'Mirror.'\n\n[100] \"The mirror is kept in a box of chamaecyparis wood, which rests\non a low stand covered with a piece of white silk. It is wrapped in a\nbag of brocade, which is never opened or renewed, but when it begins\nto fall to pieces from age another bag is put on, so that the actual\ncovering consists of many layers. Over the whole is placed a sort\nof wooden cage, with ornaments said to be of pure gold, over which\nagain is thrown a cloth of coarse silk falling to the floor on all\nsides.\"--Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 308.\n\n[101] See Index--_Naishidokoro_.\n\n[102] A kind of hawk. 'Odyssey,' xv. 525.\n\n[103] _Vide_ 'The _Hinomaru_' in the _T. A. S. J._, vol. xxii. p. 27.\n\n[104] See above, p. 65.\n\n[105] 'In the Shinto Pantheon,' in the _New World_, December, 1896.\n\n[106] Japan is annually visited by destructive typhoons, accompanied by\ngreat darkness and a terrific downpour of rain.\n\n[107] See above, p. 106.\n\n[108] Egyptian is one.\n\n[109] See Index--'Sasura-hime.'\n\n[110] 'Religions of Primitive Peoples,' p. 80.\n\n[111] I offer, for consideration only, two conjectures: first, that\nTsuki-yomi was the Ise Moon-God, and Susa no wo the Idzumo lunar deity;\nand second, that _Susa_ may possibly be an allotropic form of _sasura_,\nbanish.\n\n[112] \"The large, deep love of living sea and land.\"--Swinburne,\n'Kynance Cove.'\n\n[113] Graphically described in Lafcadio Hearn's 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar\nJapan.'\n\n[114] See above, p. 108.\n\n[115] See above, p. 106.\n\n[116] _Nihongi_, ii. 366.\n\n[117] I. 198.\n\n[118] See 'Ch. K.,' p. 33.\n\n[119] See above, p. 95.\n\n[120] See Index--'Sumiyoshi.'\n\n[121] See p. 114.\n\n[122] See above, p. 92.\n\n[123] _Nihongi_, i. 22.\n\n[124] See Index--'Wind-Gods.'\n\n[125] In Yucatan there were four Wind-Gods, who upheld the four corners\nof Heaven.\n\n[126] See above, p. 109.\n\n[127] _Nihongi_, i. 115.\n\n[128] _Nihongi_, i. 44.\n\n[129] Is it possible that Fuji no yama is really for Futsu no yama, the\nmountain of fire?\n\n[130] The sword was deified in Teutonic myth.\n\n[131] \"So called,\" says Hirata, \"because heat makes things grow.\"\n\n[132] See Index--_Ho-shidzume_, Fire-drill.\n\n[133] As a source of food?\n\n[134] See Index--_Toshi-gohi_.\n\n[135] See Index.\n\n[136] Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edit., p. 383.\n\n[137] See Index--'Red.'\n\n[138] See Index--_Yabune_.\n\n[139] Compare our \"nave,\" from the Latin _navis_.\n\n[140] See below, p. 186.\n\n[141] See Index, _s.v._\n\n[142] See above, p. 86.\n\n[143] In Japanese _In_ and _Y\u014d_.\n\n[144] See above, p. 129.\n\n[145] Rhys, 'Celtic Heathendom,' p. 115.\n\n[146] 'In Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE PANTHEON, MAN DEITIES.\n\n\nI. DEIFIED INDIVIDUAL MEN.\n\n\nNone of the _Dii majores_ of the more ancient Shinto are deified\nindividual men, and although it is highly probable that some of the\ninferior mythical personages were originally human beings, I am unable\nto point to a case of this kind which rests on anything more than\nconjecture.\n\n=Take-minakata=, the deity of Suha in Shinano, may be a real ancestral\ndeity. He is very popular at the present day. This God is not mentioned\nin the _Nihongi_, but his legend is given in the _Kojiki_[147] and\n_Kiujiki_. He was a son of Ohonamochi, who, after his father's\nsubmission, refused allegiance to the Sun-Goddess and fled to Suha,\nwhere he was obliged to surrender, his life being spared. Tradition\nsays that the present Oho-hafuri, or chief priests of Suha, are direct\ndescendants of this deity. The inhabitants hold that the God _is_ the\nOho-hafuri, and that the Oho-hafuri _is_ the God. An oracle of the\nGod is quoted to this effect: \"I have no body, the _hafuri_ is my\nbody.\" His house is called the _shinden_ or divine dwelling. He never\nleaves the neighbourhood, and takes precedence of the chief local\nofficial. At every change of office the newly appointed high priest\nformerly received a cap of honour and robes from the Palace of Ki\u00f4to.\nHe takes no active part in the ceremonies of the annual festival,\nbut sits on a chair in the middle of the sacred plot of ground and\nreceives the obeisances of the people. This festival is called the\n_mi-hashira-matsuri_ or \"festival of the august pillars.\" It is so\ncalled because instead of a shrine there is only a plot of ground\ncontaining a \"rock-cave\"[148] with a great wooden post at each of the\nfour corners.\n\n=Hachiman=.--The War-God Hachiman is one of the most conspicuous of\nthe later Shinto deities. His origin is really unknown, but he is\nplaced provisionally among deified human beings in accordance with the\naccepted tradition which makes him identical with the very legendary\nMikado \u00d4jin. The ultimate authority for this statement is an oracle of\nthe God himself delivered hundreds of years after \u00d4jin's death. There\nis no mention of his worship in the _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_, and the\nlegends which carry it back to A.D. 570 are unworthy of credence. The\noriginal seat of this cult was Usa, in the province of Buzen, an old\nShinto centre. Hachiman seems to have first come into notice in 720,\nwhen he rendered efficient assistance in repelling a descent of Koreans\non Japan. Forty years later Kiyomaro, the founder of the great Minamoto\nfamily, made use of his oracles to thwart the ambitious projects of a\npriest named D\u00f4ki\u00f4, the Wolsey of Japanese history. The rise of the\nMinamoto family carried with it that of the God who had been so useful\nto them. In Seiwa's reign (859-880) a temple was erected to him at\nIhashimidzu near Ki\u00f4to, where he received Imperial presents, and even\nvisits. In 1039 he was given a high place in the State religion.\n\nHachiman is nominally a Shinto God. His Shinto quality is recognized\nin various ways, notably by the erection of the distinctive Shinto\ngateways known as _torii_, before his shrines. But his cult is deeply\ntinctured with Buddhism. The numerous inspired utterances ascribed to\nhim are thoroughly Buddhist in character. In several of these he calls\nhimself Bosatsu (Bodhisattwa), which is a Buddhist term something\nlike our saint. He is also credited with giving instructions for the\ncelebration of an annual festival for the release of living things,\nwhich is, of course, a humanitarian Buddhist institution, wholly\nforeign to the _r\u00f4le_ of a Japanese War-God.\n\nThe _shintai_ of Hachiman may be a pillow, a fly-brush, an arm-rest, or\na white stone.\n\nOther legendary mortals, who in later times were honoured as War-Gods,\nare Jimmu, the founder of the Imperial dynasty, Jing\u014d, the conqueror\nof Korea, Takechi no Sakune, her counsellor, and Prince Yamato-dake,\nthe hero who subdued the east of Japan. None of these are treated as\ndeities in the older Shinto books.\n\n=Temmangu=, the God of Learning and Calligraphy, is undoubtedly a\ndeified human being.\n\n\"_There is nobody in the world, high or low, old or young, man or\nwoman, who does not look up with reverence to the Divine power of\nTemmangu. More especially children who are learning to read and write,\nand their teachers, all without exception, enjoy his blessings. Every\none is therefore desirous of knowing the exact truth concerning him.\nBut there are many false notions handed down by vulgar tradition.\nChinese scholars have wantonly done violence to the history of an awful\ndeity by introducing Chinese ideas, while the Buddhists, on the other\nhand, have been guilty of disfiguring the story by all manner of forced\nanalogies. Sad to say, there is no book in which the real facts have\nbeen set down after investigation._\"\n\nThe above is the exordium of a preface to a short life of Temmangu,\nprepared by Shintoists of the Hirata school. Of the work itself the\nfollowing is a brief summary. The main facts of the story are beyond\nquestion. But the reader will see that, notwithstanding the claims put\nforward in the preface, this work must be taken with not a few grains\nof salt.\n\nTemmangu's name as a mortal man was Sugahara Michizane. He was born\nin 845, and came of a family which had a hereditary reputation for\nlearning. Nomi no Sukune, deified as the patron of wrestlers and\npotters, was one of his ancestors. Through him Michizane traced his\ndescent up to the Sun-Goddess herself. As a child he was fond of study,\nand at an early age his knowledge of Chinese was such that he was\nappointed to entertain an ambassador from China. Being ordered by the\nMikado to pray for rain, he observed the rules of ritual purity for\nseveral days, and then prepared a form of prayer to the God of Hakusan\n(Izanagi), which had the desired effect. He established a system of\nnational education, and therefore became known as the \"Father of\nletters.\" On reaching his fiftieth year he received congratulations and\na present of gold dust from a genie. Soon afterwards he was made Prime\nMinister. In 901, owing to the calumnies of a rival statesman, he fell\ninto unmerited disgrace and was banished to Kiushiu. On his departure\nhe addressed the following lines to a plum tree in his garden:--\n\n When the east wind[149] blows,\n Emit thy perfume\n Oh thou plum-blossom;\n Forget not the spring,\n Because thy master is away.\n\nA branch of this tree broke off spontaneously and followed him into\nexile. There it planted itself in the ground and took root. Two years\nafter, Michizane climbed a high mountain and, standing on tiptoe on\nthe summit, prayed with all his heart and all his body for seven days\nand seven nights to Tentei (the Supreme Lord of Heaven). Whilst doing\nso his hair and beard turned white. The Tent\u014d (way of Heaven) had\ndoubtless pity on an innocent man, for a cloud overspread the sky and\nbore up his petition into the Great Void. Michizane, overjoyed that\nhis prayers were answered, made nine obeisances and retired. He died\nsoon after, in his fifty-ninth year, to the great grief of the whole\nnation. Two years later, in accordance with a divine inspiration, a\nsmall shrine was erected to him under the title of Tem-man-ten-jin\n(the heavenly Kami who fills the heavens). In a few years Michizane's\ncalumniator died by a curse from him. Other members of his family\nhad the same fate. From the ears of one of his enemies small snakes\nissued who declared themselves the messengers of Michizane. When Prince\nYasuaki died, in 923, everybody said that his death was owing to a\ncurse sent by Michizane's spirit. Then the Minister of State Kintada\ndied suddenly. Three days after, he came alive again, and informed the\nMikado that he had been to the Court of the King of Hades, where he saw\nMichizane, ten feet high, present a petition for an inquiry into the\ncrime committed by the Mikado in banishing him unjustly. Influenced\nby Kintada's report, the Mikado burnt the decree of exile, recalled\nMichizane's children, and conferred posthumous honours upon him. But\nthe angry ghost was still unappeased. In 929 it came down from Heaven\nand appeared to a former friend of his. Terrible storms, inundations,\nand other portents ensued. Ministers who tried to stay him from further\nravages were burnt or kicked to death. Ultimately the ghost appeared\nbefore the Mikado and protested his innocence, after which the Kami, as\nhe is called, ascended. From this day forth the Mikado suffered from a\npoison which, in spite of prayers of all kinds, grew worse and worse.\nHe abdicated in 930, and died a few days later.\n\nMichizane's ghost continued to plague the nation. In 943 he appeared to\na mean woman of Ki\u00f4to, and directed that a shrine should be erected to\nhim in that city. In 947 a boy of six years of age delivered an oracle\nfrom him to the following effect: \"All the Thunder-Gods and Demons to\nthe number of 168,000 have become my servants. If any one does evil\nI have him trampled to death by them. Pestilence, eruptive diseases,\nand other calamities have been placed in my hands by the Supreme Lord\nof Heaven, and no Kami, however powerful, can control me. But I will\ngive help to those who piously express their sorrow.\" Eight persons\nwho were present took down this revelation in writing. At this time\nthe shrine of Kitano at Ki\u00f4to was erected to him. But his wrath was\nnot yet wholly stayed. Further honours were therefore awarded and\ngifts made to him. In 1004 the Mikado visited Kitano in person. At the\npresent day Temmangu is one of the most widely worshipped of Shinto\ndeities. In 1820 there were twenty-five shrines to him in Yedo and the\nneighbourhood.\n\n_\"He still hates the wicked, who do not keep the way of filial\npiety, and withholds his favour from those who dislike learning. You\nmust therefore attend strictly to the commands of your parents and\nthe instructions of your teachers. You must serve your chief with\ndiligence, be upright of heart, eschew falsehood, and be diligent in\nstudy so that you may conform to the wishes of Temmangu. If you fail to\ndo so, you will be cursed by him, and sooner or later incur calamity.\nFor although the Kami cannot be seen by men, they will know whether\ntheir conduct is good or bad, and whether their hearts are upright or\nperverted.\"_\n\nAlthough the life of Temmangu, from which the above account is taken,\nwas compiled by men of the \"Pure Shinto\" school, and though in the\npreface the importation of Buddhist and Chinese ideas is stigmatized,\nit is itself penetrated with elements of this very kind. The \"Supreme\nLord of Heaven\" is Chinese, and the Hades to which Michizane descended\nis not the Shinto Yomi, but the Buddhist Jigoku. No doubt the authors\nfound these things in their materials, and were loth to excise edifying\nincidents, however badly they fitted in with Shinto theology.\n\nThe acquaintance of the Japanese with the Chinese cult of Confucius\nmust have greatly promoted, if it did not originate the worship of a\nnative God of Learning. It will be observed that the attribution of\nnature-powers to Michizane was a substantial part of the process of\ndeification, which was based on the alternate influence of the emotions\nof gratitude and fear.\n\nNomi no Sukune, the Patron-God of wrestlers, was probably a real human\nbeing. Hitomaro, the Poet-God, was undoubtedly so. Another muse of\npoetry, Soto\u00f6ri-hime, belongs to more legendary times, but was probably\nlikewise a real person. Iyeyasu, the founder of the last dynasty of\nSh\u00f6guns, was deified under the title of T\u00f6sh\u00f6 Gongen, but this, like\nmany other similar apotheoses, is, in reality, Buddhist rather than\nShinto.\n\n\nII. GODS OF CLASSES.\n\n=Ministers and Attendants of the Sun-Goddess=.--The application of the\nhereditary principle to Government offices has had many vicissitudes in\nJapan. When the country emerges into the light of history, both Court\noffices and local chieftaincies were usually transmitted from father\nto son. Among the hereditary institutions of this kind were the Be.\nThe Be were Government corporations charged with some special branch\nof service. There were Be of weavers, of farmers, of potters, &c., a\nBe for the supply of necessaries to the Palace, an executioner's Be,\nand others. If we imagine a dockyard staff in which the director and\nofficials belonged to a governing caste, the artisans being serfs, and\nthe whole having a more or less hereditary character, we shall have a\ntolerably correct idea of a Be.\n\nThe Gods of five Be are represented as in attendance on the\nSun-Goddess, and as accompanying Ninigi to Earth when he was sent down\nto be its ruler. These were:--\n\n=Koyane=, ancestor of the Nakatomi[150] House. The etymology of Koyane\nis uncertain. The worship of this deity had a special importance, from\nthe fact that he was the Ujigami[151] of the Fujihara family, a branch\nof the Nakatomi, which for many centuries supplied a large proportion\nof the Empresses and Ministers of State. It would hardly be too much\nto say that the Fujiharas _were_ the Imperial House. The _shintai_ of\nKoyane was a jewel or _shaku_, that is, a tablet borne by Ministers as\nan emblem of office. Hirata identifies with him a deity named Koto no\nmachi no Kami, or God of Divination. The corresponding deity in the\nIdzumo myth of Ohonamochi was Ama no hohi. The supposed descendants of\nthis deity had charge of the sacred fire which was handed over by one\ngeneration to another with great ceremony.\n\n=Futodama=.--Futodama means great gift or offering. The Imi-be,[152]\nhis reputed descendants, discharged a number of duties connected with\nthe State religious ceremonies, including the provision of sacrificial\nofferings.\n\n=Uzume= means \"dread female.\" She was the ancestress of the Sarume, or\n\"monkey female,\" who performed religious dances (_kagura_) at Court\nand delivered inspired utterances. Hirata identifies this deity with\nOho-miya no me (great-palace-female), worshipped as one of the eight\nGods of the Jingikwan, or Department of Religion. She represents the\nchief lady officials of the Palace as a class. Uzume, in announcing\nto the Sun-Goddess the approach of Susa no wo, discharged one of\ntheir duties. From another point of view she is a type of the wise\nwoman, sorceress, or prophetess. She was prayed to for long life,\nfor protection from evil by night and by day, for honours, and for\nposterity. One of the _norito_ splits up Oho-miya no me into five\nseparate deities.\n\n=Ishikoridome= means apparently \"the stonecutter.\" Why should the\nsupposed ancestor of the mirror-makers have received this name? The\ncircumstance that stone moulds for casting bronze objects have been\nfound in Japan suggests a possible answer.\n\n=Toyo-tama=, \"rich jewel,\" the ancestor of the jewel-makers' Be,\nrequires no explanation.\n\nThe _Kiujiki_ gives a list of thirty-two deities as forming the\nCourt of Ninigi on his descent to Earth, and adds the names of the\nnoble families who were descended from them. A few of these are\nnature-deities. Of the remainder some _may_ be deified real men, but I\nprefer to reckon them provisionally along with such class conceptions\nas Tommy Atkins, John Bull, Brother Jonathan, and Mrs. Grundy.\n\n=Koto-shiro-nushi= is one of those secondary formations in which the\npersonification of nature and the deification of man meet and mingle.\nAs the son and counsellor of the Earth-God and Creator Ohonamochi he\nis related to the class of nature-deities, while as an individualized\ntype of a class of human beings and as the supposed ancestor of certain\nnoble families he belongs to the current of thought which exalts man to\ndivinity.\n\n_Shiro_ in this God's name is for _shiru_, \"to know,\" and so to\nattend to, to manage, to govern. Koto-shiro-nushi is, therefore,\n\"thing-govern-master.\" The character and functions of this deity\nare not well defined. He was one of the Gods who advised Jing\u00f4's\nfamous expedition against Korea, on which occasion he described\nhimself as \"the Deity who rules in Heaven, who rules in the Void,\nthe gem-casket-entering-prince, the awful Koto-shiro-nushi.\" In the\nOhonamochi myth he is represented as his father's chief counsellor.\nOwing to his services in persuading him to transfer the Government of\nJapan to Ninigi without resistance, he was held in great honour at\nthe Mikado's Court, of which he was considered one of the principal\nprotectors. The Jingikwan included him among the eight Gods specially\nworshipped by them to the neglect of many more important deities,\nincluding even his father, Ohonamochi. In the _Many\u00f4shiu_ he is called\nupon by a lover to punish him if he is insincere in his protestations.\nIn modern times the cult of Koto-shiro-nushi has fallen into decay,\nwhile that of his rebellious younger brother, the God of Suha,\nflourishes greatly. The pious Moto\u00f6ri is much perplexed and grieved by\nthis state of things.\n\n=Sukuna-bikona=.--Another God who is associated with Ohonamochi in myth\nand worship is the dwarf deity,[153] Sukuna-bikona (little-prince). He\nis said to have taught mankind the arts of brewing, magic and medicine,\nand to have provided medicinal thermal springs, where he is still\nworshipped. But in modern times his cult has been greatly superseded by\nthat of Yakushi the Indian Esculapius, whose avatar he is supposed to\nbe.\n\nI take Sukuna-bikona to be a deified type of medicine man, a \"Father of\nmedicine\" in the abstract. But the story related of him[154] may have\nsome foundation in the history of a real person.\n\n\nIII. GODS OF ABSTRACT HUMAN QUALITIES.\n\n=Sahe no kami=.--The Sahe no kami are phallic deities. In approaching\nthis subject, it behoves me to walk warily. For, to some writers so\nrepulsive that they shirk even its necessary elucidation, it exercises\na fascination upon others which is not conducive to sound reasoning.\nHas not a President of the Anthropological Institute declared that\n\"so soon as a man begins to study phallicism he goes crazy\"? With\nphallicism we may conveniently associate the corresponding cult of the\n_kteis_.\n\nIn Japan, the phallus symbolizes two distinct, although not unrelated,\nprinciples. Primarily, it represents the generative or procreative\npower, and is recognized in this capacity by myth and custom. By a\nnatural transition it has become the symbol of the more abstract\nconception of lusty animal life, the foe to death and disease. Hence\nits use as a magical prophylactic appliance. In Shinto, this latter\nprinciple is much the more prominent. It is embodied in the name Sahe\nno kami, which means \"preventive deities.\" The application of this\nepithet is clear from the circumstance that in a _norito_ they are\ninvoked for protection against the \"unfriendly and savage beings of\nthe Root Country,\" that is to say Yomi or Hades. These by no means\nimaginary personages are the same as the Ugly Females, the thunders\ngenerated from Izanami's dead body and the armies of Yomi of myth.[155]\nThey represent, or rather are identical with, diseases and other\nevils associated with death and the grave. Epidemic and contagious\ndiseases are specially intended. Hence the Sahe no kami are also\ncalled Yakushin, or \"Pestilence Deities,\" meaning the Gods who ward\noff pestilence, a phrase wrongly taken in later times to signify the\nGods who produce pestilence. The use of the _phallus_ and _kteis_ for\nthis purpose is primarily magical, and rests on the wellknown principle\nthat a symbol possesses something of the virtue of the thing which it\nrepresents. The deification of these symbols came later.\n\nIn the _norito_ entitled Michiahe[156] there are three Sahe\nno kami, namely, Yachimata-hiko, Yachimata-hime, and Kunado.\nThe first two of these names mean \"eight-road-fork-prince\" and\n\"eight-road-fork-princess.\" Kunado is the \"come-not-place,\" and is,\ntherefore, an equivalent to a notice of \"no thoroughfare\" addressed to\nany evil beings who might attempt to pass that way. An alternative form\nof this word is Funado, or \"pass-not-place.\"\n\nThere is a good deal of confusion about the Sahe no kami.\nYachimata-hiko and Yachimata-hime are not mentioned in the _Kojiki_ or\n_Nihongi_. The _Kiujiki_ has a Chimata no kami (God of the Crossways),\nwhich it says is also termed Kunado no kami, and adds two others named\nNaga-chiha no kami and Michijiki no kami, both of which names imply a\nconnexion with highways. The _Nihongi_ makes five of these deities,\nadding two to the three of the _Kiujiki_. All are associated in some\nway or another with Izanagi's descent to Yomi, having been produced\neither from the articles flung down by him during his flight thence,\nor when he washed in the sea in order to purify himself from the\npollutions contracted during his visit.\n\nThese deities had no temples. The festivals in their honour took place\nat crossways on the four sides of the capital, or at the frontier of\nthe metropolitan province, regularly at the close of the sixth and\ntwelfth months, and at other times upon occasions of emergency. Thus\nin 735, during an epidemic, the Governor of Dazaifu in Kiushiu was\nordered to celebrate a _michi-ahe_, or Road festival, and in 839 the\nMikado directed that honours should be paid to the Gods of Pestilence.\nA ceremony in honour of the Sahe no kami was also performed two days\nbefore the arrival of foreign envoys in the capital, in order to\nguard against the danger of their bringing with them infection, evil\ninfluences, or demons from abroad.[157]\n\nA work entitled 'Fus\u00f4 Ryakki' states that in 938 Gods were carved in\nwood and set up face to face along the highways and byways, or female\nforms were made and set up opposite to males. Children worshipped\nthem boisterously, and made reverent offerings of pieces of cloth and\nfragrant flowers. They were called Chimata no kami, that is to say\n\"Gods of the Crossways,\" or Mitama (august spirits), a term which in\nits Chinese form Gory\u014d is still preserved in the name of the great\nfestival (Gory\u014dye) of Gion at Ki\u00f4to. The Chimata no kami can be no\nother than Yachimata-hiko and Yachimata-hime. A later notice speaks of\nthe worship of wooden figures, male and female, provided with sexual\norgans. Similar figures in stone may still, Hirata says, be seen in\nthe eastern provinces, where they are sometimes mistaken for Jiz\u014d, the\nBuddhist children's God, and honoured in the temples.\n\nThe third of the Sahe no kami of the _norito_, namely, Kunado, can be\nnothing but a simple phallus. Its shape, formed of Izanagi's staff, is\nconsistent with this view. In the Tsujiura, or Cross Roads divination,\nthis God was represented by a staff. The same inference is suggested\nby its association with Yachimata-hiko and Yachimata-hime, who, as\nwe have seen, were unquestionably phallic deities; and also with\nthe peach, which, like Kunado himself, was used by Izanagi for his\nprotection against the evil beings of Yomi. Like the apricot in India\nand the pomegranate in ancient Greece, the peach is in China and Japan\nthe acknowledged representative of the _kteis_, as the pestle and\nthe mushroom are of the phallus. Peach-wood staves were used in the\n_oni-yarahi_ (demon-expelling) ceremony on the last day of the year.\nA similar interpretation is, perhaps, applicable to the horseshoes\nnailed over doors in England which, intended at first to keep out\nevil spirits, are now meant simply \"for luck,\" in accordance with the\ntendency for the more special functions of Gods and magical appliances\nto become obscured and merged in a hazy, general notion of their\nbeneficence or usefulness. Peach-shaped charms from China figure in a\nLondon tradesman's catalogue which has just reached me.\n\nThere is a custom, called _sammai_, of scattering rice, which was\nformerly observed at purification ceremonies, and is kept up at the\npresent day in rooms where there is a new-born child. Hirata tells\nof a case in which the rice so scattered was found marked with\nblood-stains, showing, as he infers, that the object of this practice\nwas to drive off demons, not to conciliate them by an offering. I have\nmore than a suspicion that the efficacy of rice for this purpose, and\nalso of the beans used to drive off demons on the last day of the\nyear,[158] is due to a resemblance of this kind.[159]\n\nThe _wo-bashira_ (male-pillar) is doubtless only a modified Kunado.\nThis term is applied to the end-post of the railing of a bridge or of\nthe balustrade of a staircase, and is so called from its obviously\nphallic shape and function. It is a post surmounted by a large knob,\nand its position commanding the thoroughfare shows that it is intended\nto arrest the passage of evil beings or influences. It is still to\nbe seen everywhere in Japan, but its meaning is now forgotten. The\nend-tooth of a comb was also called _wo-bashira_. We now see the\nsignificance of Izanagi's selection of this object for converting into\na torch in order to light up the darkness of Yomi. In Italy even at the\npresent day the phallus fulfils a similar function.\n\nThe phallus appears in another form at the festival held in honour of\nthe Sahe no Kami on the first full moon in every year. The _Makura no\nS\u014dshi_, written about A.D. 1000, tells us that it was then the custom\nfor the boys in the Imperial Palace to go about striking the younger\nwomen with the potsticks used for making gruel on this occasion. This\nwas supposed to ensure fertility. It reminds us of the Roman practice\nat the spring festival of Lupercalia, alluded to by Shakespeare in his\n'Julius C\u00e6sar':--\n\n \"Forget not in your speed, Antonius,\n To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say\n The barren touched in this holy chase\n Shake off their steril curse.\"\n\nThe Japanese novelist and antiquary Ki\u014dden, writing about a century\nago, informs us that a similar custom was at that time still practised\nin the province of Echigo. He gives a drawing of the sticks used for\nthe purpose, of the phallic character of which there can be no doubt.\nThey were called _kedzurikake_ (part-shaved), and consisted of wands\nwhittled near the top into a mass of adherent shavings, as in the\nillustration.\n\n_Kedzurikake_ of elder or willow are still made in some places. In\nHarima, on the 14th day of the 1st month, _kedzurikake_ are hung up\nunder the eaves in substitution for the _kadomatsu_, or fir trees\nplaced by the entrance gate at the New Year. In Suwo, _kedzurikake_,\nmade of a thorny tree called _tara_, are placed on each side of the\nfront and back doors at this season, no doubt with the object of\naverting evil influences. When the _kadomatsu_ and other New Year's\ndecorations are removed on the 15th day of the 1st month, they are\nin many places collected by the boys as material for a bonfire. This\nis called _dondo_ or _sagich\u014d_, and the burning of the _kedzurikake_\nis a feature of it. In the Yamagata ken, wherever there are stone\nimages of D\u014ds\u014djin, the phallic God of Roads,[160] the boys at this\ntime make a bonfire of fir trees and straw, and build for themselves\na hut beside it. When the people assemble, they come out and fire it.\nIf the dumplings made on the 14th are roasted in this fire and eaten,\nmalignant diseases need not be feared during the ensuing half year. In\nHitachi this hut is called the \"Hall of the Sai no Kami.\" The embers\nare used for re-lighting the domestic fires or kept as charms against\npestilence.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFire, kindled from _kedzurikake_ after prayer, was given out to\nthe people by the priests of Gion in Ki\u014dto on the last day of the\nyear. It was transferred to a slow match, and used for rekindling\nthe household fires, the object being to prevent pestilence during\nthe coming year.[161] The mythical burning of a _wobashira_ (also a\nphallic emblem) by Izanagi in Yomi was probably suggested by some such\ncustom.[162] It will be observed that the prophylactic virtue of the\nphallus has not been forgotten in the _kedzurikake_.\n\nThe _kedzurikake_ are sometimes described as the _shintai_ of\nD\u014ds\u014djin, and are placed on the domestic altar to be worshipped as\nhis representative. They are also, by a known confusion of ideas,\npresented to the Gods as offerings. The Ainus of Yezo, who have adopted\nthe _kedzurikake_ as the general form of offering to their Gods at\nall times, and attach to it no phallic signification, were no doubt\nfamiliar with this use of it by their Japanese neighbours. It is by\nthem called _inao_ or _nusa_, the latter being the old Japanese word\nfor offering. The facility with which such offerings could be prepared\nby savages must have been a recommendation.\n\nThe two cylindrical _shingi_, or \"divine sticks,\" eight or nine inches\nin circumference and one foot long, thrown to the crowd by the priests\nof Seidaiji, near Okayama, on the night of the 14th day of the 1st\nmonth, and called _o fuku_ (luck), to keep off pestilence and bring\nprosperity, are probably of phallic origin.\n\nThe gruel partaken of at the Sahe no Kami festival on the 15th of\nthe 1st month was made of rice, and was coloured with an admixture\nof the small red bean called _adzuki_.[163] The bean is a well-known\nsynonym in Japan for the _kteis_. The colour red is also significant.\nIt suggests the ruddy complexion of health caused by an abundance of\nlife-giving blood in the lips and cheeks. Children love this colour.\nMax Nordau says: \"As a feeling of pleasure is always connected with\ndynamogeny or the production of force, every living thing instinctively\nseeks for dynamogenous sense impressions. Now red is especially\ndynamogenous.\" In '\u0152dipus Tyrannus,' the Chorus invoke the aid of\nruddy-faced Bacchus against pestilence. In Korea red is a terror to\ndevils. A modern Japanese writer says that red is obnoxious to devils\non account of its cheerful appearance.\n\nSmall-pox being a _Kijin bi\u014d_, or demon-sent disease, the colour red is\nfreely employed in combating it. The candles at the bedside are red,\nand the clothing of the patient and nurse. The God of Small-pox is\nworshipped with offerings of red _gohei_ (there is here some confusion\nof ideas) and of red _adzuki_ beans. Red paper is hung round the necks\nof the bottles of _sake_ offered to him. Red _papier mach\u00e9_ figures of\nDaruma are placed near the sick-bed. It is explained that red, being\na _y\u00f4_ (male, bright, positive) colour, is fitted to counteract dark,\nwintry, negative influences. The potency of red as a charm against\nsmall-pox is not unknown to European folk-lore.\n\nPhalli are coloured a bright red, or, what comes to the same thing,\ngilt. Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity, has a bright red complexion. Torii\nare painted red. Demons and stage villains have red faces, probably as\nan indication of great animal vigour.\n\nGriffis, in his 'Mikado's Empire,' tells us that \"when by reason of\ngood fortune or a lucky course of events there is great joy in a\nfamily it is customary to make _kowameshi_, or red rice, and give\nan entertainment to friends and neighbours. The rice is coloured by\nboiling red beans with it. If for any cause the colour is not a fine\nred, it is a bad omen for the family.\" There is a modern superstition\nthat if, on the 7th day of the 1st month, a male swallows seven, and\na female fourteen red beans, they will be free from sickness all their\nlives.\n\nThe _T\u014d-y\u016b-ki_, a work published in 1795, has the following:--\n\n_\"In many places along the highway at Atsumi, in the province of\nDeha, where the cliffs stand up steeply on both sides, shime-naha are\nstretched across from one cliff to another. Below these shime-naha\nthere are placed skilfully carved wooden phalli fronting the road.\nThey are very large, being seven or eight feet in length and perhaps\nthree or four feet in circumference. I thought this too shocking, and\nquestioned the inhabitants why they did so. Their answer was that it\nwas a very ancient custom. They were called Sai no kami,[164] and were\nmade afresh every year on the 15th day of the 1st month. As they were\nlocal Gods, they were by no means neglectful of them, allowing them\nto remain even when high officials passed that way. They were not at\nall, I was told, put up for the amusement of the young folks. Moreover,\nseeing a number of slips of paper attached to the shime-naha, I\ninquired what they might be. It appeared that they were fastened there\nsecretly by the women of the place as a prayer for handsome lovers.\nTruly this is one of those old customs which linger in remote parts.\nPhalli and ktenes of stone are worshipped by the country-folks in many\nplaces as the shintai of their ujigami.\"_\n\nThe selection of a rocky pass for the erection of these objects,\nand the association with them of _shime-naha_,[165] show that their\noriginal function, namely, to prevent the passage of evil beings or\ninfluences, was not forgotten. The prayers of the women betray a\nmisconception of the proper object of this cult.\n\nNear the end of the _Kogojiui_ there is a passage which makes mention\nof the phallus as a magical appliance. As it has some anthropological\ninterest, I quote it at length:\n\n_\"Of yore, in the age of the Gods, Oho-toko-nushi no Kami\n(great-earth-master-deity), on a day that he was cultivating a\nrice-field, gave his labourers the flesh of oxen to eat. At this\ntime the child of Mi-toshi no Kami (august-harvest-god) went to\nthat rice-field and spat upon the food, after which he returned and\nreported the matter to his father. Mi-toshi no Kami was wroth and let\nloose locusts on that field, so that the leaves of the young rice\nsuddenly withered away and it became like dwarf bamboos. Upon this\nOho-toko-nushi no Kami caused the diviners to ascertain by their art\nthe reason of this. They replied that it was owing to a curse sent by\nMi-toshi no Kami, and advised him to offer a white pig, a white horse,\nand a white cock in order to dispel his anger. When amends had been\nmade to Mi-toshi no Kami in the manner directed, the latter replied,\nsaying: 'Truly it was my doing. Take bare stalks of hemp, and make\nof them a reel with which to reel it, take the leaves and sweep it\ntherewith, take \"push-grass\"[166] of Heaven and push it therewith.\nTake, moreover, crow-fan[167] and fan it, and if then the locusts do\nnot depart, take ox-flesh and place it in the runnels, adding to it\nshapes of the male stem (phalli). Moreover, strew the banks of earth\nbetween the fields with water-lily seeds, ginger, walnut leaves and\nsalt.' When these instructions were carried out the leaves of the young\nrice became thick again, and the harvest was a plentiful one. This is\nthe reason why at the present day the Department of Religion worships\nMi-toshi no Kami with offerings of a white pig, a white horse, and a\nwhite cock.\"_\n\nThe facts quoted in the preceding pages show that there was some\nconfusion between the use of the male and female emblems as\nnon-religious magical appliances and their cult as deities. Primarily\nthey were symbols, next objects of magic. Finally Religion intervened,\nand by her handmaids Personification and Myth raised them to the\nrank of deities, consecrating this step still further by devoting a\nformal ritual to their service. The _kteis_ has received somewhat less\nattention than the phallus. It is no doubt identical with the Yachimata\nhime of the Michiahe _norito_, and in the _Kojiki_, its representative\nthe peach is dubbed _kami_. But the _Nihongi_ in the parallel passage\nmerely speaks of its efficacy in repelling evil spirits, and refrains\nfrom deifying or even personifying it.\n\nThe circumstance that the Sahe no Kami were worshipped by the roadsides\nand at crossways[168] led to their being looked upon as guide-Gods\nand the special friends of travellers. Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity,\nrepresented as dwelling at the eight crossways of Heaven, is said to\nhave acted as guide to Ninigi on his descent to earth. He is popularly\ncalled D\u014ds\u014djin, or Road-ancestor-deity, and is depicted as of gigantic\nstature, with a portentously long nose, which (the suggestion is not\nmine) may perhaps have a phallic morphological signification.\n\nThe worship of these deities was extremely popular in ancient Japan.\nThey were much appealed to in divination,[169] and were prayed to by\nmost travellers when starting on a journey. The phrase _chi buri no\nKami_ (Gods along the road) means the Sahe no Kami. The Sahe no Kami\nwere the _mitama par excellence_. They were also called _tamuke no\nKami_ (Gods of offerings) because travellers were in the habit of\ncarrying a _nusa-bukuro_ (offering-bag) containing hemp leaves and\nrice, of which a little was offered to each of them when passing. All\nunforeseen disasters or illnesses on a journey were attributed to a\nneglect of the worship of these deities.\n\nBut a very little advance in enlightenment shows that the sexual\ninstincts need restraint[170] rather than the stimulus which they must\nderive from such a cult. So early as A.D. 939 a deity of this kind\nwhich stood in a conspicuous position in Ki\u014dto, and was worshipped by\nall travellers, was removed to a less prominent situation. Phallicism\nultimately disappeared from official Shinto. But it lingered long in\npopular customs, and is not quite extinct even at the present day,\nespecially in eastern Japan. I have myself witnessed a procession\nin which a phallus, several feet high and painted a bright red, was\ncarried on a bier by a crowd of coolies in festal uniform, shouting,\nlaughing, and zig-zagging tumultuously from one side of the street\nto another. In the lupanars they are honoured by having a lamp of\nsimple construction kept burning before them, and are prayed to by the\nproprietor for numerous clients. The boys' festival of _dondo_, on the\n15th of the 1st month, still retains traces of its phallic origin.[171]\n\n=Oni=.--_Oni_, or demons, have no individual names. It is clear from\nthe _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ mythical narratives that the _oni_ exorcised\nby means of the peach[172] are the same as the \"thunders\" and the\n\"armies of Yomi.\" In other words, they are primarily personified\ndiseases.[173] They afterwards lost this specific character. Moto\u00f6ri\ndefines _oni_ as _ashiki kami_, or \"evil deity.\" He condemns their\nidentification by the _Wami\u00f4sh\u00f4_ with the spirits of the dead. There\nis a story of a tenth-century hero who cut off the arm of an _oni_ and\nbrought it home with him, but was tricked out of it by the owner, who\ncame to his house in the disguise of an old woman.\n\nThe _oni_ have red faces, hairy persons, horns, and sometimes only one\neye. They are said to devour men. The modern ideas respecting them are\nmostly borrowed from Buddhist sources.\n\n=Gods of Good and Ill Luck=.--Among deified human properties we may\nreckon the Gods of Good and Ill Luck produced when Izanagi washed in\nthe sea after his return from Yomi. Their names, Naobi and Magatsubi,\ncontain the elements _nao_, straight, and _maga_, crooked.\n\nNaki-sahame, the Goddess of weeping, Ta-jikara-wo (hand-strength-male),\nwhose _shintai_ is a bow, and Omohi-kane, the thought combiner, are\nrather mythical personages than deities on the effective list. It is\ndoubtful whether Mari no kami, the foot-ball God, who has three faces,\nis a personification of skill or a hazy, imaginative recollection of\nsome distinguished player.\n\nThe very terrible deity known as Bimb\u014d-gami, the God of Poverty, is of\nlater origin.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[147] See Ch. K., p. 102.\n\n[148] Probably a sepulchral dolmen. There are many in this district,\nsaid to be the tombs of Minakata's descendants.\n\n[149] The east is in Japan the soft wind--our zephyr.\n\n[150] See Index, _Nakatomi_.\n\n[151] See Index, _Ujigami_.\n\n[152] See Index, _Imibe_.\n\n[153] \"There lies in dwarfs a special acquaintance with the healing\nvirtues hidden in herbs.\"--Grimm, 'Teutonic Mythology.'\n\n[154] See above, p. 107.\n\n[155] See above, p. 93.\n\n[156] See Index, _Michiahe_.\n\n[157] \"Before strangers are allowed to enter a district certain\nceremonies are often performed by the natives of the country for the\npurpose of disarming them of their magical powers, of counteracting\nthe baleful influence which is believed to emanate from them, or of\ndisinfecting, so to speak, the tainted atmosphere with which they are\nsupposed to be surrounded.\"--Frazer's 'Golden Bough,' i. 150.\n\n[158] See Index, _Tsuina_.\n\n[159] Eustathius, the commentator on Homer, points out that the\nbarley-corn denoted the vulva with the writers upon the Bacchic Komuses.\n\n[160] I have before me a picture of a D\u014ds\u014djin. It stands at\ncross-roads, and is a phalloid natural boulder over which depends a\n_shimenaha_ supported by two bamboos. In front of it are little piles\nof stones, of which the similar offerings to the Buddhist children's\nGod Jiz\u014dsama are doubtless a survival. The modern practice of bringing\nthe Jiz\u014d of the neighbourhood and dumping them down before the lodging\nof a newly-married couple is no doubt a similar case of survival. A\ncustom which began with the D\u014ds\u014djin is continued with the Jiz\u014d, which\nnow occupy their place at crossways.\n\n[161] We may compare with this an old English custom mentioned by Brand\nof the priests blessing candles at Candlemas and distributing them to\nthe people, \"so that the Divil may fly out of the habitation.\"\n\n[162] See above, p. 93.\n\n[163] _Phaseolus radiatus_.\n\n[164] The modern spelling _sai_ implies an altered conception of the\nfunction of these objects. It means good luck, a vaguer and more\ngeneral idea than _sahe_, which means prevention (of disease).\n\n[165] See Index.\n\n[166] The names of plants.\n\n[167] The names of plants.\n\n[168] Crossways had a special sanctity in many countries. The Herm\u00e6 of\nancient Greece stood at crossways.\n\n[169] See Index, _Tsuji-ura_.\n\n[170] Measures were taken in ancient Greece to check the excesses of\nthe Bacchanalian rites.\n\n[171] For further evidence on this subject, Dr. Buckley's 'Phallicism\nin Japan' (Chicago, 1895), the _Nihongi_, i. 11, and Dr. Griffis's\n'Religions of Japan' may be consulted.\n\n[172] Nihongi, i. 30.\n\n[173] According to St. Augustine, the devils of Scripture are our\npassions and unbridled appetites.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE PRIESTHOOD.\n\n\nShinto illustrates the principle enunciated by Herbert Spencer, that\n\"in early stages of social evolution the secular and the sacred are\nbut little distinguished.\" The Mikado was at the same time high priest\nand king. There was no well-marked distinction between secular and\nreligious ceremonies. The functionaries who performed the latter\nhad no specially sacerdotal character and no distinctive costume.\nThe Jingikwan, or Department of Religion, was simply a Government\nbureau, and the rites celebrated in its chapel were as much Government\nproceedings as the issuing of decrees or the collection of taxes.\nAlmost any official might be called upon to discharge religious\nfunctions. The local governors on their appointment made a round of\nvisits for worship to all the shrines in their jurisdiction. All the\nprincipal shrines had State endowments. The word _matsuri-goto_,\ngovernment, is simply _matsuri_, a religious festival, with the\ntermination _koto_, thing, which adds nothing to its etymological\nsignificance. Hirata says that the worship of the Gods is the source of\nGovernment--nay, it is Government. The same word _miya_ (august-house)\nwas in common use both for shrines and palaces. There was, however,\na beginning of a differentiation of sacred and secular functions.\nThe Mikado delegated some of his religious duties to the Nakatomi\nHouse, and, as we shall see, other religious duties were hereditary in\nother families. Thus a Sun-worship Be, or hereditary corporation, was\nestablished in 577. One version of the myth of Ohonamochi represents\nhim as giving up his authority with the words, \"Let the august\ngrandchild direct the public affairs of which I have charge: I will\nretire and direct secret matters.\" Evidently we have here an echo of\nsome actual separation of civil and religious authority. Far on into\nhistorical times the guardians of the \"Great Shrine\" of Ohonamochi\nin Idzumo retained a title (_kuni no miyakko_) which, like that of\npontifex at Rome, implied the performance of secular duties. In the\nreign of Kwammu (782-806) it was found that the local nobility (_kuni\nno miyakko_), many of whom still acted as governors, neglected their\ncivil functions, on the pretence that their time was occupied by\nreligious duties. A decree was therefore issued that in future no local\nnobles should hold the office of civil governor.\n\n=The Mikado=.--The chief priest of Shinto is the Mikado himself. Jimmu,\nthe legendary founder of the dynasty, is represented as performing\nsacrifice in person. Jing\u014d is said to have acted on one occasion as\n_kannushi_. In historical times Mikados presided personally over the\nceremonies of Nihiname, Shinkonjiki, Kanname, and other festivals. Even\nat the present day the Mikado's priestly functions are not entirely\nobsolete.\n\n=Nakatomi=.--For many centuries most of the Mikado's sacerdotal\nfunctions have been delegated. In the Jimmu legend there is mention of\nthe appointment of a Michi no Omi (minister of the way) as ruler of a\nfestival in honour of Taka-musubi. At the dawn of history we find the\nNakatomi hereditary corporation the recognized vicars of the Mikado.\nTradition traces their descent from the God Koyane. The most probable\netymology of Nakatomi explains it as put for _Naka-tsu-omi_, that is\nto say, the minister of the middle. Hirata understands by this that\nthe Nakatomi were mediators between the Gods and the Mikado, reciting\nthe Mikado's _norito_ to the Gods, and communicating to him their\ninstructions received by divination. In Shinto, however, there was no\nindispensable sacerdotal mediator. There was nothing to prevent the\nMikado, or any one, from holding direct communication with the deities.\n\nA branch of the Nakatomi House, which in the seventh century took\nthe name of Fujihara, was famous in later history. Up to 1868 the\nnominal Prime Ministers and Regents were invariably taken from it.\nThe officials of the Jingikwan, or Department of Religion, were\nlargely Nakatomi, as were also the Chokushi, or Imperial envoys to\nthe local shrines. Yet the Nakatomi were hardly what we should call\na priestly caste, like the Levites or Brahmins. The local priesthood\nwere not ordinarily Nakatomi, and many of this House held purely civil\nappointments.\n\nThe Jingikwan took precedence even of the Daj\u014dkwan, or Grand Council\nof State. It was presided over by an official called Haku. He had the\nsupreme control of all the Shinto State ceremonies, and authority over\nthe local priesthood. He was assisted by a vice-president, and had\na staff of Imbe, Urabe, and clerks. The Haku took the place of the\nMikado when the latter was prevented by illness from offering his daily\nprayers. From the eleventh century up till quite recently the Haku was\none of the Shirakaha family, who trace their descent from the Mikado\nKwazan (985-6), and enjoyed the title of _\u00d4_, or prince. As explained\nabove, the Nakatomi were practically the Imperial family.\n\n=Imbe=.--The Imbe were another hereditary corporation, descended, it\nwas said, from the God Futodama (great-gift). Their chief business was\nto prepare the offerings, and their name Imi-be (_imi_ means avoidance,\nor religious abstinence) has reference to the care with which they\navoided all sources of impurity in doing so. The Imbe, after praying to\nthe Mountain-God, cut down with a sacred (_imi_) axe the trees required\nfor shrines, or at least began the work, leaving it to be completed by\nordinary workmen. They also dug the foundations with a sacred (_imi_)\nmattock. Two of the _norito_, namely, the Ohotono and the Mikado,\nwere read by them. It was also their duty, at least at one period, to\ndeliver the regalia to the Mikado at his coronation.\n\nA Chinese description of Japan, written long before the _Kojiki_ or\n_Nihongi_, gives the following account of what were in all probability\nthe predecessors of the Imbe:--\n\n\"_They (the Japanese) appoint a man whom they call an 'abstainer.' He\nis not allowed to comb his hair, to wash, to eat flesh, or to approach\nwomen. When they are fortunate, they make him presents, but if they are\nill, or meet with disaster, they set it down to the abstainer's failure\nto keep his vows, and unite to put him to death._\"[174]\n\nThis is a description of a typical ascetic. In the Imbe of historical\ntimes we have the closely allied idea of scrupulous attention to\nreligious purity. But they were not celibates or vegetarians except _ad\nhoc_ when a festival was impending, and so far from neglecting the care\nof their persons, strict cleanliness was incumbent upon them.\n\n=Urabe=.--A third hereditary religious corporation in ancient Japan\nwas that of the diviners or Urabe. They are mentioned in the _Nihongi_\nunder the date A.D. 585. They were divided at a later period into four\nbranches, belonging respectively to the provinces of Iki, Tsushima,\nIdzu, and Hitachi. Twenty of these diviners were attached to the\nJingikwan. It was their duty to decide by the deer's shoulder-blade\nor tortoise-shell divination such matters as were referred to them\nby the superior officials of the department. Urabe were despatched\nto the provinces to fetch the rice which was used in the Ohonihe\nceremony. It was also their duty to take away and throw into a river\nthe _harahe-tsu-mono_, or offerings of purification. For many centuries\nthis office has been in the hands of the Yoshida family, whose\nexorbitant pretensions fill Hirata with indignation.\n\nThe Nakatomi, Imbe, Urabe, and \u00d4 (princes of the Shirakaha House),\nconstitute what are called the Shi-sei, or four surnames of the\nJingikwan.\n\n=Saishu=.--The high-priest at Ise was called Saishu, or worship-master.\nThis office was hereditary in the Fujinami family, a branch of the\nNakatomi.\n\n=Daig\u016bji=.--The high-priests of Atsuta, Kashima, Usa, and Aso were\ntermed Daig\u016bji, or great-shrine-functionaries. There was a Dai-g\u016b-ji at\nIse, subordinate to the Saishu. This office was also hereditary.\n\n=Kannushi=.--Kannushi is for _kami-nushi_, that is, deity-master. It is\nthe most general word for Shinto priest. Properly it is only the chief\npriest of the shrine who is so designated. The Kannushi are appointed\nby the State. In early times their duties were performed by officials\nwho already held secular posts. In 820 a decree was made prohibiting\nthis practice, as it was found that such Kannushi neglected the care of\nthe shrines of which they had charge. At the present time many Kannushi\ncombine other avocations with their sacerdotal functions. The title\nmay even be conferred on a layman by way of honour. The late famous\nactor Danjuro was an example. Kannushi are not exempted from military\nservice. They are not celibates, and may return to the laity whenever\nthey please. It is only when engaged in worship that they wear the\ndistinctive dress of their office, which consists of a loose gown,\nfastened at the waist with a girdle, and a black cap called _eboshi_,\nbound round the head with a broad white fillet. Even this is not really\na sacerdotal costume, but simply one of the old official dresses of the\nMikado's Court. No special education is necessary for the discharge of\nthe duties of a Kannushi, which consist in the recital of the annual\nprayers and in attending to the repair of the shrine.\n\n=Hafuri or H\u014dri=.--The hafuri are priests of an inferior grade.\nThis word, though now written with Chinese characters which mean\n\"prayer-official,\" is connected with the verb _hoburu_ or _hafuru_,\nto slaughter, to throw away. _H\u014dmuru_, to bury, is another form of\nthe same word. The _Nihongi_ says that in 642, at the bidding of the\nvillage hafuri, horses and cattle were killed as a sacrifice in order\nto procure rain. The high-priest of the God Minagata at Suha is styled\nOho-hafuri (great hafuri). At the festival of this God the heads of\nseventy-five deer are presented as offerings, while the flesh is eaten\nby the priests. If others than the priests wish to partake of it\nwithout pollution, they get chopsticks from the priests which answer\nthis purpose. These facts point to the conclusion that the hafuri were\noriginally sacrificers. Offerings of animal food were common in ancient\ntimes.\n\nThe term _hafuri-tsu-mono_ (flung-away-things) is used as equivalent to\n_harahi-tsu-mono_ (expiatory offerings), and is also applied to funeral\nofferings.\n\n=Negi=.--This was another name for priests of lower rank. The word is\nprobably connected with _negafu_, to pray. The negi of Miha and Mikami\nare called imi-bi (fire-avoid) because they are specially careful to\navoid impurity in respect to fire. They will not use the same fire for\ncooking as other people.\n\n=Miyakko=.--The hereditary chief priests of Kitsuki in Idzumo and the\naffiliated shrine of Hinokuma in Kir were called _miyakko_, a term\nwhich originally meant \"local governor.\"\n\n=Priestesses.=--There are several categories of priestesses attached\nto Shinto shrines. Their mythical prototype is Uzume, the Goddess who\ndanced before the cave into which the Sun-Goddess retired when insulted\nby her brother Susa no wo.\n\n=Saiw\u00f6=.--At the beginning of every reign, an unmarried princess\nof the Imperial blood was chosen by divination and consecrated to\nthe service of the Sun-Goddess at Ise. For three years previous to\ntaking up her duties she went every first day of the month to an\n_imi-dono_ (sacred-hall) and worshipped towards the Great Shrine\nof Ise. This was called the _mi-tose no mono-imi_, or \"three years'\npurity.\" The Saiw\u00f6 is also called Itsuki no miya or Saig\u016b, sacred or\nworship-palace--properly the name of her residence. There was a similar\nappointment to the shrine of Kamo, where the Ujigami of the Mikados\nwas worshipped. She was also called Saiw\u00f6, and both herself and her\nresidence were termed Sai-in, that is, \"sacred hall.\" These offices\nwere discontinued early in the thirteenth century.\n\n=Kamu no ko= (God-child).--The Kamu no ko were also called _miko_,\naugust child, or sometimes _mono-imi_, that is, avoiders of (impure)\nthings. They were young girls attached to all the principal shrines\nfor the performance of the kagura dances, and cooking the food for\nofferings. They also occasionally became the medium of divinely\ninspired utterances. From the _Yengishiki_ we learn that at that time\nthere were a number of kamuko in the palace for the service of the\nnumerous shrines there. They were appointed at the age of seven or\nupwards from the families of the local nobles (miyakko). Their places\nwere supplied by others when they got married.\n\nAt Kumano in Tango there are certain families whose female children\nare devoted to the service of the Shrine of Susa no wo. When a girl\nis born, a divine arrow flies down and sticks in the roof-tree of the\nhouse. At the age of four or five, the child thus designated is sent to\nwait on the God. Though the place is among the mountains, such children\nare never harmed by wild beasts. When they begin to show signs of\npuberty, a great dragon comes and glares fiercely at them. Thereupon\nthey return home.[175]\n\n=Ichi-ko=.--The ichi-ko or agata-miko are parish mediums who are called\nin when communication is desired with the spirits of the dead. They are\nsometimes called adzusa miko, from their use of a bow of adzusa wood\nin their conjurations. There are also strolling ichiko of indifferent\ncharacter, who for a trifling consideration will throw open the gates\nof the spirit world. These are modern institutions.\n\n=Kamube=.--The peasants who tilled the glebe lands of the shrine and\ntheir place of residence were alike termed kamu-be (God-corporation).\nThe present city of K\u014dbe takes its name from one of these. In the times\nwhen slavery was a Japanese institution there were slaves attached to\nsome of the shrines.\n\nRecent statistics give the number of Shinto priests as 14,766. Their\nmaximum salary is about \u00a320 per month.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[174] For an account of similar priests or medicine men in many other\ncountries, see 'The Golden Bough.' The Nazirite (Numbers vi.) is their\nJewish counterpart.\n\n[175] See Hirata's _Koshiden_, xviii. 23.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nWORSHIP.\n\n\nReligious conduct includes worship, morality in so far as it has\nobtained the sanction of religion, and ceremonial purity.\n\nThe term worship applies both to the forms of courtesy and respect\ntowards human beings and of reverence for the Gods. Indeed the latter\nis not a separate kind of worship, but is composed almost exclusively\nof the same elements in a new application. Nearly everything in the\nworship of the Gods is borrowed from the forms of social respect. It\nis sometimes maintained that these forms, before they become a part\nof religious ritual, pass through an intermediate stage, namely,\nthe worship of the dead, whether as ghosts or dead ancestors. This\nview is based on the hypothesis that Gods were originally deceased\nmen. It cannot well apply to Shinto, where all the Great Gods are\nnature-deities. When a Japanese greets the rising Sun by bowing his\nhead, he does so because that is already with him an habitual form\nof respect. No doubt he honours the dead in this way as well as\nthe living. But the occasions for the worship of the living so far\noutnumber those of paying respect to the dead that the latter may be\nregarded as a negligible quantity in the formation of the habit. There\nis surely nothing to prevent a man who had never worshipped ghosts or\nancestors from transferring direct to nature-deities forms of respect\narising out of the relations of living men.\n\nSeveral practices of worship, such as clapping the hands for joy and\nthe avoidance of contamination by touching a dead body, have no meaning\nin the case of the cult of the dead.\n\nWorship has a secondary but most important function. It is addressed\nnot only to the Gods but to our fellow-men. It is a means of\ncommunicating religious thoughts and emotions from man to man and from\none generation to another.\n\n=Obeisance=.--The simplest and most universal mode of showing reverence\nto the Gods is by bowing. In Shinto it is the custom to bow twice\nbefore and after praying or making an offering. The word _ogamu_, to\npray or worship, means to bend. Kneeling is also practised--one of the\n_norito_ has the phrase \"bending the knee like a deer\"--but is less\ncommon. Squatting (_kashikomaru_) is another form of obeisance.\n\n=Clapping Hands=.--Clapping hands (_kashihade_), primarily a sign of\njoy, as it still is in our nurseries, was in ancient times in Japan a\ngeneral token of respect. The _Nihongi_[176] states that the Ministers\nclapped hands in honour of the Empress when she ascended the throne.\nMore recently, this form was confined to divine worship. One of the\n_norito_ has the rubric, \"Offer three cups of sake, clap hands, and\nretire.\" The number of hand-clappings was minutely prescribed in the\nold ritual. In some ceremonies it was done thirty-two times. A silent\nhand-clapping (_shinobi-te_) was sometimes directed. It seems possible\nthat in Shinto at least this was the origin of the simple folding\nof the hands in prayer, common to so many nations, and explained by\nanthropologists as the attitude of an unresisting suppliant holding out\nhis hands for the cord.\n\n=Other Gestures=.--Respect may also be shown by raising objects to\nthe forehead or placing them on the head (_ita-daku_), as the most\nhonourable and important part of the body. This is done in the case\nof the implements used in the greater divination. Among less formal\ngestures used in worship are reverent upward looks (_awogu_), an\nalmost instinctive practice, which has its root in the idea that\nHeaven is the dwelling-place of the Gods, and has certainly nothing to\ndo with ghost-worship.\n\nI cannot point to any case of prostration or of uncovering the feet as\na form of Shinto worship. Uncovering the head is known in modern times,\nbut I do not find it mentioned in the older ritual.\n\n=Offerings=.--As the attitude of devotees towards myth varies according\nto their intelligence and culture, some distinguishing, more or less\nclearly, between the truth which it adumbrates and its fictitious\nembroidery, and others accepting it indiscriminately as absolute\nfact, as the image is by some regarded simply as an aid to devotion\nand by others as a true representation of the God, or even as the God\nhimself, so in the case of offerings, a double current of opinion is\nto be traced. There are always worshippers who well know that the God\ndoes not eat the food, drink the wine, or wear the clothing which is\nlaid upon his altar; but there are also more literal-minded people who\ncling, in the face of cogent evidence to the contrary, to the idea that\nin some ill-defined way he does benefit physically by such offerings.\nA story in the _Konjaku Monogatari_ tells how a boy, possessed of\nsuperior insight, could see the devils carrying away the offerings of\nthe purification ceremony. Even Hirata, a highly educated man, thought\nthat food-offerings lost their savour in a way that is inexplicable by\nnatural causes. Incense and burnt-offerings are adapted to the mental\ncapacity of worshippers of this class.[177] The true reason for making\nofferings, whether to Gods or to the dead, is to be sought elsewhere.\nMen feel impelled to do something to show their gratitude for the great\nbenefits which they are daily receiving, and to conciliate the future\nfavour of the powers from whom they proceed. Offerings are part of\nthe language by which the intention of the worshipper is manifested to\nGods and men. It is in this rather than in any supposed actual benefit\nthat their chief value consists. The _norito_ state explicitly that the\nofferings were symbolical. They are called _iya-jiro no mitegura_, or\nofferings in token of respect. There is frequent mention of \"fulfilling\nthe praises\" of the Gods by plenteous offerings. Symbolic gifts are, of\ncourse, not confined to religion. In ancient Greece a gift of earth and\nwater indicated a surrender of political independence.\n\nIt is on the recognition of the symbolical value of offerings that the\npractice of substituting humaner, cheaper, or more convenient articles\nrests. Shinto has many illustrations of this principle.\n\nI shall only mention Herbert Spencer's view that \"the origin of the\npractice of making offerings is to be found in the custom of leaving\nfood and drink at the graves of the dead, and as the ancestral spirit\nrose to divine rank, the refreshments placed for the dead developed\ninto sacrifices.\" It must stand or fall with his general theory of the\norigin of religion, of which the reader will form his own judgment. I\nwould suggest that the earliest offering was rather a portion of the\nordinary meal set apart in grateful recognition of the source from\nwhich it came.\n\nI find little or nothing in Shinto to bear out Jevons's opinion that\n\"the core of worship is communion. Offerings in the sense of gifts are\na comparatively modern institution both in ancestor-worship and in the\nworship of the Gods.\" Communion is, of course, out of the question in\nthe case of the various offerings of clothing and implements. Even in\nthe case of food-offerings there is no evidence in Shinto of a \"joint\nparticipation in the living flesh and blood of a sacred victim.\"[178]\n\nThe general object of making offerings is to propitiate the God. There\nare several cases in the _norito_ where they are made by way of reward\nfor their services or in bargain for future blessings.[179] Some are\nexpiatory, and are made with the object of absolving the worshipper\nfrom ritual impurity. These are called _aga-mono_, or \"ransom things.\"\n\nOfferings were frequently duplicated, no doubt in order that one set at\nleast of the things offered should be free from chance pollution.\n\nOfferings were sometimes personified, and even deified, as in the\nJimmu legend,[180] where the food-offering is styled Idzu-uka no me,\nsacred-food-female. Most of the _shintai_ were originally nothing more\nthan offerings.\n\nShinto offerings are of the most varied description. The Gods being\nconceived of as beings animated by human sentiments, it is inferred\nthat anything which would give pleasure to men is suitable for offering\nto a God.\n\n_Food and Drink_.--The primary and most important form of offering is\nfood and drink. The Jimmu legend, a very ancient document, speaks of\nnone but food-offerings. The word _nihe_, an element in the names of\nsome of the great festivals, means food-offerings. The central feature\nof the most solemn rite of Shinto, namely, the _oho-nihe_, was the\noffering of rice and sake to the Gods by the Mikado on his accession\nto the throne. The _norito_ add clothing, and the _Yengishiki_ a great\nvariety of other articles. There are several instances in history of\nthe substitution of cloth for an older food-offering. Under food are\nincluded rice, in ear and in grain, hulled and in husk, rice cakes,\nfruit, sea-ear, shell-fish, vegetables, edible seaweed, salt, sake,\nwater, deer, pigs, hare, wild boar, and birds of various kinds. In\n642 horses and cattle were sacrificed in order to produce rain. But\neven at this early period such sacrifices were condemned. They were no\ndoubt a revival in a case of national emergency of a practice which\nunder Buddhist influence had become more or less obsolete. There are\nnumerous indications that animal sacrifices were very common in the\nmost ancient times. In the _Yengishiki_ period offerings of four-footed\nanimals or their flesh were confined to four services, namely, that\nof the Food-Goddess, of the Wind-Gods, of the Road-Gods, and that for\ndriving away maleficent deities.\n\nThere is no evidence in the older Shinto records of the use of incense\nor of burnt-offerings, nor is any special importance attached to the\nblood of slaughtered animals.\n\nWhite being considered an auspicious colour, white animals were\nfrequently selected for sacrifice.\n\nAt the present time the daily offerings made to the Sun-Goddess and the\nFood-Goddess at Ise consist of four cups of _sake_, sixteen saucers\nof rice and four of salt, besides fish, birds, fruits, seaweed, and\nvegetables. The annual offerings at the tomb of the first Mikado,\nJimmu, are products of mountain, river, and sea, including _tahi_ (a\nfish), carp, edible sea-weed, salt, water, _sake_, _mochi_ (rice-cake),\nfern-flour, pheasants, and wild ducks.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n_Clothing_.--The clothing of the ancient Japanese consisted of hemp,\n_yuju_ (a fibre made of the inner bark of the paper mulberry), and\nsilk. All these materials are represented in the Shinto offerings\nenumerated in the _Yengishiki_. Silk, however, was at this time still\nsomewhat of a novelty, and, therefore, religion being conservative,\nit takes a less conspicuous place. But hemp and bark-fibre, with the\ntextiles woven from them, are very common offerings. They were more\nconvenient than perishable articles of food for sending to shrines\nat a distance from the capital, and as cloth was the currency of the\nday, it was a convenient substitute for unprocurable or objectionable\narticles. In the _Yengishiki_ so many ounces of fibre or so many pieces\nof cloth are prescribed, but at a later period a more specialized and\nconventional form, called _oho-nusa_ (great-offering), came into use.\nThe _oho-nusa_ (p. 214) consists of two wands placed side by side, from\nthe ends of which depend a quantity of hempen fibre and a number of\nstrips of paper.[181] One of the wands is of the _cleyera japonica_, or\nevergreen sacred tree. The other is a bamboo of a particular species.\nTheir use is connected with an old Japanese rule of etiquette that\npresents to a superior should be delivered attached to a branch of a\ntree, the object being doubtless to mark a respectful aloofness of\nthe giver from the receiver. The paper slips represent the _yufu_,\nor mulberry-bark fibre. The use of _yufu_ for clothing having become\nmore or less obsolete, owing to the introduction of cotton, paper,\nwhich in Japan is made of the same material, was substituted for it.\nThe _oho-nusa_ are still employed on important occasions, but for\ngeneral use they are now replaced by the well-known _gohei_ (p. 215),\nin which the hemp and one of the wands are omitted. Another form of\n_nusa_, called _ko-nusa_ (little _nusa_) or _kiri-nusa_ (cut-_nusa_),\nconsists of paper with leaves of the sacred tree chopped up and mixed\nwith rice. Travellers in ancient times carried this mixture with\nthem in a bag and made offerings of it to the phallic deities along\ntheir way. It was also used when in danger of shipwreck. The same\nsystem of \"accommodements avec le ciel\" is further illustrated by the\nsubstitution of the still more inexpensive hemp leaves for the original\nhempen fibre or fabric. If, it is argued, the God does not really eat\nthe food or wear the clothing placed on his altar, a few grains of\nrice or a few leaves of hemp will answer the purpose of expressing the\nsentiments of the worshipper just as well as more costly gifts.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThere were sometimes sets of coloured _gohei_--blue, yellow, red,\nwhite, and black. The _awo-nigi-te_ (blue-soft-articles) and\n_shira-nigi-te_ (white-soft-articles) consisted of hemp and bark fibre\nrespectively.\n\n_Tama-gushi_ are often mentioned. I take it that in this combination\n_tama_ means gift or offering, not spirit or jewel, as is taught\nby some modern Japanese authorities. _Kushi_ means skewer. The\n_tama-gushi_ are twigs of the sacred evergreen tree (_sakaki_) or of\nbamboo, with tufts of _yufu_ attached. They are, in short, a simple\nform of _nusa_ or _gohei_. They have a striking resemblance to the\n\u1f30\u03ba\u03c4\u03b7\u03c1\u1f30\u03bf\u03b9\u03c2 \u03ba\u03bb\u03ac\u03b4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c3\u03b9\u03bd (suppliant branches) mentioned in the opening lines\nof '\u0152dipus Tyrannus' and explained by Jebb as \"olive branches wreathed\nwith fillets of wool.\" In one _Nihongi_ myth, Susa no wo is said to\nhave planted _kushi_ in the rice-fields of his sister, the Sun-Goddess,\n\"by way of claiming ownership,\" says a commentator. Compare with this\nthe following quotation from Hakluyt's 'Historie of the West Indies':\n\"Every one [of the Caribs] encloseth his portion [of ground] onely\nwith a little cotton line, and they account it a matter of sacriledge\nif any pass over the cord and treade on the possession of his\nneighbour, and hold it for certayne that whoso violateth this sacred\nthing shall shortly perish.\"\n\nAlong with the alteration in the form of the _nusa_ to the present\n_gohei_ there came a change in the mental attitude of the worshipper.\nOriginally mere offerings, they were at length, by virtue of long\nassociation, looked upon as representatives of the deity. Scholars like\nMoto\u00f6ri and Hirata denounce this view as a corruption of later times,\nbut it is no doubt at present the prevailing conception. Hepburn's\nJapanese dictionary knows no other. It is illustrated by the fact that\ninstead of the worshipper bringing _gohei_ to the shrine, these objects\nare now given out by the priest to the worshipper, who takes them home\nand sets them up in his private _Kami-dana_ (God-shelf) or domestic\naltar.\n\nA further step is taken when it is believed that on festival occasions\nthe God, on a certain formula, called the _Kami-oroshi_, or \"bringing\ndown the God,\" being pronounced, descends into the _gohei_ and remains\nthere during the ceremony, taking his departure at its close. In the\nvulgar Shinto of the present day this belief in a real presence of\nthe God is associated with hypnotism.[182] Akin to the belief in an\nactual presence of a deity in the _gohei_ is their modern use in the\npurification ceremony, when they are flourished over or rubbed against\nthe person to be absolved of ritual uncleanness or to dispel any evil\ninfluences which may have attached themselves to his person. Like\nthe Homeric \u03c3\u03c4\u03ad\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1 and the host, they were occasionally used for the\nprotection of the bearer. At the present time a _gohei-katsugi_, or\n_gohei_ bearer, is synonymous with a superstitious person.\n\nSkins of oxen, boar, deer, and bear were sometimes offered to the Gods.\n\n_Jewels (tama)_ were much worn by the ancient Japanese nobility as\nornaments for the head or as necklaces and bracelets. They consisted\nof round beads, tubes (_kuda-tama_), and comma-shaped objects\n(_maga-tama_) of chalcedony, jasper, nephrite, chrysoprase, serpentine,\nsteatite or crystal. Jewels occur sometimes in the lists of Shinto\nofferings.\n\n_Mirrors_.--The ancient Japanese mirrors did not greatly differ from\nthose in use at the present day. They were made of a mixed metal, which\nis described in the myths as \"white copper,\" and were sometimes round\nand sometimes eight-cornered. The mirror figures frequently in the old\nrecords. Mirrors are among the presents made by a female chieftain to a\nMikado, and from a King of Korea to another Mikado.[183] The mirror was\nprimarily an offering, and not to the Sun-Goddess only.[184] Mirrors\nwere presented to, and even constituted the _shintai_ of other Gods as\nwell. In the _Tosa Nikki_ (A.D. 935) the author relates that during a\nstorm, an offering of _nusa_ having proved unavailing, he bethought him\nof some more acceptable gift. \"Of eyes I have a pair,\" said he, \"then,\nlet me give the God my mirror of which I have only one. The mirror was\naccordingly flung into the sea, to my very great regret. But no sooner\nhad I done so than the sea itself became as smooth as a mirror.\"\n\nMirrors do not appear among the periodical offerings enumerated in the\n_Yengishiki_, which consisted chiefly of perishable articles. They\nbelonged to a separate class called _shimp\u014d_, or divine treasures,\nwhich were not set out on the altar but stored in the treasury of the\nshrine.\n\n_Weapons_.--Swords were also among the permanent treasures of the\nshrine. Wonderful stories are related of them. One which was stolen by\na thief is said to have left him and returned to the treasury of its\nown accord. Swords were made _shintai_, and even deified.[185] The God\nworshipped at Atsuta was the sword Kusanagi, found by Susa no wo in the\ngreat serpent's tail, and the God of Isonokami was the sword called\nFutsu no Mitama (spirit of fire?) given by the Sun-Goddess to Jimmu. I\nhave no doubt that these were originally \"divine treasures,\" which owed\ntheir deification to long association with the God. A sword is one of\nthe regalia at the present day.\n\nThe principle of substitution is illustrated by the models of swords\nprescribed as offerings in the _Yengishiki_. I have seen on the top\nof Ohoyama, sacred to a Goddess named Sekison (Iha-naga-hime?), a pit\ncontaining many hundreds of tiny wooden swords which had been deposited\nthere as offerings.\n\nOther weapons which figure as offerings are spears, spear-heads,\nshields, and bows and arrows.\n\nAgricultural implements, bells, pottery, reels for reeling yarn, are\nalso mentioned. It was the custom, in the case of these and other\ndurable offerings, to offer the same objects again and again.\n\n_Human sacrifices_ formed no part of the State Shinto religion as\ndescribed in the ancient records. But there are several indications of\nthe existence of this practice in still older times. Human sacrifices\nto river-Gods have been already mentioned. We have seen that when a\nMikado died a number of his attendants were buried alive round his\ntomb, from which it may be inferred that considerations of humanity\nwould not have prevented similar sacrifices to the Gods. Cases are also\nrecorded of men being buried alive in the foundations of a bridge, a\ncastle, or an artificial island. These were called _hito-bashira_, or\nhuman pillars. The offerings of _kane-hito-gata_ (metal-man-form),\nso often mentioned in the _Yengishiki_, were perhaps by way of\nsubstitution for human victims. It is significant that the Gods of\nwater-distribution (_mikumari_), that is, the river-Gods, are specially\ndistinguished as their recipients. Similar human effigies, gilt or\nsilvered, formed part of the _oho-harahi_, or absolution offerings.\nIn this case they were intended as ransom for the offenders whose\nritual guilt was to be expiated. They were touched with the lips or\nbreathed upon before being offered. Peachwood or paper effigies might\nbe substituted, and in later times articles of clothing or anything\nwhich had been in contact with the person to be absolved. These last\nwere called _nade-mono_ (rub-thing) or _aga-mono_ (ransom-thing). When\nin danger of shipwreck the hair might be cut off and offered, on the\nprinciple of a part for the whole, as ransom to the Dragon-God. The\n_Kogo-jiui_ applies the term _aga-mono_ to the hair and nails of Susa\nno wo, which were cut off by the other Gods. The principle of ransom\nis also illustrated by the following extract from the _Shinto Mi\u014dmoku_\n(1699):--\n\n_\"At the festival of Nawoye, held at the shrine of Kokubu in the\nprovince of Owari on the 11th day of the 1st month, the Shinto priests\ngo out to the highway with banners and seize a passer-by. They wash\nand purify him, and make him put on pure clothing. He is then brought\nbefore the God. A block, a wooden butcher's knife, and chopsticks for\neating flesh are provided. Separately a figure is made to represent the\ncaptive. It is placed on the block with the captured man beside it, and\nboth are offered before the God. They are left there for one night. The\nnext morning the priests come and remove the man and the effigy. Then\nthey take clay, and, making it into the shape of a rice-cake, place it\non the captive's back, hang a string of copper cash about his neck, and\ndrive him away. As he runs off, he is sure to fall down in a faint.\nBut he soon comes to his senses. A mound is erected at the place where\nhe falls down, and the clay rice-cake deposited on it with ceremonies\nwhich are kept a profound mystery by the priestly house. Of late\nyears couriers have been caught and subjected to purification. This\nwas put a stop to. The custom is celebrated yearly, so that nowadays\neverybody is aware of it, and there are no passersby. Therefore the\npriests go to a neighbouring village and seize a man. If they catch\nnobody on the 11th, they bring in a man on the 12th.\"_\n\nThe _Nawoye_ (rectification) festival had probably the same intention\nas the _Harahi_, namely, to obtain absolution from ritual impurity,\nand the captive is therefore apparently a scape-goat. As readers of\nMr. Frazer's 'Golden Bough' need not be told, the custom has numerous\nparallels in European folk-lore. There is some difficulty in applying\nthe principle of substitution for an actual human sacrifice to a custom\nwhich was in force so recently. It does not appear probable that it\ncould have descended from such a remote antiquity as the time when real\nhuman sacrifice was known in Japan. Might not the instinct of dramatic\nmake-believe alone account for it? Confucius condemned the practice of\noffering effigies of men on funeral occasions because he thought it led\nto the substitution of living victims.\n\n_Slaves_.--Another form of human offerings was the dedication of slaves\nto the service of a shrine. Such slaves were called _kami-tsu-ko_, and\nare to be distinguished from the _kamube_, who were freemen. The gift\nby the legendary Yamatodake to a shrine of a number of Yemishi (eastern\nsavages) whom he had captured is to be understood in this sense. There\nis a more historical instance in the _Nihongi_, under the date A.D.\n469, when a seamstress was presented to the shrine of Ohonamochi. In\n562 a man was allowed to be given over to the _hafuri_ as a slave for\nthe service of the Gods instead of being burnt alive for a criminal\noffence committed by his father.\n\n_Horses_.--Presents of horses to shrines are often mentioned. They\nwere let loose in the precinct. At the present day albinos are selected\nfor this purpose, white being considered an auspicious colour. Wooden\nfigures might be substituted by those who could not afford real horses.\nAt the festivals of Gion and Hachiman men riding on hobby-horses\n(_koma-gata_) or with a wooden horse's head attached to their breasts\nformed part of the procession. They no doubt represented riding-horses\nfor the deity. In more recent times the further step was taken of\noffering pictures of horses. This practice became so common that\nspecial buildings, called _emad\u014d_ (horse-picture-gallery) were erected\nfor their accommodation. But they contained many other pictures as\nwell. The _emad\u014d_ of Kiyomidzu in Ki\u014dto and of Itsukushima in the\nInland Sea are very curious collections of this kind. They correspond\nto the _ex-voto_ churches of Roman Catholic countries.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n_Carriages_.--The Mikoshi, or carriage of the God (pp. 224, 225), in\nwhich his _shintai_ is promenaded on festival occasions, is usually\na very elaborate and costly construction. It is carried on men's\nshoulders to a _tabi no miya_ (travel-shrine) or _reposoir_ and back\nagain to the shrine. The confusion in many minds between the _shintai_\nand the _mitama_ is illustrated by the fact that a standard modern\ndictionary speaks of the Mikoshi as containing the God's _mitama_.\n\n_Shrines_.--A shrine is a species of offering. Whatever may be the\ncase in other countries, in Japan the shrine is not a development of\nthe tomb. They have no resemblance to each other. The tomb is a partly\nsubterranean megalithic vault enclosed in a huge mound of earth, while\nthe shrine is a wooden structure raised on posts some feet above the\nground. The Japanese words for shrine indicate that it is intended\nas a house for the God. _Miya_, august house, is used equally of a\nshrine and of a palace, but not of a tomb, except poetically, as when\nthe _Many\u014dshiu_ speaks of one as a _toko no miya_, or \"long home.\"\n_Araka_, another word for shrine, probably means \"dwelling-place.\"\nIn _yashiro_, a very common word for shrine, _ya_ means house and\n_shiro_ representative or equivalent. There is evidence[186] that this\nword comes to us from a time when the _yashiro_ was a plot of ground\nconsecrated for the occasion to represent a place of abode for the\ndeity. The analogy of the Roman _templum_ will occur to the classical\nscholar. The _himorogi_ (p. 226), a term which has been the subject\nof some controversy, was probably, as Hirata suggests, at first an\nenclosure of _sakaki_ twigs stuck in the ground so as to represent a\nhouse. It is probable that in all these cases the make-believe preceded\nany actual edifice, and was not a substitute for it.\n\nThere is a somewhat rare word, namely _oki-tsuki_, properly a mound,\nwhich is applied to both tombs and shrines. Old sepulchral mounds have\nfrequently a small shrine on their summit.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe Shinto shrine is by no means so costly an edifice as its Buddhist\ncounterpart. The _hokora_,[187] as the smaller shrines are called,\nare in many cases so small as to be easily transportable in a cart.\nEven the great shrines of Ise (pp. 228, 229) are of no great size and\nof purposely plain and simple construction. In 771 a \"greater shrine\"\nhad only eighteen feet frontage. Some of the more important _yashiro_\nhave smaller buildings attached to them, such as an _emad\u014d_, or\ngallery of votive pictures; a _haiden_, or oratory, where the official\nrepresentative of the Mikado performed his devotions, and a stage for\nthe sacred pantomimic dance. A number of smaller shrines (_sessha_ or\n_massha_) dedicated to other Gods are usually to be seen within the\nenclosure. No accommodation is provided for the joint worship of the\ncongregation of believers, which is indeed exceptional. The individual\nworshipper stands outside in front of the shrine, calls the attention\nof the deity by ringing a gong provided for the purpose, bows his head,\nclaps or folds his hands, puts up his petition, and retires. A large\nbox stands conveniently for receiving such small contributions of\ncopper cash as he may make.\n\nIn many shrines more than one deity is worshipped. These are called\n_ahi-dono no kami_, that is to say, deities of a joint shrine. They\nmay, like Izanagi and Izanami, have some mythical connexion with each\nother or they may not. The _Yengishiki_ enumerates 3,132 officially\nrecognized shrines. Of these 737 were maintained at the cost of\nthe Central Government. Some had permanent endowments of lands and\npeasants. Many minor shrines existed in all parts of the country. The\nshrines are classed as great and small, the respective numbers being\n492 and 2,640. They differed in the quantity of offerings and in the\ncircumstance that in the former case the offerings were placed on an\naltar and in the latter on the ground. Thirty-six shrines were situated\nin the palace itself. The most important deities worshipped here were\neight in number, comprising five obscurely differentiated Musubi, the\nGoddess of Food, Oho-miya-no me, and Koto-shiro-nushi. There were\nalso several Well-Gods, a Sono no Kami, a Kara no Kami (Korean God),\na Thunder-God, a pair of _sake_ deities, and others of whom little is\nknown.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn enumerating the officially recognized shrines throughout the rest\nof the country the _Yengishiki_ unfortunately, in the great majority\nof cases, does not name the God, but only the locality where the\nshrine was situated, as when we speak of Downing Street, meaning the\ncollective officialdom of the place. This is in accordance with the\nimpersonal habit of the Japanese mind already referred to. Strange to\nsay, in some even of the most popular shrines, the identity of the God\nis doubtful or unknown. Kompira is a conspicuous example. According\nto some he is a demon, the alligator of the Ganges. Others say that\nBuddha himself became \"the boy Kompira\" in order to overcome the\nheretics and enemies of religion who pressed upon him one day as he was\npreaching. The medi\u00e6val Shintoists identified him with Susa no wo. More\nrecently it has been declared officially that he is really Kotohira,\nan obscure Shinto deity, whose name has a resemblance in sound to that\nof the Indian God. His popularity has been little affected by these\nchanges.[188]\n\nIn 965 a selection of sixteen of the more important shrines was made to\nwhich special offerings were sent. These were as follows:--\n\n _Name of Shrine_. _Province_. _God or Gods Worshipped_.\n\n Ise. Ise. Sun-Goddess and Food-Goddess.\n Ihashimidzu. Yamashiro. Hachiman, Jing\u014d.\n Kamo. Do. ?\n Matsunowo. Do. Thunder-God.\n Hirano. Do. Probably Gods of the Cooking\n Furnace and New Rice.\n Inari. Do. Food-Goddess.\n Kasuga. Yamato. Koyane and his wife, Take mika-dzuchi,\n Futsunushi.\n Ohoharano. Yamashiro. Do.\n Miha. Yamato. Ohonamochi.\n Oho-yamato. Do. Do.\n Isonokami. Do. Futsu no mitama (a deified sword).\n Hirose. Do. Food-Goddess.\n Tatsuta. Do. Wind-Gods.\n Sumiyoshi. Settsu. Sea-deities.\n Nifu. -- Doubtful.\n Kibune. Yamashiro. Rain-dragon-God.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[176] II. 395.\n\n[177] The old Hebrew idea (Genesis viii. 21) was that the food actually\nreached God in the form of the fragrant fire-distilled essence, and\nthus gratified him as an agreeable gift. Hastings, 'Dict. of the Bible.'\n\n[178] Robertson Smith, 'Religion of the Semites,' p. 345.\n\n[179] See Index, _Toshigohi_.\n\n[180] See above, p. 119.\n\n[181] Reminding us of Homer's \u03c3\u03c4\u1f10\u03bc\u03bc\u03b1\u03b1 \u03b8\u03b5\u03bf\u1f36\u03bf, which consisted of tufted\nwool attached to a wand (\u03c3\u03ba\u1fc6\u03c0\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf\u03bd). The ancient Jews made offerings of\nwool.\n\n[182] See Index, 'Inspiration.'\n\n[183] _Nihongi_, i. 193, 251.\n\n[184] See above, p. 70.\n\n[185] Agamemnon's sword was worshipped in Greece in the time of\nPausanias.\n\n[186] _Nihongi_, ii. 293.\n\n[187] See illustration in Chapter XIV.\n\n[188] Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 50.\n\nIn 991 there were added the three following:--\n\n _Name of Shrine._ _Province._ _God or Gods Worshipped._\n Yoshida. Yamashiro. Same as Kasuga.\n Hirota. Settsu. Sun-Goddess's aratama.\n Kitano. Yamashiro. Temmang\u016b.\n\nIn 994 there was added\n\n _Name of Shrine._ _Province._ _God or Gods Worshipped._\n Mume no Miya. Yamashiro. Ancestor of Tachibana family.\n\nThe next to be added was\n\n _Name of Shrine._ _Province._ _God or Gods Worshipped._\n Gion. Yamashiro. Susa no wo.\n\nThe number was finally raised to twenty-two in 1039 by the addition of\n\n _Name of Shrine._ _Province._ _God or Gods Worshipped._\n Hiye or Hiyoshi. Yamashiro. Ohonamochi.\n\nProximity to the capital no doubt influenced this selection. Idzumo,\nKashima, Katori, Usa, Suha, and other important shrines are omitted.\nAll the principal deities, however, are included in this list.\n\nAt the present day there are 193,476 Shinto shrines in Japan. Of these\nthe great majority are very small and have no priests or revenues.\nCapt. Brinkley, in his 'Japan and China,' gives the following list of\nthe ten most popular shrines in Japan at the present day: \"Ise, Idzumo,\nHachiman (Ky\u014dto), Temmang\u016b (Hakata), Inari (Ky\u014dto), Kasuga (Nara),\nAtago (Ky\u014dto), Kompira (Sanuki), Suiteng\u016b (T\u014dky\u014d), and Suwa (Shinano).\"\n\nVery many houses have their _kamidana_ or domestic shrine, where the\nujigami, the ancestor, and the trade-God, with any others whom there is\nsome special reason for honouring, are worshipped.\n\n_Tori-wi_.--The approach to a Shinto shrine is marked by one or more\ngateways or arches of the special form shown in the illustration (p.\n233) and known as _tori-wi_. This word means literally \"bird-perch,\"\nin the sense of a henroost. By analogy it was applied to anything of\nthe same shape, as a clothes-horse, or the lintel of a door or gateway.\nAs an honorary gateway, the _tori-wi_ is a continental institution\nidentical in purpose and resembling in form the _turan_ of India, the\n_pailoo_ of China, and the _hong-sal-mun_ of Korea. When introduced\ninto Japan at some unknown date (the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ do not\nmention them) the Japanese called them _tori-wi_, which then meant\nsimply gateway, but subsequently acquired its present more specific\napplication. It sometimes serves the purpose of marking the direction\nof a distant object of worship.[189]\n\n_Hyaku-do ishi_.--Near the front of the shrine may sometimes be seen\na _hyaku-do ishi_, or hundred-time-stone, from which the worshipper\nmay go back and forward to the door of the shrine a hundred times,\nrepeating a prayer each time.\n\nA _sori-bashi_ or _taiko-bashi_, representing the mythical floating\nbridge of Heaven (the rainbow), is also to be seen at the approach to\nsome shrines.\n\n=Prayer=.--Private individual prayer is seldom mentioned in the old\nShinto records, but of the official liturgies or _norito_ we have\nabundant examples in the _Yengishiki_ and later works. The authors are\nmostly unknown, but they were no doubt members of the Nakatomi House.\nTheir literary quality is good. Moto\u00f6ri observes that the elegance of\ntheir language is an offering acceptable to the Gods. The Sun-Goddess\nis represented in the _Nihongi_ as expressing her satisfaction with the\nbeauty of the _norito_ recited in her honour.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe _norito_ are addressed sometimes to individual deities, sometimes\nto categories of deities, as \"the celebrated Gods\" or \"the Gods\nof Nankaido,\" and sometimes to all the Gods without exception.\nThey contain petitions for rain in time of drought, good harvests,\npreservation from earthquake and conflagration, children, health\nand long life to the sovereign and enduring peace and prosperity to\nhis rule, the safety of his ambassadors to foreign countries, the\nsuppression of rebellion, the repulse of invasion, success to the\nImperial arms, and general prosperity to the Empire. Sometimes the\nMikado deprecates the wrath of deities whose services had been vitiated\nby ritual impurity, or whose shrines had suffered from neglect or\ninjury.\n\nThe phrase \"fulfilling of praises,\" which occurs frequently in the\n_norito_, must not be taken literally. It is really equivalent to\n\"show all due honour to,\" and usually applies to the offerings which\nwere made in token of respect. There is very little of praise in the\nordinary meaning of the word. The language of the _norito_ presents a\nstriking contrast to the profusion of laudatory epithets and images of\nthe Vedas, or the sublime eulogies of the Psalms of David. The only\nelement of this kind is a few adjectival prefixes to the names of the\nGods, such as _oho_, great; _take_, brave; _taka_, high; _haya_, swift;\n_toyo_, rich; _iku_, live; _yori_, good, and perhaps one or two more.\n\nThe _do ut des_ principle of offerings is plainly avowed in some of the\n_norito_.\n\nBesides petitions we find also announcements to the Gods, as of the\nappointment of a priestess, the bestowal on the deity of a degree\nof rank, and the beginning of a new reign. The Mongol invasion was\nnotified to Ise in 1277 with the happiest results.\n\nThe _Yengishiki_ contains no _norito_ addressed to deceased Mikados,\nbut several examples of this class, due no doubt to Chinese influence,\nhave come down to us from the ninth century. In 850 Jimmu was prayed\nto for the Mikado, who was dangerously ill, and who died soon after.\nIn the same year, \"evil influences\" (the Mikado's illness?) were\nattributed to his wrath, and envoys despatched to his tomb, in order to\nascertain whether he might not have been offended by some pollution to\nit. The Empress Jing\u014d was prayed to in 866 under similar circumstances.\nOther _norito_ announce to the preceding Mikado the accession of a new\nsovereign or the appointment of a Prince Imperial.\n\nThe _norito_ contain few petitions for which we might not easily find\nparallels in modern Europe, but a comparison with Christian, Jewish,\nor even Mohammedan and Buddhist formul\u00e6 reveals enormous lacun\u00e6 in the\nancient Japanese conception of the scope of prayer. Moral and spiritual\nblessings are not even dreamt of. Such prayers as \"that we may live a\ngodly, righteous, and sober life,\" \"to grant us true repentance and\nHis Holy Spirit,\" are foreign to its character. \"Lead us not into\ntemptation\" and \"Thy will be done\" are conspicuously absent. No Shinto\nGod is petitioned to \"endue the Sovereign with heavenly gifts,\" nor\nthat \"after this life he may attain everlasting joy and felicity.\"\nIndeed, there is no reference anywhere to a future life--a significant\nfact, in view of the circumstance that human sacrifices at the tombs of\ngreat men were at one time common. The commonly received opinion that\nthe latter indicate a belief in a future state is, perhaps, after all,\nerroneous. Nor does any one beseech a Shinto deity to send down on the\npriesthood the healthful spirit of his grace.\n\nNumerous specimens of _norito_ will be found in Chap. XII.\n\nIn connexion with the attempted revival early in the last century of\nthe pure Shinto of ancient times, Hirata composed a book of prayer\nentitled _Tamadasuki_, not for official or temple use, but as an aid to\nprivate devotion. It was not printed until some years after his death,\nand I doubt whether it was ever much used even by Shinto devotees.\nNotwithstanding the author's professed abhorrence of Buddhism and\nhis condemnation of Chinese religious notions, the _Tamadasuki_ owes\nmuch to these sources. He instructs his followers to \"get up early,\nwash the face and hands, rinse the mouth, and cleanse the body. Then\nturn towards Yamato, clap hands twice, and bow down the head\" before\noffering their petitions.\n\nPrayers to the Shinto Gods, even at the present day, are mostly for\nmaterial blessings. Anything more which they contain may be confidently\nset down to Buddhist influence. There are prayers on reclaiming a\nnew piece of ground, building a house, sowing a rice-field, prayers\nfor prosperity in trade and domestic happiness, prayers promising to\ngive up _sake_, gambling, or profligacy (Buddhist), thanks for escape\nfrom shipwreck or other danger, &c. Sometimes the prayer is written\nout on paper and deposited in the shrine, perhaps accompanied by the\npetitioner's hair or a picture having some reference to the subject\nof his prayer. When it is answered, small paper _nobori_ (flags) are\nset up at the shrine or its approaches. A common prayer at the present\nday is for \"Peace to the country, safety to the family, and plentiful\ncrops.\"\n\n=Oaths and Curses=.--The _Nihongi_ mentions several cases of Heaven or\nthe Gods being appealed to for the sanction of an oath. Thus in 562\nan accused person declares: \"This is false and not true. If this is\ntrue, let calamity from Heaven befall me.\" In 581 tribes of Yemishi\npromised submission to the Mikado, saying: \"If we break this oath, may\nall the Gods of Heaven and Earth and also the spirits of the Emperors\ndestroy our race.\" In 644 the Mikado made an oath appealing to the Gods\nof Heaven and Earth, and saying: \"On those who break this oath Heaven\nwill send a curse and Earth a plague, demons will slay them, and men\nwill smite them.\" The author of the _Nihongi_, however, is grievously\nopen to the suspicion of adorning his narrative liberally with\nrhetorical ornaments of Chinese origin. The following is an example of\na nonreligious oath said to have been made by a Korean king in 249:\n\"If I spread grass for us to sit on, it might be burnt with fire; if\nI took wood for a seat, it might be washed away by water. Therefore,\nsitting on a rock, I make this solemn declaration of alliance.\" A curse\npronounced over a well in 456 has likewise no religious quality. It is\nsimply \"This water may be drunk by the people only: royal persons alone\nmay not drink of it.\" The instructions of the Sea-God to Hohodemi,\n\"When thou givest this fishhook back to thy brother, say, 'A hook of\npoverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of downfall,'\" are a kind of curse.\nOn the whole, oaths and curses of a religious character are rare in\nJapanese literature. Profanity is almost unknown. A mild appeal to the\n\"three holy things\" (of Buddhism) or to the Sun, or a wish that divine\npunishment (_bachi_) may strike one's enemy, are almost the only things\nof the kind. And they are infrequent. Probably this is due to the\nwant of a deep-seated sentiment of piety in the Japanese nation. Such\nexpressions as \"Thank God,\" \"Good-bye,\" \"Adieu,\" \"God forbid,\" are also\nrare, whether in speech or in literature. The Mohammedans, with their\ncontinual use of the name of Allah, are the antipodes of the Japanese\nin this respect.\n\n=Rank of Deities=.--A system of official ranks, borrowed from China,\nwas introduced into Japan in the seventh century. There were at one\ntime forty-eight different grades, each with its distinct costume,\ninsignia, and privileges. The first notice of deities being granted\nsuch ranks occurs in 672, when we are told that three deities were\n\"raised in quality\" on account of useful military information supplied\nby their oracles. This practice became systematized in the period\n749-757, and was very prevalent for several centuries longer. A rain\nof volcanic ashes which fell in many of the eastern provinces in 838\nwas attributed by the diviners to the jealousy of a Goddess, the\ntrue wife of a God, and mother by him of five children, at a step of\nofficial rank granted by the Mikado to a younger rival. Tant\u00e6 ne animis\nc\u00e6lestibus ir\u00e6! In 851 Susa no wo and Oho-kuni-nushi received the\nlower third rank and in 859 were promoted to the upper third rank. The\nMikado Daigo, on his accession in 898, raised the rank of 340 shrines.\nIn 1076 and 1172 wholesale promotions of deities took place. After this\ntime the custom fell into neglect, owing partly to the circumstance\nthat many of the Gods had reached the highest class and could not be\npromoted any further. Several of the most important deities were not\nhonoured in this way. The Sun-Goddess and the Food-Goddess were among\nthis number. The same deity might have different ranks in different\nplaces. The lowness of the ranks with which the inferior deities were\nthought to be gratified is rather surprising. It throws a light on\nthe mental attitude of the Japanese towards them. Beings who could be\nsupposed to take pleasure in a D.S.O. or a brevet majority must have\nseemed to them not very far exalted above humanity.\n\n=Kagura=.--This word is written with two Chinese characters which\nmean \"God-pleasure.\" It is a pantomimic dance with music, usually\nrepresenting some incident of the mythical narrative. Uzume's dance\nbefore the cave to which the Sun-Goddess had retired is supposed to be\nits prototype. Important shrines have a stage and a corps of trained\ngirl-dancers (_miko_), for the purpose of these representations. Kagura\nwas also performed in the Naishidokoro (the chamber in the Palace where\nthe Regalia were kept), and under Chinese influences became a very\nsolemn function, in which numerous officials were concerned. Many kinds\nof music, song, and dance are included in this term. It was the parent\nin the fourteenth century of the No, a sort of religious lyrical drama,\nand less directly of the modern popular drama.\n\nSome authorities say that the music of the Kagura consisted at first\nof flutes made by opening holes between the joints of a bamboo, of\nwooden castanets, and of a stringed instrument made by placing six bows\ntogether.\n\n=Pilgrimages=.--Paying visits is a recognized mode of showing respect\nto Gods as it is to men. The Mikado himself formerly paid frequent\nvisits to the shrines of Ki\u014dto and the vicinity, and in all periods\nof history embassies were continually despatched by him to the great\nshrines of the Empire. The private worshipper, besides visiting the\nshrine of his local deity, generally makes it his business, at least\nonce in his lifetime, to pay his respects to more distant Gods, such\nas those of Ise, Miha, Ontake, Nantai (at Nikko), Kompira, Fujiyama,\nMiyajima, &c. Intending pilgrims associate themselves in clubs called\n_K\u014d_, whose members each contribute five sen a month to the pilgrimage\nfund. When the proper time of year comes round, a certain number of\nmembers are chosen by lot to represent the club at the shrine of\ntheir devotion, all expenses being defrayed out of the common fund.\nOne of the number who has made the pilgrimage before acts as leader\nand cicerone. As a general rule the pilgrims wear no special garb,\nbut those bound for Fuji, Ontake, or other high mountains may be\ndistinguished by their white clothes and sloping broad hats. While\nmaking an ascent, they often ring a bell and chant the prayer,\n\"May our six senses be pure and the weather fair on the honourable\nmountain.\"[190] Many thousand pilgrims annually ascend Fuji, and over\n11,000 paid their devotions at Ise on a recent New Year's day. Almost\nall Japanese cherish the hope of visiting this shrine at least once\nin their lives, and many a Tokio merchant thinks that his success in\nbusiness depends largely on his doing so. Pilgrimages are an ancient\ninstitution in Japan. It is recorded that in the ninth month of 934,\n10,000,000 pilgrims of all classes visited the shrines of Ise.\n\nBoys and even girls often run away from their homes and beg their way\nto Ise. This is regarded as a pardonable escapade.\n\nWhen an actual visit to a shrine is inconvenient or impossible, the\nworshipper may offer his devotions from a distance. This is called\n_em-pai_, or distant worship. Special shrines are provided in some\nplaces where the God will accept such substituted service. Processions\nmay be joint formal visits of the worshippers to the God's shrine,\nbut they oftener consist in attending him on an excursion from it to\nsome place in the neighbourhood and back again. They much resemble in\ncharacter the carnival processions of Southern Europe.\n\n=Circumambulation=.--The Brahmanic and Buddhist ceremony of\n_pradakchina_, that is, going round a holy object with one's right\nside turned to it, is not found in Shinto. The principle, however,\non which it rests--namely, that of following or imitating the course\nof the Sun--is recognized in the Jimmu legend. Jimmu says:[191] \"If\nI should proceed against the Sun to attack the enemy, I should act\ncontrary to the way of Heaven.... Bringing on our backs the might of\nthe Sun-Goddess, let us follow her rays and trample them down.\" It is\ndifficult to reconcile with this a passage in the _Kojiki_[192] where\nit is counted unlucky for the Mikado to travel from East to West,\nbecause in so doing he must turn his back upon the Sun.\n\nHorses presented to shrines were led round them eight times.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[189] See a contribution by Mr. S. Tuke to the Japan Society's\n_Transactions_, vol. iv., 1896-7, and a paper by the present writer\nin the _T.A.S.J._ for December, 1899. Mr. B. H. Chamberlain holds a\ndifferent view, which is stated in the _Journal_ of the Anthropological\nInstitute, 1895, and in 'Things Japanese,' fourth edition.\n\n[190] See Index, _Rokkon Sh\u014dj\u014d_.\n\n[191] _Nihongi_, i. 113.\n\n[192] Chamberlain's _Kojiki_, p. 312.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nMORALS, LAW, AND PURITY.\n\n\nIn the previous chapter we dealt with the positive side of religious\nconduct. We have now to examine its negative aspect, namely, those\nprohibitions which fall under the general description of morality and\nceremonial purity.\n\n=Morals=.--Before proceeding to examine the relation of morals to\nreligion in Shinto, let us note some general considerations. Right\nconduct has three motives: first, selfish prudence; second, altruism,\nin the various forms of domestic affection, sympathy with others and\nrespect for their rights, public spirit, patriotism and philanthropy;\nand third, the love of God. Conduct which is opposed to these three\nsanctions is called in the case of the first folly, of the second\ncrime, and of the third sin; to which are opposed prudence, morality,\nand holiness. With the infant and the savage the first motive\npredominates. With advancing age in the individual, and civilization in\nthe race, the second and third assume more and more importance. All but\nthe lowest grades of animals have some idea of prudential restraint.\nMany are influenced by the domestic affections, while the higher, and\nespecially the gregarious species, have some rudiments of the feeling\nof obligation towards the community, on which altruistic morality and\neventually law are based. But in the lower animals, and even in many\nmen, the religious sanction is wanting.\n\nRight conduct may usually be easily referred to an origin in one or\nother of these three classes of motives. The duty of refraining from\nexcess in eating and drinking belongs primarily to the first, the care\nof children and the avoidance of theft, murder, or adultery to the\nsecond, acts of worship and abstinence from impiety and blasphemy to\nthe third. There is, however, a tendency for these motives to encroach\non each other's provinces without relinquishing their own. Acts which\nbelong at first to one category end by receiving the sanction of\nthe other motives. Drunkenness, at first thought harmless, is soon\nrecognized as folly, though harming nobody but the drunkard himself.\nIt is eventually seen to be also a crime against the community, and\nlast of all a sin in the eyes of God. Criminal Law is a systematic\nenforcement of the rights of others by adding prudential motives for\nrespecting them. It also punishes blasphemy and heresy, no doubt for\nthe protection of the interests of the community against the curse\nwhich such offences bring down. With ourselves religion condemns\nnot only direct offences against the Deity as in the first three\ncommandments, but selfish folly, and throws its \u00e6gis over the rights\nof our neighbour, by prohibiting theft, murder, adultery, lying,\ndisrespect to parents, &c. Can it be doubted that these were already\noffences before the ten commandments were delivered from Mount Sinai?\n\nThere is no stronger proof of the rudimentary character of Shinto than\nthe exceedingly casual and imperfect sanction which it extends to\naltruistic morality. It has scarcely anything in the nature of a code\nof ethics. Zeus had not yet wedded Themis. There is no direct moral\nteaching in its sacred books. A schedule of offences against the Gods,\nto absolve which the ceremony of Great Purification was performed\ntwice a year,[193] contains no one of the sins of the Decalogue.[194]\nIncest, bestiality, wounding, witchcraft, and certain interferences\nwith agricultural operations are the only offences against the moral\nlaw which it enumerates. The _Kojiki_ speaks of a case of homicide\nbeing followed by a purification of the actor in it. But the homicide\nis represented as justifiable, and the offence was therefore not so\nmuch moral as ritual.[195] Modern Japanese boldly claim this feature of\ntheir religion as a merit. Moto\u00f6ri thought that moral codes were good\nfor Chinese, whose inferior natures required such artificial means of\nrestraint. His pupil Hirata denounced systems of morality as a disgrace\nto the country which produced them. In 'Japan,' a recent work published\nin English by Japanese authors, we are told that \"Shinto provides no\nmoral code, and relies solely on the promptings of conscience for\nethical guidance. If man derives the first principles of his duties\nfrom intuition, a schedule of rules and regulations for the direction\nof everyday conduct becomes not only superfluous but illogical.\"\n\nBut although there was little religious sanction of morality in ancient\nJapan, it by no means follows that there was no morality. We have seen\nthat there are moral elements in the character of the Sun-Goddess as\ndelineated in myth.[196] Law, which is the enforcement by penalties of\na minimum altruistic morality, certainly existed. A Chinese author,\nin a description of Japan as it was in the later Han period (A.D.\n25-220), says that \"the wives and children of those who break the\nlaws are confiscated, and for grave crimes the offender's family is\nextirpated.... The laws and customs are strict.\" In 490 we hear of two\nmen being thrown into prison for crimes. The Mikado Muretsu (488-506)\nis said to have been fond of criminal investigation. The _Nihongi_\ncondemns theft, robbery, rebellion, and non-payment of taxes, none\nof which matters is taken formal cognizance of by Shinto. Without\nsome law, unwritten and ill-defined though it was, and unequal and\nfluctuating in its application as it must have been, the Japanese\ncould not possibly have reached even the moderate degree of organized\ngovernment which we find them enjoying at the dawn of their history.\n\nThe earliest so-called legislation which we meet with is embodied in\na proclamation issued by the Regent Sh\u014dtoku Taishi in A.D. 604. On\nexamination these \"laws\" prove to be a sort of homily addressed to\nGovernment officials, recommending harmony, good faith, a respect for\nBuddhism, obedience to the Imperial command, early rising, decorum,\ndisinterestedness in deciding legal cases, fidelity to one's lord, and\nbenevolence to the people. In 645 a \"beginning of regulations\" was\npromulgated. It relates to the status of slaves and their children.\nIn the following year a set of rules was issued regulating the\nconstruction of tombs forbidding human sacrifice in honour of the dead,\n&c. In the same year laws were promulgated dealing with dishonesty,\nretaining slaves belonging to other people, bringing plaints of\nadultery before the authorities without having the evidence of three\ncredible witnesses, &c. \"Severe penalties\" are threatened in case of\ntheir infraction. In 681 a sumptuary law in ninety-two articles was\nenacted. In 682 flogging was limited to 100 blows: in 689 a book of\nlaws was distributed to all the local authorities; and in 701 the\ncode known as the Taih\u014dri\u014d was promulgated. The latter was borrowed\nfrom China, and no doubt Chinese influences had much to do with the\nmore partial legislation which preceded. Sh\u014dtoku Taishi's advice to\nofficials is thoroughly Chinese. But the examples quoted show that such\nenactments were not made without reference to the wants of Japan. It\nmay be inferred from Sh\u014dtoku Taishi's mention of \"legal cases,\" and\nfrom the regulation of procedure in cases of adultery, that there was\nalready in existence a body of unwritten common law by which a rude\nsort of justice was administered. Prisons are mentioned more than once\nin the seventh-century records.\n\nDr. Weipert says:[197] \"There are in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_\nnumerous instances of arbitrary punishment inflicted by rulers,\nchieftains, &c., or of private revenge, but nothing shows the existence\nof fixed punitive laws or conventions.... If we confine ourselves\nto the prehistoric times of Japan, we find in them no other traces\nof conceptions of a binding law than those handed down to us in the\nrituals dedicated to the Gods. It was indeed the power of the ruler\nwhich held the community together, but the idea of the society being\nsubject to lawful restraint was to be found only in the religious\nsentiments of the people. To the extent of these sentiments alone can\nit be said that a lawfully regulated community and a consciousness of\nsuch existed in those days. Now since we take criminal law to be the\npublicly regulated reaction of a community against all acts of its\nmembers which are detrimental to the common interest, we can scarcely\nhesitate to describe the Ohoharahi[198] as the first source of Japanese\ncriminal law.\" This is a special application to Shinto of the principle\nlaid down in general terms by Dr. Pfleiderer that \"the beginnings of\nall social customs and legal ordinances are directly derived from\nreligion.\" Max M\u00fcller has expressed himself nearly to the same effect.\n\nI hardly think that the Japanese facts bear out these views. It may be\nadmitted that before the seventh century there were no \"fixed punitive\nlaws or conventions in Japan.\" But between this and mere \"arbitrary\npunishment\" or \"private revenge\" there is a middle term, and I submit\nthat it was precisely to this stage that the Japanese nation had\narrived at this time. A common law was in existence, unwritten and ill\ndefined, leaving much room for arbitrary procedure and punishments, but\nyet a reality. It dealt, as there is evidence to show, with matters\nso essential to the welfare of the community as treason, rebellion,\nand robbery, none of which is so much as mentioned in the Ohoharahi.\nIndeed we could scarcely expect to find such offences noticed in it, as\nthe application of the criminal law in these cases places the guilty\npersons far beyond the reach of a purifying process.\n\nIn an organized community like the ancient Japanese there must have\nbeen many torts recognized by public opinion. We know that adultery\nand dishonesty were punishable. Yet Shinto takes no notice of them.\nThe only civil wrongs singled out for religious denunciation relate to\nagriculture. The ancient authorities enumerate, among the misdeeds of\nSusa no wo, \"breaking down the divisions of rice fields,\" \"filling up\nirrigation ditches,\"[199] \"sowing seed over again,\" with one or two\nother offences of a similar kind, and the Ohoharahi includes them in\nits schedule of sins which require absolution. But surely rights of\nproperty (we can recognize germs of them in the lower animals) are long\nantecedent to religion, and offences against them are recognized as\noffences against man before they became sins against God.\n\nMoreover, the Ohoharahi is wanting in the first essential of a\ncriminal law. It provides no fixed punitive sanction. It is true\nthat the culprit was in some cases obliged to supply at his own cost\nthe necessary offerings for the ceremony, and that practically this\namounted to a fine. The original intention, however, was not to punish\nthe offender, but to avert the wrath of the Gods. And it must be\nremembered that individual cases of purification were exceptional. For\nthe offences of the nation generally, which it was the main object of\nthe Ohoharahi to absolve, no punishment was practicable, or indeed\ndreamt of. The Ohoharahi fines of purificatory offerings may have\ncontributed to a system of criminal law, but they were certainly not\nits main source. The case of Japan seems to prove that, in many cases\nat least, altruistic morality, even in the crystallized form of law,\nis in advance of religion. And may we not point to cases in our own\ncountry where religion withholds its sanction until the law has become\nwell established? The following extract from the _Nihongi_ shows that\nthe distinction between criminal law and offences against the Gods,\nwith their respective punishments, was recognized at an early period:--\n\n\"_A.D. 404 Winter, 10th month, 11th day. The Imperial concubine was\nburied. After this the Emperor, vexed with himself that he had not\nappeased the divine curse, and had so caused the death of the Imperial\nconcubine, again sought to ascertain where the fault lay. Some one\nsaid: 'The Kimi of the Cart-keepers went to the Land of Tsukushi, where\nhe held a review of all the Cart-keepers' Be, and he took along with\nthem the men allotted to the service of the Deities. This must surely\nbe the offence.' The Emperor straightway summoned to him the Kimi of\nthe Cart-keepers and questioned him. The facts having been ascertained,\nthe Emperor enumerated his offences, saying: 'Thou, although only Kimi\nof the Cart-keepers, hast arbitrarily appropriated the subjects of the\nSon of Heaven. This is one offence. Thou didst wrongfully take them,\ncomprising them in the Cart-keepers' Be after they had been allotted\nto the service of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. This is a second\noffence.' So he imposed on him the expiation of evil and the expiation\nof good, and sent him away to Cape Nagasa, there to perform the rites\nof expiation. After he had done so, the Emperor commanded him, saying:\n'Henceforward thou mayest not have charge of the Cart-keepers' Be of\nTsukushi.' So he confiscated them all, and allotted them anew, giving\nthem to the three Deities._\"\n\n=Ceremonial Purity=.--Things displeasing to the Gods are called by\nthe Japanese _tsumi_ (guilt), and the avoidance of such things by\ntheir worshippers is called _imi_ (avoidance). As Moto\u00f6ri points\nout, the _tsumi_ of Shinto comprises three distinct things, namely,\nuncleanness, sin or crime, and calamity. The distinction between\nceremonial impurity and moral guilt (of certain specific kinds) was\nprobably obscure to the ancient Japanese. Certain calamities are\nincluded among _tsumi_ because they were looked upon as tokens of the\ndispleasure of the Gods for some offence, known or unknown. All _tsumi_\ninvolved religious disabilities or punishments.\n\nUncleanness holds a far more important place in Shinto than moral\nguilt. As in the Mosaic law, it assumes various forms. Actual personal\ndirt was considered disrespectful to the Gods, as we see by the\nfrequent mention of bathing and putting on fresh garments before\nthe performance of religious functions. The Ohoharahi includes the\ncommitting of nuisances among the offences to be absolved by it.\n\n=Sexual Immorality and Uncleanness=.--It was probably because the\nconsummation of a marriage was thought to defile the house in which\nit took place that a special nuptial hut was in the most ancient\ntimes provided for this purpose. The same idea is illustrated by the\ncustom which existed until quite recently of sousing with buckets of\nwater on New Year's Day young men who had been married during the\npreceding year. According to a novel called 'Hino-deshima' it is\nnow the bride who is thus saluted while on her way to her husband's\nhouse. The bridegroom is treated by the boys of the neighbourhood\nto volleys of stones which break his paper windows. In later times\nsexual intercourse generally caused temporary uncleanness. Virgins\nwere selected as priestesses and as dancers before the Gods. But there\nwere no vows of perpetual chastity, and they married in due time just\nlike other girls. The _Nihongi_ mentions a case of the appointment\nof a princess as priestess having been cancelled on account of her\nunchastity. A modern Japanese writer says: \"At Ise to-day La\u00efs opens\nher doors to the pilgrim almost within sight of the sacred groves. To\naccept her invitation does not disqualify him in his own eyes nor in\nthe eyes of any one else for the subsequent achievement of his pious\npurpose. A single act of lustration restores his moral as well as his\nphysical purity.\" Perhaps this puts the matter too strongly. Those\nshameless wights Yajir\u014d and Kidahachi, the heroes of the _Hizakurige_,\nwere troubled with scruples in this matter, which were not, however,\ninvincible.\n\nWith such ideas of uncleanness it is not surprising that Shinto never\nhad a marriage ceremony. No Shinto or other priest is present. We\nmust, therefore, take with some reserve Max M\u00fcller's statement that\nmarriage had a religious character from the very beginning of history.\nIt is to be noted, however, that in modern times Susa no wo and his\nwife Inadahime are thought to preside over connubial happiness, and\nthat something of a religious flavour is contributed to the marriage\nceremony by setting out on a stand (_shimadai_) figures of the old man\nand old woman of Takasago, spirits of two ancient fir-trees, who are\nthe Darby and Joan of Japanese legend.\n\nUncleanness includes bestiality, incest of parent and child, of a\nman with his mother-in-law or stepdaughter,[200] but not of brothers\nand half-sisters by the father's side. Unions with a sister by the\nmother's side were unlawful and offensive to the Gods, but they are not\nspecially enumerated in the Ohoharahi schedule.\n\nIn 434 Prince Karu, then Heir to the Throne, fell in love with his\nyounger sister by the same mother. At first he dreaded the guilt\nand was silent. But after a time he yielded to his passion. The\nnext year, in the height of summer, the soup for the Mikado's meal\nfroze and became ice. The diviner said, \"There is domestic disorder\n(incest).\" This led to the discovery of Prince Karu's crime, but, as\nhe was successor to the Throne, he was not punished, and his sister\nonly was sent into banishment. After his father's death, however, the\nministers and people refused him their allegiance, and he ultimately\ncommitted suicide, or, according to another version of the story,\nwent into exile. It is difficult to say whether the religious or the\nmerely moral element predominates in such a case. The portent by which\nthe Prince's crime was followed and the application to the diviners\nindicate that the crime was thought offensive to the Gods. On the\nother hand, banishment is a civil form of punishment, and the idea\nthat the offence might bring disaster on the community was probably at\nthe root of the indignation which it caused. Nor is it to be forgotten\nthat there is another non-religious reason for the law against incest.\nConsanguineous unions are notoriously unfavourable to the propagation\nof a numerous and healthy progeny, and therefore to the welfare of\nthe community. The 'Ch\u00fcen,' a Chinese work written several centuries\nbefore the Christian era, says: \"When the man and woman are of the same\nsurname, the race does not continue.\" But in China too, the religious\nsanction of the prohibition of incest is not absent. It is one of\nthose primarily non-religious sexual taboos, having for their object\nto place a check on masculine tyranny over the weaker sex and the\npremature, promiscuous, and excessive indulgence of the sexual passion\nwhich even savages find to be fatal to the welfare of the individual\nand the community, and whose transcendent importance and the difficulty\nof enforcing them by law lead to be reinforced everywhere by religious\nterrors. The prohibition of unions between brothers and sisters by\nthe mother's side--that is, practically of the full blood--and not of\nthose of the half-blood by the father's side, may be partly due to the\ncircumstance that the former are more commonly brought up together, and\na check on immature and consanguineous intercourse was more necessary\nin their case. This taboo very likely dates from a period when\nparentage was reckoned chiefly by maternity.\n\nVulgar licentiousness is not mentioned in the more ancient books as\ncausing ceremonial impurity.\n\nInterference with the virgin priestesses was not only a source of\nuncleanness, but was in some cases severely punished. The _Nihongi_\nstates that in A.D. 465\n\n\"_Katabu and an Uneme were sent to sacrifice to the Deity of Munagata.\nKatabu and the Uneme, having arrived at the altar-place, were about to\nperform the rites, when Katabu debauched the Uneme. When the Emperor\nheard this, he said, 'When we sacrifice to the Gods and invoke from\nthem blessings, should we not be watchful over our conduct?' So he sent\nNaniha no Hidaka no Kishi to put him to death. But Katabu straightway\ntook to flight and was not to be found. The Emperor again sent Toyoho,\nYuge no Muraji, who searched the districts of that province far and\nwide, and at length caught and slew him at Awi no hara in the district\nof Mishima._\"\n\nHere it is primarily the offence against the Gods which is reprobated.\n\nAs in the Mosaic law, menstruation and child-birth were regarded as\nsources of uncleanness.[201] The custom of providing a special hut for\nparturient women has been already noted.[202] In 811 the wife of a\nKannushi was delivered of a child close to the enclosure of the Shrine\nof the Goddess of Food at Ise. Both husband and wife had to perform\nan Ohoharahi. After that time no pregnant woman was admitted within\nthe _tori-wi_ of this shrine. In 882 a Prince was sent as Envoy to Ise\nbecause a bitch had had puppies within the precincts of the Imperial\nPalace. Several days' religious abstinence had to be observed in\nconsequence. Until recently births and deaths were prohibited on the\nsacred island of Itsukushima in the Inland Sea.\n\n=Disease, Wounds, and Death= caused uncleanness.[203]\n\nThe death of a relation, attending a funeral, pronouncing or executing\na capital sentence, touching the dead body of a man or beast, even\neating food prepared in a house of mourning, all involved various\ndegrees of ritual impurity.\n\nBefore the Nara period of Japanese history it was the custom on the\ndeath of a sovereign to remove the capital to a fresh site, no doubt\nfor the sake of purity. The Ainus of Yezo destroy huts in which a\ndeath has taken place. The modern Japanese custom of turning upside\ndown the screen which is placed round a corpse is perhaps a much\nattenuated survival of the same idea. In 801 a Great Purification\nceremony was performed, because a dead dog had been discovered under\none of the palace buildings. The same ritual was celebrated in times\nof pestilence, when a death took place close to the palace and on the\nMikado's putting off mourning. If any one died within the precincts\nof a shrine, no festival could be held there for thirty days. A\ndisability of five days was prescribed in the case of a dog or other\nbeast dying there. At the present day lucifer matches are advertised\nas \"fit for sacred purposes\"; that is, they contain no phosphorus\nwhich is made of bones, and therefore unclean. Leprosy, owing to\nits reputed contagious character, is specially mentioned as a cause\nof uncleanness.[204] Wounds, whether inflicted or received, were\nobjectionable, not so much on grounds of humanity, as because of their\noffensiveness. The _Nihongi_ relates that in A.D. 404 the God Izanagi\nexpressed by the mouth of one of his priests his dislike for the stench\nof blood caused by branding some of the Mikado's escort. The striking\nof a Shinto priest while on duty was a cause of uncleanness. In grave\ncases, however, the offender was handed over to the civil authorities.\nAccording to the strict Shinto of a later period, a man must abstain\nfrom worship at a shrine for thirty days if he has wounded somebody,\nor, if he has accidentally hurt himself, so that more than three drops\nof blood have flowed, for that day. If he has vomited or passed blood,\nhe must not worship for two days, if he has an abscess, until it is\ncured, for seven days after moxa is applied, and for three days in the\ncase of the operator. At the present day the common word for wound is\n_kega_, that is to say, defilement.\n\nBaldness and emaciation were regarded as disqualifications for the\nposition of Imperial Princess consecrated to the service of the\nGods.[205]\n\nIt was no doubt the fear of contagion and an instinctive feeling of\nhorror and repulsion which inspired this class of taboos. Contact with\ndeath, disease, and wounds are displeasing to living human beings, and\ntherefore to the Gods. In ancient Greece it was not _themis_ for the\nGods to look on death. There is an obvious absurdity in referring such\nincidents of religious ritual to the principle that we must seek for\nthe origin of forms of divine worship in observances towards the dead.\n\n=Eating Flesh=.--Eating flesh is not included among the causes of\nuncleanness enumerated in the _Kojiki_[206] or in the Ohoharahi. A\nChinese notice of Japan written centuries before the dawn of Japanese\nhistory says that the \"abstainers\" (medicine men) of Japan were not\nallowed to comb their hair, to wash, to eat flesh meat, or to approach\nwomen. But this was perhaps asceticism rather than religion. A\nprohibition of the eating of the flesh of the ox, the horse, the dog,\nthe monkey, and the fowl in A.D. 647 was certainly due to Buddhist\ninfluences. The first hint that it was offensive to the Shinto Gods to\neat flesh is found in the _Kogo-jiu\u00ef_, where it is stated that when\nthe son of Mitoshi no Kami saw that Ohotokonushi no Kami had given\nbeef to his field labourers he spat upon their offering and reported\nthe matter to his father, who was angry and sent a blight upon the\nrice. But this very passage speaks of a horse, a pig, and a cock as\nacceptable offerings. In the _norito_ things coarse of hair and things\nsoft of hair occur frequently in the lists of offerings. Hirata points\nout that in sacrifices to the Sun-Goddess no flesh was used. In the\nmost ancient times there was no prejudice against eating the flesh of\nanimals. The Food-Goddess entertained Tsuki-yomi with things soft of\nhair and things coarse of hair. Hohodemi was a hunter by profession.\nThe ancient Mikados frequently went hunting, and had no scruple in\npartaking of the products of the chase. Under Buddhist influences,\nhowever, there came a change. In the _J\u014dgwan-shiki_ (859-877) we\nfind that persons who ate flesh were unclean for one day. In the\n_Yengishiki_ three days are the limit. As time went on the prohibition\nwas extended, until in 1683 we find that to eat the flesh of horse,\ncow, pig, goat, wild boar, deer, monkey, bear, or antelope caused\nuncleanness for one hundred days. Birds and fish, it will be observed,\nare not included in this schedule. Whereas in ancient times the Mikados\nate the flesh of deer and wild boar as _ha-gatame_ (hardening the\nteeth) on the third day of the year, from which a person's age was\nreckoned, fish, fowl, and rice-cake were substituted at a later period.\n\nPersons who are unclean for any cause must have nothing to do with the\npreparation or serving of the Mikado's food.\n\nIntoxicating liquors are not tabooed in Shinto. There is, however,\nmention of an embassy to Ise in 749, the members of which were not\nallowed to take animal life, to eat flesh, or to drink _sake_.\n\nImpure food communicated its uncleanness to the fire with which it had\nbeen cooked. Persons who used such a fire (_kegare-bi_) for cooking\nwere unclean for seven days. Hirata suggests that the reason why\nIzanami was unable to return to the upper world after partaking of the\nfood of Yomi was because of the unclean fire with which it had been\ncooked.\n\nOn the first day of the sixth month, the Mikado was served with food\nspecially prepared with pure fire (_imu-bi no zen_).\n\n=Buddhist Rites=.--The performance of Buddhist rites incapacitated a\nman from the service of the Shinto Gods until he had been subjected to\npurification. For an infringement of this rule, Shinto functionaries\nmight be fined or dismissed. The use of Buddhist terms was forbidden to\nevery one concerned in the Shinto ceremonies at Ise and Kamo. A Sutra\nwas called \"tinted paper,\" Buddha the \"middle child,\" a Buddhist temple\na \"tile roof.\" Buddhist priests and nuns were ironically styled the\n\"long-haired ones.\" At Ise Buddhist priests were not admitted to the\nsacred precincts beyond a certain cryptomeria tree. A separate place\nwas assigned them for their prayers.\n\nOther words of ill omen were \"death,\" for which \"recovery\" was used;\nfor \"disease\" the participant in a Shinto festival said \"rest\"; for\n\"weeping,\" \"brine-dripping\"; for \"blood,\" \"sweat\"; for \"strike,\"\n\"stroke\"; for \"flesh,\" \"mushroom\"; for \"tomb,\" \"clod,\" &c. These are\nlater inventions.\n\n=Calamities=.--We learn from the Ohoharahi that snakebite, being struck\nby lightning, and other accidents were regarded as _tsumi_, or sources\nof impurity. At a later time, a fire which destroyed a man's house made\nhim unclean for seven days.\n\nAny neglect or irregularity in the divine services, any interference\nwith the treasures, priests, or slaves of the shrine, or with the\nsacred grove around it, or failure to repair it whenever necessary,\naroused the anger of the God and involved the uncleanness of the\nculprit.\n\nMagic or witchcraft (_majinahi_) is one of the sources of impurity\nenumerated by the Ohoharahi.[207]\n\nThe above account of Shinto offences must be taken with some\nqualifications. It is drawn from various sources and different\nperiods of history. Some applied to the whole people, but in most\ncases it was only the priests and other persons concerned on whom the\nprohibitions were binding. The _Shint\u014d Mi\u014dmoku_ has an enumeration\nof the \"six prohibited things\" which includes only \"mourning for a\nrelative, visiting the sick, eating flesh of quadrupeds, condemnation\nof criminals, execution of criminals, music, and contact with impure\nthings.\"\n\n=Imi=.--The avoidance of impurity in preparation for a festival was\ncalled _imi_ (avoidance). The intending officiator or worshipper\nremained indoors (_i-gomori_), abstained from speech and noise, and ate\nfood cooked at a pure fire. For six days previous to the celebration\nof a festival at the Great Shrine of Idzumo there was no singing or\ndancing, no musical performances, the shrine was not swept out, no\nbuilding operations were carried on, and no rice pounded. Everything\nwas done in stillness. A special _imi_ of one month was observed by the\npriests before participating in the greater festivals. This was called\n_araimi_. For middle-class festivals three days' _imi_ were sufficient,\nand for those of the third class one day. At the present time _imi_ is\nusually confined to abstinence from meat and from vegetables of the\nonion class.\n\nBy a natural transition _imi_ is also used in the sense of sacred,\nholy. An _imi-dono_ is a building in which purity is observed. Sacred\n(_imi_) axes and mattocks were used in some ceremonies. The Sun-Goddess\nwas in her sacred weaving-hall when Susa no wo outraged her by flinging\nthe hide of a horse into it. A modern derivative of _imi_, namely,\n_imeimash\u012b_, is the nearest Japanese equivalent for \"Hang it!\" Compare\nthe two meanings of the French _sacr\u00e9_.\n\nMourning is also called _imi_, perhaps in the passive sense of\nsomething to be avoided in connexion with the service of the Gods.\n\nThe following story illustrates the danger of appearing before the Gods\nwhile in a state of impurity. In 463 the Mikado Y\u016briaku desired to\nsee the form of the deity of Mimuro, and ordered one of his Ministers\nto fetch the God. The Minister brought him before the Mikado in the\nform of a great serpent. But the Mikado had not practised religious\nabstinence, and when the God showed his displeasure by rolling his\nthunder and showing his fiery eyeballs, the Mikado covered his eyes and\nfled into the interior of the palace.\n\n=Fire-drill=.--In order to avoid the risk of using unclean fire in the\ngreat Shinto ceremonies, it was the custom at the shrines of Idzumo,\nIse, Kasuga, Kamo, and perhaps other places, to make fire afresh on\neach occasion by means of the fire-drill. Even when not produced in\nthis way, the sacrificial fire was called _kiri-bi_ or drill-fire. A\ndescription of the Japanese form of the fire-drill will be found in a\npaper by Sir Ernest Satow, _T. A. S. J._, vol. vi. pt. ii. p. 223, and\na good specimen from Idzumo itself may be seen in the Oxford University\nMuseum. Dr. Tylor, in his 'Early History of Mankind,' has shown how\nuniversally this method of producing fire has been employed. It is a\nnatural development of the savage plan of rubbing two sticks together,\nand no doubt originated independently in many places. It is therefore\nunnecessary to assume that the Japanese fire-drill was borrowed from\nIndia, where it is used for sacred purposes, or even from nearer\nChina, where it is also known. It is frequently mentioned in the old\nJapanese traditions. The _Kojiki_ says that the God Kushiyadama was\nappointed steward for the service of Ohonamochi (the God of Idzumo),\nin which capacity he recited prayers, made a fire-drill, and drilled\nout fire wherewith to cook the heavenly august banquet of fish for the\ndeity.[208] The priests of Idzumo have always used pure fire produced\nin this way, and pure water from a special well called the Ama no\nmana-wi (true well of Heaven). At the present day, when the office is\ntransmitted from one high priest to his successor, they proceed to the\n\"Shrine of the Great Precinct,\" where the ceremony of \"divine fire\" and\n\"divine water\" is held. The original fire-drill, given by Amaterasu\nto Ame no hohi and preserved as the chief treasure of the shrine, is\ncarried in a bag slung round the neck of the chief priest, who solemnly\ndelivers it over to his successor. This ceremony is called _hi-tsugi_\n(fire-continuance). It is curious that the same term (_hitsugi_) is\nconstantly used of the succession to the Mikado's throne, and that the\ndelivery of the sun-mirror formed part of the ceremony used on his\naccession. _Hi_ means either sun or fire.\n\nThe old fire-drill was worshipped every New Year's day at Idzumo at a\nfestival called _hi no matsuri_ (fire or sun-festival). A fire-drill\nwas among the objects carried in procession at the _Ohonihe_, or\ncoronation ceremony, and was used to produce the fire used for cooking\nthe sacred rice offered on this occasion.\n\nA modern Japanese writer, describing a festival celebrated at Gion in\nKi\u00f4to on the last day of the year, says: \"A big bonfire burns within\nthe precincts of the shrine. It has been kindled from a year-old flame\ntended in a lamp under the eaves of the sacred building, and people\ncome there to light a taper, which, burning before the household altar,\nshall be the beacon of domestic prosperity. At 2 A.M. the Festival\nof Pine Shavings takes place. A Shinto priest reads a ritual. His\ncolleagues obtain a spark by the friction of two pieces of wood, and\nset fire to a quantity of shavings packed into a large iron lamp. These\ncharred fragments of pine wood the worshippers receive and carry away\nas amulets against plague and pestilence.\"\n\nA Japanese book written two centuries ago informs us that sticks\nresembling the wands used for offerings at the purification ceremony\nwere part shaven and set up in bundles at the four corners of the Gion\nshrine on the last day of the year. The priests, after prayers were\nrecited, broke up the bundles and set fire to the sticks, which the\npeople then carried home to light their household fires with for the\nNew Year.[209] The object of this ceremony was to avert pestilence.\nThere is here a striking resemblance to the Christian practice\nmentioned by M. D'Alviella: \"The fire which the clergy, on the dawn\nof Easter, had struck from the flint and steel, served to rekindle\nthe fires of individuals which had all been previously extinguished.\"\nThe use of such fire to prevent pestilence may also be illustrated\nfrom European customs. The need-fire, made by striking flints or by\nthe fire-drill, and used to rekindle all household fires, is one of\nnumerous examples.[210]\n\n=Removal of Impurity. Lustration=.--With every precaution, it is not\nalways possible to avoid the pollution of dirt, disease, and sin. In\norder, therefore, to do away with the offence to the Gods arising from\nsuch impure conditions, various expedients are resorted to. The most\nnatural and universal of these is washing or lustration.[211] The\nChinese notices of ancient Japan already quoted from inform us that the\nJapanese, after the ten days' mourning was concluded, all went into\nthe river and washed. Hirata says that even at the present day, when\nmourning is over, people go to the bank of a stream or to the sea-beach\nand cleanse themselves. The mythical account of Izanagi's washing\nin the sea in order to remove the pollutions of Yomi has been given\nabove. In a fourteenth-century work entitled _Kemmu nenchiu gi\u014dgi_, the\nablutions of the Mikado previous to the ceremony of Shingonjiki are\ndescribed with great minuteness; and if this preliminary is usually\npassed over in descriptions of Shinto ceremonies, the reason no doubt\nis that it was too well known to require special mention.\n\nClean garments were put on at the same time. Both the Japanese words\nfor the purification ceremony show by their derivation that washing was\noriginally its cardinal feature. _Misogi_ means \"body-sprinkling,\" and\n_harahi_ is probably the same word as _arahi_, \"wash.\"[212] Penitence\nis not one of the old Shinto means of purification.\n\n=Salt=.--In Japan, as in other countries, the antiseptic quality of\nsalt has led to its religious use as a symbol for, and means of,\npurification. In a modern _harahi_ ceremony the priest purifies the\n_himorogi_ with salt water. At the entrances to theatres at the present\nday a saucer of salt is placed on a table in order to keep out evil\ninfluences. The _kaname-ishi_, or pivot stones of the earth,[213] are\ncovered with salt, which is then rubbed on a diseased part in order to\nobtain relief. \"A housewife will not buy salt at night. When obtained\nin the daytime, a portion of it must first be thrown into the fire\nto ward off all danger, and especially to prevent quarrelling in the\nfamily. It is also used to scatter round the threshold and in the house\nafter a funeral for purificatory purposes.\"[214]\n\n=Spitting=.--Spitting, or the ejection from the mouth of any\ndisagreeable substance, is naturally used by analogy as a symbol of\ndislike and disgust when other senses or feelings than that of taste\nare offended. The modern writer Fukuzawa tells us that when he left\nhis home for the first time he spat in order to show his disgust\nwith the narrowness and poverty of his life there.[215] Spitting as\na means of symbolical purification is a further corollary from the\nnatural function of this act. In the Izanagi myth a God of the Spittle\n(Haya-tama no wo) is the result of that deity's spitting during the\nceremony of divorce. The \"spittle\" deity is here associated with\nanother God, who is styled a God of Purification. A commentator on\nthis passage says that \"at the present day spitting is essential in\nthe purification ceremony.\" The ritual, however, does not mention it.\nAnother writer adds that \"this is the reason why at the present day\npeople spit when they see anything impure.\" In the myth of Susa no wo\nspittle is mentioned along with the nails of the fingers and toes and\nnose-mucus among the materials for expiatory offerings. When Hohodemi\nis recommended to \"spit thrice\" before giving back the lost fish-hook\nto his brother, a magical effect is probably intended, such as to\nconvey to him any impurity which may have become attached to his own\nperson. Rinsing the mouth as a purifying ceremony before pronouncing an\noath is mentioned in the _Nihongi_.[216]\n\n=Breathing on=.--Ritual impurity may also be conveyed away by the\nbreath. The origin of this practice is the sudden expulsion of air from\nthe mouth when some offensive odour or vapour has found an entrance.\nThis instinctive action[217] is represented onomatopoetically in\nEnglish by Pooh! Faugh! Pshaw! and in other languages by similar words,\nwhich have come to express not only physical repulsion, but dislike and\ncontempt generally.\n\nAs a religious practice, breathing away impurity is exemplified by the\ncustom of the Mikado breathing on certain _aga mono_ (ransom-objects)\nof the _harahi_ ceremony, thus communicating to them the pollutions\nof his own person. It is in order to avoid polluting the offerings\nby their breath that in some ceremonies the assistant priests cover\ntheir mouths with a white fillet and hold their arms outstretched.\nEven at the present day the stewards who prepare the Mikado's food\ncover their mouths with a white paper mask. The _Nihongi_ states that\nwhen Izanagi washed in the sea in order to remove the pollutions of\nYomi, he \"blew out\" and produced a number of deities, among which were\nthe Great God of Remedy and the Great God of Offences. But the action\nof the Sun-Goddess and Susa no wo in producing children by crunching\nvarious objects and then \"blowing away\" the fragments, and of Izanagi's\ncreation of the Wind-God by puffing away the mists, requires further\nexplanation. These myths were probably the work of a person who had\nonly a vague idea of the precise nature of the efficacy of this act,\nand regarded it simply as attended with some magical power. Spitting,\nprimarily a mark of disgust, then practised with the object of\npurification, is finally done simply \"for luck.\"\n\n=Ransom=.--The notion of expiating ritual guilt by giving ransom\n(_aga-mono_) is familiar to the Japanese. The more intimately the\nobjects offered are connected with the person of the offender, the more\neffectual is the sacrifice. Susa no wo is said to have expiated his\noffences by the loss of his hair and of his finger and toe nails. Among\nobjects of ransom presented by the Mikado at purification ceremonies\nclothing is the most important. The Mikado was measured with great\nceremony for suits of garments. Bamboo sticks were used for this\npurpose, which were broken to the required lengths. Hence the ceremony\nwas called _yo-ori_ (joint-break). The clothing when made was placed\nin a vase, and set before the Mikado by a Nakatomi woman. He breathed\non it thrice, and then returned it to be taken away by the Urahe\n(diviners) and thrown into a stream. Other ransom offerings were human\nfigures of iron, wood, or leather, and swords, which were similarly\ntreated.\n\nA special _mi-aganahi no matsuri_ (august-ransom-celebration) was\ninaugurated in 814 for the sake of the Mikado, who was then ill.\nIt was continued annually every sixth and twelfth month, the _miko_\nofficiating.\n\nIn the thirteenth century the Ony\u014dshi (diviners of the Chinese school)\npresented to the Mikado human figures in a box, inscribed with the\nplace and name. The Mikado breathed on them, rubbed them on his person,\nand then returned them to the box.\n\nThe principle of ransom is illustrated in the present day by the custom\nof _kata-shiro_ (form-token) or _nade-mono_ (rub-thing). At a shrine\nof the Sea-Gods in Tokio a purification ceremony is performed twice\na year. A few days before, the parishioners and other believers who\nwish to be purified go to the shrine and obtain from its official a\n_katashiro_, that is, a white paper cut into the shape of a garment. On\nthis the person to be purified writes the year and month of his birth\nand his or her sex, and rubs it over his whole body. When he has thus\ntransferred his impurities to the paper he returns it to the shrine.\nAll the _katashiro_ which are brought back are packed into two sheaths\nof reed and placed on a table of unbarked wood. They are then called\n_harahi tsu mono_, or things of purification. Finally they are put\ninto a boat which is rowed out into the sea, and they are thrown away\nthere.[218] The bundles of reeds or rushes which are thrown into the\nsea at the shrine of Gion at Tsushima in Owari, to avert pestilence,\nprobably represent human figures. It is said that wherever they float\nto, pestilence breaks out.\n\nA more expeditious form of the same custom is when the _katashiro_ or\n_nademono_ are simply bought from the _Kashima-fure_, strolling vendors\nbelonging to the shrine of Kashima, rubbed over the body, and cast into\na stream. The object, however, is not so much the removal of ritual\npollution as protection against disease. At the present day paper\nfigures, called Ama-gatsu, are made to avert calamity from children.\nThey are prepared before the birth of the child, and are worn up to\nthe age of three. It is thought that evil spirits are diverted into\nthese images from the infant. It is an obvious degradation of these\npractices when they are used merely to procure good luck instead of to\nremove impurities offensive to the Gods.\n\n=Chi no wa (Reed-ring)=.--In a modern form of the _harahi_ ceremony\nthere is a kind of purification which consists in passing three times\nthrough a large ring made of reeds (pp. 266, 267), holding in the hands\nhemp leaves and reeds, and repeating the verse:--\n\n The sixth month's\n Summer--passing-away--\n Purification\n Who ever doeth\n Is said to extend his life\n To one thousand years.\n\nOr, according to another version:--\n\n To the end that\n My impure thoughts\n May be annihilated,\n These hemp leaves,\n Cutting with many a cut,\n I have performed purification.\n\nThe _Shinto Mi\u014dmoku_ (1699) says that this ring represents the round\nof the universe. The same work adds that the object of the ceremony is\nto avert the dangers connected with the change of summer influences\nto those of autumn. But these explanations have a tincture of Chinese\nphilosophy. The purification of the heart from evil thoughts is also a\nconception foreign to the older Shinto. The injunction to cleanse the\ninside of the cup and the platter belongs to a later stage of religious\ndevelopment.\n\nThe _chi no wa_ is subsequently flung into the water.\n\nAnother means of purification was to shake a _gohei_ over the person or\nthing to be purified.\n\nThe virtue of set forms of speech in absolving from uncleanness is\nfully recognized in Shinto, as will be seen in the next chapter.\n\nThere were various forms of purification at various places\nfor consecrating a new shrine, or new utensils for it, or for\nreconsecrating a place which had become unclean.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[193] See Index, _Ohoharahi_.\n\n[194] I quote here, not from any religious document, but from a poem\nof the _Many\u014dshiu_, a solitary instance of a religious stigma being\nattached to lying:\n\n \"If, while not loving,\n I said that I loved thee,\n The God who dwells\n In the grove of Uneda in Matori\n Will take note of it.\"\n\n[195] Ch. K. 291.\n\n[196] See above, p. 129.\n\n[197] Quoted by Dr. Florenz in _T.A.S.J._, xxvii. p. 56.\n\n[198] See Index, _s.v._\n\n[199] In ancient Egypt, which presents numerous analogies with Japan,\ninterference with the irrigation channels was deemed an offence against\nthe deity.\n\n[200] Compare Leviticus xviii. 17.\n\n[201] Leviticus xii. 1; xv. 19.\n\n[202] See above, p. 113. The _couvade_ was unknown.\n\n[203] Compare Leviticus xiii. 2; Numbers xix. 11. See also above, p. 93.\n\n[204] Numbers v. 2.\n\n[205] Compare Leviticus xxi. 17 _et seqq_.\n\n[206] Ch. K. 230.\n\n[207] Deuteronomy xvii. 11. See Index, 'Magic.'\n\n[208] Ch. K., p. 104. See also Ch. K., p. 211, and _Nihongi_, i. 205.\n\n[209] See a paper on the Japanese _gohei_ in the _Journal_ of the\nAnthropological Institute, vol. xxxi., 1901. Also a note in _Man_,\nOctober, 1892.\n\n[210] See Grimm's 'Teutonic Mythology,' ii. 603, Stallybrass's\ntranslation.\n\n[211] See Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' ii. 434.\n\n[212] \"Sprinkle the water of expiation on them ... and let them wash\ntheir clothes.\"--Numbers vii. 7.\n\n[213] The \"earth-fast\" stones of our own folk-lore.\n\n[214] Griffis, 'Mikado's Empire,' p. 470.\n\n[215] We have a good illustration of the transition from the physical\nto the metaphorical use of spitting in Revelation iii. 16: \"Because\nthou art lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my\nmouth.\"\n\n[216] II. 96.\n\n[217] Hirata says that in books on magic _ibukite harafu_ (clearing\naway by puffing) is a means adopted by men naturally, without teaching,\nfor cleansing away evil influences. See also Darwin's 'Expression of\nthe Emotions', pp. 258, 261.\n\n[218] Dr. Florenz, in _T. A. S. J._, December, 1899.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nCEREMONIAL.\n\n\nCeremonies are combinations for some specific purpose of the elements\nof worship described in the two preceding chapters.[219]\n\nThe _Yengishiki_ is the chief authority for the following account of\nsome of the more important ceremonies of Shinto. I have also availed\nmyself freely of the results of Sir E. Satow's researches contained in\nvols. vii. and ix. of the _T. A. S. J._\n\n=Ohonihe or Daijowe=.--The _Yengishiki_ places the Ohonihe in a class\nby itself, as much the most solemn and important festival of the\nShinto religion. _Oho_ means great, and _nihe_ food offering. It was\nsubstantially a more elaborate and sumptuous Nihi-name (new-tasting),\nor festival of first fruits, performed soon after the accession of a\nMikado to the throne, and, like our coronation ceremony, constituting\nthe formal religious sanction of his sovereignty.\n\nA modern Japanese writer explains its object as follows:\n\n\"_Anciently the Mikado received the auspicious grain from the Gods\nof Heaven, and therewithal nourished the people. In the Daijowe (or\nOhonihe) the Mikado, when the grain became ripe, joined unto him the\npeople in sincere veneration, and, as in duty bound, made return to the\nGods of Heaven. He thereafter partook of it along with the nation. Thus\nthe people learnt that the grain which they eat is no other than the\nseed bestowed on them by the Gods of Heaven._\"\n\nIn so far as the motive of the Japanese worshipper is concerned, this\nis, I think, nearer the mark than Mr. Frazer's: \"Primitive peoples\nare, as a rule, reluctant to taste the annual first-fruits of any crop\nuntil some ceremony has been performed which makes it safe and pious\nfor them to do so. The reason of this reluctance appears to be that\nthe first-fruits either are the property of, or actually contain, a\ndivinity.\" It is gratitude rather than fear which animates the Japanese.\n\nThe preparations for the Ohonihe began months in advance. The first\nstep was to designate by divination two provinces from which the rice\nused in the ceremony was to be provided. These were called respectively\n_yuki_ and _suki_. The most probable meaning of the former term is\n\"religious purity.\" _Suki_ is said to mean next or subsidiary. The\nobject of thus duplicating the offerings was, no doubt, that if any\nunnoticed irregularity or impurity occurred in one case, the error\nmight not vitiate the whole proceedings. Officers called _nuki-ho no\ntsukahi_ (messengers of the plucked-up ears) were then selected by\ndivination. One of these was called the Inami no Urabe, or rice-fruit\ndiviner, the other the Negi no Urabe, or prayer-diviner. These\nofficers on arriving at the _yuki_ or _suki_ district performed a\npurification ceremony in presence of the local officials and people.\nThe site of the _inami-dono_, or rice-fruit-hall, was then chosen\nby divination and marked out at the four corners by twigs of the\nsacred evergreen tree (_sakaki_) hung with tree-fibre.[220] It was\n160 feet square. Somewhat more than an acre of rice-field was next\nset apart, the owner being compensated by the authorities. Here two\n_sakaki_ twigs hung with tree-fibre were planted, and a guard of four\nlabourers was set over it. Divination was also used for the selection\nof a local staff of religious functionaries. It consisted of one\nSaka-tsu-ko, that is, sake-child or brewer-maiden, an unmarried girl\nof good family, with several other girls as assistants, an Inami no\nkimi, or rice-fruit-lord,[221] a charcoal-burner, wood-cutters, &c.\nA choir of twenty male and female singers was also provided. Then\nthe site of the Inami-dono was propitiated by prayer and offerings.\nA pure mattock and sickle were used in clearing the ground for the\nbuildings, which comprised a shrine to the eight Gods Mi-toshi\nno Kami (august harvest deity), Taka mi musubi, Niha-taka-hi no\nKami (courtyard-high-sun-deity), Mi ketsu no Kami (food-Goddess),\nOhomiyanome no Kami, Koto-shiro-nushi, Asuha, and Hahigi.[222] A\n\"rice-fruit-store,\" an office for the envoys from Ki\u014dto, and lodgings\nfor the rice-fruit-lord and for the brewer-maiden and her assistants\nwere built of unbarked wood and grass. The surrounding fence was made\nof brushwood and the gates consisted of hurdles.\n\nOfferings having been made to the eight Gods above mentioned, the\ndiviners from Ki\u014dto, accompanied by the local authorities and by the\nspecial staff of the inami-dono proceeded to the rice-field. The\nbrewer-maiden plucked up the first ears. She was followed by the\nrice-fruit-lord and the people. Songs were sung during the operation.\nThe first four sheaves were reserved for the offering of boiled rice\nto be made by the Mikado to the Gods. When all the rice was pulled up,\nit was carried in procession to the capital, with the four reserved\nsheaves in the place of honour and the rice-fruit-lord acting as guide.\nIt arrived at Ki\u014dto in the last decade of the ninth month.\n\nMeanwhile a general purification of the whole country had been\nperformed, and to prevent all possibility of error, repeated at a short\ninterval. As soon as this formality was completed, offerings of cloth\nand of material for wearing apparel were sent to all the Gods. The\nfollowing _norito_[223] was read on this occasion:--\n\n\"_He says: 'Hearken! all ye assembled kannushi and hafuri. I humbly\ndeclare in the presence of the sovran Gods, who, according to the\ncommand of the dear divine ancestor and dear divine ancestress who\ndwell in the Plain of High Heaven, bear sway as Heavenly Shrines and\nEarthly Shrines.'\n\n\"He says: 'To the end that on the middle day of the Hare of the 11th\nmonth of this year, the Sovran Grandchild[224] may partake of the\nGreat Food (ohonihe) as Heavenly Food, as Long Food, as Distant Food,\nI pray that ye sovran Gods will jointly undertake to bless his reign,\nto be firm and enduring, and give it happiness as a prosperous reign.\nTherefore, on behalf of the Sovran Grandchild, who will rule peacefully\nand serenely for one thousand autumns and five hundred autumns with\nfestive ruddy countenance, do I set forth these fair offerings, namely,\nbright cloth, shining cloth, soft cloth, and rough cloth.\n\n\"'Hearken! all of you to this fulfilling of praises as the morning sun\nrises in glory.'\n\n\"He says: 'More especially would I enjoin on the kannushi and hafuri\nwith all due ceremony to receive, take up, and present the offerings\npurely provided by the Imbe, hanging stout straps on weak shoulders.'_\"\n\nA special embassy was sent to Ise, consisting of one Prince, one\nNakatomi, one Imbe, and one Urabe.\n\nIn the third decade of the tenth month the Mikado went in state to a\nriver-bank near Kioto and performed a ceremonial ablution (_misogi_).\n\nFor one month before the Ohonihe lesser abstinence (_ara-imi_) was\nenjoined, and for three days greater abstinence (_ma-imi_). Buddhist\nceremonies, and the eating of impure food, were interdicted throughout\nthe five home provinces. Purity of language[225] was also necessary.\nDuring the three days of _ma-imi_, no official was allowed to do any\nwork except that connected with the ceremony.\n\nSpecial buildings were erected for the Ohonihe at Kitano, a suburb of\nKi\u014dto. After a purification ceremony, a site 480 feet square was marked\nout by twigs of _sakaki_ hung with tree-fibre. On the arrival of the\n_yuki_ and _suki_ rice from the provinces, this site was propitiated.\nThe Brewer-maidens then with a pure mattock turned the first sod\nand dug the holes for the four corner posts. The Urabe went to the\nmountain where the timber was to be cut, and worshipped the God of the\nmountain. The Brewer-maiden struck the first blow with a pure axe, and\nwood-cutters completed the work. Similar formalities were practised in\ncutting the grass for thatch and in digging wells.\n\nThe sacred enclosure (_yu-niha_) was divided into two sections, an\ninner and an outer, and contained numerous buildings, such as shrines\nto the eight Gods already mentioned, storehouses for the rice and other\nnecessaries, lodgings for the Brewer-maidens and their assistants,\nkitchens, &c.\n\nThe site of the principal building, or Ohonihe no Miya, measured 214\nfeet by 150 feet. It was erected after the others and was in duplicate,\none being for the _yuki_, the other for the _suki_. Each was forty\nfeet long by sixteen feet wide. The roof-tree ran north and south.\nUndressed wood was used for the erection, which was covered by a roof\nof thatch. The floor was strewn with bundles of grass over which bamboo\nmats were placed. In the centre of the sleeping-chamber (the sanctum)\nseveral white _tatami_ (thick mats) were laid down and upon them the\n_Saka-makura_, which was a cushion three feet broad by four feet long,\nfor the use of the God or Gods.[226] This was called the \"Deity seat.\"\nThe Mikado's seat was placed to the south of it.\n\nThe preparation of the _sake_ for the ceremony was preceded by worship\nof the Well-God, the Furnace-God, and the Sake-God. The first fire was\nproduced by a fire-drill. The Brewer-maiden began to turn it and the\nRice-fruit-lord continued the work. A third official blew the fire and\nthe attendants then kindled a torch with it. All the utensils had been\nprovided by the Imbe with great care, performing _harahi_ and worship\nat every step.\n\nThe Mikado himself practised lesser abstinence for a month and\ngreater abstinence for three days before the ceremony. The procedure\nat the Ohonihe is too elaborate to describe in detail. It included\nthe recitation before the Mikado of \"old words\" (myths and legends?)\nby the Kataribe, or corporation of reciters, and songs by the women\nwho pounded the rice for the offerings, wishing him long life and\nprosperity. The rice was presented to him by the Nukiho no tsukahi,\nwith the words, \"We bring a thousand and five hundred auspicious ears\nwhich we offer as divine food of a million loads.\" Old-fashioned music\nwas performed and the regalia were delivered to him by the Urabe.\n\nThe cardinal feature of the Ohonihe was the offering of food to the\nGod (or Gods) by the Mikado in person. With his own hands he sprinkled\nrice with _sake_ which he then placed before the \"Deity-seat.\" No one\nelse was present but the Uneme, or ladies-in-waiting, who repeated the\nformula, \"Let that which ye should clip first be clipped afterwards.\nMoreover, whatever faults there be, receive these offerings with\ndivine amendment, with great amendment.\" The Mikado then bowed his\nhead slightly, clapped his hands, and said _\u00d4_ (amen), after which he\njoined the God in partaking of the food. When the _yuki_ ceremony was\ncompleted the Mikado went to his retiring-room, washed and changed his\nclothes, after which he proceeded to the _suki_ chamber and repeated\nthe same ceremonial.\n\nIt is not quite certain what God or Gods were worshipped. Some say that\nthe offerings were to the Sun-Goddess, others think that all the Gods\nwere included. The haziness on this point is highly characteristic of\nShinto.\n\nThe following _norito_, No. 27 of the _Yengishiki_, was pronounced\nby the Idzumo no miyakko on this occasion. They were the reputed\ndescendants of Ama no hohi, who holds the same position in the\nOhonamochi myth that Koyane does in that of the Sun-Goddess. They\nwere originally the hereditary Governors--perhaps even kings--of the\nprovince and had also sacerdotal functions. They retained the latter\nafter all lay jurisdiction had been taken from them.\n\n\"_The words of blessing of the Miyakko of Idzumo_.\n\n\"_Among the many tens of days that be, on this day, this living day,\nthis perfect day, do I [here insert name], Miyakko of the Land of\nIdzumo, humbly declare with deepest reverence, to wit: 'With the object\nof pronouncing a blessing on the great august reign of our Sovran Lord,\nwho rules the Great-eight-island country as--with fear be it said--a\nwise manifest deity, and blessing it as a long and great reign, did I,\nhanging stout straps on weak shoulders,[227] fastening the cords of the\nsacred offerings, wearing the celestial cap, shearing and spreading\nthe coarse grass as a sacred mat in the sacred house, blackening the\nsacred vessels, dwelling in pure retirement by the celestial sake-jars,\ncalming the deities in their calm shrines by the avoidance of impurity,\ndid service first to the Great God of Kumano, Kushi mikenu,[228] our\ndivine ancestor, the Great-Grandchild of Izanagi, and to Ohonamochi,\nthe maker of the land, for whom within the blue hill-confines of the\nprovince of Idzumo the temple pillars have been stoutly planted on\nthe rock-roots below, while the projecting crossbeams of the roof are\nexalted to the Plain of High Heaven. Thereafter I did worship to the\nSovran Gods who dwell in the one hundred and eighty-six shrines.'_\n\n\"_Then, as the morning sun went up in glory, there came these good\nwords of divine blessing, to wit: 'When Taka-mi-musubi and Kami\nmi-musubi, the High-Heaven divine ancestors, bestowed upon the Sovran\nGrandchild this sub-celestial Great-eight-island country, Ama no hohi,\nthe remote divine ancestor of the Omi[229] of Idzumo, was sent by\nthem to view the condition of the land. Forcing his way through the\neight-fold clouds of Heaven, soaring across the sky, soaring over the\nearth, he surveyed the Under-Heaven on all sides, and made report that\nthe Fair-Ear-Land of the Rich-Reed-Plain was a savage land where there\nwere Gods who in the daytime swarmed like flies in the fifth month, and\nat night shone like fire pots, and where the rocks, trees, and blue\nwater foam had power of speech. However, he promised that it should\nbe subdued so that the Sovran Grandchild might rule it serenely as a\npeaceful land. Therefore his son Ame-hina-dori, and with him Futsunushi\nwere sent down from Heaven. They drove out and subdued the savage\ndeities, and persuaded the Great God who made the Land[230] to divide\noff the visible outward things[231] of the Great-eight-island Country.'_\n\n\"_Then Ohonamochi said: 'In the land to be governed by the Sovran\nGrandchild and called Great Yamato I will make my own gentle spirit\n(nigi-tama) to be attached to an eight-hand mirror, and enshrined in\nMiha, under the title of Yamato no Oho-mono-nushi kushi-mika-tama\nno mikoto (great-thing-master-wondrous-awful-spirit), the spirit of\nmy son Ajisuki-taka-hikone to be enshrined at Kamo in Katsuraki,\nthat of Kotoshironushi at Unade, and that of Kaya-narumi at Asuka,\ndedicating them to dwell there divinely as near guardian deities of\nthe Sovran Grandchild.' He then went to rest in the shrine of fertile\nKitsuki.[232] Thereupon the Sovran dear divine ancestor and ancestress\n(of the Mikado?) gave command, saying: 'Do thou Hohi no Mikoto bless\nthe Sovran's long age so that it may be firm and enduring, and make it\nhappy as a prosperous age.'_\n\n\"_In accordance with this injunction, I (his successor) perform this\nservice of blessing, and as the morning sun rises in glory, bring\ntribute of congratulatory divine treasures in token of the God's (Hohi)\nregard and in token of the Omi's (his own) regard._\n\n\"_(These) white jewels are (a prognostic of) the great august white\nhairs (to which your majesty will reach). The red jewels are the\naugust, healthful, ruddy countenance, and the green-estuary jewels\nare the harmonious fitness with which your Majesty will establish far\nand wide, as with a broad sword-blade, his lasting great august reign\nover the Great-eight-island-country which he governs. As (this) white\nhorse plants firmly his fore hoofs and his hind-hoofs, so will the\npillars of the Great Palace be set firmly on the upper rocks and frozen\nfirmly on the lower rocks. The pricking up of his ears is a sign that\nYour Majesty will, with ears ever more erect, rule the Under-Heaven.\n[Here follows a passage too corrupt for translation. It continues to\nallude to the emblematic character of the offerings.] As a token that\nthe visible deity (the Mikado) shall peacefully and serenely rule the\nGreat-eight-island-country as long as Heaven and Earth, the Sun and\nMoon endure, I offer these congratulatory divine treasures by way of\nrespect from the God, and by way of respect from the Omi, with profound\nawe, and pronounce these auspicious words of divine congratulation\ndelivered to me from Heaven._\"\n\nThe offerings were sixty jewels, white, red, and green, a sword with\nmountings of gold and silver, a mirror, two pieces of cloth, a horse, a\nswan, and fifty trays of eatables.\n\nThe similar formula used by the Nakatomi in 1142, invoking the blessing\nof the Gods on the new sovereign, is given in Dr. Florenz's German\ntranslation of the _Nihongi_, Book xxx., Appendix.\n\nThe above is the merest outline of a ceremony to a description of which\nHirata devotes 480 pages of his _Koshiden_. It varied a good deal at\ndifferent times, and was altogether discontinued for eight reigns\n(1465-1687) no doubt because it was found too heavy a burden on the\npeople.\n\n=Nihi-name=.--The Nihi-name or new tasting, when the rice of the new\nharvest was first partaken of, was the same as the Ohonihe, except that\nit was simpler and was celebrated annually. The festival is frequently\nreferred to in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. The Sun-Goddess is said to\nhave celebrated a Nihi-name in a New Palace. It was accompanied by\nsongs and dances and was followed by feasting in holiday dress and\npresents to the Court and officials.\n\nAt shrines not officially recognized, the local official in\ncharge conducted this ceremony. It was then called _o-hi-taki_\n(august-fire-kindling) because a courtyard fire (_nihabi_) was made,\nthe ceremony taking place at night. Strict Shinto devotees would not\neat the new season's rice until it had been performed.\n\nIt appears from allusions in poetry and legend that there was also a\nhousehold Nihi-name. It was celebrated with closed doors, no stranger\nbeing admitted, apparently in order to prevent pollution by impure\npersons. The following legend from the _Hitachi Fudoki_ illustrates\nthis point.\n\n\"_When the God called the 'Divine Ancestor' went to the places of the\nvarious deities, he came to the Peak of Fuji in Suruga. The sun went\ndown and he asked for a lodging, but the God of Fuji refused, saying\nthat he was that day performing the Nihi-name, and his household were\ntherefore practising abstinence. So he ascended the Peak of Tsukuba,\nand asked for a lodging. The God of Tsukuba said: 'Although I am this\nnight celebrating the Nihi-name, why should that prevent me from\nacceding to your august behest?'_\"\n\n=Nanakusa=.--There was in later times a corresponding spring festival\ncalled Nana-kusa (seven herbs), in which wild potherbs of seven\ndifferent kinds were gathered and eaten.\n\n=Ahi-name or Ahimbe=.--This word means \"joint-tasting.\" It was a\nharvest festival not essentially differing from the Nihi-name, and\nwas so called because the Mikado joined the Gods with himself in\ntasting the new season's rice and _sake_. Hirata thinks, however, that\nthe expression \"joint-tasting\" refers to the association of certain\ninferior Gods with the greater Gods directly worshipped at this time.\nIt was celebrated on the first Hare day of the eleventh month, and was\nin honour of the deities of seventy-one shrines.\n\n=Kan-name= (divine-tasting).--This was another harvest festival,\ndistinguished from the preceding by being celebrated in the ninth\nmonth, and being confined to the deities of the Ise shrines. An embassy\nof high officials was specially dispatched to Ise for the purpose,\nafter an elaborate ceremonial in the Palace, in which the Mikado\nhimself took part.\n\nThe _norito_ (Nos. 20, 21, and 22) used on this occasion are preserved\nin the _Yengishiki_. They contain nothing of interest.\n\nWhen a princess was dedicated to the service of the shrines, the\nfollowing formula (No. 23) was added:--\n\n\"_More especially do I humbly declare: 'The offering of a Sacred\nPrincess of the Blood Imperial to serve as the Deities' staff, having\nfirst, according to custom, observed the rules of religious purity for\nthree years, is to the end that thou mayst cause the Sovran Grandchild\nto live peacefully and firmly as long as Heaven and Earth, the Sun and\nMoon, may last. I, the Great Nakatomi, holding the dread spear by the\nmiddle,[233] with deepest awe pronounce this dedication of her by the\nMikado to the end that she may serve as an august staff.'_\"\n\n=Kamu-ima-ge or Shingonjiki=.--This festival was celebrated in\nthe palace at night after the Tsukinami. The name means literally\nGod-new-food. It consisted in the Mikado in person or by deputy making\nan offering of food to the Sun-Goddess. The forms resembled those in\nuse for the Ohonihe or Nihi-name, and included laying down a cushion\n(_saka-makura_) to represent the Deity, the use of a firedrill, &c.\n\n=Hirano no Matsuri=.--Festival of Hirano, a village in the province\nof Settsu. There is much doubt as to the deities in whose honour\nthis service (No. 5 of the _Yengishiki_) was first instituted. It is\nbelieved that it was originally celebrated in honour of Image no Kami\n(the God of New Food) and of Kudo no Kami and Kobe no Kami, the Gods of\nthe kitchen-boiler and of the cooking-pan. The _Image_ was probably, as\nexplained by Sir E. Satow, freshly hulled rice offered monthly to the\nGods.\n\nAfter the Mikado Kwammu founded the shrine of Hirano, about the end of\nthe eighth century, it became the custom for all the branches of the\nImperial family to be represented at the two annual celebrations. It\nwas Kitabatake Chika-fusa (1293-1359) who first invented the popular\naccount of the Gods worshipped here. Knowing that they were in some\nmanner family deities, he proceeded to allot as _uji-gami_ to the\nTahira, Minamoto, Ohoye and Takashina families, ancient members of\nthe Imperial line taken here and there at random, and comprising the\nSun-Goddess, Yamato-dake, and the Mikados Chiuai and Nintoku. This is\nan instructive example of the intrusion of ancestor-worship so-called\ninto the older Shinto.\n\nThe _norito_ read at this festival affords no clue to the identity\nof the Gods worshipped. It mentions the founding of the shrine at\nthe behest of the Sovran Great God (or Gods) and makes offerings in\nacknowledgment of his (or their) preserving the Mikado's life and\nprospering his reign.[234]\n\n=Kudo and Kobe no Matsuri=.--This service (No. 6 of the _Yengishiki_)\nis practically identical with the last, which is natural, if, as is\nprobable, the Gods worshipped are really the same.\n\n=Toshigohi no Matsuri= (harvest-praying service).--This festival (No.\n1 of the _Yengishiki_) was in honour of the deities of the 3,132\nofficial shrines, in other words, the entire Shinto Pantheon. It was\ncelebrated on the 4th day of the 2nd month (when the seed rice is\nsown) in the _Sai-in_, or sacred precinct, a courtyard in the Palace\nmeasuring 230 feet by 370 feet, with offices opening on to it on all\nsides. On the west were the shrines of the eight deities[235] in a row,\nsurrounded by a fence to the interior of which three sacred archways\ngave access. In the centre of the court a temporary shed was erected\nin which the altars were placed. Early on the morning of the festival\nday, the offerings, prepared by the Imbe, were set out here. They are\nminutely described in the _Yengishiki_, and consisted of silk and cloth\nof various kinds, some of the raw materials for the same, models of\nswords, shields, spear-heads, bows, quivers, stags' horns, mattocks,\nsake, fish of various kinds, edible seaweed, salt, and matting. In the\ncase of the Ise temples, a horse was added. A white horse, cock, and\nboar were sent to Mitoshi no Kami, the special deity of Harvest, and a\nhorse to each of nineteen others, including the God of Growth and the\nwater-deities of Yamato.\n\nWhen everything was ready, the officials of the _Jingikwan_,\naccompanied by the _miko_, or virgin priestesses, entered by the middle\ngate and took their places in the western offices with their faces\nto the east, the north being the upper (or more honourable) end. The\nMinisters of State and their subordinates entered by the north gate\nand took their places in the north office, the Ministers facing the\nsouth, the others east or west. The priestesses occupied seats below\nthe office. The other officials entered by the south gate and sat\nfacing the north. The subordinate Shinto functionaries and _hafuri_\nstood in the courtyard south of the west office.\n\nThen the Jingikwan officials came down and took their places in front\nof their office. They were followed by the Ministers of State. A\nNakatomi read the _norito_, the _hafuri_ responding with _\u00d4_ (\"Yes\" or\n\"Amen\") at the end of every paragraph. It is as follows:--\n\n\"_He[236] says: 'Hearken all ye assembled Kannushi and Hafuri.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods, whose\npraises are fulfilled as Heavenly Deities and as Earthly Deities,\nby command of the Sovran, dear, divine ancestor and ancestress who\ndivinely dwell in the Plain of High-Heaven._\n\n\"_'In the second month of this year the Sovran Grandchild is graciously\npleased to pray for harvest, and I, therefore, as the morning sun\nrises in glory, offer up his plenteous offerings, thus fulfilling your\npraise.'_ [_Here the Kannushi and Hafuri of the shrines concerned\nremove this set of offerings.]_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods of the\nharvest._\n\n\"_'If the Sovran Gods will bestow in ears many a hand's breadth long\nand ears abundant the latter harvest which they will bestow, the latter\nharvest produced by the labour of men from whose arms the foam drips\ndown, on whose opposing thighs the mud is gathered, I will fulfil their\npraises by humbly offering first fruits, of ears a thousand, of ears\nmany a hundred, raising up the tops of the sake-jars, and setting in\nrows the bellies of the sake-jars, in juice and in ear will I present\nthem, of things growing in the great moor-plain, sweet herbs and bitter\nherbs, of things that dwell in the blue sea-plain, the broad of fin and\nthe narrow of fin, edible seaweed, too, from the offing and seaweed\nfrom the shore, of clothing, bright stuffs and shining stuffs, soft\nstuffs and coarse stuffs--with these I will fulfil your praises._ [_In\nthe meantime_] _having furnished a white horse, a white boar, and a\nwhite cock, with things of various kinds before the Sovran Gods of the\nHarvest, I fulfil their praises by humbly presenting these plenteous\nofferings of the Sovran Grandchild.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods whose\npraises the chief priestess fulfils, and I fulfil your praises,\nnamely, Kami-musubi, Taka-mi-musubi, Iku-musubi, Taru-musubi,\nTama-tsume-musubi, Oho-miya no me, Oho-mi-ketsu no kami, and\nKotoshironushi. Because you bless the Sovran Grandchild's reign as a\nlong reign, firm and enduring, and render it a happy and prosperous\nreign, I fulfil your praises as our Sovran's dear, divine ancestor and\nancestress by making these plenteous offerings on his behalf.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods, whose\npraises the priestess of Wigasuri fulfils. I fulfil your praises,\nrepeating your names, to wit, Live Well, Blessing Well, Long-rope Well,\nAsuha, and Hahigi.[237] Whereas, on the nethermost rock-roots ruled\nby the Sovran Gods (just named) the palace pillars have been raised\nstout and high, and the projecting cross-beams exalted to the Plain\nof High-Heaven, furnishing a fair abode for the Sovran Grandchild,\nwherein, finding shelter from the rain and shelter from the sun, he\nserenely governs in peace the world on all sides, I fulfil your praises\nby making these plenteous offerings on his behalf.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods, whose\npraises are fulfilled by the priestess of the Gate. Repeating your\nnames, to wit, Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-gate) and Toyo-iha-mado\n(rich-rock-gate), I fulfil your praises. Whereas you guard the gates\nof the four quarters by night and day, obstructing the passage like\nmanifold piles of rock, and whether you open them in the morning or\nclose them in the evening, guard below against unfriendly things coming\nfrom below, and guard above against unfriendly things coming from\nabove, I fulfil your praises by making these offerings on behalf of the\nSovran Grandchild.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods,\nwhose praises the priestess of Ikushima (live-island or region)\nfulfils. Repeating your names, to wit, Iku-kuni (live country) and\nTaru-kuni[238] (perfect country), I fulfil your praises. Because you\nthe Sovran Gods, who rule the islands many tens in number wherever the\nfrog of the valley finds his way, wherever the ocean foam extends,\nmaking wide the narrow regions and the steep regions level, have\ngranted these many islands to him every one, I fulfil your praises by\nmaking these plenteous offerings on behalf of the Sovran Grandchild.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'More especially do I humbly declare in the mighty presence\nof the Great Heaven-shining Deity who dwells in Ise. Because the Great\nDeity has bestowed on him the lands of the four quarters over which\nher glance extends as far as where the wall of Heaven rises, as far\nas where the bounds of Earth stand up, as far as the blue clouds are\ndiffused, as far as where the white clouds settle down opposite, by the\nblue sea-plain, as far as the prows of ships can go without letting\ndry their poles and oars; by land, as far as the hoofs of horses can\ngo, with tightened baggage-cords, treading their way among rock-roots\nand tree-roots where the long road extends, continuously widening the\nnarrow regions and making the steep regions level, drawing together,\nas it were, the distant regions by throwing over them (a net of) many\nropes,--therefore will the first-fruits for the Sovran Great Deity be\npiled up in her mighty presence like a range of hills, leaving the\nremainder for him tranquilly to partake of.'_\n\n\"_'Moreover, whereas you bless the Sovran Grandchild's reign as a long\nreign, firm and enduring, and render it a happy and prosperous reign, I\nplunge down my neck cormorant-wise in reverence to you asour Sovran's\ndear, divine ancestress, and fulfil your praises by making these\nplenteous offerings on his behalf.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods who\ndwell in the Crown lands and name your august names, to wit--Takechi,\nKatsuraki, Tohochi, Shiki, Yamanobe and Sofu.[239] Whereas the Sovran\nGrandchild partakes of, as his long food, his distant food, the sweet\nherbs and bitter herbs which grow in and are brought from the six\nCrown lands aforesaid, I fulfil your praises by making these plenteous\nofferings on his behalf.'_\n\n\"'I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods who dwell in\nthe mountain-mouths and name your august names, to wit--Asuka, Ihare,\nOsaka, Hatsuse, Unebi, and Miminashi.[240] Whereas the great trees\nand the small trees which grow on the near mountains and on the far\nmountains are cut at the root and at the top, and brought to furnish a\nfair abode for the Sovran Grandchild, wherein, sheltered from the rain\nand sun, he serenely governs in peace the lands of the four quarters, I\nfulfil your praises by making these plenteous offerings on his behalf.'\n\n\"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Gods who dwell in\nthe water-partings, and, naming your august names, to wit--Yoshinu,\nUda, Tsuge, and Katsuraki, fulfil your praises. If you, the Sovran\nGods, will bestow in ears many a handsbreadth long, and ears abundant\nthe latter harvest which you will bestow, I will fulfil your praises\nby offering first-fruits in ear and in juice, raising up the tops\nof the sake-jars and filling and setting in a row the bellies of\nthe sake-jars. The Sovran Grandchild will then partake with ruddy\ncountenance of that which remains as the corn of his august morning\nmeals and his august evening meals, for his long food, and for his\ndistant food. Therefore do I now fulfil your praises by making these\nplenteous offerings on his behalf._\n\n\"_'Lend ear, all of you.'_\n\n\"_He says: 'More especially, let the Kannushi and Hafuri, having\nreceived the offerings which the Imbe, hanging stout straps on weak\nshoulders, have prepared with purity, take them away and offer them in\nall due form.'_\"\n\nIt will be observed that this _norito_ contains paragraphs--possibly\nlater accretions--which have nothing to do with the harvest. In some of\nthe petitions the _do ut des_ principle is very thinly disguised.\n\n=Tsukinami no Matsuri=.--This festival was in honour of the Gods of\nthe \"Greater Shrines.\" The name means monthly festival, but it was\nreally celebrated only twice a year, on the eleventh day of the sixth\nand twelfth months. The _norito_ (No. 7 of the _Yengishiki_) is almost\nidentical with the Toshigohi. The _Jingishiri\u014d_, a modern history of\nShinto, describes it as a thanksgiving service for the protecting care\nof the Gods.\n\nAnother Tsukinami ceremony was performed at Ise by a Nakatomi\ndespatched thither as special envoy in connexion with the Toshigohi and\nalso in the sixth and twelfth months of every year. The _norito_ (No.\n16) read on these occasions was as follows:--\n\n\"_He says: 'By the great command of the Mikado, I humbly declare in the\nmighty presence of the Great Deity whose praises are fulfilled (in the\nshrine built) upon the nethermost rock-roots on the bank of the River\nIsuzu in Watarahi. I, of such a rank, of such a name, humbly repeat\nhis commands, as his envoy to convey hither and make offering of the\ncustomary great offerings of Praying-for-Harvest in the second month\n(or as the case may be).'_\"\n\nA similar service (No. 17) was performed at the same time in honour of\nthe Goddess of Food. The phraseology is somewhat less honorific.\n\nOn the two latter occasions, the Chief Priest of Ise read the following\n_norito_ (No. 19).\n\n_\"He says: 'Hearken, all ye kannushi and mono-imi to this celestial,\nthis great norito, which I humbly pronounce in the mighty presence of\nthe Heaven-Shining Great Deity, whose praises are fulfilled in Uji of\nWatarahi, where on the bank of the River Isuzu the pillars of the Great\nShrine are stoutly erected, and the projecting cross-beams are exalted\nto the Plain of High-Heaven. (Here the Negi and Uchi-bito, priests of\nlower rank, answer \"\u00d4,\" that is, \"Yes,\" or \"Amen.\") Bless the life of\nour Sovereign as a long life, let his reign be prosperous, firm and\nenduring as a pile of multitudinous rocks, and show thy favour to the\nprinces born of him. As to the functionaries of every rank, down to the\npeasants of the four quarters of the Under-Heaven, make the five grains\nwhich they long and peacefully cultivate to flourish abundantly. Favour\nthem with thy protection, and grant them thy blessing._\n\n_\"'On this seventeenth day of the sixth month (or as the case may be)\nas the morning sun rises in glory, I fulfil thy praises, setting before\nthee in ample measure, like seas and mountains, the tribute yarn and\nthe great food-offerings of holy rice and sake, provided according to\ncustom by the consecrated peasants of the three districts, and the\nvarious localities of the various provinces, while the Great Nakatomi\nhimself is hidden in offering-branches._\n\n_\"'Hearken, all ye kannushi and mono-imi.'_\n\n_\"He says: 'This service is likewise addressed to the Aramatsuri shrine\nand to the Tsukiyomi (Moon-God) shrine.' (The kannushi again answer\n'\u00d4.')\"_\n\n=Ki-u no Matsuri= (praying for rain). No _norito_ of this ceremony is\ngiven in the _Yengishiki_. It was performed in honour of the Gods of\neighty-five shrines, and was accompanied by the usual offerings of\ncloth-stuffs. To a few out of the number a black horse was offered in\naddition. The choice of a black animal for this purpose belongs to the\nmagical pre-religious stage of thought. Black is the colour of the\nrain-clouds, and therefore, on the principle that what suggests a thing\nwill actually produce it, the exhibition of a black horse is thought\nlikely to make the clouds collect and rain to fall. A white horse was\noffered when fine weather was desired.\n\nMr. Weston, in his 'Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' describes the\nsacrifice of a black dog \"symbolical of the wished-for storm-clouds\" in\norder to cause rain.\n\n=Kama miso no matsuri= (divine-clothing-service).--This ceremony\nconsisted in presenting offerings of clothing to the Sun-Goddess at\nIse. It was celebrated twice a year, in the fourth and ninth months.\nThe _norito_ (No. 18) is very short and uninteresting.\n\n=Service for the Removal of the Ise Shrine=.--The _norito_ (No. 24) is\na very short formula. It announces to the Sun-Goddess the rebuilding of\nher shrine, which took place every twentieth year. A similar form was\nused in the case of the Food-Goddess.\n\n=Oho-tono hogahi= (luck-wishing or blessing of the Great Palace).--This\nceremony was performed on the morning after the Kamu image and the\nNihi-name. It was in honour of three deities, namely, the two Yabune\nno Kami, or House deities, and Oho-miya no me, a personified Lady\nChamberlain.\n\nI quote from Sir Ernest Satow's 'Ancient Japanese Rituals' in the\n_T. A. S. J._, vol. ix. pt. ii., a ninth-century description of this\nceremony:--\n\n\"The Jingikwan took four boxes containing precious stones, cut\npaper-mulberry bark, rice and sake in bottles, and placed them on two\neight-legged tables, which were then borne by four attendants, preceded\nby Nakatomi and Imbe functionaries, all wearing wreaths and scarfs of\npaper-mulberry bark, walking in double line, the rear being brought\nup by virgin priestesses. On the procession arriving in front of the\nPalace gate, the tables were deposited under the arcade which ran along\nthe outside of the wall. A servant called out for admittance, and the\nporter having announced the procession by saying that an officer of the\nImperial Household had asked for admission in order to pronounce the\nLuck-wishing of the Great Palace, the order, 'Let him pronounce it,'\nwas transmitted back from the Mikado. The porter thereupon called out\n'Let him declare his name and surname,' in reply to which the officer\nadvanced to a spot previously marked out by a wooden ticket with his\nname on it, and said: 'It is so and so, of the Jingikwan, who wish to\nperform the Luck-wishing of the Great Palace.' To this the Mikado's\nanswer was 'Call them.' The officer of the household replied '\u00d4,'\nand retiring called the functionaries of the Jingikwan, who in their\nturn replied '\u00d4.' The Nakatomi and Imbe then put on their wreaths of\npaper-mulberry, to which the latter added straps of the same material,\nand advanced ahead of the tables up to the 'Hall of Benevolence and\nLong Life.' The virgin priestesses had meanwhile entered by another\ngate, and were waiting in the Palace enclosure. They now followed the\ntables, and came up to the verandah on the east side of the building,\nwhere they took charge of the boxes of offerings. The procession then\nentered the building. One virgin priestess went to the Hall of Audience\nand scattered rice about it, while another proceeded to the gate on its\nsouth side and performed the same ceremony there. The Imbe took out the\nprecious stones and hung them at the four corners of the Hall, and the\npriestesses withdrew, after sprinkling sake and scattering rice and cut\npaper-mulberry fibre at the four corners of the interior. The Nakatomi\nstood on the south side of the building while the Imbe turned to the\nsouth-east, and in a low voice read the ritual. The whole company next\nwent to the Mikado's bath-room, and hung precious stones at its four\nangles, and the same at his privy, while the priestesses scattered rice\nand sprinkled sake as before.\"\n\nThe _norito_ (No. 8) of this ceremony, as appears from the archaic\nforms of language which it contains, is probably very ancient. It is\nquoted in the _Kogojiui_; and the _Nihongi_ describes as \"an ancient\nsaying\" a sentence which forms part of it.\n\nThe reader will note the confusion--of a kind inherent in all\nmythologies--between the house considered as a deity and the protecting\ndeity of the house.\n\n_\"When by command of the dear, divine ancestor and ancestress who\ndivinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaven, the Sovran Grandchild[241]\nwas made to take his seat on the high august throne of Heaven,\nand the Heavenly Emblems, namely, the mirror and the sword, were\ndelivered to him, these words of blessing were pronounced: 'Let our\nsovran great offspring, the Sovran Grandchild, receiving over the\ncelestial Sun-succession on this high throne of Heaven, rule tranquilly\nfor myriads of thousands of autumns, for long autumns, over the\nGreat-Eight-islands, the Rich Reed-plain, Land of fair rice-ears, as a\npeaceful country.' With these words they delivered it unto him. Then,\ncelestial counsel having been held, they put to silence the rock-roots\nand tree-roots, even to the smallest blades of grass, that previously\nhad power of speech._\n\n_\"And for the Sovran Grandchild who in Heavenly Sun-succession rules\nthe Under-Heaven, to which he had descended, trees are now cut down\nwith the sacred axes of the Imbe in the great valleys and the small\nvalleys of the secluded mountains, and sacrifice having been made of\ntheir tops and bottoms to the God of the mountains, the middle parts\nare brought forth and set up as sacred pillars with sacred mattocks to\nform a fair Palace wherein the Sovran Grandchild finds shelter from\nthe sky and shelter from the sun. To thee, therefore, Ya-bune no Mikoto\n[the Palace treated as a God] I address these heavenly, wondrous,\nauspicious words of calm and blessing._\n\n_\"He says: 'I humbly declare the names of the Gods who calmly and\npeacefully watch so that this Great Palace where he holds rule, as far\ndownwards as the lowermost rock-roots, suffer no harm from reptiles\namong its bottom-ropes,[242] as far upwards as the blue clouds are\ndiffused in the Plain of High Heaven, may suffer no harm from flying\nbirds in the celestial smoke-hole,[243] that the joinings of the firmly\nplanted pillars, and of the crossbeams, rafters, doors, and windows may\nnot move or make a noise, that there may be no slackening of the tied\nrope-knots and no dishevelment of the roof-thatch, no creaking of the\nfloor-joints or alarms by night. I humbly praise your honoured names,\nto wit, Yabune Kukunochi no Mikoto and Yabune Toyo-uke hime no Mikoto\n[House-tree God and House-food Goddess].[244] And inasmuch as you\nhumbly preserve the Sovran Grandchild's reign to be firm and enduring,\nand humbly bless it as a lasting, prosperous, and perfect reign,\nthe Imbe no Sukune [name], adding shining cloth and lustrous fine\ncloth to the countless strings of fair jewels prepared by the sacred\njewel-makers with observance of purity and avoidance of pollution, and\nhanging stout straps on weak shoulders [will offer them to you], with\nwords of blessing and calm. And let the Gods Kamu-nahobi and Oho-nahobi\npeacefully and tranquilly exercise their office, correcting, whether in\nthings heard or in things seen, any omission which he may make in so\ndoing.'_\n\n\"_More especially does he humbly declare: 'Naming her as Oho-miya-no-me\nI humbly fulfil her praises because, within the same Palace as the\nSovran Grandchild, she blocks the way and takes cognizance and makes\nchoice of the persons who go in and out, with words amends and\nmollifies the hurry and roughness of the Gods, keeps from error the\nhands and feet of the scarf-wearing attendants and the strap-wearing\nattendants[245] who serve the morning meal and the evening meal of\nthe Sovran Grandchild, preventing the Imperial Princes, Princes,\nMinisters of State, and all the functionaries from indulging their\nseveral inclinations and causing them, pure of evil intents and base\nhearts, to attend in the Palace with a Palace-attendance, and to serve\nin the Palace with a Palace-service, and amending to eye and ear all\nfaults and errors, so that their duties may be performed peacefully and\ntranquilly.'\"_\n\n=Naishi-dokoro or Kashiko-dokoro=.--Every new moon offerings were\npresented in the _naishi-dokoro_ (_naishi_-place) or _kashiko-dokoro_\n(place of reverence[246]) by the _naishi_ or female attendants of the\nPalace to the sacred mirror which represented the Sun-Goddess. They\nconsisted of rice, cakes, paper, cloth, egg-plant, fish, shellfish,\n&c. Twice a year _Kagura_ was performed. The ceremonies used on these\noccasions were regulated in Uda's reign (889-898) and closely resembled\nthose of the Great Shrine of Ise. The _Yengishiki_ has not preserved\nthe _norito_ belonging to it.\n\nA Japanese writer thus describes the modern form of this ceremony:--\n\n\"Within the palace there is a large hall, the _kashiko-dokoro_, or\nplace of reverence, constructed of milk-white, knotless timbers,\nexquisitely joined and smooth as mirrors, but absolutely devoid of\ndecoration. At one end stands a large shrine, also of snow-pure wood,\nwith delicately chased mountings of silver gilt. It encloses models\nof the divine insignia, and a number of long, narrow tablets of pine,\non which are inscribed the posthumous titles of all the Emperors\nsince the days of Jimmu. Within the folding doors of the shrine hangs\na curtain woven of bamboo threads. At the appointed hour, generally\nthe grey of morning, _sakaki_ boughs are laid beside the shrine\nand provision of incense is made; after which the officials of the\nBureau of Rites and those of the Imperial Household file in and seat\nthemselves on either side of the hall. The doors of the shrine are then\nopened and offerings of various kinds--vegetables, fish, cloth, and so\nforth--are carried in and ranged before it, solemn music in Japanese\nstyle being performed the while. Thereafter the princes of the blood\nand all officials of the two highest ranks as well as the peers of the\n'musk-chamber' and the 'golden-pheasant chamber' enter, and when they\nare seated the Emperor himself appears and, proceeding slowly to the\nshrine, bows his head, takes a branch of _sakaki_ with pendant _gohei_,\nand having waved it in token of the purification of sins, ignites a\nstick of incense[247] and places it upright in the censer, thereafter\nrepeating a ritual (_norito_). So long as his Majesty is present in the\nhall, all the officials remain standing. His Majesty then retires, and,\non his departure, worship of the same kind, but without any prayer, is\nperformed by a representative of the Prince Imperial,\" and subsequently\nby the other members of the Court.\n\n=Mitama Shidzumuru no matsuri= (ceremony for settling or calming the\naugust spirit).\n\nThere was an ancient ceremony called _mitama furishiki_ that is,\nshaking the august jewels, which is referred to in the _Kiujiki_. We\nare there told that when the Sun-Goddess sent down Ninigi to rule the\nworld, she gave him \"ten auspicious treasures, namely, one mirror of\nthe offing, one mirror of the shore, one eight-hands-breadth sword,\none jewel (_tama_) of birth, one jewel of return from death, one\nperfect jewel, one road-returning jewel (that is, a jewel which has\nthe property of making evil things return by the road they came),\none serpent-scarf (a scarf which has power when waved to keep away\nserpents), one bee-scarf, and one scarf of various things,\" saying: \"In\ncase of illness shake these treasures and repeat to them the words,\n'One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.' If thou\ndoest so the dead will certainly return to life.\"\n\nThe _Nihongi_ states that in A.D. 685 the ceremony of calling on the\nspirit (_mitama_) was performed for the Mikado's sake. An ancient\ngloss identifies this ceremony with that of the _mitama furishiki_\njust described. The object of the two ceremonies was, no doubt, the\nsame, but it is to be noted that _mitama_, which in the one case means\njewel or talisman, in the other means spirit--a rare case in the\nolder Shinto records of this word being applied to the human soul.\nThe phrases \"calling on the spirit\" and \"settling the spirit\" are of\nChinese origin, _mitama_ being in this connexion simply a translation\nof the Chinese _hun_ (pronounced _kon_ in Japanese). The same ceremony\nis known in China, and some features of its Japanese form were probably\nborrowed from that country. Its object, according to a modern writer,\nwas to summon back to and settle in the body the volatile _kon_. It\nwas performed every year in the eleventh month in the Chapel of the\nJingikwan, and also at one time in connexion with the coronation\nceremony.\n\nThe _norito_ (No. 15 of the _Yengishiki_) begins with a recital of\nthe Mikado's divine claims to sovereignty. Then the offerings are\nenumerated. It concludes with a prayer to the eight Gods of the\nJingikwan to grant the Mikado a long and prosperous reign, and that\nhe may dwell peacefully in his Palace during the ensuing year. It\nsays nothing of the Mikado's spirit, an expression found only in the\nheading, which may be supposed to be a later addition.\n\nA performance by the Miko resembling that of Uzume before the Rock-cave\nof Heaven, and comprising the repetition of the magic words one, two,\nthree, &c., formed part, no doubt the oldest part, of the ceremony. It\nis now usually called by the Chinese name _Chinkonsai_.\n\nThere is a story of a thief having stolen the clothing presented on\nthis occasion, and also the string which tied the Mikado's _mitama_,\nwhatever that may mean.\n\n=Oho-harahi= (Great Purification).[248]--This ceremony includes a\npreliminary lustration, expiatory offerings, and the recital of a\n_norito_ or formula--not a prayer, as it is sometimes called--in\nwhich the Mikado, by virtue of the authority transmitted to him from\nthe Sun-Goddess, declares to his ministers and people the absolution\nof their sins and impurities. This formula is often referred to as\nif it constituted the whole ceremony. It is known as the _Nakatomi\nno Oho-harahi_, because in ancient times it was usually read by the\nNakatomi as representatives of the Mikado.\n\nThe myths which represent Izanagi as flinging down his garments during\nhis flight from Yomi, and washing away in the sea the pollution\ncontracted by his visit there, and describe the expiatory offerings\nexacted from Susa no wo, presume an acquaintance with the ceremony\nof which the Oho-harahi _norito_ forms a chief part. The _Nihongi_\ninforms us, under the legendary date A.D. 200, that after the sudden\ndeath of the Mikado Chiuai, his widow and successor Jing\u014d commanded her\nministers \"to purge offences and to rectify transgressions,\" while in\nthe parallel passage of the _Kojiki_[249] details are given of these\noffences, which, as far as they go, are identical with those enumerated\nin the Oho-harahi itself. Great Purifications are mentioned as having\nbeen performed in 676, 678, and 686. The Japanese scholar Mabuchi\nascribes the present Oho-harahi _norito_ to this last-named period. In\nsubstance it must be very much older.\n\nThe chief ceremony was performed in the capital twice yearly, on the\nlast days of the sixth and twelfth months. These dates are not chosen\narbitrarily. There is a natural impulse at the close of the year to\nwipe out old scores and to make a fresh start with good resolutions.\nThe _tsuina_,[250] or demon-expelling ceremonies, of the last day of\nthe year, described below, are prompted by a similar motive. Tennyson\ngives expression to this feeling in his 'In Memoriam':--\n\n \"The year is dying in the night,\n Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.\n\n * * * * *\n\n Ring out the false, ring in the true,\n\n * * * * *\n\n Ring out the want, the care, the sin,\n\n * * * * *\n\n Ring out old shapes of foul disease.\"\n\nThe summer celebration of the Oho-harahi is analogous to the custom\nof lustration, or bathing on St. John's Eve, formerly practised in\nGermany, Italy, and other countries.\n\nThe Chinese had an Oho-harahi, defined by Mr. Giles in his 'Chinese\nDictionary' as \"a religious ceremony of purification performed in\nspring and autumn, with a view to secure divine protection for\nagricultural interests.\" The Ainus of Yezo have a similar ceremony.[251]\n\nThe Oho-harahi was not confined to the last days of the sixth and\ntwelfth months. It was performed as a preliminary to several of the\ngreat Shinto ceremonies, notably the Ohonihe, and on other emergencies,\nsuch as an outbreak of pestilence,[252] the finding of a dead body\nin the Palace (865), the officiating of a Nakatomi who had performed\nBuddhist rites (816), &c.\n\nWe learn from the regulations of the period J\u014dgwan (859-876) that at\nthat time the ceremony was performed at the southern gate of the Kioto\nPalace, in front of which there was a canal. The purification offerings\nwere set out before this gate. The officials took their seats in due\norder, the women being separated off by a curtain. The officials of the\nJingikwan then distributed _kiri-nusa_[253] among the audience, upon\nwhich the Nakatomi took his place and recited the ritual, the officials\nresponding _\u00d4_ after every paragraph. When the purification was\nfinished, the Oho-nusa ceremony was performed. It had also a purifying\ninfluence, and consisted, according to Dr. Florenz, in brandishing the\nOho-nusa over the assembly, first to left, then to right, and then\nagain to left.\n\nThe _norito_ (No. 10 of the _Yengishiki_) is as follows:--\n\n_\"He[254] says: 'Give ear, all ye Imperial Princes, Princes, Ministers\nof State, and functionaries who are here assembled, and hearken every\none to the Great Purification by which at this year's interlune of the\nsixth (or twelfth) month he deigns to purge and absolve all manner\nof faults and transgressions which may have been committed by those\nwho serve in the Imperial Court, whether they wear the scarf or the\nshoulder-strap, whether they bear on their back the quiver or gird on\nthem the sword, the eighty attendants of the attendants, including,\nmoreover, all those who do duty in the various offices of State.'_\n\n_\"He says: 'Hearken, all of you. The Sovran dear ancestors,[255] who\ndivinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaven, having summoned to an\nassembly the eight hundred myriads of deities, held divine counsel with\nthem, and then gave command, saying: \"Let our August Grandchild[256]\nhold serene rule over the fertile reed-plain, the region of fair\nrice-ears,[257] as a land of peace.\"_\n\n_\"'But in the realm thus assigned to him there were savage deities.\nThese were called to a divine account and expelled with a divine\nexpulsion. Moreover, the rocks, trees, and smallest leaves of grass\nwhich had power of speech were put to silence. Then they despatched\nhim downward from his celestial everlasting throne, cleaving as he\nwent with an awful way-cleaving the many-piled clouds of Heaven, and\ndelivered to him the Land. At the middle point of the lands of the\nfour quarters thus entrusted to him, Yamato, the High-Sun-Land, was\nestablished as a peaceful land, and there was built here for the Sovran\nGrandchild a fair Palace wherewithal to shelter him from sun and\nsky,[258] with massy pillars based deep on the nethermost rocks and\nupraising to the Plain of High Heaven the cross-timbers of its roof._\n\n_\"'Now of the various faults and transgressions to be committed\nby the celestial race destined more and more to people this land\nof his peaceful rule, some are of Heaven, to wit, the breaking\ndown of divisions between rice-fields, filling up of irrigation\nchannels, removing water-pipes, sowing seed over again,[259] planting\nskewers,[260] flaying alive,_\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration] _flaying backwards. These are distinguished as Heavenly\noffences._[261]\n\n_\"'Earthly offences which will be committed are the cutting of living\nbodies, the cutting of dead bodies, leprosy, kokumi,[262] incest\nof a man with his mother or daughter, with his mother-in-law or\nstep-daughter, bestiality, calamities from creeping things, from the\nhigh Gods[263] and from high birds, killing animals, bewitchments._[264]\n\n_\"'Whensoever they may be committed, let the Great Nakatomi, in\naccordance with the custom of the Heavenly Palace, cut Heavenly\nsaplings at the top and cut them at the bottom, and make thereof a\ncomplete array of one thousand stands for offerings._[265]\n\n_\"'Having trimmed rushes of heaven at the top and trimmed them at the\nbottom, let him split them into manifold slivers._[266]\n\n_\"'Then let him recite the mighty ritual words of the celestial\nritual._[267]\n\n_\"'When he does so, the Gods of Heaven, thrusting open the adamantine\ndoor of Heaven and cleaving the many-piled clouds of Heaven with an\nawful way-cleaving will lend ear. The Gods of Earth, climbing to the\ntops of the high mountains and to the tops of the low mountains,\nsweeping apart the mists of the high mountains and the mists of the low\nmountains, will lend ear._\n\n_\"'When they have thus lent ear, all offences whatsoever will be\nannulled, from the Court of the Sovran Grandchild to the provinces of\nthe four quarters of the Under-Heaven._\n\n_\"'As the many-piled clouds of Heaven are scattered by the breath\nof the Wind-Gods; as the morning breezes and the evening breezes\ndissipate the dense morning vapours and the dense evening vapours;\nas a huge ship, moored in a great harbour, casting off its stern\nmoorings, casting off its bow moorings, drives forth into the great\nsea-plain; as yonder thick brushwood is smitten and cleared away by\nthe sharp sickle forged in the fire, so shall all offences be utterly\nannulled. Therefore he (the Mikado) is graciously pleased to purify\nand cleanse them away. The Goddess called Se-ori-tsu-hime who dwells\nin the rapids of the swift streams whose cataracts tumble headlong\nfrom the tops of the high mountains and from the tops of the low\nmountains will bear them out into the great sea-plain. Thereupon the\nGoddess called Haya-aki-tsu-hime, who dwells in the myriad meetings\nof the tides of the myriad brine-paths of the myriad ways of the\ncurrents of the boisterous sea will swallow them up. And the God\nIbuki-do nushi, who dwells in the Breath-blowing-place,[268] will\npuff them away to the Root-country, the Bottom Country.[269] Then the\nGoddess Haya-sasura-hime,[270] who dwells in the Root-country, the\nBottom-country, will banish and abolish them. When they have been so\ndestroyed, every one, from the servants of the Imperial Court to the\nfour quarters of the Under-Heaven, will remain void of all offences\nwhatsoever._\n\n_\"'Attend, therefore, all of you to this Great Purification, by which\nhe is graciously pleased at sunset on this interlunar day of the sixth\n(or twelfth) month of this year to purify and cleanse you, having led\nhither a horse as an animal that pricks up its ears to the Plain of\nHigh-Heaven.'_[271]\n\n_\"He says: 'Ye diviners (Urabe) of the four provinces, remove them to\nthe great river-way and abolish them.'\"_[272]\n\nIn addition to the Oho-harahi, or National Purifications, there\nwere local and individual celebrations. In the latter case, of which\nSusa no wo's punishment is the mythical type, the _harahi-tsu-mono_\nwere naturally furnished by the person for whose benefit they were\nperformed, and so amounted practically to a fine on the offender. The\n_Nihongi_ (A.D. 646) mentions a number of cases in which travellers and\nothers were compelled by the country people to do _harahi_, that is, to\npay a fine, under various pretences. For example, when a man returning\nfrom forced labour fell down by the roadside and died, the villagers of\nthe place said, \"Why should a man be allowed to die on our road?\" and\ndetained the companions of the deceased until they had done _harahi_.\nCases of drowning were followed by similar claims, and even the cooking\nof rice by the roadside or the upsetting of a borrowed pot. An Imperial\ndecree was issued prohibiting these extortions, which are described as\nhabitual with the unenlightened vulgar.\n\nThe application of the _harahi_ to the purpose of a fine was regulated\nby an ordinance which was issued in 801. Those who were guilty of\nneglect in connexion with the celebration of the Ohonihe, or who,\nduring the month of special avoidance of impurity, contracted mourning,\nvisited the sick, were concerned with capital sentences, ate flesh, or\ntouched anything impure were mulcted in an _oho-harahi_, which in this\ncase meant simply a heavy fine. It consisted of one horse, two swords,\ntwo bows, and a long list of other sundries. Other offences of the same\nclasses were fined in a _naka-harahi_, or medium _harahi_.\n\nDr. Florenz describes a more modern form of _harahi_ as follows: \"As\na third species of _harahi_ we may mention the purification preceding\nevery greater festival of a Shinto shrine, through which the priests\nand others taking part in the Matsuri are purified. This ceremony\ntakes place in a hall or open place specially prepared for the purpose,\ncalled _harahi-dokoro_ (purification-place). It consists in the\n_Kami-oroshi_ (bringing down the spirits of the purifying deities) into\nthe _himorogi_, which stands on an eight-legged table in the middle of\nthe _harahi-dokoro_, the recitation of the purification prayer, various\nsubsequent symbolic ceremonies, and the _Kami-age_, or sending back the\nGods to their abodes. Thereupon the priests are considered to be pure,\nand the Matsuri proper can begin. The prayer addressed to the Gods is\nas follows:--\n\n_\"In reverence and awe: The great gods of the purification place who\ncame into existence when the Great God Izanagi deigned to wash and\npurify himself on the plain of Ahagi [east] of Tachibana [near] the\nRiver Wot\u014d in Himuka in Tsukushi, shall deign to purify and deign\nto cleanse whatever there may be of sins and pollutions committed\ninadvertently or deliberately by the officials serving here to-day.\nListen ye to these my words. Thus I say reverentially.\"_\n\nIn later times there were many abuses and perversions of the _harahi_,\ndue mainly to Buddhist influence. The formula was much modified, and\nis found in numerous versions. Some of these are wholly Buddhist,\nsuch as the well-known \"Rokkon sh\u014dj\u014d\" (may the six senses be pure),\nso constantly in the mouths of pilgrims at this day. Others include\na prayer for purity of heart, which is an idea quite foreign to the\nancient Shinto. _Harahi-bako_ (_harahi_-boxes) were sold at Ise with\ninscriptions half Buddhist and half Shinto. In imitation of a similar\nBuddhist practice, these boxes contained a certificate that the\n_harahi_ had been recited one thousand or ten thousand times for the\npurchaser's benefit. Pieces of the _gohei_ wand used by the priests at\nthe Oho-harahi of the sixth and twelfth months were enclosed with these\ncertificates. Sometimes a small fragment of the old shrine, which was\nbroken up every twentieth year and a new one erected, was compressed\nbetween two thin boards and called an _o-harahi_. Pilgrims received\nthese in return for their offerings. The devout could even purchase\nthem from hawkers, who went about the country (like the sellers of\nindulgences in Luther's time) disposing of them for the benefit of the\nshrine. This practice is now prohibited.[273]\n\nThe ideas associated with the _harahi_ ceremony also underwent a\nchange. Some writers speak of it as intended \"to propitiate evil\ndeities.\" The _harahi_ sold by the priests of Ise were set up in the\n_Kami-dana_, or domestic shrine, and worshipped as the _shintai_ of\nthe deity. They were supposed to be indestructible by fire or water,\nto keep away robbers, to heal diseases, to make the old young, and to\nprotect against calamity of every kind.\n\nIn some later forms of the _harahi_ the purifying Gods are besought to\ncleanse from evil, sin, and pollution. This marks a different attitude\nfrom that of the Nakatomi no Oho-harahi, where they are merely a part\nof the machinery of purification.\n\n=Invocation by the Hereditary Corporation of Scholars of Yamato and\nKahachi=.--This _norito_ (No. 11 of the _Yengishiki_) was read previous\nto the performance of the Oho-harahi. The two corporations named\nwere descendants, or, at least, successors of the Korean scholars\nwho in the fifth century introduced Chinese learning into Japan. The\nlanguage, thought, and sentiment of this _norito_ are Chinese. The\nSun, Moon (not Hirume and Tsukiyomi) and stars, the High Emperor of\nSupreme Heaven (Shangti), the five Emperors of the five cardinal\npoints, the King-father of the East, the King-mother of the West, the\nfour influences of the four seasons, and other Chinese divinities are\ninvoked to grant prosperity to the Mikado. An offering was made of\na silver man in order that calamity might be averted from him, and\nof a golden sword so that his reign might be lengthened. The sword,\nreally of wood gilt, was called the _harahi-tsu-tachi_, or sword\nof purification, and was breathed upon by the Mikado before being\ntaken away. The silver man was also for use as an _aga-mono_, or\nransom-object.\n\n=Michi-ahe no Matsuri=.--The object of this ceremony was to invoke the\naid of the Sahe no Kami in preventing evil spirits, that is to say,\npestilences, from entering Kioto.[274] The _norito_ (No. 13 of the\n_Yengishiki_) read on this occasion is as follows:--\n\n_\"I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods whose functions\nfirst began in the Plain of High Heaven, when they fulfilled\nthe praises[275] of the Sovran Grandchild by guarding the great\neight-road-forks like a multitudinous assemblage of rocks._[276]\n\n_\"Naming your honoured names, to wit, Yachimata-hiko, Yachimata-hime,\nand Kunado, I fulfil your praises. Whenever from the Root-country the\nBottom-country there may come savage and unfriendly beings, consort not\nand parley not with them, but if they go below, keep watch below, if\nthey go above, keep watch above, protecting us against pollution with a\nnight guarding and with a day guarding._\n\n_\"The offerings I furnish in your honour are bright cloth, shining\ncloth, soft cloth, and rough cloth. Of sake I raise up the tops of the\njars and fill and range in order the bellies of the jars. [Grain] in\njuice and in ear I offer you. Of things that dwell in the mountains\nand on the moors I offer the soft of hair and the coarse of hair. Of\nthings that dwell in the blue sea-plain, the broad of fin and the\nnarrow of fin, even to the weeds of the offing and the weeds of the\nshore. Peacefully partaking of these plenteous offerings, which I lay\nbefore you in full measure like a cross range of hills, hold guard on\nthe highways like a multitudinous assemblage of rocks, preserving from\npollution the Sovran Grandchild firmly and enduringly, and bless his\nreign to be a prosperous reign._\n\n_\"Also be pleased peacefully to preserve from pollution the\nImperial Princes, the Princes, the Ministers of State, and all the\nfunctionaries, including, moreover, the people of the Under-Heaven._\n\n_\"I, as official of the Department of Religion, humbly fulfil your\npraises by this celestial, this great pronouncement.\"_\n\nThe offerings included hides of oxen, boar, deer, and bear, in addition\nto those above enumerated.\n\n=Sagi-ch\u014d=.--This is a modern ceremony, which was also intended\nto repel evil influences. The Wakan-Sansai-dzuye (1713) gives the\nfollowing description of it as practised in the Imperial Palace:--\n\n_\"On the fifteenth day of the first month[277] green bamboos are burnt\nin the courtyard of the Seiry\u014dden, and happy reports[278] sent up to\nHeaven therewith. On the eighteenth also bamboos are dressed up with\nfans attached to them, which are burnt at the same place. There is a\nreader of spells called Daikoku Matsudaiyu, who has four followers,\ntwo old men and two old women. These wear devil-masks and 'red-bear'\nwigs. The two old women carry drums, and the two old men run after them\ntrying to beat the drums. There are two boys without masks, but with\n'red-bear' wigs, who beat double cymbals. Moreover, there are five\nmen in dress of ceremony who stand in a row and join in with cries of\n'dondoya,' while one costumed somewhat differently calls out 'Ha!'\"_\n\nThe Wakan Sansai does not know the origin of this ceremony, which is\nsaid to expel demons. There is a similar Chinese practice, though on a\ndifferent date, namely, the first day of the year. Its object is said\nto be to drive away mountain elves.\n\n=Mikado matsuri=.--This ceremony was in honour of two Gate Gods\nnamed Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-gate) and Toyo-iha-mado\n(rich-rock-gate).[279] The _Yengishiki_ contains a _norito_ (No. 9) in\nwhich their praises are fulfilled, because they prevent the entrance to\nthe Palace of noxious things and exercise a superintendence over the\npersons who come in and go out.\n\n=Tsuina= or =Oni-yarahi=, that is to say, demon expelling, is a sort of\ndrama in which disease, or more generally ill-luck, is personified, and\ndriven away with threats and a show of violence. Like the Oho-harahi,\nit was performed on the last day of the year. This association is only\nnatural. The demons of the _tsuina_ are personified wintry influences,\nwith the diseases which they bring with them, while the Oho-harahi is\nintended to cleanse the people from sin and uncleanness, things closely\nrelated to disease, as well as from disease itself. Though probably\nof Chinese origin, the _tsuina_ is a tolerably ancient rite. It is\nalluded to in the _Nihongi_ under the date A.D. 689. It was at one time\nperformed at Court on an imposing scale. Four bands of twenty youths,\neach wearing a four-eyed mask, and each carrying a halberd in the left\nhand, marched simultaneously from the four gates of the Palace, driving\nthe devils before them. Another account of this ceremony says that a\nman disguised himself as the demon of pestilence, in which garb he was\nshot at and driven off by the courtiers armed with peach-wood bows and\narrows of reed. (See illustration, p. 310.) Peach-wood staves were\nused for the same purpose. There was formerly a practice at Asa-kusa\nin Tokio on the last day of the year for a man got up as a devil to be\nchased round the pagoda there by another wearing a mask. After this\n3,000 tickets were scrambled for by the spectators. These were carried\naway and pasted up over the doors as a charm against pestilence. At\nthe present day, the popular form of _tsuina_ consists in scattering\nparched beans with the cry, \"_Oni ha soto: fuku ha uchi_,\" that is,\n\"Out with the devils and in with the luck.\" The former phrase is\nuttered in a loud voice, the latter in a low tone. This office should\nproperly be discharged by the head of the family, but it is frequently\ndelegated to a servant. The performer is called the _toshi-otoko_, or\nyear-man. In the Sh\u014dgun's palace a specially appointed _toshi-otoko_\nsprinkled parched beans in all the principal rooms. These beans were\npicked up by the women of the palace, who wrapped them in paper in\nnumber equal to the years of their age, and then flung them backwards\nout of doors. Sometimes _tsuina_ beans were gathered by people who had\nreached an unlucky year (_yaku-toshi_), one for each year of their age\nand one over, and wrapped in paper with a small copper coin, which\nhad been rubbed over their body to transfer the ill-luck. These were\nplaced in a bamboo tube and flung away at crossroads. This was called\n_yaku-sute_ (flinging away ill-luck). Other people pass under seven\n_tori-wi_ as an antidote.\n\nThe significance of the peach and bean in this ceremony has been\nalready explained.[280] The vulgar notion is that the beans hit the\ndevils in the eye and blind them. A more philosophical theory is\nthat the beans dispel the _in-aku no ki_, or female evil influences,\nand welcome in the _sei-y\u014d_, green male influences. By the female\ninfluences are here meant wintry influences; by male influences those\nof spring.\n\nMr. J. G. Frazer, in 'The Golden Bough,' iii. 67, second edition, gives\nan interesting account of another Japanese form of this custom.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe _tsuina_ is only a special form of a world-wide ceremony. We may\ncompare with it the Roman Lemuria, a festival for the souls of the\ndead, in which the celebrators threw black beans nine times behind\ntheir backs, believing by this ceremony to secure themselves against\nthe Lemures. Some of my readers may have witnessed the Scotch Hogmanay,\nwhen the house is thrice circumambulated on the last day of the year\nin order to frighten away devils. In Lady Burton's life of her husband\nshe tells us that at Trieste on St. Sylvester's Eve, the servants went\nthrough a very usual ceremony of forming procession and chevying the\nevil spirits with sticks and brooms out of the house, inviting the good\nspirits and good luck to come and dwell there. This is curiously like\nthe Japanese formula just quoted. At Ch\u00e6ronea, in B\u0153otia, the chief\nmagistrate at the town hall and every householder in his own house, as\nwe learn from Plutarch, had on a certain day to beat a slave with rods\nof _agnus castus_, and turn him out of doors, with the formula, \"Out\nhunger! in health and wealth.\" The \"expulsion of winter\" of Teutonic\nand Slavonic folklore belongs to the same class of customs. It should\nbe remembered that the Japanese New Year was later than our own, and\nwas recognized as the beginning of spring.\n\nI must not quote further from the extensive literature of this subject.\nThe reader is referred to 'The Golden Bough,' second edition, vol. iii.\npp. 39 _et seqq_., for a rich collection of evidence relating to it.\n\n=New Year in Modern Japan=.--Although most of the New Year's\nobservances in modern Japan belong to the province of popular magic\nrather than of Shinto, some general account of them may not be out of\nplace here. The preparations begin on the thirteenth day of the last\nmonth, which is therefore called _koto-hajime_ (beginning of things).\nOn this day people eat _okotojiru_, a kind of stew, whose ingredients\nare generally red beans, potatoes, mushrooms, sliced fish, and a root\ncalled _konnyaku_. Presents of money are made to servants at this\ntime. About the same date there is a partly real, partly ceremonial\nhouse-cleaning called _susu-harahi_ (soot-sweeping). The other\npreparations for the New Year consist in decorating the front entrance\nby planting at each side of it small fir-trees, with which bamboos are\nfrequently joined. Both of these symbolize an ever-green prosperity. A\n_shimenaha_ is hung over the door or gate, attached to which are fern\nleaves, and _yudzuri-ha_ (_Daphniphyllum macropodum_) with _daidai_ (a\nkind of bitter orange). _Daidai_ also means ages, generations, so that\nthis is a sort of punning prayer for long life and the continuance of\nthe family. The prawn, which forms part of the decorations, is supposed\nby its curved back to suggest old age. Sometimes holly leaves, of which\nthe prickles are thought, as in Europe, obnoxious to demons, bean pods,\nand a head of a salt sardine (_ihashi_) are added. On the domestic\nshrine is placed an offering of unleavened cakes of glutinous pounded\nrice, the preparation of which is a matter for much fun and excitement.\nThese cakes are called _kagami-mochi_, or mirror-cakes, on account of\ntheir shape, which is that of a flattened sphere. There are two of\nthem. One is said to represent the sun, the _y\u014d_, or male principle\nof Chinese philosophy, the parent and the husband, while the other is\nput for the moon, the female principle, the child and the wife. The\n_kagami-mochi_ is also called the _ha-gatame mochi_ (tooth-hardening\ncake) because it fortifies the constitution. The explanation given is\nthat the Chinese character for _ha_, \"tooth,\" also means \"age.\"\n\nThe _tsuina_ on the last day of the year is described above.\n\nThe first act of the New Year is for the _toshi-otoko_ to proceed at\ndawn to the well or stream whence the household water is supplied. He\nthrows into it a small offering of rice, and draws water in a new pail\ncrowned with _shime-naha_. To drink this water, called _waka-midzu_ or\nyoung water, brings luck and exemption from disease during the year.\n\nOn New Year's day _z\u014dni_, a stew of various kinds of vegetables\nis eaten and a spiced sake called _toso_ is drunk and offered to\nvisitors. No work is done. Visits are exchanged between friends,\nand formal calls made on superiors. The phrase _Shinnen o medet\u00f4\ngozarimasu_ (New Year's congratulations to you) is in everybody's\nmouth. The _ujigami_ are visited and also the Shinto temples which\nlie in the direction (_eh\u00f4_) indicated by the cyclic name of the\nyear. Thus the year of the Hare is associated with the East. The Gods\nwho preside over this particular year are called the Toshi-toku-jin\n(year-virtue-Gods).\n\nIn some places a lamp, consisting of a coarse earthenware saucer with\na wick, is lighted at the New Year in honour of the God of the Privy.\nSick people at this time throw away their stockings or drawers on a\nfrequented road, and if any one picks them up they expect to recover.\nSamurai boys receive presents of _hamayumi_ (devil-quelling bows).\n\nThe seventh of the first month is called Nanakusa, or seven herbs,\nbecause in ancient times people went out into the country to gather\nwild pot-herbs which were made into a mess with rice and eaten on this\nday.\n\nThe New Year's celebrations end with the Sahe no Kami festival (now\ncalled _dondo_ or _sagich\u00f4_) on the fourteenth or fifteenth of the\nfirst month, when the decorations above described are made the material\nfor a bonfire.[281]\n\n=Tatari-gami wo utsushi-tatematsuru norito= (service for the respectful\nremoval of deities who send a curse).--This _norito_ (No. 25) is long,\nbut it contains nothing worthy of special notice. The mischievous\ndeities are reminded of the divine right of the Mikado, and of the\nquelling by Futsunushi and Takemika-dzuchi of the evil beings who\nplagued Japan before the descent of Ninigi. Offerings of cloth, a\nmirror, jewels, bows and arrows, swords, a horse, sake, rice in ear and\nin grain, and various kinds of flesh and vegetables, are set before\nthem, with the request that they should retire to enjoy these good\nthings in some pure spot among the hills and streams and remain there,\nrather than work curses and violence in the Palace.\n\nIt is to be distinguished from the Michiahe ritual, which was addressed\nto the Protective Road-deities in order to keep off pestilence. The\npresent formula is a direct appeal to the evil deities themselves. It\nis not quite clear who they were. Perhaps all possibly harmful Gods\nwere meant to be included.\n\n=Ceremony when Envoys were despatched to Foreign Countries=.--On such\noccasions the Gods of Heaven and Earth, with the phallic Chiburi no\nKami, or Road-Gods, were worshipped outside the city, the envoys\ntaking part in the ceremony and reading a _norito_. The wood-Gods and\nmountain-Gods were worshipped before cutting the timber for building\ntheir ship.\n\nThe _Yengishiki_ preserves a _norito_ (No. 26) used on one of these\noccasions. It is addressed to the Sea-Gods of Sumiyoshi, and presents\nthank-offerings to them for providing a harbour there more convenient\nfor the envoys to sail from than a more distant port in Harima.\n\n=Ho-shidzume no Matsuri= (fire-calming-service).--This ceremony was\nperformed on the last days of the sixth and twelfth months by the\nUrabe, or diviners, at the four outer corners of the Imperial Palace,\nin order to prevent its destruction by fire. The Urabe kindled a fire\nby means of the fire-drill and worshipped it. The following _norito_\n(No. 12) was read on the occasion:--\n\n_\"I humbly declare according to the celestial the great pronouncement\n(norito) delivered to the Sovran Grandchild by his Sovran, dear, divine\nancestor and ancestress when they granted to him the Under-Heaven,\ncommanding him to rule tranquilly as a peaceful realm the fair\nRice-ear-land of the Rich-reed-plain, as follows: 'The two Gods Izanagi\nand Izanami, having become united as husband and wife, procreated\nthe eighty countries and the eighty islands and gave birth to\nthe eight hundred myriads of deities. When Izanami's last son, the\nGod Homusubi (fire-growth), was born her pudenda were burnt and she\nbecame rock-concealed.[282] She said, \"For nights seven and for days\nseven look not on me, oh my husband.\" But before the seven days were\nfulfilled, Izanagi, wondering at her concealment, viewed her, and\nbehold, her pudenda had been burnt in giving birth to the Fire.[283]\n\"Oh, my honoured husband,\" said Izanami, \"thou hast insulted me by\nlooking on me despite my having besought thee to refrain from doing\nso at such a time. Therefore thou must govern the upper world and I\nthe lower world.\" So saying, she was rock-concealed. When she had\nreached the Even Pass of Yomi, she bethought herself: \"I gave birth to,\nand left behind me in the upper world ruled by my honoured husband,\nan evil-hearted child.\" So she went back and gave birth to other\nchildren, namely, the God of Water, the Gourd, the River-weed, and\nthe Clay-mountain-lady, four kinds in all. Moreover, she taught him,\nsaying, \"When the temper of this evil-hearted child becomes violent, do\nthou assuage it with the Water-God, the Gourd, the River-weed, and the\nClay-mountain-lady.\"_\n\n_\"'Therefore do I fulfil thy praises as follows: To the end that thou\nmayest deign to control thy transports against the Palace of the Sovran\nGrandchild, I offer thee bright cloth, shining cloth, smooth cloth,\nand rough cloth, of various colours. Of things which dwell in the blue\nsea-plain, I offer the broad of fin and the narrow of fin, even unto\nthe weeds of the offing and the weeds of the shore. Of sake, I raise up\nthe tops of the jars, and fill and range in order the bellies of the\njars. Nor do I omit rice, cleaned and in the husk. Heaping up these\nthings like a cross-range of hills, I fulfil thy praises according to\nthe Celestial, the Great pronouncement.'\"_\n\nIt will be observed that the tone of this _norito_ is not particularly\nreverent. It reads more like an offer to pay blackmail than a prayer.\nThe phraseology implies that the Mikado is the God's superior. And\nsurely there is a malicious humour in the reminder that the God was a\nbad boy, to provide the means for whose control and chastisement his\nmother came back expressly from Hades.\n\n_Kasuga no Matsuri_.--This service is comparatively modern, having\nbeen first used in 859. It is in honour of the Gods worshipped at\nKasuga, near Nara, namely, Take-mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi, Koyane, and\na Goddess who is supposed to be the wife of the last-named deity. It\nwas celebrated twice annually by a priestess despatched from Ki\u014dto to\nNara for the purpose. I take from Sir Ernest Satow's 'Ancient Japanese\nRituals' in the _T.A.S.J._ the following account of the ceremonies used\non this occasion. They may serve as an example of the elaborate ritual\nof Shinto at this period, and to illustrate the intimate association of\ngovernment with religion.\n\nBefore the celebration of the service, orders were given to the\nDivination Office to fix a day, hour, and locality for a purification\n(_harahi_) to be performed. On the day preceding the purification\na sort of tent was erected near the river (_i.e._, the Kamogaha\nat Ki\u014dto), and at the hour appointed the priestess who had been\nselected for the occasion proceeded to the place of purification\nin a bullock-car. The procession was magnificent, and was ordered\nwith extreme precision. It consisted of nearly one hundred and forty\npersons, besides porters. First went two municipal men-at-arms,\nfollowed by two citizens and eight officials of rank. They were\nsucceeded by the bailiff of the priestess's official residence with\nfour attendants, after whom came ten corporals of the Guard of the\nPalace Gates, and a few men from the other four Imperial Guards.\nNext came the car of the priestess herself, with eight attendants in\nbrown hempen mantles, two young boys in brown, and four running foot\npages in white dresses with purple skirts. A silk umbrella and a huge\nlong-handled fan were borne on either side of the car by four men in\nscarlet coats. Ten more servants completed her immediate retinue. Then\ncame a chest full of sacrificial utensils, and two carriages containing\na lady, who seems to have acted as a sort of duenna to the priestess,\nand the Mikado's messengers, surrounded by attendants in number\nsuited to their rank. Close behind them were borne two chests full of\nfood-offerings, and four containing gifts from the Mikado intended for\nthose members of the Fujihara family who attended on the occasion.\nSeven carriages carried the female servants of the priestess, each of\nthem being a lady of rank, and therefore accompanied by half-a-dozen\nfollowers of both sexes. Two high officials of the provincial\ngovernment of Yamashiro awaited the procession at a convenient point,\nand conducted it to the spot chosen for the ceremony of purification.\nA member of the Nakatomi tribe presented the _nusa_, consisting of\na white wand with hemp-fibre hanging from its upper end, the symbol\nof the primitive offerings of greater value, and a diviner read the\npurification ritual. After the ceremony was over, refreshments were\nserved out, and the Mikado's gifts distributed. The priestess then\nreturned to her official residence.\n\nOn her journey to the temple of Kasuga, the priestess was preceded by\nvarious priests, diviners, musicians, cooks, and other functionaries\nof inferior grade, who set out one day earlier in the charge of an\nofficer of the Ministry of Religion. At the boundary of the province of\nYamato she was received by officers of the Provincial Government, who\naccompanied her to the temporary building erected for her accommodation\non the bank of the Saho-gaha. During the day the rite of purification\nwas performed on the western side of the temple, and the offerings\nplaced in readiness for the final ceremony. At dawn on the following\nday officials of the Ministry of Religion superintended the cleaning of\nthe shrine by a young girl (_mono imi_) who had been carefully guarded\nfor some time previous from contracting any ceremonial uncleanness,\nwhile other officials decorated the buildings and set out the sacred\ntreasures close to the shrines and by the side of the arcade round\nthe innermost enclosure. Everything being now in readiness, the high\nofficers of State who had come down from the capital for the service\nentered by the gate assigned to them, and took their seats in the outer\ncourt, followed by members of the Fujihara family of the sixth rank\nand under. The priestess now arrived in a palanquin, with a numerous\nretinue of local functionaries, infantry and cavalry soldiers, and\nfollowed by porters carrying the offerings of the Mikado, his consort,\nthe heir-apparent, and of the priestess herself. Next came race-horses\nsent by the Mikado's consort, by the heir-apparent, and from the Six\nGuards of the Palace, the rear of the procession being brought up by\na crowd of lesser officials and men-at-arms. The palanquin of the\npriestess was surrounded by a large body of guards, torch-bearers,\nand running pages, umbrella and screen-bearers, and women and girls\non horseback. After them came the chest of sacrificial vessels, a\nnumber of servants, three chests full of food-offerings, six chests\nof clothing for the Gods, with carriages containing some of the\nMikado's female attendants, the priestess's duenna, and some young\ngirls. On arriving at the north gate, on the west side of the temple\nenclosure, the men got off their horses and the women descended from\ntheir carriages. The priestess then alighted from her palanquin, and\npassing between curtains held by her attendants in such a way as to\nrender her invisible to the crowd, entered the waiting-room prepared\nfor her inside the courtyard, followed by the women of the Mikado's\nhousehold. The Mikado's offerings were now brought forward by the\nKeeper of the Privy Purse and laid on a table outside the gate, while\nthe women of the Household entered the inner enclosure, and took their\nplaces in readiness to inspect the offerings. In a few minutes they\nwere joined by the priestess, who had changed her travelling dress\nfor sacrificial robes. The Keeper of the Privy Purse now brought the\nMikado's presents in through the gate, and placing them on a table\nin front of the _midzu-gaki_, or inner fence, saluted the chapels by\nclapping his hands four times, alternately standing upright and bowing\ndown to the ground. On his retiring, the same ceremony was performed\nby the persons charged with the offerings of the Mikado's consort and\nheir-apparent, after which the offerings of the Fujihara and other\nnoble families were deposited on lower tables, with similar ceremonies.\nThe _kandomo_, or subordinate officials of the Ministry of Religion,\nnext carried up the Mikado's offerings and delivered them to the\n_mono-imi_, who carried them into the chapel. The _kandomo_ then spread\nmatting on the ground in front of each of the four chapels, and members\nof the Fujihara clan[284] who held a sufficiently high rank carried in\nand arranged the tables destined to receive the food-offerings. Two\nbarrels of _sake_ were then brought in and placed between the first\nand second and third and fourth chapels, in a line with the tables, a\njar of _sake_ brewed by the priests being also placed in front of each\nchapel. This over, every one quitted the enclosure, making way for the\nwomen of the Household, who uncovered the food-offerings and poured out\ntwo cups of _sake_ for each deity. The liquor appears to have been of\nthe turbid sort called _nigori-zake_. All the preparations being thus\ncomplete, the high officers of State and the messengers sent by the\nCourt entered the enclosure and took their seats. Four saddle-horses\nintended as offerings to the Gods and eight race-horses were now led\nup in front of the temple, preceded by a major-general of the Guards\nand a Master of the Horse. A superior priest, with his brows bound\nwith a fillet of paper mulberry fibre (_yufu-kadzura_) then advanced\nand read the ritual, bowed twice, clapped his hands four times, and\nretired. The congregation afterwards withdrew to the refectory, where\nthe food-offerings were consumed by the participants in the solemn act\nof worship, and the _sansai_, or thanksgiving service, was conducted by\nthe _kandomo_ of the Ministry of Religion.\n\nThe sacred horses were then led eight times round the temple by the\ngrooms of the Mikado's stables, who received a draught of consecrated\n_sake_ as their reward. The general of the body-guard next directed\nsome of his men to perform the dance called _Adzuma-mahi_, and when\nthey had finished a meal of rice was served to them with much ceremony\nby the Mikado's cooks. At the command of the Vice-Minister of Religion,\nthe harpists and flute-players were summoned to perform a piece of\nmusic, called _mi koto fuwe ahase_ (the concert of harp and flute);\nthe flutes played a short movement alone, and were then joined by the\nharps, whereupon the singers struck in. An officer of the Ministry of\nReligion sang the first few bars, and the official singers finished the\npiece. This was followed by one of the dances called _Yamato-mahi_,\nperformed in turn by the principal priests of the temple, by members\nof the Fujihara family and by the Vice-Minister of Religion himself.\nAfter the _sake_-cup had been passed round three times, the company\nclapped their hands once and separated. Then everybody adjourned to the\nrace-course, and the day was wound up with galloping matches.\n\nThe _norito_ (No. 2 of the _Yengishiki_) read on this occasion has been\ntranslated by Sir Ernest Satow. It is of minor interest.\n\n=Hirose Oho-imi no Matsuri= (service in honour of the Food-Goddess of\nHirose).--The _norito_ of this ceremony (No. 3 of the _Yengishiki_)\nannounces offerings to the Food-Goddess and makes promise of more if\ngood harvests are granted by her. The Gods of the ravines which supply\nwater for irrigating the Crown-farms are joined with her in this\nservice. Sir E. Satow has translated this _norito_. It contains nothing\nof special interest.\n\n=Tatsuta kaze no kami no Matsuri= (service of the Wind-Gods at\nTatsuta).--The _norito_ (No. 4 of the _Yengishiki_) of this service has\nbeen translated by Sir E. Satow. It contains a legend which professes\nto account for its first institution and for the founding of the\nshrine at which it was celebrated. For several years in succession\nviolent storms had destroyed the crops. The diviners having in vain\nendeavoured to discover the cause of this calamity, the Wind-Gods\nrevealed themselves to the Mikado in a dream and proposed to him\na bargain, namely, that if he built them a shrine, and made them\ncertain offerings, they would in future bless and ripen the grain and\nvegetables. The \"golden thread-box,\" \"golden shuttle,\" and \"golden\nreel\" enumerated in this _norito_ as offerings to the Goddess were\nin reality of painted wood, one of the numerous cases of cheaper\nsubstitutes in Shinto ritual.\n\nThe _Nihongi_ mentions very frequent embassies from the Mikado to this\nshrine in the seventh century. Princes were selected for the office of\nenvoy.\n\nIn addition to the above, the _Yengishiki_ has brief mention of\nceremonies for \"calming\" the roaring of the kitchen-furnace, calming\n(or propitiating?) the God of Water, the August Abiding-place (of the\nMikado), the Earth-Prince, the site of a new palace, in honour of the\nkitchen-furnace, of the august well (such as that from which water was\ntaken for the Ohonihe ceremony), of the birth-well (from which water\nwas drawn for washing a new-born prince), of the water of a privy, and\na ceremony performed when the Mikado went out from the Palace. The same\nwork contains schedules of offerings to various local deities, of whom\nwe know little or nothing.\n\n=More recent norito=.--In addition to the old _norito_ of the\n_Yengishiki_, a good number have come down to us of more recent date,\nchiefly from the ninth century. We find among them for the first time\n_norito_ addressed to deceased Mikados, a practice which was, no\ndoubt, introduced from China. I give the substance of some selected\nexamples.[285] They exhibit numerous traits of Chinese origin.\n\nA.D. 733. The protection of the Sea-Gods of Suminoye was invoked for\nships sailing to China.\n\n805. The wrath of the God of Iso no kami was deprecated. He was\nsupposed to have sent an illness upon the Mikado because his \"divine\ntreasures\" had been removed for convenience to a place nearer the\ncapital.\n\n825. Envoys were sent to the tomb of a deceased Mikado to promise that\nit should be removed elsewhere the Urabe having discovered that he was\ndissatisfied with its site.\n\n827. The Sun-Goddess was besought to stay a pestilence, and a member of\nthe Imperial family promised her as priestess.\n\n827. The diviners having attributed the Mikado's illness to the cutting\ndown of the trees of the shrine of Inari, envoys were sent to recite a\n_norito_ asking for pardon, and that he should be restored to health.\n\n836. Degrees of rank were conferred on Futsunushi (lower third),\nMikatsuchi (upper second), and Koyane (upper third), with the lower\nfourth rank for the Himegami (lady-deity). Prayer was made that the\nenvoys should have a safe journey.\n\n839. Trees on the Empress Jing\u014d's tomb having been cut down, the Mikado\nfeared that a drought might be the consequence, and sent envoys to\ndeprecate her wrath.\n\n840. The Mikado being affected by an evil influence (_mono no ke_), the\ndiviners attributed it to a curse from the Great Abstinence (_oho-imi_)\ndeity of Deha.[286] At the same time envoys to China were cast away\namong southern savages. The savages were many and they were few, but\nby the help of some God, they had the victory over them. A report was\nreceived from Deha that on the same date a noise of fighting was heard\nin the clouds of the Great God and a rain of missile stones fell.\nThe Mikado in a _norito_ expressed his gratitude and wonder at the\nfar-reaching power of the God, and conferred on him the lower fourth\nrank with two households of peasants to serve him.\n\n841. The Mikados Jimmu and Jing\u014d were prayed to for rain, and apology\nmade for previous neglect.\n\n850. The Mikado Mondoku announced to his predecessor his accession to\nthe throne in the following _norito_, which was read at his tomb by a\nhigh official commissioned for the purpose:--\n\n\"_I humbly make representation: 'He [the Mikado] with profound\nreverence declares--with respect be it spoken--to Your Sovran Majesty.\nIn accordance with the commands bequeathed by Your Majesty the Court\nnobles repeatedly besought him to take over the celestial succession,\nbut as the date [of his predecessor's death] was still fresh and his\nheart distracted by grief, he twice and three times humbly declared his\ninability to accede to this request. But when they strongly insisted,\nsaying that it was the wish of Your Majesty, he felt that he ought not\nto indulge his own inclination. After considering the matter in all its\nbearings, he therefore purified the Great Abiding place, and reverently\nassumed the celestial succession, which he now with reverence announces\nto Your Majesty his intention to maintain.'_\n\n\"_Furthermore he says, with profoundest reverence, 'That he hopes Your\n(with respect be it spoken) Sovran Majesty will deign to bestow on him\nyour gracious loving favour, so that he may continue peacefully to\nmaintain the government of the celestial succession as long as Heaven\nand Earth, the Sun and Moon endure.'_\"\n\n850. The Wind-Gods of Tatsuta were thanked for their protection,\nawarded the lower fifth rank, and begged to continue their guardianship.\n\n850. The Mikado Jimmu was prayed to on behalf of the reigning Mikado,\nwho was dangerously ill.\n\n851. Floods having been caused by pollution, prayer was made for fine\nweather to the Gods of Ise, Kamo, Matsu no wo, and Otokuni.\n\n857. The Mikado Mondoku despatched envoys to all the famous shrines\nto announce the change of the year-name (_neng\u014d_) to Tenan (celestial\ntranquillity) which had been made in consequence of the good omens of\ntrees whose branches had grown together and of the appearance of a\nwhite deer. He sent offerings with prayers for abundance and immunity\nfrom storms and floods. He further petitioned the Gods to guard him by\nday and by night and to grant him a long reign.\n\n864. Envoys were sent to Yahata (Hachiman) Daibo-satsu[287] in Buzen\nto give thanks for preservation from calamity. But as a boiling of the\nLake of Aso (a volcano in Kiushiu) was held by the diviners to portend\nwar and pestilence, and numerous other portents occurred, a lucky day\nhad been chosen and offerings (which would have been sent sooner only\nfor pollution) made.\n\n866. Envoys were sent to all the Gods of Nankaido asking their\nprotection against rebellion, for a good harvest &c., and apologizing\nfor a delay caused by pollution.\n\n866. An envoy was sent to Ihashimidzu with an offering of shields,\nspears, and saddles to the God Hachiman Bosatsu. It is explained that\nof three saddles two only have been sent; the third is to be despatched\nby a later opportunity. He is asked to guard the Mikado by day and by\nnight and to watch over the affairs of the Empire.\n\n866. A fire having destroyed one of the gates of the Palace, the\ndiviners said that it portended sickness to the Imperial person with\ndisasters by conflagration and battle. After some delay, caused by\nvarious pollutions, the Mikado sent an envoy to the shrine of the\nSun-Goddess at Ise with prayer to avert these calamities, and more\nespecially to send down a sweet rain on the land which was then\nsuffering from drought.\n\n868. Envoys were sent to Hirota and Ikuta praying the Gods of these\nplaces that earthquake shocks attributed to them should cease. A patent\nof rank was sent to them, and they were besought to bless the Mikado\nand the country. Thanks were also given for a good harvest.\n\n874. Inari was raised in rank and prayed to for many blessings, of\nwhich some do not apparently belong to the province of a Rice-God.\n\nFor an account of Shinto festivals at the present day, Mr. B. H.\nChamberlain's 'Things Japanese' or Capt. Brinkley's 'Japan and\nChina' may be consulted. Their nearest counterpart is the carnival\nof Southern Europe. The Chinjiu Matsuri, or annual festival of the\nlocal patron deity, is everywhere a great event, with processions,\ndramatic performances, wrestling, fireworks, races, new clothes for the\nchildren, &c.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[219] \"Un rite est un assemblage de symboles group\u00e9s autour d'une id\u00e9e\nreligieuse ou d'un acte religieux, destin\u00e9 \u00e0 en rehausser le caract\u00e8re\nsolennel ou bien \u00e0 en d\u00e9velopper le sens.\"--Reville, 'Prolegom\u00e8nes.'\n\n[220] See Index, _Yufu_.\n\n[221] Have we here one of those human representatives of the grain so\nfamiliar to us in European folk-lore? See Mr. Frazer's 'Golden Bough.'\n\n[222] See Index for these deities.\n\n[223] No. 14 of the _Yengishiki_.\n\n[224] The Mikado.\n\n[225] See above, p. 255.\n\n[226] Sir Ernest Satow says that sleeping in a house being regarded\nas the sign of ownership, a pillow (_makura_) is often placed in the\nshrine as a symbol of the God's presence.\n\n[227] That is, wearing the garb of a priest who makes offerings.\n\n[228] Probably the same as Ame no hohi, from whom the Miyakko claimed\ndescent.\n\n[229] The same as the Miyakko.\n\n[230] Ohonamochi.\n\n[231] That is, to surrender the civil jurisdiction.\n\n[232] It is to be understood that after he had enshrined his\n_nigi-tama_, or gentle spirit, in Yamato, Ohonamochi himself, or\nperhaps his _aratama_, or rough spirit, retired to Idzumo.\n\n[233] Explained to mean \"in the discharge of my mediatory function.\"\n\n[234] For a more detailed discussion of this ritual, see Sir E. Satow\nin _T. A. S. J._, vol. ix. pt. ii. p. 183.\n\n[235] See above, p. 270.\n\n[236] The Nakatomi.\n\n[237] See Index for these two deities.\n\n[238] See Index.\n\n[239] These are names of places. The Gods seem to have had no others.\n\n[240] These are names of mountains.\n\n[241] Ninigi. Below the same term means the Mikado.\n\n[242] The ancient Japanese houses had their timbers lashed together\nwith ropes.\n\n[243] The translation is doubtful.\n\n[244] See above, p. 167.\n\n[245] Male and female attendants.\n\n[246] These terms are often used as synonymous with the regalia, of\nwhich the Sun-mirror was the chief.\n\n[247] The incense is Buddhist.\n\n[248] I am much indebted to Dr. Florenz's exhaustive monograph on this\nrite in vol. xxvii. of the _T. A. S. J._\n\n[249] Ch. K., p. 230.\n\n[250] See Index, _sub voce_.\n\n[251] See Mr. Batchelor in _T. A. S. J_., xxiv. 46.\n\n[252] It will be remembered that it was on an occasion of this kind\nthat Agamemnon ordered an Oho-harahi to be performed:--\n\n ... \u03bb\u03b1\u1f78\u03bd\u03c2 \u03ac\u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03bd\u03bc\u03b1\u1f30\u03bd\u03b5\u03c3\u03b8\u03b1\u03b9 \u03ac\u03bd\u03c9\u03b3\u03b5\u03bd,\n \u039f\u03b9\u03b4 \u03ac\u03c0\u03b5\u03bb\u03bd\u03bc\u03ac\u03b9\u03bd\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03bf\u03bf \u03ba\u03b1\u03af \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2 \u03ac\u03bb\u03b1 \u03bb\u03bd\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4 \u03ad\u03b2\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd\n\n 'Iliad,' I. 313.\n\n[253] See Index.\n\n[254] \"He\" is the officiating Nakatomi, speaking on behalf of the\nMikado.\n\n[255] Usually said to be Taka-musubi, Kamu-musubi, and the Sun-Goddess.\n\n[256] Ninigi.\n\n[257] Poetical expressions for Japan.\n\n[258] That is, rain.\n\n[259] Sowing wild oats was one of the misdeeds of Loki, the\nScandinavian mischief-God. Compare also Matthew xiii. 24: \"The kingdom\nof Heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field: but\nwhile men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat.\"\nSee above, p. 97.\n\n[260] Moto\u00f6ri says that this is with the malicious intention of\ninjuring the feet of the owner of the ground. I prefer the explanation\nsuggested by the _Shiki_, an ancient commentary on the _Nihongi_. It\nsays: \"Planting rods (or skewers) in the rice-fields with words of\nincantation is called 'skewer-planting.' The object is the destruction\nof any one who should wrongly claim that field. The present custom of\nplanting skewers in a field whose ownership is disputed is probably a\nsurvival of this.\" _Kushi_, or skewer, is the word used for the wand to\nwhich offerings are attached. See Florenz's 'Ancient Japanese Rituals'\nin _T. A. S. J._, p. 32.\n\n[261] The native commentators point out that the \"Heavenly Offences\"\nare so called because they were first committed by Susa no wo in\nHeaven. This passage of the _norito_ was therefore suggested by the\nmyth. (See above, p. 83.) The object of the myth-maker, however, was\nsimply to enhance the dramatic quality of his story by attributing\nto the boisterous Rain-storm God misdeeds whose odious character\nwould forcibly strike his audience, a nation of agriculturists. In\nthe _norito_ the further step is taken of recognizing the same acts,\ncommitted on earth, as offences not only against men, but as sins\nbefore the Gods. He may have argued that the Sun-Goddess has a tender\ncare for the rice-fields of her beloved race of men as well as for\nher own, and that any interference with them is therefore hateful to\nher. The \"skewer-planting\" above mentioned points to a still earlier\nattempt to bring agriculture under religious protection. There\nis no substantial basis for the distinction between Heavenly and\nEarthly offences. The author's real object in making it was no doubt\nrhetorical. He wished to break up the long list of offences into two\nbalanced sentences, after a fashion common in Japanese poetry and\npoetical prose composition. I suspect that the \"flaying alive\" and\n\"flaying backwards\" were magical practices of the same class as the\n\"witchcraft\" condemned just below. The flaying was objected to, not for\nits cruelty, but on account of the malicious use to which the skins so\nprocured were put. See Index, _Inugami_.\n\n[262] A disease which has not been clearly identified. Dr. Florenz\nrenders \"afflicted with excrescences.\"\n\n[263] Especially being struck by lightning.\n\n[264] Another rendering is \"killing animals by bewitchments.\" The\nChinese character used implies that it is for an evil purpose.\n\n[265] Dr. Florenz, following Moto\u00f6ri, renders \"and deposit [upon them]\nin abundance [the purification offerings].\" The character of these\nofferings is indicated by a passage in the _Nihongi_ (A.D. 676): \"The\nMikado commanded, saying: 'Let a Great Purification (Oho-harahi) be\nheld in all quarters. The articles needed for this purpose are to be\nforwarded to the shrines of purification by the governors of each\nprovince, to wit, one horse and one piece of cloth. The other things\nare to be supplied by the governors of districts, namely, each one\nsword, one deerskin, one mattock, one smaller sword, one sickle,\none set of arrows, and one sheaf of rice in the ear. Further, let\neach house provide a bundle of hemp.'\" This Oho-harahi was doubtless\ncelebrated in consequence of the appearance of a comet at this time.\nOn another occasion (681) each local governor supplied a slave as\na purification offering. In later times the Harahi-tsu-mono, or\npurification offerings, were furnished by the central Government.\n\n[266] The meaning of this clause is doubtful. The object seems to be\nto provide a brush for brushing away (_harahi_) offences. Sir E. Satow\nsays, with regard to a different ceremony: \"The high priest waves\nbefore the company a sort of broom made of grass, to symbolize the\nsweeping away of their offences.\"\n\n[267] In later times it was thought, without sufficient reason, that\nthe \"ritual words\" here spoken of were a special form of incantation\ndistinct from the _norito_ itself.\n\n[268] See above, p. 261.\n\n[269] Yomi or Hades.\n\n[270] Swift-banishment-lady.\n\n[271] A horse was one of the expiatory offerings. It seems here to\ntypify the attentive attitude of the audience, or perhaps of the\ndeities concerned.\n\n[272] _Harahi-zare_. There is some confusion here between the offences\nand the expiatory offerings. The _harahi-tsu-mono_ were then taken\naway and thrown into some convenient river. I suspect, however, that\nmost of them were not thrown away, but went to provide a fund for the\nexpenses of the ceremony. It is not clear what became of the horse or\nof the slaves. The _harahi-tsu-mono_ were not gifts to any particular\nGods, but rather, like the scape-goat of the Mosaic law, vehicles by\nwhich the transgressions of the people were conveyed away. But it is\nbetter not to put this too sweepingly. There is reason to think that by\nsome they were thought to be offerings to Se-ori-tsu-hime and the other\ndeities mentioned. At the present day they consist of a few pieces of\ncloth.\n\n[273] See 'Notes of some Minor Japanese Religious Practices,' by Mr. B.\nH. Chamberlain, in the _Journal_ of the Anthropological Institute, May,\n1893, and Sir E. Satow's 'Visit to the Shrines of Ise,' _T. A. S. J._,\n1874.\n\n[274] See above, p. 187.\n\n[275] That is, \"did honour to.\"\n\n[276] These deities were worshipped at cross-roads, and were called the\neight-cross-road deities.\n\n[277] The date of one Sahe no Kami festival.\n\n[278] Written on paper and thrown into the flames.\n\n[279] See above, p. 168.\n\n[280] See above, pp. 189, 190.\n\n[281] See above, p. 313.\n\n[282] That is, died.\n\n[283] What was the God of Fire in the previous sentence is here simply\n\"Fire.\"\n\n[284] A branch of the Nakatomi, who claimed descent from Koyane, one of\nthe four Gods worshipped.\n\n[285] From a modern collection entitled _Norito Bunrei_.\n\n[286] In the north of Japan.\n\n[287] A Buddhist title.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nMAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION.\n\n\nThe reader will find few traces of normal religious development in the\npractices to be described in this chapter. The pathological element is\ndecidedly predominant.\n\n=Magic=.--The older view of magic is that of Prof. Zimmern, who defines\nit as \"the attempt on man's part to influence, persuade, or compel\nspiritual beings to comply with certain requests or demands.\" With\nthis the view of the modern Japanese lexicographer Yamada, who calls\nmagic (in Japanese _majinahi_) \"the keeping off of calamity by the\naid of the supernatural power of Kami and Buddhas,\" is in substantial\nagreement. Prof. Zimmern's definition is open to several objections.\nIt is too wide, as it would include prayer and sacrifice; it assumes\nthat all the sentient beings appealed to are spiritual, and it excludes\nthe numerous cases of magic in which Gods and spirits are in no wise\nconcerned. It is, however, impossible to leave out of consideration\nthe last-mentioned class of magic, though it might be convenient to\ndistinguish it by a different name, as \"charms.\" Sir Alfred Lyall\nand Mr. J. G. Frazer have shown that magic of this kind has preceded\nreligion, and that it is in principle the same as science, although\nbased on wrong premises.\n\n=Magic and Medicine=.--Magic is the bastard brother of medicine.\nThe two arts are associated in many countries. Hirata says that in\nChina medicine had its origin in magic. In Japan, in K\u014dtoku's reign\n(645-654), we find State departments of medicine and of magic organized\non a similar footing. A _Nihongi_ myth states that mankind owes both\narts to the teaching of the Gods Ohonamochi and Sukunabikona. Evidently\nthe myth by which these institutions are referred to a divine origin\nis of later growth than the institutions themselves. The same is\nplainly the case with the deification of the phallic emblems used to\nrepel disease,[288] and with the various magical appliances described\non p. 196. The object of the myth-maker in these cases was to lend a\nreligious sanction to what was in its origin a non-religious magical\nprocedure. The same principle might be copiously illustrated from\nnon-Japanese sources. On the other hand, there are cases in which a\npractice based on religion has its original character obliterated, so\nthat it might easily be mistaken for a charm of no religious import.\n\n=Bakin on Magic=.--I have before me a collection of \"vulgar magical\npractices\" (_majinahi_) made early in the last century by the famous\nnovelist Bakin.[289] It illustrates the confusion, even with highly\neducated men, between science and magic on the one hand, and between\nnon-religious and religious magic on the other. A good many of Bakin's\nso-called _majinahi_ turn out to be merely recipes, such as how to\nremove oil stains from books by an application of lime; to cure\ncostiveness in fowls by doses of saltpetre; to kill the parasites of\ngold-fish by means of a preparation of human excrement; to keep away\nbookworms by exposing the books in the sun: \"If a pot-tree withers\nin the middle and seems likely to die, take it out, shake the earth\nfrom its roots, and expose it to the sun for one day. Then steep its\nroots in a drain for one night. When replanted it will thrive.\" The\nscrapings of a copper ladle mixed with fish will cure disease in cats.\nWe approach true magic more nearly in the following: \"When stung by a\nwasp, take up a pebble which is half sunk in the ground, turn it over,\nand replace it, when the pain will at once leave you.\" The cure of\nillness from eating poisonous fish by swallowing the ashes of an old\nalmanac seems also to belong rather to magic than to medicine. There\nare traces of a religious element in the following: \"To cure toothache,\napply to the tooth the ashes of a sardine which has been set up over\nthe door on the last day of the year.\"[290] Another plan is: \"Inscribe\non a slip of wood certain incantations (given) in the ordinary\nChinese character, in the seal character, and in Sanskrit. Beside the\ninscription make two circles. If the toothache is in the upper jaw,\nknock a new nail with a purified hammer into the upper circle; if in\nthe lower jaw, into the lower circle. If the pain does not go away,\ncontinue knocking the nail with the hammer. The slip of wood should be\nafterwards thrown away into a stream.\"[291] Bakin tried this plan and\nfound it effectual. He attributes his immunity from conflagration to\nhis respect for fire. He always avoided stamping it out with his foot,\nand enjoins on his descendants to follow his example. If the master\nof a house before going to bed goes round calling out, \"Be careful of\nfire: fasten well the doors,\" the spirit (of his words) will fill the\nhouse, and it will be preserved against fire and robbery. On the last\nnight of the year, and on other festival occasions, water should be\ndrawn from the well at sunset, placed in a clean vessel, and offered\nwithout a drop being spilled to the God of the kitchen furnace. It\nshould be returned to the well the next morning. This will prevent\ndanger of fire.\n\nA Korean book of household recipes contains, along with instructions\nfor making cakes, spiced wine, &c., such magical, but non-religious\ndevices as the following: \"To make a runaway slave come back of his own\naccord. Take a garment which he has worn and put it down the well, or\nhang some of his hair on a wheel and turn it round. He will then not\nknow where to go and will come back to you.\"\n\n=Imitative or Sympathetic Magic=.--These Korean examples illustrate the\nprinciple of imitative or sympathetic magic thus described by Mr. J. G.\nFrazer[292]:--\n\n\"Manifold as are the applications of this crude philosophy--for a\nphilosophy it is as well as an art--the fundamental principles on\nwhich it is based would seem to be reducible to two; first, that like\nproduces like, or that an effect resembles its cause; and second,\nthat things which have once been in contact, but have ceased to be\nso, continue to act on each other as if the contact still persisted.\nFrom the first of these principles the savage infers that he can\nproduce any desired effect merely by imitating it; from the second he\nconcludes that he can influence at pleasure and at any distance any\nperson of whom, or anything of which, he possesses a particle. Magic of\nthe latter sort, resting as it does on the belief in a certain secret\nsympathy which unites indissolubly things that have once been connected\nwith each other, may appropriately be termed sympathetic in the strict\nsense of the term. Magic of the former kind, in which the supposed\ncause resembles or simulates the supposed effect, may conveniently be\ndescribed as imitative or mimetic.\"\n\nThe sympathetic or imitative principle is not very conspicuous in\nthe instances of vulgar (that is, non-professional) magic quoted by\nBakin. It is, however, illustrated by other Japanese customs. There\nis a round stone in a shrine in Sagami which brings rain when water\nis poured over it. The stone is supposed to be the _shintai_ of an\nAburi no Kami (rain-fall-God), to whom the shrine is dedicated. Here\nwe have a combination of religion with magic.[293] Whistling in order\nto raise the wind[294] is a purely non-religious piece of imitative\nmagic, but in the _Nihongi_ myth it is associated with religion by\nbeing represented as taught by a God. We should probably regard as a\nform of sympathetic magic the modern practice of devout visitors to the\nshrine of Tenjin, near Ki\u00f4to, who, in order to obtain relief from their\nailments, rub the corresponding part of a bronze bull which stands\nbefore the shrine. A characteristic example of non-religious imitative\nmagic is the custom of _kasedori_. When a marriage is unfruitful, the\nold women of the neighbourhood come to the house and go through the\nform of delivering the wife of a child. The infant is represented by\na doll. The date selected for this ceremony is not immaterial. It\nis that of the festival of Sahe no kami. This, no doubt, gives it a\nquasi-religious flavour. To this class we may also refer the New Year's\npractice of going to sleep with a picture of a boat under the pillow.\nIf lucky dreams follow an anchor is painted to it, if unlucky dreams a\nsail.\n\nThe _Nihongi_[295] records a case in which a woman took earth from\nMount Kako in Yamato, which she wrapped in her neckerchief and prayed,\nsaying: \"'This earth represents the country of Yamato.' Then she turned\nit upside down.\" The common witchcraft of ill-treating a figure of the\nintended victim in order to make him suffer in a corresponding manner\nis well known in Japan. The _Nihongi_ (A.D. 587) speaks of a rebellious\nMinister preparing figures of the Heir to the Throne and loathing them.\nDr. Griffis[296] gives the following description of a magical ceremony\nperformed by a woman in revenge for her lover's desertion of her:--\n\n\"At two o'clock in the morning she proceeds to the shrine of her\npatron-God, usually the _Ujigami_. Sometimes she wears a crown, made\nof an iron tripod reversed, on which burn three candles. In her left\nhand she carries a straw effigy of her victim; in her right she grasps\na hammer. On her bosom is suspended a mirror. Reaching the sacred\ntree before the shrine, she impales the effigy upon it with nails,\nadjuring the Gods to save their tree, impute the guilt of desecration\nto the traitor, and visit him with their deadly vengeance. The visit\nis repeated nightly until the object of her sorcery sickens and dies.\nAt Sabae, before a shrine of Kompira, stood a pine tree about a foot\nthick, plentifully studded with such nails.\"[297]\n\nThe possession by the operator of the hair or nails of his victim adds\ngreatly to the potency of his devices. Hence they are carefully kept by\nthe proper owners and thrown away together in the twelfth month.\n\nAnother form of witchcraft is represented by the later custom of\nInu-gami (dog-deity) thus described by Moto\u00f6ri: \"A hungry dog is tied\nup in sight of food which he is not allowed to eat. When his desire is\nkeenest, his head is cut off and at once flies to seize the food. This\nhead is put into a vessel and worshipped. A serpent or a weasel will\ndo as well.\" It constitutes a mighty charm, which evidently owes its\npower to the keenness of the animal's sufferings.[298] The F\u016bzoku Gwaho\ntells a story which was probably invented in order to account for this\ncustom. \"An old woman buried her pet dog, leaving only the head above\nground. Then she cut him about with a bamboo saw, saying, 'If thou hast\na soul, kill such a one, and I will make thee a God.' The man really\ndid die afterwards in strange fashion. From that time the dog-deity\ndwelt in the old woman's house and wrought many wonderful curses.\" In\nTosa each village has several Inugami-mochi (dog-deity-owners). They\nare shunned by their neighbours. A matchmaker's very first inquiry\nis whether there is such a person in the family. Leprosy is the next\nsubject of his questions, sudden death (supposed to be hereditary),\nriches or poverty, wisdom or foolishness, are of subsidiary importance.\n\nThe same idea of a materialized emotion is illustrated by a practice\ncommon near Yamaguchi. In order to drive away certain destructive\ninsects from the rice-fields a straw figure, made to resemble a cavalry\nsoldier, is led round in stately procession, and finally flung into the\nsea. This figure represents the leader of some fugitives from a battle\nwho hid in these fields, but were pursued and slain there. The noxious\ninsects are their materialized resentment at this fate.\n\nThe principles of sympathetic and imitative magic, so copiously\nillustrated in 'The Golden Bough,' are not applicable to all magical\nprocedures. Many defy specific explanation, and are possibly the\nresult of some chance association of ideas no longer traceable, or of\na mistaken empiricism. _Post hoc, ergo propter hoc_ is responsible for\nmuch that is called magic.\n\nThe description of magic in Hastings's 'Dictionary of the Bible' as\na \"means of binding superhuman powers, either to restrain them from\ninjuring oneself, or to constrain them to injure others and put them\nunder a spell, or to reveal what to mortal man was unknown,\" scarcely\napplies at all to Japanese magic. I have not met with any mention in\nthe older literature of pacts with demons or the coercion of spirits.\n\n=The Symbol in Magic=.--In Japan, as in other countries, magic makes\ngreat use of the Symbol, the Talisman, and the Formula, spoken or\nwritten. This seems to depend on the more general notion that things\nwhich are associated in thought must have also a direct physical\ninfluence on each other, of which a familiar example among ourselves\nis the objection to receive a knife as a present, because it might\ncut the friendship between the giver and receiver. Possibly this\nassociation of the subjective with the objective (in Dr. Tylor's words\n\"mistaking an ideal for a real connexion\")[299] was in Hirata's mind\nwhen he used the somewhat cryptic phrase, \"Magic (_majinahi_, or magic,\nmeans etymologically mixture) is so called because it mixes the spirit\n(_tama_) of that which is here with the body of that which is there.\"\nWe have seen[300] that the phallus, as a symbol of robust animal\nlife, was used to exorcise evil things, whether demons or diseases.\nRoof-tiles impressed with a symbol (bubbles) which is indicative of\nwater, are used at the present day as a charm to protect houses from\nfire. The deification of the gourd, the clay and the water-plant,\nno doubt, points to a previous magical use as preventives of\nconflagration. Rice, perhaps as a representative of the kteis, is used\nfor several magical purposes. In one of the _Fudoki_, unhulled rice is\nscattered broadcast by Tsuchigumo,[301] to disperse a strange darkness\nwhich turned day into night.\n\n=The Talisman=.--When the meaning of the symbol is altogether\nobliterated or unknown, we have the Talisman. It is not clear what\nwas meant by the \"tide-ebbing\" and \"tide-flowing\" jewels given by the\nSea-God to Hohodemi,[302] or even that they had any meaning at all. A\nsort of scarf (_hire_) was much used as a talisman. In the _Kojiki_ we\nare told of a scarf, which, when waved thrice, quieted snakes. Another\nkind gave protection against wasps and centipedes.[303] The _Nihongi_\nhas the following account of magical practices, suggested apparently by\nsome acquaintance with the art of acupuncture:--\n\n_\"Summer, 4th month, 1st day. The Kory\u00f6 student-priests said that\ntheir fellow-student Kura-tsukuri no Tokushi had made friends with\na tiger, and had learnt from him his arts, such as to make a barren\nmountain change into a green mountain, or to cause yellow earth to\nbecome clear water, and all manner of wonderful arts too many to\nenumerate. Moreover, the tiger bestowed on him his needle, saying: 'Be\nwatchful! be watchful, and let no one know! Treated with this, there is\nno disease which may not be cured.' Truly, as the tiger had said, there\nwas no disease which was not cured when treated by it. Tokushi always\nkept the needle concealed in a pillar. Afterwards the tiger broke the\npillar and ran away, taking the needle with him._\"\n\nShaking or jingling talismans or other objects is supposed to have a\nmagical virtue. Izanagi shakes the jewels which he takes from his neck\nto bestow on the Sun-Goddess. The Sun-Goddess and Susa no wo shook\nthe jewels from which their children were produced. Shaking a number\nof talismans was part of the ceremony of _Mitama furishiki_, above\ndescribed.[304]\n\nPart of the outfit of a district wise-woman or sorceress in recent\ntimes was a small bow, called _adzusa-yumi_, by twanging which she\ncould call from the vasty deep the spirits of the dead, or even\nsummon deities to her behests. Another small bow, called _ha-ma-yumi_\n(break-demon-bow) is given to boys at the New Year. I conjecture that\nboth of these had something to do with the bows used in the ceremony of\n_tsuina_ described above.\n\nAnother magical appliance for the restraint of demoniac or evil\ninfluences is the _shime-naha_, or close-rope. It is made of\nrice-straw plucked up by the roots, the ends being allowed to dangle\ndown at regular intervals. A rope of this kind was used to prevent\nthe Sun-Goddess from returning into the Rock-cave of Heaven. At the\npresent day it is hung in front of shrines, and at the New Year\nbefore ordinary dwellings. Sacred trees are girt with it, or it may\nbe suspended across a road to prevent the passage of evil spirits.\nSome people wear _shime-naha_ on their person. The twin rocks at\nIse, between which there is a view of Fuji and the rising sun, are\nconnected by an immense _shime-naha_, with which a legend is associated\nto the effect that Susa no wo, in return for hospitality, taught\nhis host how to keep out the God of Pestilence by stretching such a\nrope across the door. The _shime-naha_ is sometimes called _Hi no mi\ntsuna_ (sun-august-rope). The _shime-naha_ is the counterpart of the\nconsecrated rope which in Siam is fastened on the last day of the year\nround the city walls to prevent the banished demons from returning.\n\nGarlic has the same power over evil spirits in Japan that it has in\nEurope.\n\n=The Formula in Magic=.--The magic power of set forms of speech, quite\ndistinct from any meaning which they may possess, is well illustrated\nby the use of the numerals from one to ten as a magic formula for the\ncure of disease. But in the instructions of the Sea-God to Hohodemi to\nreturn the lost fish-hook to his brother with the words, \"A hook of\npoverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of downfall,\" the proper meaning of the\nwords is retained, though they are evidently supposed to be accompanied\nby some mysterious potency, independent of it. Beyond the circumstance\nthat they were taught by Gods, these incantations do not seem to have\nhad any religious character. Nor, when a judge[305] is about to execute\nsome criminals by casting them into the fire, and uses the charm, \"Not\nby my hands are they cast,\" is there apparently any God invoked. The\nwords themselves avert any evil result. There is no hint of a religious\norigin in the passage of the _Nihongi_ which states that the first\nMikado, Jimmu, invented magical formul\u00e6 for the dissipation of evil\ninfluences. Of course, there are many formul\u00e6 of this kind which stand\non a different footing. When, at the present day, a Japanese calls out\n_Kuhabara! Kuhabara!_ (mulberry-grove) during a thunderstorm, it\nis no doubt with the idea of suggesting to the Thunder-God that the\nplace is a mulberry grove, which, it is believed, is never struck by\nlightning. Charms often consist of a ticket with the name of the God\n(usually the _ubusuna_) and a statement that the bearer is under his\nprotection.\n\n=Magic and Shinto=.--The treatment of magic by Shinto is not uniform.\nWe have seen that it lends its sanction to some practices of this\nkind by affirming that they were taught or practised by Gods, or by\ndeifying the objects used in them. But there are others which it\ncondemns, including them in the offences against the Gods enumerated\nin the Oho-harahi.[306] It is, however, for their malicious purpose\nthat they are reprobated. There is no trace in the old records of any\nscepticism as to their efficacy. A scientific knowledge sufficient to\narouse doubts of the power of magic did not then exist, and would have\nbeen equally fatal to much in Shinto itself. Even in modern times such\nhighly educated men as Bakin and Hirata had an implicit belief in the\nefficacy of this art. The latter complains that there is a tendency\namong physicians of the Chinese school to neglect it. Some diseases,\nhe says, are caused by evil spirits and some by minute insects\n(microbes?). Magic and medicine should therefore, in his opinion, be\ncombined.\n\nThe decay of magic in modern Japan is not owing to religious but to\nscientific progress. It is due to China, whose philosophy, imperfect as\nit is, taught far truer views of the limitations of man's powers than\nanything Japan was able to discover for herself.\n\n=Divination=.--Divination (in Japanese _uranahi_) is magic which has\na special object, namely, the revelation of the unknown. This is\nimplied by the Japanese word, which is derived from _ura_, the rear,\nheart, lining, obverse, and hence that which is concealed. Ordinary\nexperience, and, at a later stage of progress, science, enable us to\nreason with more or less certainty from the known to the unknown; but\nmankind, not satisfied with legitimate methods, have supplemented\nthem by divination, which comprises various irregular and ineffective\nprocesses specially directed to discovering the will of the Gods,\nascertaining what will be lucky or unlucky, and predicting future\nevents.\n\n=Objects of Divination=.--In Japan we find divination practised to\nascertain whether an expedition would be successful or unsuccessful,\nthe reason of the disturbed state of the country and its remedy, the\nbest site for a temple, tomb, or dwelling-house, whether the Mikado\nshould make a progress to a certain place and perform sacrifices there,\nwhat crops it is best to sow, what days will be lucky or unlucky, when\nto expect a lover, the name of a future husband, &c. The priestess\nof Ise was selected by divination, and the provinces from which the\nrice for the Ohonihe ceremony should be taken. Ominous occurrences\nwere interpreted by the help of this art. The purity of persons about\nto take part in a religious ceremony was tested in this manner. Or\ndivination might be applied to the baser use of recovering lost\nproperty or discovering thieves. There was a special divination on the\n10th day of the 12th month to ascertain what ill luck threatened the\nMikado during the ensuing six months, so that the Gods whose curse was\nfeared might be propitiated in advance.\n\n=Religious and Non-religious Divination=.--Divination, like magic, does\nnot necessarily involve the intervention of superhuman sentient beings,\nas we may see by our own palmistry, fortune-telling by cards, and\nShakespeare cryptograms. That the art passed through a non-religious\nphase is highly probable. In Japan, however, the cases met with in the\noldest records are commonly associated, explicitly or implicitly,\nwith an appeal for divine guidance. Hirata defines divination as\n\"respectfully inquiring the heart (_ura_) of the Gods.\" Moto\u00f6ri\ntakes the same view, though both writers admit that in modern times\ndivination which has no religious sanction is sometimes resorted to,\nplayfully, or in unimportant matters.\n\n=The Greater Divination=.--The greater, or official, divination\nconsists in drawing conclusions according to certain conventional\nrules from the cracks which appear in a deer's shoulder-blade when\nexposed to fire. This practice is known not only to the Chinese,\nKalmucks, Cherkeses, and other races of North-Eastern Asia, but to\nthe ancient Germans and Greeks. Nearer home we have the \"reading the\nspeal\" (_\u00e9paule_), a sort of divination by examining the marks on a\nshoulder-blade of mutton, practised not very long ago in the Highlands\nof Scotland. The _Nihongi_ tells us that the Gods themselves made use\nof the Greater Divination in order to learn the reason of Izanagi and\nIzanami's abortive children the Hiruko and the Island of Ahaji. The\nGod Koyane, ancestor of the Nakatomi, was specially charged with this\nform of divination. In the numerous passages of the _Nihongi_ where\ndivination is mentioned without further description, it is no doubt the\nGreater Divination which is intended. Chinese methods of divination\nwere introduced into Japan from Korea at an early date. In 553 it seems\nto have been an established practice that Koreans learned in medicine,\nin divination, and in calendar-making should take turns of service\nat the Court of Japan. It was no doubt owing to their influence that\nthe tortoise-shell was substituted for the deer's shoulder-blade in\nthis divination. A reference to the \"divine Tortoise\" in the _Nihongi_\nunder the legendary date B.C. 92 is merely an anachronism. But the\ntortoise was really in use for this purpose in the eighth century. The\n_Yengishiki_ recognizes no other, though in the country districts the\nshoulder-blades of deer were long retained.\n\nIn an old book purporting to describe the practice of the Tsushima\ncollege of diviners at a much later period than the _Yengishiki_,\nwe are told that the diviner, after practising religious abstinence\nfor seven days, took his place in the divination plot (_uraba_ or\n_uraniha_), from which all other persons were rigorously excluded. He\nwas provided with the tortoise-shell, some _hahaka_ wood, and other\nrequisites. Having prayed to the God of the divination plot,[307]\nwho is besought to grant a true divination, the diviner recites the\n_Kami-oroshi_ (formula which brings down the God), and kindles in a\nblazing fire a stick of _hahaka_ about four or five inches long, and of\nthe thickness of a chopstick. When it has taken fire, he blows it out,\nand with it pricks the tortoise-shell from the back. Divination is then\nmade from the lines thus produced. When the divination is over, the\n_Kami-agari_ (ascent of the God) is recited, and the ceremony is at an\nend.\n\nThe _Shint\u014d Mi\u014dmoku Ruijiu_ gives the following description of a form\nof tortoise-shell divination practised at Kashima to select young girls\nfor the service of the God (_mono-imi_). Two candidates who have not\nreached puberty perform rites to the God for 100 days. On the final\nday a caldron is set up before the shrine and two tortoise-shells are\nplaced in it, each of which bears the name of one of the girls. These\nare roasted from early morning till dusk. The tortoise-shell with the\nname of the successful candidate is then found to be wholly uninjured\nby the fire whilst the other is reduced to ashes. It is said that the\ngirl selected attains a great age and that she never menstruates.\n\n=Tsuji-ura= (cross-roads divination).[308]--This form of divination\nwas much practised in ancient Japan, especially by women and lovers.\nIt consisted in going out to the road at dusk, planting a stick in the\nground to represent Kunado, the phallic God of roads, and interpreting\nthe fragmentary talk of passers-by as an answer to the question.[309]\nAnother account says that to perform _tsuji-ura_ you take a box-wood\ncomb in your hand, go to cross-roads and sound it three times by\ndrawing your finger along it (_tsuge_, \"box-wood,\" also means \"inform\nme\"). Then, with devotion to the Sahe no Kami, repeat this verse\nthree times: \"Oh, thou God of the cross-roads-divination, grant me a\ntrue response.\" Good or bad luck is to be inferred from the words of\nthe next (or the third) person who makes his appearance. Sometimes\na boundary line was marked out and rice sprinkled to keep away evil\ninfluences. The words of the passer-by who first entered the charmed\nlimit constituted the response.\n\n=Hashi-ura= (bridge-divination). Little is known of this kind of\ndivination. The procedure was the same as in _tsuji-ura_, and the Gods\nconcerned were probably the Sahe no Kami. The end-post of a bridge was,\nand still is, a _wo-bashira_, that is, male pillar or phallus.\n\n=Ishi-ura=, or stone-divination, is mentioned in the _Many\u014dshiu_ along\nwith _tsuji-ura_. The \"stone\" is probably the stone emblem of Kunado or\nSahe no Kami. It consisted in judging of future fortune by the apparent\nweight of the stone when lifted. Such stones were called _Ishi-gami_\n(stone-deities) and were no doubt phallic.\n\n=Mikayu-ura= (divination by gruel). This kind of divination is also\nassociated with the Sahe no Kami. It was practised in various forms at\nKirawoka in Kahachi, Suha in Shinano, and other places, on the 15th\nday of the 1st month[310] in order to ascertain what crops it would\nbe best to sow that year. A pot was set up before the God in which\nadzuki beans[311] were boiled. Then tubes of reed, five or six inches\nlong, marked with the names of all manner of crops were plunged into\nthe gruel. The _negi_ (priests) stood by, and taking out the tubes with\nchopsticks divined from the manner in which the grains of rice (mixed\nwith the gruel) entered them whether the crop in question would be good\nor bad. At Haruna the priests published the results to the peasants in\na printed form.\n\nHirata mentions another form of divination in which beans are set in a\nrow round the hearth and fire brought close to them. Some are roasted\nblack while others remain white, and from this the weather and luck of\nthe ensuing year are divined.\n\n=Koto-ura= (harp-divination) was formerly (11th century) practised at\nIse with the object of ascertaining whether the priests who were to\ntake part in the three great religious services of the year and the\nutensils employed were pure or not. Prayer having been made to the\nSun-Goddess, the officiating priest struck a harp three times,[312]\nuttering with each note a loud Hush! He then recited the following\n_Kami-oroshi_ (bringing-down the Gods):--\n\n _\"Ah! we protest that we are in earnest,_\n _To your pure seat deign to descend_\n _All ye Gods of Heaven and Earth,_\n\n _Ah! we protest that we are in earnest,_\n _To thy pure seat deign to descend_\n _Thou Thunder-God also._\n\n _Ah! we protest that we are in earnest,_\n _To your pure seat deign to descend_\n _Oh thou upper great brother and thou lower great brother.\"_[313]\n\nThe names of the priests were then called over and the question asked\nin the case of each, \"Is he clean or unclean?\" The officiating priest\nthen struck the harp and tried to whistle by drawing in his breath. If\nthe whistle was audible it was a sign of purity, and _vice vers\u00e2_. The\nsame procedure was observed with regard to the persons who had prepared\nthe offerings, the offerings themselves, and the utensils required in\nthe service.\n\n=Caldron-Divination=.--At the shrine of Kibitsu no miya in Bittchu\nthere is a mode of divining good and ill-luck from the sound made by a\ncaldron in boiling. The priests, on the application of a worshipper,\nrecite _norito_ and kindle a fire of brushwood under a caldron. If the\nsound produced resembles the bellowing of a bull, the prognostic is\ngood, if otherwise, it is bad.\n\n=Divination by Lots=.--Sticks with numbers inscribed on them, or slips\nof paper, were much used for divination. The succession to the Imperial\nthrone has been decided in this way. Prayer to the Kami often preceded\ntheir use. The following is a form of divination by lot which is used\nby sailors when they have lost their reckoning. The names of the points\nof the compass are written on slips of paper, placed in a measure of\nrice, and the whole mixed up. A _harahi-bako_ of the Great Deity of\nIse is put on the top. Prayer is offered and the lot which is found to\nadhere to the _harahi-bako_ is looked upon as the answer of the Deity.\nAnother form of divination by lots is thus described: \"You place three\nsticks, numbered one, two, three, in a bamboo tube and inquire of the\nGod as to good or ill luck, saying reverently, 'If the thing is lucky,\nlet it be such a number, if unlucky, such another number.'\" In what\nis called _harahi-kuji_ \"you write lucky or unlucky, or whatever your\nprayer may be, on papers which you fold up and roll into a ball. Then\nhaving offered reverent prayer to the God, rub the lots with _harahi\nko-nusa_,[314] when that which adheres to them is concluded to be the\nanswer. This is common at all shrines.\"\n\nLots were, and still are, used for all manner of non-religious\npurposes. If a solitary passenger appears at a jinriksha stand, he\nis often cast lots for by means of a set of cords of various lengths\nknotted together at one end which is kept for the purpose. The\n'Yih-King,' a Chinese book which sets forth a non-religious system of\ndivination depending partly on drawing lots is much used in Japan.\n\n=Divination by Means of the Stars= was first introduced in A.D. 675 by\nthe Korean teachers of Chinese arts.\n\n=Kitsune-tsukahi=.--\"Amongst the ordinary diviners is one called\n_Kitsune-tsukahi_, _i.e._, a fox-possessor. The divination is carried\non by means of a small image of a fox, made in a very odd way. A fox\nis buried alive in a hole with its head left free. Food of the sort\nof which foxes are known to be most fond is placed just beyond the\nanimal's reach. As days pass by the poor beast in its dying agony of\nhunger makes frantic efforts to reach the food; but in vain. At the\nmoment of death the spirit of the fox is supposed to pass into the\nfood, which is then mixed with a quantity of clay, and shaped into the\nform of the animal. Armed with this extraordinary object, the _miko_ is\nsupposed to become an infallible guide to foretelling future events of\nevery kind.\"[315]\n\nAugury by various kinds of birds was known. The geomancy practised to\nsome extent in Japan is of Chinese origin.\n\nThe _Nihongi_ mentions a number of isolated cases of divination\ninvented on the spur of the moment. The following is an example:--\n\n\"When the Emperor was about to attack the enemy, he made a station on\nthe great moor of Kashihawo. On this moor there was a stone six feet in\nlength, three feet in breadth, and one foot five inches in thickness.\nThe Emperor prayed, saying: 'If we are to succeed in destroying the\nTsuchi-gumo, when we kick this stone, may we make it mount up like a\n_kashiha_ leaf.' Accordingly he kicked it, upon which, like a _kashiha_\nleaf, it arose to the Great Void. Therefore that stone was called\nHomishi. The Gods whom he prayed to at this time were the God of Shiga,\nthe God of the Mononobe of Nawori, and the God of the Nakatomi of\nNawori--these three Gods.\"[316]\n\n=Omens= are frequently mentioned. A leg-rest breaking without apparent\ncause was a bad omen. The migration of rats from the capital, the\nmovements of a swarm of flies, comets, a dog bringing in a dead man's\nhand and depositing it in a shrine, prolonged darkness, to meet a\nblind or a lame person are examples of evil omens. Earthquakes,\nfloods and storms were supposed to portend war. A wren's entering a\nparturition-house is described as a favourable omen. White animals\nof all kinds were good omens, and also three-legged crows or even\nsparrows, no doubt because the Sun-crow had three legs.\n\n=Dreams=.--At all stages of human progress, the rational, normal,\nand usual attitude of mankind towards dreams is a disbelief in their\nreality. The ivory gate is recognized to be their ordinary, every-day\nthoroughfare. There are good reasons for this. Most dreams are so\npalpably absurd that the common sense even of the primitive man,\nenlightened by daily experience, rejects them as something not to be\ndepended on. A man dreams that he has partaken of a hearty meal and\nwakes up hungry. The cogent logic of an empty belly leaves him no\nchoice but to reject unhesitatingly the proposition that his dream was\na reality. He dreams that he has broken his leg. Will he, therefore,\nlie up for a month to give it time to heal? In his dreams he can fly.\nNature exacts a stern penalty if he is idiotic enough to act on the\nbelief that he can do so in reality. The practical necessities of\nlife prohibit a man who has to earn a living and support a family\nfrom indulging in any such foolish imaginations. The analogy of his\nown day-dreams, which he must know to be unreal, is too obvious to be\ndisregarded.\n\nIt is true that we do not find much evidence of this attitude of\nmind in books of travel or history. Nobody thinks it worth while to\ncommit to paper instances of so very evident a fact. Most men are\ncomparatively uninterested in the normal and familiar. Travellers, and\nsometimes even men of science, are prone to neglect the universal and\ncommonplace for the strange and unusual. Like Desdemona, they seriously\nincline to hear of\n\n \"The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads\n Do grow beneath their shoulders.\"\n\nHerbert Spencer[317] thinks that the primitive man accepts the events\ndreamed as events that have actually occurred, and adduces evidence\nwhich no doubt shows that there really is a current of thought to\nthat effect among savages and others. For the reasons above stated I\nprefer to regard such cases as abnormal and exceptional. The _Kojiki_\nand _Nihongi_ have many instances of Gods appearing to men in dreams\nand giving them instructions. These are doubtless inventions of\nsome scribe, but they indicate a belief in the possibility of such\noccurrences. Hirata thought it possible by witchcraft to cause people\nto have dreams.\n\nA more frequent view of dreams is that, although not in themselves\nrealities, it is possible by suitable interpretation to deduce truth\nfrom them--usually in the form of predictions of the future. There are\ncases of this kind in the old Japanese records. A deer, for example,\ndreams that a white mist has come down and covered him. This portends\nthat he will be killed by hunters and his body covered with white salt.\n\nThere is evidence that some men occasionally attain in dreams to a\ndeeper spiritual insight and a keener emotional sensibility to divine\ninfluences than in their waking moments. Those who have had such\nexperiences do not speak lightly of them. At the present time science\nis not in a position to deal adequately with this matter. Shinto helps\nus nothing.\n\n=Ordeal= is a species of divination. Under the date A.D. 277 the\n_Nihongi_ has the following:--\n\n_\"The Emperor forthwith questioned Takechi no Sukune along with Umashi\nno Sukune, upon which these two men were each obstinate, and wrangled\nwith one another, so that it was impossible to ascertain the right and\nthe wrong. The Emperor then gave orders to ask of the Gods of Heaven\nand Earth the ordeal by boiling water. Hereupon Takechi no Sukune and\nUmashi no Sukune went out together to the bank of the Shiki river,\nand underwent the ordeal of boiling water. Takechi no Sukune was\nvictorious. Taking his cross-sword, he threw down Umashi no Sukune, and\nwas at length about to slay him, when the Emperor ordered him to let\nhim go. So he gave him to the ancestor of the Atahe of Ki\u00ef.\"_\n\nThe same authority informs us that in A.D. 415 the Mikado, in\nconsequence of the great confusion caused by the assumption of false\nnames and titles, commanded the people of the various houses and\nsurnames to wash themselves and practise abstinence.\n\n_\"Then let them, each calling upon the Gods to witness, plunge their\nhands in boiling water. Hereupon every one put on straps of tree-fibre,\nand coming to the caldrons, plunged their hands in the boiling water,\nwhen those who were true remained naturally uninjured, and all\nthose who were false were harmed. Therefore those who had falsified\n[their titles] were afraid, and, slipping away beforehand, did not\ncome forward. From this time forward the Houses and surnames were\nspontaneously ordered, and there was no longer any one who falsified\nthem.\"_\n\nA note adds:--\n\n_\"This is called Kugadachi. Sometimes mud was put into a caldron and\nmade to boil up. Then the arms were bared and the boiling mud stirred\nwith them. Sometimes an axe was heated red-hot and placed on the palm\nof the hand.\"_\n\nIn a case which occurred in A.D. 530, it is stated that a judge,\nin order to save himself trouble, was too ready to resort to the\nboiling-water ordeal and that many persons were scalded to death in\nconsequence.\n\nAt the present day plunging the hand into boiling water, walking\nbarefoot over a bed of live coals and climbing a ladder formed of\nsword-blades set edge upwards are practised, not by way of ordeal,\nbut to excite the awe and stimulate the piety of the ignorant\nspectators.[318]\n\n=Inspiration=.--Such knowledge as we possess of the divine will and\nnature comes in the first place to the nobler individuals of our race,\nmen in whom high intellectual powers are harmoniously allied to keen\nand healthy emotional susceptibilities and ripened by long years of\nexperience and reflection. They it is--the seers, inspired prophets,\nmen of genius, or by whatever name we may call them--who furnish the\nmaterial out of which religion is developed, not the vulgar, with their\nsuperstitions which are only a product of its decay.\n\nInspiration is not an isolated phenomenon. Like all our thoughts and\ndoings, it is the resultant of three component factors--namely, our own\n_ego_ and that of our fellow-men, and the all-pervading influence of\nthat divine environment in which we live, and move, and have our being.\nEach of these may predominate according to circumstances. In what we\ncall inspiration, the two former are, as far as may be, in abeyance,\nand the mind is left free to be acted on by such higher influences as\nit is capable of receiving.\n\nIn the case of Shinto, we have, unfortunately, no record of the\nconditions under which such truths as it contains became revealed. The\ndeification of the Sun and the recognition of the fact that there is\nlove for mankind in the warmth and light which proceed from him was a\ntruly magnificent idea in a world destitute of religion. The Izanagi\nmyth, by which so many of the Gods were assigned a common parentage,\nwas a brilliant conception, paving the way towards monotheism. Musubi,\nthe God of Growth, marks a further stage of progress in this direction.\nTo these may be added such few and vague glimpses as were caught of\nthe truth that offences against our neighbour are also displeasing\nto the Gods. But we have no knowledge of the circumstances attending\nthese discoveries or of the persons who made them. The only true seer\nof whom the old records tell us anything was an unfortunate man who\nin A.D. 644 taught his countrymen to worship--albeit in the form of a\ncaterpillar--the God of the Everlasting World, the God of Gods, and\nsuffered death in consequence.\n\nThe seer is not equally clear sighted at all times. He has temporary\nenhancements of lucidity due to conditions which are very imperfectly\nunderstood. Some are of a physical nature. The moderate use of certain\ndrugs and stimulants is an acknowledged help towards producing such\nexalted states of mind. Music, quiet, sympathy, voluntary concentration\nof mind (lapsing sometimes into the hypnotic trance, or something\nresembling it), general abstemiousness, and occasional fasting, are all\naids of recognized value which are not neglected by the individual,\ncompact of common clay, who vainly aspires to fill the high office of\ninterpreter between Gods and men.\n\nThe Japanese word for inspiration is _Kangakari_, which means\nGod-attachment, and is nearly equivalent to our \"possession.\" It\nis indicative of the passive attitude claimed by the seer in all\ncountries, with an earnestness which, however genuine, notoriously\ndoes not exclude the possibility of error. The most transparent bodies\ndeflect or modify the light which passes through them. Other words for\ninspiration are _takusen_ and _shintaku_. They are of Chinese origin,\nand involve the idea of a divine message or commission.\n\nIn the notices of inspired communications recorded in the Shinto books\nwe seldom or never recognize the true prophet. Instead of revelations\nof divine truth, we are given the fruits of hypnotism, imposture, and a\ncredulous interpretation of meaningless things. The reader will discern\nfew traces of genuine inspiration in the following examples, of which\nthe earlier are taken from the _Nihongi_.\n\nThe Goddess Uzume gave forth an \"inspired utterance\" as part of her\nperformance before the Rock-cave of Heaven into which the Sun Goddess\nhad retired. It consisted of the numerals from one to ten.\n\nB.C. 5. The Sun-Goddess instructed the Princess-priestess Yamato-hime\nthat a shrine should be erected to her in the province of Ise.\n\nB.C. 38. A young child pronounced an unintelligible speech which\nsounded like the names of deities, and was thought to be inspired.\nWorship was offered in consequence.\n\nB.C. 91. A God inspired Yamato totohi momoso hime (a Princess) to say\nas follows: \"Why is the Emperor grieved at the disordered state of the\ncountry? If he duly did us reverence it would assuredly become pacified\nof itself.\"\n\nA.D. 193. The Empress Jingo was inspired by a certain God to urge her\nhusband the Mikado to invade Korea.\n\n_\"200. 3rd month, 1st day. The same Empress, having selected a lucky\nday, entered the Palace of worship, and discharged in person the office\nof priest.[319] She commanded Takechi no Sukune to play on the lute,\nand the Nakatomi, Igatsu no Omi, was designated as Saniha.[320] Then\nplacing one thousand pieces of cloth, high pieces of cloth, on the top\nand bottom of the lute, she prayed, saying: 'Who is the God who on a\nformer day instructed the Emperor? I pray that I may know his name.'\nAfter seven days and seven nights there came an answer, saying: 'I am\nthe Deity who dwells in the Shrine of Ise.'\"_\n\n_\"487. A certain man, inspired by the Moon-God, said, 'My forefather\nTaka-musubi had the merit of creating Heaven and Earth. Let him be\nhonoured by dedicating to him people and land. I am the Moon-God and I\nshall rejoice if this my desire is complied with.'\"_\n\n555. Mention is made of a divine inspiration by which the _Hafuri_, a\ncentury before, had advised humble prayer to the \"Founder of the Land\"\nbefore going to the assistance of a Korean king.\n\n_\"672. Kome, Takechi no Agata-nushi, Governor of the district of\nTakechi, suddenly had his mouth closed so that he could not speak.\nAfter three days, a divine inspiration came upon him, and he said:\n'I am the God who dwells in the Shrine of Takechi, and my name is\nKoto-shiro-nushi no Kami.' Again, 'I am the God who dwells in the\nShrine of Musa, and my name is Iku-ikadzuchi no Kami.' This was their\nrevelation: 'Let offerings of horses and weapons of all kinds be made\nat the misasagi (tomb) of the Emperor Kamu-yamato-ihare-biko.' Further\nthey said: 'We stood in front and rear of the Imperial descendant and\nescorted him to Fuha, whence we returned. We have now again taken our\nstand in the midst of the Imperial army for its protection.' Further\nthey said: 'An army is about to arrive by the Western road. Be on your\nguard.' When he had done speaking, he awoke [from his trance]. For this\nreason, therefore, Kome was sent to worship at the Imperial misasagi\nand to make offerings of horses and weapons. He also made offerings of\ncloth and worshipped the Gods of the Shrines of Takechi and Musa._\n\n_\"After this Karakuni, Iki no Fubito, arrived from Ohosaka. Therefore\nthe people of that day said: 'The words of the instructions of the\nGods of the two Shrines are in accordance with the fact.'_\n\n_\"Moreover the Goddess of Muraya said by the mouth of a priest: 'An\narmy is now about to arrive by the middle road of my shrine. Therefore\nlet the middle road of my shrine be blocked.' Accordingly, not many\ndays after, the army of Kujira, Ihoriwi no Miyakko, arrived by the\nmiddle road. The men of that day said: 'So the words of the teaching\nof the God were right.' When the war was over, the Generals reported\nthe monitions of these three Gods to the Emperor, who straightway\ncommanded that the three Gods should be raised in rank and worshipped\naccordingly.\"_\n\n812. A decree was passed denouncing punishment on peasants who, without\nreason, predicted good or bad fortune. The authorities were at the same\ntime enjoined to report any genuine predictions.\n\n1031. While a service to the Sun-Goddess was being performed at Ise,\na storm of thunder and lightning came on. The Saiw\u014d (virgin priestess\nof Imperial blood) was inspired and said: \"I am the Ara-matsuri no\nmiya, the first of the separate shrines of the Great Shrine, and I now\nspeak by command of the Great God. The S\u0101t\u014d [an official designation]\nS\u014ddzu and his wife have for years past made absurd pretensions, such\nas that the two great Deities have flown to and attached themselves\nto them, the Ara-matsuri and the Takamiya to their children and\nthe [deities of] the five separate shrines to their domestic. Such\nextraordinary assertions evince a want of loyalty both to the Gods and\nto the Mikado. Their disregard of the ceremonial regulations and the\nfewness of the offerings are not (in themselves) deserving of severe\nblame, but they show a want of respect to the Gods. Iga no Kami reaped\nthe rice officially set apart for the service of the shrine and slew\nthe peasants of the Deity. Yet, by the remissness of the Government\nofficials, it was the third year before he was banished.... Let S\u014ddzu\nbe sent into exile at once.\" After delivering this message the Saiw\u014d\ndrank several cups of the sacred sake. Nowadays, with ourselves,\nrecourse is had, under like circumstances, to a letter to the _Times_\nor a question in the House of Commons.\n\n1225-27. Though not an inspiration, I may mention here an oracle which\nwas delivered at Idzumo by wormholes in the wood of the old Temple\nwhich took the form of Chinese characters. It intimated that the God\ndid not care for lofty buildings, but that the people should turn to\nvirtue. Moto\u00f6ri strongly suspects its authenticity. No Shinto God, he\nthinks, would be likely to use Chinese for his oracles.\n\n1348. A Buddhist priest of the province of Ise, having made prayer for\n1,000 days at the Shrine of the Great Deity, saw on the thousandth\nday a bright object floating on the sea. This he found to be a sword\ntwo feet five or six inches in length. At this time a boy of twelve\nor thirteen, being divinely inspired, said: \"This is one of the three\nregalia, the precious sword sunk in the sea.\"[321] The matter was\nreported to Kioto, where the authenticity of the sword was corroborated\nby dreams, but ultimately not officially recognized.\n\nThe _Wa Rongo_, a work published in 1669, contains a number of oracles\n(_Kangakari_) attributed to a great variety of Deities throughout\nJapan. Some account of this work will be given in the next chapter.\n\nNumerous other cases of inspired utterances are recorded in Japanese\nhistory. They have generally relation to the worship of the God\nconcerned, directing the erection of a new shrine, indicating religious\nobservances which will do him pleasure, or complaining that he is\nneglected or insulted. The Buddhist priests, who converted Shinto to\ntheir own purposes, made frequent use of this means of sanctioning\ntheir encroachments, and it was also made to serve political purposes.\n\nSome of the above notices are purely legendary, and of the rest many\nare open to a suspicion of imposture. It is probable, however, that in\nmost cases the writers who recorded or invented them had in view the\nhypnotic trance, a kind of condition which is well known in Japan at\nthe present day. The following description of a hypnotic _s\u00e9ance_ is\nabridged from Mr. Percival Lowell's interesting book, 'Occult Japan.'\n\nA place having been chosen, either holy or else purified _ad hoc_, a\n_gohei_ is set up with lighted candles beside it and flanking these,\nsprigs of _sakaki_, the sacred tree of Shinto. In front of the _gohei_\nis set out a feast for the God. Some five feet in front a porous\nearthenware bowl is placed on a stand, and in the bowl a pyre of\nincense sticks. The purification of the place consists in enclosing\nthe spot with strings, from which depend at intervals small _gohei_,\nand from the space so shut off driving out all evil spirits by prayer,\nfinger-charms,[322] sprinkling of salt, striking of sparks by flint and\nsteel, and brandishing a _gohei_.\n\nThe persons of the officiators are purified by bathing and putting on\nfresh white garments.\n\nIn its full complement the company consists of eight persons, the\n_naka-za_ (middle-seat) corresponding to the medium, the _mae-za_\n(front-seat), who is the director of the proceedings, and puts the\nnecessary questions to the medium, and several others whose business it\nis to ward off evil influences, &c.\n\nA purification service having been chanted under the leadership of the\n_mae-za_, and songs sung to the accompaniment of the _shaku-j\u014d_,[323] a\nsort of staff with metal rings attached to it, the pyre is lighted, and\nas the flames ascend into the air prayers go up to Fud\u014dsama.[324]\n\nThe _gohei_ having been removed and set up in the middle, the men take\ntheir seats for the descent of the God. Facing the _gohei_, they go\nthrough a further short incantation. Then one of the subordinates holds\nthe _gohei_ while the _naka-za_ seats himself where it had been and\ncloses his eyes. The _mae-za_ takes the _gohei_ and places it between\nthe hands of the _naka-za_. Then all the others join in chant, and\nwatch for the advent of the God.\n\nFor a few minutes, the time varying with the particular _naka-za_, the\nman remains perfectly motionless. Then suddenly the _gohei_ begins\nto quiver. The quiver gains till all at once the man is seized with\na convulsive throe. In some trances the eyes then open, the eyeballs\nbeing rolled up half out of sight. In others the eyes remain half shut.\nThen the throe subsides again to a permanent quiver, the eyes, if open,\nfixed in the trance look. The man has now become the God.\n\nThe _mae-za_, bowed down, then reverently asks the name of the God,\nand the God answers, after which the _mae-za_ prefers his petitions,\nto which the God makes reply. When he has finished, the _naka-za_\nfalls forward on his face. The _mae-za_ concludes with a prayer, then,\nstriking the _naka-za_ on the back, wakes him up. One of the others\ngives him water from a cup, and when he has been able to swallow it\nthe rest set to and rub his arms and body out of their cataleptic\ncontraction.\n\nThe _Sankairi_, a work published in 1853, mentions a kind of inspired\nmedium known as _yori-dai_:--\n\n_\"There are numbers of these in \u00d4saka who practise Kami-oroshi\n(bringing down the God). An altar to Sho-ichi-i Inari Mi\u014djin (first\nof first rank illustrious God Inari) is consecrated within their\ndwelling-house, before which the medium takes his seat. Some of these\nbringers-down of the God are men, others women. They take a gohei in\neach hand and repeat the Rokkon sh\u014dj\u014d no harahi [a bastard Buddhist\nform of harahi], muttering at the same time something or another so\nthat one might think they were veritable official bringers-down of the\nGod._\n\n_\"At Ten\u014dji there is a Miko-machi, or street of mediums who pretend\nthat it was established by Sh\u014dtoku Taishi. When the cries of these\nmediums reach the street, people look in at the windows. They differ,\nhowever, from the Inari-oroshi. Some there are who use the formula, 'Is\nit a living mouth or a dead mouth?' so that they probably belong to\nthe Shinano mediums, who talk of [the God] being drawn by the adzusa\nbow. There is also a kind of witchcraft called Inugami.[325] But the\nMi\u014djin-oroshi [or yoridai] we speak of repeats over and over again the\nphrase 'Be pleased to cleanse, be pleased to purify', so long as he\nretains his senses. Then his complexion changes and he becomes pale,\nwhile the gohei in his hands shake themselves erect. He will then\nanswer, one after another, by manifest inspiration, any questions which\nthe applicant may put to him.\"_\n\nThe _Sankairi_ is a Buddhist book, and goes on to tell a story of a\n_Kami_ being brought down by _nembutsu_ (Buddhist prayers) and the\nmedium repeating a Buddhist hymn.[326]\n\nIt need hardly be said that, as in the case of our own spiritualistic\n_s\u00e9ances_, the net value of the information obtained by this process\nis _nil_. It is hardly fair to Shinto to call this sort of thing\n\"esoteric Shinto,\" as Mr. Lowell does. Spiritualism is not esoteric\nChristianity, but a diseased excrescence on it. The higher Shinto\nfunctionaries do not condescend to such practices, and, indeed, they\nare commonly performed by laymen, or even by Buddhist priests. The\nofficial Shinto mode of ascertaining the will of the Gods was by the\n\"Greater Divination,\" that is, by the deer's shoulder-blade or the\ntortoise-shell. _Kangakari_, or inspiration, was, however, known at all\nperiods of Japanese history; and although no detailed accounts have\nreached us of the methods used to produce it, there are indications\nthat they were of a similar character to those described by Mr. Lowell.\nThe _kannushi_ of the ceremony of the Empress Jing\u014d's inspiration[327]\nseems to be the same as Mr. Lowell's _naka-za_, and the _saniha_\ncorresponds to his _mae-za_. We may presume that his office sometimes\nresembled that of the functionary at Delphi, whose business it was to\nclarify the obscurities of the Pythian priestess's utterances. The\n_miko_ of the shrine of Ise gave inspired utterances. The sprinkling of\nboiling water is said to have been part of the process by which they\nwere induced.\n\nTrue inspiration, such as that which touched Isaiah's hallowed lips\nwith fire, belongs chiefly to the male sex. The _kangakari_, or\nhypnotic trance, on the other hand, has in Japan, as elsewhere, a\ndecided preference for women or boys.[328]\n\n'Occult Japan' deals only with the hypnotic trance as a condition\nin which communications are received from the Gods. But there are\nalso mediums, called _miko_ or _ichiko_, who when hypnotized deliver\nmessages from deceased relatives and others.[329] Hirata speaks of\nthe _miko_ and _hafuri_ providing _yori-bito_ (mediums), by whom\nthey brought near (_yoru_) by prayer the spirits of Gods or men and\nquestioned them. _Ichiko_ is defined in the dictionary, _Kotoba no\nIdzumi_, as a woman who, as the representative of a God or living soul,\nor dead man's soul, delivers their thoughts from her own mouth.\n\nPossession by foxes, badgers, and other animals is a well-known\nphenomenon in Japan, but as it has no special connexion with Shinto\nI shall only refer the reader to Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's 'Things\nJapanese,' which contains a scientific account of this form of disease\nfrom the pen of Dr. Baelz.\n\nThere are in Japan families who are believed to own foxes, by whom they\nare assisted and protected, and who watch over their fields and prevent\noutsiders from doing damage. Such families are avoided, and none but\nmembers of similar fox-owning families will intermarry with them.[330]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[288] See above, p. 197.\n\n[289] 'Yenzeki Zasshi,' v. 1.\n\n[290] When demons and evil influences are expelled. See above, p. 308.\n\n[291] After the manner of the Oho-harahi offerings.\n\n[292] 'The Golden Bough,' second edition, p. 9.\n\n[293] I cannot offer any explanation of the magic used by women and\nchildren in order to bring fine weather. They hang upside down to the\neaves or on the branch of a tree human figures cut in paper, and called\n_Teri-teri-b\u014dzu_ (shine-shine-priest).\n\n[294] See above, p. 115.\n\n[295] I. 157.\n\n[296] 'The Mikado's Empire,' p. 474.\n\n[297] See also Ch. K. 263.\n\n[298] According to Van Helmont, the reason why bull's fat is so\npowerful in a vulnerary ointment is that the bull at the time of\nslaughter is full of secret reluctancy and vindictive murmurs, and\ntherefore dies with a higher flame of revenge about him than any other\nanimal.\n\n[299] See 'Primitive Culture,' i. 116, where numerous examples of\nsymbolic magic are given.\n\n[300] See above, p. 187.\n\n[301] The _Tsuchigumo_ (earth-hiders) were men of a low class, who\nlived in dwellings sunk in the earth, and gave much trouble to the\nJapanese Government in ancient times. Dr. Tylor, in his 'Primitive\nCulture,' i. 113, has noted the tendency to attribute magical powers to\npariahs and foreigners. Sukunabikona, the teacher of magic to Japan,\ncame from abroad.\n\n[302] See above, p. 115.\n\n[303] See above, p. 106.\n\n[304] See p. 292.\n\n[305] _Nihongi_, ii. 82.\n\n[306] See above, p. 294.\n\n[307] Koyane. Hirata speaks with scorn of the Chinese methods of\ndivining current in Japan in later times, in which no invocation of the\nGods was used. Sometimes other Gods, and even Buddhas, were invoked.\n\n[308] \"The King of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head\nof the two ways, to perform divination.\"--Ezekiel xxi. 21.\n\n[309] Pausanias says that in ancient Greece the inquirer, after asking\nhis question of the God and making his offering, took as the divine\nanswer the first words he might hear on quitting the sanctuary.\n\n[310] The date of the festival of the Sahe no Kami.\n\n[311] See above, p. 193.\n\n[312] The _Kami-yori-ita_ (God-resort-board), struck in later times to\nbring down the Gods, is believed to be a substitute for this harp.\n\n[313] It is not known who these Gods were.\n\n[314] Smaller _gohei_ used in the _harahi_ ceremony.\n\n[315] Weston, 'Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' p. 307. See also\nIndex, _Inugami_; and Mr. Chamberlain's 'Things Japanese,' third\nedition, p. 110.\n\n[316] Compare the story of Gideon's fleece in Judges vi. 37. See also\n_Nihongi_, I. 237, and Ch. K. 194.\n\n[317] 'Sociology,' i. 154.\n\n[318] See Mr. P. Lowell's 'Occult Japan,' p. 36.\n\n[319] _Kannushi_.\n\n[320] Saniha (pure court) is explained as the official who examines the\nutterances prompted by the Deity.\n\n[321] At the battle of Danno\u00fcra, in 1184.\n\n[322] _In-musubi_, a Chinese practice.\n\n[323] A Buddhist religious implement.\n\n[324] A Buddhist deity. The incense is also Buddhist.\n\n[325] See above, p. 332.\n\n[326] An excellent account of a Japanese hypnotic _s\u00e9ance_ is given in\nMr. Weston's 'Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' p. 282.\n\n[327] See above, p. 350.\n\n[328] \"Antiquity regarded the soul of woman as more accessible to every\nsort of inspiration, which also, according to ancient opinion, is a\n\u03c0\u03ac\u03c3\u03c7\u03b5\u03bf\u03bd.\"--M\u00fcller, 'Sc. Myth.,' p. 217.\n\n[329] See above, p. 206.\n\n[330] See above, p. 344.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nDECAY OF SHINTO.--ITS MODERN SECTS.\n\n\n=Rise of Buddhism=.--The later history of Shinto is one of neglect and\ndecay. Such vitality as it retained was owing mainly to the Buddhist\nideas which were engrafted upon it. The influence of Chinese systems\nof ethics and philosophy was also very perceptible, especially in more\nrecent times. The Buddhism of Japan is not simply the doctrine of the\nfounder, described by some as atheistic. It is a real religion, and\nbesides the worship of other Buddhas, comprises that of an Infinite\nBeing--the Buddha Amida--having certain attributes which we should term\ndivine, and of his assessors, with doctrines far more abstruse and\nprofound than those which were taught by Sakyamuni himself. In the main\na form of the northern branch of Buddhism, it found its way originally\nto Japan _vi\u00e2_ Tibet, Western China, and Korea.[331]\n\nIn A.D. 552 the King of P\u00e8kch\u00e9, in Korea, sent an embassy to Japan with\na present to the Mikado of an image of Shaka (Sakyamuni) and several\nvolumes of Sutras. They were gladly received, and were entrusted to the\ncharge of a Minister with instructions to practise the new faith. But\nthe jealousy of the adherents of the older religion was aroused. When\na pestilence broke out soon after, they attributed it to the wrath of\nthe native deities, and found means to have the Buddhist temple burnt\nand the holy image thrown into a canal. Other attempts to propagate\nBuddhism were little more successful, and it was not until the time of\nthe Regent Sh\u014dtoku Taishi that it made any substantial progress. At\nhis death in 621 there were in Japan 46 temples or monasteries and 1385\nmonastics, male and female. In 686 it was decreed that every household\nshould have its domestic Buddhist shrine.\n\nWhen Buddhism, after Christianity the great religion of the world, had\nonce gained a foothold in Japan, its ultimate victory was certain.\nThere was nothing in Shinto which could rival in attraction the\nsculpture, architecture, painting, costumes, and ritual of the foreign\nfaith. Its organization was more complete and effective. It presented\nideals of humanity, charity, self-abnegation, and purity, far higher\nthan any previously known to the Japanese nation. Its doctrines of\nsin and repentance, of fate, of future bliss and woe, its profound\nmetaphysics, and, perhaps more than aught else, the satisfaction\nwhich it offered to the yearnings of many a wounded spirit for a holy\ncontemplative life, detached from the toil and worry, the sorrow and\nthe disturbing passions of the world, were well calculated to find a\nwelcome in their hearts.\n\nAt first the two religions held aloof from one another. But while\nBuddhism flourished more and more, Shinto was gradually weakened by\nthe diversion into another channel of material resources and religious\nthought which might otherwise have been bestowed upon itself.\n\n=Ry\u00f4bu Shinto=.--The two religions came into more direct contact in\nthe eighth century, when there began a process of pacific penetration\nof the weaker by the stronger cult, which yielded some curious and\nimportant results. Buddhism is not a militant religion in the sense\nthat Islam was. It owes little or nothing to the aid of the secular\narm, and avoids rather than seeks open conflicts with other faiths.\nWhat the Japanese call _h\u014dben_ (pious device) and to which we should\noften apply the harsher terms \"pious fraud\" or \"priestcraft,\" are more\ncongenial to it. A notable application of the _h\u014dben_ method occurred\nin the time of the Mikado Sh\u014dmu, who reigned at Nara from 724 to 756.\nWishing to celebrate his reign by the erection of a great Buddhist\ntemple and image, he took advice of Gy\u014dgi, a priest renowned to this\nday for many services to civilization, and despatched him to Ise\nwith a present for the Sun-Goddess of a relic of Buddha. Gy\u014dgi spent\nseven days and seven nights in prayer under a tree close to the gate\nof the shrine, and was then vouchsafed an oracle in the form of some\ncouplets of Chinese verse couched in purely Buddhistic phraseology.\nIt spoke of the Sun of truth enlightening the long night of life and\ndeath and of the Moon of eternal reality dispersing the clouds of\nsin and ignorance. This was interpreted to mean that the Sun-Goddess\nidentified herself with Vairochana, called by the Japanese Birushana or\nDainichi (great Sun), a person of a Buddhist trinity and described as\nthe personification of essential _bodhi_ (enlightenment) and absolute\npurity. The Sun-Goddess subsequently appeared to the Mikado in a dream\nand confirmed this view of her character. The temple (T\u014ddaiji) founded\nby Sh\u014dmu--though not the original building--is still in existence. It\ncontains the famous colossal statue of Birushana, which is at this day\none of the wonders of Japan.\n\nThe principle of recognizing the Kami as avatars or incarnations of\nBuddhist deities, of which the case of the Sun-Goddess and Vairochana\nwas the first in Japan--it had been already applied in China to Laotze\nand Confucius--was subsequently much extended, and, with a spice of\nChinese philosophy added, formed the basis of a new sect called Ry\u014dbu\nShinto. Its Buddhist character is indicated by its name, which means\n\"two parts,\" the two parts being the two mystic worlds of Buddhism,\nnamely, the Kong\u00f4kai and the Taiz\u014dkai. The principal founder of Ry\u014dbu\nwas the famous (and fabulous) K\u014db\u014d Daishi (died 835), to whom the\ninvention of the Hiragana syllabary and quite a miraculous number\nof sculptures, writings, and paintings are ascribed. The sect of\nBuddhism engrafted by him on Shinto is that known as Shingon (true\nword). It is not one of its highest forms, and deals much in magic\nfinger-twistings, endless repetitions of mystic formul\u00e6 unintelligible\nto the worshipper, and other superstitious practices.\n\nDespite its professions of eclecticism, the soul of Ry\u014dbu is\nessentially Buddhist. It borrows little more from Shinto than the\nnames of a few deities, notably Kuni-toko-tachi, to whom it gives\nan importance by no means justified by anything in the older Shinto\nwritings.[332] Ry\u014dbu owed much of its success to forgeries and other\nmeans, which were considered less objectionable in those days than they\nwould be at present. Great indulgence has always been shown in Japan\ntowards means of edification (_h\u014dben_) that would hardly recommend\nthemselves to our more scrupulous minds. Yet there was something more\nthan priestcraft in the attempt to weld Buddhism, Confucianism, and\nShinto into one consistent whole. It is surely a true instinct which\nleads mankind to recognize an essential unity in all religions, and\nto reconcile, as far as possible, the outwardly conflicting forms in\nwhich it is clothed. The religious history of Japan is full of such\nendeavours.[333] But Shinto, Buddhism of various sects, Confucianism,\nand Sung philosophy constituted a very refractory mass of material,\nand the results obtained, while they testify to much industry and\ningenuity, are more curious than valuable.\n\n=Yui-itsu=.--The Yui-itsu Shinto was a branch of Ry\u014dbu. It was\ninvented about the end of the fifteenth century. Yui-itsu is short for\nTen-jin-yui-itsu (Heaven-man-only-one), a doctrine borrowed, according\nto Hirata, by the Chinese philosophers from Buddhism. Of course in this\nconnexion Ten does not mean the visible sky. It is rather a conception\nwhich fluctuates between Nature and God. It will be seen that the\nfundamental problem which has so much occupied the minds of Western\ntheologians and philosophers--namely, that of the relation which exists\nbetween the human and the divine--has not escaped the attention of Far\nEastern thinkers. Moto\u00f6ri treats the doctrine of the identity of Ten\nand man with much contempt. \"How can there be anything in common,\" he\nasks, \"between Ten, the country where the Gods live, and man?\"\n\nTo the people, a Ry\u014dbu shrine was one where Buddhist priests\nofficiated, a Yui-itsu shrine one where none but Shinto functionaries\nwere seen.\n\nOther sects, or rather schools, of Shinto were those of Deguchi and\nSuwiga, both of which arose in the seventeenth century. The former\nexplains the phenomena of the Divine Age on principles derived from\nthe Yih-King, an ancient Chinese book of divination; the latter is a\ncombination of Yui-itsu Shinto with Sung philosophy.\n\nAll these sects were much given to strained analogies and fanciful\ncomparisons in support of their views. The conversion of Saruta-hiko\ninto a great moral teacher by the Deguchi Shinto is an example.\nSaruta-hiko is worshipped at road sides. He therefore came to be\nconsidered the God of roads and the guide and protector of travellers.\nBut the road or way may be used metaphorically for the path of duty or\nvirtue. Hence we have the astonishing result by which a phallic deity\nfigures as the chief Shinto apostle of morality.\n\nOther instances are the symbolic meanings ascribed to the regalia and\nthe notion that the cross timbers of the roof of the typical Shinto\nshrine represent the (Chinese) virtues of benevolence, justice,\ncourtesy, and wisdom.\n\nThese and many more of a similar character are argute scholastic\nspeculations in which the people take little concern.\n\nThe Ry\u014dbu, which retained its predominance until the eighteenth\ncentury, was by far the most important of these so-called Shinto sects.\n\nIt is impossible to trace here their somewhat complicated history. I\nmay, however, note a few facts which will illustrate the character and\nextent of the encroachment of Buddhist and Chinese ideas on the native\nfaith and cult.\n\nAs early as the eighth century a Mikado began the custom, subsequently\ncontinued during many centuries, of abdicating the throne after a\nfew years' reign and assuming the Buddhist tonsure. The mode of\nimperial burial was modified in accordance with Buddhist ideas of\nthe worthlessness of these mortal frames of ours. Some Mikados were\ncremated. One described himself as a slave of Buddha, and another in\nan official ordinance spoke of the Kami as obeying the laws of Buddha.\nAfter such an example was set by the high priests of Shinto, it could\nnot be expected that their Court should be more faithful to the older\ncult. In the Heian period the nobles could not be induced to trouble\nthemselves about the Shinto ceremonies, which were either deputed\nto subordinates or omitted altogether. The regular embassies to the\nshrines were neglected, except on some great emergency, such as famine,\nplague, or earthquake. Even the greatest Shinto rite of all--the\nOhonihe, or coronation ceremony--was in abeyance for eight reigns,\nviz., from 1465 to 1687. What would have seemed even more shocking\nto an old Shintoist was the circumstance that Buddhist priests were\nallowed to take part in it.\n\nBuddhist priests had the custody of nearly all the shrines, read\nSutras, and performed Buddhist ceremonies there, such as baptism and\n_goma_ sprinkling. Relics of Buddha were deposited in them. Buddhist\ntemples had Shinto shrines of a Chinjiu, or protecting Kami, built in\ntheir courtyards. Buddhist architecture and ornaments were used for the\nMiya and _ni-w\u00f4_ (the two kings, guardians of the gate) or _shishi_\n(lions) set up before them. The latter are an Indian conceit. They were\noriginally set up at cemeteries in order to frighten wild beasts and\nprevent them from tearing up the dead. We are told that in the reign of\nHorikawa (1099) nearly all the shrines were in ruin.\n\nThe Ony\u00f4shi, or official college of professors of the Yin and Yang\nnatural philosophy of China, who were equally prepared to compute an\nalmanac or to exorcise a demon, were for many centuries entrusted with\nthe performance of the _harahi_ (purification ceremonies), and other\nShinto functions.\n\nThe accompanying illustration shows another form of the admixture of\nBuddhism with Shinto which prevailed until quite recently. Of the three\nshrines here represented, the central only is dedicated to a Shinto\nDeity, viz., Atago, or the Fire-God, who, moreover, has the Buddhist\nepithet Daigongen affixed to his name. The other two are dedicated to\nthe Buddhist deities Benzaiten and Bishamon.\n\nThe myths of the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ did not escape from admixture\nwith Indian cosmology and Chinese philosophy, a process which yielded\nthe strangest results. Thus a fourteenth-century writer described\nthe Yin and Yang as evolving by their mutual interaction Izanagi and\nIzanami, the earlier generations of the _Nihongi_ story being omitted.\nTheir child, the Sun Goddess, proves to be a manifestation of Buddha,\none of whose services to humanity was at some far remote period to\nsubdue the \"Evil Kings of the Six Heavens\" of Indian myth, and compel\nthem to withdraw their opposition to the spread of the true doctrine\n(that is, Buddhism) in Japan.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nStill there were a few exceptions to the general decay. At the two\ngreat shrines of Ise and Idzumo, the old cult was maintained in\ntolerable purity, and doubtless many local shrines were preserved by\ntheir insignificance from Buddhist encroachment. It should not be\nforgotten, moreover, that, although the history of Shinto under foreign\ninfluence was one of neglect and decay, in so far as its original\nelements were concerned, it borrowed from Buddhism and Confucianism\ngerms of a higher thought, which under more favourable circumstances\nmight have borne precious fruit. I have before me a book entitled,\n'Wa Rongo; or, Japanese (Confucian) Analects,' which shows the later\nShinto in a more favourable light. It was published in 1669. The\npreface states that the original work belongs to the reign of Gotoba\nno In (1184-1198), and gives a list of successive editors or compilers\nfrom 1219 to 1628. It is a collection of oracles of Shinto gods and\nwise utterances of mikados, princes, and others, of a tolerably\nheterogeneous kind. Most of them, however, bear the stamp of the Ry\u014dbu\nShinto. They are Buddhism, Confucianism, or Sung philosophy in a Shinto\ndress. The first volume contains 108 (the number of beads in a Buddhist\nrosary) oracles attributed to the Gods of various Shinto shrines\nthroughout Japan.\n\nThese oracles are by no means consistent with one another. Some are\nfrankly Buddhist in character, others inculcate the doctrine of the\nidentity of Kami and Buddhas, while others, again, denounce the\npractice of alien religions. In some, Heaven-and-Earth is recognized as\na sort of pantheistic deity, distinct from the physical universe. Here\nwe have Chinese inspiration. Purity of heart, charity to the poor, and\nthe avoidance of vain repetitions are much insisted on. No moral code\nis anywhere set forth. When virtue is spoken of, it is the Confucian\nmorality, or the observance of the Buddhist commandments, that must be\nunderstood.\n\nIn the following examples the reader will find himself in a wholly\ndifferent and far higher moral and religious atmosphere from that of\nthe unadulterated older Shinto described in the preceding chapters.\n\n=Shinto Oracles=.--The Sun-Goddess enjoins uprightness and truth, on\npain of being sent to Ne no kuni.[334] Men should make their hearts\nlike unto Heaven-and-Earth.[335] Wearisome ceremonies and repetitions\n(of some Buddhist sects) should be abandoned, and reverence shown to\nthe Gods of the ancestral shrines.[336]\n\nThe Mikado Gotoba no In received the following inspiration in a dream\nfrom the two shrines of Ise:--\n\n_In the last days the world will be disturbed and all men troubled. The\nsovereign house will show respect for the military house, and local\ngovernors will make friends with wearisome fellows (Buddhist monks).\nBuddhist priests will take to them wives, eat flesh, and propagate base\ndoctrines. The land of Ashihara of the fair rice-ears is the rightful\nproperty of my descendants._\n\nAn oracle of Hachiman:--\n\n_I refuse the offerings of the impure of heart. Some Gods are great,\nsome small, some good and others bad. My name is Dai jizai w\u014d\nbosatsu._[337]\n\nAn inspired poem (A.D. 1204):--\n\n _Loving-kindness is of the Buddhas:_\n _Uprightness of the Kami:_\n _Error of the sons of men._\n _Thus of the same heart there is a triple division._\n\nThe Gods of Kamo promise their divine help and the fulfilment of their\nprayers to their worshippers, especially those who regularly visit the\nshrine.\n\nOracle of the Gods of Kasuga:--\n\n_Even though men prepare for us a pure abode and offer there the rare\nthings of the land, though they hang up offerings of the seven precious\nthings, and with anxious hearts pray to us for hundreds of days, yet\nwill we refuse to enter the house of the depraved and miserly. But we\nwill surely visit the dwellings even of those in deep mourning[338]\nwithout an invitation, if loving-kindness is there always. The reason\nis that we make loving-kindness our shintai._\n\n_Hear all men! If you desire to obtain help from the Gods, put away\npride. Even a hair of pride shuts you off from the Gods as it were by a\ngreat cloud._\n\n_Hear all men! The good Kami find their strength and their support in\npiety. Therefore they love not the offerings of those who practise\ntedious ceremonies._\n\nThe Deity of Matsunowo says:--\n\n_Any one who makes a single obeisance to one Kami will receive infinite\nhelp: much more so any one who makes pure his heart and enters the\ngreat way of single-minded uprightness._\n\nOracle of _Temman tenjin_, the deified Minister Sugahara no\nMichizane[339]:--\n\n_All ye who come before me hoping to attain the accomplishment of\nyour desires, pray with hearts pure from falsehood, clean within and\nwithout, reflecting the truth like a mirror. If those who are falsely\naccused of crime[340] come to me for help, within seven days their\nprayer will be granted, or else call me not a God._\n\nAn oracle of Mume no miya promises that if an offering of sand is made\nhelp will be given to women in child-birth, and children to those who\nhave none.\n\nAn oracle of Atago (the Fire-God) denounces his vengeance on those\nwho pollute fire, and on the wealthy who do not assist their poorer\nneighbours.\n\n_Leave the things of this world and come to me daily and monthly with\npure bodies and pure hearts. You will then enjoy paradise in this world\nand have all your desires accomplished._\n\nOracle of the God of Kashima[341]:--\n\n_I am the protector of Japan against foreign violence and break the\nspear-points of Heavenly demons and Earthly demons. All enjoy my divine\npower. I derive strength from the multiplication of devout men in the\nland. Then do the forces of demons melt away like snow in the sun. When\ndevout men are few, my powers dwindle, my heart is distressed and the\ndemon powers gain vigour while the divine power is weakened._\n\nOracle of the God of Atsuta:--\n\n_All ye men who dwell under Heaven. Receive the just commands of the\nGods. Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your mother, and all\nthings as your brothers and sisters. You will then enjoy this divine\ncountry which excels all others, free from hate and sorrow. Obey the\ninstructions of the Heaven-shining Deity and honour the Mikado. If any\nare rebellious, come before me and name their names. I will surely\ncrush the foe and yield you satisfaction._\n\nAn oracle of the God of Suha[342] promises to hear the prayers of all\ntrue worshippers, even though they may have eaten flesh. No outward\npurity avails a whit.\n\nOracle of Tatsuta (the Wind-God):--\n\n_All ye of high and low degree, rather than pray to Heaven-and-Earth,\nrather than pray to all the Kami, dutifully serve your parents. For\nyour parents are the Gods of without and within.[343] If that which\nis within is not bright it is useless to pray only for that which is\nwithout._\n\nAn oracle of Inari, near Kioto, speaks of this polluted world (a\nBuddhist phrase), and recommends the reading of Sutras and Dharani.\n\nThe following sentiments are ascribed to the God of Fujiyama:--\n\n_Ye men of mine. Shun desire. If you shun desire you will ascend to a\nlevel with the Gods. Every little yielding to anxiety is a step away\nfrom the natural heart of man. If one leaves the natural heart of man,\nhe becomes a beast. That men should be made so, is to me intolerable\npain and unending sorrow._\n\nA son of a Mikado received the following inspiration in a dream:--\n\n_It is the upright heart of all men which is identical with the highest\nof the high, and therefore the God of Gods. There is no room in\nHeaven-and-Earth for the false and crooked person._\n\nThe following poem was revealed in a dream to the Mikado Seiwa:--\n\n_If we keep unperverted the human heart, which is like unto Heaven and\nreceived from Earth, that is God. The Gods have their abode in the\nheart. Amongst the various ordinances none is more excellent than that\nof religious meditation._\n\nThe God of a Tajima shrine says:--\n\n_When the sky is clear, and the wind hums in the fir-trees, 'tis the\nheart of a God who thus reveals himself._\n\nAn oracle of Hachiman (the War-God) enjoins on his worshippers to\nbe full of pity and mercy for beggars and lepers, and even for ants\nand crickets. Those whose pity and charity are wide will have their\nprecious cord (of life) extended immeasurably; their posterity will be\nspread abroad like the wings of a crane. They will become the upright\nheart of the Gods of Heaven.\n\nAnother oracle of Hachiman:--\n\n_All men's love of children and love of self are heinous crimes.\nNothing is more admirable than to sever, were it only for a time, all\nearthly relations._\n\n_If men will have upright hearts they must be neither foolish nor\nclever, they must indulge neither in grief nor in hate, but be as the\nflowers which unfold under the genial warmth of a vernal sun._\n\n_If there be any who, having studied the books of China or practised\nthe teachings of India, despise the instructions of the Gods of our\nown Japan, I will go to their houses and either slay their infant\nchildren or visit them with sore disease, or turn away from them their\nfollowers, or by the God of Fire destroy their dwellings. This is not\nbecause I hate the doctrines of China or India, but because it is\nrejecting the root for the branches._\n\nOracle of Itsukushima in Aki:--\n\n_Of old the people of my country knew not my name. Therefore I was born\ninto the visible world and endured a base existence. In highest Heaven\nI am the Deity of the Sun, in the mid-sky I show my doings. I hide\nin the great Earth and produce all things: in the midst of the Ocean\nI am the eight Dragon-kings, and my power pervades the four seas. If\nthe poorest of mankind come here once for worship, show me their faces\nand declare their wishes, within seven days, fourteen days, twenty-one\ndays, or it may be three years or seven years, according to the person\nand the importance of his prayer, I will surely grant their heart's\ndesire. But the wicked of heart must not apply to me. Those who do not\nabandon mercy will not be abandoned by me._\n\n=Revival of Pure Shinto=.--The seventeenth century witnessed a great\nrevival of Chinese learning in Japan. It embraced not only the renewed\nstudy of the ancient classics of Confucius and Mencius, but the\nphilosophical writings of Chu-hi and other sceptical writers of the\nSung Dynasty (960-1278). The Samurai, or governing caste of the nation,\ndevoted themselves to these studies with amazing zeal and enthusiasm,\nto the great neglect of Buddhism, which from this time forward was\nleft mainly to the common people. This movement reached a climax in\nthe eighteenth century, when a reaction set in. Kada, Mabuchi, and\nother patriotic scholars, resenting the undue preponderance allowed\nto Chinese thought, did their utmost, by commentaries and exegetical\ntreatises, to recall attention to the monuments of the ancient national\nliterature, such as the _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and _Many\u014dshiu_, which had\nbeen so long neglected that they were in great part unintelligible even\nto educated men. Under their pupil and successor Moto\u00f6ri (1730-1801),\nthis movement assumed a religious character. His patriotic prejudices\nwere offended by the foreign elements which he found in the Ry\u014dbu and\nother prevailing forms of Shinto, while the Sung doctrine of a \"Great\nAbsolute\" was not only odious to him on account of its alien origin,\nbut failed to satisfy his soul-hunger for a more personal object of\nworship. He therefore turned back to the older form of Shinto. To its\npropagation by lectures and books he devoted many years of his life,\nand not without success. He had numerous followers among the more\neducated classes.\n\nMoto\u00f6ri's principal work is the _Kojiki den_, a commentary on the\n_Kojiki_, in which he loses no opportunity of attacking everything\nChinese and of exalting the old Japanese customs, language, and\nreligion in a spirit of ardent and undiscriminating patriotism. He\nseems to have been wholly blind to the fact that the exotic faiths and\nphilosophies, whose intrusion into Shinto he so bitterly resented,\ncontain elements far otherwise valuable to mankind than the ritual of\nthe _Yengishiki_ and the old-world myths of the _Kojiki_.\n\nHis pupil Hirata (1776-1843) was less of a literary man and more of a\ntheologian than his master. In a long life he wrote numbers of books,\namounting to hundreds of volumes, and delivered innumerable lectures\nurging the claims of the old Shinto. His teaching was so successful\nthat it at last drew upon him the attention of the Sh\u014dgun's Government,\nwho, finding that their own authority was being undermined by the\nprominence given to the _de jure_ sovereign rights of the Sun-Goddess's\ndescendants, forbade his lectures and banished him to his native\nprovince of Dewa. Hirata's anti-foreign prejudices did not prevent him\nfrom believing in the immortality of the soul--a doctrine of Buddhist\norigin--or from borrowing from China a worship of ancestors quite\ndifferent from anything in the old Shinto. He adopts the Chinese duty\nof \"filial piety,\" and makes strenuous but unavailing efforts to find\ncountenance for it in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. Though he says that\nthe Kami detest Buddhism because it teaches us to abandon lord and\nparent, wife and child, and is therefore destructive of morality, and\nbecause its adherents are filthy beggars, who boast of wearing cast-off\nrags and eating food given in charity, in another place he goes so far\nas to admit Buddha to his Shinto Pantheon, on condition that he shall\nbe content with an inferior position. He tacitly accepts the moral code\nof China, while protesting that such things are unnecessary, as we are\nendowed by nature with an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong.\n\nThe agitation for the revival of Pure Shinto was a retrograde movement,\nwhich could only end in failure. It contributed substantially, however,\nto the success of the political revolution which in 1868 brought about\nthe restoration of the Mikado to the sovereign position which was\nthe logical outcome of Moto\u00f6ri's and Hirata's teachings. The Shinto\nreformation of the same date, when the Buddhist priests were removed\nfrom the Ry\u014dbu shrines, and a certain purification of ritual and\nornaments was effected, was also due to their influence.[344]\n\n=Shingaku=.--A school of preachers who called their doctrine _shingaku_\nor \"heart-learning,\" and professed to combine Shinto with Buddhism\nand Confucianism, had some vogue in the first half of the nineteenth\ncentury. These men were in reality rationalists, who took the maxims\nof Confucius and Mencius as the basis of their doctrines. Any Shinto\nelement which they may contain is quite inappreciable. Their sermons,\nof which a good number have been printed, are in the colloquial\ndialect. They are very entertaining and, despite an occasional bit of\nindecency, not unedifying.\n\n=Tenriky\u00f4=,[345] or the \"teaching of the Heavenly Reason,\" is a\nmodern sect. The founder was a woman named Omiki, who was born in\nthe province of Yamato in 1798, and died in 1887. Her religion\nowes much to the Shingaku and Ry\u014dbu doctrines. While professing to\nworship Kunitokotachi, Izanagi, Izanami, and seven other Shinto\ndeities, practically Izanagi and Izanami are her only Gods. The\nformer (identified with the sun) is taken to represent the male, and\nthe latter the female principle, corresponding in nature to Heaven\nand Earth, and in human society to husband and wife. These Gods are\nspiritual beings, chiefly revealed in the heart of man, and are endowed\nwith personal attributes. Tenriky\u00f4 has high moral aims, and has made\nrapid progress. In 1894 there were claimed for it 10,000 priests and\npreachers, and 1,400,000 adherents.\n\n=Remmonky\u00f4=.[346]--The name of this sect implies that, like the\nspotless lotus-flower, which has its roots in the mud, it attains to\npurity in the midst of a wicked world. It is stated to have originated\nwith a certain Yanagita Ichibeimon, but its real founder was his\ndisciple, a woman named Shimamura Mitsuko, who was still alive and\npreaching in 1901.\n\nThe Remmonky\u00f4 professes to be a reformed Shinto, but in reality it\nowes little to this source beyond the names of the Gods Ame no minaka\nnushi, Taka-musubi, and Kami-musubi, who are termed the three Creator\nDeities. They are considered, however, to be only manifestations of\nthe Ji no My\u00f4h\u00f4, or \"Wonderful Law of Things,\" and the real God of the\nsect is the personified My\u00f4h\u00f4 (wonderful law) a conception borrowed\nfrom the Buddhist Nichiren sect. The followers of Shimamura call her an\n_ikigami_ (live God), and regard her as identical with the My\u00f4h\u00f4. How\noften in Japanese religious history do we meet with this idea of the\nincarnation of the God in his priest or prophet!\n\nThe _shintai,_ or material representative of the My\u00f4h\u00f4, is a slip of\npaper bearing the words \"Ji no My\u00f4h\u00f4,\" written by the founder herself.\nIt is sold as a charm against disease and danger. Faith-healing is a\npractice of this sect, as it is of the Tenriky\u00f4. Their moral code is of\nthe ordinary Confucian type.\n\nThe last-named two sects are not likely to play an important part in\nreligious history. The founders of both were ignorant women, and their\ndoctrines are a mere jumble of conflicting ideas borrowed from various\nsources, and inspired by no great central thought. We may, perhaps,\ncompare their position in Japan to that of the Salvation Army or the\nPlymouth Brethren in this country.\n\n=Official Shinto=.--The official cult of the present day is\nsubstantially the \"Pure Shinto\" of Moto\u00f6ri and Hirata. But it has\nlittle vitality. A rudimentary religion of this kind is quite\ninadequate for the spiritual sustenance of a nation which in these\nlatter days has raised itself to so high a pitch of enlightenment and\ncivilization. No doubt some religious enthusiasm is excited by the\ngreat festivals of Ise, Idzumo, and a few other shrines, and by the\nannual pilgrimages--which, however, have other _raisons d'\u00eatre_. The\nreverence paid to the Mikado is not devoid of a religious quality which\nhas its source in Shinto. But the main stream of Japanese piety has cut\nout for itself new channels. It has turned to Buddhism, which, at the\ntime of the Restoration in a languishing state, is now showing signs of\nrenewed life and activity. Another and still more formidable rival has\nappeared, to whose progress, daily increasing in momentum, what limit\nshall be prescribed?\n\nAs a national religion, Shinto is almost extinct. But it will long\ncontinue to survive in folk-lore and custom, and in that lively\nsensibility to the divine in its simpler and more material aspects\nwhich characterizes the people of Japan.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[331] For an account of Japanese Buddhism, consult Murray's 'Japan,' or\nthe more comprehensive description in Griffis's 'Religions of Japan.'\n\n[332] See above, p. 175.\n\n[333] The novelist Bakin, who cannot be charged with priestcraft, says:\n\"Shinto reverences the way of the Sun; the Chinese philosophers honour\nHeaven; the teaching of Shaka fails not to make the Sun a deity. Among\ndifferences of doctrine the fundamental principle is the same.\"\n\n[334] In the old Shinto, Ne no kuni, or Hades, is not a place of\npunishment for the wicked. Here it stands for the Jigoku, or Hell, of\nthe Buddhists.\n\n[335] That is, Nature--a Chinese idea.\n\n[336] This is Chinese.\n\n[337] A Buddhist designation.\n\n[338] And therefore unclean.\n\n[339] See above, p. 179.\n\n[340] As Sugahara himself was.\n\n[341] See above, p. 155.\n\n[342] See above, p. 177.\n\n[343] Alluding to the inner and outer shrines of Ise.\n\n[344] For a full account of the Revival of Pure Shinto, see Sir E.\nSatow's papers contributed to the _T. A. S. J._ in 1875. Our knowledge\nof Shinto dates from this time.\n\n[345] An interesting account of this sect is given in a paper by Dr.\nGreene in the _T. A. S. J._, December, 1895.\n\n[346] See papers by Dr. Greene and Rev. A. Lloyd in the _T. A. S. J._,\n1901.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n_N.B.--Where there are several references the most important is placed\nfirst._\n\n\n A\n\n Ablution, 259, 83, 171\n See Lustration, misogi.\n Abstinence, 271, 273. See Imi.\n Abstractions, Gods of, 62, 169, 186\n Abstractions, few in Japanese, 35\n Accession announced to Gods, 324\n Acupuncture, 334\n Adoption, 45\n Adultery, 91, 244, 246\n Adzuki. See Bean.\n Adzusa bow, 206, 335\n Agamono, 261, 306. See Ransom.\n Agnostic, 13, 78\n Ahidono, 227\n Agriculture in Shinto, Preface, 86, 102, 121, 164, 172\n Ahiname or Ahimbe, 278\n Ainus, 160, 193, 252\n Akitsu Kami, 41\n Aliases of deities, 22\n Allen, Grant, 36\n Altar, 217, 218, 227. See Kamidana.\n Altro intende, 77\n Amagatsu, 263\n Ama no hohi, 110, 258, 274\n Ama no sagume, 109\n Amaterasu, 125\n Ame (heaven), 96, 142\n Ame no hashidate, 95\n Ame no hiwashi, 136\n Ame no kagase wo, 142\n Ame no minaka nushi, 69, 85, 142, 375\n Ame yudzuru, 85\n Ame waka hiko, 108\n Amulet, 258. See Talisman.\n Ancestor-worship, 44, 36, 95, 116, 177, 279, 374\n Ancestor and ancestress of the Mikado, 271, 296\n Animals, 63\n Animal sacrifices, 212, 213\n Animal food, offerings of, 196, 205, impure, 253\n Anthropomorphism, 17\n Ara-mitama, 31, 33, Addenda. See Nigitama.\n Ascetic, 203\n Ashinadzuchi, 103\n Aso, Mount, God of, 147\n Asuha no Kami, 146\n Atago, 159, 365, 369. See Fire-God.\n Augury, 344\n August Grandchild. See Sovran Grandchild.\n Augustine, St., Addenda, 198\n Avatar, 361, 186\n Avoidance of uncleanness. See Imi.\n Axe, sacred, 289\n\n B\n Baelz, Dr., 358\n Bakemono (ghost), 49\n Bakin, 328, 362\n Baldness unclean, 253\n Bargain with Gods, 212. See also Do ut des.\n Bash\u00f4, 48\n Batchelor, 295\n Be (Government corporation), 112, 183\n Bean, 190, 165, 193, 309, 312, 313, 342\n Beneficent character of Gods, 6, 15, 129\n Bestiality, 300\n Bewitchment, 300\n Birushana, 361\n Biso, 48\n Black animals offered for rain, 287\n Blessing of the Palace, 287\n Blood, 213\n Bosatsu, 178, 325, 368\n Bow as offering, 314\n Bow as a stringed musical instrument, 238\n Bow in magic, 335, 206, 356. See Hama yumi, Adzusa yumi.\n Bowing, 209\n Breath put for life, 51\n Breathing on, 261-63\n Brewer-maiden, 269 _et seqq_.\n Bridge-divination, 341\n Brinkley, Capt., 326\n Brinton, Mr. D. G., 83, 139\n Browning's 'Saul,' 39\n Bubbles as a charm against fire, 333\n Buckley, Dr., 137, 149, 198\n Buddhism, 4, 354, 359, 364, 353, 178, 182, 183, 199, 212, 253, 254, 255, 304\n Bun-shin, 21\n Burial, 55-61, Addenda\n Burnt-offerings, 213, 210\n\n C\n Caird, Dr. E., 46\n Calamities causing uncleanness, 255\n Caldron-divination, 343\n Carriage of God, 222\n Caterpillar worshipped, 70\n Ceremonial, 268\n Chamberlain, Mr. B. H., 2, 24, 232, 305, 326, 344, 357\n Chaos, 84\n Charm, 114, 189, 337. See Magic, Talisman.\n Chiburi no Kami, 197, 315\n Chieftain conception of Gods, 19\n Chimata no Kami, 188\n Childbirth as a source of uncleanness, 251\n Chinese philosophy, 92, 169, 234, 244, 264, 305, 323, 339, 342, 372\n Chinese religion, 1\n Chinese traits in myth, 92, 115\n Chinjiu, 65, 326, 364\n Chinkonsai, 294\n Chi no wa, 264-6\n Chronology, 116\n Church and State, 200, 274\n Circumambulation, 240, 90, 157, 312, 321\n Civilization of ancient Japanese, Preface.\n Clapping hands, 209, 320\n Classes, Gods of, 15, 34\n Classes, deified classes of men, 61\n Classification of Gods, 15\n Clay, God of, 92, 146, 316\n Cleyera japonica, 98, 215, 216, 269, 293\n Clothing, offerings of, 213, 237. See Yufu, 270, 287\n Cock, 100\n Communion, 120, 161, 211\n Comte, 62, 63, 142\n Conception of deity, phases of, 16\n Consanguineous unions, 250\n Confucius, 21, cult of, 182, 361\n Cooking furnace, 279, 16, 17, 280, 322, 329.\n See also Kamado and Hettsui.\n Corn Maiden, 102\n Coronation, 268\n Cosmogony, 144. See Creation.\n Council of Gods, 98, 124\n Couvade, 251\n Creation, various conceptions of, 84, 87, 89, 144, 170\n Creation of mankind, 82, 171, 174\n Creator-Gods, 27, 85, 351, 376. See also Izanagi, Ohonamochi, Musubi.\n Cremation, 364\n Criminal law, 245\n Crossways, deity of, 111, 188, 197. See also Sahe no Kami.\n \" , sanctity of, 197\n \" , divination, 340\n Curses, 236, 112, 181\n Cyclops, 101\n Czar deified, Addenda.\n\n D\n Daidai, 313\n Daig\u016bji, 204\n Daijowe, 268\n Daikoku-bashira, 90, 167\n D'Alviella, Preface, 11, 165\n Dances, sacred, 100, 321. See also Kagura.\n Dante, 18, 76\n Darwin, 261\n Deasil, 90. See also Circumambulation.\n Dead, state of, 53, 55. See Yomi.\n \" , worship of, 208\n Death, 51, 94, 252\n Definition of God, 7, 10\n De Harlez, 38\n Deification, 36, 10, 119\n Deified men, 9, 177, 179\n Deluge, 82\n Demon, 6, 308. See also Oni.\n \" , pacts with, 333\n \" , and diseases identical, 168, 187, 198\n Derivations in myth, 117\n Devil. See Demon, Oni.\n Diseases. See Smallpox, Leprosy, Pestilence.\n \" personified, 198\n \" unclean, 252\n Divination, 337, 119, 249, 269, 323, God of, 184\n Divine country, 126, 127\n Divine right of Mikado, 82, 111, 289, 297, 293, 314\n Diviner. See Urabe.\n Divorce, 94\n Dog-deity, 332\n Dolmen, 55, 178\n Dondo, 191, 198, 307, 314\n D\u014ds\u014djin, 191, 193, 197\n Double, 52, 140. See also Mitama.\n Double current of deity-making thought, 10, 185\n Do ut des, 212, 234, 285\n Dragon, 9, 114, 149, 151. See Serpent.\n Dragon-king, 115, 149, 153\n Drama, 238\n Drama and narrative, 83\n Dreams, 345, 346, 322, 118, 331\n Dual divinity, 140, 171. See also Aramitama.\n Duplication of offerings and ceremonies, 269, 273\n Dwarf-God, 107, 186\n\n E\n Earth-fast stones, 147, 260\n Earth-Gods, 142, 283\n Earthquakes, 65, 82, 126, 147, 326\n Eating the God, 160, 102\n Ebisu, 133\n Echo personified, 9, 167\n Effigy in witchcraft, 331\n Eh\u0113, 314\n Eight, 90, 103\n Eight Gods of Ohonihe, 270, of Jingikwan, 162, 174, 227, 282\n Eighty road-windings, 111\n Elements, Gods of, 92\n Emado, 222, 226\n Emotional basis of religion, 5\n Epidemics, 187\n Esoteric Shinto, 356\n Eternal Land, 98, 117\n Ethics. See Morals.\n Euhemerism, 134, 136\n Even pass of Yomi, 53, 93, 95, 107\n Evergreen trees, 313\n Everlasting world, 52, 70\n Evil deities, 6, 9, 139, 314. See Aratama.\n Exogamy. See Incest.\n Exorcism, 93\n Expiation. See Purification, Ransom.\n Expulsion of winter, 312\n\n F\n Fatherhood of Gods, 6, 19, 173\n Festivals. See Ceremonial.\n Fetish, 122, 15, 63, 73, 142\n Figures of men as ransom objects, 262, 263\n Fillet, 215\n Fine for purification, 100, 246\n Fine weather, magic producing, 330\n Finger-charms, 354, 362\n Fire, worship of, 159, 315, 92, 156, 184.\n See also Nihabi, Kagutsuchi, Futsunushi, Homusubi.\n Fire, respect for, 329\n Fire, purity of, 257, 254, 369\n Fire-drill, 257, 273\n Fire-ordeal, 112, 113\n Firmament, 96\n First fruits. See Nihiname.\n First Gods, 85\n Fissiparous reproduction of deities, 21\n Flag of Japan, 39\n Flaying alive, 297\n Flesh-eating unclean, 253\n Floating bridge of Heaven, 87\n Florenz, Dr., 3, 65, 263, 294, 296, 297, 300, 303\n Folk-lore, 4\n Food-Goddess, 160, 19, 119, 102, 321\n Food-offerings, 212\n Foot-ball God, 199\n Foreign demons, measures against, 188\n Formula in magic, 336\n Fox attendant of Inari, 63, 163\n Fox divination, 344, 358\n Frazer, Mr. J. G., Preface, 99, 163, 166, 188, 269, 270, 309\n Fruit-trees ceremony, 165\n Fujihara family, 184, 320\n Fujiyama deified, 17, 148, 156, 371\n Fukusuke, 48\n Funado, 94, 187. See Kunado.\n Functions of Gods, 65\n Funerals, unclean, 252\n Funeral observances, 109, 55, 96, 43, 59, Addenda. See Burial.\n Furnace. See Kitchen furnace.\n Futami no ura, 130, 131\n Futodama, 184, 30, 98, 100, 202\n Futsu no mitama, 118, 155. See also Futsunushi.\n Futsunushi, 155, 1, 34, 92, 109, 317, 275\n Future life, Preface, 235. See also Yomi; Dead, state of\n\n G\n Garlic, power against demons, 336\n Gate-Gods, 168, 282, 308\n Gateway, honorary. See Toriwi.\n Genealogy, 120\n Generative power personified, 186\n Gender neglected in Japanese Grammar, 22\n Geomancy, 344\n Ghost, 14, 49, 53, 171, 181, 208, 210\n Gideon's fleece, 345\n Gion, ceremonies at, 258\n Godzu Tenn\u014d, 137, 139\n Gohei, 216, 264, 304, 354. See Kushi.\n Gohei-katsugi, 217\n Good-luck, Gods of, 199\n Gori\u014dye, 31, 88, 141, 189\n Gourd deified, 316\n Gowland, Mr. W., 55, 57\n Grain-Gods. See Ukemochi and Inari.\n Grain, worship of, 160\n Grass and herbs, God of. See Kaya nu hime.\n Gratitude a source of religion, 5, 183, 210, 268, 269, 285\n Great purification. See Ohoharahi.\n Greater Divination, 339\n Greene, Dr., 375\n Griffis, Dr., 127, 194, 198, 260, 331, 359\n Growth deified, 86. See Musubi\n Gruel-Divination, 341\n Guide-Gods, 197\n Gy\u014dgi, 361\n\n H\n Hachiman, 178, 19, 42, 325\n Hach\u014dji (eight princes), 97\n Hades. See Yomi.\n Hafuri, 204. See Oho-hafuri\n Hafuri-tsu-mono, 205\n Haiden (oratory), 226\n Haigi or Hahiki no kami, 146, 282\n Hair and nails in witchcraft, 332\n Haiten (deification), 41\n Haku, 202\n Hamayumi, 314, 335\n Haniwa (clay rings), 57\n Haniyasu hime, 146\n Harahi (purification), mythic origin, 96;\n also 264, 303, 317, 365\n Harahi-bako, 304, 343\n Harahi-tsu-mono, 263, 203, 301, 302\n Harahi-tsu-tachi, 306\n Hare and Ohonamochi, 105\n Harp divination, 342\n Hartland, Mr. S., 50, 97\n Harvest Gods, 164\n Harvest festival. See Nihi-name.\n Harvest, praying for. See Toshi-gohi.\n Hashira (pillar), 71\n Hatsu no hinode, 128\n Hayato (Imperial Guards), 115\n Haya-aki-tsu-hime, 302\n Haya-sasura-hime, 302\n Haya-tama no wo, 260\n Hearn, Lafcadio, 44, 145\n Heaven. See Ame, Ten, Tien.\n Heaven-and-Earth, 35, 370, 371\n Height equivalent to excellence, 8\n Hell, Buddhist, 367, 181, 182\n Hemp, offerings of, 213, 264\n Hereditary offices, 183\n Hettsui. See Kitchen furnace.\n Hiko and hime, 20, 38, 132\n Himachi, 128\n Himorogi, 223, 226, 304, 260\n Hirano festival, 279\n Hirata, 373, 4, 22, 25, 168, 235\n Hirose, 321\n Hiruko, 90, 91, 132\n Hirume, 116, 125. See Sun-Goddess.\n Hito-bashira, 219\n Hito-dama, 50\n Hito-gata, human figures offered to Gods, 219\n Hito-koto-nushi, 41\n Hitomaro, 48, 183\n Hobby-horses, 222\n H\u014dben, 360\n Hogmanay, 312\n Hohodemi, 113\n Hokora, 223\n Holly, 313\n Homer, 215; purification in, 295\n Homusubi, 93, 159. See Fire-God.\n Horses as offerings, 310, 322\n House-Gods, 167, 287, 290. See Yabune.\n House-cleaning, 313\n Ho-shidzume, 315. See Fire.\n Huacas of Peru, 9\n Human sacrifice, 56, 151, 152, 219, 220\n Hyaku-do-ishi, 232\n Hypnotism, 354, 349\n\n I\n Ichiko, 206, 357\n Ichi no miya, 144\n Idea of God, 6\n Idols, 71-3, 22\n Idzumo, 108, 105, 103\n Idzumo Fudoki, 3\n Iha-naga-hime, 112\n Ihashimidzu, 178. See Hachiman.\n Ikadzuchi, 157, 155\n Iki (breath, life), 51\n Ikigami (living deity), 44\n Iki mitama (living soul), 52\n Ikudama, 143\n Ikukuni, 143\n Iku-wi, 154\n Imagination, 18, 22, 24, 21, 23, 77\n Imbe, 202, 112, 1, 98, 184\n Imi, 256, 202, 246, 271, 273\n Imi-bashira, 167\n Imi-dono, 205\n Imitative magic, 101, 153, 330, 99\n Immortality, 13, 14\n Impersonal habit of Japanese mind, 67\n Impetuous male, 141. See Suma no wo.\n Implements worshipped, 73\n Impurity. See Uncleanness.\n In and Y\u014d. See Yin and Yang.\n Inada hime, 138\n Inao, 193\n Inari, 162, 6, 34, 63, 67, 355\n Inauspicious words, 255\n Incantations, 329, 336\n Incarnation of the God in his prophet or priest, 376, 70, 177\n Incense, 213, 292, 354\n Incest, 300, 64, 91\n Individuals, Gods of, 15\n Individual men deified, 36, 177\n Infinite, 73\n Inspiration, 348, 98. See Oracle.\n Inugami, 332\n Invocation. See Kami-oroshi.\n Iron fish-hooks, 115\n Ishi-kori-dome, 184\n Ishigami, 341\n Ise shrines, 229, festival on removal of, 287\n Iyeyasu, 183\n Izanagi and Izanami, 86, 171, 69, 96\n\n J\n Jevons, 24, 90\n Jewels as offerings, 218\n Jewel-makers, 185, 290\n Jewel-spear of Heaven, 87\n Ji-chin-sai, 143\n Jigoku, 54, 367\n Ji-matsuri, 143\n Jimmu Tenno, 116, 115\n Jingikwan, 200, 202, 162, 184\n Ji no my\u014dh\u014d, 376\n Jiz\u014d, 189, 191\n Junshi (self-sacrifice at tomb), 59\n\n K\n Kadomatsu, 191\n Kadori, 92, 115\n Kaempfer, 36, 41\n Kagami-mochi, 313\n Kagase-wo, 71, 142\n Kage-zen, 52\n Kagura, 227, 238, 101, 184\n Kagutsuchi, 92, 159\n Kaji-so-sha, 48\n Kamado no Kami. See Kitchen furnace.\n Kama-naobi, 290\n Kami, 7-10\n Kami-agari, 340\n Kami-dana, 217, 231, 305\n Kami-gi, 165\n Kami-na-dzuki, 145\n Kami-oroshi, 342, 217, 304, 340\n Kamu-be, 207\n Kamu-image, 279\n Kamu-musubi, 173, 174\n Kamu-miso no matsuri, 287\n Kamunoko, 206\n Kamurogi and Kamuromi, 173, 275, 289, 296\n Kaname-ishi, 147, 260\n Kangakari, 349\n Kan-name, 278\n Kannushi, 204\n Kappa, 153\n Kasedori, 331\n Kashihade, 209\n Kashikodokoro, 291\n Kashima, 92, 155, 157, 370\n Kasuga no matsuri, 317\n Kataribe, 2, 273\n Katashiro, 263\n Kaya nu hime, 166\n Kedzurikake, 191, 192\n Kega (wound or uncleanness), 253\n Kidzuki, 145\n King-post, 90\n Kiri-bi (sacred fire), 257\n Kiri-nusa, 296\n Kitano, 182\n Kitsune-tsukahi, 344\n Kitchen furnace, God of, 159, 16, 17, 73, 146, 272, 280, 322, 329\n See Haniyasu.\n Kiu (festival for rain), 286\n Kiujiki, 3\n Kneeling, 209\n K\u014db\u014ddaishi, 361\n Kodama (echo), 9, 67\n Kogoshiui, 3\n Kojiki, 2, 84\n Kojikiden, 373\n Komagata, 222, 67\n Kompira, 230\n Konohana Sakuyahime, 112\n Ko-nusa, 343\n Korea, 1, 102, 156, 305\n Koto-shiro-nushi, 185, 111\n Kowameshi, 194\n Koyane, 183, 20, 46, 100, 101, 201, 317, 339\n Kteis, 186, 194, 197, 334\n Kugedachi, 348\n Kuhabara, 337\n Kuji. See Lots.\n Kukunochi, 166, 167, 290. See Tree-God.\n Kumaso, 64\n Kunado, 187, 189, 33, 40, 94, 110, 306, 341. See Phallic deities.\n Kunari no kami, 144\n Kunidama, 143, 144\n Kunitokotachi, 175, 85, 68, 362, 375\n Kusanagi (name of sword), 104\n Kushi, 216, 297\n Kushi-iha-mado, 168, 308\n Kushinada hime, 103\n Kuyebiko, 71\n\n L\n Lang, Mr. A., 61, 108\n Language, myth arising from perversion of, 132\n Laotze, 38, 361\n Laughing festival, 6\n Law, 242, 243, 245\n Leanness unclean, 253\n Learning, God of. See Temmangu.\n Leech-child. See Hiruko.\n Left and right, precedence of, 129\n Legend and myth, 116\n Lemuria, 309\n Leprosy, 252, 300, 332\n Lite, God of, 174. See Breath.\n Light and darkness myth, 101\n Literal-minds, 18, 24, 50, 51, 80, 81\n Liturgy, 100. See Norito.\n Live bow, 107\n Lloyd, Rev. A., 375\n Lots, 343\n Lowell, Mr. P., 24, 354\n Luck, 309. See Tsuina.\n Luck, Gods of, 95\n Luck-wishing, 287\n Lupercalia, 190\n Lustration, 96, 259, 294, 295\n Lying stigmatized, 242\n\n M\n Mabuchi, 373\n Mayeza. See Medium.\n Magic, 327, 99, 144, 187, 196, 255, 300, 357\n Maine, Sir H., 24\n Majinahi. See Magic.\n Make-believe, 12, 223\n Male who invites, 171\n Mamori. See Charms.\n Maneki-neko, 48\n Man-deities, 36, chap. viii.\n Many\u014dshiu, a collection of ancient poetry, 9, 17\n Mari no Kami, 199\n Marriage, 66, 90, 91, 137, 140, 248, 249. See Nuptial hut, Wedlock.\n Masaya a katsu, 97\n Massha, 227\n Material souls, 50, 51, 52\n Materialized feelings, 332, 333\n Materials for study of Shinto, 1-4\n Medicine, 144, 327\n Medicine men, 203\n Medium, 354, 355, 356. See Ichiko, Miko.\n Menstruation, 251, 340\n Meredith, Mr. Geo., 80\n Metal, God of, 92\n Metamorphosis, 49, 64\n Metaphor, 16-18, 38, 76\n Michiahe, 306, 187, 188\n Michi no Omi, 119\n Midzuchi, 150\n Mikado deified, 9, 38\n \" divine right of, 82, 293\n \" prayer to, 235, 324\n \" as high priest, 201, 292\n Mikado matsuri, 308\n Mikage, 51\n Miko, 206, 101, 357\n Mikoshi, 222, 225\n Mikoto, 20, 85\n Mimi, 30\n Minagata, 43, 177\n Mioya, 19\n Miraculous births, 97\n Mirror, 218, 31, 72, 134, 291\n Mirror-makers, 184\n Misasagi, 42, 43\n Misogi, 260, 271, 298\n Mitama (spirit), 26-31, 8, 9, 49, 188, 197, 293, 294\n Mitama furishiki, 292\n \" shidzumura no matsuri, 292\n \" shiro, 32. See Shintai.\n Mitegura (offerings), 158, 211\n Mitoshi no Kami, 196, 253\n Miwa, 145. See Ohonamochi.\n Miya, 200, 223. See Shrine.\n Miyakko, 205, 206\n Modern Shinto, 376\n Mono-imi, 206, 318, 340\n Monotheism, 66, 68, 69, 70, 125, 170, 171, 349\n Moon-God, 65, 95, 102, 138. See Tsukiyomi, Tsuki-machi.\n Moral code, 241, 129, 367, 374\n Mortuary house, 109\n Mosaic law, 122, 215, 248, 251, 252, 302\n Motion and sensation, 11\n Moto\u00f6ri, 373, 4, 21, 24, 25\n Mountain-Gods, 147, 92, 284, 289\n Mourning. See Funeral.\n Muir, Dr. J., 94\n M\u00fcller, Max, 16, 25\n Multiplication of Gods, 67\n Mushroom, 189, 312\n Music, 56, 93, 238, 270, 273, 292, 321\n Musubi, 172, 20, 21, 35, 69, 102, 275\n Mystery, 31, 32\n Myth, 75, 17, 2, 16\n \" and legend, 116\n \" and ritual, 83\n Mythical narrative, 84\n\n N\n Nademono, 220\n Naishidokoro, 291, 43, 135\n Nakatomi, 201, 1, 21, 46, 112, 183\n Nakatsutsu no wo, 20-22. See Sea-Gods.\n Nakatsu-wata-dzumi, 148. See Sea-Gods.\n Nakaza, 354\n Nakisahame, 92, 199\n Nanakusa, 277, 344\n Naru Kami, 9. See Thunder.\n Nature deities, 121\n Nature-Gods and Man-Gods, 15\n Need-fire, 259\n Needles worshipped, 73\n Negi (priest), 205\n Ne no kuni (root-country). See Yomi.\n Nether Land, 104. See Yomi.\n New Year in modern Japan, 312\n Nichirin (the sun), 127\n Nigi-hayahi, 120, 128\n Nigi-tama, 31, 33, 140, 145, 275\n Nihabi, 99, 101, 277\n Nihiname (festival of first-fruits), 277, 109, 119, 124, 161, 268, 269\n Nihongi, 2, 84, 169\n Ninigi, 108, 111, 112, 116, 185\n No dance, 238\n Nomi no Sukune, 48, 57, 183\n Norito, chap. xii. _passim_, 3, 42, 98, 99, 126, 232, 235, 270, 274, 322\n North the honourable quarter, 56\n North star, 142\n Number neglected in Japanese grammar, 16, 21, 121, 168, 169\n Number of Gods, 66, 98\n Numerals, magical use of, 99, 336\n Nuptial hut, 90, 104, 137, 248\n Nusa, 216, 218, 318. See Offerings, Kirinusa, Ohonusa.\n Nusa-bukuro, 197\n Nushi, 20\n\n O\n Oaths, 236\n Obeisance, 209, 284, 320\n 'Occult Japan,' 354\n Offences, 297\n Offerings, 210, 98, 193, 280\n \" deified, 119, 161, 212\n \" to dead, 60, 211\n \" consumed by worshippers, 321. See Communion.\n Offerings, symbolical, 211, 276\n Oharahi, 305\n Oho-hafuri, 205, 177\n Oho-harahi, 294, 4, 242, 245, 246, 270\n Oho-harahi offerings, 301\n Oho-kuni-dama. See Ohonamochi.\n Oho-kuni-nushi. See Ohonamochi.\n Oho-miya no me, 184, 287, 290\n Oho-mono-nushi, 111\n Oho-naobi, 290\n Ohonamochi, 144, 105, 110, 27-30, 46, 69, 200, 274\n Oho-nihe, 268, 364\n Oho-nusa, 213\n Oho-sora, 96\n Oho-toko-nushi, 144, 196, 253. See Ohonamochi.\n Oho-tono hogahi, 287\n Oho-toshi, 105\n \u014cjin deified, 178. See Hachiman.\n Omens, 119, 126, 325, 345\n Omnipresence of Deity, 27\n Omohi-kane, 199, 98\n Oni (demon), 198\n Oni-yarahi, 189. See Tsuina.\n Onogorojima, 89\n Ony\u014dshi, 365\n Oracles, 367, 178, 350, 361. See Inspiration.\n Ordeal, 347\n O tento sama (sun), 127, 175\n\n P\n P'anku, myth of, 129\n Pantheon, 121\n Pairs of deities, 86\n Parturition house, 113, 112, 114, 251, 345\n Patron deity, 326\n Peach, 189, 9, 93, 308\n Penitence, 260\n Perseus and Andromeda, 103-105, 50, 151\n Personality of deities, 22\n Personification, 5\n Personal pronouns rare in Japanese, 23\n Pestilence deities, 187\n Pestle, a male symbol, 189\n Pfleiderer, Dr., Preface, 11, 76, 84\n Phallicism, 186, 72, 363.\n See Bean, Chiburi no kami, Chimata do kami, D\u014ds\u014djin, Gori\u014dye,\n Ishigami, Kunado, Kteis, Kedzurikake, Mushroom, Peach, Pestle,\n Rice, Sahe no kami, Sarutahiko, Shingi, Tamaboko, Tamuke no kami,\n Tsuji-ura, Yachimata hiko, Yakushin, Wo-bashira.\n Pheasant as messenger of Gods, 108\n Pictures of Gods, 71\n Piebald colt of Heaven, 97, 98\n Pilgrimage, 239\n Pillar of Heaven, 95, 154\n \" of House, 89, 90\n Pious fraud, 360\n Plain of High Heaven, 98, 107, 134\n Poverty, Gods of. See Hitomaro, Soto\u00f6ri hime.\n Polar star, 85\n Polytheism, 66\n Positive and negative. See Yin and Yang.\n Possession, 340, 357\n Potsticks, striking women with, to produce pregnancy, 190\n Posthumous honours, 53\n Poverty, God of, 199\n Pradakchina. See Circumambulation.\n Praise, 234, 306\n Prayer, 232, 162. See Norito.\n Prehistoric Shinto, 1\n Priesthood, 200\n Priestess, 205\n Primitive man, 77, 12, 18, 26, 80, 345\n Primitive religion, 13, 26, 121, 160, 166, 211\n Primitive religion, Shinto not a, Preface\n Privy, God of, 167, 289, 314\n Processions, 240, 317\n Procreative power deified. See Phallicism.\n Prophet, 348, 350\n Propitiation of evil deities, 305, 315\n Prophylactic magic, 187\n Providential character of nature Gods, 65, 125, 156, 162\n Properties, Gods of, 15\n Profanity, 237\n Pseudo-ancestor worship, 46\n Pure Shinto, 4, 372\n Purification, 189\n Purity, 247, 343\n \" of heart, 264, 368, 369, 371\n \" of language, 271, 255\n\n Q\n Qualities, Gods of, 15, 34, 62\n\n R\n Races, 321\n Rain, praying for, 43, 151, 152, 180, 286\n Rainbow, 87. See Taikobashi.\n Rain-Gods, 153\n Rain-storm. See Susa no wo.\n Ransom offerings, 262, 220. Se Agamono, Katashiro, Nademono, Scape-goat.\n Rank conferred on Gods, 237, 323, 324\n Rationalism, 92, 375\n Real presence, 217, 27, 72\n Red colour, 194, 56, 163, 165\n Regalia, 135, 202, 273, 289, 291, 353, 363\n Relic, Buddhist, 361\n Religion, nature and origin of, 5, 13\n Remmonky\u014d, 375\n Repentance, 102\n R\u00e9ville, Preface, 268\n Revival of Pure Shinto, 4, 372\n Rice-God. See Inari.\n Rice in magic and ritual, 189, 288, 289, 334, 341\n Risley, Mr. H., 73\n Ritual, 1, 3, 268\n River of Heaven (milky way), 97, 98, 100, 110\n River-Gods, 115, 150. See Water, Rain.\n River-weed deified, 316\n Road-Gods. See Sahe no Kami.\n Rock-boat of Heaven, 95, 117,\n Rock-cave of Heaven, 97, 101\n Rokkon sh\u014dj\u014d, 239, 304, 355\n Rudimentary character of Shinto, Preface, 242\n Ry\u00f4bu, 360, 373\n\n S\n Sacred. See Imi.\n Sacred and Secular, 200\n Sacred tree, 165, 215. See Cleyera.\n Sacrifice, 118. See Human sacrifice, Offerings.\n Sagich\u00f4, 191, 307, 314\n Sagume, 109\n Sahe no Kami, 186, 14, 31, 165, 306, 314, 331\n Sai-in, 280\n Sai no Kami, 191, 195. See also Sahe no Kami.\n Saishu, 204\n Saiw\u014d 205, 352\n Sakaki. See Cleyera.\n Sakamakura, 272, 279\n Sakatsuko, 269\n Sake (rice-beer) not prohibited, 254, 272, 273, 320\n Sake God, 162, 227, 273\n Salt, 196, 260, 354\n Sammai. See Rice.\n Saniha, 350\n Sann\u00f4, 145. See Ohonamochi.\n Sarume, 99, 101, 112, 184\n Saruta-hiko, 111, 197, 363\n Satow, Sir E., 3, 257, 268, 280, 305, 317\n Scape-goat, 302. See Ransom.\n Scare-crow God, 71, 142\n Scarf in magic, 334\n Scotus Erigena, 121\n Sea, direct worship of, 9\n Sea-Gods, 20, 92, 95, 114, 148, 315, 323.\n See Uhatsutsu no wo, Toyotama hiko, Sumiyoshi, Suitengu.\n Sea, old man of, 113\n Sects of Shinto, Chap. xiv.\n Secular and sacred little distinguished in early times, 200\n Sensation in inanimate nature, 11\n Seoritsu hime, 302\n Serpent-worship, 63, 64, 257. See Dragon.\n Serpent, eight-headed, 103\n Seven generations of Gods, 85\n Sex of Gods, 19, 132, 133\n Sexual uncleanness, 248\n Shadow. See Mikage.\n Shaking in magic, 335\n Shakuj\u014d, 354\n Shangti, 1, 305\n Shekinah, 26, 27\n Shiho-tsuchi, 150\n Shimenaha, 335, 164, 195, 313\n Shimp\u00f4, 218\n Shinatsu tohe, 20\n Shinatsu hiko, 154. See Wind-Gods.\n Shingaku, 374\n Shingi, 193\n Shingonjiki, 279\n Shintai, 70, 32, 34, 123, 146, 163, 193, 212, 222, 305, 330, 376\n Shintaku (inspiration), 350\n Shitateru hime, 108, 109\n Sh\u014djiroku, 3, 175\n Shoulder-blade, divination by, 203, 339\n Sh\u014dtoku Taishi, 244, 359\n Shrine, 223, 366\n Shrines of Ise, 226, 228\n Silk, 213\n Simpson's 'Praying Wheel,' 90\n Sin, 102\n Siva, 173\n Skins, offerings of, 217, 307\n Slaves, 207, 221\n Small-pox, 163, 194\n Smith-God, 99, 101\n Smith, Robertson, 211\n Sokotsutsu no wo, 20, 22\n Sokotsu wata-dzumi, 148\n Sono no Kami, 145\n Sori-bashi. See Taiko-bashi.\n Sorceress. See Uzume, Miko, Ichiko.\n Soto\u00f6ri hime, 183\n Soul, 26, 27, 374. See Mitama.\n Soul and body, 34\n Soul, Chinese views of, 52\n Sovran Grandchild, 111-13, 127, 289, 296, 306\n Speal, reading the, 339\n Spear as emblem of authority, 89, 111, 144, 278\n Spencer, Herbert, 8, 10, 23, 40, 50, 59, 89, 200, 211, 346\n Spherical souls, 49, 50\n Spirit, 48, 7. See Mitama, Soul.\n Spiritism, 25\n Spirituality of deities, 7, 171, 173\n Spitting, 114, 260\n Stars, 98\n Star-God, 142\n Stars, divination by, 344\n Stone as shintai, 71\n Substituted offerings, 211, 213, 216, 219, 221, 222, 240, 322\n Sugahara Michizane. See Temmangu.\n Suha, God of, 43, 177, 186\n Suhijini, 146\n Suitengu, 65\n Sukuna-bikona, 186, 107, 124, 145\n Sumera, 20\n Sumiyoshi, Gods of, 149\n Sun-Goddess, 121, 24, 46, 68, 95, 283, 372\n Sun-Goddess's attendants, 183\n \" address to Ninigi, 111\n \" unlucky to proceed against, 117\n Sun-Goddess, an avatar of Buddha, 361\n Sun-birds, 136\n Sun-crow. See Yatagarasu.\n Sun-children, 38, 40\n Sun-deities, sex of, 132, 133\n Sun-mirror. See Yatakagami.\n Sun-myth, 80\n Sun worship, 1, 41, 83, 99, 128. See Nichirin, O tento sama.\n Supernatural, 38\n Supreme Being, 69, 70, 123, 142, 171, 175, 180, 182, 305\n Surnames, 47\n Susa no wo, 136, 96, 1, 14, 19, 21, 95, 106\n Suseri hime, 106\n Susu-harahi, 313\n Suttee, 59\n Sword, 72, 118, 157, 219\n Symbol. See Shintai.\n Symbol in magic, 187, 333\n Sympathetic magic, 330\n\n T\n Tabi no miya (reposoir), 222\n Taboos, sexual, 250\n Taikobashi, 87, 232\n Taikyoku (great absolute), 175\n Taisha (great shrine of Idzumo), 66, 145, 353\n Tajikara no wo, 98, 199\n Takama no hara. See Plain of High Heaven.\n Taka-musubi, 108, 110, 116, 119, 173, 174, 275, 351, 375\n Take-mika-dzuchi, 155, 92, 109, 118, 317, 370. See Kashima.\n Take-minakata. See Suha.\n Talisman, 334, 114, 292\n Tama, 27, 88, 218. See Mitama.\n Tama-boko, 87\n Tama-dasuki, 45, 235\n Tama-gushi, 216\n Tamashi\u00ef (soul), 49\n Tamashiro, 45\n Tamuke no Kami, 197\n Tanabata, 142\n Ta no Kami, 143\n Tartar religions, 1\n Tatsuta, 322, 370. See Wind-God.\n Temmang\u016b, 179, 65, 153, 369\n Ten (Heaven), 362\n Tenriky\u00f4, 375\n Tenjin. See Temmang\u016b.\n Tenshi (Son of Heaven), 38\n Tensh\u014ddaijin, 14, 125. See Sun Goddess.\n Tentei, 180\n Teri-teri-b\u014dzu, 330\n Textile offerings, 213\n Theogony, 85 _et seqq_.\n Thunder, charm against, 337\n Thunders of Yomi, 187\n Thunder-God, 157, 9, 41\n Tien (Heaven), 21\n Tiger deified, 63\n \" teaches acupuncture, 335\n Toko yo no Kuni, 52, 54, 70. See Yomi.\n Tomb and shrine, 42, 43\n Toothache, cure of, 328, 329\n Tori-wi, 231, 233, 43, 128, 165, 309\n Tortoise-shell in divination, 339, 340\n Toshi-gohi festival, 280\n Toshi-otoko, 309, 313\n Toshi-toku-jin, 314\n Toso, 313\n Totemism, 64\n Toyo-iha-mado, 168, 308\n Toyo-tama, 185\n Toyo-tama-hiko, 113, 149\n Toyo-tama-hime, 114\n Trade-Gods, 48\n Trance, 351. See Hypnotism\n Tree-Gods, 164, 92, 290\n Tree, sacred, 332. See Kami-gi.\n Trinity of Fire-Gods, 160\n \" of Susa no wo, 139\n \" of Sea-Gods, 148\n \" Buddhist, 361\n Troup, Mr. J., Preface\n Tsuchi, 19\n Tsuchigumo, 334, 345\n Tsuina, 308, 190, 295\n Tsuji-ura, 340, 189\n Tsuki-machi, 142\n Tsukinami festival, 285\n Tsukiyomi, 141\n Tsumi (guilt), 247\n Tsutsu, 19\n Tuke, Mr. S., 232\n Tumuli, 55, 57, 157, See Misasagi.\n Turan, 232\n Tylor, Dr., Preface, 24, 82, 96, 257, 259, 333\n Types deified, 61, 62, 183\n\n U\n Ubusuna, 47, 337\n Ugly Females of Yomi, 93, 187\n Uhatsutsu-wata-dzumi, 149\n Uhatsutsu no wo, 20, 22\n Uhijini, 146\n Uji, 47\n Ujigami, 47, 65, 184, 231, 279, 314, 331\n Uka no mitama, 105\n Ukemochi, 160\n Umashi-ashi-hikoji, 86\n Unity of religions, 362\n Uncleanness, 248 _et seqq_.\n Urabe, 203, 269, 302\n Uranahi, 337\n Utsushi-mi, 31, 72\n Uzume, 184, 98, 99, 111, 134\n\n V\n Vairochana, 361\n Van Helmont, 332\n Vejovis, Addenda\n Volcano Gods, 147\n Volition ascribed to inanimate objects, 78\n\n W\n Waka-hirume, 128\n Waka-midzu, 313\n Wake (prince), 20\n Wani (sea-monster), 114, 149\n Wa Rongo, 353, 367\n War-God, 157. See Hachiman, Take-mika-dzuchi.\n Water deified, 119\n Water-Gods, 92, 104, 154, 284, 316, 321, 322\n Weapons as offerings, 218\n Wedlock, God of, 66\n Weeping Goddess. See Naki-sahame.\n Weipert, Dr., 245\n Well, 322, 257\n Well-God, 153, 227, 272, 282, 313, 322\n Well-worship, 16, 313\n Weston, Mr., 287, 344, 356\n Whirlwind deified, 155\n Whistling, 115, 330\n White an auspicious colour, 196, 222\n Will-of-the-wisp, 50\n Wind-Gods, 154, 20, 92, 322\n Wintry Influences, 312\n Witchcraft, 255, 331, 346\n Wo-bashira (male pillar), 190, 193, 72, 93\n Wolf deified, 9, 63\n Women rulers, 133\n Wool, offerings of; 215\n Wordsworth, 9\n Worship, 208, 37\n Wounds unclean, 252\n Wrestling, God of. See Nomi Sukune.\n Writing, introduction of, 1\n\n Y\n Yabune, 167, 287, 290\n Yachimata hiko, 187, 71, 306\n Yakami-hime, 105\n Yakushin, 187\n Yaku-sute, 309\n Yaku-toshi, 309\n Yamato-dake, 36, 49\n Yashiro, 223. See Shrine.\n Yatagarasu (sun-crow), 136, 118, 46\n Yatakagami, 134\n Yebisu, 48\n Yengishiki, 3, 268\n Yihking, 344, 363\n Yin and Yang, 35, 52, 84, 169, 313, 365\n Yomi (Hades), 53, 93, 96, 99, 106, 138, 302, 367.\n See Ne no kuni, Hades.\n Yo-ori ceremony, 263\n Yoridai, 355\n Yufu, 213, 215\n Yufu-kadzura, 320\n Yui-itsu, 362\n Yuki and suki, 269, 272\n Yu-niha (sacred enclosure), 272\n\n Z\n Zembla Bogh, Addenda.\n Zimmern's definition of magic, 327\n Z\u014dni, 313\n\nPRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD FRANCIS, BREAM'S BUILDINGS CHANCERY LANE, E.C.","title":"Shinto (the Way of the Gods)","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":119411}