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Tpn
L332 1
JAMES WALKER. D.D.. LL.D..
(Clan or iSm)
" Preference bemg given In works io ihe 1 iitelleclual
and Moral Sciences."
■
Religions Ancient and Modern
SHINTO: THE ANCIENT
RELIGION OF JAPAN
RELIGIONS: ANCIENT AND MODERN.
Foolscap 8z/tf. Price is, net per Volume,
ANIMISM.
By Edward Clodd, Author of The Story of Creafion.
PANTHEISM.
By James Allanson Picton, Author of The Religion of the
Universe.
THE RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA.
By Professor Giles, LL. D. , Professor of Chinese in the University
of Cambridge.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT GREECE.
By Jane Harrison, Lecturer at Newnham College, Cambridge,
Author of Prolegomena to Study of Greek Religion,
ISLAM.
By Syed Ameer Ali, M.A., C.I.E., late of H.M.'s High Court
of Judicature in Bengal, Author of The Spirit of Islam and The
Ethics of Islam.
MAGIC AND FETISHISM.
By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S., Lecturer on Ethnology at Cam-
bridge University.
THE RELIGION OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
By Professor W. M. Flinders Petrie, F.R.S.
THE RELIGION OF BABYLONIA AND ASSYRIA.
By Theophilus G. Pinches, late of the British Museum.
HINDUISM.
By Dr. L. D. Barnett, of the Department of Oriental Printed
Books and MSS., British Museum.
SCANDINAVIAN RELIGION.
By William A. Craigie, Joint Editor of the Oxford English
Dictionary.
CELTIC RELIGION.
By Professor Anwyl, Professor of Welsh at University College,
Aberystwyth.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF ANCIENT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
By Charles Squire, Author of The Mythology of the British
Islands.
JUDAISM.
By Israel Abrahams, M.A., Reader in Tahnudic Literature in
Cambridge University, Author of Jewish Life in the Middle Ages.
SHINTO : THE RELIGION OF OLD JAPAN.
By W. G. Aston, C.M.G., Author of A History of Japanese
Literature, [Nearly Ready,
ISLAM IN INDIA.
By T. W. Arnold, Assistant Librarian at the India Office,
Author of The Preaching of Islam. [In Preparation.
BUDDHISM. 2 vols.
By Professor Rhys Davids, LL.D., late Secretary of The Royal
Asiatic Society.
PRIMITIVE OR NICENE CHRISTIANITY.
By John Sutherland Black, LL.D., Joint Editor of the
Encyclopedia Biblica,
Other Volumes to follow.
SHINTO
THE ANCIENT RELIGION
OF JAPAN
By
W. G. ASTON, C.M.G,, D.Lit.
LONDON
ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE iff CO Ltd
i6 JAMES STREET HAYMARKET
1907
^^^rrH^
(Tou/v /332..S
^
/WxjtfCC'w in }\rL
J^Q^
Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to His Majesty
CONTENTS
CHAP.
I. Introductory,
II. General Character of Shinto,
III. Myth,
IV. The Gods, ....
V. The Priesthood,
VI. Worship,
VII. Morality and Purity,
viiL Divination and Inspiration,
IX. Later History,
Selected Works bearing on Shinto,
PAGE
1
18
35
56
58
64
76
78
82
SHINTO: THE ANCIENT RELIGION
OF JAPAN
*
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
Origins. — The Japanese are in the main a con-
tinental race. Their language and physical
characteristics show conclusively that they come
from Northern Asia, and geographical considera-
tions indicate that Korea must have been
their point of embarkation. Indeed a desultory
emigration from Korea to Japan continued into
historical times. When we say Northern Asia
w^ exclude China. The racial affinity of the
Japanese to the Chinese, of which we hear so
often, really amounts to very little. It is not
closer than that which unites the most distantly
related members of the Indo-European family
of nations. The Japanese themselves have no
traditions of their origin, and it is now impossible
to say what form of religion was professed by the
A I
earliest imtiiigrfttits. No inferenfe cnn be dra'wn
from the circumstance that Sun-worship ia
common to them with many North- Asiatic races.
The Sun is, or has been, worshipped aitnost every-
where. There is distinct evidence of a Korean
element in Shinto, but, with the Uttle that we
know of the old native religion of that country,
anything like a complete comparison is impos-
sible. Some have recognised a resemblance
between Shinto and the old state rehgion of
China, and it is true that both consist largely oi
Nature-worship. But the two cults differ ^Wdely.
The Japanese do not recognise Tien (Heaven),
the chief Nature-deity of the Chinese, nor have
they anything to correspond to their Shangti —
a more personal ruler of the universe. The Sun
is masculine in China, feminine in Japan. The
Sun-goddess takes precedence of the Earth-god
in Japan, while in China Heaven and Earth
rank above the Sun and Moon. Some Chinese
traits are to be found in the old Shinto docu-
ments, but they are of later origin, and are
readily distinguishable from the native element.
A few similarities exist between Shinto and the
religion of the Ainus of Yezo, a savage race
which once occupied the main island of Japan.
But it is reasonable to suppose that in this case
INTRODUCTORY
the less civilised natioD has borrowed from its
more civilised neighbour and conqueror rather
than vice versa. It is significant that the Ain u
words for God, prayer, and offering, are taken
from the Japanese. If the Malay or Polynesian
element, which some have recognised in the
Japanese race, has any existence, it has left no
trace in religion. Such coincidences as may be
noted between Shinto and oceanic religions, myths
and practices are attributable to the like action
of common causes rather than to inter-communi-
cation. The old Shinto owes little to any out-
side source. It is, on the whole, an independent
development of Japanese thought.
Sources of Information.— The Japanese had
no writing until the introduction of Chinese
teaming from Korea early in the fifth century
of our era, and the first books which have come
down to us date from the beginning of the
eighth. One of these, called the Kojild (712) 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 country. He was
perhaps one of the guild of 'recitera,' whose
business it was to recite 'ancient words' at the
ceremony which corresponds to our coronation.
The Kojild is a repertory of the old myths and
3
SHINTO
and, in the latter part, of the ancient
history of Japan, The Nihongi, a work of
similar scope, though based more on an existing
written literature, was produced a few years later
(720y It quotes numerous variants of the
religious myths current at this time. There are
voluminous and moat learned commentaries on
these two works written by Motoiiri and Hirata
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For
the ritual of Shinto our chief source of informa-
tion is the Yengiahiki, a compilation made early
in the tenth century. It contains, along with
minute directions regarding offerings, ceremonies,
etc., a series of the norito (litanies) used in Shinto
worship which are of the highest interest, and of
great, though unequal, antiquity.
The above-mentioned authorities give a toler-
ably complete account of the old state religion of
Japan, sometimes called ' Pure Shinto,' in order to
distinguish it from the Buddhiclsed cult of later
times. Its palmy days may be taken to extend
. from the seventh to the twelfth century. Shinto,
ij^ literally ' The Way of the Gods,' is a Chinese
i word, for which the Japanese equivalent is KuTni
no michi.
CHAPTER II
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
Kami is the ordinary Japanese word for God.
It means primarily above, superior, and is applied
to many other things besides deities, such as
nobles, the authorities, the 'missus,' the hair of
the head, the upper waters of a river, the part
of Japan near Kioto, etc. Height is in every
country associated with excellence and divinity,
no doubt because the first deities were the Sun
and other Heavenly objects. We ourselves speak
of the 'Most High' and use phrases like 'Good
Heavens * which testify to a personification of the
sky by our forefathers. But though Kami cor-
responds in a general way to ' God,' it has some
important limitations. The Kami are high, swift,
good, rich, living, but not infinite, omnipotent, or
omniscient. Most of them had a father and
mother, and of some the death is recorded.
MotoOri, the great Shinto theologian, writing in
S
the eighteenth century.
the latter part
says: —
' The term Kami is applied in the first place to the
various deities of Heaven and Earth who are men-
tioned in the ancient records as well as to their spirits
{mi-tama) which reside in the shrines where they are
worshipped. Moreover, not only human beings, but
birds, beasts, plants and trees, seas and mountainB,
and all other things whatsoever which deserve to be
dreaded and revered for the extraordinary and pre-
eminent powers which they possess, are called Kami.
They need not be eminent for aurpassiiig nobleness,
goodness, or serviceable ness alone. Malignant and
uncanny beings are also called Kwini if only they are the
objects of gen eral_d read. Among Kami who are human
beings I need hardly mention first of all the successive
Mikados — with reverence be it spoken. , . , Then
there have been numerous examples of divine human
beings both in ancient and modem times, who, although
not accepted by the nation generally, are treated as
gods, each of his several dignity, in a single proviucoj,
village, or family. . . . Amongst Kami who are not
human beings, I need hardly mention Thunder [ia
Japanese Nam Kami or the Sounding God], There
are also the Dragon, the Kcho [called in Japanese
Ko-datna or the Tree Spirit] and the Pox, who arc
Ka/iiU by reason of their uncanny and fearful uaturea.
The tei-m Kami ia applied in the A'ihongi and JUanifiSsJiiu
to the tiger and the wolf. Izanagi gave to the fruit
of the peach, and to the jewels round his neck names
which implied that they were Kami. . . . There are
many cases of seaa and mountains being called Ka^ni,
I
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
It is not their spirits which ara meant. The wo
was applied directly to the seas or mouutains them-
selves as being very awfu! things.'
The Kami Beneficent. — The saying of the old
Roman poet that ' Fear first made the Gods
does not hold good of Shinto. It is rather, aa
Schiller called the worship of the gods of Greece,
a Wonnedien^t, a religion inspired by love and
gratitude more than by fear. The three greatest ,
gods, viz. the Sun-goddess, the Food-goddess, and
Ohonanioclii (a god of Earth, the universal pro-
vider), are all beneficent beings, though they may
send a curse when offended by the neglect of
their worship or an insult to their shrines. Their
worshippers come before them with gladness,
addressing them as fathers, parents, or dear divine
anc^tors, and their festivals are occasions of
rejoicing. But there are some malevolent or
mischievous deities who have to be propitiated
by oiferings. The Fire-goil, as is natural in i
country where the houses are built of wood and
great conflagrations are i'reqiient, is one of these,
and, in a lesser degree, tlie Thunder-god and the
deity oi the Rain-storm. The latter has, however,
good points. He provides trees for tho use of
Uiinianity, and rescues a maiden from being
devoured by a great serpent.
7
Lafoadiu Htiam's view thai Shinto wus at one
time a religion of ' perpetiial fear ' ia unsupported
by evidence.
Glasses of Kami. — Although the Kami are
deficient in several of the attributes of the
Christian God, they possess two essential qualities
without which it would be impossible to recog-
nise them as deities at all, viz,, sentiency and
superhuman power. The union of these ideas
may be accomplished in two ways, first by attri-
buting sense and will to the great elemental
objects and phenomena, and secondly by apply-
ing to human and other living beings ideas of
transcendent power derived from the contempla-
tion of the mighty forces on whose operation we
are daily and hourly dependent for our existence.
We have therefore two classes of deities, Nature-
gods and Man-gods, the first being the result of
personification, the second of deification. It has
been the generally received opinion that the
Shinto gods belong to the latter rather than to
the former of these two categories. Nine out of
ten educated Japanese will declare with perfect
sincerity that Shinto i.=i ancestor-worship. Thus
Mr. Daigoro Goh, a former secretary of the Japan
Society, says :— * Shinto or ancestor- worship being
the creed of the ancient inhabitants,' The same
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
view is held by some European scholars, notably
the late Lafcadio Heam, whose interesting and
valuable work, Japan, an Interpretation, ia greatly
marred by this misconception. It is quite true
that there is a large element of ancestor worship
in modern Japanese religioiis practices, but a very
little examination shows that all the great deities
of the older Shinto are not Man, but Nature gods,
Prominent among them we find the deities oi'
the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the Sea, the Rain-
storm, Fire, Thunder, etc. And when the so-
called ancestors of the Japanese race are not
actually Nature-gods, they are usually the satel-
lites or children of Nature-gods. Tn imitation of
the Mikados who selected the Sun-goddess as
their ancestral deity, the hereditary corporations
or clans by whom in ancient times the Govern-
ment of Japan, central and local, was carried on,
chose for themselves, or perhaps invented, nature-
deities, or their children or ministers, as their
patron-gods, to whom special worship was piud.
Erom this to a belief In their descent from him
as an ancestor, the transition was easy. The
same process has been observed in other countries,
It wao asaistod by the habit of addressing Uie
deity as father or parent, which, at first a
metaphorical expression, came ultimately to be
^ I
SHINTO
understood in a more literal Bense. These pseudo-
ancestral deities -were called Ujigami, that is to
say ■ surname-deities.' 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 born. Children are presented to
the Ujigami shortly after birth, and other impor-
tant events, such as a change of residence, are
announced to hini. A deity of any class may
become an Ujigami, and there have been cases
of a Buddha attaining to this position, The
cult of one's real forefathers, beginning with
deceased parents, as in China, was hardly known
in ancient Japan. Indeed there is but little trace
of any religious worship of individual men in
the Shinto of the Kojiki and yihongi. Living
Mikados were styled Kami, and spoken of as the
' Heavenly Grandchild ' of the Sun-goddess. But
their godship was more titular than real. It
was much on a par with that of the Pope and
Emperor who in the Middle Ages were called
'Dens in terris.' No miracnlons powers were
claimed for them beyond a vague general authority
over the minor gods of Japan. Deceased Mikados
were occasionally worshipped by their descendants,
but whether there was anything in this so-called
worship to distinguish it from the ordinary funeral
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
or commemorative services there is nothing to
show. They had no shrineB, and no rituals in
their honour are preserved in the Yengiahiki
collection. At a later period, the cult of deceased
Mikadog acquired a mqre definite character. They
were prayed to for rain, to stay curses, to re-
store the Mikado's health, etc. They had shrines
erected to them, the offerings at which were
assimilated to those made to Nature- deities. The
Mikado 6jin, if we may believe an oracle delivered
by himself, became an important War-god under
the name of Hachiman. The Empress Jingo,
the legendary conqueror of Korea, also received
divine honours. At the present day, solemn
services are held periodically in the Imperial
Palace for the worship of all the dynasty.
Both categories of deities, Man and Nature
gods, have three subdivisions according as they
are deities of individuals, of classes, or of
qualities. All these are esemplitied in Shinto.
The Sun-goddess represents an individual object;
Kukuchi, tho god of Trees, a class ; and Musubi,
the god of Growth, an abstract quality. Tem-
mangu is a deified individual statesman, Koyane
represents the Nakatomi clan or family, and Taji-
kara no wo (hand-strength-male) ia a per."onified
human quality.
Development of the Idea of God. — The Nature-
gods of Shinto, as of other religions, are in the
first place the actual material objects or pheno-
mena regarded as living beings. Sometimes the
personitication proceeds no further; There are
Mud and Sand deities which have no sex, and no
mythical record beyond a bare mention. But in
the case of others the same progressive humanis-
ing process that is to be observed elsewhere has
already begun. Tho Sun is not only the brilliant
heavenly being whose retirement to a cave leaves
the world to darkness, she is a queen, a child,
and a mother — in a miraeulous fashion. She
speaks, weaves, wears armour, sows seed, and
does many other things which have nothing to
do with her solar quality. At a still more recent
stage — though not in the old records — slie be-
comes an independent personage who rules the
Sun, while with many worshippers at the present
day her solar character is forgotten altogether,
and she is considered merely as a great divine
ancestor who dwolls at Ise and exercises a pro-
vidential guardianship over Japan. This line of
development is familiar to us in other mytho-
logies, the two stages of thought being often con-
founded. In Shakespeare's Tevipeat, Iris is at once
tho rainbow and an anthropomorphic i
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
^^he:
^^^HBie gods. Phoebus is nob only the sua but a
^^^^Sy distinct from that luminary, though associ-
ated with it, as in the story of Phaeton. As the
god of music and poetry, his solar function is not
obvious. The same is true of the gods of the Vedas.
Impersonality of Shinto.^The faculty of
imagination was not powerful with the ancient
Japanese. It was active, and produced many
deities of all classes. But they are very feebly '
characterised. Indeed, most of them may be '
said to have no characters at all. They are
popularly reckoned at eighty myriads, or eight
hundred myriads' Though this is a fanciful
exaggeration, Shinto is a highly polythetstie
religion, and numbers its deities by hundreds,
even if we do not go back to that earlier period
when the rocks, the trees, and the foam of water
had all power of speech. There is a constant
depletion in their ranks by the mere force of
oblivion, while, on the other hand, new deities
come into notice. Different gods are identified
with one another, or the sa^ie deities may be
split up like Musubi into a pair, or a number of
distinct persons. The same deity at ditferent
. Dlaces may have different ranks and attributes.
" 'Bin. — The gods of ancient
e, as unspiritual beings e
LU
SHINTO
Olympus. Their doings are modelled on those
of livincj men and women, not on those of ghosts.
When Izanagi followed his wife Izanami to the
land of the dead he found there not a spirit, but
a putrefying corpse. Ghosts are as absent from
the Kojiki and Nihongi as they are from the Old
Testament Scriptures. Herbert Spencer's ghost-
theory of the origin of religion derives no support
from the Japanese evidence. There is, however,
a spiritual element in Shinto which demands
notice, Some of the gods are represented as
having tiiitama (august jewels or souls) which
reside invisibly in their temples and are the
means of commmiication between Heaven and
this world. The Earth or Eosmos deity Ohona-
mochi had a mitania (double) which appeared to
him in a divine radiance illuminating the sea, and
obtained from him a promise that, in considera-
tion of the assistance the latter had rendered in
reducing the world to order, he should have a
shrine consecrated to him at Mimoro. Susa no
wo's -mita/ma was* settled' at Susa in Idzumo.
The element tawi (soul) enters into the names
of several deities. This implies a. more or less
spiritual conception o£ thoir nature. Sometimes
We hear of two mitama, one of a gentle, the other
of a violent nature.
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
There are only one or two cases of deceased men
having mitama. In one of these the mitama
takes the shape of a bird. Metamorphoses are
frequently mentioned in the old legends.
Shekinah.— As in the analogous ease of the
Shekinah of Judai-sm, the doctrine of the mitama
of gods apparently does not arise from that of 1
the separability of the human soul and body. It f
seems rather to have been invented in order to '
smooth over the difficulty of conceiving how the
goda of Heaven can exercise their power and
hear and answer prayer in their shrines on earth.
It may, however, owe somethiug to the notion of
separate human souls, which, though we do not
find it in the older Japanese records, is familiar
to races of a much lower degree of civilisation.
Immortality of the SouL — This doctrine is
nowhere directly taught in the Shinto books.
There is a land of Yorui to which we are told ]
that some of the gods retired at death. It is
represented as inhabited by various personifica-
tions of death and disease, but not by human
beings or their ghosts, though the phrase ' even
pass ofYomi.'like the facilis descensus Averni,
seems intended to express the facility with which I
all we mortal men find our way thither. In one
passage of the NihoTigi, Yomi is clearly no more
SHINTO
than a metaphor for the grave. A brother of
Jimmu Tenno, the first Mikado, is said to have
gone to the ' Eternal Land ' at his death, and in
a poem of the Manydshiu, a deceased Mikado is
said to have ascended into heaven. The pre-
historic custom of sacrificing wives and atten-
dants at the tombs of dead sovereigns may be
thought to imply a belief in their continued
existence. But there are other motives for this
practice than the wish to gratify the deceased by
providing him with companions in the other
world. The norito or rituals contain no reference
to the immortality of the soul.
Shintai. — The mitama is represented in the
shrine by a concrete object termed the Shintai
or * God-body.' It may be a mirror, a sword, a
tablet with the god's name, a pillow, a spear, etc.
A round stone, which is cheap and durable, is a
very common Shintai. The god is sometimes
represented as attaching himself to the Shintai,
and may be even considered identical with it by
the ignorant. The mitama and shintai are fre-
quently confounded. The latter was in many
cases originally an oflfering which, by long asso-
ciation, came ultimately to be looked upon as
partaking in some measure of the divine nature.
Idols. — With a few unimportant exceptions,
i6
GENERAL CHARACTER OF SHINTO
Shinto has no idols. The Shintai is not in the
least anthropomorphic. The pictures of the goda
sold at shrines at the present day are due to
Chinese or Buddhist influence.
Functions of Goda. — The two great classes of
deities, Nature-gods and Man-gods, have a ten-
dency mutually to encroach on each other's
functions, so that ultimately they become assimi-
lated under the one general term Kami. As we
have seen abore, the Sun-goddess does not confine
herself to her function as a giver of light and
heat, but does many things characteristic of a
magnified human being. Susa no wo, the Rain-
storm, provides mankind with useful trees, He
and his wife are regarded as gods of wedlock.
Inari, the Grain-god, is a comprehensive answerer
of prayer from a petition for a good harvest to
one for the restoration of stolen property. On
the other hand, a genuine deified man like
Temmangu may send rain in time of drought.
An obscure deity, known as Suitengu, is wor-
shipped in Tokio at the present day as a protector
against the perils of tho sea, burglary, and the
pains of parturition. Almost any Kami, whatever
hifl origin, may send rain, bestow prosperity in
trade, avert sickness, cure sickness or sterility, and
so on, without much discrimination of function.
»7
CHAPTER III
MYTH
Character of Japanese Myth. — Japanese myth
covers much the same ground as the myths of
other countries. We have the explanatory myth,
invented in order to account for some custom or
rite, some natural phenomenon, a name of a place
or person, etc. There is an abundance of highly
frivolous, revolting, childish, and unmeaning — to
us at least — matter, and the various versions of
the stories which have come down to us are often
wholly inconsistent with one another. From the
sketch of the mythical narrative which is given
below, many details of this description have
necessarily been omitted. There are, however,
two leading ideas by which Japanese myth is
redeemed from summary condemnation as a mere
farrago of childish nonsense. In the first place,
it is permeated by the conception of the so-called
inanimate universe as being in reality instinct
with sentient life. The old Shintoists had not
i8
MYTH
grasped the more general anrt philosophic notion
of tiio Imtnanence of Deity in all things. With
their limited scientific knowledge this was im-
possible. But they had the same idea in a more
desultory, fragmentary way. To them, the Sim,
the Wind, the Sea, were Kami who could hear
and answer prayer, and exercise a providential
care over mankind. But the synthesis of these
and other aspects of nature and humanity into
one divine whole is necessarily wanting. The
second idea which inspires Japanese myth corre-
sponds to our European notion of the divine right
of kings, which, apart from the accident of
heredity, is not such a negligible quantity as is
sometimes supposed. The Mikados are repre-
sented as deriving their authority, whether as
high-priests or sovereigns, from their ancestor,
the Sun-goddesB, and have, therefore, a divinely
ordered right to the reverence and obedience of
tlieir subjects.
There is no summer imd winter myth in the
old records, no deluge myth, and no eclipse myth.
The stars are strangely neglected. Earthquakes
are hardly noticed. There is no Ketiiming
, Saviour myth, and no Journey of the Dead,
the expressions ' Kveii Pass of Hados '
Taeo-kumade (eighty-road- windings, an alter-
SHINTO
native word for the land of Darkness) suggeaM
that this idea was not unknown. The creation
of mankind generally is not accounted for; but
the origin of many of the ruling caste is ascribed
to direct descent from the principal divinities.!
just as the Mikado is said to be descended from*
the Hun-goddess. I
First Gods.— Four different first gods are men««
tioned by the various authorities. None of thesal
ever attained to much importance. They werefl
no doubt collected or invented with the purposed
of eking out a genealogical tree for the greater*
divinities who came afterwards, One of thesej
called Ame yudzuru hi ame no sagin KuntM
yiulswrv, f-m.ki Kuni iw sagin, is described aal
the Heavenly Parent, But we know nothinn
more about kirn or her — the sex is doubtful — anu
it is impossible to regard this interminable titl«
as the name of a real god, any more than we caam
think that Shakespeare's hoTiorificabilitudinitOf^
tibus was ever meant for a genuine word. Thu
derivation, however, shows that this, like the*
other first gods, was intended as a nature-deity.a
The four generations which follow consist o{fl
obscure personages, all of whom disappear at onc^'l
JTom the record. Their names, too, are sugges-fl
tive of nature, and more especially agriculture-tfl
MYTH
deities. In the sixth ^eoeratiuQ we fiud two
deities, named Kami-musitbi and Taka-mu8vJ)i,
i.e. High-growth and Divine-growth, who were of
some importance in later times.
Izanagi and Izanami. — With these two deities
Japanese myth really begins.
The Nihfyngi tells us that —
' Izanagi and Izaiiami stood on the floating bridge of ^
Heaven (the rainbow) and held counsel together, say-
ing " Ib there not a country beneath 1 " Thereupon ^
they thrust down the "Jewel-Spear of Heaven," and
groping about with it, found the ocean. The brioo
which dripped from the point of the spear coagulated
and formed an island which received the name of
Onogoro-jima or the " Self -Coagulating Island." The
two deities thereupon descended and dwelt there.
Accordingly they wished to be united as husband and
wife, and to produce countries. So they made Onogoro-
jima the pillar of the centre of the land.'
The Kojiki says that Izanagi and Izanami were
commanded by all the heavenly deities 'to regu-
late and fully consolidate' the floating land be-
neath. But all the accounts, the Kc^iki included,
proceed to represent the islands of Japan as having
lieen generated by them in the ordinary manner.
We have therefore three distinct conceptions of
creation in Japanese myth — first, as generation
SHINTO
in the most literal sense ; second, us reducing to
order; and third, as growth (Musubi).
' The two deities having deBConded on Onogoro-jima
erected there an eight-fathom house with an august
central pillar. Then Izanagi addressed Izsnami, saying,
" Let me and thee go round the heavenly august pillar,
and having met at the other aide, let us become united
in wedlock." This being agreed to, he said, " Do thou go
round from the left, and I will go round from the right."
^Vhen they had gone round, Izanami spoke first and
exclaimed, " IIow delightful ! I have met a lovely
youth." Izanagi then said, "How delightful! Ibavemet
a lovely maiden." Afterwards he said, " It was unlucky
for the woman to speak first." The child which was
the first offspring of their union was the Hiruko (leech-
child), which at the age of three was still uuable to
stand upright, and was therefore placed in a reed-boat
and sent adrift.'
Izanagi and Izanami then procreated the islands
of Japan with a number o£ other gods, among
whom were Ilia-tsucki-b-iko (rock-earth-prince),
Oho-ya-biko (great-house-prince), the Wind-gods,
a variety of marine deities, Ame -no MikumaH
(the heavenly water distributor), llie god of Moora
(who is also the god of Herbs and Grasses), the
god of Trees, the gods of Mountains and Valleys,
and the goddess of Food, The last deity to be
produced was the god of Fire. Kagu-tauchi, also
Called Ho-mitsiibi (Fire-growth). In giving birth
MYTH
to hirQ, Izanaini was burnt so that she sickeaed
and lay down. From her vomit, feces, and urine
were born deities which personify the elements of
metal, water, and clay. When Izanami died,
Izanagi, in his grief and rago, drew his sword and
slew Kagu-tsuchi, thereby generating a nimiber of
other deities, two of whom, named Take-mika-
tauchi and Futsunushi, were favourite objects of
worship in later times,
The creation of the Son and Moon is variously
accounted for. Some say that they were the
children of Izanagi and Izanami, others that they
were born from the lustrations of Izanagi when
he returned from Yomi. A third child, Susa no
wo, the boisterous and unruly Rain-storm god,
was produced at the same time.
When Izanami died she went to the Land of
Yomi, whither she was followed by her husband.
But as she had already eaten of the food of that
region, he could not bring her back with him.
She forbade him to look on her, but he persisted
and saw that she was ah«ady a putrid corpse.
Izanami then complained that he had put her to
ahame, and caused him to be pursued by the
Ugly Females of Hades and other personifications
of corruption and disease who dwelt there. She
herself had become Death personified. Izanagi,
SHINTO
in his flight, flung down various objects which
delayed his pursuers — a well-known incident
of myth — until he reached the Even Pass of
Hades, where he pronounced the formula of
divorce.
When Izanagi returned to earth he bathed in
the sea in order to remove the pollution incurred
by his visit to Yomi, and in so doing produced a
number of deities, some of whom are Ocean-gods
and others associated with the ancient Japanese
ceremonies of religious purification.
Susa no wo and the San-Ooddess.— Susa no wo
(the Rain-storm god) was at first appointed to rule
the Sea, but he preferred to join his mother,
Izanami, in Hades, and was accordingly de-
spatched thither by his father. Before taking
his departure, however, he ascended to heaven
to take leave of his elder sister 'Amaterasu, the
Sun-goddess. All the mountains and rivers shook,
and every land and country quaked as he pass<
upwards. Amaterasu, in alarm, armed herself
a warrior with sword and bow, stamped her fefet
into the hard ground up to her thighs, kickilog
away the earth like rotten snow, and, confrontliog
him like a valiant man, challenged him to declr|r«
the reason of his coming. Susa no wo protespied
that it was only a friendly visit, and as a proolWrf
24
\
MYTH
is good intentions proposed that they should pro-
auce children between them by each one crunching
in his mouth and spurting out fragments of the
sword and jewels worn by the other. One of the
children thus bom was called Manaya a fratau
ktichi hiiyaJii anm no oafiihomimi, the forefather
of the present Imperial dynasty, There were
seven others who figure largely in the genealogies
of the Japanese nobility.
But the true nature of the Rain-storm god was
not long repressed. He destroyed bis sister's rice-
fields, defiled the sacred hall where she was cele-
brating the harvest festival, and flung a piebald
colt that had been flayed backwards into the
sacred weaving-room where the garments of the
gods were woven. The Sun-goddess had borne
hia previous outrages with calmness and forbear-
ance, but this last (a malicious magical practice ?)
was beyond endurance. She retired in disgust
and shut herself up in the Rock-cave of Heaven,
leaving the world to darkness. This proceeding
of Amaterasu wftiJ followed by dire results. ' The
voices of the evil deities were hke unto the flies
in the fifth moon as they swarmed, and a myriad
portents of woe arose.' The gods, in consternation,
held an assembly in the dry bed of the River of
Heaven (the Milky Way) to devise means for
SHINTO
gher to emerge from the cave.aiid (I mimber I
dieiity were adopted which were evidently
borrowed from the ritual of tlie time when the
myth became current. The deities who were speci-
ally concerned with this duty are obvious counter-
parts of the actual officials of the Mikado's Court,
and included a prayer-reciter, an oft'ering-provider,
a mirror-maker, a jewel-maker, a diviner, with—
according to some accounts — many others. All I
this is most convenient for the genealogists of 1
later times. Amaterasu at length reappeared, to f
the great delight of everybody. Susa no wo was |
fined in a thousand tables of offerings and ex-
pelled from Heaven. Before proceeding to Yomi, I
he went down to Earth. Here he appears in a
totally new character as the Perseus of a Japanese
Andromeda, whom he rescues from i
pent, having first intoxicated the monster. Of J
course they are married and have numerous I
children. Her name, Inada-hirae (riee-land-lady), [
is probably not without significance as that of the \
wife of a Rain-storm god. Another story repre-
sents him as the murderer of the Food-goddesa, I
wlio had ofi'ended him by producing viands for I
his entertainment from various parts of her body. I
But a different version ascribes this crime to t
Moon-god, and gives it as the reason why t
^
MYTH
Sim-goddess refused to have any further relations
with him. This, of course, explains why the two
luminaries are not seen together.
Here it may be pointed out that, notwith-
standing the anthropomorphic character of many
of the above details it is evidently the sun itself
which is concealed in the Rock-cave. Modern
Euhemeriets deny this. But the evidence is far
too strong to be disregarded, Her names, Ama-
terasu (Heaven Shiniug-one) and Hirume (Sun-
female), are conclusive on this point. The modem
commentator Motoori agrees, or rather maintains,
that Amaterasu is the very sun which wo see in
heaven, Those Japanese who in the twentieth
century talk of the imperial visit to Ise as
ancestor-worship are sorely puzzled to justify
their position. Imbued with the philosophy of
China and the science of Europe, they naturally
find it difficult to understand how the Mikado
can be really descended from the sun. Some
resort to the Euliemeristic theory that she was a
mortal Empress who lived in a place on earth
caUed Takanna no hara (plain-o I'- high -heaven),
and speak of rice-culture and the art of weaving
boiug known in her reign.
The myth of the Sun-goddess and Susa no wo
is the central pivot on which the old mythology
■r
^^^Kurns. All that
^^^™«f genealogical :
SHINTO
All that preoedee may be regarded as a 3<
■of genealogical introduction, and the subsequei
narrative as an epilogue designed to complete tt
connexion between the living Mikados and thei]
celestial ancestor.
Ohonamochi.— One of Susa no wo's childra
was an Earth-god named Ohonamochi (greai
name-possessor), who is at this day a veij
important deity. The Kajiki relates his ad?
venture.? at great length. He was badly treatei
by his eighty elder brothers, but assisted by I
hare to whom he had rendered service. He wen
down to the land of Yomi, where he married tb
daughter of Susa no wo. Susa no wo iinpose(
tasks upon him which by his wife's assistance hi
lerformed successfully, and ultimately made hii
■.escape, taking her with him. The Yomi of thi
■ narrative has little that is characteristic of th
abode of the Dead. Olionamochi is frequently
referred to as the ' God who made the land,' an<
his various names show that he is an Earth-god
He was assisted in reducing the country to ord<
by his own mitama or double, and by a dwarf-go(
galled Sukuna-bikona, who came from beyond tb
jrea and is credited with having instructed niai
[kind in the arts of medicine and brewinj
Ohonamochi had a numerous progeny by varioq
28
MYTH
mothers. Among them were the Harvest-god
and the Food-goddesa. The Kojiki gives a
genealogy of them and their descendants, most
of whom are wholly unknown to us,
Nini^. — Meanwhile the Sim-Goddess became
desirous of establishing the rule of her own
grandchild Ninigi, son of Masaya a katsu, in
Japan. After several fruitless attempts to pre-
pare the country for his reception by purging it
of the swarms of evil deities which infested it,
two gods named Take-mika-tsuehi (Thunder?)
and Futsunuahi (Fire ?) were sent to summon
Ohonamochi to yield over his authority. After
some demur he did so, and Ninigi was accordingly
despatched to earth, accompanied by a long train
of attendants who provide further material for
the genealogists. They descended on a mountain
in KJushiu. Here Ninigi took to wife a Mountain-
god's daughter, named Konohaiia Sakuya-hlme
(the lady who blossoms like the flowers of the
trees), rejecting as too ugly her elder sister Iha-
naga-hime (the rock -long- lady). The latter,
indignant at this slight, uttered a curse: — 'The
race of visible men shall change swiftly like the i
flowers of the trees, and shall decay and pass
away." Hence the shortness of human life. By I
Konobana Ninigi had three children. The eldest.
29
SHINTO
So no Suaori, became a tisherman, the second soij
PHohodemi, a, hunter.
Ho no Susori once proposed to his brother fe
t exchange their respective caiHngs, Hohodeni
accordingly gave over to his elder brother hi^
bow and arrows and received :i fish-hook :
return. But neither of thciu profited by thd
exchange, so Ho no Susori gave back to ■
brother the bow and arrows and demanded froq
him the fish-hook.
Hohodemi, however, had in the meantime Ion
it in the sea. He tooli his sword and forged froin
lit a number of new fish-hooks which ho piled ug
1 a winnowing tray and ottered to his brother bj
Way of compensation. But the latter would havd
none but his own, and demanded it so vehementljr
of Hohodemi as to grieve him bitterly. Hoho-J
, demi went down to tJie sea-shore and stood there I
^lamenting, when there appeared to him the Old
■Man of the Sea, by whose advice he descended
into the sea-depths to the abode of the god of the fl
Sea, a stately palace with lofty towers and battla>
meuts. Before the gate there was a well,
over the well grew a thick-branching cassia tre
into which Hohodemi climbed. The Sea-g<
daughter Toyo-tama-hime (rich-jewel- maid ei
ten came out from the palaee to draw wate
30
She saw Hohodemi's face rellected in the well,
and returniDg within reported to her father that
she had seen a beautiful youth in the tree which
grew by the well. Hohodemi was courteously
received by the Sea-god, Toyo-taraa-hiko {rich-
JBwel- prince), who, when he heard his errand,
summoned before him all the fishes of the sea
and made inquiry of them for the lost fiah-hook,
which was eventually discovered in the mouth of
the Tai. Toyo-tama-hiko delivered it to Hoho-
demi, telling him when he gave it back to his
brother to say, ' a hook of poverty, a hook of ruin,
a hook of downfall,' to spit twice, and to hand it
over with averted face.
Hohodemi married the Sea-god's daughter
Toyo-taraa-liime and remained with her for three
years. He then became home-sick and returned
to the upper world. On the beach where he
came to land, he built for his wife, who was soon
to follow, a parturition house which he thatched
with cormorant's feathers. The roofing was still
unfinished when she arrived, riding on a great
tortoise. She went straight into the hut, begging
her husband not to look at her. But Hohodemi's
curiosity was too strong for him. He peeped in,
and behold ! his wife had become changed into n
iwxTii (sea-dragon) eight fathoms long. Deeply
SHINTO
indignant at the disgrace put upon her, Toyo-
tama-hime abandoned her new-born child to the
care of her sister, and barring behind her the sea-
path in such ft way that from that day to this all
communication between the realms of land am
sea has been cut off, returned hastily to he
father's palace.
Hohodemi's troubles with his elder brotheE
were renewed on liis arrival home. H
obliged to use against him two talismans
him by his father-in-law. One of these had the
virtue of making the tide flow and submerge Ho
no Susori and thus compel him to sue for mercy
(another account says that Hohodemi whistled
and thereby raised the wind and the sea), Thea
by a second talisman the tide was made to recede
and Ho no Sosori's life was spared. He yielded
complete submission to his younger brother and
promised that he and his descendants to al
generations would serve Hohodemi and his sue-
cessora as mimes and bondservants. The Nihimgi
adds that in that day it was still customary foi
the Hayato (or Imperial guards), who wera
descended from Ho no Susori, to perform a mimio 1
dance before the Mikados, the descendants and
successors of Hohodemi, in which the drowning
struKgles of their ancestor wer
MYTH
There are several features in this story which
betray a recent origin and foreign inHuences. A
comparatively advanced civilisation ia indicated
by the sword and fish-hook forged of iron. The
institution of the Hayato aa Imperial Guards
belongs to a period not very long antecedent to
the date of the Niktmgi and Kajiki. The palace of
the sea-depths and its Dragon-king are of Chinese,
and therefore of recent origin.
One of Hohodemi's grandchildren was Jimmu
Tenno, who is usually reckoned the iirst human
sovereign of Japan. He was the youngest of four
brothers and his selection as heir shows that
primogeniture, though to some extent acknow-
ledged in Ancient Japan, was by no means the
universal rule. At the age of forty-five he started
from Kiushiu, which had been the home of the
Imperial family since Ninigi descended there,
on an expedition for the conquest of the central
part of Japan, known as Yamato. This event
is dated in B.c. 667, 1,792, 470 years after the
descent of Ninigi from heaven, He finally suc-
ceeded in establishing his capital there in b.c,
660. From this date Japanese history is usually
said to begin. In reality there is no genuine,
history of Japan for one thousand years more. The
chronology for all this period is a colossal fraud
53
SHINTO
and there is abundant intrinsic evidence that the
narrative itself is no better than legend when it is
not absolute fiction. There is, however, much to
be learned from it of the beliefs and customs of
the ancient Japanese.
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
power.
34
CHAPTER IV
Natuke-Giods of Ikiuviduals and of Claires
Some of the principal gods have already been
introduced in the preceding chapter. Let us
now consider them separately, according to the
classification already indicated (p, 8). It is
often difficult to say whether a nature-god repre-
sents an individual object or phenomenon, or a
class. This ia chiefly owing to the circumstance
that Japftnese, like other Far-Eastern languages,
habitually neglects the distinction between the
singular and the plural number. 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 nations, and,
6Ten in the case of nouns and pronouns, plural
particles are very sparingly used. YaTtm no
Kcmil, for example, may mean either God of the
Mountain, God of Mountains, Gods of the Moun-
tain, or Gods of Mountains.
AmaterasQ, the San-Goddess.— The Sun-god-
35
SHINTO
dess belongs umuistakably to the first class,
that of individual objects personified. She
much the most prominent member of the Shini
Pantheon, and is described as the Ruler ol
Heaven and mirivaUed in dignity. She wears
royal insignia, and is surrounded by a court.
The chief religious ceremony of state was in her
honour. Yet she is not what we should call
, Supreme Deity. She is by no means an autocrat
Even in heaven, which she is supposed to govern,
there is a Council of the Gods which decides
important matters. In some myths she has a
formidable rival in Taka mu.8ubi, a god of Growth.
The ascription of the female sex to the deity
of the Sun has more meaning than might be sup-
posed. AVomen 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 prevalent. Several of the
ancient Mikados were women. Old Chinese
books call Japan the ' Queen-country.' Women
chieftains are frequently mentioned. Some of
the most important monuments of the old litera-
ture were the work of women.
Like the Sun-Gods of ancient Greece andt'
Egypt, Amaterasu possesses a sacred bird,
Yatagarasu, or eight-hand-crow. An old Japt
36
1
■^
THE GODS
dictionary identifies this bird, rightly in my
opinion, with the Yangwu or Sun-crow of Chinese
myth. The Yangwu is a bird of a red colour
with three legs which inhabits the sun. The
Yatagarasu was lent by the Sun-goddesa to
Jimiuu Tennri as a guide to his expedition
against the tribas who then held the province
of Yamato. A noble Japanese family claimed
descent from this bird.
The Sun-goddesa is represented in the shrine
of lae by her shintai or token, which is called
the Yatakagami or eight -hand mirror. It is
related that when she sent down her grandchild
Ninigi to rule the earth, she gave him this mirror
with the injunction : ' Regard this mirror exactly
as our mitama (soul) and reverence it as if
reverencing us.' At this day the Yatakagami is
held in high reverence. It is kept in a; bag of
brocade which is never opened or repaired, a new
one being added on the top of its predecessor
when the latter is too much worn for further use
The Nihongi calls it the ' Great-God of Ise.'
Amaterftsu is not the only Sun-deity of
Japanese myth. We hear of a Waka-hirume
(young-8un-female) who is no doubt a personifi-
cation of the morning sun, and of a Nigi-haya-hi
(gentle, swift-sun), The latter is said to have
3;
SHINTO
eom6 down from heaven in a heavenly rocl
boat, and to have become the chieftain of one
the tribes subdued by Jimmu Tenno. He ma
however, have been a human being named aa
compliment after the Sun. This proceeding
not unknown in Japanese history. But I rath
suspect that he is a real Sun-god. Then thei
is the Hiruko mentioned at p. 22 as the first-horq]
of all the deities. Now Hiruko, though writtei
with Chinese characters which mean leech-ch
,ay also mean Sun -male-child, and this
ibviously its proper meaning. The Hiruko
a male Sun-deity who afterwards became ol
lete, For some unknown reason Hiruko has
been identified with a popular modern deity
named Yebisu, who ha*i to all appearance nothing
to do with either the sun or the leech. He is
pictured as an airier with a fish dangling at the
end of his line. He has a smiling countenance
and wears old Japanese costume. Merchants
pray to him for success Lu trade.
At the present day the title Amatorasu
oho-kami (the gi-eat deity who illumines heavenj
is generally replaced by its Chinese equivalent
Tenshodaijin, The meaning of the latter is less
clear to the uneducated, who forget that she
any connection with the sun. Sun-worshi]
4
THE GODS
however, proceeds iudependently. WomeD and
children especially call it by the respectful name
of Otento sama, without attribution of sex, with
no formal cult, and no myth, but endowed with
moral attributes, punishing the wicked and re-
warding the just. Dr. Griffis describes £
which be witnessed in Tokio when, late one
afternoon, Otento sama, which had been hidden
behind clouds for a fortnight, shone out on the
muddy streets. In a moment scores of people
rushed out of their houses, and_.with faces west-
ward began prayer and worship' before the great
luminary. Many people keep awake all night
on the last day of the year so &s to worship the
rising sun on the first day of the New Year.
Tsaki-yonii. — The Sun being feminine, Tsuki-
youii, the moon-deity, is naturally masculine.
Though he has shrines at Ise and other places,
he occupies a far less promment place in Japanese
myth and cult than his elder sister Amateraau.
Suaa DO wo, — The true character of this deity
had been forgotten by the Japanese themselves
until he was shown by an American scholar,
Dr, BucWey of Chicago, to be a personification
of the Rain-storm. The generally accepted
etymology of his name derives it from a verb
to be impetuous. This accords well
39
SHINTO
with hia character as described in the Kqjii
and Nihongi. Mr. B. H. Chamberlain translat
by ' the Impetuous Male/ and he may be corn
But there is a town in Idzumo called Susa whei
this god had a shrine, and it seems possible tl
it waB from this that he took bis name.
Star-Ck)ds are few and unimportant in Shinto,
Earth-worahip. — The direct worship of the
Earth is well-known in Japan, At the present
day, when a new building is erected or new
)-land brought under cultivation, the groun^
solemnly propitiated by a ceremony ci
fi-matsuri or earth-worship, Locali
sonified under names which recall Erin, Britannia,
Dea Roma, etc. Such deities were called Kuni-
dama, country or province spirit. The greatest
of these, and one of the three greatest gods of
_Shinto, is Ohonamochi. His shrine at Kitsuk^
Idzumo is known as the Taisha or
ihrine, and he has numerous other shrines, calli
Sanno or Hiye, in all parts of the country,
his case the deification has proceeded beyond the
mere personification of the soil. Legend repre-
sents him as the maker of the land, not the
land itself, and in modern times nobody thinks
of him as an Earth-god. His variout
however, show conclusively that he is i
40
nei^
oun^l
ipeiJ^
nnla,
tuni-
latest
)ds of
itaukil
greaM
mlleH
. In^
THE GODS
an earth-deity as the Greek Gaia, who, like hita,^
was ' one shape of many names.' Lafcadio Hearn I
would make him out to be the god of the dead,
though there are already two other rulers of
Hades, and Dr. Buckley thinks that he is a
Moon-god. With Ohonamochi there is associated
his minister, an important deity named Kotoshiro-
nuahi, and a dwarf-god, Sukuna-bikona, who is J
credited with the invention of medicine, magic, ■
and the art of brewing sake.
Another Earth-god is Asuha, an obscure per- I
sonage, who is supposed to be the deity of the I
courtyard. Mud, sand, and clay are deified under 1
the names of Uhijini, Suhijini, and Hani-yasu-
hime, the last name meaning clay-easy (in the
sense of plastic) lady. Clay was deified because
it supplied the material for the domestic cooking
furnace, a defence against the encroaches of that
unruly power, fire.
Mountain- Oods. — Most mountains have their j
deity, which is sometimes conceived of as the I
mountain itself, at others as a god of the moun- I
tain. Mountain gods do not take high rank in
the Shinto Pantheon. They were propitiated
before trees were cut for building purposes.
Earthqaake-Qods are little heard of. But any J
god might cause an earthquake If offended.
4i
SHINTO
Sea-Gods. — The chief Sea-gods of Shinto ure
Sokotsu-wata-dzumi (bottom-sea-body), Nakatsu-
watft-dzumi (middle-sea-body), and Uliatsu-wata-
dzumi (upper-sea-body), three deities produced
from Izanagi's ablutions in the sea when he re-
turned from Hadea. They are also represented
as forming one deity. So that we have here an
example — not the only one — of a Japanese
Trinity. They have a famous shrine at Sumi-
yoshi near Osaka, and are much prayed to for
safety from shipwreck and for fair winds.
Another Sea-god, Toyotama hike, has been
ah'eady mentioned above (p. 31).
River-Gods are represented as dragons or
serpents. The resemblance of a river with its
winding serpentine course, and its my.steriou3
motion without legs, to a great serpent, has
struck mankind in many countries. The Chinese,
the Mexicans, and the Semitic nations concur
in associating water with the serpent. It is
mostly the maleftcent aspect of rivers that is
thus symbolised. There ai-e traditions in Japanese
legend of human sacrifices to rivers.
RaiS'Gods. — Special Kaingods are mentioned
in the old myths, but in practice any deity might
appealed to for aid in time of droi
Wella. — There are sacred wells from which
I
THE GODS
tfao water required in sacrifice was drawn. The 1
water itself waa made a female deity under the I
name of Midzuha uo me. At the present day, f
the ordinary well or stream from which water I
is taken for domestic purposes is propitiated earlyl
on the morning of the New Year by smallJ
Wind-Qods. — Sometimes one Wind -god is
spoken of, sometimes two, one mascuhne and one
feminine. They were formerly much prayed to
for good harvests. One legend calls them the
Ame no mihashira and Kuni no mihashira
(august pillar of heaven and august - pillar
earth). The idea that the winds support the t
is not unknown in other mythologies.
Take-mika-dzachi and Fatstinushi. — The
proper character of these two doitiea is not quite
clear. The name of the former is frequently
written with Chinese chariicters which imph
that he is a Thunder-god, and Futsunushi
probably a god of fire, perhaps more specifically
the lightning. They are constantly associated
in legend and worship. They were sent down
froui heaven together to prepare Japan for the
advent of Ninigi, the iSun-Uoddess'a grandchild,
and their shrines at Kashima and Katori, on the.
east coast of Japan, are adjacent to one another,
4^
te
4
iy~
SHINTO
At the present day they are universally recog-
nised as War-gods. This accounts for the choice
of Kashima and Katori as the names of recently-
launched battle-ships of the Imperial Japanese
Navy. These deities also predict the weather.
The Japanese equivalent of old Moore's Almanac
is the Eashima no Kotofure, i,e. notification from
Kashima.
There is another Thunder-god called Ikadzuchi
(dread father) or Nam Kami (sounding-god).
Pire-Qoda. — Kagutsucln, mentioned above (p.
22), is the chief fire-deity. He is also known as
Ho-mu8ubi (fire-growth), and his shrine stands
on the Buuunit of the high hill of Atago near
Kioto. Hence the name Atago-Sama by which
he is usually called. Hill-shrines are dedicated
to him at the chief cities of Japan ; and he ifl
beheved, when duly propitiated, to preserve them
from confiagration. In the old State rehgion the
god and fire are regarded as identical,
The sacrificial fire was deified, and also the
Nikahi, a fire kindled with the object of pro-
ducii^ sunshine. Both in ancient and modem
times the domestic cooking- furnace has been
considered as a deity.
njcemochi, the Food-goddess, is one of the two
t gods worshipped at Ise, the Sun - goddess
44
THE GODS
being the otter. There is a tendency in modem
times to identify her with Inari, a male grain-
deity. Shrines of Lnari are to be seen in every
village, and even iu many houses. They may be
recognised by two figures of foxes which stand
before them. These animals are thought by many
to be the god himself, and small offerings of such
food as is thought acceptable to foxes are placed
before them, Shinto scholars say that they are
only the god's attendants or messengers. But
grain is often represented by an animal in other
mythologies, and possibly this may be the ease
in Shinto also, Inari is much invoked by the
peasant to grant him good crops, but as is so
often the case, his proper agricultural character
is frequently forgotten, and he is appealed to for
help in all imaginable difficulties, as for the cure
of small-pox or the discovery of a thief
There are several harvest-gods not very clearly
distinguished from the grain-deities. One of
these, as well as ITkemochi, is said to be the child
of Ohonamochi, the great Earth-god.
Tree-Gods, — Trees of great size and age are
worshipped in almost every village in Japan.
They are girt with honorary cinctures of straw-
rope, and have tiny shrines erected before them.
Other sacred trees are not themselves gods, but
45
i
Uy offerings to the deities before whose shrines
Ihey are planted. Orchard trees are the object of
a quaint ceremony which has its counterpart
in many other places, Devonshire amongst the
number, of cajoling or intimidating the trees
into bearing good crops. In Japan one man
climbs the tree, while another stands at the
bottom with an axe, threatening to cut it down
if it does not promise to bear plentifully. The
man above responds that it will do so. Perhaps,
however, the pleasure of acting a little drama has
more to do with such customs than any real belief
in their efficacy.
We also meet with a Kukunochi (trees-father)
and a Kaya nu hime (reed-lady). Their worship
was probably prompted by gratitude for their
providing materials for house - building and
thatching.
A House-God named Yabimo is mentioned in
one of the old rituals. A certain sanctity attaches
to the Daikoku-bashira, or central pillar of the
house, corresponding to our king-post. There is
L Gate-god (or gods), who guards the dwell-
; against the entrance of evil things, and. in
(dem times, a God of the Privy.
Gods of Ab8teactionh
Izanagi and Izanami. — I have little doubt
that these deities (see above, p. 21 )
Bu^ested by the Yin and Yang, or male and
female principles, of Chinese philosophy. They
were probably introduced into Japanese myth
in order to account for the existence of the Sun-
goddess and other deities, and to link them
together by a common parentage. Their names
are supposed to be connected with a verb, isano/u,
to invite, and to refer to their mutual invitation
to become husband and wife. They are not
important in ritual.
Musitbi means growth or production. In the
old myths there are two Musubi deities, viz. Taka-
musubi and Ramu - musubi (high - growth and
divine-growth). It is not difficult to conjecture
that ' high ' and ' divine ' were originally nothing
more than laudatory epithets of one and the same
personage. Poetry recognises only one God, In
later times there were no fewer than eight Musubi
who had shrines in the precincts of the Imperial
palace. The worship of this god is now much
neglected.
Kani-toko-tachi. — Nothing is really known of
this deity. The name means literally 'land (or
47
SHINTO
^^^BKrth)-etern&I-staod,' and I offer as a mere con-
^^^^©cture that he is a personification of the durable
character of the earth. The circumstance that
he is the tirat god of the Nik(m.gi myth led to hia
receiving a prominence in later times which is
justified by nothing in the older religion. There
was an abortive attempt to make of him a sort of
Supreme Deity, and to substitute his worship for
that of the Food -goddess at Ise.
I we
Deoted iNDrvmuAi Men
Though all the greater gods of the old Shinto
were Nature-gods, we cannot affirm that none of
the numerous obscure deities mentioned in the
Kojiki and Nikon-gi were deified individual men.
The impulse to exalt human beings to the rank
of deity has always esisted, and may have left
traces in the older Shinto, though the evidence
that this was so in any particular ease is not
forthcoming.
lake-minakata, the god of Suha, in the pro-
le of Shinano, may be a deity of this class,
was a son of Ohonamochi, who refiised allegi-
to the Sun-goddess and fled to Suha, where
as obliged to surrender. Tradition says that
present high priests of his shrine are his
it descendants. They are held to be his
THE GODS
racamation. and are called Ikigami or 'lixe
deities.' Tliere are at the present day shrines to
Suha Sama in many parts of Japan.
Hachiman is not mentioned in the Kojiki or
Nihongi. His history is a curious one. The
original pkce of his worship was Uaa in Kiushiu,
near the Straits of Shimonoseki, an old, perhaps
the oldest, Shinto centre of Japan. He first came
into notice in 720, when he helped to repel a
piratical descent by Koreans. At a somewhat
later period he became associated with the great
Minamoto family, and attained to popularity as a
War-god. But his cult is deeply tinctured with
Buddhism. In his oracles he calla himself by
the Buddhist title of Bosatsu (Boddhisattwa),
something like our ' saint," and ordains humani-
tarian festivals for the release of li^dng things, a
thoroughly Buddhist institution, and quite incon-
gruous with hia character as a Japanese Mars. 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 Korea. His identification
with the Emperor 6jin, however, dates from long
after he became popular.
Temmangu, the God of Learning and Cali-
graphy. If we pa.sa over the honours paid to
Hiving and dead Mikados aa of doubtful religion
jquality, the first genuine deified human being o
[the Shinto record is Sugahara Michizane, wh
fwas raised to divine rank under the name (
Temmacgu. Michizane was bom in 846. Hi
family had a hereditary reputation for learninj
and traced its descent from the Sun-goddei
herself. His erudition gained him high rank i
the government, and a system of national educe
tion which he estabUshed acquired for him I
gratitude of the people, who called him I
'Father of letters.' But owing to the calumnie
of a rival he was banished to Kiushiu, where 1
died in exile. Great calamities followed, whib
were attributed to the wrath of Miehizane's ghoa
and it was not until his sentence had been fo
mally cancelled, shrines erected, and othe
honours paid him that it ceased to plague h
enemies and the nation. The story has coin
down to us enriched with a profuse embroidei
of legendary details drawn ftora Buddhist i
Chinese sources.
Temmangu is, or was until recently, one of th
most widely worahipped of Shinto deities,
Kftlly by pedagogues and school-boys. In 182(
Jiere were twenty-five shrines to him in Yed
End its neighbourhood. His cult was probabj
THE GODS
Meed, and was certainly promoted, by the
Ssponding Chinese honoucs to Confucius,
Later Deifications. — In tte Kojiki and Nihongi,
a sort of titular divinity is ascribed to some of the
Mikados. It was not until a later period that
they had shrines or regular offerings. Chief
among deilied Mikados are Jimmu, Jingo, and
Kwammu, the founder of Kioto, Takechi no
Sukune, Jingo's chief counsellor ; Prince Yamato-
dake, the legendary hero who, in the second
century of our era, subdued the eastern parts of
Japan to the Mikado's rule; Nomi no Sukune,
the patron deity of wrestlers ; Hitomaro, the poet
and Sotoiirihiine, the poetess, though treated as
ordinary human beings in the old records, were
deified in subsequent times. Quasi-divine honours
are paid to lyeyaau, the founder of the Tokugawa
dynasty of Shoguns, and to many other distin-
guished men. Strange to aay, a kind of religious
cult is rendered to remarkable criminals, such as
the famous robber Kumazaka Chohan, and to
Nishi no Buntaro, who in our own day assassi-
nated the Minister of Education, Mori Arinori,
becauso he raised with his walking-stick a curtain
vhich screened off part of the shrine of Ise from
vulgar gaze.
5^
Gods of Classes of Men
In the older Shinto, gods of types c
occupy a fairly prominent position. They r
aent the hereditary corporations by which the
government of Japan was carried on in early
times. The officials of the Mikado's Court had
their mythical counterparts in the ministers of the
Sun-goddess, who were supposed to be their
ancestors. Thus the Nakatomi family, who
besides holding other high offices, were the
recognised vicars of the Mikado in the discharge
of his priestly functions, traced their descent
from Koyane, a deity who, by reading a liturgy
in honour of the Sun-goddess, helped to entice^
ter from the dark Rock-cave of heaven. Thifl
[mbe, who provided the offerings for the stata
Shinto ceremonies, recognised as their ancestor fl
god called Futo-dama (great offering), who ful
filled the same office in heaven. Uzume, thfl
*ead Female of heaven, had descendants in th«^
;ale officials of the palace. There is a TioriW
her honour, in which she is besought to pre
e order among the courtiers of all rank]
[ay we not trace a relationship between her a
'Dread Female' deity, Mrs. Grundy ■
le mirror-makers of the palace had their protc
5a
type in lahikoridome, tho jewellera in Toyotama
(rich-jewel), and so on.
Gods of Human Qualities
Students of Far-Eastern mythology and litera-
ture have observed the feeble grasp of personality
which distinguishes them from the similar pro-
ducts of the Western mind.' They are charac-
terised by a certain poverty of imagination which
is manifested in various directions, and more
especially by the almost total absence of personi-
fied abstractions of human qualities. We look in
vain for such conceptions as Age, Youth, Love,
Fear, Patience, Hope, Charity, and a host of other
personilied qualities. Ta-jikara no wo (hand-
Btrength-male) is one of the few examples of this
class. He it was who, when the Sun-goddess
partly opened the door of the Rock-cave to
which she had retired, took her by tho hand and
dragged her out. But he is little worshipped,
and indeed is only a poetical adjunct to the
mythical narrative. In this respect he greatly
resembles the Kratos and Bia of Hesiod and
.^schylus.
Phallic Gods. — Far more important are the
Sahe no Kjimi, or phallic deities. Their symbols
' See Peroiv«l Lowell's Soul o/the Far i'uflt.
53
SHINTO
were a famUiar sight by the roadsides and at
crossings in ancient Japan. They might be seen
even in the busy thoroughfares of the capital
itself. At first representatives of the procreative,
life-giving power, they were used as magical
appliances for promoting fertility. But they
became symbolical of life generally — the enemy
of death and disease — and, on the well-known
principle of magic that the symbol possesses
something of the actual physical virtue of the
thing which it represents, were employed as pro-
phylactics against death and pestilence. For
their services in this capacity they were deified.
Their cult has long ago disappeared from the
state religion, but it still lingers in the out-of-the-
way parts of Eastern Japan.
54
CHAPTER V
THE PRIESTHOOD
In ancient Japan, the sacred and the secular
were imperfectly differentiated from one another.
The Department of Shinto was simply a Govern-
ment bureau. Miya meant equally shrine and
palace. Matsuri, a Shinto festival, is the same
word that we also find in Matsurigoto, govern-
ment. The Mikado was at once the high priest
and the sovereign of the nation. In the oldest
legends he appears frequently in a sacerdotal
capacity, and, even at the present day, he takes
a personal part in some of the Shinto rites. Only
last year he went to Ise to perform the ceremony
of Nihiname, or tasting the first rice of the new
harvest after making an offering of it to the Sun-
goddess. But even in the oldest records there
occur instances of his deputing his sacerdotal
functions. Jimmu Tenno is said to have ap-
pointed Michi No Omi (minister-of-the-way) as
* Ruler of a festival.' The rubrics of the norito
m
55
(ncoBkls) ihaw daac \iiusj wece fnfiiffwipd Id be t&A
hj & depcoj azid not bw die 1ItViA> in peraon.
The ftdBteHL — Tlie diKf affieak of the
Baream of Shinto wioe appoinfied firom the here-
ditftijdflaor fiunSy of the Xikatomi, fexnirhich
the prmcip^J. mTnwtiBr* oi sUte and the Imperial
Gmaorts were also adeeted. The gieat Fnjiwara
Houae, ao funooa m buo* times^ was a branch of
theXakatomi
The Imlie had the daty ci proparing the offer-
ings for sacrifica Their name, which includes
the word 'imi,' sigmfyii^ rehgioQs abstinence,
parity, refers to the strict avoidance of ritaal
pollution which was incumbent on them in the
discharge of this function.
The Urabe were diviners attached to the
bureau of Shinto.
Kannnshi is the ordinary word for a Shinto
priest. The ELannushi are not celibates, and are
not distinguishable from the laity except when in
the actual discharge of their functions. Even
the costume which they wear on these occasions
is not properly sacerdotal. It is only an ancient
court uniform. All Shinto priests are appointed
by the civil authorities. They have no ' cure of
souls/ and their duties are confined to reading
tho litanies and seeing to the repairs of the shrine.
56
THE PRIESTHOOD
Priestesses. — In ancient times it was the
custom to attach a virgin princess of the Imperial
blood to the great shrine of Ise. All great shrines
have a corps of girl dancers for the perform-
ance of the sacred pantomimes (Kagura). The
latter, on reaching a marriageable age. usually
resign their office, and are merged in the general
population.
57
With a few exceptions, of no great importance in
Shinto, the outward forms of the worship of the
gods have been previously made use of as tokens
of respect to Hving men. Whether I take off my
hat to a lady or on entering a church, the act is
the same, it is the ideas associated with it that
make the difference. The word worship must
therefore be used with caution. We ought not,
for example, to assume that ancestor-worship is
necessarily divine worship. It may only mean
acts indicating affection and reverence for the
dead, common to ourselves with non-Christian
peoples, and need not involve any superstitious
belief in a supernatural power exercised by dead
forefathers or heroes. In modern Japan, ancestor-
worship is a comparatively rational cult, and it ia
surely undesirable that missionaries should create
^'.t^r themselves great and needless difficulties by
^^Kdemning it indiscriminately.
WORSHIP
OeBtures of Worship. — In Shinto, as in other
religions, bowing is a common form of respect to
the gods. It is the custom to bow twice before
and after making an offering. Kneeling is also
known, but is less nsual. I have not met with
any case of prostration as an act of adoration.
Clapping hands was in ancient Japan a general
token of respect, now confined to religious worship.
Sometimes a. silent hand-clapping is prescribed in
the rituals. Offerings and other objects used in
worship were raised to the forehead aa a mark of
reverence.
Offerings were in the older Shinto regarded as
tokens of respect, and were not supposed to be
eaten, worn, or otherwise enjoyed by the deity.
There is, however, a mora vulgar current of opinion
according to which the god actually benefits in
some obscure physical way by the oflerings made
to him.
The general object of making offerings is to
propitiate the god or to expiate oftences against
him. Sometimes it is very plainly intimated that
ft quid pro quo is expected.
The original and most important form of oSer-
ing was food and drink of various kinds. The
cardinal feature of the great ceremony by which
the Mikado inaugurated his reign was an offering
59
SHINTO
f rice and sake to the Sun-goddess. Other food-
* offerings were cakes, fruit, vegetables, edible sea-
weed, salt, water, and the flesh of deer, pigs, hare,
wild boar, and birds. There were no burut-
oft'erings or incense. Next to food, clothing took
the most important place. Hemp and mulberry-
bark fibre, with the stuffs woven from them, ara
frequently mentioned. They are now represented
by the Gohei. These are wands to which seollopa
of paper are attached, and are to be seen m every
shriue and at every Shinto ceremony. Some-
times the god is supposed to come down and
take up his temporary abode in the GoheL
Skins, mirrors, jewels, weapons, and many other
articles are mentioned in the Yengishiki enumera-
tions of offerings.
Haman Sacrifice. — We nowhere hear of human
sacrifices in connection with official Shinto. But
there are several indications of the existence of
this practice in ancient times, River-goda especi-
ally were propitiated by human victims. Human
figures of wood or metal are frequently mentioned,
but it is doubtful whether these were by way of
substitutes for living persons.
Slaves were dedicated to some of the more
important shrines. Presents of horses are often
mentioned. Albinos are usually selected for this ■
60
WORSHIP
purpose. They may be seen at the present day
stabled near the entrance to all the important
shrineB. Pictures of horses are often substituted
for the animals themselves. Galleries are some-
times provided for the reception of these and
other ex voto works of art. The carriage (mikoshi)
in which the deity, or rather his shititai, is pro-
menaded on the occasion of his annual festival is
a very elaborate and costly vehicle, The miya or
shrine may be regarded as a kind of ofl'ering.
Miya means august house, and applies equally to
the palace of a sovereign or prince. Originally
there was no building but only a consecrated plot
of ground which was deemed to be the dwelling
of the deity. The mlya is not a tomb. The
shrines are purposely small and simple edifices.
In 771 a ' greater shrine' had only eighteen feet
frontage. The majority of the existing 150,000 to
200,000 shrines of Japan are tiny structures easily
transportable in a cart or even a wheelbarrow.
To the larger shrines are usually attached an
ema-do (horse-picture hall), a small oratory for
the use of the Mikado's envoy, and a stage for the
Kagura, or pantomimic dance. A number of
smaller shrines to other gods who are in soma
way associated with the chief deity may usually
be seen within the precincts. The approach to a
6i
SHINTO
jito fihrine is marked by one or more honorary
'gateways of the special form known as tori-i,
literally bird-rest, from its resemblance to a hen-,
rooat. It has its analogues in the Indian turatt'
and the Chinese pailoo, and is doubtless of exotic
origin. It is not mentioned in the older
Prayer, — The Kojiki and Nihongi contain
scarcely any notices of private individual prayer.i
But there are abundant examples in the Fern-
giskiki, and other authorities, of the
litui^ies known as norito, addressed by thi
Mikado, or his vicars, to various Gods or cate-
gories of Gods, on ceremonial occasions. They
contain petitions for rain in time of drought,
good harvests, preservation from fire, flood, and
earthquake, for children, health and long life ta,
the sovereign. Sometimes the wrath is depre-
cated of deities whose services had been vitiated
by ritual impurity, or whose shrines had been
neglected. Important national events were an-
nounced to then]. There were no nonto
addressed to deceased Mikados before 850, when)
Jimmu Tenno was supphcated to spore the lifaj
of the reigning sovereign, who was then danger-
ously ill. Shinto prayers are for material blessing!
only.
Rank of Deities.— Tu the seventh century
62
ay \
i
WORSHIP
system of official ranks was introduoed into .Tnpivn
from China. It was extended from the Court
functionaries to the Gods, and was very prevalent
in the eighth century. A curious feature of this
practice was the low rank given to the deities.
It was seldom that they received so high a rank
as that of a Minister of State.
Kagura. — The Eagura, or pantomimic dances
with masks and muHic, representing some incident
of the mythical narrative, has been at all times a
prominent part of Shinto religious festivals, and,
as in othor countries, has become the parent of
the secular drama.
Pilgrimages are an ancient institution in
Japan. Even the Mikado paid occasional visits
to the shrines in or near Kioto. 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 fanes, and
believe that their success in life depends on their
doing 8o. Clubs are formed for the purpose, the
subscriptions going to pay the expenses of these
fortunate members who are selected to represent
their fellows. Pilgrim trains take the place of our
excursion trains. Boys and girls frequently run
away from home in order to make a pilgrimage
to Ise.
CHAPTER VII
MORALITY AND PURITY
Moral Oode« — Shinto has hardly anything in the
shape of a code of morals. The Ohoharahi, a
service in which the Mikado, by divine authority,
declared to his ministers and people the absolu-
tion of their offences against the gods, makes
no mention of any one of the sins of the Deca-
logue. M. Revon, the author of a valuable
treatise on Shinto, challenges this statement,
which I had already made in my History of
Japanese Literature, He maintains that from
a comparison of the Decalogue and the Oho-
harahi, * II resulte avec evidence que tons les
commandements essentiels du Decalogue (sur le
meurtre, le vol, la fornication, etci, se retrouvent
dans notre rituel/ ^ In view of t^e importance of
the subject, and of M. Revon's acknowledged com-
petence as a writer on Shinto, it is desirable to
examine this assertion more closely. His 'etc/
^ <See bia Shintoisfme^ p. 15, note,
64
MORALITY AND PURITY
puzzles rae. I am unable to find in the Oho-
harabi the smallest trace of any of the seven
commandments which it covers, and can only
suppose that it is a mere flourish of M, Revon's
exuberant imi^ination. It will be seen that for
the ' adultery ' of the Decalogue M, Revon haa
substituted ' fornication.' Is it not a cus pendahlc
to tamper with the ten commandments in this
way ? But neither adultery nor fornication are
mentioned in the Ohoharahi, Incest is included
in the latter's schedule of offences, but, pace M.
Revon, incest and adultery are distinct offences.
Theft is not mentioned in the Ohoharahi. The
planting of skewers (of offerings in rice-fields) is
one of its offences, but even if the commentator is
right who conjectures that this was done for a
dishonest purpose, I submit that so highly specific
an offence is by no means the same thing as the
far more general theft of the Decalogue. The case
of ' murder ' of the Mosiaic code, and ' the cutting
of living bodie.s ' of the Ohoharahi in more com-
plicated. Murder is at the same time more and
less comprehensive than the corresponding Shinto
offence. The Jewish prohibition is more exten-
sive, as it includes murder by poison, strangling,
drowning, etc,, and it ia more restrioted as it omits
1 minor injuries, But there is a profound diSerence
f& 65
SHINTO
between the molives which prompted the t^
prohibitions. It is the crime of taking i
human life which is condemned in the Deca-
logue: the Ohoharahi objects to wounds as naaty,
unsightly things, unmeet for a God to look upon
or to be in any way associated with. Self-inflicted
wounds, the cutting of dead bodies, or wounds
inflicted by others, caused uncleanness just i
much as the woundii^ of others. Justlflablfl
homicide required absolution equally with feloin
ous murder. In a word, the Japanese
was ritual, the Jewish moral.
There are moral elements in the Ohoharal
but they are scanty, and M. Revon greatly oveiv
estimates their importance. Not only does i
contain no explicit mention of any of the sins (
the Decalogue — which is all that I contended i
— but it has hardly anything which even
phcitly condemns them. Shintoists do not deny
this feature of their reHgion, but claim that the
absence of a code of ethics is a proof of the
superior natural goodness of the Japanese nation-
It needs no such artilicial aids to virtuous ,
conduct.
Purity. — But if ethics are conspicuously absent]
from Shinto, the doctrine of imcleaimess hold
prominent position. Actual personal dirt
i56
MORALITY AND PURITY
obnoxious to the gods, as is evidenced by
frequent mention of bathing and putting on Iresh
garments before the discharge of religious func-
tions. Sexual acts of various kinds, such as the
consummation of a marriage, incest (within narrow
limits), interference mth virgin priestesses, men-
struation and child-bitth, wore accompanied with
disabilities for the service of the gods. Cm-iously
enough, adultery, though cognisable by the courts
of justice, did not entail religious uncleanness.
Disease, especially leprosy (as in the Mosaic
legislation), wounds and sores involved various
degrees of pollution. The death of a relative,
attendance at a funeral, touching a dead body,
pronouncing or executing a capital sentence, all
incapacitated a man temporarily for the discharge
of religious duties. Lafcadio Heam thought that
the liiiya or shrine was a development of the
moya or mourning house, where the dead bodies
of sovereigns and nobles were deposited until
their costly megalithic torabs could be got ready.
This view harmonises nicely with Herbert Spencer's
well-known theories, but an ancient Shintoist
would have considered it not only erroneous, but
blasphemous. As iu ancient Greece, the gods
had nothing to do with such a polluting thing as
death. Shinto funerals, of which we have
67
the ^M
[
img as ■
I heiird H
a good deal of late, were unknown in
Japan. They date from 1868. Shinto shrinea '
have no cemeteries attached to them. Eating
tlesh was formerly not considered ofl'ensive to the
gods, but later, under Buddhist influence, it fell
under prohibition. The fire with which impiu-e
food vKm cooked also contracted impurity. To
avoid the danger of such defilement, fresh tire 4
was made by a fire-drill for all the more important 4
ceremonies. Everything Buddhist, rites, terms, I
etc., were at one time placed under a Shinto tabu. I
When a festival was approaching, the intending I
participant was specially carefid to avoid {inii) J
all possible sources of pollution. He shut hinjself M
up in his house, refrained from speech and noise I
and ate food cooked at a pure fire. A special imi I
of one mouth was observed by the priests before I
orticiating at the greater festivals. An imi-d^)no I
(sacred haU) was a hall in which purity was I
observed, imi-axes and imi-mattocks were usedfl
to cut the first tree and turn the first sod when I
a sacred building was to be erected. If, in spite I
of all precaution, defilement took place, con- I
sciously or unconsciously, various expedients were I
resorted to for its removal. Lustration was the I
most common. After a funeral, it has been the I
rule at all periods of Japanese history for the I
6S J
MORALITY AND PURITY
relatives of the deceaaed to purify themselves in
this way. Izanagi, after his visit to Hades,
washed in the sea. Salt is sometimes dissolved in
the water used for this purpose, and is employed
in other ways to avert evil influences. Spitting,
rinsing the mouth, and breathing on an object to
which the impurity is communicated, are familiar
practices. Human figures were sometimes breathed
upon and flung into the sea in order to carry ofi'
pollution. In modern times a gohei is shaken
over the person to be purified.
Ceremonjal is the combination for some specific
purpose of the various elements of worship de-
scribed above. The great ceremony of the Shinto
religion is that known as the Ohonihe or Daijowe,
which means ' great - food - ofi'ering.' It is the
equivalent of our coronation, and its cardinal
feature was the Mikado's offering in person to the
god or gods, represented by a cushion, the first
rice of the new harvest, and of sake brewed from
it. A modern Japanese writer saya :—
'Anciently tha Mikado received the aiiapiwoiis
grain from the Gioda of Heaven, and therewithal
nourished the people. In the Daijowe (or Ohoniho)
the Mikado, when the grain became ripe, joined unto
him the people in sincere veneration, and, as in
bound, made return to the Goda of Heaven,
I
SHINTO
thereafter partook of it along with the nation. Thus
the people learnt that the grain which they eat is no
other than the seed bestowed on them by the Gods of
Heaven.'
The Ohonilie was a most elaborate and costly
function. The preparations were begun months
in advance, In times of scarcity, it had to be
omitted as too great a burden on the nation.
The Nihiname, or new-tasting, is the annual
harvest festival when the new season's rice was
first tasted by the Mikado. The Ohonihe was
only a more sumptuous form of It The English
counterpart of the Nihiname is Lammas, i.e. loaf-
mass, in wLieh bread made from the new season's
wheat was used for the first time in the Holy
Communion. There was, in former times, a
household as well as an official celebration of this
rite. Strict people will not eat the new rice
until it is over.
The Toshigohi (praying for harvest) was another
iportant ceremony of the state religion. Not
f the special gods of harvest, but practically
U the divinities were propitiated by offerings,
1 a 'norito recited in their honour, of which the
lowing is a passage :—
[ the Sovran Gods will bestow in ears many a
frs breadth long and ears abundant the ktt«r
70
MORALITY AND PURITY
harvest which, they will bestow, the latter harvest
produced by the labour of men from whose arms the
foam drips dowu, on whose opposing thij^hs the mud
is gathered, I \vill fulfil their praises by humbly offer-
ing first fruita, of ears a thousand, of ears many a
hundred, raising up the tope of the sake-jars, and
setting in rows the belliea of the sake-jars, in juice and
in ear will I present ihem, of things growing in the
great moor-plain, sweet herbs and bitter herbs, of
things that dwell in the blue sea-plain, the broad of fin
and the narrow of fin, edible seaweed, too, from the
offing and seaweed from the shore, of clothing, bright
stud's and shining stuffs, soft etutfa and coarse stufis —
with these I will fulfil your praises.'
Kiu DO matsuri (praying for raiti) was a service
in which the gods of eighty-tive shrinos were
asked to send rain. To some of theRO a black
hoi-se was offered as a sng^estion that black rain-
clouds would be welcome.
Ohoharahi, great piu-iBcation or absolution.
This is one of the most curious and interesting of
the great ceremonies of the state religion. It is
often called the Nakatomi no Ohoharahi, because
a member of the Nakatomi priestly clan performed
it on behalf of the Mikado. It was celebrated
twice a year, on the last day of the sixth and of
the twelt"th month, with the object of purifying
the ministers of state, officials, and people from
their ceremonial offences committed during the
SHINTO
previous h&lf year. It was also celebrated on occi
siotis of national calamity, fiuch aa an outbreak oj
pestilence, or the sudden death of a MikadoJ
The offerings made were thrown into a river or
the sea, and were supposed, like the scapegoat of
Israel, to carry with them the sins of the people.
The offences more specifically referred to are
various raiachlevoua interferences with agricul-
tural operations, flaying animals alive, flaying
backwards, cutting living or dead bodies, leprosy
and other loathsome disease, incest, calamities
from the high gods and from high birds, and
killing animals by bewitchment. There were also
local and individual purifications. In the latter
case, the person to be puriiied had to pay the
expenses of the celebration, and so a regul;
system of fines for such offences came into exial
he ^m
iai^fl
Ho-shidzume no matsuri, or fire-calming-cere-
mony. The object of this rite was to deprecate
the destruction of the Imperial Palace by fire,
The Urabe made fire with a fire-drill and wor-
shipped it. The service read is anything but _
reverent. The Fire-god is reminded that he is 'i
evil-hearted child ' who caused his mother's death;
when lie came into the world, and that she hai
Come back from Hades purposely to provide t
7*
MORALITY AND PURITY
means of keeping him in order. If, however, he
wouli-I be on hia good behaviour, he should have
offerings of the various kinds specified.
Numerous other services are mentioned in the
Tenglahiki, such as the 'Luck-wishing of the
Great Palace,' the Mickiake, which is a phallic
ntua] for the prevention of pestilence, a festival
in honour of the Food-goddess, one in honour of
the Wind-gods, etc.
Modem ceremonies, — At the present day, most
of the former elaborate ritual of Shinto is neglected
or shorn of its ancient magnificence. One of the
most important state ceremonies which is still
kept up is the Kainhidakoro, so-called from the
chamber in the palace where it is performed. It
is here that the regalia are kept, consisting of a
mirror which represents the Sun-goddess, a sword,
and a jewel or jewels. The ceremony, which is
performed by the Mikado in person, was formerly
in honour of those sacred objects, but is now
apparently addressed to the tablets of the Em-
perors from Jimmu downwards — aa instance of ,
the progressive development of ancestor-worship
in Shmto. In many private dwellings there is a
Kami-dana (god-shelf) where a harahi, consisting
of a piece of wood from the Ise shrine, and tickets
with the names of any gods whom the household
73
has anj special reason for wotshipping, are kept.
Lafcadio Heam sajs that nowadays there is also
a Husmaya (august-spirit-dwdlii^}, which is a
model Shinto shrine placed on a shelf fixed
against the wall of some inner chamber. In this
Ahrine are placed thin tablets of white wood
inscribed with the names of the household dead.
Prayers are repeated and oilerings made before
them every day. The amiual festivals (mateuri)
of the Ujigami or local patron-deity are everj'-
where important funcltons, Otterings are made,
and the god, or rather his emblem, is promenaded
in A procession which reminds one of the carnivals
of Southern Europe. There are Kagura perform-
ances which go on all day and late into the night.
There are also booths for the sale of toys and
sweetmeats, wrestling, fireworks, races, conjurors
iind tumblers' performances. In short, the
Tnattnvri is not unlike an English fair. With the
pilf(rii)iages, it does much to help to keep aiive
not verj' ardent flame of Shinto piety.
«
CHAPTER VIII
DIVINATION AND INSPIRATION
Divination. — The most ancient official method of
divination was by interpreting the cracks made by -^
fire on the shoulder-blade of a deer. This process
is known in many places from Siberia to Scotland,
in which latter country it is called ' reading the
spear {if]^vXe). A tortoise-shell was afterwards
substituted for the deer's shoulder-blade, in imi-
tation of China. There was attached to the palace
a coUege of diviners whose business it was to -
ascertain by this means whether a proposed
expedition would be successful, the best site for
a shrine, a tomb, or a dwelling-house, from what
provinces the rice for the Ohonihe should be
taken, etc. etc. With private persons, the Tsuji-
ura, or cross-road divination, was a favourite
method of ascertaining the future. The person
who wished to consult the god went out at dusk
to a cross-roads and inferred the answer to his
75
SHINTO
question from the chance words spoken by the
first person who made his appearance. Other
kmds of divination were by the sound of a boil-
ing cauldron, or of a harp, by lots, by beans
boiled in gruel, by the head of a dog or fox
that had been starved to death, and by dreams
and omens. Ordeal was practised by fire and boil-
ing water.
Inspiration. — There are frequent notices of
oracles in the old records. Legend has preserved
an ' inspired utterance ' given forth by the God-
dess Uziniie before the Rock-cave of Heaven to
which the Sun-goddess had retired. It consists
of the uuinerals from one to ten ! The famous
legendary invasion of Korea by the Empress
Jingo was su^ested by a deity. Oracles had
generally reference to the worship of the god
concerned, directing that a shrine should be built
for him, or religious observances inaugurated in
his honour. They were sometimes used for
political purposes. There is evidence that the
inspired person, generally a woman, delivered the
divine message when in a hypnotic trance. This
is undoubtedly the ease at the present time. Mr.
P. Lowell's Occult Japan gives a detailed descrip-
tion of a stance of this kind at which be was
present. There are mediums in Japan as there
?6
I
DIVINATION AND INSPIRATION
are nearer home, who, for a consideration, will
place their customers in communication with
deceased friends or relatives.
Divination and the hypnotic trance are not
recognised by modem or official Shinto.
77
CHAPTER IX
LATER HISTORY
Buddhism was iutroduced into Japan in the sixth
century, but it had at first little influence on the
native religion. Two centuries later a process of I
pacific penetration began which had sonic curious ]
and important results. The missionaries of Buddh-
ism applied to the Shinto gods a principle which
had been already adopted in China. They dis-
covered that whether Nature-gods or Man-gods
they were nothing more than avatars or incar-
nations of the various Buddhas. The Sun-
goddeas, for example, was made out to be
Vairochana, the Buddhist personification of
essential bodhi (enlightenment) and absolute
purity; and deified men received the Buddhist
titles of Gongen (avatar) or Bosatsu. (saint),
lyeyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa dynasty
of Shoguns, ia the Gongen-sama par excellence.
Rydba Shinto, which was in practice little
more than a form of Buddhism, was the result
78
LATER HISTOfiY
of this process. Its principal founder was the
famous Kobe DaishL At a later time other
similar schools or sects were originated which
drew their inspiration from Chinese philosophy
or from Buddhisiii. Under these influences the
true Shinto was much neglected. The Mikadoa
themselves, after a few years of reign, shaved
their heads and became Buddhist monks. One
of them called himself a slave of Buddha. The
greater Shinto ceremonies were omitted, or worse
still, were performed by Buddhist monks, who
also took possession of many of the Shinto shrines
and celebrated Buddhist rites there.
It should not be forgotten that the foreign
religion contained valuable elements unknown to
the older Shinto, and that the latter had much
to gain by their absorption. The Ryobu Shinto
inculcated uprightness, purity of heart, charity to
the poor, humanity, and the vanity of mere out-
word forms of worship ; of all which there is
little trace in the older cult.
Chinese Learning^. — The civilisation of Japan
during the Tokugawa dynasty of Sbogims (1603-
1868) was modelled on Chinese originals. Its
moral ideals were drawn from the writings of
the ancient sages Confucius and Mencius, and
the sceptical philosophy of the Sung dynasty
79
SHINTO
)-1278). But in the eighteenth century
patriotic reaction set in, which strove to ei^tablish
more purely national standards of ethics and prin-
ciples of government and religion. This move-
ment, known as the ' Revival of Piue Shinto,' was
first revealed to Europeans by a paper contributed
by Sir E. Satow to the Tiunsactions of the Aaiatic
Society of Japan in 1875. The principal pro-
moters were Motfiori and his pupil Hirata, two
earnest, able, and stupendously learned writers
who devoted their lives to an eudeavour 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 adid-
terations of later times. They succeeded to some
extent in this object. It wa.s no doubt partially
owing to their teachings that the Mikado was
restored in 1868 to his sovereign position as the
descendant of the Sun-goddess, the Shinto shrines
purified from Buddhist ornaments and practices,
and the monks expelled from them. In reality
Motiiori and Hirata's movement was a retro-
grade one. The old Shinto, which they wished
to restore, could not possibly hold its own as
the national faith of a people familiar with the
far higher religious and moral ideas of India am
I
I
1
LATER HISTORY
China, not to speak of civilised Europe. Without
a code of morals, or an efficient ecclesiastical
organisation, with little aid from the arts of
painting, sculpture, and architecture, and with a
sacred literature scanty and feeble compared with
those of its foreign rivals, Shinto is doomed to
extinction. Whatever the religious future of
Japan may be, Shinto will assuredly have little
place in it. Such meat for babes is quite inade-
quate as the spiritual food of a nation which in
these latter days has reached a full and vigorous
manhood.
F 8i
r SELECTED WORKS BEARING ON SHINTO
■1. Uttlory of Japan, by Engelbert Kaempfer, 1727-1728.
Worlhlesa for Shinto.
L Nippon Arehif., 1897 (new edition), by P. F. toq Siebold.
Good when first published, but superseded by later
works, in so far as Sliinto is concerned.
. Tratniwtiana of ike Aiiatic Sodtty of Japan.
{a) A series of papers on ' The Revival of Pure Shinto'
and 'Ancient Japanese Ritnala,' by Sir Ernest Satow.
1874-81. The serious student may safely neglect nil that
precedes these epoch-making axticles.
(6) The Kojiki, translated by E. R Chumberlain,
1883. Accurate, indispensable for myth.
(c) Ancieat Japaneie Ril-uah. The OhcharaJii, vilh,
translation and notes by Dr. Karl Florena, 1899. Valu-
able.
4. Traniacliojii of the Japan Society. The Nihongi, trans-
lated by W. Ot. Aston, 1896, Similar in scope to the
Kojiki.
5, Japan, an Apprtcialion, by Lafcadio Heam, 1904. Sym-
pathetic insight, aduiitrable style, blind acceptance of
H, Spencer's philosophy, imperfect knowled^. His
outlook is seen at its best in the recently published
Life mid X«Kors (Constable, 1907).
; Tht Mikado'x Empire, by W. E. Griffis. Useful for some
aspects of modern Shinto, and the Foik-Iore associated
, TJie Eeligione of Japaji, by W. E. Griffis, 16B5. Shows
the rebtions of Shinto to Baddliism and Confiieianism.
SELECTED WORKS BEARING ON SHINTO
8. Ths Development of Religion in Japan* Lectures by
G. W. Knox, 1907. Judicious and up-to-date.
9. German Asiatic Society of Japan, Japanische Mytho-
logic, by Dr. Karl Florenz. 1901. A good German
translation of the mythological part of the Nihongi,
with useful notes.
10. Ja^n and China, hy Captain Brinkley. 1903. Throws
light on some aspects of modem Shinto.
11. Murray's Japan, by B. H. Chamberlain and W. B.
Mason. 7 ed. 1903.
12. Things Japanese, by B. H. Chamberlain. 5 ed. 1905.
13. Skinntoisme, by M. Bevon, in the Bevue de VHistoire des
Religions, 1905-1907. Highly recommended for its
^up-to-date theory, and as a comprehensive collection
of facts.
14. Shinto, by W. G. Aston, 1905. Of similar scope to the
present work, but more comprehensive.
16. Ancestor Worship and Japanese Law, by Nobushige
Hodzuml 1901.
> 16. A Fantasy of Far Japam,, by Baron Suyematsu. 1905.
These two works represent the attitude of modem
Japanese towards the old Shinto.
17. A Bibliography of the Japanese Empire (1895). Gives a
classified list of books, essays, and maps in European
languages relating to Japan. Tolerably comprehensive,
but inaccurate.
83
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