,,religions ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,,shinto3 ,,the ,,ancient ,,religion ,,of ,,japan ,,religions3 ,,ancient ,,and ,,modern ,animism4 ,by ,,edward ,,clodd1 author of ,the ,story of ,creation4 ,pantheism4 ,by ,,james ,,allanson ,,picton1 author of ,the ,religion of the ,universe4 ,the ,religions of ,ancient ,china4 ,by ,professor ,,giles1 ,,ll4,d41 ,professor of ,chinese in the ,university of ,cambridge4 ,the ,religion of ,ancient ,greece4 ,by ,,jane ,,harrison1 ,lecturer at ,newnham ,college1 ,cambridge1 author of ,prolegomena to ,study of ,greek ,religion4 ,islam4 ,by the ,rt4 ,hon4 ,,ameer ,,ali ,,syed1 of the ,judicial ,committee of ,his ,majesty's ,privy ,council1 author of ,the ,spirit of ,islam and ,ethics of ,islam4 ,magic and ,fetishism4 ,by ,dr4 ,a4 ,c4 ,,haddon1 ,f4,r4,s41 ,lecturer on ,ethnology at ,cambridge ,university4 ,the ,religion of ,ancient ,egypt4 ,by ,professor ,w4 ,m4 ,,flinders ,,petrie1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,the ,religion of ,babylonia and ,assyria4 ,by ,,theophilus ,g4 ,,pinches1 late of the ,british ,museum4 ,early ,buddhism4 ,by ,professor ,,rhys ,,davids1 ,,ll4,d41 late ,secretary of ,the ,royal ,asiatic ,society4 ,hinduism4 ,by ,dr4 ,l4 ,d4 ,,barnett1 of the ,department of ,oriental ,printed ,books and ,,mss41 ,british ,museum4 ,scandinavian ,religion4 ,by ,,william ,a4 ,,craigie1 ,joint ,editor of the ,oxford ,english ,dictionary4 ,celtic ,religion4 ,by ,professor ,,anwyl1 ,professor of ,welsh at ,university ,college1 ,aberystwyth4 ,the ,mythology of ,ancient ,britain and ,ireland4 ,by ,,charles ,,squire1 author of ,the ,mythology of the ,british ,islands4 ,judaism4 ,by ,,israel ,,abrahams1 ,lecturer in ,talmudic ,literature in ,cambridge ,university1 author of ,jewish ,life in the ,middle ,ages4 ,the ,religion of ,ancient ,rome4 ,by ,,cyril ,,bailey1 ,m4,a4 ,shinto1 ,the ,ancient ,religion of ,japan4 ,by ,w4 ,g4 ,,aston1 ,c4,m4,g4 ,the ,religion of ,ancient ,mexico and ,peru4 ,by ,,lewis ,,spence1 ,m4,a4 ,early ,christianity4 ,by ,s4 ,b4 ,,black1 ,professor at ,mc,gill ,university4 ,the ,psychological ,origin and ,nature of ,religion4 ,by ,professor ,j4 ,h4 ,,leuba4 ,the ,religion of ,ancient ,palestine4 ,by ,,stanley ,a4 ,,cook4 ,mithraism4 ,by ,w4 ,j4 ,,phythian-,,adams4 ,,philosophies ,early ,greek ,philosophy4 ,by ,a4 ,w4 ,,benn1 author of ,the ,philosophy of ,greece1 ,rationalism in the ,nineteenth ,century4 ,stoicism4 ,by ,professor ,,st4 ,,george ,,stock1 author of ,deductive ,logic1 editor of the ,apology of ,plato1 etc4 ,plato4 ,by ,professor ,a4 ,e4 ,,taylor1 ,st ,andrews ,university1 author of ,the ,problem of ,conduct4 ,scholasticism4 ,by ,father ,,rickaby1 ,s4,j4 ,hobbes4 ,by ,professor ,a4 ,e4 ,,taylor4 ,locke4 ,by ,professor ,,alexander1 of ,owens ,college4 ,comte and ,mill4 ,by ,t4 ,,whittaker1 author of ,the ,neoplatonists ,apollonius of ,tyana and other ,essays4 ,herbert ,spencer4 ,by ,w4 ,h4 ,,hudson1 author of ,an ,introduction to ,spencer's ,philosophy4 ,schopenhauer4 ,by ,t4 ,,whittaker4 ,berkeley4 ,by ,professor ,,campbell ,,fraser1 ,d4,c4,l41 ,,ll4,d4 ,swedenborg4 ,by ,dr4 ,,sewall4 ,nietzsche3 ,his ,life and ,works4 ,by ,,anthony ,m4 ,,ludovici4 ,bergson4 ,by ,,joseph ,,solomon4 ,rationalism4 ,by ,j4 ,m4 ,,robertson4 ,pragmatism4 ,by ,d4 ,l4 ,,murray4 ,rudolf ,eucken4 ,by ,w4 ,,tudor-,,jones4 ,epicurus4 ,by ,professor ,a4 ,e4 ,,taylor4 ,william ,james4 ,by ,,howard ,v4 ,,knox4 ,,shinto ,,the ,,ancient ,,religion ,,of ,,japan ,by ,w4 ,g4 ,,aston ,c4,m4,g4 ,d4,,lit4 ,,london ,,constable ,,company ,,ltd #aj ,,and #ab ,,orange ,,street ,,leicester ,,square ,w4,c4#b #aiba ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4 ,,introductory1 #a ,,ii4 ,,general ,,character ,,of ,,shinto1 #e ,,iii4 ,,myth1 #ah ,,iv4 ,,the ,,gods1 #ce ,v4 ,,the ,,priesthood1 #ee ,,vi4 ,,worship1 #eh ,,vii4 ,,morality ,,and ,,purity1 #fd ,,viii4 ,,divination ,,and ,,inspiration1 #ge ,,ix4 ,,later ,,history1 #gh ,,selected ,,works ,,bearing ,,on ,,shinto1 #hb ,,shinto3 ,,the ,,ancient ,,religion ,,of ,,japan ,,chapter ,i ,,introductory ,origins4--,the ,japanese are in the main a continental race4 ,their language and physical characteristics show conclusively that they come from ,northern ,asia1 and geographical considerations indicate that ,korea must have been their point of embarkation4 ,indeed a desultory emigration from ,korea to ,japan continued into historical times4 ,when we say ,northern ,asia we exclude ,china4 ,the racial affinity of the ,japanese to the ,chinese1 of which we hear so often1 really amounts to very little4 ,it is not closer than that which unites the most distantly related members of the ,indo-,european family of nations4 ,the ,japanese themselves have no traditions of their origin1 and it is now impossible to say what form of religion was professed by the earliest immigrants4 ,no inference can be drawn from the circumstance that ,sun-worship is common to them with many ,north-,asiatic races4 ,the ,sun is1 or has been1 worshipped almost everywhere4 ,there is distinct evidence of a ,korean element in ,shinto1 but1 with the little that we know of the old native religion of that country1 anything like a complete comparison is impossible4 ,some have recognised a resemblance between ,shinto and the old state religion of ,china1 and it is true that both consist largely of ,nature-worship4 ,but the two cults differ widely4 ,the ,japanese do not recognise ,tien 7,heaven71 the chief ,nature-deity of the ,chinese1 nor have they anything to correspond to their ,shangti--a more personal ruler of the universe4 ,the ,sun is masculine in ,china1 feminine in ,japan4 ,the ,sun-goddess takes precedence of the ,earth-god in ,japan1 while in ,china ,heaven and ,earth rank above the ,sun and ,moon4 ,some ,chinese traits are to be found in the old ,shinto documents1 but they are of later origin1 and are readily distinguishable from the native element4 ,a few similarities exist between ,shinto and the religion of the ,ainus of ,yezo1 a savage race which once occupied the main island of ,japan4 ,but it is reasonable to suppose that in this case the less civilised nation has borrowed from its more civilised neighbour and conqueror rather than vice versa4 ,it is significant that the ,ainu words for ,god1 prayer1 and offering1 are taken from the ,japanese4 ,if the ,malay or ,polynesian element1 which some have recognised in the ,japanese race1 has any existence1 it has left no trace in religion4 ,such coincidences as may be noted between ,shinto and oceanic religions1 myths and practices are attributable to the like action of common causes rather than to inter-communication4 ,the old ,shinto owes little to any outside source4 ,it is1 on the whole1 an independent development of ,japanese thought4 ,sources of ,information4--,the ,japanese had no writing until the introduction of ,chinese learning from ,korea early in the fifth century of our era1 and the first books which have come down to us date from the beginning of the eighth4 ,one of these1 called the ,kojiki 7#gab7 is said to have been taken down from the lips of a man whose memory was well stored with the old myths and traditions of his country4 ,he was perhaps one of the guild of #8reciters1' whose business it was to recite #8ancient words' at the ceremony which corresponds to our coronation4 ,the ,kojiki is a repertory of the old myths and legends1 and1 in the latter part1 of the ancient history of ,japan4 ,the ,nihongi1 a work of similar scope1 though based more on an existing written literature1 was produced a few years later 7#gbj74 ,it quotes numerous variants of the religious myths current at this time4 ,there are voluminous and most learned commentaries on these two works written by ,motori and ,hirata in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries4 ,for the ritual of ,shinto our chief source of information is the ,yengishiki1 a compilation made early in the tenth century4 ,it contains1 along with minute directions regarding offerings1 ceremonies1 etc41 a series of the norito 7litanies7 used in ,shinto worship which are of the highest interest1 and of great1 though unequal1 antiquity4 ,the above-mentioned authorities give a tolerably complete account of the old state religion of ,japan1 sometimes called #8,pure ,shinto1' in order to distinguish it from the ,buddhicised cult of later times4 ,its palmy days may be taken to extend from the seventh to the twelfth century4 ,shinto1 literally #8,the ,way of the ,gods1' is a ,chinese word1 for which the ,japanese equivalent is ,kami no michi4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,general ,,character ,,of ,,shinto ,kami is the ordinary ,japanese word for ,god4 ,it means primarily above1 superior1 and is applied to many other things besides deities1 such as nobles1 the authorities1 the #8missus1' the hair of the head1 the upper waters of a river1 the part of ,japan near ,kito1 etc4 ,height is in every country associated with excellence and divinity1 no doubt because the first deities were the ,sun and other ,heavenly objects4 ,we ourselves speak of the #8,most ,high' and use phrases like #8,good ,heavens' which testify to a personification of the sky by our forefathers4 ,but though ,kami corresponds in a general way to #8,god1' it has some important limitations4 ,the ,kami are high1 swift1 good1 rich1 living1 but not infinite1 omnipotent1 or omniscient4 ,most of them had a father and mother1 and of some the death is recorded4 ,motori1 the great ,shinto theologian1 writing in the latter part of the eighteenth century1 says3-- #8,the term ,kami is applied in the first place to the various deities of ,heaven and ,earth who are mentioned in the ancient records as well as to their spirits 7mi-tama7 which reside in the shrines where they are worshipped4 ,moreover1 not only human beings1 but birds1 beasts1 plants and trees1 seas and mountains1 and all other things whatsoever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the extraordinary and pre-eminent powers which they possess1 are called ,kami4 ,they need not be eminent for surpassing nobleness1 goodness1 or serviceableness alone4 ,malignant and uncanny beings are also called ,kami if only they are the objects of general dread4 ,among ,kami who are human beings ,i need hardly mention first of all the successive ,mikados--with reverence be it spoken4444 ,then there have been numerous examples of divine human beings both in ancient and modern times1 who1 although not accepted by the nation generally1 are treated as gods1 each of his several dignity1 in a single province1 village1 or family4444 ,amongst ,kami who are not human beings1 ,i need hardly mention ,thunder in ,japanese ,naru ,kami or the ,sounding ,god4 ,there are also the ,dragon1 the ,echo called in ,japanese ,ko-dama or the ,tree ,spirit and the ,fox1 who are ,kami by reason of their uncanny and fearful natures4 ,the term ,kami is applied in the ,nihongi and ,manyshiu to the tiger and the wolf4 ,izanagi gave to the fruit of the peach1 and to the jewels round his neck names which implied that they were ,kami4444 ,there are many cases of seas and mountains being called ,kami4 ,it is not their spirits which are meant4 ,the word was applied directly to the seas or mountains themselves as being very awful things4' ,the ,kami-,beneficent4--,the saying of the old ,roman poet that #8,fear first made the ,gods' does not hold good of ,shinto4 ,it is rather1 as ,schiller called the worship of the gods of ,greece1 a ,wonnedienst1 a religion inspired by love and gratitude more than by fear4 ,the three greatest gods1 viz4 the ,sun-goddess1 the ,food-goddess1 and ,ohonamochi 7a god of ,earth1 the universal provider71 are all beneficent beings1 though they may send a curse when offended by the neglect of their worship or an insult to their shrines4 ,their worshippers come before them with gladness1 addressing them as fathers1 parents1 or dear divine ancestors1 and their festivals are occasions of rejoicing4 ,but there are some malevolent or mischievous deities who have to be propitiated by offerings4 ,the ,fire-god1 as is natural in a country where the houses are built of wood and great conflagrations are frequent1 is one of these1 and1 in a lesser degree1 the ,thunder-god and the deity of the ,rain-storm4 ,the latter has1 however1 good points4 ,he provides trees for the use of humanity1 and rescues a maiden from being devoured by a great serpent4 ,lafcadio ,hearn's view that ,shinto was at one time a religion of #8perpetual fear' is unsupported by evidence4 ,classes of ,kami4--,although the ,kami are deficient in several of the attributes of the ,christian ,god1 they possess two essential qualities without which it would be impossible to recognise them as deities at all1 viz41 sentiency and superhuman power4 ,the union of these ideas may be accomplished in two ways1 first by attributing sense and will to the great elemental objects and phenomena1 and secondly by applying to human and other living beings ideas of transcendent power derived from the contemplation of the mighty forces on whose operation we are daily and hourly dependent for our existence4 ,we have therefore two classes of deities1 ,nature-gods and ,man-gods1 the first being the result of personification1 the second of deification4 ,it has been the generally received opinion that the ,shinto gods belong to the latter rather than to the former of these two categories4 ,nine out of ten educated ,japanese will declare with perfect sincerity that ,shinto is ancestor-worship4 ,thus ,mr4 ,daigoro ,goh1 a former secretary of the ,japan ,society1 says3--#8,shinto or ancestor-worship being the creed of the ancient inhabitants4' ,the same view is held by some ,european scholars1 notably the late ,lafcadio ,hearn1 whose interesting and valuable work1 ,japan1 an ,interpretation1 is greatly marred by this misconception4 ,it is quite true that there is a large element of ancestor worship in modern ,japanese religious practices1 but a very little examination shows that all the great deities of the older ,shinto are not ,man1 but ,nature gods4 ,prominent among them we find the deities of the ,sun1 the ,moon1 the ,earth1 the ,sea1 the ,rain-storm1 ,fire1 ,thunder1 etc4 ,and when the so-called ancestors of the ,japanese race are not actually ,nature-gods1 they are usually the satellites or children of ,nature-gods4 ,in imitation of the ,mikados who selected the ,sun-goddess as their ancestral deity1 the hereditary corporations or clans by whom in ancient times the ,government of ,japan1 central and local1 was carried on1 chose for themselves1 or perhaps invented1 nature-deities1 or their children or ministers1 as their patron-gods1 to whom special worship was paid4 ,from this to a belief in their descent from him as an ancestor1 the transition was easy4 ,the same process has been observed in other countries4 ,it was assisted by the habit of addressing the deity as father or parent1 which1 at first a metaphorical expression1 came ultimately to be understood in a more literal sense4 ,these pseudo-ancestral deities were called ,ujigami1 that is to say #8surname-deities4' ,in later times the ,ujigami ceased to be the patron-gods of particular families and became simply the local deities of the district where one was born4 ,children are presented to the ,ujigami shortly after birth1 and other important events1 such as a change of residence1 are announced to him4 ,a deity of any class may become an ,ujigami1 and there have been cases of a ,buddha attaining to this position4 ,the cult of one's real forefathers1 beginning with deceased parents1 as in ,china1 was hardly known in ancient ,japan4 ,indeed there is but little trace of any religious worship of individual men in the ,shinto of the ,kojiki and ,nihongi4 ,living ,mikados were styled ,kami1 and spoken of as the #8,heavenly ,grandchild' of the ,sun-goddess4 ,but their godship was more titular than real4 ,it was much on a par with that of the ,pope and ,emperor who in the ,middle ,ages were called #8,deus in terris4' ,no miraculous powers were claimed for them beyond a vague general authority over the minor gods of ,japan4 ,deceased ,mikados were occasionally worshipped by their descendants1 but whether there was anything in this so-called worship to distinguish it from the ordinary funeral or commemorative services there is nothing to show4 ,they had no shrines1 and no rituals in their honour are preserved in the ,yengishiki collection4 ,at a later period1 the cult of deceased ,mikados acquired a more definite character4 ,they were prayed to for rain1 to stay curses1 to restore the ,mikado's health1 etc4 ,they had shrines erected to them1 the offerings at which were assimilated to those made to ,nature-deities4 ,the ,mikado jin1 if we may believe an oracle delivered by himself1 became an important ,war-god under the name of ,hachiman4 ,the ,empress ,jing1 the legendary conqueror of ,korea1 also received divine honours4 ,at the present day1 solemn services are held periodically in the ,imperial ,palace for the worship of all the dynasty4 ,both categories of deities1 ,man and ,nature gods1 have three subdivisions according as they are deities of individuals1 of classes1 or of qualities4 ,all these are exemplified in ,shinto4 ,the ,sun-goddess represents an individual object2 ,kukuchi1 the god of ,trees1 a class2 and ,musubi1 the god of ,growth1 an abstract quality4 ,temmangu is a deified individual statesman1 ,koyane represents the ,nakatomi clan or family1 and ,ta-jikara no wo 7hand-strength-male7 is a personified human quality4 ,development of the ,idea of ,god4--,the ,nature-gods of ,shinto1 as of other religions1 are in the first place the actual material objects or phenomena regarded as living beings4 ,sometimes the personification proceeds no further4 ,there are ,mud and ,sand deities which have no sex1 and no mythical record beyond a bare mention4 ,but in the case of others the same progressive humanising process that is to be observed elsewhere has already begun4 ,the ,sun is not only the brilliant heavenly being whose retirement to a cave leaves the world to darkness1 she is a queen1 a child1 and a mother--in a miraculous fashion4 ,she speaks1 weaves1 wears armour1 sows seed1 and does many other things which have nothing to do with her solar quality4 ,at a still more recent stage--though not in the old records--she becomes an independent personage who rules the ,sun1 while with many worshippers at the present day her solar character is forgotten altogether1 and she is considered merely as a great divine ancestor who dwells at ,ise and exercises a providential guardianship over ,japan4 ,this line of development is familiar to us in other mythologies1 the two stages of thought being often confounded4 ,in ,shakespeare's ,tempest1 ,iris is at once the rainbow and an anthropomorphic messenger of the gods4 ,phoebus is not only the sun but a deity distinct from that luminary1 though associated with it1 as in the story of ,phaeton4 ,as the god of music and poetry1 his solar function is not obvious4 ,the same is true of the gods of the ,vedas4 ,impersonality of ,shinto4--,the faculty of imagination was not powerful with the ancient ,japanese4 ,it was active1 and produced many deities of all classes4 ,but they are very feebly characterised4 ,indeed1 most of them may be said to have no characters at all4 ,they are popularly reckoned at eighty myriads1 or eight hundred myriads4 ,though this is a fanciful exaggeration1 ,shinto is a highly polytheistic religion1 and numbers its deities by hundreds1 even if we do not go back to that earlier period when the rocks1 the trees1 and the foam of water had all power of speech4 ,there is a constant depletion in their ranks by the mere force of oblivion1 while1 on the other hand1 new deities come into notice4 ,different gods are identified with one another1 or the same deities may be split up like ,musubi into a pair1 or a number of distinct persons4 ,the same deity at different places may have different ranks and attributes4 ,spiritism4--,the gods of ancient ,shinto are1 on the whole1 as unspiritual beings as the gods of ,olympus4 ,their doings are modelled on those of living men and women1 not on those of ghosts4 ,when ,izanagi followed his wife ,izanami to the land of the dead he found there not a spirit1 but a putrefying corpse4 ,ghosts are as absent from the ,kojiki and ,nihongi as they are from the ,old ,testament ,scriptures4 ,herbert ,spencer's ghost-theory of the origin of religion derives no support from the ,japanese evidence4 ,there is1 however1 a spiritual element in ,shinto which demands notice4 ,some of the gods are represented as having mitama 7august jewels or souls7 which reside invisibly in their temples and are the means of communication between ,heaven and this world4 ,the ,earth or ,kosmos deity ,ohonamochi had a mitama 7double7 which appeared to him in a divine radiance illuminating the sea1 and obtained from him a promise that1 in consideration of the assistance the latter had rendered in reducing the world to order1 he should have a shrine consecrated to him at ,mimoro4 ,susa no wo's mitama was #8settled' at ,susa in ,idzumo4 ,the element tama 7soul7 enters into the names of several deities4 ,this implies a more or less spiritual conception of their nature4 ,sometimes we hear of two mitama1 one of a gentle1 the other of a violent nature4 ,there are only one or two cases of deceased men having mitama4 ,in one of these the mitama takes the shape of a bird4 ,metamorphoses are frequently mentioned in the old legends4 ,shekinah4--,as in the analogous case of the ,shekinah of ,judaism1 the doctrine of the mitama of gods apparently does not arise from that of the separability of the human soul and body4 ,it seems rather to have been invented in order to smooth over the difficulty of conceiving how the gods of ,heaven can exercise their power and hear and answer prayer in their shrines on earth4 ,it may1 however1 owe something to the notion of separate human souls1 which1 though we do not find it in the older ,japanese records1 is familiar to races of a much lower degree of civilisation4 ,immortality of the ,soul4--,this doctrine is nowhere directly taught in the ,shinto books4 ,there is a land of ,yomi to which we are told that some of the gods retired at death4 ,it is represented as inhabited by various personifications of death and disease1 but not by human beings or their ghosts1 though the phrase #8even pass of ,yomi1' like the facilis descensus ,averni1 seems intended to express the facility with which all we mortal men find our way thither4 ,in one passage of the ,nihongi1 ,yomi is clearly no more than a metaphor for the grave4 ,a brother of ,jimmu ,tenno1 the first ,mikado1 is said to have gone to the #8,eternal ,land' at his death1 and in a poem of the ,manyshiu1 a deceased ,mikado is said to have ascended into heaven4 ,the prehistoric custom of sacrificing wives and attendants at the tombs of dead sovereigns may be thought to imply a belief in their continued existence4 ,but there are other motives for this practice than the wish to gratify the deceased by providing him with companions in the other world4 ,the norito or rituals contain no reference to the immortality of the soul4 ,shintai4--,the mitama is represented in the shrine by a concrete object termed the ,shintai or #8,god-body4' ,it may be a mirror1 a sword1 a tablet with the god's name1 a pillow1 a spear1 etc4 ,a round stone1 which is cheap and durable1 is a very common ,shintai4 ,the god is sometimes represented as attaching himself to the ,shintai1 and may be even considered identical with it by the ignorant4 ,the mitama and shintai are frequently confounded4 ,the latter was in many cases originally an offering which1 by long association1 came ultimately to be looked upon as partaking in some measure of the divine nature4 ,idols4--,with a few unimportant exceptions1 ,shinto has no idols4 ,the ,shintai is not in the least anthropomorphic4 ,the pictures of the gods sold at shrines at the present day are due to ,chinese or ,buddhist influence4 ,functions of ,gods4--,the two great classes of deities1 ,nature-gods and ,man-gods1 have a tendency mutually to encroach on each other's functions1 so that ultimately they become assimilated under the one general term ,kami4 ,as we have seen above1 the ,sun-goddess does not confine herself to her function as a giver of light and heat1 but does many things characteristic of a magnified human being4 ,susa no wo1 the ,rain-storm1 provides mankind with useful trees4 ,he and his wife are regarded as gods of wedlock4 ,inari1 the ,grain-god1 is a comprehensive answerer of prayer from a petition for a good harvest to one for the restoration of stolen property4 ,on the other hand1 a genuine deified man like ,temmangu may send rain in time of drought4 ,an obscure deity1 known as ,suitengu1 is worshipped in ,tokio at the present day as a protector against the perils of the sea1 burglary1 and the pains of parturition4 ,almost any ,kami1 whatever his origin1 may send rain1 bestow prosperity in trade1 avert sickness1 cure sickness or sterility1 and so on1 without much discrimination of function4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,myth ,character of ,japanese ,myth4--,japanese myth covers much the same ground as the myths of other countries4 ,we have the explanatory myth1 invented in order to account for some custom or rite1 some natural phenomenon1 a name of a place or person1 etc4 ,there is an abundance of highly frivolous1 revolting1 childish1 and unmeaning--to us at least--matter1 and the various versions of the stories which have come down to us are often wholly inconsistent with one another4 ,from the sketch of the mythical narrative which is given below1 many details of this description have necessarily been omitted4 ,there are1 however1 two leading ideas by which ,japanese myth is redeemed from summary condemnation as a mere farrago of childish nonsense4 ,in the first place1 it is permeated by the conception of the so-called inanimate universe as being in reality instinct with sentient life4 ,the old ,shintoists had not grasped the more general and philosophic notion of the ,immanence of ,deity in all things4 ,with their limited scientific knowledge this was impossible4 ,but they had the same idea in a more desultory1 fragmentary way4 ,to them1 the ,sun1 the ,wind1 the ,sea1 were ,kami who could hear and answer prayer1 and exercise a providential care over mankind4 ,but the synthesis of these and other aspects of nature and humanity into one divine whole is necessarily wanting4 ,the second idea which inspires ,japanese myth corresponds to our ,european notion of the divine right of kings1 which1 apart from the accident of heredity1 is not such a negligible quantity as is sometimes supposed4 ,the ,mikados are represented as deriving their authority1 whether as high-priests or sovereigns1 from their ancestor1 the ,sun-goddess1 and have1 therefore1 a divinely ordered right to the reverence and obedience of their subjects4 ,there is no summer and winter myth in the old records1 no deluge myth1 and no eclipse myth4 ,the stars are strangely neglected4 ,earthquakes are hardly noticed4 ,there is no ,returning ,saviour myth1 and no ,journey of the ,dead1 though the expressions #8,even ,pass of ,hades' and ,yaso-kumade 7eighty-road-windings1 an alternative word for the land of ,darkness7 suggest that this idea was not unknown4 ,the creation of mankind generally is not accounted for2 but the origin of many of the ruling caste is ascribed to direct descent from the principal divinities1 just as the ,mikado is said to be descended from the ,sun-goddess4 ,first ,gods4--,four different first gods are mentioned by the various authorities4 ,none of these ever attained to much importance4 ,they were no doubt collected or invented with the purpose of eking out a genealogical tree for the greater divinities who came afterwards4 ,one of these1 called ,ame yudzuru hi ame no sagiri ,kuni yudzuru tsuki ,kuni no sagiri1 is described as the ,heavenly ,parent4 ,but we know nothing more about him or her--the sex is doubtful--and it is impossible to regard this interminable title as the name of a real god1 any more than we can think that ,shakespeare's honorificabilitudinitatibus was ever meant for a genuine word4 ,the derivation1 however1 shows that this1 like the other first gods1 was intended as a nature-deity4 ,the four generations which follow consist of obscure personages1 all of whom disappear at once from the record4 ,their names1 too1 are suggestive of nature1 and more especially agriculture-deities4 ,in the sixth generation we find two deities1 named ,kami-musubi and ,taka-musubi1 i4e4 ,high-growth and ,divine-growth1 who were of some importance in later times4 ,izanagi and ,izanami4--,with these two deities ,japanese myth really begins4 ,the ,nihongi tells us that-- #8,izanagi and ,izanami stood on the floating bridge of ,heaven 7the rainbow7 and held counsel together1 saying 8,is there not a country beneath80 ,thereupon they thrust down the 8,jewel-,spear of ,heaven10 and groping about with it1 found the ocean4 ,the brine which dripped from the point of the spear coagulated and formed an island which received the name of ,onogoro-jima or the 8,self-,coagulating ,island40 ,the two deities thereupon descended and dwelt there4 ,accordingly they wished to be united as husband and wife1 and to produce countries4 ,so they made ,onogoro-jima the pillar of the centre of the land4' ,the ,kojiki says that ,izanagi and ,izanami were commanded by all the heavenly deities #8to regulate and fully consolidate' the floating land beneath4 ,but all the accounts1 the ,kojiki included1 proceed to represent the islands of ,japan as having been generated by them in the ordinary manner4 ,we have therefore three distinct conceptions of creation in ,japanese myth--first1 as generation in the most literal sense2 second1 as reducing to order2 and third1 as growth 7,musubi74 #8,the two deities having descended on ,onogoro-jima erected there an eight-fathom house with an august central pillar4 ,then ,izanagi addressed ,izanami1 saying1 8,let me and thee go round the heavenly august pillar1 and having met at the other side1 let us become united in wedlock40 ,this being agreed to1 he said1 8,do thou go round from the left1 and ,i will go round from the right40 ,when they had gone round1 ,izanami spoke first and exclaimed1 8,how delightful6 ,i have met a lovely youth40 ,izanagi then said1 8,how delightful6 ,i have met a lovely maiden40 ,afterwards he said1 8,it was unlucky for the woman to speak first40 ,the child which was the first offspring of their union was the ,hiruko 7leech-child71 which at the age of three was still unable to stand upright1 and was therefore placed in a reed-boat and sent adrift4' ,izanagi and ,izanami then procreated the islands of ,japan with a number of other gods1 among whom were ,iha-tsuchi-biko 7rock-earth-prince71 ,oho-ya-biko 7great-house-prince71 the ,wind-gods1 a variety of marine deities1 ,ame no ,mikumari 7the heavenly water distributor71 the god of ,moors 7who is also the god of ,herbs and ,grasses71 the god of ,trees1 the gods of ,mountains and ,valleys1 and the goddess of ,food4 ,the last deity to be produced was the god of ,fire1 ,kagu-tsuchi1 also called ,ho-musubi 7,fire-growth74 ,in giving birth to him1 ,izanami was burnt so that she sickened and lay down4 ,from her vomit1 fces1 and urine were born deities which personify the elements of metal1 water1 and clay4 ,when ,izanami died1 ,izanagi1 in his grief and rage1 drew his sword and slew ,kagu-tsuchi1 thereby generating a number of other deities1 two of whom1 named ,take-mika-tsuchi and ,futsunushi1 were favourite objects of worship in later times4 ,the creation of the ,sun and ,moon is variously accounted for4 ,some say that they were the children of ,izanagi and ,izanami1 others that they were born from the lustrations of ,izanagi when he returned from ,yomi4 ,a third child1 ,susa no wo1 the boisterous and unruly ,rain-storm god1 was produced at the same time4 ,when ,izanami died she went to the ,land of ,yomi1 whither she was followed by her husband4 ,but as she had already eaten of the food of that region1 he could not bring her back with him4 ,she forbade him to look on her1 but he persisted and saw that she was already a putrid corpse4 ,izanami then complained that he had put her to shame1 and caused him to be pursued by the ,ugly ,females of ,hades and other personifications of corruption and disease who dwelt there4 ,she herself had become ,death personified4 ,izanagi1 in his flight1 flung down various objects which delayed his pursuers--a well-known incident of myth--until he reached the ,even ,pass of ,hades1 where he pronounced the formula of divorce4 ,when ,izanagi returned to earth he bathed in the sea in order to remove the pollution incurred by his visit to ,yomi1 and in so doing produced a number of deities1 some of whom are ,ocean-gods and others associated with the ancient ,japanese ceremonies of religious purification4 ,susa no wo and the ,sun-,goddess4--,susa no wo 7the ,rain-storm god7 was at first appointed to rule the ,sea1 but he preferred to join his mother1 ,izanami1 in ,hades1 and was accordingly despatched thither by his father4 ,before taking his departure1 however1 he ascended to heaven to take leave of his elder sister ,amaterasu1 the ,sun-goddess4 ,all the mountains and rivers shook1 and every land and country quaked as he passed upwards4 ,amaterasu1 in alarm1 armed herself as a warrior with sword and bow1 stamped her feet into the hard ground up to her thighs1 kicking away the earth like rotten snow1 and1 confronting him like a valiant man1 challenged him to declare the reason of his coming4 ,susa no wo protested that it was only a friendly visit1 and as a proof of his good intentions proposed that they should produce children between them by each one crunching in his mouth and spurting out fragments of the sword and jewels worn by the other4 ,one of the children thus born was called ,masaya a katsu kachi hayahi ama no oshihomimi1 the forefather of the present ,imperial dynasty4 ,there were seven others who figure largely in the genealogies of the ,japanese nobility4 ,but the true nature of the ,rain-storm god was not long repressed4 ,he destroyed his sister's rice-fields1 defiled the sacred hall where she was celebrating the harvest festival1 and flung a piebald colt that had been flayed backwards into the sacred weaving-room where the garments of the gods were woven4 ,the ,sun-goddess had borne his previous outrages with calmness and forbearance1 but this last 7a malicious magical practice87 was beyond endurance4 ,she retired in disgust and shut herself up in the ,rock-cave of ,heaven1 leaving the world to darkness4 ,this proceeding of ,amaterasu was followed by dire results4 #8,the voices of the evil deities were like unto the flies in the fifth moon as they swarmed1 and a myriad portents of woe arose4' ,the gods1 in consternation1 held an assembly in the dry bed of the ,river of ,heaven 7the ,milky ,way7 to devise means for inducing her to emerge from the cave1 and a number of expedients were adopted which were evidently borrowed from the ritual of the time when the myth became current4 ,the deities who were specially concerned with this duty are obvious counterparts of the actual officials of the ,mikado's ,court1 and included a prayer-reciter1 an offering-provider1 a mirror-maker1 a jewel-maker1 a diviner1 with--according to some accounts--many others4 ,all this is most convenient for the genealogists of later times4 ,amaterasu at length reappeared1 to the great delight of everybody4 ,susa no wo was fined in a thousand tables of offerings and expelled from ,heaven4 ,before proceeding to ,yomi1 he went down to ,earth4 ,here he appears in a totally new character as the ,perseus of a ,japanese ,andromeda1 whom he rescues from a huge serpent1 having first intoxicated the monster4 ,of course they are married and have numerous children4 ,her name1 ,inada-hime 7rice-land-lady71 is probably not without significance as that of the wife of a ,rain-storm god4 ,another story represents him as the murderer of the ,food-goddess1 who had offended him by producing viands for his entertainment from various parts of her body4 ,but a different version ascribes this crime to the ,moon-god1 and gives it as the reason why the ,sun-goddess refused to have any further relations with him4 ,this1 of course1 explains why the two luminaries are not seen together4 ,here it may be pointed out that1 notwithstanding the anthropomorphic character of many of the above details it is evidently the sun itself which is concealed in the ,rock-cave4 ,modern ,euhemerists deny this4 ,but the evidence is far too strong to be disregarded4 ,her names1 ,amaterasu 7,heaven ,shining-one7 and ,hirume 7,sun-female71 are conclusive on this point4 ,the modern commentator ,motori agrees1 or rather maintains1 that ,amaterasu is the very sun which we see in heaven4 ,those ,japanese who in the twentieth century talk of the imperial visit to ,ise as ancestor-worship are sorely puzzled to justify their position4 ,imbued with the philosophy of ,china and the science of ,europe1 they naturally find it difficult to understand how the ,mikado can be really descended from the sun4 ,some resort to the ,euhemeristic theory that she was a mortal ,empress who lived in a place on earth called ,takanna no hara 7plain-of-high-heaven71 and speak of rice-culture and the art of weaving being known in her reign4 ,the myth of the ,sun-goddess and ,susa no wo is the central pivot on which the old mythology turns4 ,all that precedes may be regarded as a sort of genealogical introduction1 and the subsequent narrative as an epilogue designed to complete the connexion between the living ,mikados and their celestial ancestor4 ,ohonamochi4--,one of ,susa no wo's children was an ,earth-god named ,ohonamochi 7great-name-possessor71 who is at this day a very important deity4 ,the ,kojiki relates his adventures at great length4 ,he was badly treated by his eighty elder brothers1 but assisted by a hare to whom he had rendered service4 ,he went down to the land of ,yomi1 where he married the daughter of ,susa no wo4 ,susa no wo imposed tasks upon him which by his wife's assistance he performed successfully1 and ultimately made his escape1 taking her with him4 ,the ,yomi of this narrative has little that is characteristic of the abode of the ,dead4 ,ohonamochi is frequently referred to as the #8,god who made the land1' and his various names show that he is an ,earth-god4 ,he was assisted in reducing the country to order by his own mitama or double1 and by a dwarf-god called ,sukuna-bikona1 who came from beyond the sea and is credited with having instructed mankind in the arts of medicine and brewing4 ,ohonamochi had a numerous progeny by various mothers4 ,among them were the ,harvest-god and the ,food-goddess4 ,the ,kojiki gives a genealogy of them and their descendants1 most of whom are wholly unknown to us4 ,ninigi4--,meanwhile the ,sun-,goddess became desirous of establishing the rule of her own grandchild ,ninigi1 son of ,masaya a katsu1 in ,japan4 ,after several fruitless attempts to prepare the country for his reception by purging it of the swarms of evil deities which infested it1 two gods named ,take-mika-tsuchi 7,thunder87 and ,futsunushi 7,fire87 were sent to summon ,ohonamochi to yield over his authority4 ,after some demur he did so1 and ,ninigi was accordingly despatched to earth1 accompanied by a long train of attendants who provide further material for the genealogists4 ,they descended on a mountain in ,kiushiu4 ,here ,ninigi took to wife a ,mountain-god's daughter1 named ,konohana ,sakuya-hime 7the lady who blossoms like the flowers of the trees71 rejecting as too ugly her elder sister ,iha-naga-hime 7the rock-long-lady74 ,the latter1 indignant at this slight1 uttered a curse3--#8,the race of visible men shall change swiftly like the flowers of the trees1 and shall decay and pass away4' ,hence the shortness of human life4 ,by ,konohana ,ninigi had three children4 ,the eldest1 ,ho no ,susori1 became a fisherman1 the second son1 ,hohodemi1 a hunter4 ,ho no ,susori once proposed to his brother to exchange their respective callings4 ,hohodemi accordingly gave over to his elder brother his bow and arrows and received a fish-hook in return4 ,but neither of them profited by the exchange1 so ,ho no ,susori gave back to his brother the bow and arrows and demanded from him the fish-hook4 ,hohodemi1 however1 had in the meantime lost it in the sea4 ,he took his sword and forged from it a number of new fish-hooks which he piled up in a winnowing tray and offered to his brother by way of compensation4 ,but the latter would have none but his own1 and demanded it so vehemently of ,hohodemi as to grieve him bitterly4 ,hohodemi went down to the sea-shore and stood there lamenting1 when there appeared to him the ,old ,man of the ,sea1 by whose advice he descended into the sea-depths to the abode of the god of the ,sea1 a stately palace with lofty towers and battlements4 ,before the gate there was a well1 and over the well grew a thick-branching cassia tree into which ,hohodemi climbed4 ,the ,sea-god's daughter ,toyo-tama-hime 7rich-jewel-maiden7 then came out from the palace to draw water4 ,she saw ,hohodemi's face reflected in the well1 and returning within reported to her father that she had seen a beautiful youth in the tree which grew by the well4 ,hohodemi was courteously received by the ,sea-god1 ,toyo-tama-hiko 7rich-jewel-prince71 who1 when he heard his errand1 summoned before him all the fishes of the sea and made inquiry of them for the lost fish-hook1 which was eventually discovered in the mouth of the ,tai4 ,toyo-tama-hiko delivered it to ,hohodemi1 telling him when he gave it back to his brother to say1 #8a hook of poverty1 a hook of ruin1 a hook of downfall1' to spit twice1 and to hand it over with averted face4 ,hohodemi married the ,sea-god's daughter ,toyo-tama-hime and remained with her for three years4 ,he then became home-sick and returned to the upper world4 ,on the beach where he came to land1 he built for his wife1 who was soon to follow1 a parturition house which he thatched with cormorant's feathers4 ,the roofing was still unfinished when she arrived1 riding on a great tortoise4 ,she went straight into the hut1 begging her husband not to look at her4 ,but ,hohodemi's curiosity was too strong for him4 ,he peeped in and behold6 his wife had become changed into a wani 7sea-dragon7 eight fathoms long4 ,deeply indignant at the disgrace put upon her1 ,toyo-tama-hime abandoned her new-born child to the care of her sister1 and barring behind her the sea-path in such a way that from that day to this all communication between the realms of land and sea has been cut off1 returned hastily to her father's palace4 ,hohodemi's troubles with his elder brother were renewed on his arrival home4 ,he was obliged to use against him two talismans given him by his father-in-law4 ,one of these had the virtue of making the tide flow and submerge ,ho no ,susori and thus compel him to sue for mercy 7another account says that ,hohodemi whistled and thereby raised the wind and the sea74 ,then by a second talisman the tide was made to recede and ,ho no ,susori's life was spared4 ,he yielded complete submission to his younger brother and promised that he and his descendants to all generations would serve ,hohodemi and his successors as mimes and bondservants4 ,the ,nihongi adds that in that day it was still customary for the ,hayato 7or ,imperial guards71 who were descended from ,ho no ,susori1 to perform a mimic dance before the ,mikados1 the descendants and successors of ,hohodemi1 in which the drowning struggles of their ancestor were represented4 ,there are several features in this story which betray a recent origin and foreign influences4 ,a comparatively advanced civilisation is indicated by the sword and fish-hook forged of iron4 ,the institution of the ,hayato as ,imperial ,guards belongs to a period not very long antecedent to the date of the ,nihongi and ,kojiki4 ,the palace of the sea-depths and its ,dragon-king are of ,chinese1 and therefore of recent origin4 ,one of ,hohodemi's grandchildren was ,jimmu ,tenn1 who is usually reckoned the first human sovereign of ,japan4 ,he was the youngest of four brothers and his selection as heir shows that primogeniture1 though to some extent acknowledged in ,ancient ,japan1 was by no means the universal rule4 ,at the age of forty-five he started from ,kiushiu1 which had been the home of the ,imperial family since ,ninigi descended there1 on an expedition for the conquest of the central part of ,japan1 known as ,yamato4 ,this event is dated in ,b4,c4 #ffg1 #a1gib1 #dgj years after the descent of ,ninigi from heaven4 ,he finally succeeded in establishing his capital there in ,b4,c4 #ffj4 ,from this date ,japanese history is usually said to begin4 ,in reality there is no genuine history of ,japan for one thousand years more4 ,the chronology for all this period is a colossal fraud and there is abundant intrinsic evidence that the narrative itself is no better than legend when it is not absolute fiction4 ,there is1 however1 much to be learned from it of the beliefs and customs of the ancient ,japanese4 ,the descent of the ,imperial dynasty from a ,sea-god has been noted as an auspicious omen for the development of ,japan as a great naval power4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,the ,,gods ,,nature-,,gods ,,of ,,individuals ,,and ,,of ,,classes ,some of the principal gods have already been introduced in the preceding chapter4 ,let us now consider them separately1 according to the classification already indicated 7p4 #h74 ,it is often difficult to say whether a nature-god represents an individual object or phenomenon1 or a class4 ,this is chiefly owing to the circumstance that ,japanese1 like other ,far-,eastern languages1 habitually neglects the distinction between the singular and the plural number4 ,the idea of making verbs and adjectives agree in number with the substantives to which they belong does not seem to have occurred to these nations1 and1 even in the case of nouns and pronouns1 plural particles are very sparingly used4 ,yama no ,kami1 for example1 may mean either ,god of the ,mountain1 ,god of ,mountains1 ,gods of the ,mountain1 or ,gods of ,mountains4 ,amaterasu1 the ,sun-,goddess4--,the ,sun-goddess belongs unmistakably to the first class1 viz41 that of individual objects personified4 ,she is much the most prominent member of the ,shinto ,pantheon1 and is described as the ,ruler of ,heaven and unrivalled in dignity4 ,she wears royal insignia1 and is surrounded by a court4 ,the chief religious ceremony of state was in her honour4 ,yet she is not what we should call a ,supreme ,deity4 ,she is by no means an autocrat4 ,even in heaven1 which she is supposed to govern1 there is a ,council of the ,gods which decides important matters4 ,in some myths she has a formidable rival in ,taka musubi1 a god of ,growth4 ,the ascription of the female sex to the deity of the ,sun has more meaning than might be supposed4 ,women held a far more important and independent position in ancient ,japan than they did at a later time when ,chinese ideas of their subjection became prevalent4 ,several of the ancient ,mikados were women4 ,old ,chinese books call ,japan the #8,queen-country4' ,women chieftains are frequently mentioned4 ,some of the most important monuments of the old literature were the work of women4 ,like the ,sun-,gods of ancient ,greece and ,egypt1 ,amaterasu possesses a sacred bird1 the ,yatagarasu1 or eight-hand-crow4 ,an old ,japanese dictionary identifies this bird1 rightly in my opinion1 with the ,yangwu or ,sun-crow of ,chinese myth4 ,the ,yangwu is a bird of a red colour with three legs which inhabits the sun4 ,the ,yatagarasu was lent by the ,sun-goddess to ,jimmu ,tenn as a guide to his expedition against the tribes who then held the province of ,yamato4 ,a noble ,japanese family claimed descent from this bird4 ,the ,sun-goddess is represented in the shrine of ,ise by her shintai or token1 which is called the ,yatakagami or eight-hand mirror4 ,it is related that when she sent down her grandchild ,ninigi to rule the earth1 she gave him this mirror with the injunction3 #8,regard this mirror exactly as our mitama 7soul7 and reverence it as if reverencing us4' ,at this day the ,yatakagami is held in high reverence4 ,it is kept in a bag of brocade which is never opened or repaired1 a new one being added on the top of its predecessor when the latter is too much worn for further use4 ,the ,nihongi calls it the #8,great-,god of ,ise4' ,amaterasu is not the only ,sun-deity of ,japanese myth4 ,we hear of a ,waka-hirume 7young-sun-female7 who is no doubt a personification of the morning sun1 and of a ,nigi-haya-hi 7gentle1 swift-sun74 ,the latter is said to have come down from heaven in a heavenly rock-boat1 and to have become the chieftain of one of the tribes subdued by ,jimmu ,tenn4 ,he may1 however1 have been a human being named as a compliment after the ,sun4 ,this proceeding is not unknown in ,japanese history4 ,but ,i rather suspect that he is a real ,sun-god4 ,then there is the ,hiruko mentioned at p4 #bb as the first-born of all the deities4 ,now ,hiruko1 though written with ,chinese characters which mean leech-child1 may also mean ,sun-male-child1 and this is obviously its proper meaning4 ,the ,hiruko was a male ,sun-deity who afterwards became obsolete4 ,for some unknown reason ,hiruko has been identified with a popular modern deity named ,yebisu1 who has to all appearance nothing to do with either the sun or the leech4 ,he is pictured as an angler with a fish dangling at the end of his line4 ,he has a smiling countenance and wears old ,japanese costume4 ,merchants pray to him for success in trade4 ,at the present day the title ,amaterasu no oho-kami 7the great deity who illumines heaven7 is generally replaced by its ,chinese equivalent ,tenshdaijin4 ,the meaning of the latter is less clear to the uneducated1 who forget that she has any connection with the sun4 ,sun-worship1 however1 proceeds independently4 ,women and children especially call it by the respectful name of ,otent sama1 without attribution of sex1 with no formal cult1 and no myth1 but endowed with moral attributes1 punishing the wicked and rewarding the just4 ,dr4 ,griffis describes a scene which he witnessed in ,tokio when1 late one afternoon1 ,otent sama1 which had been hidden behind clouds for a fortnight1 shone out on the muddy streets4 ,in a moment scores of people rushed out of their houses1 and with faces westward began prayer and worship before the great luminary4 ,many people keep awake all night on the last day of the year so as to worship the rising sun on the first day of the ,new ,year4 ,tsuki-yomi4--,the ,sun being feminine1 ,tsuki-yomi1 the moon-deity1 is naturally masculine4 ,though he has shrines at ,ise and other places1 he occupies a far less prominent place in ,japanese myth and cult than his elder sister ,amaterasu4 ,susa no wo4--,the true character of this deity had been forgotten by the ,japanese themselves until he was shown by an ,american scholar1 ,dr4 ,buckley of ,chicago1 to be a personification of the ,rain-storm4 ,the generally accepted etymology of his name derives it from a verb susamu1 to be impetuous4 ,this accords well with his character as described in the ,kojiki and ,nihongi4 ,mr4 ,b4 ,h4 ,chamberlain translates by #8the ,impetuous ,male1' and he may be correct4 ,but there is a town in ,idzumo called ,susa where this god had a shrine1 and it seems possible that it was from this that he took his name4 ,star-,gods are few and unimportant in ,shinto4 ,earth-worship4--,the direct worship of the ,earth is well-known in ,japan4 ,at the present day1 when a new building is erected or new rice-land brought under cultivation1 the ground is solemnly propitiated by a ceremony called ,ji-matsuri or earth-worship4 ,localities were personified under names which recall ,erin1 ,britannia1 ,dea ,roma1 etc4 ,such deities were called ,kunidama1 country or province spirit4 ,the greatest of these1 and one of the three greatest gods of ,shinto1 is ,ohonamochi4 ,his shrine at ,kitsuki in ,idzumo is known as the ,taisha or great shrine1 and he has numerous other shrines1 called ,sann or ,hiye1 in all parts of the country4 ,in his case the deification has proceeded beyond the mere personification of the soil4 ,legend represents him as the maker of the land1 not the land itself1 and in modern times nobody thinks of him as an ,earth-god4 ,his various names1 however1 show conclusively that he is as much an earth-deity as the ,greek ,gaia1 who1 like him1 was #8one shape of many names4' ,lafcadio ,hearn would make him out to be the god of the dead1 though there are already two other rulers of ,hades1 and ,dr4 ,buckley thinks that he is a ,moon-god4 ,with ,ohonamochi there is associated his minister1 an important deity named ,kotoshiro-nushi1 and a dwarf-god1 ,sukuna-bikona1 who is credited with the invention of medicine1 magic1 and the art of brewing sake4 ,another ,earth-god is ,asuha1 an obscure personage1 who is supposed to be the deity of the courtyard4 ,mud1 sand1 and clay are deified under the names of ,uhijini1 ,suhijini1 and ,hani-yasu-hime1 the last name meaning clay-easy 7in the sense of plastic7 lady4 ,clay was deified because it supplied the material for the domestic cooking furnace1 a defence against the encroaches of that unruly power1 fire4 ,mountain-,gods4--,most mountains have their deity1 which is sometimes conceived of as the mountain itself1 at others as a god of the mountain4 ,mountain gods do not take high rank in the ,shinto ,pantheon4 ,they were propitiated before trees were cut for building purposes4 ,earthquake-,gods are little heard of4 ,but any god might cause an earthquake if offended4 ,sea-,gods4--,the chief ,sea-gods of ,shinto are ,sokotsu-wata-dzumi 7bottom-sea-body71 ,nakatsu-wata-dzumi 7middle-sea-body71 and ,uhatsu-wata-dzumi 7upper-sea-body71 three deities produced from ,izanagi's ablutions in the sea when he returned from ,hades4 ,they are also represented as forming one deity4 ,so that we have here an example--not the only one--of a ,japanese ,trinity4 ,they have a famous shrine at ,sumiyoshi near ,osaka1 and are much prayed to for safety from shipwreck and for fair winds4 ,another ,sea-god1 ,toyotama hiko1 has been already mentioned above 7p4 #ca74 ,river-,gods are represented as dragons or serpents4 ,the resemblance of a river with its winding serpentine course1 and its mysterious motion without legs1 to a great serpent1 has struck mankind in many countries4 ,the ,chinese1 the ,mexicans1 and the ,semitic nations concur in associating water with the serpent4 ,it is mostly the maleficent aspect of rivers that is thus symbolised4 ,there are traditions in ,japanese legend of human sacrifices to rivers4 ,rain-,gods4--,special ,rain-gods are mentioned in the old myths1 but in practice any deity might be appealed to for aid in time of drought4 ,wells4--,there are sacred wells from which the water required in sacrifice was drawn4 ,the water itself was made a female deity under the name of ,midzuha no me4 ,at the present day1 the ordinary well or stream from which water is taken for domestic purposes is propitiated early on the morning of the ,new ,year by small offerings4 ,wind-,gods4--,sometimes one ,wind-god is spoken of1 sometimes two1 one masculine and one feminine4 ,they were formerly much prayed to for good harvests4 ,one legend calls them the ,ame no mihashira and ,kuni no mihashira 7august pillar of heaven and august pillar of earth74 ,the idea that the winds support the sky is not unknown in other mythologies4 ,,take-,,mika-,,dzuchi and ,futsunushi4--,the proper character of these two deities is not quite clear4 ,the name of the former is frequently written with ,chinese characters which imply that he is a ,thunder-god1 and ,futsunushi is probably a god of fire1 perhaps more specifically the lightning4 ,they are constantly associated in legend and worship4 ,they were sent down from heaven together to prepare ,japan for the advent of ,ninigi1 the ,sun-,goddess's grandchild1 and their shrines at ,kashima and ,katori1 on the east coast of ,japan1 are adjacent to one another4 ,at the present day they are universally recognised as ,war-gods4 ,this accounts for the choice of ,kashima and ,katori as the names of recently-launched battle-ships of the ,imperial ,japanese ,navy4 ,these deities also predict the weather4 ,the ,japanese equivalent of old ,moore's ,almanac is the ,kashima no ,kotofure1 i4e4 notification from ,kashima4 ,there is another ,thunder-god called ,ikadzuchi 7dread father7 or ,naru ,kami 7sounding-god74 ,fire-,gods4--,kagu-tsuchi1 mentioned above 7p4 #bb71 is the chief fire-deity4 ,he is also known as ,ho-musubi 7fire-growth71 and his shrine stands on the summit of the high hill of ,atago near ,kioto4 ,hence the name ,atago-,sama by which he is usually called4 ,hill-shrines are dedicated to him at the chief cities of ,japan2 and he is believed1 when duly propitiated1 to preserve them from conflagration4 ,in the old ,state religion the god and fire are regarded as identical4 ,the sacrificial fire was deified1 and also the ,nihabi1 a fire kindled with the object of producing sunshine4 ,both in ancient and modern times the domestic cooking-furnace has been considered as a deity4 ,ukemochi1 the ,food-goddess1 is one of the two great gods worshipped at ,ise1 the ,sun-goddess being the other4 ,there is a tendency in modern times to identify her with ,inari1 a male grain-deity4 ,shrines of ,inari are to be seen in every village1 and even in many houses4 ,they may be recognised by two figures of foxes which stand before them4 ,these animals are thought by many to be the god himself1 and small offerings of such food as is thought acceptable to foxes are placed before them4 ,shinto scholars say that they are only the god's attendants or messengers4 ,but grain is often represented by an animal in other mythologies1 and possibly this may be the case in ,shinto also4 ,inari is much invoked by the peasant to grant him good crops1 but as is so often the case1 his proper agricultural character is frequently forgotten1 and he is appealed to for help in all imaginable difficulties1 as for the cure of small-pox or the discovery of a thief4 ,there are several harvest-gods not very clearly distinguished from the grain-deities4 ,one of these1 as well as ,ukemochi1 is said to be the child of ,ohonamochi1 the great ,earth-god4 ,tree-,gods4--,trees of great size and age are worshipped in almost every village in ,japan4 ,they are girt with honorary cinctures of straw-rope1 and have tiny shrines erected before them4 ,other sacred trees are not themselves gods1 but only offerings to the deities before whose shrines they are planted4 ,orchard trees are the object of a quaint ceremony which has its counterpart in many other places1 ,devonshire amongst the number1 of cajoling or intimidating the trees into bearing good crops4 ,in ,japan one man climbs the tree1 while another stands at the bottom with an axe1 threatening to cut it down if it does not promise to bear plentifully4 ,the man above responds that it will do so4 ,perhaps1 however1 the pleasure of acting a little drama has more to do with such customs than any real belief in their efficacy4 ,we also meet with a ,kukunochi 7trees-father7 and a ,kaya nu hime 7reed-lady74 ,their worship was probably prompted by gratitude for their providing materials for house-building and thatching4 ,a ,house-,god named ,yabune is mentioned in one of the old rituals4 ,a certain sanctity attaches to the ,daikoku-bashira1 or central pillar of the house1 corresponding to our king-post4 ,there is also a ,gate-god 7or gods71 who guards the dwelling against the entrance of evil things1 and1 in modern times1 a ,god of the ,privy4 ,,gods ,,of ,,abstractions ,izanagi and ,izanami4--,i have little doubt that these deities 7see above1 p4 #ba7 were suggested by the ,yin and ,yang1 or male and female principles1 of ,chinese philosophy4 ,they were probably introduced into ,japanese myth in order to account for the existence of the ,sun-goddess and other deities1 and to link them together by a common parentage4 ,their names are supposed to be connected with a verb1 izanafu1 to invite1 and to refer to their mutual invitation to become husband and wife4 ,they are not important in ritual4 ,musubi means growth or production4 ,in the old myths there are two ,musubi deities1 viz4 ,taka-musubi and ,kamu-musubi 7high-growth and divine-growth74 ,it is not difficult to conjecture that #8high' and #8divine' were originally nothing more than laudatory epithets of one and the same personage4 ,poetry recognises only one ,god4 ,in later times there were no fewer than eight ,musubi who had shrines in the precincts of the ,imperial palace4 ,the worship of this god is now much neglected4 ,kuni-toko-tachi4--,nothing is really known of this deity4 ,the name means literally #8land 7or earth7-eternal-stand1' and ,i offer as a mere conjecture that he is a personification of the durable character of the earth4 ,the circumstance that he is the first god of the ,nihongi myth led to his receiving a prominence in later times which is justified by nothing in the older religion4 ,there was an abortive attempt to make of him a sort of ,supreme ,deity1 and to substitute his worship for that of the ,food-goddess at ,ise4 ,,deified ,,individual ,,men ,though all the greater gods of the old ,shinto were ,nature-gods1 we cannot affirm that none of the numerous obscure deities mentioned in the ,kojiki and ,nihongi were deified individual men4 ,the impulse to exalt human beings to the rank of deity has always existed1 and may have left traces in the older ,shinto1 though the evidence that this was so in any particular case is not forthcoming4 ,take-minakata1 the god of ,suha1 in the province of ,shinano1 may be a deity of this class4 ,he was a son of ,ohonamochi1 who refused allegiance to the ,sun-goddess and fled to ,suha1 where he was obliged to surrender4 ,tradition says that the present high priests of his shrine are his direct descendants4 ,they are held to be his incarnation1 and are called ,ikigami or #8live deities4' ,there are at the present day shrines to ,suha ,sama in many parts of ,japan4 ,hachiman is not mentioned in the ,kojiki or ,nihongi4 ,his history is a curious one4 ,the original place of his worship was ,usa in ,kiushiu1 near the ,straits of ,shimonoseki1 an old1 perhaps the oldest1 ,shinto centre of ,japan4 ,he first came into notice in #gbj1 when he helped to repel a piratical descent by ,koreans4 ,at a somewhat later period he became associated with the great ,minamoto family1 and attained to popularity as a ,war-god4 ,but his cult is deeply tinctured with ,buddhism4 ,in his oracles he calls himself by the ,buddhist title of ,bosatsu 7,boddhisattwa71 something like our #8saint1' and ordains humanitarian festivals for the release of living things1 a thoroughly ,buddhist institution1 and quite incongruous with his character as a ,japanese ,mars4 ,it is explained that the reason for his deification as a ,war-god is that he was an unborn child in his mother ,jingo's womb when she achieved her famous conquest of ,korea4 ,his identification with the ,emperor jin1 however1 dates from long after he became popular4 ,temmangu1 the ,god of ,learning and ,caligraphy4 ,if we pass over the honours paid to living and dead ,mikados as of doubtful religious quality1 the first genuine deified human being on the ,shinto record is ,sugahara ,michizane1 who was raised to divine rank under the name of ,temmangu4 ,michizane was born in #hde4 ,his family had a hereditary reputation for learning1 and traced its descent from the ,sun-goddess herself4 ,his erudition gained him high rank in the government1 and a system of national education which he established acquired for him the gratitude of the people1 who called him the #8,father of letters4' ,but owing to the calumnies of a rival he was banished to ,kiushiu1 where he died in exile4 ,great calamities followed1 which were attributed to the wrath of ,michizane's ghost1 and it was not until his sentence had been formally cancelled1 shrines erected1 and other honours paid him that it ceased to plague his enemies and the nation4 ,the story has come down to us enriched with a profuse embroidery of legendary details drawn from ,buddhist and ,chinese sources4 ,temmangu is1 or was until recently1 one of the most widely worshipped of ,shinto deities1 especially by pedagogues and school-boys4 ,in #ahbj1 there were twenty-five shrines to him in ,yedo and its neighbourhood4 ,his cult was probably suggested1 and was certainly promoted1 by the corresponding ,chinese honours to ,confucius4 ,later ,deifications4--,in the ,kojiki and ,nihongi1 a sort of titular divinity is ascribed to some of the ,mikados4 ,it was not until a later period that they had shrines or regular offerings4 ,chief among deified ,mikados are ,jimmu1 ,jingo1 and ,kwammu1 the founder of ,kioto4 ,takechi no ,sukune1 ,jingo's chief counsellor2 ,prince ,yamatodake1 the legendary hero who1 in the second century of our era1 subdued the eastern parts of ,japan to the ,mikado's rule2 ,nomi no ,sukune1 the patron deity of wrestlers2 ,hitomaro1 the poet and ,sotorihime1 the poetess1 though treated as ordinary human beings in the old records1 were deified in subsequent times4 ,quasi-divine honours are paid to ,iyeyasu1 the founder of the ,tokugawa dynasty of ,shguns1 and to many other distinguished men4 ,strange to say1 a kind of religious cult is rendered to remarkable criminals1 such as the famous robber ,kumazaka ,chhan1 and to ,nishi no ,buntaro1 who in our own day assassinated the ,minister of ,education1 ,mori ,arinori1 because he raised with his walking-stick a curtain which screened off part of the shrine of ,ise from vulgar gaze4 ,,gods ,,of ,,classes ,,of ,,men ,in the older ,shinto1 gods of types or classes occupy a fairly prominent position4 ,they represent the hereditary corporations by which the government of ,japan was carried on in early times4 ,the officials of the ,mikado's ,court had their mythical counterparts in the ministers of the ,sun-goddess1 who were supposed to be their ancestors4 ,thus the ,nakatomi family1 who besides holding other high offices1 were the recognised vicars of the ,mikado in the discharge of his priestly functions1 traced their descent from ,koyane1 a deity who1 by reading a liturgy in honour of the ,sun-goddess1 helped to entice her from the dark ,rock-cave of heaven4 ,the ,imbe1 who provided the offerings for the state ,shinto ceremonies1 recognised as their ancestor a god called ,futo-dama 7great offering71 who fulfilled the same office in heaven4 ,uzume1 the ,dread ,female of heaven1 had descendants in the female officials of the palace4 ,there is a norito in her honour1 in which she is besought to preserve order among the courtiers of all ranks4 ,may we not trace a relationship between her and our own #8,dread ,female' deity1 ,mrs4 ,grundy8 ,the mirror-makers of the palace had their prototype in ,ishikoridome1 the jewellers in ,toyotama 7rich-jewel71 and so on4 ,,gods ,,of ,,human ,,qualities ,students of ,far-,eastern mythology and literature have observed the feeble grasp of personality which distinguishes them from the similar products of the ,western mind4#a ,they are characterised by a certain poverty of imagination which is manifested in various directions1 and more especially by the almost total absence of personified abstractions of human qualities4 ,we look in vain for such conceptions as ,age1 ,youth1 ,love1 ,fear1 ,patience1 ,hope1 ,charity1 and a host of other personified qualities4 ,ta-jikara no wo 7hand-strength-male7 is one of the few examples of this class4 ,he it was who1 when the ,sun-goddess partly opened the door of the ,rock-cave to which she had retired1 took her by the hand and dragged her out4 ,but he is little worshipped1 and indeed is only a poetical adjunct to the mythical narrative4 ,in this respect he greatly resembles the ,kratos and ,bia of ,hesiod and schylus4 #a ,see ,percival ,lowell's ,soul of the ,far ,east4 ,phallic ,gods4--,far more important are the ,sahe no ,kami1 or phallic deities4 ,their symbols were a familiar sight by the roadsides and at crossings in ancient ,japan4 ,they might be seen even in the busy thoroughfares of the capital itself4 ,at first representatives of the procreative1 life-giving power1 they were used as magical appliances for promoting fertility4 ,but they became symbolical of life generally--the enemy of death and disease--and1 on the well-known principle of magic that the symbol possesses something of the actual physical virtue of the thing which it represents1 were employed as prophylactics against death and pestilence4 ,for their services in this capacity they were deified4 ,their cult has long ago disappeared from the state religion1 but it still lingers in the out-of-the-way parts of ,eastern ,japan4 ,,chapter ,v ,,the ,,priesthood ,in ancient ,japan1 the sacred and the secular were imperfectly differentiated from one another4 ,the ,department of ,shinto was simply a ,government bureau4 ,miya meant equally shrine and palace4 ,matsuri1 a ,shinto festival1 is the same word that we also find in ,matsurigoto1 government4 ,the ,mikado was at once the high priest and the sovereign of the nation4 ,in the oldest legends he appears frequently in a sacerdotal capacity1 and1 even at the present day1 he takes a personal part in some of the ,shinto rites4 ,only last year he went to ,ise to perform the ceremony of ,nihiname1 or tasting the first rice of the new harvest after making an offering of it to the ,sun-goddess4 ,but even in the oldest records there occur instances of his deputing his sacerdotal functions4 ,jimmu ,tenno is said to have appointed ,michi ,no ,omi 7minister-of-the-way7 as #8,ruler of a festival4' ,the rubrics of the norito 7rituals7 show that they were intended to be read by a deputy and not by the ,mikado in person4 ,the ,nakatomi4--,the chief officials of the ,bureau of ,shinto were appointed from the hereditary clan or family of the ,nakatomi1 from which the principal ministers of state and the ,imperial ,consorts were also selected4 ,the great ,fujiwara ,house1 so famous in later times1 was a branch of the ,nakatomi4 ,the ,imbe had the duty of preparing the offerings for sacrifice4 ,their name1 which includes the word #8imi1' signifying religious abstinence1 purity1 refers to the strict avoidance of ritual pollution which was incumbent on them in the discharge of this function4 ,the ,urabe were diviners attached to the bureau of ,shinto4 ,kannushi is the ordinary word for a ,shinto priest4 ,the ,kannushi are not celibates1 and are not distinguishable from the laity except when in the actual discharge of their functions4 ,even the costume which they wear on these occasions is not properly sacerdotal4 ,it is only an ancient court uniform4 ,all ,shinto priests are appointed by the civil authorities4 ,they have no #8cure of souls1' and their duties are confined to reading the litanies and seeing to the repairs of the shrine4 ,priestesses4--,in ancient times it was the custom to attach a virgin princess of the ,imperial blood to the great shrine of ,ise4 ,all great shrines have a corps of girl dancers for the performance of the sacred pantomimes 7,kagura74 ,the latter1 on reaching a marriageable age1 usually resign their office1 and are merged in the general population4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,worship ,with a few exceptions1 of no great importance in ,shinto1 the outward forms of the worship of the gods have been previously made use of as tokens of respect to living men4 ,whether ,i take off my hat to a lady or on entering a church1 the act is the same1 it is the ideas associated with it that make the difference4 ,the word worship must therefore be used with caution4 ,we ought not1 for example1 to assume that ancestor-worship is necessarily divine worship4 ,it may only mean acts indicating affection and reverence for the dead1 common to ourselves with non-,christian peoples1 and need not involve any superstitious belief in a supernatural power exercised by dead forefathers or heroes4 ,in modern ,japan1 ancestor-worship is a comparatively rational cult1 and it is surely undesirable that missionaries should create for themselves great and needless difficulties by condemning it indiscriminately4 ,gestures of ,worship4--,in ,shinto1 as in other religions1 bowing is a common form of respect to the gods4 ,it is the custom to bow twice before and after making an offering4 ,kneeling is also known1 but is less usual4 ,i have not met with any case of prostration as an act of adoration4 ,clapping hands was in ancient ,japan a general token of respect1 now confined to religious worship4 ,sometimes a silent hand-clapping is prescribed in the rituals4 ,offerings and other objects used in worship were raised to the forehead as a mark of reverence4 ,offerings were in the older ,shinto regarded as tokens of respect1 and were not supposed to be eaten1 worn1 or otherwise enjoyed by the deity4 ,there is1 however1 a more vulgar current of opinion according to which the god actually benefits in some obscure physical way by the offerings made to him4 ,the general object of making offerings is to propitiate the god or to expiate offences against him4 ,sometimes it is very plainly intimated that a quid pro quo is expected4 ,the original and most important form of offering was food and drink of various kinds4 ,the cardinal feature of the great ceremony by which the ,mikado inaugurated his reign was an offering of rice and sake to the ,sun-goddess4 ,other food-offerings were cakes1 fruit1 vegetables1 edible seaweed1 salt1 water1 and the flesh of deer1 pigs1 hare1 wild boar1 and birds4 ,there were no burnt-offerings or incense4 ,next to food1 clothing took the most important place4 ,hemp and mulberry-bark fibre1 with the stuffs woven from them1 are frequently mentioned4 ,they are now represented by the ,gohei4 ,these are wands to which scollops of paper are attached1 and are to be seen in every shrine and at every ,shinto ceremony4 ,sometimes the god is supposed to come down and take up his temporary abode in the ,gohei4 ,skins1 mirrors1 jewels1 weapons1 and many other articles are mentioned in the ,yengishiki enumerations of offerings4 ,human ,sacrifice4--,we nowhere hear of human sacrifices in connection with official ,shinto4 ,but there are several indications of the existence of this practice in ancient times4 ,river-gods especially were propitiated by human victims4 ,human figures of wood or metal are frequently mentioned1 but it is doubtful whether these were by way of substitutes for living persons4 ,slaves were dedicated to some of the more important shrines4 ,presents of horses are often mentioned4 ,albinos are usually selected for this purpose4 ,they may be seen at the present day stabled near the entrance to all the important shrines4 ,pictures of horses are often substituted for the animals themselves4 ,galleries are sometimes provided for the reception of these and other ex voto works of art4 ,the carriage 7mikoshi7 in which the deity1 or rather his shintai1 is promenaded on the occasion of his annual festival is a very elaborate and costly vehicle4 ,the miya or shrine may be regarded as a kind of offering4 ,miya means august house1 and applies equally to the palace of a sovereign or prince4 ,originally there was no building but only a consecrated plot of ground which was deemed to be the dwelling of the deity4 ,the miya is not a tomb4 ,the shrines are purposely small and simple edifices4 ,in #gga a #8greater shrine' had only eighteen feet frontage4 ,the majority of the existing #aej1jjj to #bjj1jjj shrines of ,japan are tiny structures easily transportable in a cart or even a wheelbarrow4 ,to the larger shrines are usually attached an ema-do 7horse-picture hall71 a small oratory for the use of the ,mikado's envoy1 and a stage for the ,kagura1 or pantomimic dance4 ,a number of smaller shrines to other gods who are in some way associated with the chief deity may usually be seen within the precincts4 ,the approach to a ,shinto shrine is marked by one or more honorary gateways of the special form known as tori-i1 literally bird-rest1 from its resemblance to a henroost4 ,it has its analogues in the ,indian turan and the ,chinese pailoo1 and is doubtless of exotic origin4 ,it is not mentioned in the older books4 ,prayer4--,the ,kojiki and ,nihongi contain scarcely any notices of private individual prayer4 ,but there are abundant examples in the ,yengishiki1 and other authorities1 of the official liturgies known as norito1 addressed by the ,mikado1 or his vicars1 to various ,gods or categories of ,gods1 on ceremonial occasions4 ,they contain petitions for rain in time of drought1 good harvests1 preservation from fire1 flood1 and earthquake1 for children1 health and long life to the sovereign4 ,sometimes the wrath is deprecated of deities whose services had been vitiated by ritual impurity1 or whose shrines had been neglected4 ,important national events were announced to them4 ,there were no norito addressed to deceased ,mikados before #hej1 when ,jimmu ,tenno was supplicated to spare the life of the reigning sovereign1 who was then dangerously ill4 ,shinto prayers are for material blessings only4 ,rank of ,deities4--,in the seventh century a system of official ranks was introduced into ,japan from ,china4 ,it was extended from the ,court functionaries to the ,gods1 and was very prevalent in the eighth century4 ,a curious feature of this practice was the low rank given to the deities4 ,it was seldom that they received so high a rank as that of a ,minister of ,state4 ,kagura4--,the ,kagura1 or pantomimic dances with masks and music1 representing some incident of the mythical narrative1 has been at all times a prominent part of ,shinto religious festivals1 and1 as in other countries1 has become the parent of the secular drama4 ,pilgrimages are an ancient institution in ,japan4 ,even the ,mikado paid occasional visits to the shrines in or near ,kioto4 ,at the present day most ,japanese think it a duty to make a pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime to one or more of the most famous ,shinto fanes1 and believe that their success in life depends on their doing so4 ,clubs are formed for the purpose1 the subscriptions going to pay the expenses of these fortunate members who are selected to represent their fellows4 ,pilgrim trains take the place of our excursion trains4 ,boys and girls frequently run away from home in order to make a pilgrimage to ,ise4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,morality ,,and ,,purity ,moral ,code4--,shinto has hardly anything in the shape of a code of morals4 ,the ,ohoharahi1 a service in which the ,mikado1 by divine authority1 declared to his ministers and people the absolution of their offences against the gods1 makes no mention of any one of the sins of the ,decalogue4 ,m4 ,revon1 the author of a valuable treatise on ,shinto1 challenges this statement1 which ,i had already made in my ,history of ,japanese ,literature4 ,he maintains that from a comparison of the ,decalogue and the ,ohoharahi1 #8,il rsulte avec vidence que tous les commandements essentiels du ,dcalogue 7sur le meurtre1 le vol1 la fornication1 etc471 se retrouvent dans notre rituel4'#b ,in view of the importance of the subject1 and of ,m4 ,revon's acknowledged competence as a writer on ,shinto1 it is desirable to examine this assertion more closely4 ,his #8etc4' puzzles me4 ,i am unable to find in the ,ohoharahi the smallest trace of any of the seven commandments which it covers1 and can only suppose that it is a mere flourish of ,m4 ,revon's exuberant imagination4 ,it will be seen that for the #8adultery' of the ,decalogue ,m4 ,revon has substituted #8fornication4' ,is it not a cas pendable to tamper with the ten commandments in this way8 ,but neither adultery nor fornication are mentioned in the ,ohoharahi4 ,incest is included in the latter's schedule of offences1 but1 pace ,m4 ,revon1 incest and adultery are distinct offences4 ,theft is not mentioned in the ,ohoharahi4 ,the planting of skewers 7of offerings in rice-fields7 is one of its offences1 but even if the commentator is right who conjectures that this was done for a dishonest purpose1 ,i submit that so highly specific an offence is by no means the same thing as the far more general theft of the ,decalogue4 ,the case of #8murder' of the ,mosaic code1 and #8the cutting of living bodies' of the ,ohoharahi is more complicated4 ,murder is at the same time more and less comprehensive than the corresponding ,shinto offence4 ,the ,jewish prohibition is more extensive1 as it includes murder by poison1 strangling1 drowning1 etc41 and it is more restricted as it omits minor injuries4 ,but there is a profound difference between the motives which prompted the two prohibitions4 ,it is the crime of taking away human life which is condemned in the ,decalogue3 the ,ohoharahi objects to wounds as nasty1 unsightly things1 unmeet for a ,god to look upon or to be in any way associated with4 ,self-inflicted wounds1 the cutting of dead bodies1 or wounds inflicted by others1 caused uncleanness just as much as the wounding of others4 ,justifiable homicide required absolution equally with felonious murder4 ,in a word1 the ,japanese offence was ritual1 the ,jewish moral4 #b ,see his ,shintoisme1 p4 #ae1 note4 ,there are moral elements in the ,ohoharahi1 but they are scanty1 and ,m4 ,revon greatly overestimates their importance4 ,not only does it contain no explicit mention of any of the sins of the ,decalogue--which is all that ,i contended for--but it has hardly anything which even implicitly condemns them4 ,shintoists do not deny this feature of their religion1 but claim that the absence of a code of ethics is a proof of the superior natural goodness of the ,japanese nation4 ,it needs no such artificial aids to virtuous conduct4 ,purity4--,but if ethics are conspicuously absent from ,shinto1 the doctrine of uncleanness holds a prominent position4 ,actual personal dirt was obnoxious to the gods1 as is evidenced by the frequent mention of bathing and putting on fresh garments before the discharge of religious functions4 ,sexual acts of various kinds1 such as the consummation of a marriage1 incest 7within narrow limits71 interference with virgin priestesses1 menstruation and child-birth1 were accompanied with disabilities for the service of the gods4 ,curiously enough1 adultery1 though cognisable by the courts of justice1 did not entail religious uncleanness4 ,disease1 especially leprosy 7as in the ,mosaic legislation71 wounds and sores involved various degrees of pollution4 ,the death of a relative1 attendance at a funeral1 touching a dead body1 pronouncing or executing a capital sentence1 all incapacitated a man temporarily for the discharge of religious duties4 ,lafcadio ,hearn thought that the miya or shrine was a development of the moya or mourning house1 where the dead bodies of sovereigns and nobles were deposited until their costly megalithic tombs could be got ready4 ,this view harmonises nicely with ,herbert ,spencer's well-known theories1 but an ancient ,shintoist would have considered it not only erroneous1 but blasphemous4 ,as in ancient ,greece1 the gods had nothing to do with such a polluting thing as death4 ,shinto funerals1 of which we have heard a good deal of late1 were unknown in ancient ,japan4 ,they date from #ahfh4 ,shinto shrines have no cemeteries attached to them4 ,eating flesh was formerly not considered offensive to the gods1 but later1 under ,buddhist influence1 it fell under prohibition4 ,the fire with which impure food was cooked also contracted impurity4 ,to avoid the danger of such defilement1 fresh fire was made by a fire-drill for all the more important ceremonies4 ,everything ,buddhist1 rites1 terms1 etc41 were at one time placed under a ,shinto tabu4 ,when a festival was approaching1 the intending participant was specially careful to avoid 7imi7 all possible sources of pollution4 ,he shut himself up in his house1 refrained from speech and noise and ate food cooked at a pure fire4 ,a special imi of one month was observed by the priests before officiating at the greater festivals4 ,an imi-dono 7sacred hall7 was a hall in which purity was observed1 imi-axes and imi-mattocks were used to cut the first tree and turn the first sod when a sacred building was to be erected4 ,if1 in spite of all precaution1 defilement took place1 consciously or unconsciously1 various expedients were resorted to for its removal4 ,lustration was the most common4 ,after a funeral1 it has been the rule at all periods of ,japanese history for the relatives of the deceased to purify themselves in this way4 ,izanagi1 after his visit to ,hades1 washed in the sea4 ,salt is sometimes dissolved in the water used for this purpose1 and is employed in other ways to avert evil influences4 ,spitting1 rinsing the mouth1 and breathing on an object to which the impurity is communicated1 are familiar practices4 ,human figures were sometimes breathed upon and flung into the sea in order to carry off pollution4 ,in modern times a gohei is shaken over the person to be purified4 ,ceremonial is the combination for some specific purpose of the various elements of worship described above4 ,the great ceremony of the ,shinto religion is that known as the ,ohonihe or ,daijwe1 which means #8great-food-offering4' ,it is the equivalent of our coronation1 and its cardinal feature was the ,mikado's offering in person to the god or gods1 represented by a cushion1 the first rice of the new harvest1 and of sake brewed from it4 ,a modern ,japanese writer says3-- #8,anciently the ,mikado received the auspicious grain from the ,gods of ,heaven1 and therewithal nourished the people4 ,in the ,daijwe 7or ,ohonihe7 the ,mikado1 when the grain became ripe1 joined unto him the people in sincere veneration1 and1 as in duty bound1 made return to the ,gods of ,heaven4 ,he thereafter partook of it along with the nation4 ,thus the people learnt that the grain which they eat is no other than the seed bestowed on them by the ,gods of ,heaven4' ,the ,ohonihe was a most elaborate and costly function4 ,the preparations were begun months in advance4 ,in times of scarcity1 it had to be omitted as too great a burden on the nation4 ,the ,nihiname1 or new-tasting1 is the annual harvest festival when the new season's rice was first tasted by the ,mikado4 ,the ,ohonihe was only a more sumptuous form of it4 ,the ,english counterpart of the ,nihiname is ,lammas1 i4e4 loaf-mass1 in which bread made from the new season's wheat was used for the first time in the ,holy ,communion4 ,there was1 in former times1 a household as well as an official celebration of this rite4 ,strict people will not eat the new rice until it is over4 ,the ,toshigohi 7praying for harvest7 was another important ceremony of the state religion4 ,not only the special gods of harvest1 but practically all the divinities were propitiated by offerings1 and a norito recited in their honour1 of which the following is a passage3-- #8,if the ,sovran ,gods will bestow in ears many a hand's breadth long and ears abundant the latter harvest which they will bestow1 the latter harvest produced by the labour of men from whose arms the foam drips down1 on whose opposing thighs the mud is gathered1 ,i will fulfil their praises by humbly offering first fruits1 of ears a thousand1 of ears many a hundred1 raising up the tops of the sake-jars1 and setting in rows the bellies of the sake-jars1 in juice and in ear will ,i present them1 of things growing in the great moor-plain1 sweet herbs and bitter herbs1 of things that dwell in the blue sea-plain1 the broad of fin and the narrow of fin1 edible seaweed1 too1 from the offing and seaweed from the shore1 of clothing1 bright stuffs and shining stuffs1 soft stuffs and coarse stuffs--with these ,i will fulfil your praises4' ,kiu no matsuri 7praying for rain7 was a service in which the gods of eighty-five shrines were asked to send rain4 ,to some of these a black horse was offered as a suggestion that black rain-clouds would be welcome4 ,ohoharahi1 great purification or absolution4 ,this is one of the most curious and interesting of the great ceremonies of the state religion4 ,it is often called the ,nakatomi no ,ohoharahi1 because a member of the ,nakatomi priestly clan performed it on behalf of the ,mikado4 ,it was celebrated twice a year1 on the last day of the sixth and of the twelfth month1 with the object of purifying the ministers of state1 officials1 and people from their ceremonial offences committed during the previous half year4 ,it was also celebrated on occasions of national calamity1 such as an outbreak of pestilence1 or the sudden death of a ,mikado4 ,the offerings made were thrown into a river or the sea1 and were supposed1 like the scapegoat of ,israel1 to carry with them the sins of the people4 ,the offences more specifically referred to are various mischievous interferences with agricultural operations1 flaying animals alive1 flaying backwards1 cutting living or dead bodies1 leprosy and other loathsome disease1 incest1 calamities from the high gods and from high birds1 and killing animals by bewitchment4 ,there were also local and individual purifications4 ,in the latter case1 the person to be purified had to pay the expenses of the celebration1 and so a regular system of fines for such offences came into existence4 ,ho-shidzume no matsuri1 or fire-calming-ceremony4 ,the object of this rite was to deprecate the destruction of the ,imperial ,palace by fire4 ,the ,urabe made fire with a fire-drill and worshipped it4 ,the service read is anything but reverent4 ,the ,fire-god is reminded that he is #8an evil-hearted child' who caused his mother's death when he came into the world1 and that she had come back from ,hades purposely to provide the means of keeping him in order4 ,if1 however1 he would be on his good behaviour1 he should have offerings of the various kinds specified4 ,numerous other services are mentioned in the ,yengishiki1 such as the #8,luck-wishing of the ,great ,palace1' the ,michiahe1 which is a phallic ritual for the prevention of pestilence1 a festival in honour of the ,food-goddess1 one in honour of the ,wind-gods1 etc4 ,modern ceremonies4--,at the present day1 most of the former elaborate ritual of ,shinto is neglected or shorn of its ancient magnificence4 ,one of the most important state ceremonies which is still kept up is the ,naishidokoro1 so-called from the chamber in the palace where it is performed4 ,it is here that the regalia are kept1 consisting of a mirror which represents the ,sun-goddess1 a sword1 and a jewel or jewels4 ,the ceremony1 which is performed by the ,mikado in person1 was formerly in honour of these sacred objects1 but is now apparently addressed to the tablets of the ,emperors from ,jimmu downwards--an instance of the progressive development of ancestor-worship in ,shinto4 ,in many private dwellings there is a ,kami-dana 7god-shelf7 where a harahi1 consisting of a piece of wood from the ,ise shrine1 and tickets with the names of any gods whom the household has any special reason for worshipping1 are kept4 ,lafcadio ,hearn says that nowadays there is also a ,mitamaya 7august-spirit-dwelling71 which is a model ,shinto shrine placed on a shelf fixed against the wall of some inner chamber4 ,in this shrine are placed thin tablets of white wood inscribed with the names of the household dead4 ,prayers are repeated and offerings made before them every day4 ,the annual festivals 7matsuri7 of the ,ujigami or local patron-deity are everywhere important functions4 ,offerings are made1 and the god1 or rather his emblem1 is promenaded in a procession which reminds one of the carnivals of ,southern ,europe4 ,there are ,kagura performances which go on all day and late into the night4 ,there are also booths for the sale of toys and sweetmeats1 wrestling1 fireworks1 races1 conjurors and tumblers' performances4 ,in short1 the matsuri is not unlike an ,english fair4 ,with the pilgrimages1 it does much to help to keep alive the not very ardent flame of ,shinto piety4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,divination ,,and ,,inspiration ,divination4--,the most ancient official method of divination was by interpreting the cracks made by fire on the shoulder-blade of a deer4 ,this process is known in many places from ,siberia to ,scotland1 in which latter country it is called #8reading the speal' 7paule74 ,a tortoise-shell was afterwards substituted for the deer's shoulder-blade1 in imitation of ,china4 ,there was attached to the palace a college of diviners whose business it was to ascertain by this means whether a proposed expedition would be successful1 the best site for a shrine1 a tomb1 or a dwelling-house1 from what provinces the rice for the ,ohonihe should be taken1 etc4 etc4 ,with private persons1 the ,tsuji-ura1 or cross-road divination1 was a favourite method of ascertaining the future4 ,the person who wished to consult the god went out at dusk to a cross-roads and inferred the answer to his question from the chance words spoken by the first person who made his appearance4 ,other kinds of divination were by the sound of a boiling cauldron1 or of a harp1 by lots1 by beans boiled in gruel1 by the head of a dog or fox that had been starved to death1 and by dreams and omens4 ,ordeal was practised by fire and boiling water4 ,inspiration4--,there are frequent notices of oracles in the old records4 ,legend has preserved an #8inspired utterance' given forth by the ,goddess ,uzume before the ,rock-cave of ,heaven to which the ,sun-goddess had retired4 ,it consists of the numerals from one to ten6 ,the famous legendary invasion of ,korea by the ,empress ,jingo was suggested by a deity4 ,oracles had generally reference to the worship of the god concerned1 directing that a shrine should be built for him1 or religious observances inaugurated in his honour4 ,they were sometimes used for political purposes4 ,there is evidence that the inspired person1 generally a woman1 delivered the divine message when in a hypnotic trance4 ,this is undoubtedly the case at the present time4 ,mr4 ,p4 ,lowell's ,occult ,japan gives a detailed description of a sance of this kind at which he was present4 ,there are mediums in ,japan as there are nearer home1 who1 for a consideration1 will place their customers in communication with deceased friends or relatives4 ,divination and the hypnotic trance are not recognised by modern or official ,shinto4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,later ,,history ,buddhism was introduced into ,japan in the sixth century1 but it had at first little influence on the native religion4 ,two centuries later a process of pacific penetration began which had some curious and important results4 ,the missionaries of ,buddhism applied to the ,shinto gods a principle which had been already adopted in ,china4 ,they discovered that whether ,nature-gods or ,man-gods they were nothing more than avatars or incarnations of the various ,buddhas4 ,the ,sun-goddess1 for example1 was made out to be ,vairochana1 the ,buddhist personification of essential bodhi 7enlightenment7 and absolute purity2 and deified men received the ,buddhist titles of ,gongen 7avatar7 or ,bosatsu 7saint74 ,iyeyasu1 the founder of the ,tokugawa dynasty of ,shoguns1 is the ,gongen-sama par excellence4 ,rybu ,shinto1 which was in practice little more than a form of ,buddhism1 was the result of this process4 ,its principal founder was the famous ,kb ,daishi4 ,at a later time other similar schools or sects were originated which drew their inspiration from ,chinese philosophy or from ,buddhism4 ,under these influences the true ,shinto was much neglected4 ,the ,mikados themselves1 after a few years of reign1 shaved their heads and became ,buddhist monks4 ,one of them called himself a slave of ,buddha4 ,the greater ,shinto ceremonies were omitted1 or worse still1 were performed by ,buddhist monks1 who also took possession of many of the ,shinto shrines and celebrated ,buddhist rites there4 ,it should not be forgotten that the foreign religion contained valuable elements unknown to the older ,shinto1 and that the latter had much to gain by their absorption4 ,the ,rybu ,shinto inculcated uprightness1 purity of heart1 charity to the poor1 humanity1 and the vanity of mere outward forms of worship2 of all which there is little trace in the older cult4 ,chinese ,learning4--,the civilisation of ,japan during the ,tokugawa dynasty of ,shguns 7#afjc-ahfh7 was modelled on ,chinese originals4 ,its moral ideals were drawn from the writings of the ancient sages ,confucius and ,mencius1 and the sceptical philosophy of the ,sung dynasty 7#ifj-abgh74 ,but in the eighteenth century a patriotic reaction set in1 which strove to establish more purely national standards of ethics and principles of government and religion4 ,this movement1 known as the #8,revival of ,pure ,shinto1' was first revealed to ,europeans by a paper contributed by ,sir ,e4 ,satow to the ,transactions of the ,asiatic ,society of ,japan in #ahge4 ,the principal promoters were ,motori and his pupil ,hirata1 two earnest1 able1 and stupendously learned writers who devoted their lives to an endeavour by oral teaching and in a series of voluminous works to the dethronement of the established ,chinese ethics and philosophy in favour of a ,shinto purified from ,buddhist and other foreign adulterations of later times4 ,they succeeded to some extent in this object4 ,it was no doubt partially owing to their teachings that the ,mikado was restored in #ahfh to his sovereign position as the descendant of the ,sun-goddess1 the ,shinto shrines purified from ,buddhist ornaments and practices1 and the monks expelled from them4 ,in reality ,motori and ,hirata's movement was a retrograde one4 ,the old ,shinto1 which they wished to restore1 could not possibly hold its own as the national faith of a people familiar with the far higher religious and moral ideas of ,india and ,china1 not to speak of civilised ,europe4 ,without a code of morals1 or an efficient ecclesiastical organisation1 with little aid from the arts of painting1 sculpture1 and architecture1 and with a sacred literature scanty and feeble compared with those of its foreign rivals1 ,shinto is doomed to extinction4 ,whatever the religious future of ,japan may be1 ,shinto will assuredly have little place in it4 ,such meat for babes is quite inadequate as the spiritual food of a nation which in these latter days has reached a full and vigorous manhood4 ,,selected ,,works ,,bearing ,,on ,,shinto #a4 ,history of ,japan1 by ,engelbert ,kaempfer1 #agbg-agbh4 ,worthless for ,shinto4 #b4 ,nippon ,archif41 #ahig 7new edition71 by ,p4 ,f4 von ,siebold4 ,good when first published1 but superseded by later works1 in so far as ,shinto is concerned4 #c4 ,transactions of the ,asiatic ,society of ,japan4 7a7 ,a series of papers on #8,the ,revival of ,pure ,shinto' and #8,ancient ,japanese ,rituals1' by ,sir ,ernest ,satow4 #ahgd-ha4 ,the serious student may safely neglect all that precedes these epoch-making articles4 7b7 ,the ,kojiki1 translated by ,b4 ,h4 ,chamberlain1 #ahhc4 ,accurate1 indispensable for myth4 7c7 ,ancient ,japanese ,rituals4 ,the ,ohoharahi1 with translation and notes by ,dr4 ,karl ,florenz1 #ahii4 ,valuable4 #d4 ,transactions of the ,japan ,society4 the ,nihongi1 ,translated ,by ,w4 ,g4 ,aston1 #ahif4 ,similar in ,scope ,to ,the ,kojiki4 #e4 ,japan1 an ,appreciation1 by ,lafcadio ,hearn1 #aijd4 ,sympathetic insight1 admirable style1 blind acceptance of ,h4 ,spencer's philosophy1 imperfect knowledge4 ,his outlook is seen at its best in the recently published ,life and ,letters 7,constable1 #aijg74 #f4 ,the ,mikado's ,empire1 by ,w4 ,e4 ,griffis4 ,useful for some aspects of modern ,shinto1 and the ,folk-lore associated with it4 #g4 ,the ,religions of ,japan1 by ,w4 ,e4 ,griffis1 #ahie4 ,shows the relations of ,shinto to ,buddhism and ,confucianism4 #h4 ,the ,development of ,religion in ,japan4 ,lectures by ,g4 ,w4 ,knox1 #aijg4 ,judicious and up-to-date4 #i4 ,german ,asiatic ,society of ,japan4 ,japanische ,mythologie1 by ,dr4 ,karl ,florenz4 #aija4 ,a good ,german translation of the mythological part of the ,nihongi1 with useful notes4 #aj4 ,japan and ,china1 by ,captain ,brinkley4 #aijc4 ,throws light on some aspects of modern ,shinto4 #aa4 ,murray's ,japan1 by ,b4 ,h4 ,chamberlain and ,w4 ,b4 ,mason4 #g ed4 #aijc4 #ab4 ,things ,japanese1 by ,b4 ,h4 ,chamberlain4 #e ed4 #aije4 #ac4 ,shintoisme1 by ,m4 ,revon1 in the ,revue de l',histoire des ,religions1 #aije-aijg4 ,highly recommended for its up-to-date theory1 and as a comprehensive collection of facts4 #ad4 ,shinto1 by ,w4 ,g4 ,aston1 #aije4 ,of similar scope to the present work1 but more comprehensive4 #ae4 ,ancestor ,worship and ,japanese ,law1 by ,nobushige ,hodzumi4 #aija4 #af4 ,a ,fantasy of ,far ,japan1 by ,baron ,suyematsu4 #aije4 ,these two works represent the attitude of modern ,japanese towards the old ,shinto4 #ag4 ,a ,bibliography of the ,japanese ,empire 7#ahie74 ,gives a classified list of books1 essays1 and maps in ,european languages relating to ,japan4 ,tolerably comprehensive1 but inaccurate4 ,printed in ,great ,britain by ,t4 and ,a4 ,,constable ,,ltd4 at the ,edinburgh ,university ,press 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes ,obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected4 ,variations in hyphenation1 accents1 spelling and punctuation remain unchanged4 ,italics are represented thus italic1 bold thus bold4