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•SHINTO 



{THE WAY OF THE GODS) 



BY 

W. G. ASTON, C.M.G, DXIt 

' AOTHOE OF 

*A O K A MM A K OF THB JATAMUB SFOKBM LANOOAOt,' 'A OKAMIIAK OF THK 

JAFAIIUB WMTTBN LANOOAOB,' 'THK NIHOMOl' (TKANSLATION), 

* A HISIOKT OF JAPAMin UTBKATOU,' ftC. 












LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

19. PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 

'4 1905 



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TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. PAOB. 

I. Materials for the Study of SmNTo ... i -^ 

II. General Features — Personification ... s ~ 

III. General Features— Deification of Men 36 "^ 

IV. General Features — Functions of 

V Gods, &c ... ... ... ... 65 

V • B/Mt X X Xl ... ... ... ... ... y y 

VI. The Mythical Narrative ... ... 84 

VII. The Pantheon— Nature-Deities ... 121 

VIII. The Pantheon— Man-Deities. 177 

IX. The Priesthood ... ... ... 200 

X. Worship ... ... ... ... 208 

XL Morals, Law, and Purity ... ... 241 

XII. Ceremonial ... ... ... ... 268 . 

XIII. Magic, Divination, Inspiration ... 327 

XIV. Decay of Shinto. Modern Sects ... 359 ^ 



J 



LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. 



*i*««Mi^i^^i*M* 



PAGB. 

OkmmtmM nmd kU DamMe «.> 18-29 
The Stm^iS^ddiM ihUMihsr /^vM ^ Rddb^Cmni 

^ffsmfiH ••• ... ... 9S"99 

5Wjf W&rskip at the Twin-Roeks oflu ... 130-31 

Hokodemi at the Court of Tuyotama-kiko . . . 149 
KedMurikake. The one on the right is the 
ordltoaiy iroim, the olher ^ spedd kind 

called ihaigi... ».. ,.. ..« 192 

Oho-misa. (From Dr. Florenz's paper in the 

« m3««3^. J ... ... ••. ... 2l4^ 

Gohei ... ... ..^ ••• ••• 215 

£iM0 (Hor9^{MCture) ... .«. »•• 222 

'JkKioskt .i.* ..» •••^ ,^ d24*^ 

Himorogi. (From the TA.SJ.) ... ... «« 

^irtffes (fffsi .., ... ... ... 2^9-30 

TVfiKc^ ... ••• .•, ••• ••• 233 

Chinowa ... ... ... ... 266-67 

Misogi^ or Pm>ifioa$ion (k n mo Hy .^. 998^99 

Tsuina^ or BxpuUum of Devils ... ... 310-11 

Wig^side Shrines ... ... ... .•• 366 



ABBREVIATIONS. 

Ch. K. — Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's translation of the Kojiku 
A^^^^'-rTranslation of the NHumgi by W. G. Aston. 
T,A,SJ. — Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. 



ERRATA. 

For " Welhausen/' note to pj 113, read Wdlhausen. 

For "of," p. 12, 1. 18, read on. 

P* 335> !• 24i I'^^ci to do fur behests. 



ADDENDA. 



Add, bottom of p. 66, " St Augustine says, in his * Civitas 
Dei,' that funeral observances are rather solace to the 
living than help to the dead." 

P. 41, line 25, after "deities" insert "a phrase which 
closely resembles the * Zembla Bogh ' used of the Czar by 
Russians." 

P. 31, add to first note, "The Romans had an evil 
counterpart of Jupiter, viz., Vediovis or Vejovis." ^ 



Preface. 



-•♦•- 



As compared with the great religions of the world, Shinto, 
the old Kami cult of Japan, is decidedly rudimentary in its 
character. Its polytheism, the want of a Supreme Deity, 
the comparative absence of images and of a moral code, its 
feeble personifications and hesitating grasp of the concep- 
tion of spirit, the practical non-recognition of a future 
state, and the general absence of a deep, earnest faith — all , 
stamp it as perhaps the least developed of religions whi^h 
have an adequate literary record Still, it is not a primi- 
tive cult It had an organized priesthood and an elaborate 
ritual. The general civilization of the Japanese when 
Shinto assumed the form in which we know it had left the 
primitive stage far behind. They were already an agri- 
cultural nation, a circumstance by which Shinto has been 
deeply influenced. They had a settled government, and 
possessed the arts of brewing, making pottery, building 
ships and bridges, and working in metals. It is not 
among such surroundings that we can expect to find a 
primitive form of religion. 

The present treatise has two objects. It is intended, 
primarily and chiefly, as a repertory of the more significant 
facts of Shinto for the use of scientific students of religion. 
It also comprises an outline theory of the origin and earlier 
stages of the development of religion, prepared with special 
reference to the Shinto evidence. The subject is treated 
from a positive, not from a negative or agnostic stand- 
point, Religion being r^arded as a normal function, not 



n PREFACE. 

a disease, of humanity. This element of the work owes 
much to the continental scholars R^ville, Goblet D'Alviella, 
and Pfldderer. 

In anthropological matters, I have been much indebted 
to Dr. Tylor's ' Primitive Culture ' and Mr. J. G. Frazer's 
' Golden Boug^' I should not omit to express my obli- 
gations to my friend Mr. J. Troup for assistance with 
the proofs and for a number of useful corrections and 
suggestions. 



■WWi 



iOT« 



CHAPTER I. 

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO. 

Prehistorio Shinto. — Ethnologists are agreed that the 
predominant element of the Japanese race came to Japan 
by way of Korea from that part of Asia which lies north 
of China, probably by a succession of immigrations which 
extended over many centuries. It is useless to speculate 
as to what rudiments of religious belief the ancestors of the 
Japanese race may have brought with them from their 
continental home. Sun-worship has long been a central 
feature of Tartar religions, as it is of Shinto ; but such 
a coincidence proves nothing, as this cult is universal 
among nations in the barbaric stage of civilization. It is 
impossible to say whether or not an acquaintance with the 
old State religion of China — essentially a nature-worship — 
had an influence on the prehistoric development of Shinto. 
The circumstance that the Sun was the chief deity of the 
latter and Heaven of the former is adverse to this supposi- 
tion. Nor is there anything in Japan which corresponds 
with the Shangti of the ancient Chinese. 

There are definite traces of a Korean element in Shinto. 
A Kara no Kami (God of Kara in Korea) was worshipped 
in the Imperial Palace There were numerous shrines in 
honoyr of Kara-Kuni Idate no Kagii. Susa no wo and 
Futsunushi have Korean associations. 

Until the beginning of the fifth century of our era, 
writing was practically unknown in Japan. It is certain, 
however, that a considerable body of myth, together with 
formal rituals, was already in existence, having been 
transmitted from generation to generation by the Nakatomi 
and Jmbey two hereditary priestly corporations attached 



2 MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO. 

to the Mikado's Court We hear also of Kataribe, or 
^i;drpoi^tion3'of reciters, who were established in various 
provinces, especially in Idzumo, a primaeval centre of 
Shinto worship. They are mentioned in the Nihongi 
under the date A.D. 465, and were still in existence in the 
fifteenth century. Unfortunately we know little about 
them beyond the circumstance that they attended at the 
capital, and delivered their recitals of '* ancient words " on 
the occasion of thejlikado's corooation. These must have 
helped to furnish material for the written mythical and 
quasi-historical narratives which have come down to us. 

KoJikL — The oldest of these is a work entitled the 
Kojiki^ or ' Recotds- of Ancient Matters.' It was compiled 
by Imperial order, and completed in A.D. 712. The preface 
states that it was taken down from the lips of one Hiyeda 
no Are, who had so wonderful a memory that he could 
'' repeat with his mouth whatever was placed before his 
eyes and record in his heart whatever struck his ears." 
English readers may study this work in an accurate trans- 
lation contributed by Mr. B. H. Chamberlain to the 
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1882. 
It is preceded by a valuaUe introduction. 

NihongL — The mythical narrative of the Nihongi^ or 
' Chronicles of Japan/ also an official compilation (A.D. 720), 
is not quite so fiill as that of the Kojiki^ and it has tbs 
disadvantage of being composed in the Chinese language. 
But it has one feature of great interest. The author, or 
some nearly contemporary writer, has added to the original 
text a number of variants of the current myths, thus 
enabling us to correct any impression of uniformity or 
consistency which might be left by the perusal of the 
Kojiki or Nihongi alone. These addenda show that there 
was then in existence a large body of frequently irrecon* 
dlable mythical material, which these works ai-e attempts 
to harmonize. A translation of the Nihongi by the present 
writer forms Supplement I. of the Transactions of the 



MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO, 3 

Japan Society (1896). Dr. Florenz's excellent German 
version of the mythical part of this work may also be 
consulted with advantage. It has copious notes. 

Kii^ikL — A third source of information respecting the 
mythical lore of Japan is the Kiujiku A work with this 
name was compiled A.D. 620, ix.y one hundred years before 
the Nihongiy but the book now known by that title has 
been condemned as a forgery by native critics. Their argu- 
ments, however, are not quite convincing. The Kiujiki is in 
any case a very old book, and we may accept it provision- 
ally as of equal authority with the Kojiki and Nihongi. 
It contains little which is not also to be found in these 
two works. Unlike them, the AT/ff/ii^' jnakes no attempt to 
be consistent It is a mere jumble of mythical material, 
distinct and conflicting versions of the same narrative being 
often dovetailed into one another in the most clumsy 
fashion. It has not been translated. 

Idsumo FadokL — ^This work, a topography of the pro- 
vince of Idzumo, was compiled about A.D. 733. It contains 
a few mythical passages. 

The Kogothinl was written in 807. It adds a very little 
to the information contained in the Kojiki and Nihongi. 

Sh6jlrcdca« — In this work, which is a sort of peerage of 
Japan (815), the descent of many of the noble families, is 
Jraced from the deities of the Shiiito f antheon. 

TengishikL — Our principal source of information for the 

^gcyemonial of Shinto is the Yengishiki^ or ' Institutes of the 

Period Yengi ' (901-923). It gives a minute description of 

the official Shinto ritual as then practised, together with 

twenty-seven of the principal prayers used in worship. 

These prayers, called norito^ were now, so far as we know, 

for the first time reduced to writing, but many of them 

must be in substance several hundreds of years older. Some 

have been translated by Sir Ernest Satow for the Asiatic 

Society of Japan (1879-81), and the series is now being 

continued by Dr. Karl Florenz, whose translation of the 

B 2 



4 MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO. 

Ohoharahi (1899) is a notable addition to the English 
reader's means of studying Shinto. 

Moto5ri and Hirata. — The writings of the native 
scholars Motoori, Hirata, and others during the second half 
of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth 
are an indispensable source of information. No part of this 
voluminous literature has been, or is likely to be, translated. 
The English reader will find a good account of it in Sir 
Ernest Satow's * Revival of Pure Shinto/ contributed to the 
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1875. By 
" Pure Shinto '* is meant the Shinto of the Kojiki, Nihongi, 
and Yengishiki^ as oppo:>ed to the corrupt forms of this 
religion which sprang up under Buddhist influence in later 
times. 

The above-named works contain fairly ample materials 
for the study of the older Shinto. They have the advantage 
of showing us this religion as seen by the Japanese them- 
selves, thus leaving no room for the introduction of those 
errors which so often arise from the unconscious importation 
of modern European and Christian ideas into the accounts 
"of other rudimentary cults. It should be observed that it is 
the State religion to which these records chiefly relate. Of 
the popular beliefs and practices at this time we are told 
but little. 

The Nihongi, and, to a lesser extent, the Kojtki, are 
somewhat influenced by Chinese ideas : but this element is 
generally recognizable. Buddhism was introduced into 
Japan towards the middle of the sixth century, and was 
widely propagated under the regency of Shdtoku Daishi, 
who died A.D. 621 ; but there is little or no trace of it in 
the older Shinto. For a long time there was a marked 
antagonism between the two religions which served to 
protect the latter from such adulteration. 

The Fdsoka OwahS, a modem illustrated magazine, is 
a rich store of information respecting modem Shinto and 
the folk-lore and superstitions which are associated with it. 



5 



CHAPTER II. 

/ 

GEN ERAL FEATURES. —PERSONIFICATION. 

Religion. — Religion, a general term which includes all 
our relations to the Divine, is a cord of three strands, 
namely, Emotion, Thought, and Conduct. Emotion com- 
prises gratitude, hope, and fear. Thought yields conceptions 
and beliefs. Religious conduct consists in doing that which 
is pleasing to the superior powers, and in refraining from 
acts which are thought to be offensive to them. It includes 
worship, purity, and morality. 

These elements of religion are inseparable. Emotion 
stimulates and sharpens the intellectual faculties, which 
in turn provide fresh food for emotion. Each without the 
other is evanescent and barren. Nothing worthy of the 
name of religion. is possible without a long succession of 
alternate moods of thought and feeling. 

Emotion and thought lead in all healthy minds to action 
of some sort. Man is impelled by his very nature to 
testify his gratitude to the powers on which he feels him- 
self dependent, to express his hopes of future blessings 
from them, and to avoid acts which might offend them. 
Moreover, as a social animal, he is prompted to com- 
municate his religious thoughts and feelings to his fellow 
men. Without such intercommunication, no religion is 
possible. No individual man ever evolved a religion out 
of his own inner consciousness alone. 

Emotional Sonroe of Religion. — The emotional basis of 
religion is gratitude, love, and hope, rather than fear. If 
life is worth living — and what sane man doubts it ? — there 
are necessarily far more frequent occasions for the former 
than for the latter. The statement of the old Roman poet 



r- - 



6 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 

that ** Primus in orbe Deus fecit timor " is untrue even of 
the Greek and Roman mythology to which he more 
particularly referred. Zeus, the Shining One, the Father 
of Gods and Men, though he may occasionally destroy a 
wicked man with his thunder, is loved rather than feared. 
"Alma Venus, hominum divomque voluptas," is not the 
offspring of our terrors. Nor is Ceres, Bacchus, Here 
Eileithuia, or Kora. In Mars, by an exception the 
malignant quality predominates. 

Shinto is essentially a religion of gratitude and love. 
The great Gods, such as the Sun-Goddess and the Deity 
of Food, are beneficent beings. They are addressed as 
parents, or dear divine ancestors, and their festivals have a 
joyous character.* An eighth-century poet says, " Every 
living man may feast his eyes with tokens of their love." 
The Kogoshiui tells us that when the Sun-Goddess emerged 
from her cave, " Heaven above at length became clear, and 
all people could see each other's faces distinctly. They 
stretched forth their hands and danced and sang together, 
exclaiming, ' Oh ! how delightful ! how pleasant ! how 
clear ! ' " The Nihongi says that on the same occasion all 
the Gods rejoiced greatly. Have we not here a rudiment 
of the beatific vision which in its higher developments 
embraces not only the sunlight but all things in Heaven 
and earth, and hell itself, founded, as Dante says, by the 
prima Ainoref Even the boisterous Rain-Storm God, who 
of the Dii Majores most nearly approaches the type of an 
evil deity, has his good points. The demons of disease 
and calamity are for the most part obscure and nameless 
personages. 

Xntelleotnal BasiB of Religion. The Idea of Ood. — A 

* At the festival of Nifu MiOjin in Kil, when the procession bearing offerings 
arrives before the shrine, the village chief calls out in a load voice, '* Accord- 
ing to our annual custom, let us all laugh." To whidi a hearty response is 
given. This is because this God does not go to Idsumo for an annual visit 
Uke the others. 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 7 

God may be defined as a sentient being possessed of super- 
human power. The phrase *' supernatural being," which is 
sometimes used as equivalent to God, is open to objection 
The word " supernatural " belongs to the vocabulary of a 
comparatively scientifio* age. To the savs^, phenomena 
are ordinary or strange, not natural or supernatural. More- 
over, there are many objects of worship which are not at all 
supernatural, as, for instance, the sun. *' Spiritual being " 
is insufficiently comprehensive as an equivalent for God. 
The Lama of Tibet is a God ; but he is not a spiritual 
being. Neither is the Wind nor the Moon. The assumptionX 
that Gods are always spirits has been the source of much 1 
confusion. 

KamL — ^The most common and comprehensive word for 
deity in the Japanese language is Kami, It is probably 
connected with kaburu^ to cover, and has the general 
meaning of "above," "superior." Kami is the part of 
Japan which lies near the capital, as opposed to SAimo, 
the lower country or provinces. Kahakami means the 
upper waters of a river. Kami no ke^ or simply kamiy is 
the hair of the head. Kami is applied not only to 
Gods, but to Mikados and nobles. The heads of 
State Departments were at one time called Kami^ and 
in later times this word became equivalent to our 
**Lord" in territorial titles. O Kami is frequently said 
vaguely of "the authorities," while O Kami San is the 
domestic authority, namely, "the mistress." Whether 
Kami is used of Gods or men, it is in both cases a 
secondary application of the general meaning "upper." 
The Gods are Kami because they reside in Heaven {superi^ 
caslicoliy 'OvpavCoivts, Most High, Father in Heaven) ; men 
are Kami on account of their higher rank. No doubt both 
gain prestige by their association under the same title — the 
Gods by a reflection from the pomp and ceremony which 
attend on mortal Kami; and men by assimilation with the 
transcendent power and glory of the great nature-deities. 



8 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 

Why should height come to be everywhere associated with 
excellence and rank ? Herbert Spencer's characteristic con- 
tribution* to the solution of this problem is as follows : " In 
battle it is important to get the force of gravity to fight on 
your side, and hence the anxiety to seize a position above 
that of the foe. Conversely the combatant wlio is thrown 
down cannot further resist without struggling against his own 
weight as well as against his antagonist's strength. Hence 
being below is so habitually associated with defeat as to 
have made maintainance of this relation (literally expressed 
by the words superior and inferior) a leading element in 
ceremony at large." To this it may be added that the 
upper part of the human body — namely, the head — is 
also the most important and honourable. '* Chief" is 
(lerived from caput: "capital" as an adjective, means 
excellent ** Headman," " head-centre," " head and front 
of my offending," are familiar phrases which involve the 
assumption of the superior importance of the head. A 
Japanese raises to his head a present or other object to 
which he wishes to show respect. A further and decisive 
consideration is the circumstance that the most incom- 
parably glorious, excellent, and majestic thing with which 
we are acquainted is also immeasurably the highest Even 
pre-religious man cannot have been wholly insensible to 
the glory of the sky — ^** hoc sublime candens " — with its sun 
and moon, its dawns and sunsets, its clouds, thunders, and 
storms. No wonder that the words heavenly and celestial 
have come to convey the idea of supreme excellence. 

The following quotations will help us to realize more 
fully what the Japanese mean by the word Kami. Mo- 
todri says : — 

"The term Kami is applied in the first place to the 
various deities of Heaven and Earth who are mentioned in 
the ancient records as well as to their spirits {mi-tama) 
which reside in the shrines where they are worshipped. 

• * Sociology,' p. 153. 



GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 9 

Moreover, not only human beings, but birds, beasts, plants 
and trees, seas and mountains, and all other things what- 
soever 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 surpassing 
nobleness, goodness, or serviceableness alone. Malignant 
and uncanny beings are also called Kami if only they are 
the objects of general dread.* Among ^^w/ 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 province, village, or family 

Amongst Kami who are not human beings I need hardly 
mention Thunder [in Japanese Naru hami or the Sounding 
God]. There are also the Dragon, the Echo [called in 
]sipB,ne3e Ko-dama or the Tree Spirit], and the Fox, who are 
Kami by reason of their uncanny and fearful natures. The 
term Kami is applied in the Nihongi and Manyoshiu to the 
tiger and 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 seas and 

mountains being called Kami, It is not their spirits which ; 
are meant The word was applied directly to the seasf or ' 
mountains themselves as being very awful things." 

Hirata defines kami as a term which comprises all things 
strange, wondrous, and possessing isao or virtue. A recent 



* Compare with this the following description of the huacas of the ancient 
Perttvians. " All those things which from their beaoty and excellence are 
saperior to other things of a like kind ; things that are ugly and monstrous or 
that cause horror and fright ; things out of the usual coutm of nature." 
t In the spirit of Wordsworth's 

^ Listen, the mighty being is awake 
And doth with his eternal motion make 
A noise like thunder everlastingly.'' 



lO GENERAL FEATURES— PftRSONinCATlON. 

dictionary gives the following essentially modem definitions 
of this word : — 

K^Lfni. I. Something which has no form but is only 
spirit, has unlimited supernatural power, dispenses calamity 
and good fortune, punishes crime and rewards virtue. 
2. Sovereigns of all times, wise and virtuous men, valorous 
and heroic persons whose spirits are prayed to after their 
death. 3. Divine things which transcend human intellect 
4. The Christian God, Creator, Supreme Lord. 

Doable Ourrent of Beligioas Thon^t — If we accept 
the definition of a God as a sentient being possessed of 
superhuman power, it follows that the idea of God may be 
arrived at in two ways. We may ascribe sense to those 
superhuman elemental powers of whose action we are daily 
witnesses, or we may reverse this process and endow 
sentient beings, especially men, with powers which they do 
not actually possess. In other words, the idea of God may 
be arrived at either by personification or by deification. 

Strictly speaking, the first of these processes is the only 
legitimate one. The second involves the assumption that 
man may be or may become God. But without questioning 
the reality of an intimate union of the human with the 
divine, both in this world and the next, it is better to 
maintain a clear distinction between these two terms. 
Ultimately, after the errors of anthropomorphism, poly- 
theism, and spiritism have been eliminate, the two methods 
of arriving at the idea of God yield the substantially identical 
formulas : — 

A. God = infinite power + absolute humanity. 

B. God = absolute humanity + infinite power. 

But in the stage of religious progress represented by 
Shinto, we are far indeed from such a result. 

The priority of the second of these two processes has 
been assumed or contended for by many writers, notably 
by Herbert Spencer. Others argue that there can be no 
deification until the idea of deity has somehow been arrived 






GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. II 

at previously, as for example, by the personification of 
natural powers. It appears to me impossible to say which 
of the two comes first in order of time. The germs of 
both may be observed at a stage of intellectual development 
prior to all religion. Children, as we have all observed, 
sometimes personify inanimate objects. I have known a 
boy of three years of age complain that, " Bad mustard did 
bite my tongue." The baby who cries for the moon credits 
his nurse — ignorantly, of course — with powers far transcend- 
ing those of humanity. The argument that there can be no 
deification without a previous acquaintance with the idea 
of deity loses sight of the circumstance that deity is a 
compound conception, which combines the ideas of great 
power and sense. Of these two a man has sense already. 
To make him a God all that is necessary is to ascribe to 
him transcendent power. Deification, therefore, does not 
necessarily imply a previous knowledge of the conception 
of deity. In practice, however, men are usually deified by 
being raised to the level of already known deities.* 

Each of these two processes rests on a basis of truth. 
The personification of natural objects and powers springs 
from some glimmering notion that the so-called inanimate 
world is really alive. Everything physical has its meta- 
physical counterpart. There is no motion without some- 
thing akin to sensation, and no sensation without motion. 
As all our sensations, emotions, and thoughts are accom- 
panied by corresponding disturbances of the molecules of 
our brain and nervous system, so all natural phenomena 
have associated with them something varying in quality 

* M. Goblet d'AlvieUa says : " I maintaiD that neither of these two fonns 
of worship necessarily presupposes the other ; but that man having been led 
by different roads to personify the souls of the dead on the one hand and 
natural objects and phenomena on the other, subsequently attributed to both 
alike the character of mysterious superhuman beings. Let us add that this 
must have taken i^ace everywhere, for there b not a people on earth in which 
we do not come upon these forms of belief side by side and intermingled." 
Dr. Pfleiderer's view is substantially identical. 



12 GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 

and intensity, for which our human language has no better 
word than sensation, while along with the sum of the 
infinitely interwoven physical eneigies of the universe there 
goes what we, in our imperfect speech, must call emotion, 
purpose, thought. 

Ordinarily the lower animal, the child, the savage, and 
the primitive man do not realize this truth. Under the 
pressure of imperious practical necessities they rec(^;nize 
with sufficient accuracy the difference between the animate 
and the inanimate. They do not take the further step of 
seeing that there is animation in the so-called inanimate. 
Sense and volition are not habitually attributed by them to 
inanimate objects. Much less do they assume, as we are 
sometimes told, the presence in them of a conscious agent 
not visible to the senses. There are, however, exceptions 
to this rule. Some of these are simple mistakes. I have 
known a dog take a doll for a living person, and only 
discover his error after close examination and long 
consideration. A large stone-ware image of the Buddhist 
Saint Daruma, of stem aspect, which stood in my garden 
in Toki5, caused unmistakable alarm to stray dogs who 
unexpectedly found themselves face to face with it 
Children sometimes beat inanimate objects by which they 
have been hurt, and savages have been known to r^ard a 
watch as a living being. 

A second exception is the case of conscious make-believe, 
of which we may observe instances in the play of children, 
and even of the lower animals. Errors and'fandes of this 
kind do not constitute religion, though they may prepare 
the way for it A time comes, however, when some savage 
or primitive man, gifted beyond his fellows, arrives at a 
partial and hesitating recognition of the truth that with the 
energies of nature there really goes something of the same 
kind that he is conscious of in himself, and has learned to 
recognize in his fellow beings — namely, sense and will. 
He sees the sun move across the heavens, diffusing light 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 1 3 

and warmth, and says to himself, " He is alive.** With the 
intellectual perception there is associated emotion. He 
feels that the sun is kind to him, and bows his head as he 
would to his chief, partly to express his thanks and partly 
in order that others may share his thoughts and feelings. 
This is religion. It comprises the three elements of 
thought, emotion, and actioa Religion is at first excfep- 
tional. Every primitive man is not a seer or maker of 
religious myth. His ordinary attitude towards the powers 
of nature is that of the Chinaman, who thought that the 
moon was " all the same lamp pigeon." He is an unconscious 
Agnostic, and knows nothing of volition in the inanimate 
world. 

The deification of men, although involving a contra- 
diction in terms, has yet a substantial and most important 
truth associated with it Great captains, wise rulers, in- 
spired poets, sages and seers, whether alive or dead» deserve 
honour to which it is not easy to place a limit. Napoleon 
said that one of his generals was worth an army division. 
Who shall estimate the value to their respective races, and, 
indeed, to humanity, of such men as Shakespeare, Con- 
fucius, Mahomet, or Buddha ? Nor are they dead. They 
live in their works, and subjectively in the hearts and 
minds of their countrymen. And may we not go a step 
further ? Our actions, even the most insignificant, do not 
remain locked up in ourselves. As by sensation the whole 
universe affects us, so does every impulse of our ^o react 
upon the universe,4eaving an impression which is indelible. 
The physical world is different for the most trifling act ol 
the meanest human being that ever lived. All our emotions 
and thoughts have a counterpart in our physical constitu- 
tion, which is resolvable into motion, and is therefore 
indestructible. The doctrine of the conservation of energy 
is the physical counterpart of the doctrine of the immor- 
tality of the soul. Each involves the other. Assuming, 
therefore, that all motion is accompanied by something 



14 GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 

akin to sensation, it will be seen that dead men may con- 
tinue to have perhaps even a sentient existence equal to 
the sum of the reactions of their ^o upon its environment, 
animate or inanimate, during life. It is the remembered 
total energies of the man which, I take it, form the object 
of honour and worship after he is dead, and not his corpse 
or ghost The latter is a mere accident, of secondary 
origin, and is by no means universally recognized. 

In justification of man-worship, it may also be pleaded 
that if the nature-deity is truer, the man-deity is nearer to 
us and more capable of vivid realization. And as it is from 
the sympathetic recognition of life in our fellow men that 
we proceed to the recognition of life in the so-called inani- 
mate universe, so it is by the contemplation of the highest 
types of humanity that we are able to refine and exalt our 
conception of divinity. 

The two great sources of religious thought, personification 
and deification, are constantly intermingling their streams 
and reacting upon each other. A deity who begins his 
career as a Nature-God often in course of time loses this 
quality, and becomes hardly distinguishable from a magnified 
man. The Zeus of Homer is an example. He is much 
more the Father of Gods and men than a Sky or Weather- 
God. In Japan it is only the scholar who recognizes in 
Susa no wo the deity of the Rain-storm. To the people 
even Tenshodaijin (the Sun Goddess) is nothing more than 
the great providential deity who resides at Ise. Her solar 
quality is practically forgotten. Men, on the other hand, 
may be exalted to such a height by the ascription to them 
of nature-powers that their original humanity is much 
obscured. 

It is sometimes difficult to determine to which of the two 
currents of religious thought a particular deity belongs. 
For example, we find a sword worshipped as a deity. Is 
it on account of its wonderful cutting property, or because 
it was once an offering to a nature or a man-deity, and 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 1$ 

had therefore at length absorbed to itself a portion of his 
divinity ? Or is it the Excalibur of some forgotten deified 
chieftain ? There is no general answer to such questions. 
They must be decided, if at all, by the evidence in each 
case. To call objects of this kind "fetishes" helps us 
nothing. In the Yengishiki we find mention of a shrine 
to Iha no hime (the lady of the rock). At first sight this 
looks like a Nature-God. But when we find that an Iha 
no hime was the mother of the Mikado Richiu (end of 
fourth century) it seems more probable that the Iha no 
hime of this shrine was a deified mortal. 

In Shinto it is the first of the two great currents of J 
religious thought with which we are chiefly concerned. | 
It is based much more on the conception —fragmentary, \ 
shallow, and imperfect as it is-— of the universe as sentient 
than on the recognition of pre-eminent qualities in human 
beings, alive or dead. It springs primarily from gratitude 
to— and, though in a less d^jree, fear of — the great 
natural powers on which our existence depends. The 
desire to commemorate the virtues and services of great 
men and to perpetuate a loving remembrance of departed 
parents and forefathers takes a secondary place. 

Clasaifloation of Deities. — Both Nature-Gods and Man- 
Gods may be deities of individuals, of classes, or of abstract 
qualities. We have, therefore, six classes of Gods, as 
follows : — 

Nature-Gods. J 

Individuals, as the Sun. 
Classes, as the God of Trees. 
Properties, as the God of Growth. 

Man- Gods. 

Individuals, as Temmangu. 

Classes, as Koyanc 

Properties, as Ta-jikara no wo (Hand-strength-male). 



1 6 GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONlFlCATtOk. 

This is the logical sequence ; but it by no means follows 
that all Gods of individuals precede all Gods of classes, or 
that there were no deities of abstractions before some of 
the later individual or class deities were evolved. 

The distinction between individual objects deified and 
deities of classes is not always well maintained in Shinto. 
It is doubtful, for example, whether Kamado no Kami is 
the God of all cooking furnaces, or whether there is a 
separate God for each. Different worshippers might give 
different answers. The habitual n^lect by the Japanese 
nation of the grammatical distinction between singular 
and plural is a potent obstacle to clearness in such matters. 

FhMM of Oonoepiion. — The conception of individual 
parts of the universe as deities passes through the phases 
represented in the following formulas : — 

T. The Sun (Moofv-Windy Sea, &c) is alive. 

II. The Sun is a man, a father, a chief or a king — first 
rhetorically, and then literally. 

III. The Sun is a material object, ruled by an unseen 
but not incorporeal being with human form and passions.* 

IV. The Sun is (a) a material object ruled by an 
anthropomorphic being which has a spiritual double, or (d) 
is animated by a spiritual being. 

These formulas exhibit the logical sequence of develop- 
ment. In practice the various phases are found to overlap 
one another considerably. Even in the latest Shinto the 
direct conception of the natural object as alive is not 
forgotten. 

The first stage,* in which we have the religious concep- 
tion before it is clothed in myth or metaphor, is abundantly 
exemplified in Shinto. A well, for example, is, like 
Horace's " Fons Bandusiae," worshipped without name or 
myth attached to it, or anything to show whether it is 
regarded as male or female. The same is the case with 

* Max Muller speaks of " that ancient stratum of thought which postulated 
an agent in the sky, the sun, &c" This b really a secondary conception. 



fcENkRAL FEATUkES— tERSOKlFiCATIOkl. 1^ 

sites, buildings, provinces, trees, all of which are deified and 
have religious rites in their honour without any very 
definite personality being attributed to them. They are 
simply thought of as in some sort of way living things. 
Mud and sand are dubbed Kamty and there the personifica- 
tion ends. There are a good many colourless deities of 
this kind in Shinto. Motoori declares explicitly that when 
a sea or a mountain is called Kami, it is not the spirit of 
the sea or mountain which is meant, but the sea or 
mountain itself A poet of the Manyoshiu says of 
Fujiyama : — 

Of Yamato, the Land of Sunrise, 

It is the peace-giver, it is the God, 

It is the treasure. 

When a kitchen wench at the present day speaks of the \ 
Hettsut'Sama — sama is a honorific and personifying word — 
she means the cooking-fiirnace itself r^arded as a God, 
not a spirit inhabiting it. She will even speak of the 
plasterer making a Hettsui-santa, 

'The second or anthropomorphic stage of the develop- 
ment of the idea of God arises out of the rhetorical necessity 
of rendering more vivid, even at the expense of exact 
truth, the presentation of the conception of the powers of 
nature as living things. Finding that the bare assertion 
that they are alive produces little impression, the poet or 
seer goes a step further, and boldly ascribes to them 
human form, passions, actions, and character. Myth and 
metaphor are his instruments.- The God has bodily 
parts, parents, sex, and children. He eats, drinks, is 
angry or alarmed, loves, fights, weaves, cultivates the 
ground, fishes, hunts, and dies. With the advance of 
social organization he is a chief or a king. Sometimes 
in these metaphors we can trace a special application 
to the deity's natural functions. Sometimes they are 
introduced merely for general effect The results of this 
process for good and for evil are written large in the pages 



1 8 GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 

of human history. It is, on the one hand, the indis- 
pensable means by which the high intuitions of the seer 
are brought home, more or less imperfectly, to the multi- 
tude. On the other hand, the true original nature divinity 
is often lost sight of in a profusion of anthropomorphic 
fancies, and nothing is left but a magnified man, whose 
ultimate fate it is to be disavowed by advancing knowledge 
and enlightenment 

It has been said that the primitive man knows no distinc- 
tion between fancy and reality. In truth, life would be 
impossible for such a simpleton. • However primitive he 
may be, he cannot hold a fire in his hand by thinking of 
the frosty Caucasus. The difference between a real dinner 
and an imaginary one is palpable even to his limited intelli- 
gence. The hunter who could not disting^uish between 
the game of his imagination and the reality could never 
earn a living. He would be fit only for an imbecile asylum. 
The child is well aware that his mud pies are not fit to eat. 
The savage woman who pretends to herself that a stone is 
her lost baby, knows in her heart that this is nothing more 
than make-believe. Even a dog appreciates the distinction 
between a real rat and the object which it pleases him to 
fancy one, and worries accordingly. The seer is conscious 
that his anthropomorphic language is only metaphorical. 
Dante felt this when he said : — 

Per questo la Scrittura condescende 
A nostra facultate e piedi e mano 
Attribuisce a Dio ed altro intende. ^- 

Metaphor is of the very essence of myth. But the literal- 
minded vulgar are at all times prone to confound the cUtro 
which is clothed in m)rth and metaphor with its outward 
husk, and the literal-minded scholar or scientific man is often 
little better. Hirata says that " what we call katni are all 
men. Even among men those who are excellent are called 
kamL The natural difference between men and Gods is 



GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 19 

that the Gods are high and men are low, owing to the 
greater care taken by the creator deities in producing the 
former." He thinks that the Shinto deities are about ten 
feet high. 

The humanization of the nature, deirift^is reflected in the y 
vocabulary -brShinta The term mioya, or " august parent," ^ 
is frequently used of them. Tsuchi or tsutsu, old forms of 
chichi^ fa^er. occurs in the names of several. It is primarily 
by no means physical fatherhood which is meant in such 
cases, although there are no doubt vulg^ minds who are 
unable to rise above this conception and have thereby done 
much to corrupt religion. 

In Western religions a God must be either male or female. 
The grammatical structure of their lang^uages compels 
Europeans to say either he or she in speaking of deities. 
In Japan this necessity does not exist The forms of 
Japanese speech take little account of sex. Many Shinto ^ ^ 
deities have no sex at all. In others sex is indicated by the 
incidents of the myth or by the additions of such termina- 
tions as wo male, me female. There are several pairs of 
married deities. In art, sex is comparatively little distin- 
guished in Japan. 

-The reason for attributing one sex to a deity rather than 
the other is not always evident Provinces and mountains 
2u-e sometimes male and sometimes female. The Food 
Goddess is naturally feminine, as representing the productive 
principle of nature, and perhaps also because cooking is the 
business of women. The male sex is more suitable to 
Susa no wo's violent character as the Rain-storm, Warlike 
gods like Hachiman are naturally masculine. 

The " chieftain ** conception of divinity is represented by 
the use of the word wo^ male, t,e.y virile or valiant one, in 
many of the names of deities, and by the ascription to some 
of warlike qualities. There is nothing to show that these 
are deified chieftains. On the contrary, the term wo is 
applied, like tsuchi^ father, to what are unmistakably nature 




20 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 

deities, such as the Sea-Gods Soko-tsutsu-wo (bottom-father- 
male) Naka-tsutsu-wo (middle-father-male), and Uwa- 
tsutsu-wo (upper-father-male), produced by the lustrations 
of Izanagi in the sea after his return from Yomi. 

Tohcy another word Ux chieftain, occurs in the name of 
the Wind-God, Shina tsu tohe. 

Nushi, master, is found in the names of several deities. 

The application to the Shinto deities of words implying 
sovereignty is illustrated by sube or sunUy which enters 
into a number of compounds relating to the Gods or 
Mikados. This word means " to collect together into one," 
and hence " to hold general rule over." Sumera or sumerqgi 
no mikoto is the Mikado. Several deities enjoy the 
honorary epithet of Sume-gamiy or Subera-ganiu 

Mi-^tOf august thing, is also applied equally to Gods 
and Mikados, and in ancient times even to parent^. It is 
nearly equivalent to our " majesty." 

Wake^ a branch, that is to say, a branch of the imperial 
family, a prince, is applied to deities. 

Hiko diXiA hime occur frequently in the names of gods. 
These words mean literally sun-child and sun-female, but 
in practice they are equivalent to prince and princess, or 
lord and lady. In the history of these words one may 
observe the operation of both of the great currents of deity- 
forming thought. Hiy sun, is used as an epithet for the 
glorification of human personages, and the compounds hiko 
and hime are in turn applied to nature powers as a 
personifying term. The Wind-God is a hiko. 

The rhetorical impulse to realize in its various phases the 
human character of the nature deities of Shinto has pro- 
duced a number of subsidiary personages, who are attached 
to them as wives, children, ministers, or attendants. Some of 
these are also nature deities. In others we find a union of 
the two deity-making tendencies. Thus Koyane, by the 
circumstance of his descent from Musubi, the God of Growth, 
and by his position of high-priest to the Sun-Goddess, 



GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 



21 



belongs to the category' of nature deities, while as an 
embodiment of the collective humanity of the Nakatomi 
sacerdotal corporation, whose ancestor he is feigned to be, 
he belongs to the class of deified human beings. 

In Japan, the myth and metaphor-making faculty — in I 
other words the imagination --though prolific enough, is | 
comparatively feeble. The ancient Japanese especially 
were appreciably more n^lectful than Western races of the 
distinction between the animate and the inanimate, and 
there was therefore less scope for the play of fancy in J 
which religious personification consists. Like other Far- 
Eastern peoples, they realized the pe rsonal conception of 
deity wjth \p^<i int^ngify than the Aryan or Semitic 
nations. In this respect Homer and the Bible stand at 
the opposite pole from Confucius, whose Tien has as little 
about it of humanity as is possible for a being who is said 
to know, to command, to reward, and to punish. Shinto/ 
approaches Confucianism in this respect There is, no 
doubt, a profuse creation of persop »fiy^ ^atui-g-f^^^^i^g^ but 
we find on examination that they are s hadowy pers 

with tll-dpfin^ fiin^ti^ng and rh^^ra^t^rf' wanfinp in mn- 

sistency. Moreover, owing to the n^lect by the Japanese 
of grammatical forms indicating number, it is frequently 
hard to tell whether a given name is that of one deity or 
of several Musubi, the God of Growth, is sometimes one 
God, sometimes two, while at a later period he became 
split up into five or more deities. The Wind-God is at 
one time a single deity, at another a married couple. Susa 
no wo has in recent times been made into a trinity. Such 
fissiparoi^ reproduction of dejties is characteristic. oLa low I 
A^rZ^ rxf r.«.rYo«^u^f;/Nr^ ♦ jo mect the difficulties arising 



from this state of things Motoori, in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, propounded his theory of bun-shin^ or ** fractional 
bodies," which may remind us of the " three persons and 

* It was not troknown in ancient Greece and Rome. Zeus, Hercnlesi and ]\ 
other deities became divided up in this way. ^ 




22 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 

one substance " of Christian theology. Hirata, his 
pupil, speaking of the three Sea-deities, Uha tsutsu no wo, 
Naka tsutsu no wo, and Soko tsutsu no wo, says : " This 
deity, although, strictly speaking, bom as three deities, is 
described as though one deity were present This is to 
be understood of the God dividing his person and again 
uniting it The descent of the Adzumi no Muraji (a noUe 
family) from him shows that in this respect he is to be 
r^^ded as one." 

The circumstance that many of the Gods, like the 
Japanese themselves, have numerous aliases, adds to the 
uncertainty. The nomina and the numina do not invariably 
go together. There is sometimes reason to suspect that it 
is the same God who appears under difierent names, while, 
on the other hand, the same name may cover what are in 
reality two or more different deities. 

There were no arts of sculpture or painting in Japan 
before their introduction from China in historical times, 
and the consequent want of images and picture for v^ich 
Shinto has been commended must have contributed 
materially to prevent the Gods from acquiring distinct 
personalities like those of ancient Greece. 

The feeble grasp of perspaality indicated by the above 
I facts is profoundly characteristic of the Japanese genius. 
; It' is illustrated by their unimaginative literature, which 
makes but sparing use of personification, allegory, and 
metaphor, by their drama, with its latp and imperfect 
development, and by their art, which has produced littie 
monumental sculpture or portrait painting of importance. 
It may .also be traced in the grammar, which has prac- 
tically no gender,"TKur showing. that the Japanese mind 
is comparatively careless of marking the distinction 
between animate and inanimate and male and female. The 
law takes far less cognizance of the individual and more 
of the family than with us. Another fact of the same 
order is the neglect of distinctions of person shown by the 



J 



GENERAL FEATURES— PEkSONlFlCATlON. 



23 



sparing use of personal and other pronouns. In a passage 
translated from Japanese into English, without any inten- 
tion of illustrating this fact, there occur only six pronouns 
in the former against nearly one hundred in the latter. The 
verb has no person. Yuku for example, means equally I go, 
thou goest, he goes, we go, you go, and they go. It is 
true that person may be indicated by the use of honorifics 
to mark the second person and humble forms for the 
first, but even when these are taken into account, the . 
absence from Japanese of indications of person is very 
remarkable. 

Herbert Spencer, in his 'Principles of Sociology,* suggests 
that the comparative fewness of personal pronouns in the 
languages of the Far East is owing to the circumstance 
that they ''establish with the individual addressed a relation 
too immediate to be allowed where distance is to be main- 
tained." Now, not only is it possible, and even common, 
for pronouns to be used for the express purpose of magni- 
fying the distance between the speaker and the person 
whom he addresses, as in the case of the German er when 
used as a pronoun of the second person, but Spencer's 
explanation does not meet the case of pronouns of the 
third person, which are just as rare in these languages as 
those of the first and second. Nor is there anything in 
the relations between men of high and low degpree in these ^ 
countries which is so radically different from those which 
have prevailed in Europe as to produce such a far-reaching 
difference in the language of all classes of society. The 
truth is that these nations do not avoid pronouns. Their 
minds are still in a stage of development in which they 
have not yet realized the advantages in clearness of/ 
expression which are to be gained by a more systematic I 
distribution of their ideas^into the three cat^ories of first, \ 
second, and third person. It is with them not a matter 
of etiquette, but of jjovert^ofjcaagina^^ that power 
whichy as Mr. P. LoweRTSS'iVemaSKea, is to the mental 



i4 (JEKERAL FEATURfiS— tERSONIFICATIOI*. 

development what spontaneous variation is to organic 
development* 

In Stages I. and II. of the evolution of nature-deities, it 
is the nature power or object itself which is the ddty. 
/ Stage II. (Anthropomorphism), so long as it is not meant 
literally, is not inconsistent with a direct worship of natural 
objects and phenomena. But the vulgar are always prone 
to mistake metaphor for reality. When they are told tiiat 
the Sun is a goddess, who walks, weaves, wears armour, 
sows rice, and so on, they take these statements literally, 
combining an implicit belief in them with the worship of 
the Sun itself. Even Motoori says that it is the actual 
Sun in Heaven which we worship as Amat^-asu no Oho- 
Kami (the Heaven-shining-great Deity), while he believes 
at the same time that the Sun-myth of the Kojiki is real 
history. A time comes when it is objected that the Sun 
has no arms or l^s necessary for the performance of the 
actions attributed to her. It is pointed out that the wind 
has no bodily form at all. Instead of going back to the 
true explanation — that these things are only metaphorical, 
the literal-minded man prefers to accept the suggestion 
(which brings us to Stage III.) that the deity is not the 
actual sun, or wind, or sea, or mountain, but a powerful 
being who rules it Such beings, however, are not at first 
conceived of as in any way incorporeal. 

* " Mr. Tylor has justly observed that the true lesson of the new science at 
Comparative Mythology is the barrenness in primitive times of the fiicolty 

which we most associate with mental fertility, the imagination Ansoof 

these multitudes (the millions of men who fill what we vaguely call the East) 
Literature, Religion, and Art — or what correspond to them — move alwajs 

within a distinctly drawn circle of unchanging notions This conditioa of 

thou^t is rather the infancy of the human mind prolonged than a difiereni 
maturity from that most familiar to us.*'— Maine, * Early History of Instits- 
tions,' pp. 225-6. This characteristic of the mental development of the races 
of the Far East is discussed in ' A Comparative Study of the Japanese mi^ 
Korean Languages,' by W. G. Aston, in the TnmsacHom of the Royal Asimtic 
Society, August, 1879, <uid more fully by Mr. Perdval Lowell, in Ms ' So«i] of 
the Far East,' 1888. See also Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's ' Kojiki,' Introd., \xtu 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 25 

There is considerable confusion observable in Shinto 
between Stages I. and II. and Stage III. We have seen 
that Motoori identified Ama-terasu with the Sun. His 
pupil Hirata, on the other hand, says that the Sun-Goddess 
was bom on earth, and was sent up to Heaven as " Ruler of 
the Sun." And while it is true that a sea may be directly 
called Kamiy we have also a Sea-God, Toyotama-hiko, who 
is as clearly distinguished from the physical ocean as 
Neptune is. This fluctuation is common to all mytho- 
logies. Greek literature is full of examples of reverence 
paid at one time to natural objects and phenomena, and at 
another to deities which rule them. They adored Apollo 
as well as Helios. Muir, in the introduction to vol. v. of 
his ' Sanskrit Texts,' says : — " The same visible object was 
at different times regarded diversely as being either a 
portion of the inanimate universe, or an animated being 
and a cosmical power. Thus in the Vedic hymns, the sun, 
the sky, and the earth are severally considered, sometimes 
as natural objects governed by particular gods, and some- 
times as themselves gods who generate and control other 
beings." Our own poets are not a whit disturbed by such 
inconsistencies. In ' Paradise Lx>st' the Sun is apos- 
trophized in one place as the " God of this new world," 
while in another passage of the same poem we have 
a " Uriel, Regent of the Sun." Shakespeare, in the 
* Tempest,' puts into the mouth of an anthropomorphic 

Iris the words : — 

The Queen of the Sky, 
Whose watery arch and messenger am I. 

Bpiritisnu — ^We now come to Stage IV., or spiritism. 
The g^reat and obvious difficulties connected with the 
anthropomorphic conception of deity, even in the modified 
form of a belief in corporeal beings detached from natural 
phenomena, led to spiritism, which may be defined as a 
partial or complete negation of the material properties of 
the Gods. Spiritism is therefore far from being a 



36 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 

"primitive'' religious development, as is so often sap^l 
posed. *' Primitive man,** it has been said, '' thinks that the 
world is pervaded by spiritual forces." I would rather 
describe his mental attitude as a piecemeal conception of | 
the universe as alive, just as he looks on his fellow man as 
alive without analyzing him into the two distinct entities 
of body and soul. A dog knows quite well the difference 
between alive and dead ; but the distinction between body 
and soul is far beyond his intellectual capacity. 

In Japan the process of spiritualizing the Gods has not 
gone very far. Like the Gods of the Homeric Olympus,* 
the Shinto deities are, on the whole, unspiritual beings. 

The doctrine of spiritism is associated in Shinto with the 
\ '^^ word Mitama, for which ''spirit" is the nearest. English 
equivalent Stdctiy^ spiking, the Mitama is not the God, 
but. an emanation or effluence from him, which inbabits.his 
temple, and .i§ thc^Yfihide of his action at a distaooe irain 
the plaCejKbfire hg himself resides. It therefore corre- 
sponds to the Shekinah (that which dwells) of the Jews, 
and, though in a less marked degree, to the Roman numem. 
The Shekinah, like the Mitama^ is a later development 
Where Habakkuk, ii. 20, says, "The Lord is in his hdy 
temple," the Targums have, "Jehovah was pleased to 
cause his Shekinah to dwell in his holy temple." I cannot 
see that the Shekinah and Mitama owe anything to the 
analogous doctrine of the separability of the human soul 
and body. The ghost is not the parent of either.f 

The unavoidable assumption that an anthropomorphic 
God can act at a distance from his own abode in Heaven 
or elsewhere really involves the doctrine of spiritism, 
though time and thought are required for its development 

* Homer implicitly denies the spirittiality of his Gods when he mLy% that the 
Hercules which was summoned op hy Ulysses was only his ndohm^ or phantom, 
the real man being in Oljrmpos among the happy Gods. 

t See an instmctive iMtide on ' Shekinah ' in Dr. Hastings's ' Dictionary of 
the Bible.* 



GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 27 

It is clearly not the Sun-Goddess herself who lives in Ise. \ 
Her true place is in Heaven ; but she is present in some J 
"way on earth, as is proved by her answering the prayers / 
which are addressed to her at her shrine. The explanation S. 
which is ultimately forthcoming is that it is the Mitafna^ or ^ 
spirit, of the Goddess which resides there. We have here 
a foreshadowing of the doctrine of the omnipresence of / 
deity. 

The etymology of the word Mitama will repay examina- 
tion. Mi is simply a honorific prefix. Tama contains the 
root of the verb tabu^ to give, more often met with in its 
lengthened form tamafu. Tama retains its original signifi- 
cation in tama-mono^ a gift thing, and toshi-dama^ a new 
year's present Tama next means something valuable, as 
a jewel. Then, as jewels are mostly globular in shape, it 
has come to mean anything round. At the same time, 
owing to its precious quality^, it is used symbolically for the 
sacred emanation from the Grod which dwells in his shrine, 
and also for that most precious thing, the human life or 
soul.* 

The meaning of lama is illustrated by the following storyT^ 
which is related in the Nihongi of Ohonamochi, the Creator 
or Kosmos-deity of Idzumo myth : — 

" Coffting at last to the province of Idzumo y he spake and 
said : * This Central Land of Reed-plains had been always 
waste and wild. The very rocks ^ trees ^ and herbs were all 
given to violence. But I have now reduced them to submis- 
sion^ and there is notie that is not compliant.^ Therefore he 
scud finally : * It is /, and I alone^ who now govern this 
land. Is there perchance any one who could join with m£ in 
governing the world? * Upon this a divine radiance^ illumi- 
ncUed the sea^ and of a sudden there was something which 

* ''And mine eternal jewel giren to the common enemy of man." — 
' Macbeth,' Act III. scene i. 
f The Sheldnah was also associated with a divine radiance, or glory. 



30 GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 

fioaUd towards him and said : ' Were I not here^ how 
amidst thou subdue this land? It is because ofmypresema 
that thou hast been able to accomplish this mighty task^ 
' Who art thou ? ' asked Ohonamochi. It replied and said: 
' / am thy spirit {tamd) of good luck^ the wondrous spiriH 
Then said Ohonamochi: * True ; I know^ therefore^ that thou 
art my spirit (tama) of good luck ^ the wondrous spirit. When 
dost thou now wish to dwell?* The spirit answered and 
said: * / wish to dwell on Mount MimorOy in the province af 
Y amatol Accordingly he built a shrine in that place and 
mcuie the spirit to go and dwell there. This is the God ej 
0/uhmiwa,** 

The distinction between the God and his spiritual double 
so clearly indicated in this extract is often neglected and 
the deity of Miwa spoken of simply as Ohonamochi. The 
same uncertainty as to the spiritual character of the God is 
reflected in his names Oho-kuni-nushi (great-country-master) 
and Oho-kuni-dama (great-country-spirit), and in a legaid 
told of him in the Kojiki^ where he is corporeal enough to 
have a *child by a mortal woman and yet sufficientiy 
spiritual to pass throi^h a keyhole. J 

In the Idzumo Fudoki^ Susa no wo speaks of the village 
of Susa as the place where his mitama was settled, that \s 
to say, where a shrine was dedicated to him. The Nikongi 
states that Izanami's mitama was worshipped at Kumano 
with music and offerings of flowers. In a modem book the 
Hi no mitama (spirit of the Sun) is not the Sun-Goddess, 
but a separate deity of a lower class. 

The element tama enters into the names of several duties. 
Thf Food-Goddess is called either Ukemochi no Kami a 
Uka no mitama.* But the meaning " spirit " is not appUc- 
able in every case in which a God's name contains this ele- 
ment. Futo-dama, for example, the name of the supposec 
ancestor of the Imbe priestly corporation, probably means 

* Mi mi (august body) in the names of others involves a more mateiai 
conception of deity. 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 3 1 

« 

"greatgift oroffering." Yorodzu-dama no Kami is nottheGod 
of ten thousand spirits, but the God of ten thousand offerings. 

It is a curious circumstance that in later times the trnta" 
ma par excellence were the phallic Sahe no Kami. Their 
festival was formerly called the mitama matsuri. It is now 
known by the Chinese equivalent Goridye. 

In a few cases the mitama is in duplicate, a nigi-mttama^ 
or gentle spirit, and an ara-mttama, or rough spirit* In the 
Idzumo Fudokt a man who is praying for revenge calls 
upon the nigi-tama of the Ofuhkami (great deity) to remain 
quiet, and asks the ara-tama to attend to his petition. The 
I^[endary Empress Jingo was attended on her expedition 
to Korea by two such sea-god mitama^ one to guard her 
person, the other to lead the van of her army. But we hear 
little of this distinction in the older records. The aragamu 
matsuri (rough-God-festival) of later da)rs was a sort of 
saturnalia when license was permitted to servants. 

The Kqfiki and Nihongi dp not theorize about the mita-- 
ma. Hirata's statement that they do not distinguish 
between the utsushumumi (real-august-body )t and the 
mitama of the Gods is, as the case of Ohonamochi shows, 
not quite correct But there is much foundation for it In 
one myth, for example, the Sun-Cjoddess in handing over 
the divine mirror to Ninigi, enjoins on him to regard it as 
her mitama, and in another version of the story to look 
upon it as herself. 

Another indication of an advance towards spirituality 
in the older Shinto literature is the distinction which is 
made between araha-goto (public things) and kakure-goto 
(hidden things), the former term being applied to temporal 
and the latter to spiritual matters, namely, the service of 
the unseen GoAs. Mystery is not the vital, ^looient of 
religion. It depends on what we know, not on what we 

* CorrespoDding to the mc acka, nnde of peace, and sAi ttcAa, rough ancle, 
of the Ainus. 
t Homer's <lvr^. 



3^ GENERAL FEATURES — PERSONIFICATION. 

do not know. Still, there perhaps never was a religion 
which did not betray some feeling that what we know is 
only an infinitesimal portion of that infinite sum of 
knowledge for which mankind is possessed with an eternal 
yearning. Religion, though not based in mystery, must 
always proceed, like other knowledge, from the known 
towards the unknown. A good deal, however, that is 
mysterious in religion is of our own making. Hirata, 
when he can find no way out of the difficulties arising irom 
his crude, literal-minded anthropomorphism, constantly 
resorts to the time-honoured expedient of declaring his 
problems mysteries which transcend human intelligence, 
exclaiming, " Oh ! how wonderful ! Oh ! how strange ! 
Oh ! how strange ! Oh ! how wonderful ! " 

Motoori and Hirata account for the invisibility of such 
Gods as Musubi, the God of Growth, by the theory 
that since the Age of the Gods they have removed 
further from tbe earth, so that they are now beyond the 
scope of human vision. In other respects, however, they 
have, under unacknowledged Chinese influence, greatly 
developed the hints of the spiritual nature of the Gods 
which are found in the Kojiki and Nihongi. Of the 
mitafna^ Motoori says* : — 

" In general^ when such or such a God is mentioned in the 
old scriptures^ we must distinguish between the real God and 
his mitama. The real God is his actual body ; the mitetma 
is his divine spirit : the mitama-shiro (spirit-token) is the 
things be it a mirror or aught elsCy to which the divine spirit 
attaches itself. It is commonly called the Shintai {God- 
body). Now both the real body and the spirit are spoken oj 
simply as the God, Thus when we are told that Amaterasu 
no Ohokami was entrusted to Toyo-suki-iri-bime and Yainato 
no OhO'kuni'dama to Nunaki-iri-bime^ it is not to be sup- 
posed that the real bodies of these two deities were in the 

* Si^fake no Ben^ 21, 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 3$ 

Imperial Palace. It is unquestionably their mitama-shiro 

which are spoken of as if they were the reed bodies Again^ 

when we are told in the history of the same reign that the 
Mikado assembled the eighty myriads of Gods on the plain 
of Kami-asachi and inquired of them by divination^ this is 
not like the assembly in the divine age of the real Gods in 
the Plain of High Heaven, The invitation is to their 
tnitamaP 

The same writer says that of the attendant deities who 
came down from Heaven with Ninigi» some came in their 
real bodies^ some as mitama. Among the former he 
naturally classes all those who are represented as having 
human descendants. Hirata regards this as a discovery 
which will endure to all ages. 

The following quotation from Hirata's Koshiden (vi. 9) 
illustrates further the ideas of this school of theology 
r^^ding the spiritual nature of the Gods : — 

^ ** Both this God (Chigaheshi) and Kunado"^ were produced 
by the great mitama of the great God Izanagi appfying itself 
eenmesUy to preventing the entrance into this world of the 
things coming furiously from the Land of Yomi^ and which 
accordingly became separated from him and cuihered to a 
staffs and a stone. Remaining there^ it (the mitama) did 
good service in both cases. These GodSy moreover ^ sometimes 
reveal their real bodies and dispense blessings. This may 
not be d^mbteds We find below that Kunado no Kami acted 
as a guide to Futsunushiy and that Chigaheshi no Oho-Kami 
was two deities distinguished as hiko and hime (prince and 
frincessy*^ 

Hirata thinks that Gods (and men too) have two 
doubles, the nigi-tama and an aratama mentioned above. 
These he distinguishes from the Zentai no mitama^ or 
^ spirit of the entire body." But he admits that these 
distinctions are not recognized in the old Shinto. There is 



34 GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIHCATION. 

no limit to the subdivbion of the mitatMo, Hirata explains 
that the deity is like a fire, which may be communicated to 
a lamp or to firewood while the original fire remains the 
same. '' But the world knows not this." In other words, 
this is a philosophic refinement too subtle for the popular 
taste. 

While the old records rarely distinguish between the 
God's real body and his mitama^ in later times the mitama 
is often confounded with the miiamashiro (spirit-token), 
or shintai (god-body) as the concrete representative of the 
God is called. Even in the Nihongi there is a case in- 
which a sword is called Futsu no mitama. The Kiujiki 
calls the mirror of the Sun-Goddess her mitama. The 
Shinto Midmoku (1699) says that Futsu no mitama is the 
sword of the great deity of Kashima, and speaks of the 
Toyo-uka no mitama (the Food-spirit) as being, or residing 
in, a stone. Hirata himself calls a stone idol the mitafna 
of the God, and speaks of the Sun-Goddess's mitiMma 
as going backward and forward between Ise and the 
sky. The unspiritual vulgar naturally find it hard to 
distinguish between the spirit of the God and its concrete 
representative. 

The doctrine of the separability of the human body and 
soul, and of the continued . existence of the latter after 
death, whether in a material or semi-material form, or as a 
pure spirit, may have been a factor in the spiritualizing of 
the cruder anthropomorphic conceptions of deity. But 
there is little or no evidence to this effect in the old Shinto 
scriptures, and the above pages show that other important 
influences were at work in producing this result Whether 
the idea of God had its origin in the doctrine of separable 
human souls is a question which may be left to the dis^ 
ceming reader's judgment 

Gk>da of OlMMs and Qnalitlea. — No language is possible 
without some exercise of the powers of generalization and 
abstraction. In Japanese, however, we miss many of the 



GENERAL FEATURES— PERSONIFICATION. 3S 

, more general, and especially of the more abstract, con- 
ceptions embodied in European languages, a circumstance 
which limits the scope of the personifying faculty, none 
too vigorous in itself. Supposing that we take the series 
of conceptions beginning with the concrete individual tree, 
and passing through evergreen oak, oak, tree, and vegetable, 
to the definitive generalization of the universe. The 
Japanese language has no word for v^etable except 
sdfftoku, a recent compound of Chinese prigtn,-^he word 
for universe is Ame-tsuchi (Heaven + earth) which is almost 
certainly a translation of the Chinese ten-chi. The con- 
sequence is that neither the class of v^etables nor the 
universe is recognized in the Japanese scheme of nature- 
deities. Individual trees are deified, and there is a God of 
trees, but that is all. The n^lect of grammatical number 
in the Japanese language often obscures the distinction 
between the Gods of individual objects and of classes. 
Ki no Kami means equally the God of the tree and the 
God of trees.* 

There is a marked poverty ^^ ah*^trf^rt tr*^° '" ^^^ 
Japanese la nguags^^.jtod, the . pcrsonifiration joi^ abstrart ^ 
jnal^ties i s co|Tga|yndinjglx JQ^tHctcd* There is scarcely 
anylning In Shinto to compare with the numerous 
personified abstractions of Greek and Roman mythology. I 
Izanagi and Izanami, embodiments of the creative or^ 
generative powers of nature, are probably not originally^ 
Japanese, but an echo of the Yin and Yang of Chinese 
philosophy. I have a suspicion that Musubi, the God oi 
Growth, may yet be traced to a Chinese source. 

* For deities of duMS conaik Dr. Tyloi's « PrimitiTe Culture,' ii. 341* 



C 2 



36 



CHAPTER III. 

DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

The importance of the deification of human beings in 
Shinto has been grossly exaggerated both by European 
scholars and by modem Japanese writers. Grant Alien, 
., for example, says, in his * Evolution of the Idea of God ' : 
" We know that some whole great national creeds, like the 
Shinto of Japan, recognize no deities at all, save livir^ kings 
and dead ancestral spirits." He was probably misled by 
the old writer Kaempfer^ whQK^igOorancQ o£ the subject is 
stupendous. The Iruth is that Shinto is derived in a much 
less degree from the second of the two great currents of 
religious thought than from the first It has ro|ngi^jyi-ivf>l|j 
little wQ re hip of humanj^eing s^ In the Kojiki^ Nihongi^ 
and Yengisniki we meet with hardly anything of this 
element None oi their great Gods. are indiyidual human ^ 
beings^ though at a later period a few deities of this class 
attained to considerable eminence and popularity. An 
analysis? qf a list of " Greater Shrines," prepared in the 
tenth century, yields the following results : Of the Gods 
comprised in it, seventeen are nature deities, one is a sword, 
which probably represented a nature deity, two are more or 
less legendary deceased Mikados, one is the deified type 
and supposed ancestor of a priestly corporation, one is the 
ancestor of an empress, and one a deceased statesman. 

Deified Xndiyidoal Men.— Like Nature-Gods, Man- 
Gods may be divided into three classes — namely, 
deified individual mep. deified classes of men, aiid deified 
human qualities. The first of these classes comprises 
the Mikados. living or dead, and numerous heroes, of 
whom Yamato-dake, the legendary conqueror of the 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 37 

eastern part of Japan, and Sugahara (Tenjin), the god 
of learning, may be quoted as examples. 

FbaMt of Conception. — They are variously conceived 
of, as follows :— 1 

I. X, alive or dead, is a great man, worthy of our 
lov^ reverence, gratitude, or fear. 

II. X, sometimes when alive, more frequently when 
dead, is possessed of superhuman powers, usually borrowed 
from those of nature, such as the control of the weather 
and the seasons, and of diseases. 

III. X's powers reside not in his body but in a more 
or less spiritual emanation from it 

In the first of these three phases, man-worship is not ' 
religion. Sq long as a man is honoured for those qualities 
only which he really possesses or possessed, he cannot be 
called a God. But although rational man-worship is not in 
itself religion, it is a necessary factor in its development 
Our s entiment^ r>f frr^fjtuA^ anH awp towards the.^^reat 
nqtiF^p^'vn rig sprin g up in hearts already prepared 1^ .the 

^"Vi gP^^^** f^"^»"-tYti>tt Whether individually or collec- 
tively, a man loves his parents before he loves God. The . 
outward signs of divine worship are almost exclusively in 
the first place acts of reverence towards men. -« A man 
bows his head or makes presents to his superiors before 
he worships or sacrifices to a deity. 

There is a tendency to restrict the word worship to the 
adoration of deity. Thus, when we speak of ancestor- 
worship, we are apt to think of it as implying deification. \ 
But there is much worship of living and dead men which 
is perfectly rational, and implies no ascription to them of ^ 
superhuman powers. 

The second, or yeligjous^ phase of jpaan- worship involves 
the.aa8lJL<Pption that som^. on^n are possessed .of powers, of * 
a kind diflferent from those of ordinary mortals. The mere 
exaggeration of the human faculties may produce an inferior 



L. 



38 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

sort of deity, but no really great man-God can be pro- 
duced without borrowing some of the transcendent powers 
of Nature, or in some way identifying him with that 
increasing cosmic purpose, which from one point of view 
is tendency and evolution, and from another is a loving 
Providence. Until this is done a deified king, ancestor, or 
ghost (if there be such a thing) is a poor specimen of a 
God. To become a deity of any consequence, the man- 
God must make rain, avert floods, control the seasons, send 
and stay plagues, wield thunderbolts, ride upon the storm, 
or even act as Creator of the world.* When the practice 
of deifying men was once established it was enough to 
entitle them Gods, the term itself implying the possession 
of those powers which we call supernatural, but which are 
only so when predicated of men. 

peificatlon of Mikado*. — The misunderstanding of 
metaphorical language is a fertile source of apotheosis. 
The deification of the Mikados isa^case in point. The 
Mikado is called " the Heavenly Grandchild," his courtiers 
are " men above the clouds," rural districts are spoken of 
as 'Mistant from Heaven," that is, from the Imperial Palace. 
The heir to the throne was styled hi no miko^ or " august 
child of the Sun," and his residence hi no nUya^ " the august 
house, gf the Sun^* The native names of many of the 
Mikados contain the element hiko^ or "Sun-child." The 
appearance in Court of the Empress Suiko (A.D. 612) is 
compared to the sun issuing from the clouds. Tenshi^ or 
"Son of Heaven," a Chinese term freely applied to the 
Mikado in later times, is a variant of the same idea, which, 
it need hardly be said, is known in other countries besides 
Japan. The Chinese Emperor is said to call the sun his 
elder brother, and the moon his sister. Images of the sun 

* " Laotze finit par n'^re plus qne le prindpe vital nnivenel eriatant wwmi 
le del et la terre et qui s'est plu ^ chaque ^poque a se montrer aoua les tcaits 
d'nn persofmage qaelconque souvent des plus obscurs.'* — * Religion de laChiDe,' 
DeHarles. 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 39 

and moon were depicted on the banners which were borne 
before him on State occasions. The same practice had 
been adopted in Japan as early as A.D. 700, and there is a 
relic of it at the present day in the Japanese national flag, 
which is a red sun on a white ground.* The ancient kings 
of Egypt called themselves earthly suns. Our own poet 
Waller, addressing James II., says : — 

To your great merrit given, 
A title to be called the soime of Heaven. 

Let us not pass by these metaphors with a disdainful 
smile, as mere unsubstantial poetic fancies. They are 
more or less rude attempts to give expression to the 
very important truth that the benefits which a nation 
derives from the rule of a wise and good sovereign are 
comparable to the blessings of the sun's warmth and light 
As Browning, in ' Saul,' has well said : — 

Each deed thou hast done 
I>ies, revives, goes to work in the world, and is as the sun 
Looking down on the earth, though clouds spoil him, though tempests 

efiiure, 
Can find nothing his own deed produced not, must everywhere trace 
The results of his past stmuner prime — so each ray of thy will, 
£very flash of thy passion and prowess long over, shall thrill 
Tby whole people, the countless, with ardour till they too give forth 
A like cheer to their sons, n^o in turn fiU the south and the north 
With the radiance thy deed was the germ of . 

It may be objected that it is contrary to the general law 
I of human development to make the higher metaphorical 
conception precede the lower physical one. It is no doubt 
true that the physical idea of fatherhood must come before 
metaphorical use of this relationship. But it does not 
bllow that when once the metaphor is arrived at, it may 
iot relapse into its original physical acceptation. The 
brces which produce religious progress act by waves, with 

* See a paper 011^ Sim marm (tan-drde) in the 7*. if. 5./., Nofv. Hh, 



DC 

n 



40 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

intervals of stagnation or retrogression. Even when tiie 
general religious condition of a country is advancing it 
will be found that the lower popular stratum of thought 
consists less of undeveloped germs of future progress than 
of a breccia of the debased or imperfectly assimilated 
ideas of the wise men of preceding generations. In this 
retrograde movement a lai^ part is played by the in- 
vincible tendency of the vulgar to give metaphors thdr 
literal signification. This, I take it, is the source of the 
numerous actual children or descendants of the Sun and 
other deities who are found all over the world, in Greece. 
Peru, Japan, and elsewhere. The sequence of ideas may 
be thus represented : — 
\. The King or sage is like the Sun. 

II. He is (rhetorically) a Sun, or the Sun's brother or 
offspring. 

III. He is actually descended from the Sun in the ntb 
generation, the intermediate links of the genealc^;y beo% 
a, by Cy dy ftc, and he is therefore himself a divinity. 

Herbert Spencer, in his * Sociology,' says : — 

** There are proofs tiiat like confusion of metaphor wid 
fact leads to Sun-worship. Complimentary naming after 
the sun occurs everywhere, and where it is associated with 
power, becomes inherited. The chiefs of the Hurons boit 
the name of the Sun ; and Humboldt remarks that ' tb 
" Sun-Kings " among the Natches recall to mind the 
Heliades of the first eastern colony of Rhodes.' Out d 
numerous illustrations from Egypt may be quoted as 
inscription from Silsilis — * Hail to thee ! King of Egypt 

Sun of the foreign peoples Life, salvation, health tc 

him 1 he is a shining Sun.' In such cases, then, worship 

of the ancestor readily becomes worship of the Sun 

Personalization of the wind had an origin of this kind.* 

^ Nature-worship, then, is but an aberrant form of ghost 
worship." 

Surely this is an inversion of the true order of thk^ j 



bgtFtCATlOM OF MEN. 41 

Why do kings bear the name of Sun, or child of the Sun ? 
Is it not because the Sun is already looked upon as a 
glorious being (a God?) with whom it is an honour to 
be associated ? Herbert Spencer himself speaks of ** com- 
plimentary naming after the Sun." The Chinese call 
deification hai-ten^ or ''matching with Heaven/' showing 
that, with them at least it is the man who acquires his 
divinity by being placed on a level with Heaven, not vice 
versd. Worship of the Sun must be anterior to the very 
existence of Mikados, and there are certainly more substan- 
tial reasons for it than the transfer to him, sug^^ted by 
metaphorical language, of the reverence paid to human 
sovereigns or ancestors. 

The deification of living Mikados was titular rather than ^ 
real I am not aware that any specific so-called miraculous 
powers* were authoritatively claimed for them. In 645 
ajacanfisfi minfajteyi addressing some envoys from Kore9». 
described his sovereign as ''the Emperor of Japan^ jubo 
^es the world as a iQanilcst deity^" The same official 
recognized the Korean princes as " Sons of the Gods." 
The Mikado Keik5, admiring the strength and courage 
of hb son Yamatodake, says to him: "Whereas in outward 
form thou art our child, in reality thou art a God." The 
Mikados called themselves, in notifications and elsewhere, 
Akitsu Kami^ that is, manifest or incarnate deities, and 
claimed a general authority over the Gods of Japan. 
Yuriaku conversed on equal terms with the God Hito-koto- 
nushL He expected obedience from the Thunder-God, 
but speedily had cause to repent his audacity.t 

The hoaours paid to deceased Mikados stand on a some- 
what difierent footing. There is little, however, in the 
earlier period of Shinto to distinguish the respect shown to 

* Such as tooching for scrofbla or the assurance of fine weather. 

t The statements of Kaempfer, in his ' History of Japan,' regarding the sacred 
diameter of the Mikado's person cannot be depended on. His account of 
Shiiito generally is grossly erroneotis, or rather imaginary. 



4a DEinCATION OF MEN. 

deceased Mikados from die customary observances towards 
the unddfied dead. T^^qfiH and Aff fcwig^haye h ard^ 
a tj^ce of juxjr practical recognition of their divinjLtJi:- Wc 
are told in the Nthongi\KJy. 679) that the Mikado Temma 
did reverence to the tomb of his mother who had died 
eighteen years before. In 681 worship was paid (no doubt 
by the Mikado) to the august spirit of the Mikado's grand- 
father (or ancestor). There is nothing in these notices to 
show that divine worship is intended. ^\n o flth *"^H^ ^ 
Yemishi or Ainus^whai tendering their submission in, 581,^ 
is more to the point JThey j)ray that "if we.brcak jiis 
oath, may all the Gods of Heaven and £arth» and alaio J^ 
spirits of the Mikados destroy our race." Still it must be 
remembered that the author of the Nihongi was a profound 
Chinese scholar, and that his work is deeply tinctured with 
Chinese ideas. I should not be surprised to find that tbe 
above oath was simply copied from some Chinese book. 

In the time of the Yengishiki (tenth century) the honours 
paid to deceased Mikados had become regularized, and 
offerings similar to those made to nature-deities were ten- 
dered to them periodically. It is, however, a significant 
circumstance that of the twenty-seven norito contained in 
that work not one relates to their worship, and that die 
care of their tombs did not belong to the Department of 
Shinto. Hirata protests vigorously against a modem 
practice of using a Chinese word meaning Imperial Mauso- 
leum for the shrines of Ise and Kamo. 

As early as the ninth century there are several cases of 
prayers addresseci to deceased Mikados for rain» to stay a 
curse sent by them for disrespect to their tombs, for the 
restoration of the Mikado's health, for preservation from 
calamity, &c In more recent times shrines were erected 
to them, and prayers put up for blessings which it is far 
beyond the power of man to grant Under the name of 
Hachiman, the Mikado Ojin, visibly owing to Chinese and 
Buddhist influences, became an imx>ortant' deity in Uter 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 43 

3hiPts ^ The same may be said of the Empress Jinga 
TTie Kojiki and Nihongi treat both as mere mortals. 

lected before the Restoration ofj868. At present they \ 
consist in tour {>9lanff mnt'^'nin^ servicfts held in the Palace, 
one on th e anniversary of the death of the late Emperor, 
the s econ3" onTHat"or the death of Jimmu Tenno, the third 
flnj f^iirt^ in spnng and autumn^ in memory^of all the 
Imperial ancestors,* Embassies ar^ also despatched to 
the Imperial tombs {fnisasagt)y which now have toriwi (the 
distinctive Shinto honorary gateway) erected in front of 
thenL Two of the Mikados, namely, Ojin and Kwammu, 
have special State shrines dedicated to them. Concurrent 
w}tb ihe-en^y^rcmeat Qf tlw pcditical.ptrestige of the Crown 
there has be^n ^ strong tendency in the present reign to 
increase the respect paid to the Imperial Hou^ sp.that it 
now amouots to somftthing like xeligiou& wocsbip* The 
ceremony of the naishi dokoro^ which in ancient times was 
in honour of the sacred sun-mirror, now includes the tablets 
of the deceased Mikados. 

Other Deifications. — Even in the case of the deification 
of living and dead Mikados there is much room for 
suspicion of;,£ai3e(gn influence. Of the deification of other 
men I find no clear e>adence in the older records. It is 
probable, however, that some of the numerous obscure 
deities mentioned in the Kojiki and Nihongi are deified 
men. A number of the l^endary and historiod personages 
named in these works were deified at a subsequent period. 
Others have been added from time to time. The case ot 
the God of Suha has a special interest Here the God's 
living descendant, real or supposed, is r^;arded as a God, 
and a cave (probably a tomb) occupies the place of the 
shrine. A fuller account of this cult is given below.! 

* 'Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley. 
t See Index, tub voa, 
t See Indez-^' Suha.' 



44 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

The high-priest of the Great Shrine of Idzumo is called an 
iki'gami^ or living deity. Not only good but bad men 
might be deified or canonized, as in the case of the arch- 
rebel Masakado, the robber Kumasaka Chohan, and in our 
own day, Nishitaro Buntaro, the murderer of Mori, the 
Minister for Education. 

Lafcadio Heam, in his 'Gleanings in Buddha Fields,' 
tells a typical story of the deification of a living man. A 
certain Hamaguchi Gohei, head man of his village, saved 
the lives of his fellow villagers from destruction by a tidal 
wave, at the sacrifice of his crop of rice, which he set fire to 
in order to attract them away from the sea-shore to the 
higher ground. " So they declared him a God, and there- 
after called him Hamaguchi Daimydjin, and when they 
rebuilt their village, they built a temple to the spirit of 
him, and fixed above the front of it a tablet bearing his 
name in Chinese text of gold ; and they worshipped him 

there, with prayer and with offering^ He continued to 

live in his old thatched home upon the hill, while his soul 
was being worshipped in the shrine below. A hundred 
years and more he has been dead ; but his temple, they 
tell me, still stands, and the people still pray to the ghost 
of the good old farmer to help them in time of fear or 
trouble." 

Anoeitor-W^iCitLip* — If we restrict this term to the 
religious cult of one's own ancestors, as in China, this form 
of religion has hardly any place in^ShJuto. The only case 
of it, except in modern times and under foreign influences, 
is that of the Mikados, and even then there is no evidence 
of its existence before the sixth century. The term 
ancestor- worship is often used more generally of the 
worship of de admen of former generations. There is no 
good reason, however,"?©? distinguishing between tiie cult 
of dead and that of living men. If the former is the more 
common, it is because absence and lapse of time are usually 
necessary to allow their obviously human character to be 



DEIFICATION OF MEN/ 45 

fcMTgotten and to raise the popular imagination to the 
height of attributing to them superhuman powers. Deifica- 
tion }^ th^ rfffv^** ^^ jui .exaggerated, appreciation of what 
the man was during life^ though there is often associated 
with This primary reason the ascription of imaginary 
powers to his corpse or ghost 

It is often assumed by English writers that Shinto is 
substantially, or at least is based on, ancestor-worship. 
The modern Japanese, imbued with Chinese ideas, throw 
them back into .the old Shinto, and have persuaded 
themselves that it contains a far more important element 
of this kind than is actually the case. A recent Japanese 
writer says : " Ancestor-worship was the basis of Shinto. 
The divinities, whether celestial or terrestrial, were the 
progenitors of the nation, from the sovereign and the 
princes surrounding the throne to the nobles who dis- 
charged the services of the State and the soldiers who 
fought its battles." Hirata, notwithstanding his anti-Chinese 
prejudices, was unable to resist the influence of Chinese 
ideas as regards ancestor-worship. He devotes vol. x. of 
his ^Tamadasuki' to the inculcation of an ancestor- 
worship which is plainly nothing but the well-known 
Chinese cult His tama-ya (spirit-house, or domestic 
ancestral shrine) is a Chinese institution under a Japanese 
name, and the tama^hiro^ or spirit-token, is the Chinese 
ihai (ancestral tablet). He would have his followers 
address their prayers, as in China, to their ancestors of 
every generation, from the parents of the worshipper up 
to the " Great Ancestor," the founder of the family. 
Their spirits {mitamd) are to be .adjured to avert evil from 
their descendants, to keep watch over them l^y night and 
day, and to grant them prosperity and long life. This is \ 
restor-wg r^hip , but it js m)t ShintOi It was to | 
meet the case of a failure of direct heirs to continue such 
ancestor-worship that the practice of adoption, unknown 
in ancient Japan, was introduced from China. The truth 



I 



46 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

is that only a veiy small part of the Japanese nation knew, 
or pretended to know, anything about their ancestors. Even 
of those who had genealogies, many traced their descent 
from mere undeified mortals, some being Koreans or 
Chinese. There remain in the Shdjiroku and elsewhere a 
good number of genealogies in which the descent of noUe 
families from Shinto deities is recorded. To what class 
do these deities belong? It is impossible to assert that 
some may not be genuine deified ancestors, though I cannot 
point to any undoubted case of this kind. Many are 
naturenldties. The descent of the imperial family from 
the Sun-Goddess is a typical example. The God of 
Growth, Kuni-toko-tachi, the Yatagarasu or Sun-Crow, the 
sword Futsunushi, and many other nature-deities appear 
among the ancestors of the Shdjiroku, In the ' Ideab of 
the East,' a work recently published in Engh'sh by Mr. 
Takakura Okasu, the author speaks of the '' immaculate 
ancestrism of Ise and Idzumo." The so-called ancestral 
Gods worshipped at these places are the Sun-Goddess, the 
Food-Goddess, Ohonamochi (an Earth-God) and Susa no wo 
(the Rainstorm). Dr. E. Caird*s observation that " in the 
majority of cases it is not that the being worshipped is 
conceived of by his worshipper as a God because he is an 
ancestor, but rather that he is conceived as an anc^tor 
because he is believed to be their God,*** obviously applies 
to this feature of Shinto. 

Other nobles traced their lineage from, and paid a 
special worship to, personages who never existed as 
individual human beings. Such is Koyane, the reputed 
ancestor, but really only a personified type of the Nakatomi 
priestly corporation. 

If we have any regard for correct terminology we must 
call this recognition of nature-deities and class-types as 
ancestors . not ancestor-worship, but pseudo-ancestor- 
worship. When Britain's sons declare, as they do with 

* ' Evolution of Religion,' p. 2^9. 



DEIFfCATfON Of MlEN. 4^ 

sufficient emphasis, thaf Britannia rules the waves,** is this 
ancestor-worship? Or supposing that Macaulay's^New 
Zealander found a remnant of the English people wor- 
shipping John Bull as their reputed ancestor, would he be 
right to conclude that ancestor-worship was an English 
institution ? 

UDi-OamL— These pseudo-ancestors are called in Japanese 
ufi'gami^ or g UEO ftT^ff godffr The uji were originally official 
designations, whether of Court officials or of local officials 
or chieftains, which, as these offices became hereditary, 
took the character of hereditary titles, and eventually 
became mere surnames. They may be compared with such 
titles as Duke of Wellington or with surnames like 
Chamberlain, Constable, or Baillie. In ancient times the 
common people had no surnames, and therefore no 
ancestor-worship, pseudo or real. 

The word uji is also used collectively of the noble house 
of persons bearing the same surname. It does not seem 
a very ancient institution, and must date from a time when 
an organized Government had already been established. 
Of the cult of the Uji-gami as such we know very little. 
Tj^^. /Cq/iJU' immtiona tjie fact of various deities being 
worshipp ed by cftrtftinjigyc JamiUcs. A modem authority 
says : ** All descendants of deities had uji. Every uji 
consisted of members called ukara. The chief of the $ffi 
was termed the u/i no kami (the superior of the ujt). It 
was his duty, on festival occasions, to convene the ukara 
for the worship of the ancestral God.** In later times the 
Uji-gami became simply the tutelary deity of one's birth- 
place, and was also called ubusuna (birth-sand). Infants 
bom in his jurisdiction are presented to him soon after 
birth, and parturient women pray to him for relief. They 
also procure earth from the site of his shrine, in the belief 
that it has a mi^cal power to assist their delivery. The 
same earth is credited with the property of relaxing the 
rigidity of a corpse 



4^ DEtFICAtlON OF M&Mi 

The modem Uji-gami are taken indiscriminately from all 
classes of deities, perhaps including even a few genuine 
ancestors. One or two Indian deities have been made 
Uji'gamu The Nakatomi had three i^-^ai«i-- namely, 
Take-mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi, and Koyane. Noble families 
have been known to change -their Uji-gamu 

The Uji'gami correspond in some respects to the Gredc 

Biao. —Analogous to the UJir-gami are the trades-deities 
of modem times. They are called biso (author or inventor)| 
and may be either nature-deities, deceased men, or merely 
the deified type of the particular trade or profession. 
Wres tlois, worship Nomi no Sukune, who was probably a 
real person, and Chinese doctors the Iq^endary Chinese 
. Emperor Shinnung. Confucian pundits worship (Confucius, 
poetj. honour Hitomaro, and Haikwai poets Bashd. Pro- 
fessors of the art of tea-drinking show reverence to the 
founder of that particular branch of it which they practise. 
Soothsayers* miko, football pl^ers^ flower-j^rrangers, and 
actors worship the so-called ancestEal .gods of their, several 
professions. There is a Kaji-so-sha^ or blacl 
shrine. Carpenters, for some reason, have adopted Shdtoku 
Daishi, an Imperial Prince who lived in the seventh 
century, as their patron. Merchants worship Yebisu. 
They also pay some sort of respect to Fukusuke,* a 
dwarfish figure with a lai^e head, attired in the ceremonial 
kami-shimo^ and seated in a squatting position, which may 
often be seen in the larger shops. A figure of a cat with 
uplifted paw, called the maneki-neko^ or " beckoning cat," 
and a recumbent cow covered with rugs are also objects of 
respect with them. It is in many cases a question whether 
the honour shown amounts really to divine worship. • 

Spirits. — The older Shinto scriptures afford but scanty 
evidence of the spiritualization of deified human beings. 
In the Nihongi there is one reference to the worsliip 

* Fnktt means good fortune. 



bKlFlcATioK dF MeK. 49 

of a Mikado's mitama (spirit). In another case the 
mitama of the Mikados are called upon to punish 
oath-breakers. Yamato-dake's mitama is in one place 
said to have been changed into a white bird. Of the 
mitama of ordinary undeified human beings there is 
no mention in the Kojiki or Nihongi; but, of course, 
this may be owing to the imperfection of the record, 
Tamashu^ a derivative of tama^ is the ordinary word for 
soul Bf, the present day, and is undoubtedly of considerable 
antiquity. Still there are cases where we should expect to 
find mitama spoken of, but where a more material con- 
ception — namely, that of metamorphosis — takes its place. 
Among several instances of this kind may be quoted that 
of Yamato-dake. He died, and was buried, upon which he 
Ixxdc the form of a white bird, which flew away leaving the 
tomb empty. The modem name for ghost testifies to the 
prevalence of this conception in Japan. It is bake-mcno^ 
or ** transformation," and is applied to foxes which change 
into human form as well as to the ghosts of the dead and 
to hol^oblins of uncertain origin. Bake-mano are not 
worshipped in Japan, any more than ghosts are with our- 
selves, but there is a banning of reverence to them in the 
honorific particle o which is frequently prefixed to the word, 
especially by women. There are no proper ghosts in the 
I^ffiki or (Yf trnjpf) although the writer? gf the%jK0Ck3 
w ere fond of record ing strange and miraculous occurrences. 
The metamorphosed appearances mentioned iii them are 
never phantoms with a resemblance to the human form, 
and possess no spiritual qualities. Even now the bakemonOy 
though differing little from our ghost, is quite distinct from 
the human mitama or tamashii (soul). 

Tama^ as we have seen above,* may mean either a jewel, 
a round object, or the effluence of a deity or a spirit 
Here literal- minded Dullness, with whom the Gods them- 
selves contend in vain, leaps to the conclusion that the 

* See p. 27. 



.k^' 



50 DEtFtCATION Ot MEN. 

physical globular iama is not merely a symbol of the soiri^ 
but the soul itself. By jhe ignorant in mndrm. tim» itSs 
conceived of as a. smaU round black object, wliicb has the 

>wer of leaving, the body during sleep. The popular 
name Tor the will-of-the-wisp, namely, htto-dama (man- 
ball-soul) enshrines a like superstition.* It is asserted 
that the souls of the newly dead have been seen to float 
away over the eaves and roof as a transparent globe of 
impalpable essence. 

We may compare with these Japanese notions the follow- 
ing cases^ which I quote from Herbert Spencer's * Socio- 
logy ' : •* According to Ximenes, when a lord died in Vera 
Cruz, the first thing they did after his death was to put a 
precious stone in his mouth. The object of it was that the 
stone should receive his souL The Mexicans along with a 
man's remains put a gem of more or less value, which they 
said would serve him in place of a heart in the other worid** 
Such material conceptions of the soul are to be found every- 
where. Mr. Hartland, in his * Legend of Perseus,' observes : 
'' To the savage, as to our own forefathers, and to the folk 
of all civilized countries still, the idea of an incorporeal soul 
is incomprehensible. It is everywhere in the lower culture 
conceived of as material, though capable of changing its 
form and appearance without losing its identity."! Hirata, 
after pointing out correctly that the mitama (jewel or spirit) 
is so called because there is nothing in the body so precious 
as the soul, immediately relapses into a more material con- 
ception when he proceeds to explain that, although we can- 
not discern its shape, seen from the Gods it must have the 
shape of a jewel (that is, spherical).^ 

The history of the fnitama suggests that the material, 

* In Teutonic mythology the wiU-of-the-wisps are souls whidi have not 
attained heavenly peace. 

t See also Mr. Fraser's ' Golden Bon^,' ii. 397. 

X The Stoics held that the world was not only animated and immortal, but 
likewise happy and round, because Plato says that that is the most perfect form. 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. S^ 

or partially material, conceptions of the soul are a com- 
paratively recent development Though religion is on 
the whole progressive, it by no means follows that all 
movements of religious thought are in a forward direc- 
tion. The spiritual edifice which poets and seers build 
up is being constantly reduced to ruin by the inept 
handling of the material-minded vulgar, to be reared 
anew by others more splendid than before. But let us 
not mistake the ruin for the first courses of a new build- 
ing, the dead husk for the living germ. Ghosts and ball- 
souls are aberrant conceptions which belong to the former 
cat^ory. The dullards to whom such notions are due are 
quite incapable of originating the pr^^ant, though artificial, 
conception of body and soul as two distinct entities. 

Let me add a few more etymological facts which bear on 
the question of spirituality. 

Mi'kagey or " august shadow," is an ancient synonym for 
tni-tama. It is unnecessary to suppose that anything but 
a metaphorical meaning was originally intended There 
is, however, a modem superstition that when a man is near 
his death his shadow becomes thinner. 

Th^ ftrH'"^iy Jr>p^"fif w^**^ for " to 4ie V hsJkinu$m^ that 
is^ tft .$ay^// J^reath-depart" Death is also called conceal- 
ment, long concealment, body-concealment, rock-conceal- 
ment (in allusion to the practice of burial in dolmens), 
change, and ending. In the case of the Gods, death is 
called divine departure or divine ascent 

/W, "breath," one of the vital functions, is put by 
metonymy for their sum, that is, life. It has not, like our 
word " spirit " and the Greek " psyche," taken the further 
step of coming to mean the human soul, except we identify 
it with the ke of hotoke^ which has been plausibly derived 
from hito^ " man," and ke^ " spirit." It is now the common 
Buddhist term for Buddha and his saints, and also for the 
spirits of the sainted dead The material-minded man, as 
usual, drags it down to his own level. To him the corpse 



N 

V 



52 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

at a funeral is the hotoke. It is not certain^ however, that 
the element ke of this word is not of Chinese origin* 
China, always far in advance of Japan in spirituality, has 
exercised a profound influence on the development of 
Japanese ideas r^arding spiritual matters. 

Another material conception of the life or soul is con- 
tained in a poem of the Manydshiu^ in which a fisherman 
named Urashima is related to have found his way to the 
Toko yo no kuni^ or ** Eternal Land" When about to 
return to earth he received from his wife a casket, with the 
injunction that he must not open it He does open it, 
upon which his life or soul comes out and flies away like 
a white cloud to the ** Eternal Land." He dies soon after. 
But this is a poetic fancy, open to strong suspicions of 
Chinese inspiration. 

Xhfire is a ceremony called iki-mitatna (Uving soul), 
which consists in paying respect to an absent parent, &c, 
as if he were present Anotho:, similar practice is tiiat of 
kage-sen (sbadow-£ood)« in which a meal is set out for an 
absent member of the family, especially when it is not 
known whether he is dead or alive. The term tki-su" 
dama (living spirit) is applied to the angry spirit (double?) 
of a living person, which is supposed to work a curse, 
sometimes unknown even to himself. Su-dama are 
defined as the essences of woods or mountains, whidi 
assume a metamorphosed form — elves, as we should say. 
All these are comparatively modem ideas. 

The Shinto Dd-itsUy a modem Shinto manual, frankly 
adopts the Chinese views of the soul. A manual of this 
sect has the following : '' The kont-paku are in China the 
animal and rational souls. When a man dies, his kon goes 
up to Heaven and his haku retums to Earth. Man at birth 
derives his breath (or life) from Heaven and Earth. There- 
fore when he dies it retums to Heaven and Earth. The 
kon is the^^a^^ or male, positive spirit ; the haku is the yin 
or female, n^ative spirit {tama). In everything there is 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 53 

the yin and the yang heart. All men have ki (breath), 
kei (form), and sei (life). The kon rules the ki and the seu 
The haku rules the form and the body. Ki means literally 
breath, on which man's life depends. From the Buddhist 
point of view there are two functions of the material body, 
namely, life and death, each of which has its soul. The 
saki'datna (spirit of luck) is the kon; the kushi-dama (won- 
drous spirit) is the kaku.^ Again the five viscera have 
each a God in shape like a man." 

StotejfjausUPefltfL— Like the Old Testament, the ancient 
Japanese records afford but few and uncertain glimpses of 
the condition of the dead. The doctrine of the immortality 
of the soul is nowhere taught explicitly. There are no 
pmyers^for the dead or for happiness in a future l}fe. 
There is aland olyoini (darkoess) which corresponds to the ^^ 
(jrreek JHlades and the Hebrew Sheol. It is also termed 
Ne no kuni (root-land), Soko no kuni (bottom-land), Shtta- 
tsu-kuni (lower-land), or the Yaso-kumade^ that is to say, 
the eighty road-windings, a euphemistic phrase resembling 
our " going on a long journey." Yomi, however, does not 
seem to be peopled by human beings or ghosts. Nor do 
we find any actual cases of their descending thither at 
death, although the COAQeptiop wa& np doubt originally a 
metaphor for the grave. In the Nihongi myth we find 
that where one version speaks of Izanami in Yomi, another 
uses the expression " temporary burying - place.** The 
same work mentions an opinion that the '' Even Pass of 
Yomi " is not any place in particular, but means only the 
space of time when the breath fails on the approach of 
death. The Kojiki^ after relating the death and burial 
of Izanami on Mount Hiba, at the boundary of the Land of 
Idzumo, goes on to speak of her descent to Yomi as if it 
were the same thing. From this it would appear that to 
many persons, even in these early times, Yomi was a 
tolerably transparent metaphor for the state of the dead. 

* Hiiata denies this. 






54 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

How difficult it is for even learned and intelligent men 
to rise above the literal interpretation of metaphor is illus- 
trated by the fact that'Motoori treats this suggestion with 
great scorn, pointing out that there is an actual entrance 
to Yomi in the province of Idzumo. 

Izanami went to Yomi when she died She is called the 
Great Deity of YomL It is also spoken of as the abode of 
Susa no wo, who, according to one myth, was appointed to 
rule this r^on. We also hear of the deities \>f Yomi, the 
armies of Yomi, the ugly females of Yomi, and the Road- 
Wardens of YomL Thunder-Gods are said to have been 
generated there from the dead body of IzanamL All these 
are probably various personifications of death and disease.^ 

In modem times Yomi has been identified with Jigoku^ 
the inferno of the Buddhists, which is a place of torture for 
the wicked. Our own word hell has undergone a similar 
change of application. 

In the Manydshiu heaven is mentioned as the destina- 
tion of a deceased Mikado, while in the very same poem 
a prince is spoken of as dwelling in his tomb in silence 
and solitude. The Toko-yo no kuni^ or Eternal Land, is 
another home of the dead. The God Sukunabikona went 
thither when he died. So did a brother of the first 
Mikado, J immu. The Toko-yo no kuni is identified by some 
with H5rai-san, the Chinese island paradise of the Eastern 
Sea, and by others with China itself. The orange is said to 
have been introduced from the Toko-yo no kuni. In the 
Manyoshiu poem of Urashima, the Toko-yo no kuni is the 
same as the submarine palace of the Sea-Gods, where death 
and old age are unknown. Toko-yo tachi (ye immortal 
ones !) is a complimentary exclamation in a poem of the 
Nihongi. 

The most definite statement r^[arding the continued 
existence of men after death occurs in the Nihongi under 
the legendary date A,D. 367 : — 



DEIFICATION OF' MEN. SS 

** The Yentishi rebelled. Tamichi was sent to attack them. 
He was worsted by the Yemishiy and slain at the harbour of 
Ishimi. Now one of his followers obtained Tamichts armlet 
and gave it to his wife^ who embraced the armlet and strangled 
herself When the men of that time heard of this they shed 
tears. After this the Yentishi again made an incursion and 
dug up Tamichi* s tomby upon which a great serpent started up 
with glaring eyes and came out of the tomb. It bit the 
Yemishi^ who were every one affected by the serpenfs poison^ 
so that many of them died^ and only one or two escaped 
Therefore the men of that time said: * Although dead Tamichi 
at last hcul his revenge. How can it be said that the dead 
have no knowledge ? * " 

Evidently at this time there were two opinions on the 
subject Mdtoori says that this is a subject which tran- 
scends human comprehension. He leans to the view of 
the old books, that men when they die go to the Land of 
Yomi» in preference to the sceptical ratiocinations of the 
Chinese sophists. Hirata takes a more decided attitude. 
He points to the story just quoted as an example of dead 
men executing vengeance upon those who were their 
enemies during life. 

Fnneral Ouitomi. — Let us now inquire whether any- 
thing is to be learned r^arding the views of the ancient 
Japanese as to the condition of the dead from their funeral 
customs. The bodies of nobles, princes, and sovereigns 
were deposited in m^alithic vaults which were covered 
by huge mounds of earth.* Pending the construction of 
these, the body was placed temporarily in a building called 
a moya^ or mourning house. It was enclosed in a wooden 
coffin and in some- cases in a sarcophagus of stone or 
earthenware. These sarcophagi have been found to 

* For fell details of the constmction of the Japanese dolmen, the reader 
maj consult two admirable papers by Mr, W. Gotland, in the Japan Society's 
JrtmsacHonSt 1897-8, and tht/oama/ of the Society of Antiqiiarics, 1897. 



4« 



56 DEttriCAttOtt OF UIOL 

contain traces of cinnabar.* In all the more modem 
megalithic tombs the entrance faces the south. This 
arrangement is connected with the idea, comnK>n to the 
Japanese with the Chinese and other far-eastern races, 
that the north is the most honourable quarter. The 
Mikado, on state occasions, stands on the north side of 
the Hall of Audience. His palace fronts the south. 
Immediately after death corpses are laid with the head to 
the north, a position scrupulously avoided by many 
Japanese for sleep. They say they are unworthy of so 
great honour. 

With the more eminent dead there were buried food, 
weapons, ornaments, vessels of pottery, and other valuables. 
Eulogies were pronounced over them, and music was 
performed at the funeral. Posthumous honours — a Chinese 
institution — ^were conferred on those who had merited 
them by distinguished services. In the more ancient 
times human sacrifices were made at the tombs of deceased 
Mikados and princes. The Nihongi^ under the l^[endary 
date B.C 2, states : — 

" loth months $th day. Yamato-kikOy the Mikado's younger 
brother by the mothet^s stde^ died 

**iith months 2nd day. Yamato-hiko was buried at 
Tsuki'Zaka in Musa. Thereupon his personal attendants 
were assembled^ and were all buried alive upright in the 
precinct of the tomb. For severed days they died noty but 
wept and wailed day and night. At last they died and 
rotted Dogs and crows gathered and ate them. 

" The Emperor^ hearing the sound of their weeping and 
wailing^ was grieved at hearty and commanded his high 
officers y saying ^ It is a very painful thing to force those 

* " Blood, which is the life, is the food (ireqaently offered to the dead 

By a sabstitation of similars, it is considered soffident to colour the corpse, or 
some part thereof, with some red substance taking the place thereof — 
Jevons, ' Introduction to the History of Religion,' p. 5a. But see Index — 
•Red.' 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 57 

whom one has laved in life to follow him in death. Though 
it be an ancient custom^ why follow it if it is bad? From 
this time forward^ take counsel so as to put a stop to the 
following of the dead,* 

*^ A.D, J, 7/A month, 6th day. The Empress Hibasu-hime 
no Mikoto died. Some time before the buried, the Emperor 
commanded his Ministers, saying : *We have already recog- 
nized that the practice of following the dead is not good. 
What should now be done in performing this burial f ' There- 
upon Nomi no Sukune came forward and said: * It is not 
good to bury living men upright at the tumulus of a prince. 
How can such a prentice be handed down to posterity ? I 
beg leave to propose an expedient which I will submit to Your 
Majesty^ So he sent messengers to summon up from the 
Land of Idsumo a hundred men of the clay-worker^ Be. He 
himself directed the men of the clay -worker^ Be to take clay . 
and form therewith shapes of men, horses, and various objects, 
which he presented to the Emperor, saying: *^ Henceforward 
let it be the law for future ages to substitute things of clay for 
living men, and to set them up at tumuli^ Then the 
Emperor was greatly rejoiced, and commanded Nomi no Su- 
kune, saying: * Thy expedient hath greatly pleased Our 
heart* So the things of clay were first set up at the 
tomb of Hibasu-hime no Mikoto. And a name wcu given 
to these clay objects.^ They were called haniwa, or clay 
rings. 

** Then a decree was issued, saying : * Henceforth these clay 
figures must be set up at tumuli : let not men be harmed! 
The Emperor bountifully rewarded Nomi no Sukune for this 
service, and also bestowed on him a kneading-place, and 
appointed him to the official charge of the clay-workers! Be. 
His original title was therefore changed, and he was called 

« Some of these figures are still in ezistenoe, atid one may be seen in the 
Biitish Museum, where it constitutes the chief treasnre of the Gowland Collec- 
tion. The Ujreno Mnseam* in Tokio, also possesses specimens, both of men 
and horses. 



58 D£inCATION OF MEN. 

HasJd no Omu This was hew it came to pass that the HasJd 
no MuTigi superintend the burials of the Emperors^ 

This narrative is too much in accordance with what we 
know of other races in the barbaric stage of culture to allow 
us to doubt that we have here a genuine bit of history, 
though perhaps the details may be inaccurate, and the 
chronology is certainly wrong. In an ancient Chinese notice^ 
of Japan we read that * at this time (A.D. 247) Queen 
Himeko died A great mound was raised over her, and 
more than a hundred of her male and female attendants 
followed her in death." 

Funeral human sacrifice is well known to have existed 
among the Manchu Tartars and other races of North- 
Eastern Asia until modem times. The Jesuit missionary 
Du Halde relates that the Emperor Shunchi, of the T'sing 
dynasty (died 1662), inconsolable for the loss of his wife 
and infant child, "signified by his will that thirty men 
should kill themselves to appease her manes, which cere- 
mony the Chinese look upon with horror, and was abolished 
by the care of his successor " — the famous Kanghi 

Another missionary, Alvarez Semedo, in his history of 
the Tartar invasion, says : '^ It is the custome of the Tar- 
tars, when any man of quality dieth, to cast into that fire 
which consumes the dead corpse as many Servants, Women, 
and Horses with Bows and Arrows as may be fit to atend 
and serve them in the next life." 

This custom was also practised in China in the most 
ancient times, though long condemned as barbarous. An 
ode in the ' Sheking ' laments the death of three brothers 
who were sacrificed at the funeral of Duke Muh, B.a 621. 
When the Emperor She Hwang-ti died, B.C 209, his son 
Urh said, ^ My father's palace-ladies who have no children 
must not leave the tomb," and compelled them all to follow 
him in death. Their number was very great 

A King of Kokuryd in Corea died A.D. 248. He vras 
beloved for his virtues, and many of his household wished 



u 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 59 

f 

to die with him. His successor forbade them to do so, say- 
ing that it was not a proper custom. Many of them, how- 
ever, committed suicide at the tomb. (* Tongkam,* iii. 20.) 

In A.D. 502, Silla prohibited the custom of burying peo- 
ple alive at the funerals of the sovereigns. Before this time 
five men and five women were put to death at the King's 
tomb. (' Tongkam,' v. 5.) 

Cases of suicide at the tomb of a beloved lord or sove- 
reign have not been uncommon in Japan even in modem 
times. There was one in 1 868. 

The Japanese, like the Chinese, make no distinction 
between voluntary deaths and human sacrifices. Both are 
called jun-shi^ a term which means ** following in death." 
Indeed, as we may see by the Indian suttee, it is often hard 
to draw the line between these two forms of what is really 
the same custom. 

In the case of common people, of course, no such costly 
form of burial could have been practised. It was called 
fuhokuri (sending to a moor or waste place), by which ^ 
simple interment, or perhaps exposure at a distance from 
human habitations, was probably meant The offerings 
consisted of a little rice and water. 

It is often assumed as too obvious to require proof that / 
such funeral customs as these imply a belief in the con- 
tinued sentient existence of the dead. It is taken for 
granted that it is for their personal comfort and gratifica- 
tion that wives and attendants are put to death and 
offerings of food deposited at the tomb.* If we reflect, 
however, on the reasons for our own funeral observances, 
which are less different in principle from those of barbarous 
nations than we are willing to admit, we shall see cause to 
doubt whether this is really the ruling motive. Most of 
us have laid flowers on the coffin of some dear one, or 

* " Rites, performed at graves, becomiog afterwards religions rites per* 
formed at altsurs in temples, were at first acts done for the benefit of the ghost." 
— Herbert Spencer's ' Sociology,' ii. 8. 



60 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

erected a tombstone to his memory, or subscribed for a 
monument to a statesman who in life has deserved well of 
his country. Were these things done for the physical 
gratification of the dead? We cannot divide them in 
principle from more barbarous rites. We do not suppose 
that the dead see or smell the wreaths laid upon the coffin. 
Why should it be thought that in a more barbarous state 
of society it is believed that they enjoy the society of the 
wife who is sacrificed at the tomb ? 

The ruling motives for such rites are to be sought else- 
where. In addition to the practical considerations which, 
as Sir Alfred Lyall has shown, are potent in the case of the 
Indian suttee, it is to be remembered that the memory of 
the great dead is a national asset of the highest value (as 
the memory of our parents is in the domestic circle), and 
that it is worth while going to great expense in order to 
perpetuate it In an age before writing or epic poems 
existed, cruel sacrifices, pyramids, great tumuli, and other 
rude monuments were more necessary for this purpose than 
they are in our day. And if barbarians sacrificed human 
beings, do not we spend the financial equivalent of many 
human lives in statues, memorials, and otherwise useless 
funeral pageantry ? The difference between them and us 
lies not so much in the motive as in the lower value placed 
hy them on human life. 

The truth is that offerings to the dead, from a flower or 
a few grains of rice to a human victim, are partly a 
symbolical language addressed to the deceased, and partly 
constitute an appeal for sympathy by the mourners and 
a response by their friends. They symbolize the union 
of hearts among those who have suffered by a common 
bereavement. We must also allow something .for the 
despair which counts nothing that is left of any value, and 
prompts the survivors to beating of breasts, tearing of 
garments, cutting the flesh, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, 
lavbh expenditure, and even suicide. 



DEIFICATION OF MEN. 6l 

Yet it must be admitted that there is a broad, though 
secondary and lower, current of opinion, which holds that 
the dead benefit in some more or less obscure physical 
sense by the offerings at their tombs. Hirata believed that 
food.offered to the dead loses its savour more rapidly than 
other food. The ghosts summoned up by Ulysses from 
Erebus eagerly lapped up the blood offered them. This, 
although poetry, no doubt represents a real belief. 

Mr. Andrew Lang mentions the case of an Irish peasant 
woman, who, when her husband died, killed his horse, and, 
to some one who reproached her for her folly, replied^ 
" Would you have my man go about on foot in the next 
world?" But may we not suspect that the real motive 
of my countrywoman's action was to express dumbly to 
the world the love she bore her husband by sacrificing 
something which she valued highly, and that the answer 
quoted was nothing more than a consciously frivolous 
reason, invented for the benefit of an unsympathetic, dull- 
minded intruder ? 

Whether or not the dead, apart from any physical 
benefit from funeral offerings, are grateful for the affec- 
tionate remembrance which they symbolize, it may be 
doubted whether the recognition of such a feeling on their 
part enters very lai^ely into our motives. Was it for the 
gratification of Nelson's spirit that the column was erected 
in Trafalgar Square ? Or do those who annually deposit 
primroses before the statue of Lord Beaconsfield think 
that his spirit is sensible of this observance ? 

funewJ j^eremom^^ not recj^gnisfidjas hayipg any- "^ 

thing »Q r|^ uri^fi'thi^ "^^^^hjntft, ^^ ?Yftr(ff^ ^nTry*-^*"C ,^ ! 

copnt^fyj yrif^ At^sifjy^ yrKiVK ^as regarded j§ , a, sonrrr of 1/ 
DoITuti on Not until the revolution . of iS6&,sr.a&. there 
instit uted a n authorized form oi Shinto burial.* 1 

Tdfled OJanses of Men. — In the older Shinto this 
CBtegory of deities had more importance than it has at 

* See an article by Mr. W. H. Lay in T. A. S,J,, 1891. 



62 DEIFICATION OF MEN. 

present Several of the pseudo-ancestors are in reality 
deified types, analogous to such conceptions as Tommy 
Atkins or Mrs. Grundy. As a general rule they have two 
aspects, one as man-Gods, and another as satellites of the 
Sun-Goddess, a nature deity. They are more particularly 
described in a later chapter. 

D^tlafl. of Human QsilditiifiS-^ * As might be expected, 
Shinto has comparatively few deities of this class. It is 
represented by the Go^s of Pcjstilence, of Good, axid HI 
Luck, the phallic deities, and the oni^ or demons of disease^ 
Such deified abstractions as the Fates, the Furies, Old Age, 
Time, Themis, Fear, Love, &c, are conspicuously absent 

It will be observed that both of the two g^eat currents of 
religion-making thought are concerned in the evolution of 
the last two cat^ories of man-deities. They involve not 
only the exaltation of human types and qualities to the 
rank of divinity, but the personification of these general 
and abstract conceptions. This complication indicates 
that they belong tq a secondary stage of development' 
Ta-jikara no wo (hand-strength-male), for example, is not a 
primary deity of the Japanese Pantheon. He is little more 
than an ornamental adjunct to the myth of the Sun- 
Goddess. It may be gathered from the myths of the 
Kojiki and Nibangi that the. phallic deities — personifica- 
tions of lusty animal vigour— were at first mere -magical 
appliances, which were afterwards personified a nd rai se d -to 
divine rank. It was a personified human abstraction — 
namely, Psyche, who was described by Keats as 

The latest born and loveliest by for 
Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy. 

Mnemosyne, Styx, and all the numerous deified abstrac- 
tions of humanity in Greek mythology are obviously of 
later origin than Gaia and Ouranos, or even Zeus and 
Here. 

It is on the narrow basis of these two secondary classes 
of conceptions that Comte strove to establish his Religion 



- , I^IFICATION OF MEN* 63 

of Humanity. But it is difficult to conceive how on 
Positivist principles Humanity, whether we regard it as a 
class or as a qiiality, could have a sentient existence or 
transcendent power, without a ccmibination of which there 
can be no deity and no religion, properly so called His 
wcM^hip of deceased individual men is open to the same 
objection. Conlte's recognition of nature-deities is brief 
and contemptuous. He allows a certain reverence to the 
Sun and Earth as ^ fetishes."* 

Animal! in Bhinta — Animals may be worAipped faL 
fh^jr niyyi fffft-^, as wouderful, terrible, or uncanny beings. 
The tiferer, the sto>ent . and th^, .iKolf- are for this reason 
called Kami. But there are no shrines in their honour> and 
they have no r^^lar cult A more common reason for 
honouring animals is their association with sQpry* 4u tY f^ 
his servants or messe ngers. Thus the deer is sacred to 
Take-mika-tsuchi at Kasuga, the monkey is sacred at 
Hiyoshi, the pigeon tp the God Hachiman, the white ^^t 
^t the shrine of Kebi no Miya, the tortoise at Matsunoo, and 
the crow at Kumano. The want\ or sifea-monster, belongs 
to the sea-God) and the dragon belongs to (or is) Taka 
okami (the rain-God). There is also mention of a thunder- 
beast In later times the rat is sacred to Daikokusama. 
The pheasant is the messenger of the Gods generally. The 
best :lsop.y" ^^^ of t>^f H^ffphi'r ^^ 9kt\ associated animal i» 
JJWJLijIlJnari^^ the . rice-God, whose attendsait. ibxfis. -are. 
mista ken by the ignorant for the God lum3eU^And whose 
cffg^^^^^ offerings of Jbod-inade to them. The mythical 
Yatqg^arasUf or Sun-Crow, had formerly a shrine in its 
honour. The stone Koma-inu (Korean dc^s), seen in front 
' of many Shinto shrines, are meant not as Gods, but as 

* "Comte nunenait tontes les religions k radoration de rhomme par 
llKMnme. Comtc, il est vrai, ne Cuaait pas de rhomme individnel Tolijet da 
colte nonnal : il proposait k nos adoiations llumime en tant qa' espto en tant 
qv* humanity et panrenait k deplojrer nne ratable mjrsddt^ svr cette ^troite 
base." — ReviUe, * Prolegomena,' p. 26, 



U- 






64 DEIFICATION OP MEN. 

guardians, like the Buddhist Ni5. They are a later 
introduction. 

The Gods are sometimes represented as assuming animal 
form. Kushiyatama no Kami changes into a cormorant, 
Koto-shiro-nushi into a want (sea-monster or drs^n) eight 
fathoms long. The God of Ohoyama takes the form of a 
white deer. The most usual form assumed by deities is 
that of a snake, serpent, or dragon. Ohonamocbi, in his 
amours with a mortal princess, showed himself to her as a 
small snake. In the Yamato-dake l^;end, there is a 
mountain-deity who takes the shape of a great serpent 
At the command of the Mikado Yuriaku, the God of 
Mimuro was brought to him by one of his courtiers. It 
was a serpent Water-Gods are usually serpents or 
dragons. 

Toiemiam. — I find no distinct traces of totemism in 
ancient Japan. Tattooing, which some have associated 
with this form of belief, existed as a means of disting^uishing 
rank and occupation. The most probable derivation of the 
tribal name Kumaso is from kuma^ bear, and osOy otter. A 
very few surnames are taken from names of animals. 
Dances, in which the performers represented various animals, 
were common. 

The piecemeal immigration of the Japanese race from the 
continent of Asia must have dorfe much to break up their 
original tribal system and to destroy any institutions 
associated with it 

The law of exogamy, with which totemism is connected, 
was very narrow in its operation in ancient Japan.* 

* See Index- ' lopest/ 



6s 



CHAPTER IV. 

G£NERAL FEATURES. 

Fonotioiui of Oods. — Nature deities seldom confine 
themselves to their proper nature functions. Shinto exhibits 
an increasing tendency to recognize in them a providence 
that influences human affairs. Even in the older Shinto 
there are examples of the Gods exercising a providential 
care for mankind outside of their proper spheres of action^ 
The Sun-Goddess not only bestows light on the world, but 
preserves the seeds of grain for her beloved human beings. 
She watches specially over the welfare of her descendants 
the Mikados. 3"sa^ no w^, ^^^ Rain-storm personified, is 
the provider of all kinds of useful trees. Practicallj^ 
all the deities are prayed to for a good harvest, or for 
rain. Even man-Gods, like Temmangu, may be appealed 
to for this purpose. Any God may send an earthquake or i 
a pestilence. In 853 there was a great epidemic of small- 
pox. An oracle from Tsukiyomi,the Moon-God, indicated 
the means of obtaining relief from this plague, and since 
then people of every class pray to him when it is prevalent 
The Ujiganti and ChinjUy family and local protective Gods, 
might be chosen from any class of deities. A modem 
Japanese writer* says: "Np.„ojae knows what ^spirit, of 
hgavcn nr earth is ven8rat4^'at the SiutengO^f in ToIqto. 
But^despite. the anonymity of the God^ people credit him 
with power to protect against all perils of sea and floods 
against burglary^ and, by a strange juxtaposition of sphere 

* In ' Japftn/ edited by Capt. Brinkley. 

f Dr. Florenx, in bis 'Japanische Mjrtbologie,' says tbat Sui-tengO is a 
teion of the Sumiyoshi Sea-Gods with the Indian Sea-God Soi-ten, that is, 
Vanma, sabsequently identified with the yoathfol Emperor Antokn (who lost 
his life b}r drowning in 1185), 



66 GENERAL FEATURES. 

of influence, against the pains of parturition. The ddty of 
Inari secures efficacy for praygL^nd abundance of ctpp^; 
theTaisha [great shrine of Idzumo] presides over wed- 
lock ; the Kompira shares with the Suitengu the privilege 
of guarding those that *go down to the deep.' The 
rest confer prosperity, avert sickness, cure sterility, 
bestow literary talent, endow with warlike powers, and 
so on." 

Polytheiitio Oharaoter of Shinto.— A nature-worship, 
such as the older Shinto was in substance, is inevitably 
polytheistic. The worship of a single nature-God, as the 
Sun, is indeed conceivable. But in practice, the ja£Qe 
impulse which leads to the personification of onejiiUuie 
object or phenomen9Ji opver rests there. The Living 
Universe is a possible monotheistic nature-deity. . But this 
conception requires a greater amount of scientific know- 
ledge than the ancient Japanese possessed. They had 
necessarily only imperfect and fragmentary glimpses of the 
vision splendid. x 

There is some evidence that Shinto took the place of 

a still grosser and more indiscriminate polytheism. We 

are told that Take-mika-tsuchi and Futsunushi prepared 

Japan for the advent of Ninigi by clearing it of savage 

deities who in the daytime buzzed like summer flies and at 

night shone like fire-pots, while even the rocks, trees, and 

fo^m of water had all power of speech. 

/The number of Shinto deities is very great The Yengi- 

/shiki enumerates 3,132 officially recognized shrines, and 

f although the same Gods are reckoned more than once, as 

/ being worshipped in different places, still their name is 

I l^on. They are popularly spoken of as eighty myriads, 

eight hundred myriads, or fifleen hundred myriads. The 

number of effective deities fluctuates greatly. Oblivion dis- 

N^ poses of many. The identification of distinct deities is 

another cause of depletion in their ranks. This happens 

very readily in a country where, to parody Pope's line, 




GENERAL FEATURES. X 67 

deiti e s have no characters at .all.*' On the other 
hand their numbers are recruited from time to time by new 
Gods produced by various processes. The same deity ^ 
worshipped at differen t places>.CQgies to he recQgmzed as. 
so many diff erent deities. Horus in ancient Egypt, the 
"Virgin Mary in Italy, and many of the Greek and Roman ^ 
deities illustrate this principle. We may be sure that the 
Ephesians would have resented any attempt to identify their 
Diana with that of other cities. This process is facilitate3\ 
in Japan by the prartirp.of speaking .of the God^ not by his \ 
name> but by that of his place of residence — another illus- J 
tration of the imp^rson^ habit of the Japanese mind already / 
noticed. Indeed ^e Japanese care little what God yX^is/ y 
^at is vTOishipped at any particular place. , It is enoughs 
for tf ^c r^'^^^^gp pUgri "^ to know that some powerful deify 
resides-iherei A poem c omposed at thereat shrine of Ise 
says : ^ \yiia t it is, that dwelleth here I know not, yet my 
hearLis filled witk giratitude. and the tears trickle <lawn/' 
Of one of the " Greater Shrines " of the Yengishiki Murray's 
* Handbook ' informs us that " considerable divergence 
exists among scholars as to the identity of the Gods to 
whom this temple is dedicated." During the present reign - 
Kompira was converted by the Japanese Government from | 
a Buddhist to a Shinto deity, without detriment to the 
popularity of his shrine as a resort of pilgrims. The same 
God may have greater credit for efficacy in one place than 
another. Thus the Inari of a certain village has a high 
reputation for the recovery of stolen property. Such 
specialties were recognized even by the Government, which 
awarded different ranks to the same deity at different places. ) 
Distinctions of this kind, of course, facilitate the disruption^ ; 
of one deity into several. Another cause of multiplication \ 
is the mistake of supposing the same deity with different i 
epithets to be different Gods. In modern times the Shinto/ 
Pantheon has been recruited pretty largely from the ranks 

of human beings. Trees are still deified,, and we have some- 

D 2 



V 



68 GENERAL FEATURES. 

times a new deity making his appearance from nobody 
knows where. 

The polytheistic character of Shinto is intimately con- 
nected with the weakness of the Central Government of 
Japan during the period of its development Or perhaps 
it may be more correct to say that it is another manifesta- 
tion of the same want of national cghesion.* The ancient 
Mikados were anything but autocrats. Their authority was 
almost always overshadowed by the influence of ministers 
who struggled among themselves for the direction of the 
power nominally vested in the sovereign. The Central 
Government had little effective jurisdiction b^pod . tEe 
capital and the five home provinces. No wonder tii^t.under 
these circumstances local deities retained their vitality^ind 
prestige. 

Monotheism was an impossibility in ancient Japan. But 
we may trace certain tendencies in this direction which are 
not without interest. A nation may pass from polytheism 
to monotheism in three ways : Firstly, by singling out one 
deity and causing him to absorb the functions and the wor- 
ship of the rest ; secondly, by a fresh deification of a wider 
conception of the universe ; and thirdly, by the dethroning 
of the native deities in favour of a single Crod of foreign 
origin. It is this last, the most usual fate of polytheisms, 
which threatens the old Gods of Japan. Weakened by the 
encroachments of Buddhism and the paralyzing influ^ce 
of Chinese sceptical philosophy, they already begin to feel 

The rays of Bethlehem blind their dusky eyne. 

Our business, however, is with the past, not with the future. 
The first of the three paths which lead to monotheism is 
illustrated by the tendency to ascribe to several of the 
Shinto deities a certain superiority over the others. The 
Sun-Goddess, Kuni-toko-tachi, the first God in point of time 

* *' The different peoples conceived and developed this divine hienrdiy/ari 
passu with their own approximation to political unity** (Goblet d'AlvieUa, 
Hibbert Lectures). Aristotle recognized the same principle. 



GENERAL FEATURES. 69 

according to the Nihongi, Ame no mi naka nushi, and in 
Idzumo, Ohonamochi have been in turn exalted to a unique 
position by their adherents. But, for reasons which will 
appear when we come to examine these deities more closely, 
none of them really deserves the title of Supreme Being. 
Max Miiller's opinion that "the belid* in a Supreme 
Being is inevitable" is not borne out by the facts of 
Shinto. 

Thesecond path, which leads, to monotheism through a 
mArr^rnrnprfrh^nti^ff^ conception of the universe, is e^qeq^pli- 
fie3 by the Creator deities, Izanagi and ,Tjanami,.D ersoQi fi" 
S3Gbns of the male and female principles of Nature, and 
Still more" so byMusuH, the God of Growth, which might 
conceivably have developed into a Pantheistic Supreme 
Being. But p hilosophic abst ractions of this kind. are unfitted 
for hnmnn natiirp''i /^^'^y food. "'Musubr never acquired 
much hold on the people, though at one time his 
worship held a very prominent place at the Court of the 
Mikados. He eventually split up, first into two, then 
into a group of deities, and finally became almost wholly 
neglected. 

Jhf ^ik?nsii iiP^""* th^fl^*^^/ T) ^\\t giv^*' tbr ibllowing 
ai;cpnnt ^f a> hiii^^ aiid abortivg, jnpvQm^At . towards^ -a 
^MBffilPg fnnnnthptst-ir deity which claims from us a measure 
of sympathy : — 

"^ man of the neighbourhood of the River Fujiy in the 
East Country^ named Ohofube no Ohoshi^ urged his fellow- 
villagers to worship an insect y saying: * This is the God of 
the Everlasting World. Those who worship this God will 
have long life and riches' At length the wizards [kannagi] 
and witches [miho] pretending an inspiration of the Gods^ 
said: * Those who worship the God of the Everlasting 
World willy if poor^ become rich^ andy if oldy wiU become 
young again! So they more and more persuaded the people 
to cast out the valuables of their houses y and to set out by the 
roadside sakCy vegetables^ and-the six domestic animcUs. They 



70 GENERAL FEATUREa 

also madethem cty out : ' The new riches have gurr f* Both 

in the country and in the metropolis people took tie insect of 

the Everlasting World and, placing it in a pure place, with 

song and dance iuvoked happiness. Th^ threw away their 

treasures, but to no purpose whatever. The loss and waste 

was extreme. Hereupon Kahakatsu^ Kadono no Hada no 

Miyakko, was wroth that the people should be so muck 

deluded, and slew Ohofube no Ohoshi. The wizards and 

witches were intimidated, and ceased to persucule people 

to this worship. The men of that time made a song, 

saying: 

Udeumasa 

Has executed 

The God of the Everlasting World 

Who we were told 

Was the very God of Gods. 

^ This insect is usually bred on orange trees, and some- 
times on the hosoki. It is over four inches in length, and 
about as thick as a thumb. It is of a grass-green colour 
with black spots, and in appearance very msich resembles tke 
silkworm!^ 

We may note here the popular identification of the 
prophet with the God whom he served, and the worship of 
a caterpillar, which apparently played the part of the ear 
of com in the Eleusinian mysteries. 

gi%^«<i^|, — Concurrent with the development of the 
spirituality of Shinto there arose a £reater_ necessity for 
some visible concrete token of the presence »of- the God>* 
This is known as the mitama-shiro (spirit representative, 
spirit-token), or more commonly as the shintai fgod rbQcl y l 
The shintai varies much in form. It is frea.ugotlyLA.izu]XQr^ 



«i 



The symbol or pennmnent object, at and througfa which the worshipper 
came into direct contact with the God, was not lacking in any Semitic place 
of worship, bat had not always the same form, and was sometimes a natoial 
object, sometimes an artificial erection." — Robertson Smith, * Religion of the 
Semites,' p. i6ck 




GENERAL FEATURE. 7 1 

may alspJ be.aJabi£t. with. thcJGoJ!*. nagac, 

fl ^'TrU^g f"^ ^^aHc a tees x)i: riv e r - b a n k, or ^evea th e flhr wCj 
jltSfK A stone is a very common shtntai^ doubtless becaui 
it is inexpensive and imperishable. The shintai is usually 
enclosed in a box> which is opened so seldom that some-l 
times the priest himself does not know what it contains.' 
It is not always the same for the same God worshipped in^ 
different places. 

The shintai vci some respects resembles the Greek iyaAfUKX^---^ 
Both were originally offerings which became tokens of the 
God's presence, and by virtue of immemorial association 
. with the deities to whom they were presented came at 
jilength to l^ r^farded as sharing their divinity. The\ 
^v^'^aApa, however, developed into the statue, while the shintai^ \ 
/^ with a very few exceptions of later origin, did not take this i 
form. Broadly speakin g. Shj nto has no idols. There is J 
usually nolfttempt to give the\fixW/^ any resemblance to I 
the supposed form of the God whom it represents. A few/ 
exceptions may be noted. The mirror of the Sun-Goddess, 
which was in reality originally an offering, is stated in one 
of the myths to have been made in imitation of the form 
of the sun. Thej^UicGodft, Yacbisnata-hika and Yadu* 
^ata"h'"^*n were represented by human figures. The 
scarecrow God, Kidie-biko, may be regarded as a rude 
idoL In the province of Noto there are stone idols said 
to be the images of the Gods Sukuna-bikona and Ohona- 
mochL The pictures of the Gods sold at Shintq shrines 
in the present day are owing to Chinese or Buddhist 
influence. 

In the old language the word hashira^ pillar, is added to 
the numerals for deities and Mikados. For instance, 
" three Gods " is Kami mi-hashira^ that is to say, " three 
pillars of Gods." Now in Korea, a country inhabited by 
a race closely allied to the Japanese, there are seen by the 
roadsides posts carved at the top into a rude semblance of 



72 GENERAL FEATURES, 

the human form.* Some serve as milestones, and some 
are erected at the outskirts of villages to keep away the 
demon small-pox. These figures are called the Opang 
Chang-gun, or Generals of the Five Quarters. The name 
is Chinese, but the deities themselves may nevertheless be 
of Korean origin. If the ancient Japanese had rude figures 
of this kind it would explain the use of kashira^ pillar, as 
a numeral for Gods. 1 1 am rather disposed, however, to 
surmise that the use of this term was really owing to the 
fact that the symbols of divinity most familiar to the 
ancient Japanese were the phallic emblems set up every- 
where by the roadsides. ) The term wo-hashira^ applied to 
the phallic end-post of the parapet of a bridge, contains the 
same elementf 

There is a tendency in Japan, as in other countries, for 
the token of the God to become r^farded, firstly, as the 
seat of his real presence, and, secondly, as the God himself. 
Many persons do not distinguish between the mitama and 
the shintai, and some go so far as to confound the latter 
with the God's utsushi-mi^ or real body. This is a form of 
idolatry. The shintai may even be erected into an inde- 
pendent deity. The mirror, which is the shintai of the 
Sun-Goddess, is the object of a separate worship, under 
the name of Ame kakasu ilo kami. Even at the present 
day religious honours are paid to this mirror or its repre- 
sehtative.t The sword Futsu no mitama has shrines dedi- 
cated to it Another sword, called Kusanagi, has been 
worshipped for centuries at Atsuta, near Nagoya. It was 
this sword which Susa no wo found in the tail of the great 
serpent slain by him to rescue the Japanese Andromeda, 
and sent as an offering to his sister the Sun-Goddess. 

* simulacra que maesta deoram 
Arte carent, csesis extant informia trands. 

Lacan, * Plwrsaliiu' 
t See Index — Sake no kami, 
t See InAcx^-Naiskidokaro. 



GENBRAL FBATURES. 7i 



/ 



'i^ 



I 



Fetish worship of this kind is a later and d^enetate form 
of religion, and must not be confoimded with the worship 
of the great nature-deities. \ 

Some artificial inanimate objects of worship are not\ 
shintai, but are worshipped for their own sakes as helpers I 
of humanity. The fire-plac e^i? ^^gpont^ as a deity. Pottere/ 
at the preseilt day pay respect to their bellows, which are 
allowed one day of rest annually, and have offerings made 
them. The superstitious Japanese housewife still, on the 
1 2th day of the 2nd month, gives her needles a holiday, 
laying them down on their side and making them little 
offerings of calces, &c.* v , 

The absence of idols from Shinto is not owing, as in '^^ 
Judaism and Islam, to a reaction against the evils caused 
by the use of anthropomorphic pictures and images, but to \ 

the low artistic development of the Japanese nation before 
the awakening impulse was received from China. It indi- 
cated weakness rather than strength. Much of the vague- 
ness which characterizes the Japanese conceptions of their 
Gods would have been avoided by a freer use of images. 
In principle the image and the metaphor are the same. 
There is no more harm in representing a God, pictorially 
or in sculpture, as an old man than there is in addressing 
him as Father, though practically a wide experience shows 
that the common people do not stop here in either case. 
There is a strong tendency to debase religion by attributing 
special virtue to the particular physical object of devotion, 
or even to forget that there is a God of which it is only a 
very imperfect symbol 

The Infinite. — Max Miiller says that without the faculty 
of apprehending the Infinite there can be no religion. In 
that case Shinto is not a religion. The Gods are not 

* In an official report by Mr. H. Risley be says tbat at tbe time of tbe 
spring equinox tbere is a ^tival (in India) called Sri Pancbami, wben it is 
incnmbent on every religioos-minded person to worsbip tbe implements or 
insignia of tbe vocation by wbicb be lives. 



74 GENERAL FEATURES. 

conceived of as infinite. They are superior, swift^ brave, 
bright, rich, &c, but not immortol, omnipresent, omniscient, 
or possessed of infinite power. Where the word infinite is 
^ used it is 'said of infinite time. We hear of the infinite 
succession of the Mikados, and of infinite or perpetual night 
{tokqyamt). Perhaps what Max Miiller really meant was 
" transcendent," that is, beyond man's power to rival, or 
even fully to comprehend. 



75 



CHAPTER V. 

MYTH. 

Nfttnra of HjflL — Myl^ and religion have distinct 
sources. We have seen above* that there is a phase of 
rel^on antecedent to myth. On the other hand, the earliest 
form of myth has no religious significance. It is the result 
of an idle play of fancy without any definite purpose. I 
have known a child of two or three years of age, who, when 
he saw a light cloud pass over the rising moon, exclaimed 
** She is putting on her clothes." Not that he believed the 
moon to be an animated being, or that he thought that 
clouds were really her clothes. His childish imagination was 
stirred by an instinctive impulse, to be compared with that 
which prompts the gambolling of a kitten who rushed from 
one place to another without any definite object, or to the 
butting of a young ruminant before his horns have grown. 
Closely related to such spontaneous efforts is the myth 
invented solely for the amusement of the hearer. May we 
not place in this category some of the nature myths of 
savages which to all appearance have no worship or belief 
associated with them, and belong to a pre-religious stage of 
development. Then we have the myths which are explana- 
tory of some custom, rite, natural phenomenon, political 
institution, names of places or persons, &a With these we 
may associate the genealc^cal myth. There is also the 
blunder myth, arising frequently from ^ misunderstanding 
of language, and the lie — a myth framed with intent 
to deceive. All these classes of fiction are abundantly 
exemplified in the old Japanese books. 

• P. 16. 



76 MTTH. 

More important for our present purpose is the religious 
myth, that 

Mysterious veil, of brightness made, 
At once the lustre and the shade 

of religious conceptions. Like the metaphor, of which it 
may be regdLrded as an expansion, it suggests the True by 
means of the Untrue. It is an acknowledged necessity of 
religious teaching. In the infancy of language there is no 
other means of expressing spiritual verities than by physical 
symbols — in other words by myth and metaphor. And 
even when a language has acquired some capacity for the 
direct expression of spiritual facts, it is found that the old 
methods must still be resorted to in order to excite the 
interest and impress the imagination of the ignorant multi- 
tude. It is not to be supposed that the makers of such 
myths believed that they were true in their natural physical 
acceptation. * Take for example the parable of the prodigal 
son. There is no reason to believe that the ** fSau* country," 
•' the husks that the swine did eat," " the fatted calf," and 
the prodigal himself were not figments of Our Lord's imagi- 
nation. Nor if the story had been true in all its details 
would this circumstance have added one whit to the value 
of the lesson taught by it I believe that the author of the 
Mosaic story of the Fall of Man would be much surprised 
to know that his ^rama, which deals so forcibly in ccMicrete 
form with temptation, sin, and its punishment, had been 
taken by the world for many centuries as a narrative ot 
actual fact 

Some high authorities apply a different measure to pi^^ 
and savage myth. Dr. Pfleiderer, in his 'Philosophy of 
Religion,' says that '' it must be carefully borne in mind 
that the religious phantasy, in producing such poetic sym- 
bolical l^ends, is not in the habit of distinguishing, nor 
can distinguish between the ideal truth and its sensible 
investment" The late Mr. Fiske held substantially the 
same view. He goes so far as to apply it to Dante, whose 



MYTH. 77 

" Charon beating the lagging shades with his oar" " Satan 
crushing in his monstrous jaws the arch-traitors Judas, 
Brutus, and Cassius,*' "Bertrand de Bom looking at his 
Qwn dissevered head," he regards as "in the minds of 
Dante and his readers living, terrible realities." True it is 
that a stem reality underlies these grotesque fancies. But 
it is not of the physical order. No one knew better than 
Dante the virtue of the cdtro intende in such matters. 
We may be quite sure that he did not believe in a real 
inscription over * the gate of Hell, in Italian ttrea 
rima^ and composed by himself. It is a mistake, I sub- 
mit, to imagine Tiim, " like Katerfelto, with his hair on 
end at his own wonders." When Dickens tells us 
that he decidedly looked on his heroes as living per- 
sons we must take this statement cum grano salts. We 
know what would have happened if some one had 
offered him, by way of payment, a cheque bearing the 
signature of Mr. Boffin, Dombey & Son, or the Brothers 
Cheeryble. 

Mere inferences are often taken for facts, but, under 
normal conditions, the imaginative man is not the dupe 
of his own inventive faculty. It may be said that, 
however true this may be of more modem religious myth, 
the attitude of the "primitive man" towards the naive 
creations of his fancy is different Strictly speaking, there 
is no such thing as a primitive man. However far we may 
go back, we shall find men with parents, and preceded 
by an infinite line of ancestors. Still there can be no 
harm in using this term to designate mankind at some 
ill-defined stage of prc^fress above the highest lower 
animal and below the savage of our own days. Strange 
things are told us of the primitive man. He is said to 
be unable to distinguish between his imaginations and facts, 
and that he is in the habit of taking his dreams* for real 
occurrences. Fiske says : " Our primitive ancestors knew 

* See abore, p. 12, and Index — * Dreams.' 



78 MYTH. 

nothing about laws of nature, nothing about physical forces, 
nothing about the relations of cause and effect, nothing about 

the necessary r^^arity of things The only force they 

knew was the force of which they were directly conscious — 
the force of will. Accordingly, they imagined all the 
outward world to be endowed with volition and to be 
directed by it" Of course our primitive ancestors 
expressed themselves differently from ourselves. They did 
not talk about laws of nature and the necessary r^^larity 
of things. But can we conceive them ignorant of the law 
of the r^^ar alternation oC night and day, of summer and 
winter, of the leases of the moon ? Did not the " primitive 
man " know just as well as Newton that when an apple 
is detached from a tree it falls to the ground ? He knew 
that from a blow as cause we may expect pain, wounds, or 
even death as the effect He had sufficient acquaintance 
with dynamics to be aware that he could not raise himself 
from the ground more than a few feet, and with chemistry 
to have learnt tha^t the savour of food is improved or spoilt, 
according to circumstances, by the application of fire. Nor 
is it true that he ascribed all forces to volition. It .is only 
by exception that the child, the savage, and the primitive 
man attribute life to inanimate things. This requires 
imagination, a faculty which is notoriously feebler with 
them than with the adult civilized man. The progress of 
/ humanity is from a sporadic towards a general recc^itioii 
/ of will in or behind the material universe, from fitful and 
sportive fancies involving this idea to an earnest and steady 
conviction of its truth, and from the fragmentary personifica- 
tion of the part as animated to the conception of a living, 
universal whole. Agnosticism, which ignores volition in 
matter, belongs, therefore, to the lower end of the scale of 
, progress. Where it appears in civilized man, it is a case 
of arrested development The average savage is a mate- 
rialist, who associates volition with the energies of nature 
in a much less thorough and systematic way than the 



MYTH. 70 

Clmsdan, who believes that a sparrow cannot fall to the 
ground without the Father. 

We must not confound the primitive maker of religious 
myth with the primitive man. It would lead to error if 
we modelled our idea of the average modem European on 
Bunyan, Milton, or Dante. 

It is sometimes asserted that the impossible and mira- 
culous occurrences which we so often meet with in the 
narratives of thd primaeval myth'^maker are to him true. 
Why should he be limited to fact, in this way ? No doubt 
his standard of truth is different from our own. He would 
r^ard as possible many things which we know to be 
impossible. But is it necessary to suppose that his know- 
ledge that a thing was impossible should prevent him, any 
more than our modem storytellers, from utilizing it in his 
imaginative work ? Jules Verne well knew that a voyage 
round the moon is an impossibility. The unknown author 
or authors of ' Cinderella ' surely need not be credited with 
a belief that pumpkins can be converted into coaches by 
the stroke of a fairy wand ; the inventor of the story of the 
birth of Minerva from the brain of Jupiter knew quite well 
that such obstetrical operations were not feasible ; and it 
is unnecessary to believe that the myth-makers of tbtt 
Kojiki and Nihongi thought that children could be pro- 
duced t>y crunching jewels in the mouth and spitting them 
out 

There is, however, an exception to the rale that a story- 
teller does not believe in the truth of his own inventions. 
It is notoriously possible for the author of a fictitious 
narrative to become, after a time, unable to distinguish it 
from a statement of actual facts. There is a case on record 
in which a learned judge communicated to the Psychical 
Society in perfect good faith a ghost story, all the prin- 
cipal features of which were proved to be imaginary. 
They had their origin in his own talent as a distinguished 
raconteur. But this is a morbid phenomenon which must 



-^ 



8o MVTM. 

not be confounded with the normal action of the imagi- 
nation in the child, the savage, or the primitive (or, indeed, 
any other) myth-maker. 

The inability to dbtingubh between imagination and 
fact is really not a special characteristic of the primitive 
man or savage, but of the literal-minded of all ages, in 
presence of the creations of imaginative genius. Some few 
primitive men may distinguish between the spiritual kernel 
and its imaginative envdopment But for the multitude 
this is impossible. Unable to discriminate between these 
two elements, and dimly conscious that the whole is a 
valuable possession, they wisely accept it indiscriminatdy 
as actual fact 

De Gubematis, in his ' Zoological Mythology,' relates a 
story which illustrates the respective attitudes of the myth- 
maker and his hearers. He tells us that ** when he was four 
years old, as he was walking one day with a brother, the 
latter pointed to a fantastical cloud on the horizon, and 
cried, ' Look down there : that is a hungry wolf running 
after the sheep.' He convinced me so entirely of that 
cloud being really a hungry wolf that I instantly took to 
my heels and escaped precipitately into the house." Take^ 
Bgain, the following sun-myth, fresh coined from the mint 
of Mr. Geoige Meredith : — 

" The sun is coming down to earth, and the fields and 
the waters shout to him golden shouts. He comes, and 
his heralds run before him, and touch the leaves of oaks 
and planes and beeches lucid green and the pine stems 
redder gold : leaving brightest footprints upon thickly 
weeded banks, where the foxglove's last upper bells incline 
and bramble shoots wander amid moist herbage," &c 

This myth, like the old Greek tales of Prometheus and 
Tantalus, which Wordsworth calls 

Fictions in form, but in their substance truths, 
has a spiritual significance of which Mr. Meredith cannot 






kYtri. 81 

have been unconscious. Though nobody at the present 
day supposes that the author or his readers take it for a 
narrative of actual events, cannot we fancy Macaulay's 
New Zealander, being told as a fact some traditional, 
time-worn, corrupt, and ill-interpreted version of it, and, 
especially if he is a literal-minded philosopher, wondering 
how it was possible for the English to believe in such a 
concatenation of anthropomorphic fancies ? 

The literal acceptation of myth or metaphor is not 
confined to the lower class of intellect It was a '* teacher 
of Israel " who could not see how *' a man could enter into 
his mother's womb and be bom again/' Motoori and 
Hirata, highly educated scholars, well versed in Chinese 
and Indian religious literature, received the stories of the 
Kojiki and Nihongi as genuine history. 

Even Dante and Milton, men of profound spiritual 
insight, probably accepted in their most literal sense some 
of the imaginative figments of their predecessors. 

There have always been literal-minded unbelievers, who 
reject the myth and its religious contents without dis- 
crimination, and simply value it, if at all, for its aesthetic 
merits. Of them, as of the literal-minded believer, '' Si 
exempla requiris, circumspice." 

The history of the religious myth may be summarized as N^r 
follows: A, a man of genius, creates it, clearly distin- 
guishing in his own mind between the kernel of religious 
truth and its imaginative embodiment His disciples 
B and C understand him thoroughly. In this stage a 
myth b called a parable or all^ory. Many myths proceed 
no further. D, F, H, * * * T and V, unable to discriminate 
the true element from the false, accept the whole confusedly 
as actual fact E, G, * * S and U are dense to its religious 
significance, and think it idle nonsense, or at best, simply 
a good story. W and X have a glimmering notion that 
the imaginative part cannot be literally true, but do not 
dare to question it, lest they should sacrifice at the same 



i2 MYTH. 

time the valuable religious kernel Z is a philosophic 
inquirer who, not without difficulty, regains the standpoint 
of B and C. But by this time the myth has been super- 
seded as a vehicle of religious truth by fuller and more 
exact forms of expression. 
\ ^ '^ The chief ideas underlying Japanese myth are, firstly, 
\ the conception — ^piecemesd it is true, and inadequate — of 
the so-called inanimate universe as being really instinct 
with sentient life, and exercising a loving providential care 
over mankind ;• and secondly, the doctrine that honour 
and obedience are due to the sovereign whose beneficent 
rule secures to the people blessings comparable to that of 
the sun's light and warmth. For such, I take it, is the real 
meaning of the story by which the Mikados are feigned to 
be descendants of the Sun-Goddess. It is the Japanese 
version of the doctrine of the divine right of kings. With- 
out these and similar vital elements Japanese myth would 
be nothing more than what some writers have supposed it, 
a farrago of absurdities, and its examination would belong 
not to the physiology, but to the pathology of the human 
mind • 

It can hardly be maintained, however, that the poets and 
seers of ancient Japan achieved much success in clothing 
their spiritual conceptions in mythical form. There is 
little force or beauty in their stories, and diere is a plentiful 
admixture of matter which, to us at least, is frivolous, 
revolting, or devoid of religious significance. 
' i There is no summer and winter myth in the old 
Japanese books, no deluge myth, and no eclipse mj^ 
V / There is, strange to say, no earthquake myth, and but one 
solitary mention of a God of Earthquakes. There are no 
astral myths, no ** Returning Saviour " myth, and no 
" Journey of the Dead " beyond the bare mention of an 
** Even Pass of Yomi," or Hades. The creation of mankind 
is not accounted for. « 

* See Dr. Tyler's ' Primitive Culture,' second edition, i. 285. 



* 



1 



MYTH. 83 

Myth and BitaaL — ^When a myth and ' a ceremony 
relate to the same subject-matter, which comes first in 
order of time ? Is the ceremony a dramatic commemora- 
tion of the events related in the myth, or, vice versA^ is the 
myth an attempt to explain the origin of the ceremony ? 
Some go so far as to say that ritual is the source of all 
religious myth. The late Mr. D. G. Brinton, on the other 
hand, held that " every rite is originally based on a myth." 
Robertson Smith's view was that "in almost every case 
the myth was derived from the ritual, and not the ritual 
from the myth." No general rule can be laid down in 
these cases. Every such question must be decided 
according to the available evidence. A myth is a narrative, 
and a ceremony a kind of dramatic peformance. It will 
not be disputed that dramas have been founded on narratives, 
and that narratives are sometimes taken from dramas, as 
in the case of Lamb's * Tales from Shakespeare.' Novels 
are every day dramatized, and the reverse process, though 
not common with ourselves, is familiar in Japan. Several 
of the Shinto deities are worshipped for no other reason 
than because they are mentioned in the myths of the 
Kojiki and Nihongi, It was probably the mythical account 
of the friendship of Ajisuki and Ame-waka-hiko which led 
to shrines being erected to these deities side by side at 
Idzumo. A literal interpretation of the obviously alle- 
gorical story of Iha-naga-hime and Kono-saku-hime led, in 
later times, to an actual cult of these personages. On the 
other hand, the ceremony of religious ablution is certainly 
older than the myth which represents Izanagi as washing 
in the sea in order to remove the pollutions of the land of 
Yomi. The worship of the Sun is assuredly not the out- 
come, but the source, of the Japanese solar myths, though 
it may owe to them some of its more modem features. 
' Many myths have no ceremonial associated with them, 
and there is much ceremony for which the myth-makers 
have not attempted to account 



84 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE, 

No really adequate idea of the old Japanese myths can 
be gained without a direct study of the Kojiki^ Nihongi^ 
and Kiujiki^ with all their repetitions, inconsistencies, and 
obscurities. In the following outline, taken mainly from 
the two first-named works, a selection has been made of 
such incidents as have an interest and significance for 
European students of mytholc^y. 

Both the Nihongi and the Kiujiki begin with a passage 
which is justly repudiated by the modem school of Shinto 
theol(^ians as in reality belonging to the materialistic 
philosophy of China.* It runs as follows : — 

" Ofold^ Heaven and Earth were not yet separated^ andtiu 
In and Yo\ not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass 
like an egg^ which was of obscurely defined limits^ and con- 
tained germs. The purer and dearer part was thinly 
diffused and formed Heaven^ while the heavier and grosser 
element settled down and became Earth. The finer element 
easily became a united body^ but the consolidation of the 
heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty. 
Heaven was therefore formed firsts and Earth established 
subsequently. Thereafter divine beings were produced 
between them^ 

Pfleiderer says:t "There is not unfrequently found in 

* See 'Rig-veda,' x. 129, for a similar rationalistic dissertatioii on the 
origin of the universe. Here and below the italics indicate translations, 

t In Chinese, Yin and Yang, The Yin is the dark, negatiye, passiTc, 
feminine, and terrene principle ; the Karris light, positive, active, male^ aad 
celestial. 

X < Philosophy of Religion,* i. 269. 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE, 85 

the mythology of the nature-religions a comhination of 
Theogony and a Divine formation of matter in such a way 
that the Gods — whether one or all of them — are the first 
products of chaos, but then they form the rest of the world 
out of it. In the Indian mytholc^ Prajapati proceeded 
out of the golden world-^g and then became the creative 
former of the world. Likewise in the Chaldaean mythology 
the great Gods arose at first out of chaos, and they then 
created the other Gods and the living beings of heaven and 
earth," 

But are not such speculations later accretions on the 
original myth ? In Japan, at any rate, formation out of ^ 
chaos is undoubtedly an afterthought. 4 

First Oodfl. — We have next what is called " the seven "n q 
generations of Gods," ending with the creator - deities, -^ 
Izans^ and Izanami. Of the first six of these generations 
the most confused and contradictory accounts are given in 
the various authorities. There is no agreement as to the 
name of the first God on the list The Nihongi tells us 
that the first deity produced between Heaven and Earth 
while still in a state of chaos sprang up like a reed-shoot, 
which then changed into a God,* and was called Kuni- 
toko-tachi no Mikoto,t or " Earth-etemal-stand augustness.'' 
The Kqfiki calls the first God Ame no mi-naka nushi no 
Kami, that is to say, " Heaven-august-centre-master-deity," 
identified by some with the Polar Star, a hypothesis for 
which there is no other ground than the name itself. The 
same authority gives Kuni-toko-tachi a place lower down 
in the genealogical table. The Kiujiki has a first God called 
Ame yudzuru hi ame no sagiri kuni yudzuru tsuki kuni no 
sagiri, and describes him (or her, for there is no indication 
of sex) as the " Heavenly Parent" It is impossible to 
translate this rigmarole; but as it contains the words 

* ** Into hmnaii shape" is another version. 

•t I diall Qsaally omit this purely honorific addition to the names of Japanese 
Gods and sovereigns. 




r 



86 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

** earth," "sun," "moon," and "mist," a nature - deify is 
evidently intended Both the Kojiki and Kiujiki first Go& 
disappear at once from the mythical record. There is little 
trace of their worship in later times, and they must be pro- 
noimced mere abortive attempts at deity-making. Two 
other first deities are mentioned in the various myths quoted 
in the Nihongi^ namely, Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji (sweet- 
reed-shoot-prince-father) and Ama-toko-tachi (Heaves- 
etemal-stand). The latter forms, along with Kuni-toko- 
tachi, one of those pairs ^f deities, not necessarily male and 
female, which are common in Japanese mythology. An 
enumeration of the Gods of the five generations whid 
follow would be tedious and unprofitable. Some of them 
had probably no existence outside of the imagination of 
individual writers. They were doubtless invented or 
collected in order to provide a genealogy for Izanagi and 
IzanamL With one exception, they have left no trace in 
myth or in ceremonial. There are no shrines in their 
honour. Little is to be learnt from their names, the 
derivation of which is often doubtful. Several of them, 
however, show that the divinely mysterious process ctf 
growth, so all-important to an agricultural nation, bad 
attracted attention.* 

Musubi no Kami (the God of Growth), who forms d» 
sixth generation of deities, is a genuine divinity, of whocn 
more remains to be said hereafter. 

Isanagi and Isanami. — ^The seventh generation consisted 
of two deities, Izanagi and IzanamL It is with diem that 
Japanese myth really b^ns, all that precedes being merely 
introductory and for the most part of comparatively reoent 
origin. 

* Hirata says that " the five generations of deities which in the KagOi 
precede Izanagi and Izanami are only names descriptive of the successive 
stages of formation of these deities. Their functions are obscure, and tbef 
have no shrines or worship. They are nnnecessary, as aU that are l eq uh cd 
are two Gods for the creation of Heaven, two of Yomi and two of Earth." 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 87 

The Nihongi tells us that — 

^* Izanagi and Izanatni stood on the floating bridge of 
Heaven^ and held counsel together^ saying * Is there not a 
country beneath ? * Thereupon they thrust down the * Jewel- 
Spear of Heaven^ (Ante no tama-boko) and groping about 
'with it ^ found the ocean. The brine 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 
zvife, and to produce countries. So they made Onogoro-jima 
the pillar of the centre of the land'* 

The JCojihi says that Izanagi and Izanarai were com- 
manded by all the heavenly deities '' to regulate and fully 
consolidate" the floating land beneath. But all the accounts, 
the Kojiki included, proceed to represent the islands of 
Japan as having been generated by them in the ordinary 
manner. We have therefore three distinct conceptions of 
creation in Japanese myth — first as generation in the most 
literal sense, second, as reducing to order, and third, as 
growth {Musubt)i* 

The " floating bridge of Heaven " is no doubt the rainbow. 
It is represented on earth by the Sori-bashi or Taiko-bashi 
(drum-bridge) a semi-circular bridge over a pond before 
some Shinto shrines. It has too steep a slope for ordinary 
use, and is reserved for the Deity and for the priest on 
solenm occasions, the custom having been in this instance 
probably suggested by the myth. 

The Ante no tama-boko or Jewel-Spear of Heaven has f 
been tiie subject of much dissertation. Hirata, whose view .*, 
is endorsed by several eminent scholars, native and foreign, --'' 
thinks that it is a phallus. Its use in creating, which in 
Japanese myth is the same thing as begetting, the first 

* There is a dose association in Hebrew between the ideas of creation and 
b^;ettiiig. Bara^ create, zxiAjalad^ beget, are often interchanged. 



v^ 



f 



88 tHE MYTHICAL iiAkllATlVE. 

island, countenances this idea. The derivation of tama- 
boko dXso lends itself to it Tama may be rendered ball or 
knob as well as jewel, and the tama-boko might therefore be 
a shaft surmounted by a knob representing the glans, 
reminding us of the spears tipped with pine cones which 
were carried by the Bacchantes in the Dionysia. \We have 
another Japanese case of a conventionalized phallus in the 
wo-bashira!^ [Moreover, on the theory that the tatna-bt^ 
is a phallus, we have a satisfactory explanation of the cir- 
cumstance that tania-boko no is used as a standing epithet 
of mickiy road, which has puzzled Japanese scholars. The 
tama-boko no michi would then mean "the road where 
phallic symbols are set up." There is abundant evidence 
that objects of this kind were a familiar sight by the road- 
L sides near the capital in ancient times. The poet Tsura- 
yuki (tenth century) has left a short poem in which he 
expresses his intention of praying to the Tamaboko no cfai- 
buri no kami when starting on a journey. .The Chiburi no 
kami were the phallic road deities, protectors of travellers. 
Notwithstanding the Japanese poets' habit of using stock 
epithets without much r^ard to their proper meaning, this 
juxtaposition is highly suggestive. Another name for the 
phallic Sahe no kamit was Chimata no kami, or road-fork- 
gods, because they had no temples and were worshipped by 
the road-sides and at cross-ways. The road between Utsu- 
nomiya and Nikk6, when I travelled along it in 1 870, was still 
a tama-boko no michi — ^in the phallic sense.! Another link 
between the hoko and the phallus is suggested by a state- 
ment in the Shiki Monogatari that the weapon ix^ch 
formed, and still forms, the central object in the great 
• Gorioye festival procession at Kioto is known as the Sai me 

* See Index. 

t See Index. 

X It was deprived of this character soon after by order of the Mikada's 
GovemmeDt, the only monnment of the old cult left standing being Nantai 
(male form), a mountain vrhich towers above Nikko to the height of 8,500 £eeL 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 89 

hoko. Now the Garidye is a survival of the old festival in 
honour of the phallic Sahe no kamLj^ 

But in mythology one explanation does not necessarily 
exclude another and apparently contradictory one. Whether 
the myth-makers had in their minds the phallus conception 
of the tama-boka — and I am persuaded that they had — it is 
impossible in this connexion to ignore the function of the 
hoko^ or spear, as a symbol of authority. Herbert Spencer* 
has shown how universally the spear has this meaning. 
Britannia's trident is a familiar example. Theseus, in the 

* Hippolytus ' of Euripides, speaks of " the land ruled by 
my spear." Lances or arrows are emblems of authority in 
Korea. In Japan itself there is an abundance of similar 
evidence. In the Nihongi we hear of local governors being 
granted shields and spears in token of authority. When 
Ohonamochi abdicates in favour of Ninigfi he delivers over 
the Kuni-muke no hiro-boko, or land-subduing-broad-spear. 
The epithet Ya-chi-boko no kami, or God of eight thousand 
spears, applied to the same deity, has a similar symbolical 
meaning. The Empress Jingo set up her spear at the 
palace gate of the King of Silla, in Korea, as a token of 
conquest A holly spear, eight fathoms long, was given to 
Prince Yamatodake when he was despatched on his expe- 
dition to subdue Eastern Japan. 

It will be observed that the tama-boko as a {Callus 
belongs to the generative conception of creation, and as a 
spear to the idea of it as a cosmic or r^ulating process : — 

" The two deities having descended on Onogoro-jima erected 

Jhere an eight fathom house with an august central piUar. 

Then Izanagi addressed Izanami^ saying: * How ts thy body 

formed? ' Izanami replied^ * My body is completely formed 

except one part which is incompleted Then Izanagi said^ 

* My body is completely formed and there is one part which is 
superfluous. Suppose that we supplement that which is 

♦ * Sociology,' il I77- 



90 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

incampkti in thu with that which is superfimus in me^ ami 
thereby procreate lands! Isanami relied, ' It is welL* Thm 
Izanagi said, ' Let me and thee go round the heavenly august 
pillar, and having met at the other side, let us become unitei 
in wedlock' This being agreed to, he said, * Do thou go 
round from the left, and I will go round from the right* When 
they had gone round, Izanami spoke first and exdcdmed, 
' How delightful I I have met a lovely youth* Izanagi thm 
said, ' How delightful! I have met a lovely maiden.*\ After- 
wards he said, * It was unlucky for the woman to speak first! 
The child which was the first offspring of their union ttnis the 
Hiruko {leech-^hild), which at the age of three was still unable 
to stand upright, cmd was therefore placed in a reed-boat ami 
sent adrift!* 

The ''eight fathom house " built by Izanagi and Izanami 
as a preliminary to their marriage is \hefuseya, or nuptial 
hut, several times referred to in the old records. It was 
erected less for practical purposes than to avoid the cere- 
monial contamination of the ordinary dwelling-house by 
the consummation of a marriage within it 

The number eight is often met with in Japanese myth 
It would be a mistake, however, to regard it as in any way 
sacred. The primary meaning oi yatsu is " many/' and it 
might be better to translate it so in this passage. 

The central pillar of a house (corresponding to our king- 
post) is at the present day an object of honour in Japan as 
in many other countries. In the case of Shinto shrines, it 
is called the Nakago no mibashira (central august pillar), 
and in ordinary houses the Daikoku-bashira, The circum- 
ambulation of the central post by Izanagi and Izanami 
reminds us of the Hindu pradakchina.* Hirata's conjecture 
that we have here an ancient marriage rite is very plausible. 

* See Index, *Circitiiiambalation.' Alao Simpson's 'Praj^ing Wheel,' 
p. 385, and Jevons's ' Introdacdon to Religkn,' p. 21a The 



Highland ceremony, called Deasai, is described in Sir Walter Scott's ' Fair 
Maid of Perth.' See also Biand's ' British Antiquities.' 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 91 

The circumambulation of the dwelling, the fire, a tree, or 
an altar by the bride and bridegroom is a familiar feature 
of marriage ritual. It does not follow that the Japanese 
rite had a religious character. Nothing in the mythical 
record su^ests that this is the case, and at no time in 
Japanese history has the marriage ceremony had the 
sanction of religion. Shinto neither consecrates wedlock 
nor condemns adultery. 

It must not be inferred from this narrative that unions 
between brothers and sisters of the full blood were per- 
mitted by ancient Japanese custom. Cain and Abel must 
have married their own sisters, but this proves nothing 
against the morality of the Jews. The necessity of the 
story is the compelling motive in both cases. It is true 
that marriages were allowed between a man and his sister 
by the father's side only, but we learn from the Nihongi* that 
in the case of full brothers and sisters such connexions 
were considered criminal. The fact that intOy younger 
sister, is also used in addressing a wife proves no more 
than the "How fair is thy love, my sister, my bride !** of the 
Song of SolomcMi. The author of the myth of the Sun- 
Goddess endeavours to smooth over the difficulty of her 
conjugal relations with her brother Susa no wo by giving 
them a miraculous character. 

The story of the abandonment of Hiruko by his parents, 
like the similar legends of Sargon and Moses, is evidence 
that the custom of casting away weakly or deformed 
infants was known to the authors. The real significance of 
the Hiruko myth will be shown hereafter. 

The two deities next gave birth to the islands of Japan. 
Of the birth of Tsukushi, now called Kiushiu, the KojUU 
says: — 

" Next they gave birth to the island of Tsukushi. This 
island likewise has four faces ^ and each fau has a name. 

• I 324. 



92 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

So the land of TsukusfU is called Shira-^i-wake (wkite-sum- 
youth) ; the land of Toyo is called Toyo-^bi-wake {rich-sun- 
youth) ; the land of Hi is called Take-ht-mukahi'tcyo-kuji' 
hine-wake (prave-sun-confronting-rich-wondrous-lord-youth) ; 
the land of Kumaso is called Take-H-wake {brave-sum^ 
youth):' 

At this point the Nihangi inserts the rationalistic 
observation that the islands of Tsushima and Iki with the 
small islands in various parts were produced by the 
coagulation of the salt water. 

Izanagi and Izanami then procreated a number of deities, 
among whom were Iha-tsuchi-biko (rock-earth-prince), Oho- 
ya-biko (great-house-prince), the Wind-Gods, a variety of 
marine deities, Ame no Mikumari (the heavenly water 
distributor), the God of Moors (who is also the God of 
Herbs and Grasses), the God of Trees, the Gods of Moun- 
tains and Valleys, and the Goddess of Food. The last 
deity to be produced was the God of Fire, Kagu-tsuchi, 
also called Ho-musubi (fire-growth). In giving birth to 
him Izanami was burnt so that she sickened and lay 
down. From her vomit, faeces, and urine were born deities 
which personify the elements* of metal, water, and clay, 
while from the tears which Izanagi shed when she died 
there was produced a deity called Naki-saha-me, or the 
Weeping Female. In his rage and grief, Izanagi drew his 
sword and cut Kagu-tsuchi to pieces, generating thereby a 
number of deities. Of these two were widely worshipped 
in later times. One, named Take-mika-tsuchi (brave-awfiii- 
father), is the God of the famous shrine of Kashima in the 
east of Japan. The other, named Futsunushi, is worshipped 
under the form of £l sword at Kadori in the same 
neighbourhood. Izanami, by one account, was buried at 
the village of Arima at Kumano, in the province of Kit 

^In the time of flowers the inhabitants worship her 

* A strong suspidon of Chinese origin attaches to these elemental gods. 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE, 93 

nUtama by offerings of flowers. They also 'worship her with 
drums ^ flutes^ flags ^ singing and dancing^ 

When she died Izanami went to the land of Yomi, or 
darkness. 

" Thereafter Izanagi went after Izanami^ and entered the 
land of Yonti. When he rejoined her^ they conversed together. 
Izanami said: ' My lord and husband^ why is thy coming so 
late ? I have already eaten of the cookingfumace of Yomi. 
But I am about to lie down ta rest. Do not thou look on me! 
Izanagi did not give ear to her^ but secretly took his many- 
toothed combf and breaking off its end-tooth* made of it a 
torch and looked at her. Her body was already putrid, 
tnaggots swarmed over it^ and the eight thunder-gods had ^ 
been generated in her various members. Izanagi^ greatly 
shocked^ exclainudy * What a hideous and polluted land I 
have come to unawares / ' So he speedily ran away. Izanami 
was angry y and said^ * Why didst thou not observe that which 
I charged thee ? Now am I put to shame! So she sent the 
Ugly Females of Yomi to pursue and slay him. Izanagi^ 
in his flighty threw down his many-toothed comb ^ which forth- 
with became changed into bamboo-shoots. The Ugly Females 
pulled them up and ate them. When they had done eating 
them they again gave chase. He then threw down his head- 
dresSy which became changed into grapes^ and so once more 
deleted his pursuers. On recu^hing the foot of the * Even 
Pass of Yomi* he gathered three pecuhes\ that were growing 
there^ and smote his pursuers with them, so that they all fled 
back. Moreover^ he said to the peaches^ *As ye have helped 
fne, so must ye help all living people in the Central Land of 
Reed-plains when they are in trouble' And he gave them 
the title Oho-kamu-dzu-mi no mikoto (their augustness great- ^ 
divine fruit). This was the origin of the custom of V 
exorcising evil spirits by means of peaches. 

* The signiScance of the wa-dasAira, or eod- tooth, is explained elsewhere. 
See Index. 

t Sec Index—* Peach.* 



94 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

^At the Even Pass of Yomi^ Isanagi was overtaken hy 
Izanami herself. \He took a great rock^ and blocked up tie 
pass with it^ pronouncing at the same time the formula cf 
divorce — namely ^ * Our relationship is severed^ He also 
saidy * Come no further ^ and threw down his staffs which was 
called Funado no Kami {pasS'not'Plcue'deity)^ or Kunado no 
Kami {come-not-pUue-deity). Moreover^ he threw dawn his 
girdUy which was ccUled Nagachiha no Kami, Moreover, 
he threw down his upper garment^ which was called 
Wadsurahi no Kami {God of disease). Moreover^ he 
threw down his trowsers^ which were called Aki-guhi no 
Kami, Moreover, he threw down his shoes^ which wen 
called Chi-shiki no KamiP 
^ The Kqfiki represents Izanami as assuming the position 



of the " Great Deity of Yomi/* a personification of death. 
In this character she says to Izanagi, ^If thou dost so 
(divorce me), I will in one day strangle to death a thousand 
of the people of thy land." To which he replied "If thou 
dost so, I will in one day build a thousand and five hun- 
V dred parturition houses." 

The fatal consequences of tasting the food of the lower 
regions are well known to my thologists, Proserpine's retiun 
to the upper world became impossible when once 

Puniceum curvi decerpserat arbore pomum 
Sumpta que pallenti septem de cordce grana 
Presserat ore suo. 

The same principle is recognized in Indian myth : 

Three nights within his (Yama's) mansion stay. 
But taste not, though a guest, his food.t 

The natural aversion of human beings from touching or 
even looking on the dead is made a characteristic of the 
Gods in Greek mythology as well as in Japanese mytL 
Artemis, in the * Hippolytus ' of Euripides, says, " It is not 
themis for me to look upon the dead." 

* Deified as Cki-gaheshi no Oko-kami (rood-send-back-great-deity). 
t Muir's * Sanskrit Texts,' v. 3aa 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 95 

The •'Even Pass of Yomi " takes the place of the water to 
be crossed of other mytholc^es. Grimm, in his ' Teutonic 
Mythology/ says that "to Death is ascribed a highway 
levelled, smooth, and kept in repair, on which the dead 
travel." 

On returning from Yomi, Izanagi's first care was to bathe 
in the sea in order to purify himself from the pollutions 
which he had contracted by his visit to the Land of Yomi 
A number of deities were generated by this process, among 
whom were the Gods of Good and 111 Luck, and certain 
ocean deities held to be the ancestors of some families of 
local chieftains and worshipped by them. The Sun-Goddess 
was bom from the washing of his left eye, and the Moon-God 
from that of his right, while a third deity, named Susa no 
wo, was generated from the washing of his nose. To the 
Sun-Goddess Izanagi gave charge of the " Plain of High 
Heaven," and to the Moon-God was allotted the realm of 
night Susa no wo was at first appointed to rule the sea, 
but he cried and wept till his beard grew down to the pit of 
his stomach. He wept the green mountains bare and the 
seas and rivers dry. Izanagi inquired of him, " Why dost 
thou continually weep ? " He answered, " I wish to follow 
my mother to the Nether Land." Izanagi said, " Go, as thy 
heart bids thee," and drove him away. 

Another account of the birth of these three deities says that 
they were bom to Izanagi and Izanami on earth before the 
descent to Yomi. The Sun-Goddess was sent up to Heaven 
by the " Pillar of Heaven," which then served as a means of 
communication. Heaven and earth were still ''not far 
separated" Ante no tni-hashira (Heaven-august-pillar) is 
one of the names of the Wind-Grod. An island is described 
as ** Heaven's single pillar." Other myths speak of the 
Ama no iha-bune^ or Rock-boat of Heaven, as used for com- 
munication by the deities. There is also mention of an 
Ama no hashidate (Heaven-bridge-erection) which is distin- 
guished by Hirata from the " Pillar of Heaven." He thinks 



96 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

the former was a sort of pier used by \be Rock-boat cS 
Heaven. A spit of land two miles long and 190 feet broad 
near Miyadzu in Tango is now called by this name.* 

A me, or the firmament, where the Gods live, is to be 
distinguished from Oho-sora^ the Great Void, which is the 
space between heaven and earth. 

Izanagi's ablutions {Jiarah%)\ represent a wide-s(»^ead 
rite. They remind us of Juno's lustration by Iris after a 
visit to Hades, and of Dante's immersion in Lethe when 
he had completed his ascent through Purgatory and was 
preparing for admission to the circles of Paradise. Alcestis, 
after her rescue by Herakles from Thanatos, had to be 
purified, and was not allowed to speak for three days. 
We have in the Japanese myth the counterpart of a custom 
described by Chinese travellers to Japan centuries before 
the Kojiki and Nihmgi were written. It was then, we are 
informed, the practice, when the funeral was over, for the 
whole family of the deceased to go into the water and wash. 
Lustration is a wide-world practice^ and the myth was 
clearly suggested by it, not vice versd. 

Izanagi's career having come to an end, he built himself 
an abode of gloom in the island of Ahaji, where he dwdt 
in silence and concealment Another account says that be 
ascended to Heaven, where he dwelt in the smaller Palace of 
the Sun. 

It will be observed that Izanagi was not immortal, and 
that he did not go to Yomi when he died. 

Snsa no wo. — The mythical narrative now turns to the 
doings of the Sun-Goddess and her brother Susa no wo 
(the rainstorm personified). 

Susa no wo, before proceeding to take up his charge as 
Ruler of the Nether Region, ascended to Heaven to take 
leave of his elder sister, the Sun-Goddess. By reason of 

* See Murray's ' Japan,' filth edition, p. 408. 

t See Index. 

i See Dr. Tylor'* * PrimitiTe Culture,' ii. 435, 



c. 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVI'; 97 

the fierceness of his divine nature there was a commotion 
in the sea, and the hills and mountains groaned aloud as 
he passed upwards. The Sun-Goddess, in alarm, arrayed 
herself in manly garb, and confronted her brother* wearing - 

her royal necklace of jewels, and armed with sword and bow 
and arrows. The pair stood face to face on opposite sides 
of the River of Heaven.t Susa no wo then assured his 
sister of the purity of his intentions, and proposed to her 
that they should each produce children by biting off and 
crunching parts of the jewels and swords which they wore 
and blowing away the fragments.^ Eight children bom in /^^ 
this way were worshipped in after times as the Hachifi^ or 
eight princely children. They figure largely in the 
Shdjiroku genealogies of Japanese noble families. Through 
one of them, named Masa-ya-a-katsu-kachi-haya-hi-ama-no- 
oshi*ho-mi-mi, the Mikados trace their descent from the 
Sun-Goddess. A-Katsu means I conquer. The allusion 
is to Susa no wo's having triumphantly proved the purity 
of his intentions by produdng male children.§ 

Susa no wo's subsequent proceedings were very rude 
and unseemly. He broke down the divisions between the 
rice-fields belonging to his sister, sowed them over again, 
let loose in them the piebald colt of Heaven, and com- 
mitted nuisances in the hall where she was celebrating the ^ 
solemn festival of first-fruits. The climax to his misdeeds 
was to flay a piebald colt of Heaven with a backward 
flaying and to fling it into the sacred weaving-hall where 
the Sun-Goddess was engaged in weaving the garments of 
the deities. She was so deeply indignant at this last insult 

* As Horns, in Egyptian myth, confronts the powers of darkness. 

f The Milky Way : la Chinese expression. 

X This is one of several miraculous births and pregnancies in Japanese 
myth. Mankind have a rooted propensity for imagining that it is possible to 
improve on the means ordained for this purpose by Divine Providence. See 
Mr. Hartland's ' Legend of Perseus ' for numerous examples. 

I The KiuJiH makes Masa-ya, &c, the son of the Sun-Goddess by Taka- 
musubir 



f' 



100 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

that she entered the Rock-cave of Heaven and left the 

world to darkness. 
The piebald colt of Heaven may be compared to Prisni, 

the speckled cow of Indian myth, which is explained as a 

personification of the vari^ated appearance of the starry 

heavens. 
The retirement of the Sun-Goddess to the Rock-cave of 

Heaven produced gfreat consternation among the heavenly 

deities. They met on the dry bed of the River of Heaven 

and took counsel how they should entice her from her 

seclusion. By the advice of Omohi-kane no Mikoto (the 

Thought-combiner or Counsellor deity) the long-singing 

birds of the Eternal Land (cocks)* were made to utter 

their prolonged cry before the door of the cave. Amc no 

Koyane no Mikoto, ancestor of the Nakatomi and Futo- 

dama no Mikoto, ancestor of the Imbe, dug up by the 

roots a five-hundred branched true Sakaki tree of Heaven 

and hung on its higher branches strings of jewels, on its 

middle branches a mirror, and on its lower branches pieces 

of cloth. Then they recited their liturgy in her honour. 

Moreover, Ame no Uzume (the Dread Female of Heaven) 

arrayed herself in a fantastic manner, kindled a fire and 

standing on a tub which resounded when she stamped upon 

it, performed a (not very decent) mimic dance and gave 

forth an inspired utterance. The Plain of High Heaven 

shook, and the eight hundred myriad deities laughed 

together. The Sun-Goddess wondered how Ame no 

Uzume and the other gods could be so jolly ^ile the 

world was wrapped in complete darkness, and peeped out 

from the half-opened door of the cave. She was at once 

seized by Ta-jikara no wo (Hand-strength-male) and 

prevented by main force from re-entering, to the great joy 

of all the deities. 

Susa no wo was then tried by a council of Gods, "who 
mulcted him in a fine of a thousand tables of purification 

* Represented at Ise by dancers called t<maho (bird-cry)* 



L- 



THU MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. lOI 

. ••••- --, 

' * ' e * * • " »r •"■ 
offerings. They also pulled out the nails of his Angers and 

toes, and banished him to the land^ofVortii. -'Finally •Aittcf;. 

no Koyane, the ancestor of the 'Srkfcatbmr, recitecf his 

Oho-harahi or " Great purification " liturgy. 

The above episode is the kernel of the mythical lore of 

Japan. Belonging to the class of light and darkness myths, 

it professes to give the origin of some of the principal 

ceremonies of the Shinto religion as they were practised at 

the Mikado's Court at the time when they became current 

In addition to the Nakatomi and Imbe, some versions of 

the story show the Sun-Groddess surrounded by other 

officials, such as jewel-makers, mirror-makers, &c., obviously 

borrowed from the actual functionaries of the Court, and 

introduced with an eye to genealogical requirements. By 

a curious coincidence, the Smith-God attached to her train, 

like the Cyclops of Greek myth, has but one eye. 

Ame no Uzume, the Dread Female of Heaven, who 

danced and gave forth an inspired utterance before the 

Rock-cave where the Sun Goddess was hidden, is the 

supposed ancestor of the Sarume (monkey-women) or 

female mnnes attached to the Mikado's Court, whose 

performances were the origin of the pantomimic religious 

dances still kept up in Japan and known as Kagura^ 

while her divinely inspired utterance is the prototype of the 

revelations of the Miko, or Shinto priestesses. One version 

of the story gives us the actual words usqd by Uzume on this 

occasion — namely, Hi^fu^ ^hyOy itsu^ mu^ nana^ ya^ kokono^ 

tawo. A Japanese baby knows that these are simply the 

numerals from one to ten. But they have given much 

trouble to later Shintoists, who. have endeavoured to read 

into them a deep mythical signification. 

The fire kindled by her is the prototype of the nihabi^ or "Iv^- 

" courtyard fire," of Shinto ceremonial. It is plainly one J 

of those numerous imitative magic devices for making 

sunshine, of which Mr. Frazer has given several examples.* 

* 'The Golden Bough,' second edition, i. 115. 



"V, 



I02 THE MYTHICAL NARRAXJVE. 

• • • • . . • " 

Modem. Shmto: exljplains the darkness produced by tht 
.•3|inrGod^Css'& retirement as emblematic of the darkness oi 
• * siij: •' • l^e •rehc^¥ai if. light typifies repentance. Of course, 
this was far from the thoughts of the original myth-makers. 
Susa no wo did not at once proceed to the land of YomL 
He went and b^ged food of the Food-Goddess, who 
produced dainty things of all kinds from various parts of 
her body, and oflfered them to him. But Susa no wo took 
offence at her proceedings, which he considered filthy, and 
at once slew her. Whereupon there were produced in her 
head silkworms, in her eyes rice, in her ears millet, in her 
nose small beans, in her genitals barley, and in her funda- 
ment large beans. These Musubi, the God of Growth, 
took and caused to be used as seeds. 

The above is the Kojiki version of the story. The 
Nihongi makes the Moon-God the culprit, and gives it as 
the reason of his alienation from the Sun-Goddess, who 
had sent him to visit the Food-Goddess. This is not 
the only attempt of myth-makers to account for the 
aloofness maintained by these two deities. The same 
variant of this episode makes the Sun-Goddess the recipient 
of the various seeds produced in the body of the Food- 
Goddess: — 

'' She was rejoiced^ and saidy ' These are the things whick 
the race of visible men will eat and live! So she made At 
millet^ thepanicy the wheat and the beans the seed for the dry 
fields y and the rice she made the seed for the water-fietds. 
Therefore she appointed a Mura-gimi {vUlage-lord) ef 
Heaven^ and forthwith sowed for the first time the rict- 
seed in the narrow fields aud in the long fields of Heaven!" 

Probably in the slaying of the Food-Goddess we have an 
echo of some of those practices so fully examined by Mr. 
Frazer, in which the Corn-maiden, or other representative 
of the com, is slain — a tragedy of perennial interest tc 
mankind. Witness the rape of Persephone and the death 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. IO3 

of John Barleycorn. Susa no wo then visited Corea, but 
not finding that country to his liking, returned to Japan, 
and went to the province of Idzumo. 

* Here he observed a chopstick floating down the river Hiy 
so thinking that there must be people living further up the 
stream^ he went in quest of them^ and found an old man and 
an old wonum weepingy with a young maiden set between 
them. He asked of them^ * Who are ye ? * The old man 
replied^ * Thy servant is a deity of earthy and his name is 
Ashinadeuchiy son of the great God of the Mountain. My 
wif^s name is Tenadsuchiy and my daughter is called Kushi- 
nada hime^ He further inquiredy * Why weep ye ? ' He 
answeredy sayingy ' / have had eight childreUy girls ; but the 
eight-forked serpent of Koshi came year after year and 
devoured them. It is now the time of its comingy and there- 
fore do we weep! * Describe to me this serpent y said Susa no 
wo. * Its eyes are as red as the winter cherry. It has one 
body with eight heads and eight tails. Moreover y its body is 
overgrovm with moss y pines and cedars. Its length extends 
over eight valleys and eight hills. Its belly is always all bloody 
and inflamed to look upon.* Then Susa no wo said to the old 
maUy * If this be thy daughtery wilt thou give her unto me ? ' 
• With reverence be it saidy replied the old maUy * / know not 
thy honourable name.* * I am the elder brother of the Sun- 
Goddess y and have now come down from heaven* replied Susa 
no wo. Then the deities Ashinadsuchi and Tenadzuchi saidy 
In that casCy with reverence we offer her to thee* Susa no 
wo straightway took that young maiden and, changed her 
into a many-toothed comb, which he stuck into his hair, and 
said to the deities Ashinadsuchi and Tenadzuchiy ' Do ye 
brew some sak/ of eight-fold strength. Also make a fence 
round abouty and in that fence let there be eight doors^ at each 
door let therebe eight stands, on each stand let there be a saki- 
iuby and let each sak^-tub be filled with the saki of eight-fold 
strength. Then wait* So having prepared everything in 



€ /f 



104 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

accordana with his a$tgust biddings thiy waiUd. Tkm the 
tight'forked serpent came^ indeed^ as had been said^amd bena- 
ing down one head into each of the tubs^ lafped np the saki. 
Hereupon it beccmu drunken^ and all the heads lay dawn to 
sleeps when straighttvay Snsa no wo drew his ten^span sword 
from his girdle and slew the serpent^ so that the river had its 
current changed to blood Now^ when he cut the middle part 
of the tail the edge of his august sword was broken. 
Wondering at this^ he pierced it and split it open^ when he 
found that within there was a great sharp sword He took 
this sword^ and thinking it a wonderful things reported Ms 
discovery to the Sun Goddess. This is the great sword 
Kusanagi {Herb-queller)P 

On the occasion of his marrii^ to Kushinada hime, Susa 

no wo composed the following verses : — 

Many clouds arist^ 
On oil sides a tnanifdldftnee : 
To receive wiMn it the spouses^ 
They form a numifoldfence^ 
Ah I that manifold fence! 

Eventually he entered the Nether Land. 

Few of my readers will require to have pointed out to them 
the striking resemblance of this story to that of Perseus and 
Andromeda, or will need to be referred to Mr. Sidney 
Hartland's * Legend of Perseus/ in which everything relatii^ 
to its numerous variants has been so thoroughly examined 
I would direct special attention to chapter xviii. of this 
work, where the hypothesis is offered, " that we have in this 
incident a reminiscence of the abolition of human sacrifices 1 

to deities in the shape of the lower animals In certain I 

stages of civilization, sacrifices of the kind are practised, and 
are frequently offered to water-spirits conceived in animal 

form It may, of course, be that the monster sent to 

devour Andromeda is to be regarded simply as the personifi- 
cation of water, or of specific rivers in their sinister aspect*^ 

* See Index — * River-deities.' 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. I OS 

The circumstance that the scene of this episode in Susa 
no wo's career is the bank of a river is therefore by no means 
immaterial. Indeed, we may plausibly conjecture that the 
description of the serpent with its eight (or many) heads 
and eight tails, its length extending over eight valleys and 
eight hills, its body overgrown with moss, pines, and cedars, 
and its propensity for devouring human beings is nothing 
more than a fanciful representation of the river, with its 
serpentine course, its numerous tributaries and branches, 
its wooded banks, and the danger by drowning in its 
pools or at its fords. 

The poem ascribed to Susa no wo cannot be older than 
the sixth or seventh century. The word translated *' on all 
sides," is idzumo. There is therefore a punning allusion to 
the province of that name. The " manifold fence," is the v 
** nuptial hut," already referred to.* -x 

Ohonamoelii. — Susa no wo had numerous children, \ "' 
among whom were Oho-toshi (great harvest), and Uka no 
mitamat (food-spirit). The most famous of his progeny "V j 
was a God called Ohonamochi. This is the Great Deity of J 
Idzumo, a place second only to Ise for sanctity. 

Ohonamochi's eighty brothers went to pay court to a 
female deity named Yakami-hime, taking him with them 
as porter " to carry the bag." On arriving at Cape Keta, 
they found a naked hare lying on the ground. The 
brothers maliciously advised the hare to bathe in the sea, 
and then expose himself to the wind on the slope of a high 
mountain. The hare did so, with the result that when the 
sea-water dried, his skin split, and he was weeping with 
pain, when Ohonamochi came up in the rear of the party. 
He had pity on it, and taught it remedies which gave 
relief. The grateful hare promised that he should have the 
lady Yakami-hime in marriage, and not his brothers. When 

* See above, p. 9a 

f Another authority makes Uka no mitama a daughter of Izanagi and 
Iianami. 



\ 



106 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

their suit was accordingly rejected, they devised several 
plans for the destruction of Ohonamochi, which were all 
unsuccessful. He was then advised to go to the "* Nether- 
distant land/' the abode of Susa no wo. 

" In accordance with this counsel^ he went to the dwelling 
of Susa no wo. On arriving there he was met by his 
daughter Suseri-hime^ who married him^ and then returning 
within told her father that a very beautiful deity had arrived. 
The Great Deity came outy and looking at him said^ ' This is 
the deity called the Ugly-male-deity of the Reed-Plain. 
Thereupon he invited him in, and made him sleep in the 
snake-chamber. Now his wife Suseri-hime gave her husband 
a snake-scarf y saying, ^ When the snakes are about to bite 
thee, drive them away by waving this scarf thrice^ He did 
as she had instructed him, and the snakes were quieted, so that 
he came forth again after a peaceful sleep. Again, on the 
night of the next day, he was put into the centipede and wasp 
chamber; but as his wife again gave him a centipede-and- 
wasp scatf, and instructed him as before, he came forth 
unharmed. Again Susa no wo shot a whizzing arrow into 
the middle of a great moor, and bid him fetch it. When 
Ohonamochi went out to the moor, Susa no wo set fire to it 
all round Ohonamochi could find no way of escape until a 
rat appeared, and said, ' Within *tis hollow-hollow, without 
*tis narrow-narrow! Hearing this, Ohonamochi stamped 
upon the place, and fell in, and hid himself until the fire had 
burnt past. Then the rat came with the whizzing at^row in 
its mouth and presented it to him. The feathers of the 
arrow had all been gnawed by the rats children. Hereupon 
his wife Suseri-hime came weeping and bringing the funeral 
things. Her father, the Great Deity, thinking that Ohona- 
mochi was already dead^ went out and stood on the moor. 
Ohonamochi brought him the arrow and presented it to him* 
Susa no wo took him into the house, and calling him into a 
large chamber of many mats, bid him catch the lice on his 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. lO/ 

head. Ohonamochi looked at his head^ and saw that it was 
swarming with centipedes. Then his wife gave him berries 
of the muku tree and red earth. He chewed up the berries 
and took the red earth into his mouth. Then he spat them 
out J and the Great Deity thought that he had chewed up and 
spat out the centipedes ^ and feeling fond of him in his hearty 
feu asleep. Ohonamochi then took hold of the hair of the 
Great Deity and tied it to the rafters of the chamber. Blocking^ 
up the door with a five-hundred-pull rock^ he took his wife 
Suseri'hime on his back and made his escape^ carrying with . 
kim the Great Deltas live-sword^ live b&iv and arrows^ and^ 
speaking lute of Heaven. The speaking lute of Heaven 
brushed against a tree and the earth resounded. The Great 
Deity was startled out of his sleep by the sound and pulled 
down the chamber. ^But while he wets unloosing his hair 
from the rafters Ohonamochi fled a long way off. The Great 
Deity pursued him to the Even Pciss of Yomi^ and looking i 
at him from afar, called to Kim and said, * With the live 
sword and live bow and arrows which thou bearest, pursue 
thy half brethren till th^ lie down on the lower slopes of the 
passes y pursue them till they are swept into the river rapids. 
Be thou the deity Oho-kuni-nushi {great-land-master) and 
the deity Utsushi-kuni-dama {realland'Spirit). Make my 
daughter Suseri-hime thy consort, and basing thy stout pcUace- 
pillars on the bottom rock at the foot of Mount Uka, and 
exalting thy crossbeams to the Plain of High Heaven, dwell 
there, thou rogue.* When Ohonamochi had driven away and 
dispersed the eighty deities, he pursued them till they lay 
down on the lower slopes of every pass, and pursued them till 
they were swept into the rapids of every river. Then did he 
begin to make the land'* 

He was assisted in doing so by a dwarf deity called 
Sukuna-bikona, who wore garments of bird skins and came 
over the sea in a tiny boat There is probably some echo 
of real history in the myths of Susa no wo, Ohonamochi, 



I08 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

and Sukuna-bikona. Idzumo, the scene of their doings, was 
one of the earliest centres of civilization and religion in 
Japan, and its position over against Korea is significant in 
view of the legends which connect Susa no wo with that 
country. The incident of Sukuna-bikona's arrival by sea, 
clothed in bird skins, seems to indicate an acquaintance 
with some northern tribes, who, like the Kurile islanders at 
this day, wore garments of this material 

This Ohonamochi myth belongs to a class of stories the 
main features of which have been thus outlined by Mr. A. 
Lang : " A young man is brought to the home of a hostile 
animal, a giant, cannibal, wizard, or malevolent king. He 
is put by his unfriendly host to various severe trials, in 
which it is hoped that he will perish. In each trial be is 
assisted by the daughter of his host. ^ After achieving the 
adventures, he elopes with the girl and is pursued by the 
father." Mr. Lang goes on to speak of the articles thrown 
down by the runaways in their flight. This part of the 
story belongs in Japanese myth to the history of Izanagi 
and Izanami.* 

Ninigl. — The dynasty of Susa no wo was not recognized 
by the Gods of Heaven. They sent down several other 
deities to prepare the world for the advent of Ninigi, a 
grandchild of the Sun-Goddess, as its ruler. Some versions 
of the story make Taka-musubi the chief actor in these 
proceedings, in others the Sun-Goddess is more prominent 
One of the deities sent down for this purpose was Ame- 
waka-hiko (heaven-young-prince). The Nihongi says : — 

" As soon as he arrived he took to wife Skita-teru-kinu^ the 
daughter of Utsushi-kuni-dama. Accordingly he rematnei, 
and said: */, too^ wish to govern the Central Land of Reed- 
Plains! He never reported the result of his mission. At 
this time Taka-musubi, wondering why he was so long in 
coming and making his report, sent the pheasant Na-naki t9 

• See above, p. 93. 



V 






THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 109 

oisiTve. The pheasant flew down and perched on the top of 
a many-branched cassia-tree which grew before Ame-waka- 
hikds gate. Now Ama-no Sagu-me {heaven-spying-woman) 
saw thiSf and told Ame-waka-hiko^ saying: ^A strange 
bird has come and is perched on the top of the cassia-tree* 
Then Ame-waka-hiko took the heavenly deer-bow and 
the heavenly feathered arrows which had been given him 
by Taka-mi-musubi no MikotOy and shot the pheasant^ so 
that it died. The arrow having passed through the 
pheasants breast^ came before where Taka-mi-musubi no 
Kami was sitting. Then Taka-mi-musubi no Kami^ 
seeing this arrow ^ said: * This arrow I formerly gave 
to Ame-waka-hiko, It is stained with bloody it may be 
because he has been fighting with the Earthly Deities! 
Thereupon Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto took up the arrow 
and flung it back down {to earth). This arrow ^ when it fell, 
hit Ame-waka-hiko on the top of his breast. At this time 
Ame-waka-hiko was lying down after the feast of first- 
fruitSy and when hit by the arrow died immediately. 

" The sound of the weeping and mourning of Ame-waka- 
hikds wife Shita-teru-hime reached Heaven. At this time 
Anu no Kuni-damay hearing the voice of her crying y straight- 
way knew that her sony Ame-waka-hikOy was decuiy and sent 
cUmm a swift wind to bring the body up to Heaven. Forth- 
with a mortuary house was madcy in which it was tem- 
porarily deposited. The river-geese were made hecui-hanging 
bearers and also broom-bearers y the kingfisher was made the 
representative of the deceasedy the sparrows were made the 
paunding-womeny and the wrens the mourners. Altogether 
the assembled birds were entrusted with the matter. 

** For eight days and eight nights they wept and sang 
dirges'' 

Fntrannihi and Take-mika-tsnchL — Finally, the deities 
Futsunushi and Take-mika-tsuchi* were sent down to pre- 
pare Japan for Ninigi's reception. 

* See Index — Fmimmuhi, 



no THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

*^The two deities descended and arrived at the Little Short 
of Itasa in Idzumo^ and asked Ohonamochi, saying : * Wilt 
thou deliver up this country to the Heavenly Deity ^ or not?' 
He answered and said : * / will not allow it! Thereupon 
Futsunushi returned upwards^ and nuuie his report. Now 
Taka-mi-musubi sent the two Gods back again, and com- 
manded Ohonantochif saying: * Having now heard what thou 
hast said, I find that there is profound reason in thy words. 
Therefore again I issue my commands to thee more drcum- 
stantially, that is to say : Let the public matters which thou 
hast charge of be conducted by my grandchild, and do thou 
rule divine affairs. Moreover, if thou wilt dwell in the pcdau 
ofAma no Hi-sumi, I will now build it for thee. I will take 
a thousand fathofn rope of the {bark of the) paper mulberry, 
and tie it in i8o knots. As to the dimensions of the building 
of the palace, its pillars shall be high and mcLSsy, and its 
planks broad and thick. I will also cultivate thy rice-fields 
for thee, and, for thy provision when thou goest to take 
pleasure on the sea, I will make for thee a high bridge, a 
floating bridge, and also a Heavenly bird-boat. Moreover, 
on the Tranquil River of Heaven I will make a flying bridge. 
I will also make for thee white shields of 180 seams, andAme 
no Ho- hi no Mikoto shall be the president of the festivcUs in thy 
honour* \ Hereupon Ohonamochi answered and scUd: * The 
instructions of the Heavenly Deity are so courteous that I tnoy 
not presume to disobey his commands. Let the A ugust Grand- 
child direct the public affairs of which I have charge. I Tsrill 
retire and direct secret matters.* So he introduced Kunada 
no Kami to the two Gods, saying: * He will take my plaa 
and will yield respectful obedience. I will withdraw and 
depart hence* He forthwith invested him with the pun 
Yasaka jewels, and then became concealed for ever. Therefore 
Futsunushi no Kami appointed Kunado no Kami as guide, 
and went on a circuit of pacification. Any who were rebel&ms 
to his authority he put to death, while those who rendered 
obedience were rewarded. The chiefs of those who at this 



THE MYTHICAL UAktiATlVE. Hi 

time rendered obedience were Oho-mono-nuski and KoUhshiro- 
nushi'' 

Another version adds that — 

^^He took the brocul spear* which he had used as a staff 
when he was pacifying the landy and gave it to the two Gods 
saying: * By means of this spear I was at last successful. If 
the Heavenly Grandchild will use this spear to rule the land^ 
he will undoubtedly subdue it to tranquillity. I am now about 
to withdraw to the concealment of the eighty road-windings^ 
Having said these words^ he at length became concealed^ 
Thereupon the two Gods put to death all the rebellious spirits 
and DeitiesP 

When Ninigi was about to descend to earth, the Sun- 
Goddess addressed him, saying : 

** * This Reed'plain-i soo-autuntns'f air-ears Land is the 
region which my descendants shall be lords of Do thoUy my 
August Grandchild^ proceed thither and govern it. Go I and 
may prosperity attend thy dynasty ^ and may it^ like Heaven 
and Earthy endure for ever,* When he was about to descend^ 
one who had been sent in advance to clear the way, returned 
and said: * There is one God who dwells at the eight-cross- 
roads of Heaven^ the length of whose nose is seven hands, and 
whose stature is more than seven fathoms. Moreover, a light 
shines from his mouth and from his posteriors. His eye-balls 
are like an eight-hand mirror, and have a ruddy glow like the 
physalis^ Thereupon he sent one of his attendant Deities to 
go and make inquiry. Now among all the eighty myriads of 
Deities, there was not one who could confront him and make 
inquiry. Therefore he specially commanded Ante no Uzume, 
saying : * Thou art superior to others in the power of thy 
looks. Thou hadst better go and question him,* So Ame no 
Uzutne forthwith bared her breasts, and, pushing down the 
band of her garment below her navel, confronted him with a 

* like Odin, who lends bis spear Gungsiir to heroes to win victories with, 
f I.e., died. 



\ 



112 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

mocking laugh. Then the God of the crossways asked her 
saying: ^ Ame no Uzunul What meanest thou by this 
behaviour? ' She answered and said: '/ make bold to ask 
who art thou^ that dost thus remain in the road by which the 
child of Ama-terasu no Oho-kamiis to make his progress?^ 
The God of the crossways answered and said: '/ have 
heard that the child ofAma-terasu no 0/uhkami is now about 
to descend^ aud therefore I have come respectfully to meet and 
attend upon him. My name is Saruta-hiko no Oho-kami! 
Then Ame no Usume again inquired of him^ saying: ' Wilt 
thou go before me^ or shall I go before thee ? * He answered 
and said: */ will go before and be his harbinger* Ame no 
Uzume returned and reported these circumstances. Thereupon 
the August Grandchild^ leaving the heavenly rock-seat^ and 
thrusting apart the eight-piled clouds of Heaven^ clove his wc^ 
with an awful way-deaving^ and descended to earths 

He alighted on a mountain in the western island of 
Kiushiu. He was attended by the ancestors of the five be^ 
or hereditary government corporations, viz, : the Nakatomi, 
the Imbe, the Sarume, the mirror-makers be^ and the 
jewellers be^ to which some accounts add several others. 

Ninigi took to wife Konohana-sakuyahime (the lady 
blooming like the flowers of the trees). Her father Oho- 
yamatsu mi (g^eat-mountain person) had offered him both 
his daughters, but the elder was rejected by Ninigi as 
being too ugly. Her name was Iha-naga-hime (rock-long- 
lady). The consequences of this choice were disastrous to 
his descendants. Iha-naga-hime, in her shame and resent- 
ment, uttered a curse and said : " The race of visible men 
shall change swiftly like the flowers of the trees and shall 
decay and pass away." This is the reason why the life of 
man is so short 

When the time came for the younger sister's delivery, 
she shut herself up in a doorless shed, which, on the birdi 
of her three children, she set fire to, with the object of clear- 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. II3 

11^ herself from certain suspicions which her husband had 
entertained of her fidelity. " If," said she, " the children are 
really the offspring of the Heavenly Grandchild, the fire 
catnot harm them." The children and their mother came 
forth unhmt, and were thereupon recognized by Ninigi as 
his true offspring and wife. 

The " doorless shed " here mentioned, is a ** parturition 
house."* It was the custom in ancient Japan for women, 
when the time drew near for their delivery, tb retire to a - 
shed specially constructed to receive them, so that contami- 
nation to the dwelling-house might be avoided. This was 
still the practice in the island of Hachijo in 1878, and even 
in Japan no longer than a century ago. % 

The burning of the parturition house represents the 
ordeal by fire, which, with the ordeal by boiling water or 
mud, is well known in Japan. 

Ac no Stuori and Bohodami. — The story concerns itself H t. 
no further with the youngest of these three children. Of J 
the others, the elder, named Ho no Susori, became a fisher- 
man, and the younger, Hohodemi, a hunter. 

Ho no Susori once proposed to his brother to exchange b'* 
their respective callings. Hohodemi accordingly gave over 
to his elder brother his bow and arrows and received a fish- >« 
hook in return. But neither of them profited by the ex- 
change, so Ho no Susori gave back to his brother the bow » *" 
and arrows and demanded fix>m him the fish-hook. 

Hohodemi, however, had in the meantime lost it in the ^. . 
sea. He took his sword and forged from it a number of 
new fish-hooks which he piled up in a winnowing tray and 
offered to his brother by way of compensation. But the 
latter would have none but his own, and demanded it so 
vehemently of Hohodemi as to grieve him bitterly. Hoho- 
demi went down to the sea-shore and stood there lamenting, 
when there appeared to him the Old Man of the Sea, by 

* It was an Arab custom in certain places to baild a hut outside the camp, 
where the parturient woman had to stay for a time.— Welhausen. 



114 THE MYTHICAL NAkkATIVR 

whose advice he descended into the sea depths to die abode 
of the God of the Sea, a stately palace with lofty towers 
and battlements. Before the gate there was a well, and 
over the well grew a thick-branching cassia tree, into which 
Hohodemi climbed. The Sea-God's daughter Toyo- 
tama-hime (rich jewel maiden) then came out from the 
palace to draw water. She saw Hohodemi's face reflected 
in the well, and returning 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-tama-hiko (rich jewel prince) 
who when he heard his errand, summoned before him 
all, the fishes of the sea and made inquiry of them for 
the lost fish hook, which was eventually discovered in 
the mouth of the Tai. Toyo-tama-hiko delivered it to 
Hohodemi, 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-tama- 
hime 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, ¥*o 
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 g^eat tortoise. She went 
straight into the hut, b^ging 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 
a want (sea-monster or dragon), eight fathoms long. 
Deeply indignant at the disgrace put upon her,Toyo-tama- 
hime abandoned her new-born child to the careof her sister, 
and barring behind her the sea-path in such a way that 
from that day to this all communication between the realms 
of land and sea has been cut off, returned hastily to her 
father's palace. 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 11$ 

The child thus bom was the father of Jimmu Tenno, tiie 4 
first human sovereign of Japan. 

Hohodemi's troubles with his elder brother were renewed 
on his arrival home. He was obliged to use against him 
two talismans given 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 §ue for mercy (another 
account says that Hohodemi whistled and thereby raised 
the wind and the sea). Then by a second talisman the 
tide was made to recede and Ho no Susori's life was spared. 
He yielded complete submission to his younger brother, and 
promised that he and his descendants to all generations 
would serve Hohodemi and his successors as mimes and 
bondservants. The Nihongi adds that in that day it was still 
customary for the Hayato (or Imperial guards), who were 
descended from Ho no Susori, to perform a mimic dance 
before the Mikados, the descendants and successors of 
Hohodemi, in which the drowning struggles of their 
ancestor were represented. 

The castle-gate and the tree before it, at the bottom of 
which is a well which serves as a mirror, form a combination 
not unknown to European folk-lore. We may also note 
the partiality evinced for the younger of two brothers, the . 
virtue of spitting and of set forms of speech to bring good ^ 
or ill luck, and of whistling to raise the wind. 

There are several features in Ais story which betray a ' 
recent origin and foreign influences. A comparatively 
advanced civilization is indicated by the sword and fish- 
hooks forged of iron (the Homeric fish-hook was of horn). 
The institution of the Hayato as Imperial Guards belongs 
to a period not very long antecedent to the date of the 
Nihongi and Kojiki. The palace of the sea-depths and its 
Dragon-king are of Chinese, and therefore of recent, origin* I 
The comparatively modern character of this important link \ 
in the genealogy which traces back the descent of the J 
Mikados to the Sun-Goddess confirms the view that the ^ 



H6 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. " 

so-called ancestor-worship of the ancient Japanese is a later 

accretion upon what was in its. origin a worship of the 

f- powers of Nature. 

\jl Jimmn Taimd. — ^Though it is difficult to draw clearly a 

i^ine which shall divide religious myth from legend with an 

historical kernel, we may conveniently assume that in Japan 

the latter b^ns with the story of Jimmu, as it has in all 

probability a foundation in actual fact, namely, the conquest 

of Central Japan by an invading army from the western 

island of Kiushiu some centuries before the Christian 

epoch. 

Jimmu Tennd is said to have been the youngest of four 
brothers, who lived in the province of Hiuga. 

When he reached the age of forty-five, he addressed his 
elder brothers and his children, saying : " Of old, our 
Heavenly Deities, Taka-mi-musubi, and Oho-hiru-me, gave 
this land of fair rice-ears of the fertile reed-plain to our 
Heavenly ancestor, Hiko-ho no ninigL Now I have he^ 
from the old sea- father that in the east there is a fai|p land 
encircled by blue mountains. Let us make our capital 
there." So on the fifth day of the tenth month of the year 
corresponding to B.C. 607* they sailed northwards, and 
passing through the Bungo Channel arrived at Usa,t near 
the Strait of Shimonoseki. 

At this time there appeared the ancestors of the local 
chieftains of Usa, named Usa-tsu-hiko and Usa-tsu-hime, 
who built a palace raised on one pillar on the bank of the 
River Usa, and offered them a banquet Then, by imperial 
command, Usa-tsu-hime was given in marriage to the 
Emperor's attendant minister Ama no tane, the remote 
ancestor of the Nakatomi House. 

* There was no official recofrnition of the art of writing in Japan until 
A.D. 405, and no mention of calendars until A.D. 553. So much for the 
authenticity of the above date. 

f Usa is not on the direct route from Hiuga to Yamato. It was no doubt 
introduced because this place was anciently a famous centre of Shinto worship. 



t«E MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. II7 

Proceeding on thdr voyage eastwards through the inland 
sea, Jimmu and bis brothers arrived at the entrance of the 
river which falls into the sea near Osaka. Here they 
encountered a swift current, for which reason that place was 
called Napti'kaya (wave-swift) or Nami-hana (wave-flower) 
of which Nani-ha (a later poetical name of Osaka) was 
thought a corruption.* 

The first encounter of Jimmu's forces with the inhabitants 
of this part of Japan was not to their advantage : — 

" The Emperor was vexed^ and said: ^ I am the descendant 
of the Sun-GoddesSy and if I proceed against the Sun to 
attack the enemy^ I shall act contrary to the way of Heaven 
Better to retreat and make a show oftveakness. Then sacri- 
ficing to the Gods of Heaven and Earthy and bringing on our 
backs the might of the Sun-Goddess^ let us follow her rays 
and trample them dotvn* " 

Subsequently he proceeded southwards to Kumano, in 
the province of Kit, where he embarked with his army 
in the " Rock-boat of Heaven." In the midst of the sea 
they suddenly met with a violent wind, and Jimmu's ship 
was tossed about Then Ina-ihi, one of Jimmu's elder 
brothers, exclaimed, " Alas I my ancestors were Heavenly 
Deities and my mother was a Goddess of the Sea. Why 
do they harass me by land, and why, moreover, do they 
harass me by sea." So he drew his sword and plunged 
into the sea, where he became changed into the God Sabi- 
mochlt Another brother of the Emperor, Mike Irino, 
also indignant at this, said: ''My mother and my aunt 
are both Sea-Goddesses : why do they raise great billows 
to overwhdm us?" So treading upon the waves, he 
went to the Eternal Land. 

* This is a spedmen of the nomerous derivations of the Jtmmo narratiye. 
The Idzamo Fodoki is also fall of infantile etymologies, which have usually 
a soap of legend attached to them. 

t Blade-holder. 



Il8 THE BfYTHICAL NARRATIVB, 

At this time the Gods belched up a pcnsonous vapour, 
which paralyzed the energies of Jimmu's troops. 

" Thentherewas there a man bynameKumano noTakakuraji^ 
who had a dreatn^ in which Ama-terasu no Ohokami spoke 
to Take-mika-tsuchi no Kami^ saying : * / stiU hear a sound 
of disturbance from the Centred Land of Reed-Plains. Do 
thou again go and chastise it^ Take-mika-tsuchi no Kami 
answered and said: 'Even if I go not^ I can send down my 
sword^ with which I subdued the land, upon which the 
country will of its own accord become pecuxful! To this 
Ama-terasu no Kami assented. Thereupon Take-mika-tsucki 
no Kami addressed Takakuraji, saying: ^ My sword, which 
is called Futsu no Mitama, I will now place in thy store^ 
house. Do thou take it and present it to the Heavenly Grand- 
child^ Takakuraji said: * Yes* and thereupon awoke. The 
next morning, as instructed in his dream, he opened the store- 
house, and on looking in there was indeed there a sword 
which had fallen down {from Heaven), and was stcmding 
point upwards on the plank floor of the storehouse. So he 
took it and offered it to the Emperor. Then Ama-terctsu no 

{ Oho-kami instructed the Emperor in a dream of the night, 
\ \ saying : * / will now send thee the Yata-garasu^ make it thy 

I guide through the land! Upon which the Yata-garasu came 

I flying down from the Void, and served as a guide to the 

I army.** 

The progress of the Imperial troops being again ob- 
structed by the enemy, the Emperor prayed and then fdl 
asleep. The Heavenly Deity appeared to him in a dream, 
and instructed him to take earth from within the shrine 
of the Heavenly Mount Kagu, and of it to make eighty 
heavenly platters. Moreover, he was to make sacred jars, 
and therewith sacrifice to the Gods of Heaven and Eardi, 
r 

^' \ ♦ Yata-garasu means eight-hand-crow. The guidance of conquerors or 
j colonists to their destination by a supernatural bird or beast is a £Euniliar feature 
^spf old-world stocy. 






J* 



THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. IIQ 

pronouncing at the same time a solemn imprecation. This 
had the desired effect of dispersing the enemy. The 
Emperor proceeded to utter a vow, saying : " I will now 
make anu^ in the eighty platters, using no water. If the 
atne forms, then shall I assuredly, without effort and 
without recourse to arms, reduce the Empire to peace." 
The anu became formed of itself. 
Again he made a vow, saying : — 

^ * I will now take the sacred Jars and sink them in the 
River Ntfu. If the fishes^ great or small^ become every one 
drunken and are carried down the stream Uke floating leaves^ 
then shall I assuredly succeed in establishing the land! So 
he sank the Jars in the river^ with their mouths turned down- 
ward^ and after a while the fish all came to the surface^ 
gaping and gasping as th^ floated down the stream^ 

The Emperor then commanded Michi no Omi, saying : 

" * We are now in person^ about to celebrate a festival to 
Taka-mi-mtisubi. I appoint thee Ruler of the festival^ and 
grant thee the title of Idzu-himeX The earthen Jars which 
are set up shall be called the Idzube^ or sacred Jars ; the fire 
shall be called Idzu no Kagu-tsuchi^ or sacredfire-father ; 
the water shcUl be called Idzu no Midzu-ha no me^ or sacred' 
water-female; the food shall be called Idzu-uka no me^ 
or sacredfoodfemale; the firewood shaU be called Idzu 
no Yama-tsuchi^ or sacred - mountain -father ; and the 
grass shall be called Idzu no No-tsuchiy or sacred-moor' 
father: 

^In Winter^ the loth months on the ist day,% the Emperor 

* Ame is the name of a sweet sabstance made from millet, of the same 
nature as our malt extract. 

f The Mikado deputed most of his priestly functions to the Nakatomi. 

X IdMU'hime means dread or sacred princess. Michi no Omi (minister of 
the way) seems therefore to have been given a feminine tiUe for the occasion, 
DO doubt because the oflice was usually held by women. 

f It was at this season of the year that the harvest festival, or rather the 
of tasting the new rice, was celebrated. See \iiditx-~Nihiname* 



120 THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE. 

tasted the feod of the Idambe^ and arraying his troops set 
forth upon his nutrch^ 

Among those who made submission to Jimmu was Nigi- 
haya-hi, of whom it is told that he was a child of the 
Heavenly Deity, who had come down from Heaven riding 
in the " Rock-boat of Heaven/' and married the sister of 
a local chieftain named Naga-sune-hiko^ (Prince Long- 
shanks). His name and that of his son a{^)ear very fre- 
quently in the ShSjiroku genealogies. 

Jimmu took to wife a daughter of the God Koto-shiro- 
nusht, or, according to the Kojiki^ Oho-mono-nushi, by a 
mortal woman, and having establi^ed his capital at Kashi- 
habara, in Yamato, B.C 660,* reigned there until his death, 
B.C. 585, at the age of 127. 

* Japanese history is said to begin from this date. In reality nothing 
deso^fing the name existed for nearly one thousand years more. 



^^ 



\ ' 



121 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE PANTHEON — NATtJRE DEITIES. 

I. GODS OP INDIVIDUALS AND GODS OF CLASSES. 

The neglect of indications of number in the Japanese 
language often renders it impossible to say whether a God 
belongs to an individual natural object or phenomenon or 
to a class. I therefore take these two classes of deities 
together, noting the distinction wherever it is possible or 
desirable. 

Sb6 Snn-Ooddaw. — The most eminent of the Shinto 
deities is the Sun-Goddess. Nor is this surprising. If, as 
Scotus Erigena has well said, " every visible and invisible 
creature is a theophany or appearance of God/' what more 
striking aspect of Him can there be to the uncultured mind 
than the Sun ? In a later stage of intellectual development 
men find a fuller revelation of Him in the moral order of 
the world, in the laws of human pr<^ess, and in the 
spiritual experiences of saints and sages, culminating in 
a synthesis of all the divine aspects of the universe in one 
harmonious whole. But, naturally enough, there is little 
of this in Shinto. The ancient Japanese recognized the ' 
divinity of the universe in a very imperfect, piecemeal 1 
fashion, and almost exclusively in those physical aspects j 
by which they were more directly affected. Among these / 
the light and warmth of the Sun and the sources of their 
daily food held the chief place. Sun-worship is specially 
natural to the Japanese as an agricultural people. Almost 
all the peasant's doings are in some way dependent on, or 
regulated by, the Sun. 

The application of the term '* fetish " to the Sun con- 
sidered as an object of adoration is to be deprecated. It 



122 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

implies a sterna which is altogether out of place. Socrates 
prayed to the Sun; iGschylus's Prometheus appeals to 
him against the tyranny of 2^us ; in Sophocles's ' QEdipus 
Tyrannus ' the Chorus swears by '' the Sun, chief of all the 
Gods " ; Plato sajrs that '' the soul of the Sun should be 
deemed a God l^ every one who has the least particle of 
sense"; Goethe admitted his claims to wordiip; Don 
Quixote swears by God and by the Sun in the same 
breath, and Tristram Shandy ^ by the great God of Day." 
Milton, in the character of Satan, it is true, addresses the 
Sun in terms of awe and wonder, and Swinburne calls him 
^ the living and visible God" The name of the first day 
of the week still remains to show what an important place 
he held in the religion of our forefathers. The association 
of the ideas of light, splendour, and brightness with divinity 
has its origin in a primaeval sun-worship. William the 
Conqueror swore "by the splendour of God." Divine 
contains the root divy brightness. Milton calls light "of 
the eternal co-eternal beam." No doubt so long as a 
nation is hesitating between sun-worship and a hi^er 
form of religion there is a reason for treating the former 
with contempt and aversion. No form of faith is so odious 
— because of the danger of rdapse — as that from v^ch 
we have emerged with painful eflfort to something higher. 
But such intolerance is no longer needed. It is now 
unnecessary to punish with death the worship of the sun, 
moon, and stars,* or even to stigmatize it as fetish- 
worship. 

The meaning of the word fetish has become so blurred 
by indiscriminate use that there is a temptation to discard 
it altogether. It is frequently applied to all concrete 
objects of devotion, including not only great nature-gods, 
like the earth and sun, but their symbols, images, and seats 
of their real presence, which have no intrinsic divinity of 
their own, and are only worshipped by reason of their 

* Deuteronomy iv. 19 ; xvii. 3. 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 12$ 

association with genuine deities. The same objects, after 
their association with the God has been forgotten and they 
are blindly adored as if they were themselves Gods, form 
a third class of fetishes. The sword of the shrine of Atsuta 
is an example. Probably originally an offering and then 
a shintaiy it is still worshipped, for no known reason except, . 
perhaps, an empiric belief in the efficacy of prayers ad-/ 
dress^ to it Implements of trade, honoured for the help(/ 
which they render to man, are a fourth class. To these we 
may add a fifth, consisting of stones, sticks, feathers, &c., 
worshipped for their imaginary virtues or for no definite 
reason at all. 

The indiscriminate application of the term fetish to 
objects of all these five classes is highly inconvenient, 
especially when we come to discuss the question whether 
fetishism is a primitive form of religion. The answer 
depends entirely on the kind of fetish which is intended. 
If the word is used at all, it would be better to confine it 
to the last three of these classes. ^ ^ 

The Sun-Goddess is described as the Ruler of Heaven L J 
and as " unrivalled in dignity." She wears royal insignia, I 
is surrounded by ministers, of whom the Court of the I 
Mikado is the obvious prototype, and is spoken of in[ 
terms appropriate to personages of sovereign rank. She 
is selected as the ancestor from whom the Mikados derive 
their descent and authority. Yet she is hardly what we 
understand by a Supreme Being. Her power does not 
extend to the sea or to the Land of YomL Her charge 
as Ruler even of Heaven was conferred on her by her 
parents, and did not by any means involve absolute control.j 
When grossly insulted by her younger brother, instead of 
inflicting on him condign punishment, she hid in a cave, 
from which she was partiy enticed, partiy dragged, by the 
other deities. This is not the behaviour of a Supreme \ 
Being. The punishment of the culprit and other important 
celestial matters are determined, not by ^e fiat of the 




124 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

so-called Ruler of Heaven, but by a Council of the Gods. 
The celestial constitution, like its earthly counterpart, was 
for from being an absolute monarchy. The epithet sum^ra^ 
translated ** sovran,** and derived from a verb sumeru^ which 
means " to hold general rule,** is applied not only to the 
Sun-Goddess but to many other deities — ^the Wind-Gods, 
for example — and also to the Mikados. The same is the 
case with MikotOy which corresponds roughly to our 
" majesty." Of course Japan is not the only country which 
attributes royalty to the Sun. Milton speaks of the Sun's 
•* sovran vital lamp." 

In some parts of the Shinto mythical narrative it is the 
actual Sun that the author has in view, as when he speaks 
of her radiance illuminating the universe, or of the world 
being left to darkness when she entered the Rock-cave. 
Elsewhere she is an anthropomorphic being, widi no 
specially solar characteristics. She wears armour, cde- 
brates the feast of first-fruits, cultivates rice, &c Inconsis- 
-tencies of this kind are inherent in all nature myths, and 
trouble their authors not a whit Some of the modem 
theolc^ians, however, are much perplexed by them. Motoori 
concludes that ''this great deity actually is the Sun in 
Heaven, which even now illuminates the world before our 
eyes, a fft£t which is extremely clear from the divine 
writings." His pupil Hirata, on the other hand, holds that 
the Sun-Goddess is not the Ruler of Heaven but the Ruler 
of the Sun, a distinction which never occurred to the myth- 
makers. Another modem writer attempts to smooth over 
difficulties by the explanation that the Sun-Goddess is 
actually a female goddess, but, owing to the radiance which 
flows from her, seen from a distance she appears round. 

The transparent character of the names by which the 
Sun-Goddess is known is a formidable obstacle to the 
tendency to n^ect her solar quality and to give promi- 
nence to the anthropomorphic side of her character. Her 
most usual appellation is Ama terasu no Oho-kami, or the 



THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 12$ 

Hcaven-shining-great-deity. She is also called Ama-terasu 
hiru-me, or Heaven - shining sun -female — more briefly 
Hiru-me, Ama terasu mi oya, or Heaven-shining august 
parent, and other variants. Of these names European 
writers have generally adopted Ama-terasu, which, like 
Phoibos, is ih reality a mere epithet, and is applied to 
other deities. Hirume, or sun-female, is more expressive, 
and probably older. 

In modem times the appellation Ama-terasu no Oho- 
kami is little used, its Chinese equivalent Tenshddaijtn 
being substituted. Partly under cover of a name which is 
less clearly intelligible to the multitude, the tendency has 
become accentuated to throw her solar functions into the 
background and to conceive of her simply as a general 
Providence, at the expense of other deities. In other 
words, she has made a distinct advance towards the posi- 
tion of a supreme monotheistic deity. 

Even in ancient times there was some recognition of the 
Sun-Goddess as a Providence that watches over human 
affairs, more especially the welfare of the Mikado and his 
Government She provided Jimmu with the yatagarasu^ 
or Sun-crow, as a guide to his army. The following prayer, 
addressed to her in 870 by envoys despatched to Ise with 
offerings, illustrates this conception of her character : — 

** By order of the Mikado we declare with deepest reverence 
in the spacious presenu of {with awe be her name pronounced) 
the Sovran Great Heaven-shining Deity ^ whose praises are 
fulfilled in the Great Shrine^ whose pillars are broad-based 
on the nethermost rocks ^ and whose cross-beams rise aloft to 
the Plain of High Heaven on the bank of the River Isuzu in 
Ujiy of Watarahi in Ise^ as follows : — 

" Sinu the past sixth month reports have been received 
front theDazaifu^ that two pirate-ships ofShiraki\ appeared 



126 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

at AnUsu^ in ttu district of Naka^ in the province of Chi- 
ktisen, and carried off as plunder the silh of a tribute-ship of 
the province of Busen. Moreover^ that there having been cm 
omen of a crane which alighted on the arsenal of the Govern- 
ment House^ the diviners declared that it presaged war with 
a neighbouring country. Also that there had been ^irth- 
quakes with storms and floods in the province of Hizen by 
which all the houses had been overturned and many of the 
inhabitants sw^t away. Even the old men affirmed that no 
such great ccdamity had ever been heard of before. 

^ Meanwhile news was received from the provirue of 
Michinoku of an unusually discutrous earthquake^ and from 
other provinces grave ccdamities were reported. 

** The mutual enmity between those men ofShiraki and 
our Land of Yaniato has existed for long ages. Their 
present invasion of our territory^ however ^ and their plunder 
of tribute^ show that they have no fear of us. When we 
reflect on this^ it sums possible that a germ of war may 
spring from it. Our government has for a long time had no 
warlike expeditions^ the provision for defence has been wholly 
forgotten^ and we cannot but look forward to war with dread 
and caution. But our fapan is known as the country of the 
Gods. If the Gods deign to help and protect ity what foe will 
dare to c^froach it ? Much more so^ seeing that the Great 
Deity in her capacity {with awe be it spoken^ as ancestress of 
the Mikado bestows light and protection on the Under- 
Heaven which he governs, How^ thertfore^ shall she not 
deign to restrain and ward off outrages by strangers froni 
foreign lands as soon as she becomes aware of them ? 

" Under these circumstances^ we {the names of the etwoys 
follow) present these great offerings by the hands of Komaye, 
Imbe no Sukune, Vice-Minister of the Bureau of IfKbCy tuho, 
hanging stout straps on weak shoulders, has purely prepared 
and brought them hither. Be pleased graciously to hearken 
to this mefnoricd. But if unfortunately such hostile acts as 
we have spoken of should be committed let the {with awe be 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES, 12/ 

it spoken) Great Deity ^ placing herself at the head of all the 
euities of the landy stay and ward off^ sweep away and expel 
the enemy before his first arrow is shot Should his designs 
ripen so far that his ships must come hither^ let them not 
enter within our borders^ but send them back to drift and 
founder. Suffer not the solid reckons for our country being 
feared as the Divine Country to be sodden and destroyed If 
apart from these y there should be danger of rebellion or riot 
by savages y or of disturbance by brigands at home^ or again 
of droughty flood or storm^ of pestilence or famine such as 
would cause great disaster to the State or deep sorrow to the 
peopUy deign to sweep away and destrcy it utterly before it 
takes form. Be pleased to let the Under-Heaven be free from 
alarms and all the country enjoy peace by thy help and pro- 
tection. Grant thy gracious favour to the Sovran Grand- 
childy guarding his august person by day and by nighty firm 
and enduring as Heaven and Earthy as the Sun and the 

Moon. 

" Declared with deep reverenced 

The solar character of Ama-terasu or Tenshddaijin having 
become obscured, the people have personified the Sun 
afresh under the names of Nichi-rin sama (sun-wheel- 
personage) and O tentd sama (august-heaven-path-person- 
age). To the lower class of Japanese at the present day, 
and especially to women and children, O tento sfama is the 
actual sun — sexless, mythless^nd unencumbered by any 
formal cult, but looked up to as a moral being who rewards 
the good, punishes the wicked, and enforces oaths made in 
his name. In his ' Religions of Japan,' Dr. Griflis says : 
** To the common people the Sun is actually a God, as 
none can doubt who sees them worshipping it morning 
and evening. The writer can never forget one of many 
similar scenes in Tokio, when, late one afternoon, O tentd 
sama, which had been hidden behind clouds for a fortnights 
shone out on the muddy streets, In a moment, as with 



128 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

the promptaess of a military drill, scores of people rushed 
out of their houses, and with faces westward, Icneding, 
squatting, began prayer and worship before the great 
luminary." 

I rq>roduce a drawing by a Japanese artist of a famous 
spot on the coast of Ise to which pilgrims resort in order 
to worship the sun as he rises over distant Fujiyama. The 
tori'Wi, which in some prints of this scene is seen in the 
foreground, fulfils the same function as the great trilithon 
at Stonehenge, viz., to mark the direction of worship. I 
have seni the eastern wall of a private courtyard which 
was pierced with a round hole for the convenience of 
worshipping the morning sun. 

There is a modem custom, called hitnacki (sun-waiting), 
of keeping awake the , whole night of the 5th day of tfa« 
loth month in order to worship the sun on his rising. The 
rules of religious purity must be observed from the previous 
day. Many persons assemble at Takanaha, Uheno, Atago, 
and other open places in Tokio to worship the rising Sun 
on the first day of the year. This is called hatsu no ki no 
de (the first sunrise). 

The myths mention several other deities which, although 
not identical with Ama-terasu or Hirume, are plainly of 
solar origin. Such is Waka-hirume (young-sun-female), 
who, according to Motoori, is the Morning Sun. The Ise 
shrine is sometimes called Asa-hi no Jinja, that is to say, 
the shrine of the Morning Sun. One version of the names 
of the three children of Ninigi calls them Ho no akari (fire 
or sun-light), Ho no susori (fire or sun-advance), and Ho 
no wori (fire or sun-subside), originally, it may be sus- 
pected, names for the rising, noonday, and setting sun. 
Such a distinction is recognized in Egyptian mythology. 
The mythical founder of the dynasty which preceded 
' Jimmu in Yamato was called Nigi-haya-hi — that is, gentle- 
swift-sun — and he is said to have come flying down from 
Heaven, One myth gives him the epithet Ama-teru Jkuni" 



r 
THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 1 29 

teru (Heaven-shining, earth^shining). I am xlisposed to 
veg^A this personage as the Sun-deity of the earlier 
Yamato Japanese, from whom their chieftains were feigned 
to be descended. Even in Skojiroku times many noble 
families traced their descent from him, as the Mikados did 
from Hirume. There are a good many other names 
suggestive of solar deities. But here caution is necessary, 
in view of the habit, common to the Japanese with other 
nations, of borrowing solar epithets for the adornment of 
human beings. There is a Take-hi (brave-sun) in the 
Nikongi who is unquestionably a mere mortal. And what 
could be more solar than Takama no hara hiro nu hime j 
(high -heaven -plain -broad -moor -princess), the last word -^"* 

meaning etymologically " sun-female " ? Yet this is indu- 1 
bitably the name of an historical Empress who came to 
the throve A.D. 687. The Mikado Kotoku's Japanese 
name was Ame-yorodzu-toyo-hi (heaven-myriad-abundant- 
sun). 

Although Shinto contains no formal system of ethics, 
moral elements are not wanting in the character of the 
Sun-Goddess as delineated in the ancient myths. She 
exhibits the virtues of courage and forbearance in her 
dealings with her mischievous younger brother Susa no wa 
She is wroth with the Moon-God when he slays the Goddess 
of Food, and banishes him from her presence. Her loving 
care for mankind is shown by her preserving for their use 
the seeds of grain and other useful vegetables, and by 
setting them the example of cultivating rice. There is a 
recognition of her beneficent character in the joy of Gods 
and men when she emerged from the Rock-cave. 

The circumstance that, according to one story, the Sun- "*^ 
Goddess was produced from the left and the Moon-God I 
from the right eye of Izanagi is suggestive of the influence I 
of China, where the left takes precedence of the right i 
Compare the Chinese myth of Fanku : " P'anku came into 
being in the great waste ; his beginning is unknown. In 

r 



l^ 



at 




132 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

dying he gave birth to the material universe. His breath 
was transmuted into the wind and clouds, his voice into 
thunder, his left eye into the sun, and his right eye into the 
moon." Hirata endeavours to combat the obvious inference 
from this comparison by pointing out that the sun is mas- 
culine in China and feminine in Japan. How little weight 
is due to this objection appears from the fact that two so 
nearly allied nations as the English and the Germans differ 
in the sex which they attribute to the sun, as do also 
closely related tribes of Australian aborigines and Ainus 
of Yezo. And does not Shakespeare make the sun both 
masculine and feminine in the same sentence, when he says, 
" The blessed sun himself a fair hot wench in flame-coloiired 
taffeta " ? There is, moreover, unsuspected by Hirata and 
his fellow-theologians, an unmistakeable vestige in the old 
myths of an obsolete or abortive masculine Sun-deity^ We 
are told that the first child of Izanagi and Izanami was 
Hiruko. Hiru-ko is written with Chinese characters, which 
mean ** leech-child " ; and it is stated that when this God 
had completed his third year he was still unable to stand 
upright He was therefore placed in a reed-boat and sent 
adrift. But the original author of the Hiru-ko was never 
g^uilty of such a palpable absurdity as to make a leech the 
first-bom of creation, preceding even the Sun and the 
Moon. Hiruko is in reality simply a masculine form (rf* 
Hirume, the Sun-female, just as kiAo^ prince, is of Aime, 
princess ; musuko, boy, of m$^sume, girl ; and otoko, youth, 
of otoffUj maiden. Egypt had a Sun-God Ra and a Sun- 
Goddess R&t 

No doubt with the greater development of the Sun- 
Goddess myth it was felt that there was no room for a 
male Sun-God. The ts^ of story ivhich is appended to the 
leech derivation is one of those perversions of true myth 
which arise from an ignorant misunderstanding or a wilful 
misapplication of language. 

The leech-child can hardly be reckoned among the 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 133 

effective deities of Shinto, Iri modem times, however, he 
has, for some inscrutable reason, been identified wiA a 
widely worshipped deity of unknown origin called Ebisu. 
This God has to all appearance nothing in common either 
with the sun or the leech. He is a favourite subject of the 
artist, and is usually depicted with a smiling countenance 
{enU or ebi means to smile), in ancient Japanese costume, 
and holding a fishing-tod while a tahi struggles at the end 
of his line. He is reckoned one of the seven Gods of good 
fortune, and is a favourite deity to pray to for success in 
trade. Merchants hold a great feast in his honour on the 
20th day of the loth month. 

The ascription of the female sex to the most prominent 
among the Shinto Gods is not owing merely to caprice. 
Myth-makers have often more substantial reasons for their 
fancies than might be supposed. In the present case there 
is evidence that women played a very important part in 
the real worid of ancient Japan a^ well as in that of imagi- 
nation. Women rulers were at this time a familiar pheno- 
menon. Both Japanese and Chinese history give us 
glimpses of a female Mikado who lived about A.D. 200 
and whose commanding ability and strong character have' 
not been wholly obscured ^y the mists of legend. Women 
chieftains are frequently mentioned. Indeed the Chinese 
seem to have thought that feminine government was the 
rule in Japan, for their historians frequently refer to it as 
the " Queen-country." In more historical times several of 
the Mikados were women. In some families descent was 
traced by the female line. From the Kojiki we learn that 
in Suinin's time it was the custom for the mother to give 
children their names. 

One might think that so obviously solar a Goddess as 
the Heaven-shining-great-deity, or Sun-female, whose abode 
is the " Plain of High Heaven/' who fills the universe with 
her radiance and leaves it to darkness when she conceals 
herself, and who is even spoken of in so many words as 



134 THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

the ''Deity of the Sun," would have escaped the teme- 
rarious touch of the Euhemerist Yet I have before me 
a * History of the Empire of Japan/ compiled by doctors 
of the Imperial University, and published in 1893 by order 
of the Japanese Government, which speaks of the principles 
of rice-culture and the arts of weaving, mining, and of 
making swords, hats, and pantaloons being known in the 
reign of Ama-terasu. Other writers are even more precise. 
Much to Motoori's indignation, they say bluntly that she 
was a mortal empress who reigned in a locality on earth 
called Takama no hara (the Plain of High Heaven). 

TfttakagamL — The shintai of the Sun-Goddess is a 
mirror,* sometimes called the yatakagami^ or eight-hand- 
mirror, probably because it had a number of leaves or pro- 
jections round it. It is also called the hi-kagami (sun- 
mirror) or hi-gata no kaganti (sun-form-mirror). It appears 
from the Nihongi that similar mirrors were honoured in 
Korea. Ama no hihoko is stated to have brought a sun- 
mirror from that country in B.C. 27. 

The mythical notices of the yatakagami represent it in 
various aspects. It is mentioned in the Kojiki among ttm 
offerings made to the Sun-Goddess to propitiate her after 
her retirement to the Rock-cave of Heaven. In the same 
passage Uzume calls it " a deity more illustrious than thine 
(the Sun-Goddess's) augustness," When the Sun-Goddess 
and Musubi sent down Ninigi to rule the earth they gave 
him the yatakagami^ saying : '' Regard this mirror exactly 
as our mitamay and reverence it as if reverencing us." The 
Nihongi adds : " Let it be with thee on thy couch and in 
thy hall, and let it be to thee a holy mirror." The yata- 
kagami is frequently spoken of as if it were the Sun- 
Goddess herself, and is even called " the Great God of Ise." 
Another sun-mirror received an independent worship at 
Kumano. The Nihongi says, under the date B.C. 92 : — 

^^ Before this the two Gods Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and 

* See above, p. 70 ; also Index-—' Mirror.' 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 1 35 

Yatnato no Oho-kum-dama were worshipped together within 
the Emperof^s Great HalL He dreaded, however y the power 
of these GodSy and did not feel secure in their dwelling 
together. Therefore he entrusted Ama-terasu no Oho-kami 
to Toyo-suki-iri-bime no Mikoto to be worshipped at the 
village of Kasanuhiy in Yamato^ 

Here we must understand that it was the sun-mirror '^ 
which was sent away from the palace. It was subse- 
quently (b.c S) enshrined at Ise, where it is to this day 
preserved with the greatest care and reverence.* It is 
about eight inches in diameter. 

In ancient Peru, the Sun-God was represented by a 
golden disc, the Moon-Goddess by one of silver. 

We find, however, Aat in A.D. 507 a sacred mirror was 
still preserved in the Imperial palace as one of the regalia. 
It was destroyed by fire in the eleventh century, but its 
successor is to this day transmitted from sovereign to 
sovereign as a token of royal authority. The religious 
ceremony in its honour is described below.f Associated 
with the mirror as regalia were a sword and a jewel. 
These three objects are presented to the Mikado on his 
accession with great ceremony. In ancient times there 
were probably only two r^alia, the mirror and the sword. 
The latter was lost in the sea at the battle of Dannoura. 
But such losses are not irreparable. 

The Sun -Goddess in her capacity as sovereign is 
attended by a Court of minor deities who belong to the 
class of man-deities, and will be dealt with in the next 
chapter. ^ 

* *' The miiTor is kept in a box of chamaecypons wood, which rests on a 
low stand covered with a piece of white silk. It is wrapped in a bag of 
brocade, which is never opened or renewed, but when it begins to &11 to pieces 
from age another bag is pat on, so that the actual covering consists of many 
layers. Over the whole is placed a sort of wooden cage, with ornaments said 
to be of pore gold, over which again is thrown a doth of coarse silk fidling to 
the floor on all sides." — Murray's ' Japan,' fifth edition, p. 308. 

f See Index — Naishidokoro, 



136 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

TaUganunL — Like the Gredc Phoibos, who had his 
idpK09* the Egyptian Ra, who was accompanied by a hawk, 
and the Peruvian Sun-God, who was attended by a condor, 
the Sun-Goddess is provided with a bird as her messenger 
and attendant This bird is called in Japanese .^^^to-^omuv, 
which means "eight-hand-crow." It is not, however, a 
Japanese invention, but is borrowed from China, ^iidiere it 
is called the Sun-crow or Golden Crow, and described as 
a bird with three claws and of a red colour which roosts 
in the sun. It is mentioned in a Chinese poem written 
B.c 314. Possibly it may be traced even further back. A 
three-legged bird was figured on coins of Pamphylia and 
Lycia in very ancient times. In Japan the yatagartuui ^ 
a symbol of the Sun, was depicted on the banners set up in 
front of the Imperial Palace on State occasions as a mark 
of sovereignty. This custom is known to go back to 
A.D. 700, and is probably much older. 

The Euhemerists have tried their hand on ^<t yatagarasu. 
Mr. Takahashi Gor5 informs us in his dictionary that this 
was the name of one of Jimmu Teqnd's generals, and 
Klaproth thinks it probable that the " corbeau k huit pattes 
designe la boussole dont Zimmu s'est servi pour se guider 
dans son expedition." A Japanese noble family claimed 
descent from it, and a shrine in its honour is mentioned in 
the YengishikL\ 

There is a God called Ame no hi-washi (heaven-sun- 
eagle), which, although not to be identified with the yata- 
garasu^ is no doubt a product of the same tendency to 
associate birds with the Gods. Both are inhabitants of the 
same celestial r^ion. 

Snsa no wo. — ^The history of Susa no wo^ illustrates the 
tendency of Natiu'e-Gods to have their original character 
obscured by the anthropomorphic fancies of successive 

* A kind of hawk. * Odyney,* xv. 525. 

t Ftdk ' The Hin«maru'\xi the T, A. S./.^ vol. xxiL p. 37. 

X See above, p. 65. 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 137 

myth-makers. The Kojiki and Nihongi accounts of him 
are extremely vague and contradictory. Later Japanese 
writers have 'identified him with the Moon-God, with an 
Indian Hades deity named Godzu Tennd, and with Emma, 
the Rhadamanthus of the Buddhist Hell. He has also 
been made a God of Pestilence, of Love and Wedlock, or 
of War. European scholars have described him as a 
" rotating-heavens God " or as " evidently a human being." 
Dr. Buckley, of Chicago, was the first to suggest* that he 
is the Rain-storm. We need not adopt every detail of this 
scholar's explanations, and indeed no one theory can solve 
all the problems presented by the mutually inconsistent 
stories related of this deity, but there can be no hesitation 
in accepting Dr. Buckley's view as substantially correct. 
It is as the Rain-storm that he is "continually weeping, 
wailing, and fuming with rage"; that he "weeps the 
mountains bare and the seas and rivers dry"; that he is 
a lover of destruction ;t that " by reason of the fierceness 
of his divine nature he causes a commotion in the sea and 
makes the hills and mountains groan aloud" when he 
ascends through cloud and mist to visit his elder sister the 
Sun-Goddess. Torrent Goddesses are bom firom the fra^^ 
ments of his sword. He breaks down the divisions between 
the rice-fields and defiles his sister's dwelling, disgusting 
her so that she hides in a cave and leaves the world to ' 
darkness. He is further represented as going down to 
earth at the season of continuous rains, and as wearing 
a broad hat and a rain-coat When he marries, the nuptial 
hut to which he retires with his wife is built of thick clouds. ^ 
The sword which he takes from the serpent's tail is called 
ama no mura-kumo, that is to say, " the gathering clouds of 
Heaven." Another appropriate name for the weapon of 
a rain-storm deity is kusa-nagiy "the herb-queller." His 

* * In the Shinto Pantheon,' in the New Worlds December, 1896. 
t Japui is annnally visited by destructive typhoons, accompanied by great 
darkness and a terrific downpour of rain. 



I3S THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

wife's name, Inada-hime (the rice-field lady), is probably 
not without significance. 

But mythology is rarely con^tent An explanation 
which suits one episode of a story may fail altc^ther when 
applied to others. There is nothing of the rain-storm about 
the Susa no wo who rescues a Japanese Andromeda from 
the great serpent which comes to devour her, or in the 
provider of timber and fruit-trees for mankind, or in the 
names and attributes of his very numerous children. His 
visit to Korea can hardly have a rain-storm significance. 
Moreover, it is impossible to pass over the explicit state- 
ment of the Nihongi that he was appointed to rule the 
land of Yomi. A Kojikt myth* gives an account of his 
abode here in which no trace of his rain-storm quality is 
perceptible. 

Dr. Florenz summarily rejects Hirata's theory that Susa 
no wo is identical with the Moon-God Tsuki-yomL It must 
be admitted that if this deity ever had a lunar quality it had 
become forgotten in the times of the Kojikt and NikongL 
Both these works distinguish him unmistakably from the 
Moon-God. Nor is the European student likely to adopt 
the literal-minded Hirata's notion that the land of Yomi 
at first situated at the bottom of the Earth, became detached 
after Susa no wo was made its ruler, and was placed in the 
sky where we now see it — as the moon. Yet there is 
something to be said for his contention that the two ddties 
were originally identical The analogy of other mytho- 
logiesf suggests that a God whose relations with the Sun 
are at one time marital and at another hostile must be the 
Moon. There is nothing strange in the darkness of night 
and of the grave being presided over by the same divinity. 
Persephone, Queen of Hades, was a Moon-Goddess. The 
original identity of Susa no wo and Tsukiyomi would 
account for both deities being severally described in dif- 

• See above, p. 106. 
t Egyptian is one. 



THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 1 39 

ferent mydis as the slayer of the Food-Goddess and as the 
Ruler of the Sea-plain. It would also explain why the 
diviners at Ise ascribed to a curse from Tsukiyomi a storm 
of wind and rain which in 772 uprooted trees and destroyed 
houses. In an old book quoted by Hirata, Susa no wo is 
called Haya-Sasura no Kami, ''swift-banishment-deity.'' 
His daughter while in Yomi is called Suseri-hime, probably 
identical with the Sasura-hime of the noritcl^ who dwells in 
the Root-country, and whose business it is to ''banish" 
and get rid of the pollutions of the people. A Manydshiu 
poem calls the moon Sasurahe-otoko, that is to say, the 
banished or vagabond youth. All this establishes a 
presumption that Susa no wo was at one time a lunar 
deity. If so he would appear in three closely related 
aspects, the darkness of the storm, of the grave, and of 
night Brinton, writing without any special reference to 
Japan, observesf : — " Associated with the gloom of night 
was the darkness of the s^orm, which in many mytholc^ies 
is contrasted with the sunshine in some divine stru^le. 
Endless are the tales and rites which bear upon this contest 
in early religions." 

If we remember the attributes of our own " Prince of 
Darkness," we shall not be surprised to find traces of a 
tendency to make of Susa no wo a personification of the 
evil principle. He is the arch offender of Japanese myth* 
The crimes committed by him against the Sun-Goddess 
agree closely with the so-called " celestial offences " of the 
Great Purification Ceremonv. Hence his identification with 
the homed Godzu Tennd, a minister of the Buddhist hell. 
The Shinto Miomoku^ which makes of him a Trinity under 
the name' Sampd Kw6jin (three-treasure-rough-god), con- 
sisting of Kami Susa no wo, Haya Susa no wo, and 
plain Susa no wo, by the epithet " rough," recognizes the 
sinister aspect of his character. We may note the same 

* See Index — * Sasura-hime.' 

t * Religions of PrimitiTe Peoples,' p. 80. 



I40 THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

element etra^ roug^, in the name of the Moon-god's shrine at 
Ise, namely, Aratama no Miya. 

Several of Susa no wo's acts have an unmistakably 
beneficent character, as his rescue of Inada hime, and his 
provision of useful trees for man. The modem worship of 
him as (with his wife) a deity of love and wedlock also 
recognizes a beneficent aspect of his nature. Hirata 
explains this contradiction by the theory that he is 
beneficent when his nigi-tama (gentle spirit) is in the 
ascendant, and malignant when his ara-tama (rough-spirit) 
gets the upper hand, as in the leading case of Jekyll and 
Hyde, reported by R. L. Stevenson. The female deity 
of Yomv Sasura-hime, is called by Hirata a waki-^dama 
(side spirit, or double) of Susa no wo, forming with him a 
dual divinity, as in the case of the Wind-Gods. 

Etymology helps us little in determining Susa no wo's 
character. The ordinary derivation connects his name with 
the verb susamu, to be impetuous. Hence the " Impetuous 
Male " of English translators. It agrees well with the rain- 
storm conception of this deity. There is at the present day 
a festival celebrated in his honour at Onomachi in Bingo^ 
described as follows by a Japanese writer : " The procession 
is a tumultuous trial of speed and strength. Bands of 
strong men seize the sacred cars, race with them to the 
sea, and having plunged in breast-deep, their burden held 
aloft, dash back at full speed to the shrine. There 
refreshments are served out, and then the race is resumed, 
the ^oaL being the central flag among a number set up in a 
large plain. Their feet beat time to a wildly shouted 
chorus, and they sweep along wholly regardless of obstacles 
or collisions." The ceremony here described is no doubt 
intended as a dramatic representation of the impetuous 
character of the God. The susamu etymology derives some 
support from a comparison of that of Woden, from vatka (the 
modern German wuthen\ to go violently, to rush, and of 
Hermes, from 6p/i<ia>; but it is after all questionable. It 



THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. I4I 

implfes a noun susa^ impetuosity, which does not exist 
Moreover, one of Susa no wo's wife's names was Susa noyatsu 
mimi, where it is not disputed that Susa is the name of a 
town in Idzumo. There is a l^end which represents 
Susa no wo as giving his name to this place and allowing 
his mitama to rest here. Susa no wo would therefore be 
simply the male (God) of Susa, a territorial title (of Tsuki- 
yomi?) for which there are many parallels in Japanese 
mythology.* 

The shintai of Susa no wo, or rather of his supposed 
modem representative, Godzu Tennd, is a naginata^ or 
halbert But there is some reason to think that the great 
festival of Goridye, now held in his honour at .Kioto, was* 
originally that of the Sahe no kami, and that the hoko or 
naginata carried in procession on this occasion is a 
substitute for an older phallus. 

Tfoki-yomL — This God, although worshipped in many 
places, Ise and Kadono amongst others, is hardly one of 
the greater gods of Japan. The usual derivation of his 
name is from tsuki^ moon, ^xiAyami^ darkness. It is to be 
observed, however, that this yomi is often written with a 
character which implies a derivation {tomyontUy to reckon, 
a word which contains the same root as yubi^ finger. 
'^Moon-reckoner" is not an inappropriate name for a 
luminary which is recognized in so many countries as a 
measurer of time. Tsuki-yomi was represented at Ise as a 
man riding on a horse, clad in purple and girt with a golden 
sword. Another shintai of his was a mirror. Live horses 
were offered to him annually. The Kiujiki mentions a 
Moon-God among the suite of Ninigi when he descended 
to earth, and states that he was the ancestor of the agata^ 
nuski (local chiefs) of Iki. This was probably a local 
Moon-deity. 

* I offer, for co n iide rati on only, two conjectrires : ^mX^ that Ttaki-yosii 
was the Ise Moon-God, and Susa no wo the Idzamo lunar deity ; and second, 
that 5Wm may possibly be an allotropic form of si^ura, banishi 



143 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

The phases of the Moon are not recognized in Japanese 
myth. ^ 

Tsuki-machi (moon-waiting). On the 17th or 23rd of the 
lunar month, people assemble to greet the rising moon. 
Ritual purity must be observed beforehand. This custom 
illustrates the tendency to revert to the direct worship of 
nature when the myths have become obscured by time and 
no longer fulfil their original purpose. 

Star-Ood. — ^There is only one mention of a Star-God in 
the Nikongi. He is called Amatsu mika hoshi (dread star 
of Heaven), or Ame no Kagase wo (scarecrow male of 
Heaven), and was one of the malignant deities conquered 
by Futsunushi and Mika-tsuchi in preparation for Ninigi's 
descent to earth. The scarecrow is r^^rded as a sort of 
deity. He is said to know everything in the empire, 
though he cannot walk. 

The worship of Tanabata (Vega) and of the North Star 
is also known in Japan. But these cults have been intro- 
duced from China. They are not Shinto. 

Ame no mixuka-noihL — The Sky is not deified in Japan 
as it is in China. Ame is the region where the Gods dwell, 
not itself a God. Possibly, however, we should r^^ard 
Ame no mi-naka-nushi (heaven-august-centre-master), as 
a personification of the sl^, which has already reached that 
secondaiy phase in which the God has become distinct from 
the natural phenomenoa Some have endeavoured to make 
of him a sort of Supreme Being. But his cult is recent 
Motoori says that he was not worshipped in ancient times. 
In the Shojiroku he is the ancestor of several noble 
families. 

Karth-Oods. — Comte calls Earth a great fetish. * There 
are the same objections to calling the Earth a fetish as 
there are to applying this epithet to the Sun. ^Eschylus's 
All-Mother Earth, and Swinburne's Hertha, ought not to 
be so stigmatized. The Earth is not a factitious {/eitifo, 
fetish) object of adoration, but a real divinity. It should 



tHE PANtriEOM— NAtUR]^ DEITIES. Ui 

ilot ; be discarded or neglected, but, along with other 
primary objects of worship, mei^ed in the supreme 
sjmthesis of all the glimpses of the Divine which are 
vouchsafed to us. 

Several phases of earth worship are exemplified in Shinto. 
The simplest of all is the ji-matsuri^ or ji-^hin-sai (earth- 
festival or earth-calming-festival), which is the ceremony of 
propitiating the site of a new building, or a piece of ground 
to be reclaimed for cultivation. Here it is the ground 
itself that is worshipped, without distinction of sex, or the 
adjunct of myth, metaphor, or personal name. This prac- 
tice is as old as the Yengishikiy and is not extinct at the 
present day. Many peasants make sacrifice to the ta no 
katniy or rice-field god, when preparing the ground for a 
crop, though here we perhaps pass into the next sts^, in 
which the God is something apart from the rice-field itself. 
A similar phase of thought is implied by the use of such 
terms as Iku-kuni* (living country), and Taru^kuni (perfect 
country), though here too the norito of Praying for Harvest, 
has already taken the further step of regarding this deity as 
a God who " rules " the islands of Japan. IkusAima (living 
island or r^on), is also used both for the country regarded 
as a God and for the God of the country. 

We have seen above that several of the provinces had 
two names, one geographical, the other when considered as 
a God or Goddess, like our Britain and Britannia, Scotland 
and Caledonia. 

A still further stage of prepress is illustrated by the terms 
kuni'dama (country spirit), and iJku-dama (live spirit). Kuni' 
dama is .a general term for deified localities. Iku-^ma^ 
which has the same meaning, is a contraction for iku kunu 
dama. Motoori says that any God who has done service 
by ** making " a country or province is worshipped in that 
province as the Kuni-dama or Oho-kuni-dama. The Ichi 

* " The large, deep love of living sea and land." — Swinburne, * Kynance 
Core.' 



/ 



i44 TriE PA!*THEON— NAtURE DEITIES. 

no miya (No. i shrines) of later times represent the old 
Gods of localities. 

The Kunari no kami, or Kunari-hime, were also appa- 
rently local earth-deities. Kunari is for 4i^»-«frr (earth- 
become). 

Ohonamoehi, — In the case of the great Earth-God of 
Japan^ namely, Ohonamochi, the direct worship and 
personification of the country have already retired into the 
background The myths speak of him not as the land 
itself, but as the maker of the land. His functions are 
variously described as constructing, measuring out, cons(^- 
dating, subduing, and ordering or governing. The Idsunw 
Fudoki frequently calls him the ame no shita tsukurashishi 
Oho-kamd^ that is to say, " the great God who made the 
Under-Heaven." The spear which he carries is indicative 
of warlike prowess and political sway, while the mattock 
given to him by one myth points rather to agricultural 
development He is also, along with Sukuna-bikona, the 
instructor of mankind in the arts of medicine and magic 
The usual tendency to enlarge the sphere of nature deities 
by attributing to them providential powers is illustrated by 
a poem in the Manydshiu in which he is appealed to for 
the protection of the ship of an envoy who was about to 
proceed to China. 

He could assume the form of a snake or of a human being. 

The name Ohonamochi tells us nothing. It means 
great-name-posscssor, and is simply honorific. An alter- 
native title is Oho-kuni-nushi, or great land-master, Kuni- 
nushi being perhaps an honorary epithet equivalent to 
"king." Another name of this deity, Oho-kuni-dama 
(great land spirit), is more significant It shows that he 
was regarded as one of the Kuni-dama or earth-deities 
mentioned above. His Earth-God quality is also implied 
by the alias Oho-toko-nushi, or great-place-master. 

This God belongs mainly to the Idzumo group of myth& 
He is the son of Susa no wo, also^ Idzumo God. The 



tH^ PANtttEoM— NATURE t)ElTIES. I45 

great centre of bis worship to this day, and the hoUest spot 
in Japan, next after Ise, is Kidzuki, a town in that province. 
His shrine here* is known ail over Japan as the Ttusha^ or 
Great Shrine, and was formerly of exceptional magnificence. 
There is a widespread belief that all the Gods of Japan 
resort hither in the tenth month, which is therefore called 
Kamirna'dsuki^ or the godless month. But Hirata's 
suggestion that Kami-na-dzuki is really for KanU-name- 
dsuki^ the divine tasting-month, that is, the month of the 
harvest festival, is very plausible. Kaempfer transfers this 
annual visit of the Gods from Idzumo to the Mikado's 
palace, a blundering account of a myth which itself rests 
oa a blunder. 

The story of his depositionf by Take-mika-dzuchi and 
Futsunushi is probably an echo of a real historical event, 
when the rulers of Idzumo were compelled to yield up their 
temporal power to the conquerors of Yamato, retaining 
however, their control of spiritual matters. 

Miwa, in Yamato, was another seat of this deity's worship. 
To be more exact, it was his nigi-tama^ or gentle spirit, 
which was worshipped here. He is also associated with 
the numerous shrines called Sann5 or Hiye. The Sono no 
kami (garden deity), to whom there was a shrine in the 
Palace, is also believed to be Ohomononushi, the f^gi-tama 
of Ohonamochi. Along with Sukunabikona he is wor- 
shipped at Kanda, Tokio, as showing special favour to 
the inhabitants of that city ( Yedokko no nUtama no kamty 
These two deities are supposed to grant protection against 
small-pox. 

The Ar<2^>ir/ story of Ohonamochi's adventures in YomiJ 
has no apparent connexion with his status as an Earth- 
God. Dr. Buckley argues that the Ohonamochi of this 

• GmphkiiUy dcsaibed in Ufcadio Heam't < GUmpMS of Un&iulkyr 
Japan.' 

t See above, p. 108. 
X See above, p. 106. 




U 



146 THE PANTHEOK— KATORE dEITIES. 

narrative is a Moon-God, and that his eighty brothers are 
the stars. I think it will be found to contain foreign and 
later elements, and that the introduction of Ohonamochi's 
name is merely accidental. The Nihongi passes it over in 
silence. The skintai of Ohonamochi is a necklace of jewels. 
His nigi'tama, or gentle spirit, is represented by a mirror, 
the shintai of the ara-tanta^ or rough spirit, being a spear, 

Arakft. — An obscure deity, called Asuha no kami, said 
to be the child of Oho-toshi, the Harvest-God, is referred 
to in one of the norito. Motodri fails to identify him or her. 
Hirata thinks that Asuha is for ashiba, that is, foot-place, 
and that it means the plot of ground on which the dwelling 
stands. He mentions a practice by persons whose friends 
were absent on pilgrimages of making a model of a house 
with a thatched roof to which they offered tea and rice 
every morning. They could not tell him what God it was 
whom they wished to propitiate. Hirata had no doubt that 
it was Asuha. He quotes an old poem which says : ^ Until 
he returns, I will pray to the God Asuha of the middle of 
the courtsrard." Sir E. Satow calls Asuha no kami die 
^ guardian deity " of the courtyard. I do not deny that 
this conception existed. But we must not lose sight of the 
earlier phase of thought in which the courtyard is itself 
the deity. 

Other Barth*Oods. — Another obscure earth-deity is 
Haigi no kami, said to be the God of the space between the 
door of the house and the outer gate. The soil of the 
earth is deified under the names of Uhijini, Suhijini, and 
Hani-yasu-hime, personifications of mud, sand, and clay 
respectively. The two former are just mentioned in mytit 
Hani-yasu means "clay easy," the latter adjective indicating 
its plastic quality. Clay was probably deified because it 
forms the material for the Kamado, or kitchen-furnace, and 
is therefore deserving of gratitude for its service in restrain- 
ing the unruly element fire. The water-gourd was deified 
for the same reason. 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. I47 

■arthquake-Oodfl. — ^The old myths say nothing about ^ "j^ 
earthquakes, and although they are mentioned several 
times in the historical part of the Nihongi^ in only one case* 
is a God of Earthquakes spoken of. In A.D. 684 there was 
a great earthquake, and a new island was formed at Idzu. 
A drumming sound was heard, which was thought to be made 
by the Gods in constructing it The Skoku-nihcngi^ a con- 
tinuation of the Nihongi^ states that in the reign of Shomu 
(724-48), there were shrines to the God of Earthquakes in 
all the provinces. But any God might cause an earthquake. - 
There is a legend that the God of Kashima (Take-mika- 
dzuchi) sealed down the Earthquake-God — ^he has no ' 
particular name — by placing over him the Kaname-ishiy or 
pivot-stone, which is still to be seen near his shrine. 

The comparative insignificance of this deity in a country 
so notoriously subject to these convulsions as Japan is an 
instructive commentary on Buckle's well-known views of 
their jmportance in promoting superstition. 

Konntain-Oods. — Most mountains of importance have 
their deity, who sometimes belongs to the general pantheon 
and is at others a specific mountain deity. The Mountain- ' 
God sometimes assumes the form of a serpent 

Though Japan has one hundred volcanoes, of which half-^^ 
are more or less active, the feelings excited by volcanic , 
phenomena have left little trace in the religion. The 
Kojiki^ Nihongiy and Norito do not recognize any worship 
of volcanoes. Perhaps the Aso-tsu-hiko and Aso-tsu-hime 
of the Nihongi\ are to be reckoned an exception. These 
are no doubt personifications of Mount Aso, a remarkable 
volcano in the province of Higo, which is frequently referred 
to in later history. The diying up or overflowing of a lake 
within its crater was supposed to portend famine, pestilence, 
drought, or the death of the sovereign. A ninth-century 
notice states that the Mikado informed the Sun-Goddess 

* Nihamgi, u. 366. 
t I. 198. 



148 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

that ** the miraculous pond in the district of Aso recently 
dried up for about four hundred feet, and in the province 
of Idzu there has been an earthquake. After divination I 
learnt that a drought, plague, or war would ensue. In 
order that this land might be peacefully ruled by the Sun- 
Goddess, I, having chosen a day of happy omen, send out 
the messengers (named) and present offerings." On 
another similar occasion, the God Hachiman was appealed 
to for help. The God (or Gods), however, of Aso itsdf was 
not wholly neglected. There were shrines to him on the 
mountain, with hereditary guardians to attend to them, and 
we hear of an offering of a horse. But volcano gods were 
in no high estimation. In 860 a Satsuma volcano received 
the junior branch of a lower division of the fourdi rank, 
which is much as if Vesuvius were awarded the Italian 
equivalent for a D.S.O. 

A great eruption of a mountain in Deha in the ninth 
century was attributed to the wrath of Oho-mono-imi (Ae 
Food-Goddess), on account of a pollution of the mountain 
water by dead bodies. 

Fuji no yama is worshipped under the name of Sengen 
or Asama. At the present day nearly every volcano has its 
deity- and a small shrine. 

Moontain Olara-Deities. — The Kojiki and Nihongi 
mention a Mountain-God or Gods,* called Yama tsu mi 
(mountain-body), as among the children of Izanagi and 
Izanami, or as bom from the blood of Kagutsuchi when 
slain by his father. We hear little more of him or tfafem. 
The Mountain-God was worshipped before cutting trees for 
shrines or palaces. 

Bea-Oods.— The chief sea-deities of Shinto are the three 
Gods produced by Izanagi f when he washed in the sea after 
his return from Yomi. They are named respectively Soko- 
tsu-wata-dzu-mi (bottom-sea-body), Naka-tsu-wata-dzti- 

♦ See*Ch. K.,' p. 33. 
t See above, p. 95. 



THE i'aNTHEOM — NATURE DEITIES. 



ml (middle -sea- body) 
and Uha-tsu-wata-dzu- 
mi (upper - sea - body). 
Their chief shrine is at 
Sumiyoshi, near Sakai, 
and they are prayed to 
for rescue from ship- 
wreck and forfairwiods * 
These three Gods are 
frequently spoken of as 
one. Hirata identifies 
them with Toyotama- 
hiko, whose legend is 
related abovet 

With Toyotama-hiko 
there is associated a 
fabulous animal called a 
warn, usually written 
with the Chinese cha- 
racter for crocodile. 
There can be little doubt 
that the want is really 
the Chinese dragon. It 
is frequently so repre- 
sented in Japanese pic- 
tores. I have before 
me a print which shows 
T^otama-hiko and his 
daughter with dragons' 
heads appearing over 
their human ones. This 
shows that he was con- 
ceived of not only as a 
Lord of Dr^rons, but as 
a dragon himself. His 



* See Index — ' Sumiyothi.' 
tS..|>.ll4- 



ISO THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

dau^ter, who in one version of the story changes at the 
moment of child-bearing into a want as her true form, in 
another is converted into a dragon. In Japanese myth die 
serpent or dragon is almost always associated with water 
in some of its forms. 

We also hear of a Shiho-tsuchi, or brine-father, and of 
local harbour deities. 

Blvar-Oods, — ^The River-Gokls have no individual naaies. 
^ They are called generally midsu-cki, or water - fother. 

Japanese dictionaries describe the midgu-cAi as an animal 
of the dragon species with four legs. Hepburn, in his 
* Japanese-English Dictionary,' calls it a large water-snake. 
The difference is not material. The dragon -kings of 
Chinese myth (of whom Toyotamahiko is an echo) are in 
India the Naga Raja, or cobra-kings. 

The conception of a stream as a snake, serpent, or dragon, 
or of one of these animals as the embodiment of a water- 
deity is widespread. Dennys, in his ' Folk-Lore of China,' 
quotes from the Nortk China Herald the following : * The 
River-God is in eveiy case a small water-snake which 
popular fancy has converted into a deity/' Robertson- 
Smith, in his * Religion of the Semites,' says that '' the living 
power that inhabits sacred waters and gives them their 
miraculous or healing quality is very often held to be a 
serpent, a huge dragon, or water monster." Reville tells 
us that *' Le serpent joue en eflet un grand rdle symbolique 
dans le culte de Tlaloc (the Mexican Rain and Water God) 
en tant qu'il repr^sente I'eau qui coule, les nuages, les cours 
d'eau." It is easy to understand how a river, with its 
sinuous course and its mysterious movement without legs, 
should come to be thought of as a great serpent, especially 
if we remember the aquatic habits of some of the ophidia. 
Rivers have their favourable and their maleficent aspects. 
On the one hand they furnish water for irrigation, and on 
the other they cause destruction and loss of life by dieir 
floods, metaphorically expressed by the serpent's poison. 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. IS I 

The River-Gods are prayed to for rain in time of drought 
We hear oftener of their sinister aspect The Perseus and 
Andromeda incident related above is probably a trace of 
former human sacrifices to rivers, of which further evidence 
IS afforded by the following extracts from the Nikongi : — 

*' A ./?. J7p. This y ear y at a fork of the River Kahasktma^ in 
the central division of the Province of Kibi^ there wets a great 
water-dragon which harassed the people. Now when travellers 
were passing thcU place on their journey ^ they were sure to be 
affected by its poison^ so that many died Hereupon Agata- 
ntoriy the ancestor of the Omi of Kasa^ a man of fierce temper 
and of great bodily strength^ stood over the pool of the river- 
fork and flung into the water three whole calabcuhes^ saying: 
' Thou art continually belching up poison and therewithal 
plaguing travellers. I will kill thee, thou water-dragon. If 
thou canst sink these calabashes ^ then will I take myself away^ 
but if thou canst not sink them^ then will I cut thy body to 
pieces* Now the wcUer-^ragon changed itself into a deer 
and tried to draw down the ccdabashes^ but the calabashes 
would not sink. So with upraised sword he entered the 
water and slew the water-dragon. He further sought out 
the wcUer-dragoris fellows. Now the tribe of all the wetter- 
dragons filled a cave in the bottom of the pool. He slew them 
every one^ and the water of the river became changed to 
blood. Therefore that water was called the pool of Agata- 
morir 

" A J). J2J. In order to prevent the overflowing of the 
Northern river the Mamuta embankment was constructed. 
At this time there were two parts of the construction which 
gave way and could not be stopped up. Then the Emperor 
had a dream^ in which he was admonished by a God^ saying: 
* There are a man of Musashi named Koha-kubi and a man 
of Kahachi named Koromo no ko, the Muraji of Mamuta. 
Let these two men be sacrificed to the River-God^ and thou 
wilt surely be enabled to dose the gaps,* So he sought for 



152 THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

these ttoo met^ and having found them^ offered them to 
the River-God. Herettpon Koha-kubi wept and la$nented^ 
and plunging into the water ^ died. So that embankment 
was completed Koromo no ko^ however^ took two whole 
calab€uhes^ and standing over the water which could not ie 
dammedy plunged the two ccUabashes into the mid-stream and 
prayed^ saying: ' O thou River- God^ who hast sent the curse 
[to remove which] I have now come hither as a sacrifice ! If 
thou dost persist in thy desire to have me, sink these calabashes 
and let them not rise to the surface. Then shall I know that 
thou art a true God, and will enter the water of my own 
accord But if thou canst not sink the calabashes, I shall, oj 
course, know that thou art a false God, for whom why should 
I spend my life in vain ? ' Hereupon a whirlwind arose 
suddenly which drew with it the calabashes and tried to 
submerge them in the water. But the adabashes, dancing on 
the waves, would not sink, and floated far away over the 
wide waters. In this way that embankment was completed, 
although Koromo no ko did not die. Accordingly Koromo 
no ko^s cleverness saved his life. Therefore the men of that 
time gave a name to these two places, calling them ' Koha- 
kubis Gap * and * Koromo no ko's Gap.^ " 

These stories, like that of Perseus and Andromeda, and 
the Roman I^end that Hercules substituted images of 
straw for the living men hurled into the Tiber from the 
Sublician bridge, belong to a period when the belief in 
the efficacy of human sacrifice for propitiating river-deities 
had been considerably shaken. The abolition of sacrifices 
of living men at the tombs of deceased Mikados is part of 
the same movement in the direction of a greater r^^ard for 
human life. The decay of the cult of rivers is also to be 
inferred from a statement in the Nihongi (A.D. 642) that 
prayers to the River-Gods for rain were condemned by the 
Government as yielding no good result Reading Buddh.st 
Sutras was equally ineffectual, but prayers by the Mikado 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. I S3 

to the four quarters of Heaven in Chinese fashion were 
more successful. 

There is a superstition at the present day that the mouths 
and pools of rivers are haunted by monsters called kappa^ 
which destroy human beings and domestic animals. 

Raln-Oods. — Two special Rain-Gods are mentioned in 
the Nihongty namely, Kura o Kami (valley-august-god) and 
Taka-o-Kami (height-august-god). Both are often called 
simply O Kami, and are conceived of as having dragon 
shape. But praying for rain was by no means confined to 
them. The Yengtshtki gives a list of eighty-five shrines 
to which messengers were despatched by the Court to pray 
for rain. These included many river and water deities, 
such as the Yamaguchi (mountain-mouth) and Mi-kumari 
(water-distributor) Grods ; but the Wind-God, the Rice-God, 
the Thunder-God, and many others were added. Even 
deified men like Temmangu might be prayed to for rain. 
The following is a modem method of causing rain. A 
procession is formed, a Shinto priest carrying gohei at its 
head. Next to him follows a conch-blower, and then some 
men carryi^ig a dragon made of straw, bamboo, &c. Two 
flags inscribed to the Dragon-kings come after. Next 
follows a drum, then the people in disorderly rout, shouting, 
" The black clouds of the honourable peak : from the west 
the rain comes pouring." The ceremony ends by the straw 
dragon being plunged into a waterfall. 

Water from the sacred lake of Haruna is supposed to 
produce rain. It is carried to the required place by relays 
of couriers, for if it stopped on the way the rain would fall 
there instead. 

WeU-Oods. — Sacred wdls are known in Japan. They 
are called mi-wi (august well) or mana-wi (true well). 
There is one at Kitsuki, in Idzumo, called the ama no 
manawi (heaven-true-well), whence sacred water is drawn. 
Wells or well-gods are widely worshipped, usually in asso- 
ciation with such household deities as Ashiba no Kami 



L 



154 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

(the site deity) and Kamado no Kami (the furnace deity). 
We hear of an Iku-wi no Kami (live-well-god) and a Fuku- 
wi no Kami (luck-well-god). Special wells were sunk for 
the water used in the okonike ceremony, and worship paid 
to them. 

Well-diggers {idohori) at the present day sometimes 
purify the ground previously to b^inning their operations 
and set up gohei. In fine weather, at ni|^t, they apply 
their ears to the ground, when they can hear the water- 
veins below. Old wells should not be wholly dosed, or 
blindness to one of the family will be the result Hence to 
appease the God of the well a bamboo is let down into 
it before filling it up. Wells are worshipped at the New 
Year. 

Water-Oodi. — ^The element of water generally is deified 
under the name of Midzuha no me (water-female). She is 
said to have been produced from the urine of Izanami 
when dying, or, according to another account, firom the 
blood of Kagu-tsuchi when he was slain by IzanagL* The 
Jimmu l^[end says that the water used in sacrifice to 
Musubi was entitles! Idzu no Midzuha no me, that is to say, 
^ sacred-water-female," thus identifying the element with 
the deity to whom it belongs. 

Wlnd-Ok>ds. — The Nihongi speaks of one Wind-God 
named Shinatsu-hiko (wind-long-prince). He was produced 
from Izanagi's breath when he puffed away the mists which 
surrounded the newly formed country of Japan.! The 
conception of the wind as the breath of the Gods is also 
found in the Vedas and elsewhere. In the latter part of 
the Nihongi frequent mention is made of embassies to 
Tatsuta, in Yamato, to pray to the Wind-Gods for a good 
harvest A narito addressed to them| makes two Wind- 
Gods— one masculine, named Shinatsu-hiko, and one femi- 

• See above, p. 92. 

t Nikomgi, i. 22. 

\ See Index— < Wind-Gods.' 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 1 55 

nine, called Shinatobe. They are also referred to as Ame 
no Mihaahira (august-pillar^ of Heaven) and Kuni no 
Mihashira (august- pillar of Earth). Hirata supposes that 
it was by them that communication was maintained between 
earth and sky in the Age of the Grods, and that it is 
due to their agency that the prayers of men are heard in 
Heaven. Their skintai is a mirror. 

Another Wind-God is Hayachi, that is, the swift father, 
or perhaps swift wind. He is more especially the whirl- 
wind. He acted as the messenger of the Gods in bringing 
up to Heaven the body of Ame no waka-hiko, who had 
died on earth. 

Take-mika-cUniohi and Fatrannihi. — There is much 
confusion as to the character and functions of these two 
deities. They are associated in myth and in worship.! 
Their two oldest shrines at Kashima and Kadori are 
close to one another, and they are worshipped together 
at Kasuga and other places. Indeed Hirata argues that 
they are one and the same deity. He points out that 
Futsunushi is not mentioned in the Kojiki story of the 
pacification of Japan in preparation for the advent of 
Ninigi, and that the same authority gives Toyo-futsu no 
Kami and Take-futsu no Kami as alternative names of 
Take-mika-dzuchi. On the other hand, the Jimmu Iq^end 
calls Futsu no mitama^ apparently a variant of Futsunushi, 
the sword of Take-mika-dzuchi, and ascribes a different 
parentage to these two deities. There are other features in 
the Nihongi myths which are inconsistent with the theory 
that they are identical. 

Take-mika-dzuchi means " brave-dread-father." His 
name is frequently written with Chinese characters which 
imply that he is identical with Ika-dzuchi, or the Thunder- 

* In Yucatan there were four Wind-Gods, who upheld the four comers of 
Heaven. 

t See above, p. 109. 
X Nihongi^ i. 115. 



156 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

GoA This is probably correct, although it is to be remem- 
bered that Ika-dzuchi had in more ancient times the more 
general signification " dread father," and is applied to odier 
than thunder deities. 

In Futsu-nushi the latter element admittedly means 
*• master," But I cannot accept Motoori's explanation of 
futsu as an onomatopoetic word expressing the sound 
made when a thing is cleanly cut or snapped ofT. 

The following facts suggest a different derivation : — 

1. The Sun-mirror {hi-kagamiy which may also mean 
"fire-mirror") is called in one writing* the Ma-futsu no 
kagami (true-fire-mirror). 

2. Ama no hihoko is said to have brought over with him 
from Korea a hi-kagami. 

3. Futsu is the regular Japanese phonetic equivalent of 
the Korean /«/, " fire." In Furu-no mitama and Furu- 
musubi (for Ho-musubi) we have an intermediate form 
between futsu and puL There is a God called Saji-futsu 
or Satsu-futsu, for which the Korean phonetic equivalent 
would be Sal-puL This would mean " living fire " (Cicero's 
" ignis animal "). I have no doubt that Saji-fiitsu is an 
alias of Futsu-nushL 

4. Futsunushi was produced from the blood of Kagu- 
tsuchi, the God of Fire, when the latter was slain by 
Izanagi. 

The inference from these data is that Futsunushi is a 
Fire-God of Korean origin.t 

But while there is a strong probability that Takc- 
mika-dzuchi and Futsunushi were originally Thunder 
and Fire deities, by a tendency which there is for 
nature-gods to become credited with providential functions, 
to the neglect or oblivion of their proper natural powers, 
these two deities have in historical times been universally 

* Nihongiy i. 44. 

t Is it possible that Faji no yuna is really for Futsu no yama, the moantain 
of fire? 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 157 

recognized ^ war-gods. The myth which represents them 
as subduing Ohonamochi and makes Futsu no mitama a 
sword contains the germ of this view of their character. 
A poet of the Manyoshiu speaks of praying to the God of 
Kashima when about to start on a warlike expedition. 
Fencing and horsemanship were under Futsunushi's special 
protection. The shintai of both Gods, to some worshippers 
the Gods themselves, were swords. That of Take-mika- 
dzuchi was a sword, five feet long, which at the annual 
Kashima festival was drawn from its sheath and worshipped 
by the priests,* all the people present wearing swords and 
drawing them before the shrine. It is probably as a war- 
god that he was constituted the Ujigami of the arrow- 
makers, and that offerings of horses were made to him. 
When savage tribes were subdued or foreign invaders 
repulsed these Gods led the van and were followed by the 
other deities. They were supposed to extend their special 
favour and protection to the Mikado, who sent frequent 
embassies to their various shrines. They were also prayed 
to for a calm passage for envoys to China, and for children. 
Predictions of the quality of the harvest were recently, and 
probably still are, hawked about by persons in the garb of 
Shinto priests, called Kashima no koto-fure, that is to say, 
'^ notifications from Kashima." Believers in the ghost and 
grave theory of the origin of religion will be interested to 
learn that not far from Kashima there is a large sepulchral 
mound called Kame-yama (pot-hill). On the 8th day of 
the I St month an Imperial envoy offers gohei here and 
recites a norito. There are dances and music, and the 
mound is solemnly circumambulated. Traditions exist of 
a great battle in this neighbourhood. Smaller sepulchral 
mounds are also met with here, as at all ancient centres of 
authority in Japan. 

Ika-dauclil — Take-mika-dzuchi having been converted 
into a war-deity and general Providence, the Thunder 

* The sword was deified in Teutonic myth. 



IS8 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

itself continued to be worshipped under the name of Ika- 
dzuchi, ** dread father," which is short for Nam ika-dzuchi, 
^ the sounding dread father." He is also called Nam kami, 
or "the sounding God." Kami-nari (god-sound) is tiic 
modem word for thunder. There are numerous shrines to 
this deity. By the Ika-dzuchi, which were generated from 
the putrefying corpse of Izanami, we must understand not 
thunders but personified diseases, the word being taken in 
its etymological signification. The Kojiki^ however, in 
this passage does undoubtedly say " thunders." The dis- 
tinction into •* eight thunders " is a fancy of the writer, 
little recc^ized in later ritual. The Nihongi ignores it 

The following story from ^t Nihongi illustrates Japanese 
ideas respecting the Thunder-God : — 

" A.D. 6 1 8. This year Kahabe no Omi was sent to the 
province of Aki with orders to build ships. On arriving at 
the mountain^ he sought for ship timber. Having found 
good timber^ he marked it and was about to cut it^ when a 
man appeared^ and said: * This is a thunder-tree^ and must 
not be cut J Kahabe no Omi said: ^ Shall even the Thunder- 
God oppose the Imperial commands ? ' So having offered 
many mitegura^ he sent workmen to cut down the timber. 
Straightway a great rain felly and it thundered and lightened 
Hereupon Kahabe no Omi drew his sword^ and said: ' 
Thunder-Gody harm not the workmen; it is my person that 
thou shouldst injured So he looked up and waited But 
although the God thundered more than ten times^ he could not 
harm Kahabe no Omi. Then he changed himself into a 
small fishy which stuck between the branches of the tree 
Kahabe no Omi forthwith took the fish and burnt it. So at 
last the ships were built'* 

Other Fire-Oods. — Futsunushi's quality as a Fire-God 
had been quite forgotten even in the Kojiki and Nikongi 
times. But there are several other Fire-Gods, or perhaps 
we should rather say local or occasional variants of the 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 1 59 

same deity. Kagu-tsuchi, or '' radiant father/' is the name 
g^ven to a Fire-Grod in the Nihongi^ where he is said to 
have caused the death of his mother IzanamL Kagu con- 
tains the same root as kagayaku^ to shine. It also occurs 
in Kaguyama^ a sacred mountain in Yamato, from which 
the needful objects for sacrifice were in early times provided. 
This God is worshipped under the name of Ho-musubi or 
** fire-growth "* on the summit of Atago, a mountain near 
Ki5to. There are many hill-shrines to this deity near ^ 
other cities in Japan. His business is to give protection 
against conflagrations. 

The Jimmu l^end speaks as if fire-worship arose from 
the deification of the sacrificial fire. But there must have 
been other reasons. The domestic fire renders important 
services to mankind, and its relation to the sun is unmistak- 
able. Indeed the Japanese call fire and sun by the same 
name, ki. Fire has also its terrible aspect, which is recog- 
nized in myth and norito.^ 

Hirata identifies the God with the element He is 
obviously a class, and not an individual God. There is a 
festival at the present day called the Hi-taki-matsuri (fire- 
kindle-festival), when bonfires are lit, and small offerings 
made to the flames. 

Fomaoa Oods. — Along with the Gods of Fire we may 
place the deities of the domestic cooking furnace, namely 
Kamado no Kami and Kudo no Kami. They are barely 
mentioned in the Kojikizxid not at all in the Nihongi, 
They have no myth, and although there is a norito 
addressed to them it contains nothing characteristic. This ^ 
worship is nevertheless general, from the Mikado's palace 
to the home of the peasant. Sometimes we find a single 
deity, sometimes a married pair called Okitsu-hiko and 
Okitsu-hime, sometimes as many as eight co-existing fur- 
nace-gods are met with. The vulgar call him an aragami 

* " So odled," says Hirata, " because heat makes things grow," 
f See Index — Ho-shultume^ Fir^-drill, 



l6o THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

(rough deity), and represent him with three heads, a notion 
which, according to Hirata, is taken from Indian myth. 
Usually the cooking furnace is the deity. The Japanese 
kitchen wench at the present day calls her cooking range 
Hettsui-sama, the termination sama implying personifica- 
tion and respect. She thinks it unlucky to lay down an 
edge-tool on it But the God is also conceived of as 
detached from the furnace. Thus he is said to have taught 
the art of cooking to mankind. In that case the iam^r 
or pot, is his shintai^ or material representative. There 
was a Kama-matsuri (pot festival) at Kidto before the 
revolution. It was celebrated at the banning of the 
year, when Shinto priests read harahu The pot was 
addressed in song and adjured to bring plenty of customers, 
usually by dyers and others in whose business caldrons 
were used. 

XJkemoohi (the Food Ooddass).— Cicero, in his treatise 
' De Natura Deorum,' asks whether any one is mad enough 
to believe that the food we eat is actually a God. The 
modem student of religion has no difficulty in answering 
this question in the affirmative. ** Eating the Grod " is a 
well-known institution, from the custom of the Ainus of 
Yezo, who worship a bear,* caught and caged for the 
purpose, and wind up the festival in his honour by eating 
him, up to the most solemn rite of Roman Catholic Chris- 
tianity. An Ainu prayer, quoted by Mr. Batchelor, contains 
the following words : " O thou God ! O thou divine cereal, 
do thou nourish the people. I now partake of thee. I 
worship thee and give thee thanks." Gratitude in the first 
place to, and then for, our daily bread, is an important factor 
in the early growth of religion. Without it we should have 
had no Roman Ceres, no Mexican Maize-God CentUotl, 
and no Ukemochi. I do not find the direct worship of our 
daily food in Shinto, though perhaps a trace of an older 
identification of the food with the Grod is to be recognized 

* As a source of food ? 



THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. l6l 

in the 1113^ which represents the Food-Goddess as pro- 
ducing from her mouth and other parts of her body viands 
for the entertainment of the Moon-God. Hirata is 
indignant at the idea that there is anything metaphorical 
about this story. 

It is usually the offerings of food which are deified. 
Jimmu is said to have directed that the food-offerings to 
Taka-musubi should be called Idzu-uka no me (sacred- 
food-female), which is another name for Uke-mochi. In a 
work of the eighth century the Sun-Goddess is said to have 
appeared to the Mikado Yuriaku in a dream. She com- 
plained to him of her loneliness at Ise, and directed that 
** Aga mi ketsu no kami *' should be sent for to Tamba in 
order to keep her company. This was the legendary origin 
of the worship of the Food-Goddess in the outer shrine 
(Geku) of Ise. As Motoori points out, Aga mi ketsu no 
kami means " the deity of the food offered to me." But in 
this last instance the offering and the deity of the offering 
are no longer identical. 

It was usual for the participants in the ceremony to con- i- 
sume the food offered to the Gods. We are told that 
Jimmu "tasted the food of the sacred jars." The Mikado 
at all times followed this rule, notably at the Nihiname. or 
harvest festival, when he partook of ordinary food with, out 
after, the Gods. He does not "eat the God," but only 
associates himself with the deity as his table-companion — 
a very simple and intelligible form of communion. It is 
on the same principle that in modem times pilgrims to Ise 
buy from the priests and eat the rice which has been offered 
to the Gods. 

There is some confusion in r^ard to Ukemochi. Her 
aliases are very numerous, if, indeed, we ought not to reckon 
some of them as distinct deities. No doubt food was deified 
over and over again in many places. The etymology of 
most of her names is sufficiently transparent. They con- 
tain the element k( or ka^ " food." One of these, namely 

C 



/" 



l62 THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

UIca no mitama, or the spirit of food, should be mentioned, 
as it embodies a more advanced and spiritual conception 
of the nature of this deity. 

The parentage of the Food-Goddess is variously given in 
different myths. One story makes her the daughter of 
Izanagi and Izanami, and another of Susa no wo. The 
latter is, perhaps, an expression of the idea that the rain- 
storm fits the rice-fields for producing grain. 

After the Sun-Goddess, Uke-mochi is, perhaps (especially 
if we identify her with Inari), the most universally popular 
deity in Japan. She was one of the eight deities of the 
Jingikwan, and was worshipped at four of the twenty-two 
Greater Shrines, of which a list was made in 1039. There 
is abundant evidence that her cult was not confined to the 
State ceremonies. Hirata calls her an ihe no kami^ or 
household deity. 

The Sake (rice-beer) God is sometimes the same as the 
Food-Goddess, and at others Sukuna-bikona. 

Inari. — Notwithstanding the difference of sex, and to 
some extent of function, the Rice-God Inari is generally 
recognized by the Japanese as identical with Uke-mochi 
Inari, it is explained, is only the name of the locality of 
her best-known shrine near Ki6to, first established in 711. 
It i# not to be doubted that in Japan the name of the place 
of his worship has frequently been converted into the name 
of the God. In the present case, however, it may be sus- 
pected that the reverse process has taken place. Might 
not Inari be ine^ rice in a growing state, and n, a termina- 
tion implying personality ? 

Naturally Inari is much prayed to for agricultural pros- 
perity. But, as so often happens, the functions of this 
God have been enlarged so as to make him a sort of 
general Providence who watches over all human concerns. 
In a recent Japanese novel he is supplicated by a wife to 
make her husband faithful ; by a mother to cause her son 
to divorce an obnoxious daughter-in-law ; by a wrestler for 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 163 

Victory in his contests ; by a geisha for a wealthy protector 
who will give her plenty of money and rich clothes, and, 
getting tired of her within a month, will dismiss her with 
a handsome present. He is also appealed to for the resto- 
ration of stolen property, to avert pestilence, to cure colds, 
to give wealth and prosperity, and to unite friends. The 
Kidto Inari is the special patron of swordsmiths and of 
joros. Another Inari is celebrated for his protection of 
children from small-pox and measles. People who desire 
his help in this way ofTer at his shrine a red clay monkey, 
and take away with them one which has been deposited 
there by a previous worshipper. 

The shintai of Inari is a stone, or a wooden ticket with 
his name inscribed on it He is represented as an elderly 
man with a long beard riding upright on a white fox. The 
fox is always associated with this deity. A pair of these 
animals carved in wood or stone may usually be seen in 
front of his shrines. According to the modern theologians, 
the fox is properly his servant or messenger. But there is 
a more ignorant current of opinion which takes the animal 
for the God himself. '^Klaproth finds in Japan^e books 
that ^ the people in Japan worship the inari (fox) as a 
tutelar God : little temples are dedicated to him in many 
houses, especially of the commoner folk. They ask his 
advice in difficulties, and set rice or beans for him at night. 
They take him to be a kami^ i>., the soul of a good man 
deceased." Be it observed that inari does not mean fox, 
and that a kami is something quite different from '' the 
soul of a good man deceased." It is just possible, however, 
that in this case the ignorant multitude are right, and that 
the fox is a duplicate representative of the rice or rice-deity. 
Mr. Frazer, in his * Golden Bough,' adduces many instances 
of the Corn-God being represented by animals. " In Poitou, 
the spirit of the com appears to be conceived in the shape ( 
of a fox." 

The festival of Inari is held on the first " horse " day of 

G 2 



1 



164 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

the second month. The Shoguns celebrated it with great 
ceremony, of which dramatic performances (nd) were a part 

Hairest-Oods. — The Harvest-Gods, of which there are 
several, as Oho-toshi no Kami (Great-Harvest-God), Mi- 
toshi no Kami (August -Harvest-God), Waka-toshi no 
Kami (Young-Harvest-God), are not very clearly distin- 
guished from the food and grain deities. A myth relating 
to one of these deities will be found below, p. 196. 

The liturgy entitled * Praying for Harvest * was addressed 
to all the chief deities.* 

The worship of the Sun and of Grain, Harvest and 
Growth deities, which forms so important a part of Shinto, 
is characteristic of an agricultural nation. It is emphasized 
by the ancient custom of the Mikado tilling land in person, 
and by the Miko at Kasuga planting rice annually with 
mqch ceremony. 

Trea-Oods. — Individual trees of great age and size are 
everywhere worshipped in Japan. An ancient example of 
this cult is mentioned above, p. 158. At the present day 
the sacred trees are often to be seen g^rt with shimenaka,] 
and with tiny shrines at the bottom.. The novelist Bakin, 
writing in the early part of the nineteenth century, tells of 
one which he visited near Uraga. It was a common-look- 
ing fir which had been struck by lightning, no doubt, 
Bakin says, before the spirit took up its abode there. This 
tree healed diseases of all kinds and brought luck to fidier- 
men. People with sore eyes carried away the water whidi 
collected in a hollow part, and washed their eyes with it 
Incense was burned to it 

At the shrine of Kamo in Kidto there are two sakaki 
(sacred evergreen) trees, which are joined together by a 
branch which has grown from one trunk into that of the 
other. These trees are much visited by women who desire 
to live in harmony with their husbands. A small red 

• See Index — Toshi-gphi, 
t See Index. 






THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 165 

tori'wi in front of them shows that th^ are considered 
sacred.* Here the emblem of unity has come to be 
r^arded as having intrinsic virtue. 

A Kami-gi (God-tree) was often planted in front of 
Shinto shrines. It was sometimes set in a portable box, 
which could be carried about by the devotees. A case is 
recorded in which this was done for the sake of protection 
to the bearers. The sacred tree of Japan is the cleyera 
japonica. It is an everg^reen, as the name, derived from 
sakiiyuru^ to flourish, indicates. 

There is a modem custom in places where fruit trees are 
grown for two men to go out into the orchard. One climbs 
up a tree while the other stands at the bottom with an axe. { 
The latter asks whether it will have a good crop the next j 
season, and threatens to cut it down if it fails to do so. ' 
Hereupon the man above answers for the tree, promising 
that it will bear plentifully. In Hitachi at the time of the 
Sai (or Sahe) no Kami feast (the first full moon of the 
year) a gruel is made of rice coloured redt with adzuki 
beans. This is sprinkled on the fruit trees of the neigh- 
bourhood. The man who does so wears the straw covering 
of a rice-bag by way of hat, and takes with him an axe 
and the gruel vessel, saying to each tree, " Will you bear — 
will you bear, of bags 1,000 bags, of sacks 1,000 sacks? 
Say that you will bear." " I will bear, I will bear." Then 
he gives the tree three cuts with the axe, and pours the 
gruel on it 

Similar customs are found all over the world. M. 
D'Alviella, in his Hibbert Lectures, quotes as follows: 
'* Ibn al Awam's agricultural treatise recommends the 
intimidation of trees that refuse to produce fruit. ' You 
are to flog them mildly and threaten to cut them down if 
they go on bearing no fruit' " The Bohemian Slavs used 
to say to the garden trees, " Bud ! ye trees, bud 1 or I will 

* Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edit., p. 383. 
t See Index-' Red.' 



l66 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

Strip you of your bark." Brand's * PopularAiitiqui^«of^ 
Britain' records several variants"©? tKis^ustom. **0n 
Christmas Eve," he says, ^ the farmers and their men in 
Devonshire take a large bowl of cider, with a toast in it, 
and carrying it in state to the orchard, they salute the 
apple-trees with much ceremony, in order to make them 
bear well the next season." This salutation consists in 
throwing some of the cider about the roots of the tree, 
placing bits of the toast on the branches, and then, ** en- 
circling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, they 
drink the following toast several times : — 

' Here 's to thee, old apjde-tree 
Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow. 
And whence thou mayst bear apples enow ! 

Hats-full ! caps-full ! 

Bushel, bushel sacks-full ! 
And my pockets fiill, too ! Hurra I ' " 

Mr. J. G. Frazer has treated this subject with his usual ful- 
ness in * The Golden Bough.' 

I suspect that the pleasure we take in dramatic make- 
believe has more to do with such practices than any belief 
in their practical efficacy, and that they rather contain the 
germ of a religious cult of trees than are a survival o( a 
primitive tree-worship. 

Kukunochi. — The older records mention a Kukunochi 
(trees-father), a Ki no mi-oya no Kami (tree-august-pareot- 
deity). There is also a Ko-mata no Kami (tree-fork-deity) 
and a Ha-mori no Kami (leaf-g^ardian-deity). These axe 
class-deities. 

Kaya nu hime. — The deity of herbs and grasses is called 
Kaya nu hime (reed-lady), or Nu-dzuchi (moor-father) or 
Kaya no mi-oya no Kami (reed-august-parent-deity). The 
chief reason for deifying trees and reeds was that they 
furnish materials for house-building, and are therefoic 
deserving of our gratitude and worship. 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 167 

-The echo is called in Japan Ko-dama, or tree 



spirit 

Houe-Oods. — Our knowledge of these deities is chiefly 
derived from a norito in the Yengishiki^ One part of this 
ritual speaks of Yabune, which may be either singular or 
plural ; but further on in the same document we find Ya- 
bune Kukunochi and Yabune Toyo-uke-hime. Perhaps an 
original single deity has been split up into a wedded pair 
by a process of which Shinto aflbrds other examples. Ya 
is " house," and/i^«^, which usually means " ship/' may also 
be applied to other wooden vessels, such as troughs or 
tubs. The ya-bune is therefore the shellf of the house. 
Kukunochi, as we have just seen, is the name of the Tree- 
God. Toyo-uke-hime, which means abundant-food-lady, 
has been identified with the Food-Groddess ; but it is more 
probable that the prefix ^o^/i^ was intended to distinguish 
her from that deity, as the same prefix made of Kukunochi 
a distinct God from the ordinary Tree-God. The functions 
of these Gods was to guard the palace building from harm 
of all kinds. No doubt each household had also its Yabune 
no Kami. Hirata, in his Tamadasuki^ gives a prayer to this 
deity intended for general use. 

The Oho-toma-hiko and Oho-toma-hime of the Nihongi 
and the Oho-ya-hiko of the Kojiki are also House-Gods. 
Nothing is known of them. 

A certain sanctity attached to the central pillar of the 
house, called Daikoku-bashira or Imi-bashira (sacred pillar). 
The Daikoku-bashira is worshipped in some places on the 
14th of the 1st month by offerings of rice-ears, flowers, rice 
bags, &c The date indicates a connexion with the phallic 
Sahe no Kami.f 

Privy-Ood. — There is in modem times a God of the 
privy, who has no particular name, sex, or mythic record. 

* See Index — Yabutu, 

t Compare our " naTe," from the Latin navis. 

X See below, p. 186. 



l68 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

Hirata, in his Tanuulasuki^ has provided a special form of 
prayer to him. He himself was his devout wcn^hippcr. 
He saluted the God on entering and leaving, and, tfut 
people might not forget this duty, recommends that a card 
be nailed on the door, with the inscription " Ojigi," or 
''good manners." According to him privies, as wdl as 
dunghills and all unclean places, are a favourite resort of 
evil spirits. They are haunted l^ flies and maggots, whid 
are the fractional souls of bad men (a Buddhist notion?). 
There is, therefore, all the greater need to put oursd^es 
under the protection of the presiding deity of the place. He 
deprecates spitting into it (which causes c^thalmia) or 
defiling it, and says that women who sweep it out daily and 
make offering to the Grod of a light on the last day of eadi 
month will be free from diseases below the girdle. 

All this shows that the original identity of demons and 
diseases has not yet been wholly lost sight of in Japan. 

Oate-Gtoda. — Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-door) aB<i 
Toyo-iha-mado (rich-rock-door). These two Gods arc 
known to us from the norito entitled Mikado no matsnrl* 
They are obviously personifications of the gates of the 
Palace. But the difficulty presents itself that these Gods 
are (apparently) two in number, these two being* difiecen- 
tiated out of one original deity by the honorary epitb^ 
kushi and tayo^ while the gates of the Palace were mndi 
more numerous. If it is the gate itself, and not the spirit 
of the gate, which is worshipped, there ought to be as mac) 
Gods as gates. Hirata would no doubt explain this by 
saying that there are really only two Gods, but that ead 
gate is occupied by a mitama^ or emanation from them. It 
seems more probable that the ancient Japanese had i» 
very definite ideas on the subject They conceived of the 
gates as in some way or another instinct with life aisi 
exercising certain protective functions ; but whether th«t 
were two deities for each gate or two for all coUectivdy 

* See Index, /.«, 



THE PAKtHEOK— NATURE DEITIES. 169 

was a question idiich did not occur to them. It must be 
remembered that the Japanese language seldom takes the 
trouble to distinguish between singular and plural. This 
is merely another way of saying that the nation is com- 
paratively indifferent to number, whether of Grods or gates. 
Whether the Gate-divinity is one or several does not trouble 
them. 

GODS OF ABSTRACTION& 

Tiftniigl and Izanami. — The conspicuous position given 
by the mythical narrative* to these personifications of the 
dual creative powers of the universe has little to correspond 
with it in cult and ritual Although they are no doubt to 
be reckoned among the Dii majores of Japan, they occupy 
a much lower place than the Sun-Groddess and the Food- 
Goddess. 

Izanagi and Izanami are evidently creations of subse- 
quent date to the Sun-Goddess and other concrete deities, 
for whose existence they were intended to account I have 
littie doubt that they were suggested by the Yin and Yang^ 
or female and male principles of Chinese philosophy. In- 
deed there is a passage in the Nihongi in which these terms 
are actually applied to them. It may be said, and Motoori 
does say, that the Yin and Yang are foreign ideas which 
have found their way into a* purely native myth. We must 
remember, however, that the Japanese myths as we have 
them date from a period three centuries after the introduc- 
tion of Chinese learning into Japan, and that there was 
communication with China hundreds of years earlier still. 
It would, therefore, not be strange if some knowledge of 
the fundamental principle of Chinese philosophy and 
science had reached the Japanese long before the Kojiki 
and Nihongi were written. 

I conjecture that the early part of the Nihongi^ taken in 
the order of the original composition of the myths which it 

^ See above, p. 86. 

t In Japanese /m and 1^. 



J 



J 



170 THE PANTHEON — NATURE DEITIES. 

comprises, would be somewhat as follows : — First the Sun- 
myth, which is the nucleus of all, next that of the creadoo 
by Izanagi and Izanami, then the more abstract Musubi 
and a number of ill-defined creations of some idle fancy 
which precede him. Last of all was composed the philosophic 
proem with which the book opens. 

Izanagi and Izanami belong to that stage of religious 
progress in which the conception has been reached of 
powerful sentient beings separate from external nature. 
Untrue in itself, it has served a useful purpose. It is 
obviously easier for nations with little scientific knowledge 
to conceive of the same being as a ruler or parent of the 
Sun, Moon, and Earth, with all its human concerns, than 
to recognize in these phenomena a harmonious living 
whoje. The common parentage of Izanagi and Izanami 
formed a link of union between the different aspects of 
nature which did not previously exist, and thus was in so 
far a step towards monotheism. 

The manner of creation is variously representecL In no 
case is anything made out of nothing. The first act of 
creation was the formation of an island out of the drippings 
of the brine of the chaos-ocean from a spear. The other 
parts of Japan and many of the deities were produced 
by the ordinary process of generation. The functions of 
Izanagi and Izanami are elsewhere described as ^ putting 
in order and fully consolidating ^ the floating land beneath. 
This is precisely what Ohonamochi is represented as dcAog 
several generations of Gods later. Deities were also pro- 
duced from Izanagi's clothing and staff which he threw 
down on his flight from Yomi, and from his eyes and nose 
when he washed in the sea to remove the impurity con- 
tracted by his visit thither. The Wind-God was his breatii 
and the Grods of Water and Clay were formed of the urine 
and foeces of Izanami when she was about to die. Thcx 
ideas, though not quite identical with, are closely related to 
the l^ends of other countries which describe the creation 



THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 171 

of fhe universe from the fragments of a fabulous anthropo- 
morphic being. The Chinese myth of P'anku has been 
already quoted.* Norse story tells how " the vast frame 
of the world-giant Hymi was completely cut up by the sons 
of Bor, with Woden at their head. From Hymi's flesh they 
made the earth, from his bones the mountains, from his 
skull the heavens, from his blood the sea."t 

There is nothing spiritual about these two deities. All 
their actions are modelled not on those of ghosts, but on 
those of living men. Even when Izanami dies and goes 
down to the land of Yomi, she does not become a ghost, 
but a putrefying corpse. 

Their shintai is a mirror. 

A Japanese writer^ says : " In the b^inning of all 

sentient things we have two Supreme Beings, Izanagi and 

Izanami." Even if we admit the possible existence of two 

Supreme Beings, Izanagi and Izanami hardly realize our 

conception of the Supreme. They acted by command of 

other pre-existing deities, and their creation is limited. It 

does not include all the Gods, and, as is only natural, is 

confined to Japan. The creation of mankind is nowhere / 

accounted for in Japanese myth. There is, however, a 

modicum of truth in this writer's statement. Though not 

the first sentient beings, Izanagi and Izanami are the first 

who 3tand out with any distinct characterization, and> 

although not supreme, they represent a movement, feeble 

and abortive it is true, towards the co-ordination of all the 

aspects of divinity in one Supreme Being. 

Motoori proposed, and most European scholars have 
accepted, a derivation of Izanagi and Izanami from isanafu^ 
a verb which means to invite, to instigate, the terminations 
gi and mi meaning respectively male deity and female 
deity. Hence the translation "Male who invites" and 

* See above, p. 129. 

t Rhys, * Celtic Heathendom,' p. 115. 

X ' lo Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkle^'. 



172 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

"Female who invites." There are, however, grave diffi- 
culties in the way of this interpretation. It is scarcdy 
appropriate in the case of the female deity. Moreover, we 
must take into account the fact that these are not the only 
pairs of deities in which the terminations nagt and nami 
occur. We have also an Aha-nagi (foam-God) and Aha- 
nami (foam -Goddess), a Tsura-nagi (bubble-God) and 
Tsura-nami (bubble-Goddess), and a Sa-nagi (rapid-God) 
and Sa-nami (rapid-Groddess), in all of which na does not 
belong to the first part of the word, but is put for no^ the 
genitive particle, by a letter-change of which we have other 
examples. The first element of Izanagi is, therefore, not 
izana but iza^ which is met with as an exclamation of 
incitement The harshness of making an interjection fol- 
lowed by a genitive particle is obvious. I am disposed to 
prefer the derivation which takes Iza as the name of a 
place. The Nihongi mentions a ** true well " of Isa or Iza. 
There are two places called Isa in Hitachi, and kn Isa no 
Jinja, or shrine of Isa, in Idzumo. It is even possible that 
these Gods are simply the Gods of Ise (Ise no gi and lae 
no mi). A similar letter-change takes place in ntanabtUa^ 
eyelid, for me no futa^ and tanasuye for U no suye. The 
difference between s and s is of little consequence in 
Japanese. 

MnmU, the Ood of Ghfowth. — Musubi illustrates a dif- 
ferent conception of creation from that of the myths of 
Ohonamochi and Izanagi and Izanami. Thfs God is the 
abstract process of growtii personified^ — ^that is, a power 
immanent in nature and not external to it The emotion 
which prompts this personification — so natural to an agri- 
cultural people — is well portrayed in the words of a Kafir 
to the French traveller M. Arbrouseille : " Do I know how 
the com sprouts ? Yesterday there was not a blade in my 
field : to-day I returned to the field and found some. Who 
can have given the earth the wisdom and power to produce 
it ? Then I buried my head in both hands." But while 



THE^PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 173 

tjie emotion is the same, the Japanese conception differs. 
Musubi means growth or production. It is connected with 
the word umu, to bear, to bring forth, and with mt^su^ to 
grow, to be bom. Musu is said of moss growing on a 
stone and of ice forming on water. Musuko, a boy, and 
musume, a girl, contain the same element. As a God's 
name, Musubi is usually found with one of the laudatory 
adjectives, toAa^ high, or iamu, divine, prefixed to it. To 
these the honorific particle mi is commonly added, giving 
the forms Taka-mi-musubi and Kamu-mi-musubi. Even 
in the Kojiki and Nihangi these are rec9gnized as two 
distinct deities. The Yengishiki (901-922) enumerates 
three more Musubi deities, and to these still others might 
be added. In poetry a single God Musubi is alone met 
with, and the Wamidshd recognizes but one such deity. 
Probably the division into several persons was an esoteric 
refinement of which the people took little heed. 

Whether we have r^^ard to his name or to the some- 
what meagre notices in the Kojiki and Nihongi^ there is 
nothing spiritual in the Japanese conception of Musubi. 
But the scribes learned in Chinese who committed the old 
myths to writing sometimes use characters which imply 
a spiritual view of his nature. They mean '* producing- 
spirit" 

He is also called mi qya.ot august parent Hirata thinks 
that Taka-musubi and Kamu-musubi are husband and wife> 
the Kamurogi (progenitor) and Kamuromi (progenitrix) of 
the narito^ and condemns his piaster Motoori for holding 
that we have in these deities a unity in duality and a duality 
in unity. But his reasons are not quite convincing, and 
there is a passage in the Kojiki which cannot be reconciled 
with his view. The same author points out the resem- 
blance of this God to the Hindu Siva, who represents the 
fructifying principle, the generating power that pervades 
the universe, producing sun, moon, stars, animals, and 
plants, Siva is represented in his temples by a phallus. 



174 THE PANTHEON— NATURE DEITIES. 

and Hirata conjectures that this was likewise the shintai of 
Musubi. 

Musubi is sometimes called the Inochi no Kami, or God 
of life. The creation of mankind is attributed to him in a 
poem of the/w-i-jAjW, where a rejected lover exclaims : — 

" I hate not thee, 
It is the God I hate, 
Great Musubi : — 
Why did he men create 
Unto so hard a fate ? " 

The Kojiki speaks of the two deities Taka-musubi and 
Kamu-musubi as forming the second and third generations 
of Grods. The original text of the Nihongi omits all men- 
tion of them in this part of the narrative, but in a note 
there is a quotation from " one writing " in which they are 
named. In the various accounts of the measures taken to 
prepare the earth for occupation by Ninigi sometimes the 
Sun-Goddess is represented as giving instructions, some- 
times Taka-musubi, sometimes both together, and some- 
times Taka-musubi alone. Jimmu, in making mention of 
the two deities, g^ves precedence to Taka-musubi. This 
discordance in the various myths seems to indicate a 
struggle for ascendency between the respective adherents 
of Musubi and the Sun-Goddess. The Nihongi states that 
in A.D. 487 (a fairly trustworthy date), by request of the 
Moon-God and the Sun-Goddess, the worship of Taka-mi- 
musubi, whom these two deities call their ancestor and the 
Creator of Heaven and Earth, was established in two 
places, and grants of lands and of peasants made for the 
maintenance of the shrines. This is possibly the banning 
of the official worship of this God. In 859 several Musubi 
deities were raised to the first g^ade of the first rank. In 
the tenth century eight shrines to various Musubi deities 
existed within the Palace. With the official classes MusuU 
was a dangerous rival to the Sun-Goddess, more 
^specially durin^^ the Augustan age of Japanese literature. 



THE PANTHEON — NATURfe DfelTlES. t^S 

But be was too philosophical for popular favour. His 
worship is now greatly neglected. The Musubu no Kami 
of the present day is identified with the Chinese Gekka- 
rojin (moon-under-old-man), who presides over the fates of 
lovers. The strips of cloth frequently seen hung on bushes 
by the roadsides are offerings to him. The second meaning 
of Musubi, namely, " to tie," has no doubt something to do 
with this new view of the Grod's function. 

The Skofiroku traces the descent of a large number of 
the noble families of Japan from the various forms of 
MusubL This is a literal rendering of a statement which, 
in one sense, is true of everybody. We all resemble Topsy. 

Kuni-toko-taclii. — I place this deity provisionally among 
the personifications of abstractions. The name means 
literally " earth-eternal-stand." He is, therefore, apparently 
a deification of the durability of earth. Motoori and Hirata 
take toko as for soko^ bottom or limit. This would make 
this deity a personification of the horizon, or perhaps more 
accurately Lucretius's "flammantia maenia mundi." He 
has no sex and no special characteristics. He is barely 
mentioned in myth, and his cult, which is comparatively 
modem, was no doubt, as Hirata suggests, a result of the 
prominent position given him in the Nihongi as the first 
God in point of time, and as the ancestor of the Sun- 
Goddess, before whom he was therefore entitled to prece- 
dence. He was identified with the Taikyoku, or " Great 
Absolute," of the Chinese philosophers, was said to be 
immortal, and to comprise all the Gods in himself, was 
called ^ the name of the nameless, the form of that which 
has no form," and, in short, erected into a Supreme Being. 
In the fourteenth century an unsuccessful attempt was 
made to substitute him for the Food-Goddess as the deity 
of the outer shrine of Ise. At the present day he is wor- 
shipped at Mount Ontake, in the province of Shinano, a 
place much resorted to by pilgrims. 

O tentd-sama (august-heaven-way-personage) was pro- 



iy 



176 tHE t>AKtHfeoM— NATUkE t>ElTtfiS. 

bably originally a personification of the natural order ct 
things — Laotze's too, or Pindar's N((/ao9, the /3a<rtXc^ of 
Gods and men. But this is too abstract for the common 
Japanese. To them O tentd sama is the Sun itself, en- 
dowed, it is true, with certain moral attributes. 

Drought and Famine deities belong to this class. None 
of these is of much importance. 



\Y1 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE PANTHEON, MAN DEITIES. 
I. DEIFIED INDIVIDUAL MEN. 

None of the DU majores of the more ancient Shinto are "" \ 
deified individual men, and although it is highly probable 
that some of the inferior mythical personages were origin- 
ally human beings, I am unable to point to a case of this 
kind which rests on anything more than conjecture. 

Take-minakatay the deity of Suha in Shinano, may be ^ 
a real ancestral deity. He is very popular at the present 
day. This God is not mentioned in the Nihongi^ but his 
l^end is given in the Kojiki* and Kiujiki, He was a son 
of Ohonamochi, who, after his father's submission, refused 
alliance to the Sun-Goddess and fled to Suha, where he 
was obliged to surrender, his life being spared. Tradition 
says that the present Oho-hafuri, or chief priests of Suha, 
are direct descendants of this deity. The inhabitants hold 
that the God is the Oho-hafuri, and that the Oho-hafuri is 
the God. An oracle of the God is quoted to this effect : 
" I have no body, the hafuri is my body." His house is 
called the shinden or divine dwelling. He never leaves 
the neighbourhood, and takes precedence of the chief local 
oflicial. At every change of office the newly appointed , 
high priest formerly received a cap of honour and robes 
from the Palace of Kidto. He takes no active part in the . 
ceremonies of the annual festival, but sits on a chair in the 
middle of the sacred plot of gfround and receives the 
x)beisances of the people. This festival is called the mi- 
hashira-matsuri or '* festival of the august pillars." It is so 

* See Ch. K., p. loa. 



178 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

called because instead of a shrine there is only a plot of 
ground containing a "rock-cave*** with a great wooden 
post at each of the four comers. 

HaohlTnan. — The War-God Hachiman is one of the 
most conspicuous of the later Shinto deities. His origin is 
really unknown, but he is placed provisionally among 
deified human beings in accordance with the accepted 
tradition which makes him identical with the very l^endary 
Mikado 6jin. The ultimate authority for this statement 
is an oracle of the Grod himself delivered hundreds of years 
after djin's death. There is no mention of his worship in the 
Kojiki or Nihongi^ and the l^ends which carry it back to 
A.D. 570 are unworthy of credence. The original seat of 
this cult was Usa, in the province of Buzen, an old Shinto 
centre. Hachiman seem^ to have first come into notice in 
720, when he rendered efficient assistance in repelling a 
descent of Koreans on Japan. Forty years later Kiyomaro, 
the founder of the gfreat Minamoto family, made use of his 
oracles to thwart the ambitious projects of a priest named 
Ddkid, the Wolsey of Japanese history. The rise of the 
Minamoto family carried with it that of the God who had 
been so useful to them. In Seiwa's reign (859-880) a 
temple was erected to him at Ihashimidzu near Ki6to, 
where he received Imperial presents, and even visits. In 
1039 he was given a high place in the State religion. 

Hachiman is nominally a Shinto Grod. His Shinto 
quality is recognized in various ways, notably by the 
erection of the distinctive Shinto gateways known as torii^ 
before his shrines. But his cult is deeply tinctured with 
Buddhism. The numerous inspired utterances ascribed to 
him are thoroughly Buddhist in character. In several of 
these he calls himself Bosatsu (Bodhisattwa), which is a 
Buddhist term something like our saint He is also credited 
with giving instructions for the celebration of an annual 

* Probably a sepulchral dolmen. There are many in this district, said to 
be the tombs of Minakata's descendants. 



THE PANTHEON — MAN DEITIES. 1 79 

festival for the release of living things, which is, of course, 
a humanitarian Buddhist institution, wholly foreign to the 
rdk of a Japanese War-God. 

The shintai of Hachiman may be a pillow, a fly-brush, 
an arm-rest, or a white stone. 

Other l^fendary mortals, who in later times were 
honoured as War-Gods, are Jimmu, the founder of the 
Imperial d)masty, Jingo, the conqueror of Korea, Takechi 
no Sakune, her counsellor, and Prince Yamato-dake, the 
hero who subdued the east of Japan. None of these are 
treated as deities in the older Shinto books. 

Temxnanga, the God of Learning and Callig^phy, is 
undoubtedly a deified human being. 

" There is nobody in the worlds high or low, old or youngs 
man or woman, who does not look up with reverence to the 
Divine power of Temmangu, More especially children who 
are learning to read and write, and their teachers, all without 
exception, enjoy his blessings. Every one is therefore desirous 
of knowing the exact truth concerning him. But there are 
many false notions handed down by vulgar tradition. Chinese 
scholars have wantonly done violence to the history of an 
awful deity by introducing Chinese ideas, while the 
Buddhists, on the other hand, have been guilty of disfiguring 
the story by all manner of forced analogies. Sad to say, 
there is no book in which the real facts have been set down 
after investigation.'* 

The above is the exordium of a preface to a short life of 
Temmangu, prepared by Shintoists of the Hirata school. 
Of the work itself the following is a brief summary. The 
main facts of the story are beyond questioa But the 
reader will see that, notwithstanding the claims put forward 
in the preface, this work must be taken with not a few 
grains of salt. 

Temmangu's name as a mortal man was Sugahara Michi- 
7ane, He was bom in 845, and came of a family which 



l8o THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

had a hereditaiy reputation for learning. Nomi no Sukune, 
deified as the patron of wrestlers and potters, was one of 
his ancestors. Through him Michizane traced his descent 
up to the Sun-Goddess herself. As a child he was fond of 
study, and at an early age his knowledge of Chinese was 
such that he was appointed to entertain an ambassador 
from China. Being ordered by the Mikado to pray for 
rain, he observed the rules of ritual purity for several days^ 
and then prepared a form of prayer to the God of Hakusan 
(Izanagi), which had the desired efTect. He established a 
system of national education, and therefore became known 
as the " Father of letters." On reaching his fiftieth year he 
received congratulations and a present of gold dust from a 
genie. Soon afterwards he was made Prime Minister. In 
901, owing to the calumnies of a rival statesman, he fell 
into unmerited disgrace and was banished to Kiushiu. On 
his departure he addressed the following lines to a plum 
tree in his garden : — 

When the east wind"*" blows, 
Emit thy perfume 
Oh thou plum-blossom ; 
Forget not the spring, 
Because thy master is away. 

A branch of this tree broke off spontaneously and fol- 
lowed him into exile. There it planted itself in the ground 
and took root. Two years after, Michizane climbed a high 
mountain and, standing on tiptoe on the summit, prayed 
with all his heart and all his body for seven days and seven 
nights to Tentei (the Supreme Lord of Heaven). Whilst 
doing so his hair and beard turned white. The Tento 
(way of Heaven) had doubtless pity on an innocent man, 
for a cloud overspread the sky and bore up his petition 
into the Great Void. Michizane, overjoyed that his prayers 
were answered, made nine obeisances and retired. He died 
soon after, in his fifty-ninth year, to the great grief of the 

* The east is in Japan the soft wind— our zephyr. 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. l8l 

whole nation. Two years later, in accordance with a divine 
inspiration, a small shrine was erected to him under the 
title of Tem-man-ten-jin (the heavenly Kami who fills the 
heavens). In a few years Michizane's calumniator died by a 
curse from him. Other members of his family had the same 
fate. From the ears of one of his enemies small snakes issued 
who declared themselves the messengers of Michizane. 
When Prince Yasuaki died, in 923, everybody said that his 
death was owing to a curse sent by Michizane's spirit Then 
the Minister of State Kintada died suddenly. Three days 
after, he came alive again, and informed the Mikado that 
he had been to the Court of the King of Hades, where he 
saw Michizane, ten feet high, present a petition for an 
inquiry into the crime committed by the Mikado in banish- 
ing him unjustly. Influenced by Kintada's report, the 
Mikado burnt the decree of exile, recalled Michizane's 
children, and conferred posthumous honours upon him. 
But the angry ghost was still unappeased. In 929 it came 
down from Heaven and appeared to a former friend of his. 
Terrible storms, inundations, and other portents ensued. 
Ministers who tried to stay him from further ravages were 
burnt or kicked to death. Ultimately the ghost appeared 
before the Mikado and (U-otested his innocence, after which 
the Kami, as he is called, ascended. From this day forth 
the Mikado suffered from a poison which, in spite of 
prayers of all kinds, grew worse and worse. He abdicated 
in 930, and died a few days later. 

Michizane's ghost continued to plague the nation. In 
943 he appeared to a m»n woman of Kidto, and directed 
that a shrine should be erected to him in that city. In 947 
a boy of six years of age delivered an oracle from him to 
the following effect : " All the Thunder-Gods and Demons 
to the number of 168,000 have become my servants. If 
any one does evil I have him trampled to death by them. 
Pestilence, eruptive diseases, and other calamities have 
been placed in my hands by the Supreme Lord of Heaven, 



1 82 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES, 

and no Kami, however powerful, can control me. But I 
will give help to those who piously express their sorrow." 
Eight persons who were present took down this revelation 
in writing. At this time the shrine of Kitano at Ki6to 
was erected to him. But his wrath was not yet wholly 
stayed. Further honours were therefore awarded and gifts 
made to him. In 1004 the Mikado visited Kitano in person. 
At the present day Temmangu is one of the most widely 
worshipped of Shinto deities. In 1820 there were twenty- 
five shrines to him in Yedo and the neighbourhood. 

" He still hates the wicked, who do not keep the way of 
filial piety, and withholds his favour from those who dislike 
learning. You must therefore attend strictly to the commands 
of your parents and the instructions of your teachers. You 
must serve your chief with diligence, be upright of heart, 
eschew falsehood, and be diligent in study so that you may 
conform to the wishes of Temmangu, If you fail to do so, 
you will be cursed by him, and sooner or later incur calamity. 
For although the Kami cannot be seen by men, they will 
know whether their conduct is good or bad, and whether their 
hearts are upright or perverted** 

Although the life of Temmangu, from which the above 
account is taken, was compiled by men of the " Pure 
Shinto " school, and though in the preface the importation 
of Buddhist and Chinese ideas is stigmatized, it is itself 
penetrated with elements of this very kind. The " Supreme 
Lord of Heaven " is Chinese, and the Hades to which 
Michizane descended is not the Shinto Yomi, but the 
Buddhist Jigoku. No doubt the authors found these things 
in their materials, and were loth to excise edifying inci- 
dents, however badly they fitted in with Shinto theology. 

The acquaintance of the Japanese with the Chinese cult 
of Confucius must have greatly promoted, if it did not 
originate the worship of a native God of Learning. It will 
be observed that the attribution of nature - powers to 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 1 83 

Michizane was a substantial part of the process of deifica- 
tion, which was based on the alternate influence of the 
emotions of gratitude and fear. 

Nomi no Sukune, the Patron-God of wrestlers, was pro- 
bably a real human being. Hitomaro, the Poet-Grod, was 
undoubtedly so. Another muse of poetry, Sotoori-hime, 
belongs to more legendary times, but was probably likewise 
a real person. lyeyasu, the founder of the last dynasty of 
Shoguns, was deified under the title of Tosho Gongen, but 
this, like many other similar apotheoses, is, in reality, 
Buddhist rather than Shinto. 

II. GODS OF CLASSES. 

Ministers and Attendants of the Son-Goddess. — The 

application of the hereditary principle to Government 
offices has had many vicissitudes in Japan. When the 
country emerges into the light of history, both Court 
offices and local chieftaincies were usually transmitted " 
from father to son. Among the hereditary institutions of 
this kind were the Be. The Be were Government corpora- ^ 
tions charged with some special branch of service. There 
were Be of weavers, of farmers, of potters, &c., a Be for the i, 
supply of necessaries to the Palace, an executioner's Be, 
and others. If we imagine a dockyard staff in which the 
director and officials belonged to a governing caste, the 
artisans being serfs, and the whole having a more or less 
hereditary character, we shall have a tolerably correct idea 
of a Be. 

The Gods of five Be are represented as in attendance on 
the Sun-Goddess, and as accompanying Ninigi to Earth 
when he was sent down to be its ruler. These were : — 

Koyane, ancestor of the Nakatomi* House. The etymo- 
l<^y of Koyane is uncertain. The worship of this deity 
bad a special importance, from the fact that he was the 

* See Index, NakatomL 



V 



184 *HE iPANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

Ujigami* of the Fujihara family, a branch of the Nakatomi, 
which for many centuries supplied a large proportion of 
the Empresses and Ministers of State. It would hardly be 
too much to say that the Fujiharas were the Imperial 
House. The shintai of Koyane was a jewel or shaku^ that 
is, a tablet borne by Ministers as an emblem of office. 
Hirata identifies widi him a deity named Koto no machi 
no Kami, or God of Divination. The corresponding deity 
in the Idzumo myth of Ohonamochi was Ama no hohi. 
The supposed descendants of this deity had charge of the 
sacred fire which was handed over by one generation to 
another with great ceremony. 

Fatodama. — Futodama means great gift or offering. 
The Imi-be,t his reputed descendants, discharged a number 
of duties connected with the State religious ceremonies, 
including the provision of sacrificial offerings. 

Usune means '' dread female." She was the ancestress 
of the Sarume, or " monkey female," who performed reli- 
gious dances {kagura) at Court and delivered inspired 
utterances. Hirata identifies this deity with Oho-miya no 
me (great-palace-female), worshipped as one of the eight 
Gods of the Jingikwan, or Department of Religion. She 
represents the chief lady officials of the Palace as a class. 
Uzume, in announcing to the Sun-Goddess the approach 
of Susa no wo, discharged one of their duties. From 
another point of view she is a type of the wise woman, 
sorceress, or prophetess. She was prayed to for long life, 
for protection from evil by night and by day, for honours, 
and for posterity. One of the narito splits up Oho-miya 
no me into five separate deities. 

lahikoridome means apparently '' the stonecutter." Why 
should the supposed ancestor of the mirror-makers have 
received this name ? The circumstance that stone moulds 

* See Index, UJigami, 
t See Index, Imibe, 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 1 8$ 

for casting bronze objects have been found in Japan 
suggests a possible answer. 

Toyootamay '^rich jewel/' the ancestor of the jewel- 
makers' Be, requires no explanation. 

The Kiujiki gives a list of thirty-two deities as forming 
the Court of Ninigi on his descent to Earth, and adds the 
names of the noble families who were descended from 
them. A few of these are nature-deities. Of the remainder 
some tnay be deified real men, but I prefer to reckon them 
provisionally along with such class conceptions as Tommy 
Atkins, John Bull, Brother Jonathan, and Mrs. Grundy. 

KotOHihiro-xmahl is one of those secondary formations in 
which the personification of nature and the deification of 
man meet and mingle. As the son and counsellor of the 
Elarth-God and Creator Ohonamochi he is related to the 
class of nature-deities, while as an individualized type of a 
class of human beings and as the supposed ancestor of 
certain noble families he belongs to the current of thought 
which exalts man to divinity. 

Shiro in this God's name is for shiru^ " to know," and so 
to attend to, to manage, to govern. Koto-shiro-nushi is, 
therefore, " thing-govem-master." The character and func- 
tions of this deity are not well defined. He was one of 
the Gods who advised Jing6's famous expedition against 
Korea, on which occasion he described himself as "the 
Deity who rules in Heaven, who rules in the Void, the 
gem-casket-entering-prince, the awful Koto-shiro-nushi." 
In the Ohonamochi myth he is represented as his father's 
chief counsellor. Owing to his services in persuading him 
to transfer the Government of Japan to Ninigi without 
resistance, he was held in great honour at the Mikado's 
Court, of which he was considered one of the principal 
protectors. The Jingikwan included him among the eight 
Gods specially worshipped by them to the neglect of many 
more important deities, including even his father, Ohona- 
mochi In the Manydshiu he is called upon by a lover to 



1 86 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

punish him if he is insincere in his protestaticms. In modem 
times the cult of Koto-shiro-nushi has fallen into decay, 
while that of his rebellious younger brother, the God of 
Suha, flourishes greatly. The pious Motoori is much per- 
plexed and grieved by this state of things. 

Sakona-bikona. — Another God who is associated with 
Ohonamochi in myth and worship is the dwarf deity,* 
Sukuna-bikona (little-prince). He is said to have taught 
mankind the arts of brewing, magic and medicine, and to 
have provided medicinal thermal springs, where he is still 
worshipped. But in modern times his cult has been greatly 
superseded by that of Yakushi the Indian Esculapius, 
whose avatar he is supposed to be. 

I take Sukuna-bikona to be a deified type of medicine 
man, a '* Father of medicine" in the abstract But the 
story related of himf may have some foundation in the 
history of a real person. 

III. GODS OF ABSTRACT HUMAN QUALITIES. 

Sahe no kamL — The Sahe no kami are phallic deities. 
In approaching this subject, it behoves me to walk warily. 
For, to some writers so repulsive that they shirk even its 
necessary elucidation, it exercises a fascination upon others 
which is not conducive to sound reasoning. Has not a 
President of the Anthropological Institute declared that 
"so soon as a man begins to study phallicism he goes 
crazy " ? With phallicism we may conveniently associate 
the corresponding cult of the kteis. 

In Japan, the phallus symbolizes two distinct, although 
not unrelated, principles. Primarily, it represents the 
generative or procreative power, and is recognized in this 
capacity by myth and custom. By a natural transition it 

* ** There lies in dwarfs a special acquaintance with the healing virtues 
hidden in herbs." — Grimm, * Teutonic Mythology,* 
t See above, p. 107. 



THE PANTHEON — MAN DEITlfeS. 1 87 

has become the symbol of the more abstract conception of 
lusty animal life, the foe to death and disease. Hence its 
use as a magical prophylactic appliance. In Shinto, this 
latter principle is much the more prominent It is 
embodied in the name Sahe no kami, which means 
Jl^I^raitiye^dgitj^" The application of this epithet is 
clear from the circumstance that in a norito they are 
invoked for protection against the " unfriendly and savage 
beings of the Root Country," that is to say Yomi or Hades. 
These by no means imaginary personage are the same as 
tjie Ugly Females, the thunders generated from Izanami's 
dead body and the armies of Yomi of myth.* They 
represent, or rather are identical with, diseases and other 
evils associated with death and the grave. Epidemic and 
contagious diseases are specially intended. Hence the Sahe ^ 
no kami are also called Yakushin, or ^ Pestilence Deities," 
meaning the Gods who ward off pestilence, a phrase 
wrongly taken in later times to signify the Gods who 
produce pestilence. The use of the phallus and ktets for j 
this purpose is primarily magical, and rests on the well- 
known principle that a symbol possesses something of the 
virtue of the thing which it represents. The deification of 
these symbols came later. 

In the norito entitled Michiahef there are three Sahe 
no kami, namely, Yachimata-hiko, Yachimata-hime, and 
Kunado. The first two of these names mean " eight-road- 
fork-prince" and " eight-road-fork-princess." Kunado is ^^ y 
the "come-not-place," and is, therefore, an equivalent to a 
notice of " no thoroughfare " addressed to any evil beings 
who might attempt to pass that way. An alternative form 
of this, word is Funado, or " pass-not-place." 

There is. a good deal of confusion about the Sahe no 
kami. Yachimata-hiko and Yachimata-hime are not men- 
tioned in the Kojiki or Nihongi. The Kiujiki has a 

J • Sec above, p. 93. 

t See Index, Michiahe, 



\. 



V 



1 88 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

* 

Chimata no kami (God of the Crossways), ^ich it says is 
also termed Kunado no kami, and adds two others named 
Naga-chiha no kami and Michijiki no kami, both of which 
names imply a connexion with highways. The Nikongi 
makes five of these deities, adding two to the three of the 
Kiujiki. All are associated in some way or another with 
Izanagi's descent to Yomi, having been produced either 
from the articles flung do>¥n by him during his fl^ht 
thenoe, or when he washed in the sea in order to purify 
himself from the pollutions contracted during his visit 

These deities had no temples. The festivals in their 
honour took place at crossways on the four sides of the 
capital, or at the frontier of the metropolitan province, 
r^rularly at the close of the sixth and twelfth months, and 
at other times upon occasions of emergency. Thus in 735, 
during an epidemic, the Governor of Dazaifu in Kiushiu 
was ordered to celebrate a michi-ahey or Road festival, and 
in 839 the Mikado directed that honours should be paid to 
the Gods of Pestilence. A ceremony in honour of the 
Sahe no kami was also performed two days before the 
arrival of foreign envoys in the capital, in order to guard 
against the danger of their bringing with them infection, 
evil influences, or demons from abroad.* 

A work entitled * Fus6 Ryakki ' states that in 938 Gods 
were carved in wood and set up face to face along the 
highways and byways, or female forms were made and set 
up opposite to males. Children worshipped them boister- 
ously, and made reverent offerings of pieces of cloth and 
fragrant flowers. They were called Chimata no kami, that 
is to say "Gods of the Crossways," or Mitama (august 



* '* Before strangers are allowed to enter a district certain ceremonies are 
often performed by the natives of the country for the purpose of disarming 
them of their magical powers, of coonteracting the balefiil inflaence which is 
believed to emanate from them, or of disinfecting, so to speak, the tainted 
atmosphere with which they are supposed to be surromided." — Fraxer's 
* Golden Bough,' L 150. 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 1 89 

Spirits), a term which in its Chinese form Goryd is still 
preserved in the name of the great festival (GorySye) of 
Gion at Ki6to. The Chimata no kami can be no other 
than Yachimata-hiko and Yachimata^hime. A later notice 
speaks of the worship of wooden figures, male and female, 
provided with sexual organs. Similar figures in stone may 
still, Hirata says, be seen in the eastern provinces, idiere 
they are sometimes mistaken for Jizo, the Buddhist 
children's God, and honoured in the temples. 

The third of the Sahe no kami of the noritOy namely, 
Kunado, can be nothing but a simple phallus. Its shape, 
formed of Izan^^'s staff, is consistent with this view. In 
the Tsujiura, or Cross Roads divination, this God was repre- 
sented by a staff. The same inference is suggested by its 
association with Yadiimata-hiko and Yachimata^hime, 
who, as we have seen, were unquestionably phallic deities ; 
and also with the peach, which, like Kunado himself, was 
used by Izanagi for his protection against the evil beings 
of Yomi. Like the apricot in India and the pomegranate 
in ancient Greece, the peach is in China and Japan the 
acknowledged representative of the kteis^ as the pestle and 
the mushroom are of the phallus. Peach-wood staves were 
used in the oni-yarahi (demon-expelling) ceremony on the 
last day of the year. A similar interpretation is, perhaps, 
applicable to the horseshoes nailed over doors in England 
which, intended at first to keep out evil spirits, are now 
meant simply '' for luck," in accordance with the tendency 
for the more special functions of Gods and magical appli- 
ances to become obscured and merged in a hazy, general 
notion of their beneficence or usefulness. Peach-shaped 
charms from China figure in a London tradesman's cata- 
Ic^e which has just reached me. 

There is a custom, called sammai^ of scattering rice, 
which was formerly observed at purification ceremonies, 
and is kept up at the present day in rooms where there is 
a new-bom child. Hirata tells of a case in which the rice 



l^ 




190 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. 

SO scattered was found marked with biood-stains, showing, 
as he infers, that the object of this practice was to drive off 
demons, not to conciliate them by an offering. I have 
more than a suspicion that the efficacy of rice for this pur- 
pose, and also of the beans used to drive off* demons on the 
last day of the year,* is due to a resemblance of this kind.t 
The wo-bashira (male-pillar) is doubtless only a modified 
Kunado. This term is applied to the end-post of the railing 
of a bridge or of the balustrade of a staircase, and is so 
called from its obviously phallic shape and function. It is 
a post surmounted by a large knob, and its position com- 
manding the thoroughfare shows that it is intended to 
arrest the passage of evil beings or influences. It is still to 
be seen everywhere in Japan, but its meaning is now for- 
j gotten. The end-tooth of a coQib was also called wo- 
' baskira. We now see the significance of Izanagi's selection 
of this object for converting into a torch in order to light 
up the darkness of Yomi. In Italy even at the present 
day the phallus fulfils a similar function. 

The phallus appears in another form at the festival held 
in honour of the Sahe no Kami on the first full moon in 
every year. The Makura no Soski, written about A.D. looo, 
tells us that it was then the custom for the boys in the 
Imperial Palace to go about striking the younger women 
^ with the potsticks used for making gruel on this occasion. 
This was supposed to ensure fertility. It reminds us of 
the Roman practice at the spring festival of Lupercalia, 
alluded to by Shakespeare in his ' Julius Caesar ' : — 

" Forget not in your speed, Antonius, 
To touch Calphumia ; for our elders say 
The barren touched in this holy chase 
Shake off their steril curse." 

The Japanese novelist and antiquary Kioden, writing 

* See Index, Tstdna, 
J f Eustathias, the commentator on Homer, points out that the barley-oorn 
denoted the vulva with the writers npon the Bacchic Komoses. 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. I9I 

about a century ago, informs us that a similar custom was 
at that time still practised in the province of Echigo. He 
gives a drawing of the sticks used for the purpose, of the 
phallic character of which there can be no doubt They 
were called kedzurikake (part-shaved), and consisted of 
wands whittled near the top into a mass of adherent 
shavings, as in the illustration. 

Kedzurikake of elder or willow are still made in some 
places. In Harima, on the 14th day of the ist month, 
kedzurikake are hung up under the eaves in substitution 
for the kadomatsu^ or fir trees placed by the entrance gate 
at the New Year. In Suwo, kedzurikake^ made of a thorny 
tree called tara^ are placed on each side of the front and ^ 
back doors at this season, no doubt with the object of 
averting evil influences. When the kadomatsu and other 
New Year's decorations are removed on the 15th day of 
the 1st month, they are in many places collected by the 
boys as material for a bonfire. This is called dondo or 
sagicho^ and the burning of the kedzurikake is a feature of 
it In the Yamagata ken, wherever there are stone images 
of Dosdjin, the phallic God of Roads,* the boys at this 
time make a bonfire of fir trees and straw, and build for 
themselves a hut beside it When the people assemble, 
they come out and fire it If the dumplings made on the 
14th are roasted in this fire and eaten, malignant diseases 
need not be feared during the ensuing half year. In 
Hitachi this hut is called the *' Hall of the Sai no Kami." 
The embers are used for re-lighting the domestic fires or \ 
kept as charms against pestilence. 

* I have before me a picture of a Dds5jm. It stands at cross-roads, and 
is a phalloid natural boulder over which depends a shimenaka supported by 
two bamboos. In front of it are little piles of stones, of which the similar 
offerings to the Buddhist children's God Jizflsama are doubUess a survival. 
The modem practice of bringing the JizO of the neighbourhood and dumpii^ 
them down before the lodging of a newly-married couple is no doubt a similar 
case of survival. A custom which began with the Dfls^in is continued with 
the JizA, which now occupy their place at crossways. 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. I93 

Fire, kindled from kedzurikake after prayer, was given 
out to the people by the priests of Gion in Ki5to on the 
last day of the year. It was transferred to a slow match, 
and used for rekindling the household fires, the object 
being to prevent pestilence during the coming year.* The 
\ mythical burning of a wobashira (also a phallic emblem) 
by Izanagi in Yomi was probably suggested by some such 
custom.t It will be observed that the pr ophyla ctic jtdrtue 
of the phallus has not been forgotten in the kedzurikake. 

The kedzurikake are sometimes described as the shintai 
of Dosojin, and are placed on the domestic altar to be 
worshipped as his representative. They are also, by a 
known confusion of ideas, presented to the Gods as offerings. 
The Ainus of Yezo, who have adopted the kedzurikake as 
the general form of offering to their Gods at all times, 
and attach to it no phallic signification, were no doubt y 
familiar with this use of it by their Japanese neighbours. 
It is by them called inao or nusa, the latter being the old 
Japanese word for offering. The facility with which such 
offerings could be prepared by savages must have been a 
recom menda tion. 

The two cylindrical shingi, or " divine sticks," eight or 
nine inches in circumference and one foot long, thrown to 
the crowd by the priests of Seidaiji, near Okayama, on the 
night of the 14th day of the ist month, and called fuku 
(luck), to keep off* pestilence and bring prosperity, are 
probably of phallic origin. 

The gruel partaken of at the Sahe no Kami festival on 
the 15th of the 1st month was made of rice, and was 
coloured with an admixture of the small red bean called 
adzukiX The bean is a well-known synonym in Japan for 

* We may compare with this an old English custom mentioned by Brand of 
the priests blessing candles at Candlemas and distributing them to the people, 
" so that the Divil may fly out of the habitation." 

t Sec above, p. 93. 

% Phaseo^MS radiaiuf, 

H 



194 THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES* 

the kteis. The colour red is also significant It suggests 
the ruddy complexion of health caused by an abundance 
of life-giving blood in the lips and cheeks. Children love 
this colour. Max Nordau says : " As a feeling of pleasure 
is always connected with dynamogeny or the production of 
force, every living thing instinctively seeks for dynamo- 
genous sense impressions. Now red is especially dynamo- 
genous." In * CEdipus Tyrannus/ the Chorus invoke the 
aid of ruddy-faced Bacchus against pestilence. In Korea 
red is a terror to devils. A modem Japanese writer says 
that red is obnoxious to devils on account of its cheerful 
appearance. 

Small-pox being a Kijin bio^ or demon-sent disease, the 
colour red is freely employed in combating it. The candles 
at the bedside are red, and the clothing of the patient and 
nurse. The God of Small-pox is worshipped with offerings 
of red gohei (there is here some confusion of ideas) and of 
red adzuki beans. Red paper is hung round the necks of 
the bottles of sake offered to him. Red papier machi figures 
of Daruma are placed near the sick-bed. It is explained 
that red, being a yd (male, bright, positive) colour, is fitted^ 
to counteract dark, wintry, n^ative influences. The potency 
of red as a charm against small-pox is not unknown to 
European folk-lore. 

Phalli are coloured a bright red, or, what comes to the 
same thing, gilt Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity, has a bright 
red complexion. Torii are painted red. Demons and 
stage villains have red faces, probably as an indication of 
great animal vigour. 

Griflis, in his * Mikado's Empire,' tells us that " when by 
reason of good fortune or a lucky course of events there is 
great joy in a family it is customary to make kowatneshi^ 
or red rice, and give an entertainment to friends and neigh- 
bours. The rice is coloured by boiling red beans with it 
If for any cause the colour is not a fine red, it is a bad 
omen for the family." There is a modern superstition that 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. I9S 

if, on the 7th day of the ist month, a male swallows seven, \ 
and a female fourteen red beans, they will be free from 
sickness all their lives. 

The To-yu-ki^ a work published in 1795, has the fol- 
lowing : — 

"/« many places along the highway at Atsumi, in the 
province of Deha, where the cliffs stand up steeply on both 
sides^ shinu-naha are stretched across from one cliff to another. 
Below these shime-naha there are placed skilfully carved 
wooden phcdli fronting the road. They are very large^ being 
seven or eight feet in length and perhaps three or four feet in 
circumference. I thought this too shocking^ and questioned 
the inhabitants why they did so. Their answer was that it 
was a very ancient custom. They were called Sat no kami^ 
and were made afresh every year on the i^th day of the 
1st month. As they were local Gods^ they were by no means 
neglectful of themy allowing them to re^nain even when high 
officials passed that way. They were not at all^ I was told^ 
put up for the amusement of the young folks. Moreover ^ ' 
seeing a number of slips of paper attached to the shime-naha^ 
I inquired what they might be. It appeared that they were 
fastened there secretly by the women of the place as a prayer 
for handsome lovers. Truly this is one of those old customs 
which linger in remote parts. Phcdli and ktenes of stone 
are worshipped by the country-folks in many places as the 
shintai of their ujigami.** 

The selection of a rocky pass for the erection of these 
objects, and the association with them of shime-ncdta^ show 
that their original function, namely, to prevent the passage 
of evil beings or influences, was not forgotten. The prayers 
of the women betray a misconception of the proper object 
of this cult 

* The modern spelling sal implies an altered conception of the function of 
these objects. It means good luck, a vaguer and more general idea than saluy 
which means prevention (of disease). 

t See Index. 

H 2 



106 tHt panTheon-**man deities. 

Near the end of the Kogojiui there is a passage which 
makes mention of the phallus as a magical appliance. As 
it has some anthropological interest, I quote it at length : 

*' Ofyore^ in the age of the Gods^ Oho-toko-nushi no Kami 
{great-iarth-master-deity)^ on a day that he was cultivating 
a rice-field^ gave his labourers the flesh of oxen to eat. At 
this time the child of Mi-toshi no Kami {august-harvest-god) 
went to that rice-field and spat upon the food^ after which he 
returned and reported the matter to his father, Mi-toshi no 
Kami was wroth and let loose locusts on that fields so that 
the leaves of the young riu suddenly withered away and it 
became like dwarf bamboos. Upon this Oho-toko-nushi no 
Kami caused the diviners to ascertain by their art the reason 
of this. They replied that it was owing to a curse sent by 
Mi'toshi no Kamiy and advised him to offer a white pig^ a 
white horsCy and a white cock in order to dispel his anger. 
When amends had been fPtade to Mi-toshi no Kami in the 
manner directedy the latter replied^ saying : * Truly it was my 
doing. Take bare stalks of hemp y and make of them a reel 
with which to reel it^ take the leaves and sweep it therewith^ 
take ^^ push-grass "* of Heaven and push it therewith, Take^ 
moreover y crow-fan* and fan ity and if then the locusts do not 
depart^ take ox-flesh and place it in the runnels^ adding to it 
shapes of the fnale stem {phalli). Moreover ^ strew the banks 
of earth between the fields with water-lily seeds^ ginger^ 
walnut leaves and salt* When these instructions were 
carried out the leaves of the young rice became thick again^ 
and the harvest was a plentiful one. This is the reason why 
at the present day the Department of Religion worships 
Mi-toshi no Kami with offerings of a white pig^ a white 
horsCy and a white cock.** ' 

The facts quoted in the preceding pages show that there 
was some confusion between the use of the male and 
female emblems as non-religious magical appliances and 

* The names of plants. 



THE PANTHEON — MAN DEITIES. [197 

their cult as deities. Primarily they were symbols, next 
objects of magic. Finally Religion intervened, and by her 
handmaids Personification and Myth raised them to the 
rank of deities, consecrating this step still further by 
devoting a formal ritual to their service. The kteis has 
received somewhat less attention than the phallus. It is 
no doubt identical with the Vachimata himeof the Michiahe 
norito^ and in the Kojikt^ its representative the peach is 
dubbed kami. But the Nihongi in the parallel passage 
merely speaks of its efficacy in repelling evil spirits, and 
refrains from deifying or even personifying it 

The circumstance that the Sahe no Kami were wor- 
shipped by the roadsides and at crossways* led to their 
being looked upon as guide-Gods and the special friends 
of travellers. Saruta-hiko, a phallic deity, represented as 
dwelling at the eight crossways of Heaven, is said to have 
acted as guide to Ninigi on his descent to earth. He is 
popularly called Dosojin, or Road-ancestor-deity, and is 
depicted as of gigantic stature, with a portentously long 
nose, which (the suggestion is not mine) may perhaps 
have a phallic morphological signification. 

The worship of these deities was extremely popular in 
ancient Japan. They were much appealed to in divination,t 
and were prayed to by most travellers when starting on a 
journey. The phrase chi buri no Kami (Grods along the 
road) means the Sahe no KamL The Sahe no Kami were 
the mitama par excellence. They were also called tamuke 
no Kami (Gods of offerings) because travellers were in the 
habit of carrying a nusa-bukuro (offering-bag) containing 
hemp leaves and rice, of which a little was offered to each 
of them when passing. All unforeseen disasters or illnesses 
on a journey were attributed to a n^lect of the worship of 
these deities. 

* Crossways had a special sanctity in many countries. The Uerm« of 
aodent Greece stood at crossways. 
t See Iixlez, Tsuji-ura. 



> 



\ 



198 THE PANTHEON — MAN DEITIES. 

But a veiy little advance in enl^htenment shows that 
the sexual instincts need restraint* rather than the stimulus 
which they must derive from such a cult So early as 
A.D. 939 a deity of this kind which stood in a conspicuous 
position in Ki5to, and was worshipped by all travellers, was 
removed to a less prominent situation. Phallicism ulti- 
mately disappeared from official Shinto. But it lingered 
long in popular customs, and is not quite extinct even at 
the present day, especially in eastern Japan. I have 
myself witnessed a procession in which a phallus, several 
feet high and painted a bright red, was carried on a bier 
by a crowd of coolies in festal uniform, shouting, laugh- 
ing, and zig-zagging tumultuously from one side of the 
street to another. In the lupanars they are honoured by 
having a lamp of simple construction kept burning 
before them, and are prayed to by the proprietor for 
numerous clients. The boys' festival of dondoy on the 
iSth of the 1st month, still retains traces of its phallic 
origin.! 

OnL — Oni^ or demons, have no individual names. It is 
clear from the Kojiki and Nihongi mythical narratives that 
the oni exorcised by means of the peacht are the same as 
the " thunders " and the " armies of Yomi." In other words, 
they are primarily personified diseases.§ They afterwards 
lost this specific character. Motoori defines oni as askiki 
kami, or "evil deity." He condemns their identification 
by the Wamidsh6 with the spirits of the dead. There is a 
story of a tenth-century hero who cut off the arm of an oni 
and brought it home with him, but was tricked out of it by 

* Measures were taken in ancient Greece to check the excesses of the 
Bacchanalian rites. 

t For further evidence on this subject, Dr. Buckle/s ' PhaUidsm in Japan ' 
(Chicago, 1895), ^t Nihongi^ i. 11, and Dr. Griffis's 'Religions of Japan* 
may be consulted. 

X Nihongi^ L 3a 

§ According to St. Augustine, the devils of Scripture are our passions and 
imbridled appetites. 



THE PANTHEON— MAN DEITIES. I99 

(he owner, who came to his house in the disguise of an old 
woman. 

The ont have red faces, haiiy persons, horns, and some- 
times only one eye. They are said to devour men. The 
modem ideas respecting them are mostly borrowed from 
Buddhist sources. 

Oodi of Oood and HI Luck. — Among deified human 
properties we may reckon the Gods of Good and 111 Luck 
produced when Izanagi washed in the sea after his return 
from Yomi. Their names, Naobi and Magatsubi, contain 
the elements naOy straight, and maga^ crooked. 

Naki-sahame, the Goddess of weeping, Ta-jikara-wo 
(hand-strength-male), whose shintai is a bow, and Omohi- 
kane, the thought combiner, are rather mythical personages 
than deities on the effective list It is doubtful whether 
Mari no kami, the foot-ball God, who has three faces, is a 
personification of skill or a hazy, imaginative recollection 
of some distinguished player. 

The very terrible deity known as Bimb5-gami, the God 
of Poverty, is of later origin. 



200 



I 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE PRIESTHOOD. 

Shinto illustrates the principle enunciated by Herbert 
Spencer, that " in early stages of social evolution the secular 
and the sacred are but little distinguished." The Mikado 
was at the same time high priest and king. There was no 
well-marked distinction between secular and religious cere- 
monies. The functionaries who performed the latter had 
no specially sacerdotal character and no distinctive cos- 
tume. . The T i ngiky an. or Department of Religion, was 
simply a (jbvernment burea u, and the rites celebrated in 
its" chapel were as much Government proceedings as the 
issuing of decrees or the collection of taxes. Almost any 
official might be called upon to dischai^e religious func- 
tions. The local governors on their appointment made a 
round of visits for worship to all the shrines in their juris- 
] diction. All the principal shrines had State endowments. 
The word fiiatsuri-goto\ government, is simply matsuriy a 
religious festival, with the termination koto^ thing, which 
adds nothing to its etymological significance. Hirata says 
that the worship of the Gods is the source of Government 
— nay, it is Government. The same word miya (august- 
house) was in common use both for shrines and palaces. 
There was, however, a beginning of a differentiation of 
sacred and secular functions. The Mikado delegated some 
of his religious duties to the Nakatomi House, and, as we 
shall see, other religious duties were hereditary in other 
families. Thus a Sun-worship Be, or hereditary corpora- 
tion, was established* in 577. One version of the myth of 
Ohonamochi represents him as giving up his authority 
with the words, '' Let the august grandchild direct the 
public affairs of which I have charge : I will retire and 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 20I 

direct secret matters." Evidently we have here an echo of 
some actual separation of civil and religious authority. 
Far on into historical times the guardians of the " Great 
Shrine " of Ohonamochi in Idzumo retained a title {kuni 
no miyakkd) which, like that of pontifex at Rome, implied 
the performance of secular duties. In the reign of Kwammu 
782-806) it was found that the local nobility {kuni no 
fniyakko)y many of whom still acted as governors, neglected 
their civil functions, on the pretence that their time was 
occupied by religious duties. A decree was therefore issued 
that in future no local nobles should hold the office of civil 
governor. 

The SUkado. — The chief priest of Shinto is the Mikado 
himself. Jimmu, the l^endary founder of the dynasty, is 
represented as performing sacrifice in person. Jing5 is 
said to have acted on one occasion as kannushu In his- 
torical times Mikados presided personally over the cere- 
monies of Nihiname, Shinkonjiki, Kanname, and other 
festivals. Even at the present day the Mikado's priestly 
functions are not entirely obsolete. 

NakatomL — For many centuries most of the Mikado's 
sacerdotal functions have been del^ated. In the Jimmu 
legend there is mention of the appointment of a Michi no 
Omi (minister of the way) as ruler of a festival in honour 
of Taka-musubi. At the dawn of history we find the 
Nakatomi hereditary corporation the recogfnized vicars of 
the Mikado. Tradition traces their descent from the God 
Koyane. The most probable etymology of Nakatomi 
explains it as put for Naka'tsu-omiy that is to say, the 
minister of the middle. Hirata understands by this that 
the Nakatomi were mediators between the Gods and the 
Mikado^ reciting the Mikado's norito to the Gods, and tom- 
Qiunicating to him their instructions received by divination. 
In Shinto, however, there was no indispensable sacerdotal \ 
mediator. There was nothing to prevent the Mikado, or) 
any one, from holding direct communication with the deities./ 




f 



202 THE PRIESTHOOD. 

A branch of the Nakatomi House, which in the seventh 
centuty took the name of Fujihara, was famous in later 
histoty. Up to 1868 the nominal Prime Ministers and 
Regents were invariably taken from it. The officials of 
the Jingikwan, or Department of Religion, were largely 
Nakatomi, as were also the Chokushi, or Imperial envoys 
to the local shrines. Yet the Nakatomi were hardly what 
we should call a priestly caste, like the Levites or Brahmins. 
The local priesdiood were not ordinarily Nakatomi, and 
many of this House held purely civil appointments. 

The Jingikwan took precedence even of the Dajokwan, 
or Grand Council of State. It was presided over by an 
official called Haku. He had the supreme control of all 
the Shinto State ceremonies, and authority over the local 
priesthood. He was assisted by a vice-president, and had 
a staff of Imbe, Urabe, and clerks. The Haku took the 
place of the Mikado when the latter was prevented by 
illness from offering his daily prayers. From the eleventh 
century up till quite recently the Haku was one of the 
Shirakaha family, who trace their descent from the Mikado 
Kwazan (985-6), and enjoyed the title of <), or prince. 
As explained above, the Nakatomi were practically the 
Imperial family. 

Jbnbe. — The Imbe were another hereditary corporation, 
descended, it was said, from the Grod Futodama (great- 
gift). Their chief business was to prepare the offerings, 
and their name I mi-be (imi means avoidance, or religious 
abstinence) has reference to the care with which they 
avoided all sources of impurity in doing so. The Imbe, 
after praying to the Mountain-God, cut down with a sacred 
(tmi) axe the trees required for shrines, or at least b^an 
the work, leaving it to be completed by ordirtkry workmen. 
They also dug the foundations with a sacred (imi) mattock. 
Two of the norito^ namely, the Ohotono and the Mikado, were 
read by them. It was also their duty, at least at one period, 
to deliver the regalia to the Mikado at his coronation. 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 203 

A Chinese description of Japan, written long before the 
Kojiki or Nihangi^ gives the following account of what were 
in all probability the predecessors of the Imbe : — 

** They {the Japanese) appoint a man whom they call an 
* abstainer^ He is not allowed to comb his hair^ to wash^ to 
eat fleshy or to approach women. When they are fortunate^ 
they make him presents, but if they are illy or meet with 
disaster y they set it down to the abstainer^ s failure to keep his^ 
vowSy and unite to put him to deathr^ 

This is a description of a Epical .^ycfttif In the Imbe 
of historical times we have the closely allied idea of scru- 
pulous attention to religiQUS purity. But thq^ were not 
celibates or vegetarians except ad hoc when a festival 



/ 



was_igipgading^ and so far froriTIT^ectihg the care 
of their persons, strict^ clraojiness was incumbent upon 
them. 

Urabe. — A third hereditary religious corporation in 
ancient Japan was that of the ^lyiners or Urabe. They 
are mentioned in the Nihongi under the date A.D. 585. 
They were divided at a later period into four branches, 
belongii^ respectively to the provinces of Iki, Tsushima, 
Idzu, and Hitachi. Twenty of these diviners were attached 
to the Jingikwan. It was their duty to decide by the I 
deer's shoulder-blade ot tortoise-shell divination such 
mattes as were referred to them by the superior officials r 
of the department. Urabe were despatched to the pro- 
vinces to fetch the rice which was used in the Ohonihe 
ceremony. It was also their duty to take away and throw ( 
into a river the harahe-tsu-monOy or offerings of purification. 
For many centuries this office has been in the hands of 
the Yoshida family, whose exorbitant pretensions fill 
Hirata with indignation. 

* For an account of similar priests or medicine men in many other countries, 
see 'The Golden Boogh.' The Nadrite (Numbers vi.) b their Je¥rish 
counterpart 




204 THE PRIESTHOOD. 

The Nakatomi, Imbe, Urabe, and '6 (princes of the 
Shirakaha House), constitute what are called the Shi-sei, 
or four surnames of the Jingikwan. 

Saishn. — ^The high-priest at Ise was called Saishu, or 
worship-master. This office w as Jiereditarv in the Fujinami 
family , a branch of the Nakatomi. 

' Daigpji. — The high-priests of Atsuta, Kashima, Usa, and 
Aso were termed Daiguji, or great-shrine-functionaries. 
There was a Dai-gu-ji at Ise, subordinate to the Saishu. 
This office was also hereditary. 

^^SJ^ggi. — Kannushi is for kami-nuski, that is, deity- 
master. It is the naost general word for Shinto priest. 
Properly it is only the chief priest ot the shrine who is so 
designated. The Kannushi are appointed by the State. 
In early times their duties were performed by officials who 
already held secular posts. In 820 a decree was made 
prohibiting this practice, as it was found that such Kannushi 
neglected the care of the shrines of which they had charge. 
At the present time many Kannushi combine other avoca- 
tions with their sacerdotal functions. The title may even 
be 'conferred on a layman by way of honour. The late 
famous actor Danjuro was an example. Kannushi are not 
exempted from military service. They are not celibates, 
and may return to the laity whenever they please. It is 
only when engaged in worship that they wear the distinc- 
tive dress of their office, which consists of a loose gown, 
fastened at the waist with a girdle, and a black cap called 
eboshi^ bound round the head with a broad white fillet. 
Even this is not really a sacerdotal costume, but simply 
one of the old official dresses of the Mikado's Court. No 
special education is necessary for the discharge of the 
duties of a Kannushi, which consist in the recital of the 
annual prayers and in attending to the repair of the shrine. 

Haftiri or Hori. — The hafuri are priests of an inferior 
grade. This word, though now written with Chinese cha- 
racters which mean "prayer-official," is connected with 



THE PRIESTHOOD. 205 

the verb hoburu or hafuru^ to slaughter, to throw away. 
Hamuru, to bury, is another form of the same word. The 
Nihongi says that in 642, at the bidding of the village 
hafuri, horses and cattle were killed as a sacrifice in order 
to procure rain. The high-priest of the God Minagata at 
Suha is styled Oho-hafuri (great hafuri). At the festival 
of this God the heads of seventy-five deer are presented as 
offerings, while the flesh is eaten by the priests. If others 
than the priests wish to partake of it without pollution, 
they get chopsticks from the priests which answer this 
purpose. These facts point to the conclusion that the 
hafuri were originally sacrificers. Offerings of animal 
food were common in ancient times. 

The term hafuri-tsu-mano (flung-away-things) is used as 
equivalent to liarahi-tsu-mono (expiatory offerings), and is 
also applied to funeral offerings. 

Negi. — This was another name for priests of lower rank. 
The word is probably connected with tugafu, to pray. The 
n^ of Miha and Mikami are called imi-bi (fire-avoid) 
because they are specially careful to avoid impurity in 
respect to fire. They will not use the same fire for cooking 
as other people. 

Miyakko. — The hereditary chief priests of Kitsuki in 
Idzumo and the affiliated shrine of Hinokuma in KiT were 
called miyakko, a term which originally meant ** local 
governor." 

Piiesteiroes. — There are several categories of priestesses 
attached to Shinto shrines. Their mythical prototype is 
Uzume, the Goddess who danced before the cave into 
which the Sun-Goddess retired when insulted by her 
brother Susa no wo. 

Saiwo. — At the beginning of every reign, an unmarried 
princess of the Imperial blood was chosen by divination 
and consecrated to the service of the Sun-Goddess at Ise. 
For three years previous to taking up her duties she went 
^very first day of the nfionth to ^n imi-dono (sacred-hall) 



206 THE PRIESTHOOD. 

and worshipped towards the Great Shrine of Ise. This 
was called the nU-tose no mofuhtmi, or " three years* purity." 
The Saiw5 is also called Itsuki no miya or Saig^, sacred 
or worship-palace — properly the name of her residence. 
There was a similar appointment to the shrine of Kamo, 
where the Ujigami of the Mikados was worshipped. She was 
also called Saiwo, and both herself and her residence were 
termed Sai-in, that is» " sacred hall." These offices were 
discontinued early in the thirteenth century. 

Kamu no ko (God-child). — ^The Kamu no ko were also 
called miko^ august child, or sometimes moiuhimi^ that i^, 
avoiders of (impure) thingfs. They were young^ girls 
attached to all the principal shrines for the performance 
of the kagura dances, and cooking the food for offerings. 
They also occasionally became the medium of divinely 
inspired utterances. From the Yengishiki we learn that at 
that time there were a number of kamuko in the palace 
for the service of the numerous shrines there. They were 
appointed at the age of seven or upwards from the families 
of the local nobles (miyakko). Their places were supplied 
by others when they got married. 

At Kumano in Tango there are certain families whose 
female children are devoted to the service of the Shrine of 
Susa no wo. When a girl is bom, a divine arrow flies down 
and sticks in the roof-tree of the house. At the age of 
four or five, the child thus desigfnated is sent to wait on 
the God. Though the place is among the mountains, such 
children are never harmed by wild beasts. When they 
begin to show signs of puberty, a great dragon comes and 
glares fiercely at them. Thereupon they return home.* 

lohi-ko. — The ichi-ko or agata-miko are parish mediums 
wfio"are called in when communication is desired with tfie 
spirits of the dead. They are sometimes called adzusa 
miko, from their use of a bow of adzusa wood in their 

* Sec Hirata's Koshiden^ xviii 23. 



tHE PfelESTHOOb. ±07 

conjurations. There are also strolling ichikb of indiflerent 
character, who for a trifling consideration will throw open 
the gates of the spirit world. These are modem institutions. 

Kamnbe. — The peasants who tilled the glebe lands of 
the shrine and their place of residence were alike termed 
kamu-be (God-corporation). The present city of Kobe 
takes its name from one of these. In the times when 
slavery was a Japanese institution there were slaves attached 
to some of the shrines. 

Recent statistics give the number of Shinto priests as 
14,766. Their maximum salary is about ;C20 per month. 



208 



CHAPTER X. 

WORSHIP. 

Religious conduct includes worship, morality in so far as 
it has obtained the sanction of religion, and ceremonial 
purity. 

The term worship applies both to the forms of courtesy 

and respect towards human beings and of reverence for 

the Grods. Indeed the latter is not a separate kind of 

worship, but is composed almost exclusively" of the same 

elements in a new application. Nearly everything in the 

worship of the Gods is borrowed from the forms of social 

respect It is sometimes maintained that these forms, 

before they become a part of religious ritual, pass through 

an intermediate stage, namely, the worship of the dead, 

whether as ghosts or dead ancestors. This view is based 

; on the hypothesis that Gods were originally deceased men. 

\ / } It cannot well apply to Shinto, where all the Great Gods 

f.' 1 are nature-deities. When a Japanese greets the rising Sun 

\by bowing his head, he does so because that is already 

* I with him an habitual form of respect No doubt he honours 

the dead in this way as well as the living. But the occa- 

j sions for the worship of the living so far outnumber those 

! of paying respect to the dead that the latter may be 

* I r^arded as a negligible quantity in the formation of the 

' habit There is surely nothing to prevent a man who had 

never worshipped ghosts or ancestors from transferring 

direct to nature-deities forms of respect arising out of the 

relations of living men. 

Several practices of worship, such as clapping the 
hands for joy and the avoidance of contamination by 
touching a dead body, have no meaning in the case of the 
cult of the dead. 



WORSHIP. 209 

Worship has a secondary but most important function. 
It is addressed not only to the Gods but to our fellow-men. 
It is a means of communicating religious thoughts and 
emotions from man to man and from one generation to 
another. 

Qb^jganoft. — The simplest and most universal mode of 
showing reverence to the Gods is by bowing. In Shinto 
it is the custom to bow twice before and after praying or 
making an offering. The word ogamuy to pray or worship, 
means to bend. Kneeling is also practised — one of the 
norito has the phrase " bending the knee like a deer " — but 
is less common. Squatting (kashikomarti) is another form 
of obeisance. 

Ctopplng Hands. — Clapping hands {kashihade\ primarily 
a sign of joy, as it still is in our nurseries, was in ancient 
times in Japan a general token of respect. The Nihongi* 
states that the Ministers clapped hands in honour of the 
Empress when she ascended the throne. More recently, 
this form was confined to divine worship. One of the 
Twrito has the rubric, " Offer three cups of sake, clap hands, 
and retire." The number of hand-clappings was minutely 
prescribed in the old ritual. In some ceremonies it was 
done thirty-two times. A silent hand-clapping {shinobi-te) 
was sometimes directed. It seems possible that in Shinto 
at least this was the origin of the simple folding of the 
hands in prayer, common to so many nations, and explained 
by anthropologists as the attitude of an unresisting sup- 
pliant holding out his hands for the cord. 

Other Oestores. — Respect may also be shown by raising 
objects, to the forehead or placing them on the head {ita- 
3aiu)f as the most honourable and important part of the 
body. This is done in the ease of the implements used in 
the greater divination. Among less formal gestures used 
in worship are reverent upward looks {awogu\ an almost 

* n. 395. 



2lO WORSHl?. 

instinctive practice, which has its root in the idea that 
Heaven is the dwelh'ng-place of the Gods, and has certainly 
nothing to do with ghost-worship. 

I cannot point to any case of prostration or of uncovering 
the feet as a form of Shinto worship. Uncovering the 
head is known in modem times, but I do not find it 
mentioned in the older ritual. 

Offlwringi . — As the attitude of devotees towards myth 
varies according to their intelligence and culture, some 
distinguishing, more or less clearly, between the truth 
which it adumbrates and its fictitious embroidery, and 
others accepting it indiscriminately as absolute fact, as 
the image is by some r^^arded simply as an aid to devo- 
tion and by others as a true representation of the God, or 
even as the God himself, so in the case of offerings, a 
I double current of opinion is to be traced. There are 
always worshippers who well know that the God does not 
eat the food, drink the wine, or wear the clothing which is 
laid upon his altar ; but there are also more literal -minded 
people who cling, in the face of cogent evidence to the 
contrary, to the idea that in some ill-defined way he docs 
benefit physically by such offerings. A story in the 
Konfaku MonogcUari tells how a boy, possessed of superior 
insight, could sec the devils carrying away the offerings of 
the purification ceremony. Even Hirata, a highly educated 
man, thought that food-offerings lost their savour in a way 
that is inexplicable by natural causes. Incense and burnt- 
offerings are adapted to the mental capacity of worshippers 
\|of this class.* The true reason for making offerings, 
\ whether to Grods or to the dead, is to be sought elsewhere 
I Men feel impelled to do something to show their gratitude 
I for the great benefits which they are daily receiving, and 
I to conciliate the future favour of the powers from whom 






* The old Hebrew idea (Genesis viii. 21) was that the food actually readied 
God in the form of the fragrant fire-distilled essence, and thus gratified him as 
an agreeable gift. Hastings, ' Diet of the Bible.' 



WORSHIP. 211 

tbqf jyoceed Offerings ar e part of the langui^ by which 
tih|eJiiteo]iiQa.x>f the worshipper is nianif(^sted to Gods and i 
fnen. It is in this rather than in any supposed actual ' 
benefit that their chief value consists. The norito state)] 
explicitly that the offerings were symbolical. They aref 
called iya-jiro no mite gura, or o fferings in^tokeCLPf re3pec1f , 
There li^Trequent mention of "fulfilling the praises " pf the 
Gods by plenteous offerings. Symbolic gifts are, of course, 
not confined to religioa In ancient Greece a gift of earth 
and water indicated a surrender of political independence. 

It is on the recognition of the symbolical value of 
offerings that the practice of substituting humaner, cheaper, 
or more convenient articles rests. Shinto has many illus- 
trations of this principle. 

I shall only mention Herbert Spencer's view that " the 
origin of the practice of making offerings is to be found in 
the custom of leaving food and drink at the graves of the 
dead, and as the ancestral spirit rose to divine rank, the 
refreshments placed for the dead developed into sacrifices." 
It must stand or fall with his general theory of the origin 
of religion, of which the reader will form his own judg- 
ment. I would suggest that the earliest offering was rather 
a fortion of the ordinary meal set apart in grateful recog- 
nition of the source from which it came. 

I find little or nothing in Shinto to bear out Jevons's 
opinion that " the core of worship is communion. Offerings 
in the sense of gifts are a comparatively modem institution 
both in ancestor-worship and in the worship of the Gods." 
Communion is, of course, out of the question in the case of 
the various offerings of clothing and implements. Even in 
the case of food-offerings there is no evidence in Shinto of 
a " joint participation in the living flesh and blood of a 
sacred victim."* 

The general object ofjnaking offerinigs is to propitiate 
tfie God." "THere are several cases in the norito where they 

* Robertson Smith, • Religion of the Semites,' p. 345. 




212 



WORSHIP. 




/ 




y 

\ 



are made by way of reward for their services or in bargain 
for future blessings.* Some are expiatory, and are made 
\ with the object of absolving the wo^ipper from ritual 
impurity. These are called aga^mon^ox " ransom things." 
Offerings were frequently 3upiicated, no doubt in order 
that one set at least of the things offered should be free 
from chance pollution. 

Offerings were sometimes personified, and even deified, 
as in the Jimmu legend,t where the food-offering is styled 
Idzu-uka no me, sacred-food-female. Most of the shintai 
were originally nothing more than offerings. 

/ Shinto offerings are of the most varied description. The 
Gods being conceived of as beings animated by human 
sentiments, it is inferred that anything which would give 
pleasure to men is suitable for offering to a God. 
I Food and Drink, — ^The primary and most important 
form of offering is food and drink. The Jimmu l^[end, a 
very ancient document, speaks of none but food-offerings. 
The word nihe^ 2Si element in the names of some of the 
great festivals, means ^oo d- offe rings,.,^The central feature 
of the most solemn ritfe^ ot bhinlo, namely, the oho-nihe^ was 
the offering of rice and sake to the Gods by the Mikado on his 
accession to the throne. The norito add clothing, and the 
YengisMki a great variety of other articles. There are 

.^several instances in history of the substitution of cloth for 

/an voider food-offering. Under food are included rice, in 
ear and in grain, hulled and in husk, rice cakes, fruit, sea- 
,ear, shell-fish, vegetables, edible seaweed, salt, sake, water, 
- sLIdeer, pigs, hare, wild boar/ahd birds of various kinds. In 

[642 horsey and^attle were sacrificed in order to produce 
rain. But even at this early period such sacrifices were 
condemned. They were no doubt a revival in a case of 
national emergency of a practice which under Buddhist 
influence had become more or less obsolete. There are 

* See Index, Toshigohi, 
^ See above, p. 119, 



WORSHIP. 213 

numerous indications that animal sacrifices were very 
common in the most ancient times. In the Yengishiki 
period offerings of four-footed animals or their flesh were 
confined to four services, namely, that of the Food-Goddess, 
of the Wind-Gods, of the Road-Gods, and that for driving 
away maleficent deities. \ 

There is no evidence in the older Shinto records of the V^ 
use of incense or of burnt-offerings, nor is any special im- / A^i 
portance attached to the blood of slaughtered animals. ( v\^ 

White being considered an auspicious colour, white 
animal sTaaaete frequently selected for sacrifice. 

At the present time the daily offerings laade to the Sun- 
Go^(i€SS„a;id the Fc)od-Goddess at Ise consist of four cups 
of sakcy sixteen saucers of rice and four of salt, besides fish, 
birds, frujts, seaweed, and vegetables. The annual offerings 
at the tomb of the first Mikado, Jimmu, are products of 
mountain, river, and sea, including tahi (a fish), carp, edible 
sea-weed, salt, water, sake^ inochi (rice-cake), fern-flour, 
pheasants, and wild ducks. , 

Clo thing — The clothing of^ the ancient Japanese con3 
of liemp, yuju (a fibre made of the inner bark of thel 
paper mulberry), and silk. All these materials are repre-i 
sented in the Shinto offerings enumerated in the Yengishiku \ 
Silk, however, was at this time still somewhat of a novelty, ; 
and, therefore, religion being conservative, it takes a less 
conspicuous place. But hemp and bark-fibre, with the 
textiles woven from them, are very common offerings. 
They were more convenient than perishable articles of food 
for sending to shrines at a distance from the capital, and. 
as cloth was the currency of the day, it was a convenient' 
substitute for unprocurable or objectionable articles. In 
the Yengishiki so many ounces of fibre or so many pieces of 
cloth are prescribed, but at a later period a more specialized 
and conventional form,called oho-nusa (great-offering),came I 
into use. T he oho-nusa (p. 214) consists of two wands placed/ 
side by side,Trom-tne ends of which depend a quantity off 



WORSHIP. 2IS 

hempen fibre and a number of strips of paper.* One of the / 
wands is of the cUyera japonica, or evergreen sacred tree. The 
other is a bamboo of a particular species. Their use is con- 
nected with an old Japanese rule of etiquette that presents 
to a superior should be deHvered attached to.a branch of a 
tree, the object being doubtless to mark a respectful aloofness 



of the giver from the receiver. The paper slips represent the 
yufu, or mulberry-bark fibre. The use oiyu/u for clothing 
having become more or less obsolete, owing to the introduc- 
tion of cotton, paper, which in Japan is made of the same 

* Reminding us of Homer's ffri|ifia Sielo, which coiuiMed of tnlUd wrool 
uucbed to a wand (aiqirrpav). The ancient Jem made oflerings of wool. 



2l6 WORSHIP. 

material, was substituted for it The oko-nusa are still em- 
ployed on important occasions, but for general use they are 
now replaced by the well-known gokei (p. 215), in which the 
hemp and one of the wands are omitted. Another form of 
nusa^ called ko-nusa (little nusd) or kiri-nusa (cut-^ii^a), con- 
sbts of paper with leaves of the sacred tree chopped up and 
mixed with rice. Travellers in ancient times carried this 
mixture with them in a bag and made oflferings of it to the 
phallic deities aloi^ their way. It was also used when in 
danger of shipwreck. The same system of " accommode- 
ments avec le ciel " is further illustrated by the substitution 
of the still more inexpensive hemp leaves for the original 

1 hempen fibre or fabric If, it is argued, the Grod does not 

/ really eat the food or wear the clothing placed on his altar, 
a few grains of rice or a few leaves of hemp will answer 
the purpose of expressing the sentiments of the worshipper 

/ just as well as more costly gifts. 

There were sometimes sets of coloured ^^A«* — blue, yellow, 
red, white, and black. The awo-nigi-te (blue-soft-articles) 
and shira-nigi'te (white-soft-articles) consisted of hemp 

^nd bark fibre respectively. 

'^ Tama-gushi are often mentioned. I take it that in this 
combination tama means gift or offering, not spirit or jewel, 
as is taught by some modern Japanese authorities. Kusht 
means skewer. The tama-gushi are twigs of the sacred 
evergreen tree {sakaki) or of bamboo, with tufts of yu/u 
attached. They are, in short, a simple form of nusa or 
gohei. They have a striking resemblance to the UrripUm 
Kkihouriv (suppliant branches) mentioned in the opening 
lines of * QEdipus Tyrannus ' and explained by Jebb as 
"olive branches wreathed with^fiUgts of wool." In one 

' Nihongi myth, Susa no wo is said to have planted kusht in 
the rice-fields of his -sister, the Sun-Groddess, " by way of 
claiming ownership, " says a commentator. Compare with 
this the following quotation from Hakluyfs * Historie of 
the West Indies ' : " Every one [of the Caribs] encloseth his 



WORSHIP. 217 

portion [of ground] onely with a little cotton line, and they 
account it a matter of sacriledge if any pass over the cord 
and treade on the possession of his neighbour, and hold it 
for certayne that whoso violateth this sacred thing shall 
shortly perish. " 

Along with the alteration in the form of the nusa to the 
present gsi^ there came a chaise in the mental attitude 
of the worshipper. Originally mere offerings, they were at 
length, by virtue of long association, looked upon as repre- 
sentatives of the deity. Scholars like MotoOri and Hirata 
denounce this view as a corruption of later times, but it is 
no doubt at present the prevailing conception. Hepburn's 
Japanese dictionary knows no other. It is illustrated by 
the fact that instead of the worshipper bringing ^Aia 
to the shrine, these objects are now given out by the 
priest to the worshipper, who takes them home and sets 
them up in his private Kamt-dana (God-shelO or domestic,' 
altar. 

A further step is taken when it is believed that on fe 
occasions the God, on a certain formula, called the A 
oroshi, or " bringing down the God, " being pronoui 
descends into the gohei and remains there during the 
mony, taking his departure at its close. In the v 
Shinto of the present day this belief in a real presence of 
the God is associated with hypnotism.* Akin to the belief I 
in an actual presence of a deity in the gohei is their modem \ 
use in the purification ceremony, when they are flourished 1 
over or rubbed against the person to be absolved of ritual I 
uncleanness or to dispel any evil influences which may have 1 
attached themselves to his person. Like the Homeric ari^^a. j 
and the host, they were occasionally used for the protection 
of the bearer. At the present time a gohei-katsugi, or gohei 
bearer, is synonymous with a superstitious person. 

Skins of oxen, boar, deer, and bear were sometimes offered i, 
to the Gods. 

* S«e Index, ' Imjnimtion.' 



1^ 



/ 



2l8 WORSHIP. 

^ Jiwds (fama) were much worn by the ancient Japanese 
nobihty as ornaments, for the head or as necklaces and 
bracelets. They consisted of round beads, tubes (Jkuda- 
tama\ and comma-shaped objects {maga^tamay oi dialce- 
dony, jasper, nephrite, chrysoprase, serpentine, steatite or 

I crystal. Jewels occur sometimes in the lists of Shinto 
offerings. 

^ Mirrors. — The ancient Japanese mirrors did not greatly 
differ from those in use at the present day. They were 
made of a mixed metal, which is described in the myths as 
" M^iite copper," and were sometimes round and sometimes 
eight-cornered. The mirror figures frequently in the old 
records. Mirrors are among the presents made by a female 
chieftain to a Mikado, and from a King of Korea to another 
Mikado.* The mirror .was primarily an offering, and not 
to the Sun-Goddess only.f Mirrors were.presentedJPj stnd 
even constituted the shintai of other Gods %& well. In the 

^ To$a Nikki (A.D. 935) the author relates that during a storm, 
an offering of nusa having proved unavailing, he bethought 
him of some more acceptable gift. ^ Of eyes I have a pair," 
said he, ^ then, let me give the God my mirror of which I 
have only one. The mirror was accordingly flung into the 

.^sea, to my very great r^;ret. But no sooner had I done 
so than the sea itself became as smooth as a mirror." 

Ijk Mirrors do not appear among the periodical offerings 
Enumerated in the Yengishiki^ which consisted chiefly of 
perishable articles. They belonged to a separate class 
, called shimpd^ or divine treasures, which were not set out on 
\ the altar but stored in the treasury of the shrine. 

a- Weapons. — Swords were also among the permanent trea- 
ires of the shrine. Wonderful stories are related of them. 
One which was stolen by a thief is said to have left him 
and returned to the treasury of its own accord. SwordswCTg, 

♦ Nikmgi, L 193, 251. 
t See above, p. 7a 



* WORSHIP. 219 

^ made shintai^ anj_?y^_jjHfiH,* The God worshipped at 
AtstCta was the sword Kusanagi, found by Susa no wo in the 
great serpent's tail, and the God of Isonokami was the sword 
called Futsu no Mitama (spirit of fire ?) given by the Sun- 
Goddess to Jimmu. I have no, doubt that these were 
originally "divine treasures," which owed their deification 
to long association with the God. A sword is one of the 
r^alia at the present day. 

The principle of substitution is illustrated by the models 
of swords prescribed as offerings in the Yengishiki. I 
haye seen on the top of Ohoyama, sacred to a Goddess 
named Sekison (Iha-naga-hime ?), a pit containing many 
hundreds of tiny wooden swords which had been deposited 
there as offerings. 

Other weapons which figure as offerings are spears, 
s pear=h^ds. slri elds. and bows and arrows. 

Agricultural implements, bells, pottery, reels for reeling 
yam, are also mentioned. It was the custom, in the case 
of these and other durable offerings, to offer the same 
objects again and again. 

^ Human, sacrifices formed no 4>art of the State Shinto 
religion as described in the ancient records. But there 
are several indications of the existence of this practice in 
still older times. Human sacrifices to river-Gods have 
been already mentioned. We have seen that when a 
Mikado died a number of his attendants were buried alive 
round his tomb, from which it may be inferred that con- 
siderations of humanity would not have prevented similar 
sacrifices to the Gods. Cases are also recorded of men 
being buried alive in the foundations of a bridge, a castle, 
or an artificial island. These were called hito-bashira^ or 
human pillars. The offerings of kane-hito-gata (metal- 
man-form), so often mentioned in the Yengiskiki, were 
perhaps by way of substitution for human victims. It is 

* Agsnemnon's sword was worshipped m Greece in the time of Pausanias. 



220 WOftSMlP. 

significant that the Gods of water-distribution (mikumari)^ 
that is, the river-Grods, are specially distinguished as their 
/recipients. Similar human effigies, gfilt or silvered, formed 
(part of the oko-karahi^ or absolution offerings. In this 
case they were intended as ransom for the offenders whose 
ritual guilt was to be expiated. They were touched with 
the lips or breathed upon before being offered. Peach- 
wood or paper effigies might be substituted, and in later 
times articles of clothing or anything which had been in 
contact with the person to be absolved. These last were 
called node-mono (rub-thing) or aga-mono (ransom-thing). 
When in danger of shipwreck the hair might be cut ofl 
and offered, on the principle of a part for the whole, as 
ransom to the Dragon-Grod. The Kogo-jiui applies the 
term aga-mono to the hair and nails of Susa no wo, which 
were cut off by the other Gods. The principle of ransom 
is also illustrated by the following extract from the Shinto 
Miomoku (1699) : — 

^^ At the festival of Nawoye^ held at the shrine of Kokubu 
in the province of Owari on the nth day of the ist tnonth^ 
the Shinto priests go out to the highway with banners and 
seize a passer-by. They wash and purify him^ and make 
him put on pure clothing. He is then brought before the 
God. A blocks a wooden butcher^ s knife^ and chopsticks fot 
eating flesh are provided. Separately a figure is made to 
represent the captive. It is placed on the block with the 
captured man beside it, and both are offered before the God 
They are left there for one night. The next morning the 
priests come and remove the man and the effigy. Then they 
take clay^ and^ making it into the shape of a rice-cake^ place 
it on the captives backy hang a string of copper cash about 
his necky and drive him away. As he runs off^he is sure 
to fall down in a faint. But he soon comes to his senses. A 
mound is erected at the place where he falls dozvn^ and the 
clay rice-cake deposited on it with ceremonies which are kept 



WORSHIP, :iu 

d profound mystery by the priestly house. Of late years 
couriers have been caught and subjected to purification. This 
was put a stop to. The custom is celebrated yearly^ so that 
nowculays everybody is aware ofit^ and there are no passers- 
by. Therefore the priests go to a neighbouring village and 
seize a man. If they catch nobody on the iith^ th^ bring in 
a man on the I2thr 

The Nawoye (rectification) festival had probably the 
same intention as the Harahi^ namely, to obtain absolution 
from ritual impurity, and the captive is therefore apparently 
a scape-goat As readers of Mrj razer*s ' Golj eqJBou 
need not be told, the custom has numerous parallels in 
European folk-lore. There is some difficulty in applying 
the principle of substitution for an actual human sacrifice 
to a custom which was in force so recently. It does not 
appear probable that it could have descended from such 
a remote antiquity as the time when real human sacrifice 
was known in Japan. Might not the instinct of dramatic 
make-believe alone account for it } Confucius condemned 
the practice of offering effigies of men on funeral occasions 
because he thought it led to the substitution of living 
victims. 
^ Slaves. — Another form of human offerings was the dedi- 
^tion of slaves to the service of a shrine. Such slaves 
were called hipni-tsu^k o, and are to be distinguished fronyi 
the kamube, who were freemen. The gift by the l^endary ^. 
Yamatodake to a shrine of a number of Yemishi (eastern 
savages) whom he had captured is to be understood in 
this sense. There is a more historical instance in the 
Nihangi^ under the date A.D. 469, when a seamstress was 
presented to the shrine of Ohonamochl In 562 a man 
was allowed to be given over to the hafuri as a slave for 
the service of the Gods instead of being burnt alive for a 
criminal offence committed by his father. 

Horses. — Presents of horses to shrines are often men- 




222 



WORSHIP. 



tioned. They were let loose in the precinct At the 
present day albinos are selected for this purpose, white 

\ being considered an auspicious colour. Wooden figures 
might be substituted by those who could not afford real 
horses. At the festivals of Gion and Hachiman men 
riding on hobby-horses {koma-gata) or with a wooden 
horse's head attached to their breasts formed part of the 
procession. They no doubt represented riding-horses for 

I the deity. In more recent times the further step was 




taken_of o fferin g picturgsj^ horses. This practice became 
so common thaf"special buildings, called emadd (horse- 
picture-gallery) were erected for their accommodadott. 
But they contained many other pictures as welL The 
emadd of Kiyomidzu in Kioto and of Itsukushima in the 
Inland Sea are very curious collections of this kind. They 
correspond to the ex-voto churches of Roman Catholic 
countries. 

Carruiges. — The Mikoshi, or carrij^e of the God (pp. 224, 
22S),Tn^wbich his shintai is promenaded on festival occa- 
sions, is usually a very elaborate and costly construction. It 
is carried on men's shoulders to a tabi no miya (travel-shrine) 



WORSHIP. 223 

or nposair and back again to the shrine. The confusion 
in many minds between the shintai and the mitama is 
illustrated by the fact that a standard modem dictionary^ 
sneaks of the Mikoshi as containing the God's mitama. 
( V Shrines. — A shrine is ji sgecig^^ Qfl.Qffftriag. .. Whatever 
may be the case in other countries, in Japan the shrine is 
not a development of the tomb. They have no resem- 
blance to each other. The tomb is a partly subterranean 
megalithic vault enclosed in a huge mound of earth, While ^ 
the shrine is a wooden structure raised on posts some feet \ 
above the ground. The Japanese words for shrine indicate/ 
that it is intended as a house for the God. My^a^ august \ 
house, is' used equally of a shrine and of a palace, but not 
of a tomb, except poetically, as when ^^Manydshiu speaks 
of one as a toko no miya^ or " long home." Araka^ another 
word for shrine, probably means "dwelling-place." In 
yashirOf a very common word for shrine, ya means house 
and shtro representative or equivalent. There is evidence* 
that this word comes to us from a time when the yashiro 
was a plot of ground consecrated for the occasion to repre- 
sent a place of abode for the deity. The analogy of the 
Roman templum will occur to the classical scholar. The 
himorogi (p. 226), a term which has been the subject of 
some controversy, was probably, as Hirata suggests, at first 
an enclosure of sakaki twigs stuck in the ground so as to 
represent a house. It is probable that in all these cases 
the make-believe preceded any actual ediiice,^and was not 
a substitute for it 

There is a somewhat rare word, namely oki-tsukt^ properly 
a mound, which is applied to both tombs and shrines. Old 
sepulchral mounds have frequently a small shrine on their 
summit 

The Shinto shrine is by no means so costly an edifice as 
its Buddhist counterpart. The hok^ rg^ as the smaller 

• Nihongi^ ii. 293. 

f See iUostn^on in Chapter XIV, 



325 



226 WORaHIP. 

shrines are called, are in many cases so small as to be easily 
transportable in a cart Even the great shrines or Ise 
(pp. 228, 229) are of no great size and of purposely plain 
and simple construction. In 771 a "greater shrine" had 



only eighteen feet frontage. Some of the more important 
yashiro have smaller buildings attached to them, such as 
an efHodd, or gallery of votive pictures ; a haiden, or oratory, 
where the official representative of the Mikado performed 



WORSHII*. 2^7 

his devotions, and a stage for the sacred pantomimic dance. 
A number of smaller shrines {sessha or masska) dedicated 
to other Gods are usually to be seen within the enclosure. 
No accommodation is provided for the joint worship of the 
congr^ation of believers, which is indeed exceptional. 
The individual worshipper stands outside in front of the 
shrine, calls the attention of the deity by ringing a gong 
provided for the purpose, bows his head, claps or folds his 
hands, puts up his petition, and retires. A large box 
stands conveniently for receiving such small contributions 
of copper cash as he may make. 

In many shri nes more than one deity is worshipped. 
These are called ^/-^«^7 no kami^ that is to say, deities- 
of a |oint _shri ne. They may, like Izanagi and Izanami, 
have some mythical connexion with each other or they may 
not The Yengishiki enumerates 3,132 officially recognized 
shrines. Of these 737 were maintained at the, cost of the 
Central Government Some had permanent endowments of 
lands and peasants. Many minor shrines existed in all 
parts of the country. The shrines are classed as great and 
small, the respective numbers being 492 and 2,640. They 
differed in the quantity of offerings and in the circumstance 
that in the former case the offerings were placed on an 
altar and in the latter on the ground. Thirty-six shrines 
were situated in the palace itself The most important 
deities worshipped here were eight in number, comprising 
five obscurely differentiated Musubi, the Goddess of Food, 
Oho-miya-no me, and Koto-shiro-nushi. There were also 
several Well-Gods, a Sono no Kami, a Kara no Kami 
(Korean God), a Thunder-God, a pair of sake deities, and 
others of whom little is known. 

In enumerating the officially recognized shrines through- 
out the rest of the country the Yengishiki unfortunately, 
in the great majority of cases, does not name the God, but 
only the locality where the shrine was situated, as when 

we speak of Downing Street, meaning the collective 

I 2 



^30 



WORSHIP. 



officialdom of the place. This is in accordance with the 

jWimpersoml habit of the Japanese mind already referred ta 

(jl Strange to say, in some even of the most popular shrines, 

jj] the identity of the God is doubtful or unknown. Kompira 

is a conspicuous example. According to some he is a 

demon, the alligator of the Ganges. Others say that 

Buddha himself became " the boy Kompira ** in order to 

overcome the heretics and enemies of religion who pressed 

upon him one day as he was preaching. The mediaeval 

Shintoists identified him with Susa no wo. More recently 

it has been declared officially that he is really Kotohira, 

an obscure Shinto deity^ whose name has a resemblance 

>; in sound to that of the Indian God His popularity has 

»been little affected by these changes.* 
In 965 a selection of sixteen of the more important 
shrines was made to which special offerings were sent 
These were as follows : — 



Name of Shrine. 


Province, 


God or Gods Worshipped 


Ise. 


Ise. 


Sun-Goddess and Food-Goddess. 


Ihashimidzo. 


Yamashiro. 


Hachiman, Jingo. 


Kamo. 


Do. 


?, 


Matsunowo. 


Do. 


lliunder-God. 


Hirano. 


Do. 


Probably Gods of the Cooking 
Furnace and New Rire. 


Inari. 


Do. 


Food-Goddess. 


Kasuga. 


Yamata 


Koyane ai|d his wife, Take mika- 
dzuchi, Futsunushi. 


Ohoharano. 


Yamashiro. 


Do. 


Miha. 


Yamato. 


Ohonamochi. 


Oho-yamato. 


Do. 


Do. 


Isonokanii. 


Do. 


Futsu no mitama (a deiSed sword). 


Hirose. 


Do. 


Food-Goddess. 


Tatsuta. 


Do. 


Wind-Gods. 


Sumiyoshi. 


S^tsu. 


Sea-deities. 


Nifu. 


— 


Doubtful. 


Kibune. 


Yamashiro. 


Rain-dragon-God. 



* Marray's • Japan,' fifth edition, p. 50. 



WORSHIP. 231 

In 991 there were added the three following : — 

Name of Shrine. Province. Crod or Gods Worshipped, 

Yoshida. Yamashiro. Same as Kasuga. 

Hirota. Settsu. Sim-Goddess's aratama. 

Kitano. Yamashiro. TemmaaglL 

In 994 there was added 

Nctme of Shrine, Province, God or Gods Worshipped, 

Mume no Miya. ' Yamashiro. Ancestor of Tachibana family. 

The next to be added was 

Name of Shrine, Province, God or Cods Worshipped, 

Gion. Yamashiro. Susa no wo. 

The number was finally raised to twenty-two in 1039 by 
the addition of 

Name of Shrine, Province, God or Gods Worshipped, 

Hiye or Hiyoshi. Yamashiro. Ohonamochi. 

Proximity to the capital no doubt influenced this selec- 
tion. Idzumo, Kashima, Katori, Usa, Suha, and other 
important shrines are omitted. All the principal deities, 
however, are included in this list. 

At Ae present day there are 193476 Shinto shrines in 
Japan. Of these the great majority are very small and 
have no priests or revenues. Capt. Brinkley, in his * Japan 
and China,' gives the following list of the ten most popular 
shrines in Japan at the present day : '* Ise, Idziyno, Hachi- 
man (Kyoto), TemmangQ (Hakata), Inari (KySto), Kasuga 
(Nara), Atago (Kyoto), Kompira (Sanuki), Suitengu 
(Tokyo), and Suwa (Shinano)." 

Very many houses have their kamidana or domestic 
shrine, where the ujigami, the ancestor, and the trade-God, 
with any others whom there is some special reason for 
honouring, are worshipped. 

Tori'Wi. — ^The approach to a Shinto shrine is marked 
by one or more gateways or arches of the special form 
shown in the illustration (p. 233) and known as tori-wi. This 



232 WORSHIP. 4 



/ 



J 



\ 



I 



word means literally " bird-perch," in the sense of a hen- 
roost By analogy it was applied to anything of the same 
shape, as a clothes-horse, or the lintel of a door or gate- 
way. As an honorary gateway, the tori-wi is a cohtinental 
institution identical in purpose and resembling in form the 
turan of India, the pailoo of China, and the hmg-sal-mun 
of Korea. When introduced into Japan at some unknown 
date (the Kojiki and Nihongi do not mention them) the 
Japanese called them tori-wiy which then meant simply 
gateway, but subsequently acquired its present more specific 
^application. It sometimes serves the purpose of marking 
the direction of a distant object of worship.* 
j Hyaku'do ishi, — Near the front of the shrine may some- 
limes be seen a hyaku-do ishiy or hundred-time-stone, from 
kvhich the worshipper may go back and forward to the door 
of the shrine a hundred times, repeating a prayer each time. 
' A sori'bashi or taiko-bashi^ representing the mythical 
floating bridge of Heaven (the rainbow), is also to be seen 
at the approach to some shrines. 

Praptp^ — Private individual prayer is seldom mentioned 
in the old Shinto records, but of the official liturgies or norito 
we have abundant examples in the Yengishiki and later 
works. The authors are mostly unknown, but they were no 
doubt members of the Nakatomi House. Their literary 
quality is good. Motoori observes that the el^^ance of 
their language is an offering acceptable to the Gods. The 
Sun-Groddess is represented in the Nihongi as expressing 
her satisfaction with the beauty of the norito recited in her 
honour. 

The norito are addressed sometimes to individual deities, 
' sometimes to categories of deities, as ** the celebrated Gods " 



* See a contribution by Mr. S. Tuke to the Japan Society's Transactwns^ 
vol. iT., 1896-7, and a paper by the present writer in the T.A.S,/. for 
December, 1899. Mr. B. H. Chamberlain holds a difTerent view, which 
is stated in iht/aumal of tlie Anthropological Institute, 1895, and in 'Things 
Japanese/ ftmrtb edition. 



233 




234 WOkSHlP. 

or " the Gods of Nankaido/' and sometimes to all the Gods 
without exception. They contain ggtJtioasLXor rain in time 
of drought, good harvests, preservation from earthquake 
and conflagration, children, health and long life to the 
sovereign and enduring peace and prosperity to his rule, the 
safety of his ambassadors to foreign countries, the suppres- 
sion of rebellion, the repulse of invasion, success to the 
Imperial arms, and general prosperity to the Empire. 
Sometimes the Mikado deprecates the wrath of deities 
whose services had been vitiated by ritual impurity, or whose 
shrines had suffered from neglect or injury. 

The phrase " fulfilling of praises," which occurs frequently 
in the nortto, must not be taken literally. It is really 
equivalent to ** show all due honour to," and usually applies 
to the oflferings which werg. made in token jpf respect 
There is veryTTttle of praise in the ordinary meaning of 
the word. The language of the jwrrVc? presents a striking 
contrast to the profusion of laudatory epithets and images 
of the Vedas, or the sublime eulogies of the Psalms of 
David. The only element of this kind is a few adjectival 
prefixes to the names of the Gods, such as oko, great ; Az^, 
brave ; taka^ high ; Aaya, swifl ; tqyo, rich ; iku, live ; yori, 
good, and perhaps one or two more. 

The do ut des principle of offerings is plainly avowed in 
some of the norito. 

Besides petitions we find also announ cements to the 
Gods, as of the appointment of a pnestess, the^5&towal on 
the deity of a d^jree of rank, and the b^inning of a new 
reign. The Mongol invasion was notified to Ise in 1277 
with the happiest results. 

The Yengishiki contains no norito addressed to deceased 
Mikados, but several examples of this class, due no doubt 
to Chinese influence, have come down to us from the ninth 
century. In 850 Jimmu was prayed to for the Mikado, 
who was dangerously ill, and who died soon after. In the 
same year, " evil influences " (the Mikado's illness ?) were 



WORSHIP. 23s 

attributed to his wrath, and envoys despatched to his tomb, 
in order to ascertain whether he might not have been 
oflended by some pollution to it. The Empress Jingo was 
prayed to in 866 under similar circumstances. Other norito 
announce to the preceding Mikado the accession of a new 
sovereign or the appointment of a Prince Imperial. 

The norito contain few petitions for which we might not 
easily find parallels in modem Europe, but a comparison 
with Christian, Jewish, or even Mohammedan and Buddhist 
formulae reveals enormous lacunae in the ancient Japanese 
conception of the scope of prayer. Moral and spiritual 
blessings are not even dreamt of. Such prayers as "that 
we may live a godly, righteous, and sober life," " to grant 
us true repentance and His Holy Spirit," are foreign to its 
character. " Lead us not into temptation " and " Thy will 
be done" are conspicuously absent No Shinto God is 
petitioned to " endue the Sovereign with heavenly gifts," 
nor that ^ after this life he may attain everlasting joy and 
felicity." Indeed, there is no reference anywhere to a 
ftiture life — a significant fact, in view of the circumstance 
that human sacrifices at the tombs of great men were at 
one time common. The commonly received opinion that 
the latter indicate a belief in a ftiture state is, perhaps, after 
all, erroneous. Nor does any one beseech a Shinto deity to 
send down on the priesthood the healthftil spirit of his 
grace. 

Numerous specimens of norito will be found in Chap. XII. 

In connexion with the attempted revival early in the 
last century of the pure Shinto of ancient times, Hirata 
composed a book of prayer entitled Tamadasuki^ not for 
official or temple use, but as an aid to private devotion. 
It was not printed until some years after his death, and I 
doubt whether it was ever much used even by Shinto 
devotees. Notwithstanding the author's professed abhor- 
rence of Buddhism and his condemnation of Chinese reli- 
gious notions^ the Tamadasuki owes much to these sources. 



236 WORSHIP. 

He instructs his followers to " get up early, wash the face 
and hands, rinse the mouth, and cleanse die body. Then 
turn towards Yamato, clap hands twice, and bow down the 
head " before offering their petitions. 

Prayers to the Shinto Gods, even at the present day, are 
mostly^ for material ..hkssiags. Anything more which they 
contain may be confidently set down to Buddhist influence. 
There are prayers on reclaiming a new piece of ground, 
building a house, sowing a rice-field, prayers for prosperity 
in trade and domestic happiness, prayers promising to give 
up sake^ gambling, or profligacy (Buddhist), thanks for 
escape from shipwreck or other danger, &c Sometimes, 
the prayer is written, out on paper and deposited.. in the 
shrine, perhaps accompanied by the petitioner's hair or a 
picture having some referwice to the subject of his prayer. 
When it is answered, small paper nobori (flggs) are set up 
at the shrine or its approaches. A common prayer at the 
present day is for " Peace to the country, safety to the 
family, and plentiful crops." 

Oaihi and GaraeB. — The Nihongi mentions several cases 
of Heaven or the Gods being appealed to for the sanction 
of an oath. Thus in 562 an accused person declares : 
" This is false and not true. If this is true, let calamity 
from Heaven befall me." In 581 tribes of Yemishi pro- 
mised submission to the Mikado, saying : " If we break 
this oath, may all the Gods of Heaven and Earth and also 
the spirits of the Emperors destroy our race," In 644 the 
Mikado made an oath appealing to the Gods of Heaven 
and Earth, and saying : ** On those who break this oath 
Heaven will send a curse and Earth a plague, demons will 
slay them, and men will smite them." The author of the 
Nihongi^ however, is grievously open to the suspicion of 
adorning his narrative liberally with rhetorical ornaments 
of Chinese origin. The following is an example of a non- 
religious oath said to have been made by a Korean king in 
249 : " If I spread grj^s for qs to sit on, it might be burnt 



WORSHIP. 237 

With fire ; if I took wood for a seat, it might be washed 
away by water. Therefore, sitting on a rock, I make this 
solemn declaration of alh'ance." A curse pronounced over 
a well in 456 has likewise i\o religious quality. It is simply 
" This water may be drunk by the people only : royal 
per^ns alone may not drink of it** The instructions of 
the Sea-God to Hohodemi, " When thou givest this fish- 
hook back to thy brother, say, * A hook of poverty, a hook^ 
of ruin, a hook of downfall,' ** are a kind of curse. On the i 
whole, oaths and curses of a religious character are rare in 
Japanese literature. Profanity is almost unknown. A 
mild appeal to the " three holy things " (of Buddhism) or 
to the Sun, or a wish that divine punishment {bachi) may 
strike one's enemy, are almost the only things of the kind. 
And they are infrequent. Probably this is due to the want 
of a deep-seated sentiment of piety in the Japanese nation. 
Such expressions as " Thank God," " Good-bye," " Adieu," 
" God forbid," are also rare, whether in speech or in litera- 
ture. The Mohammedans, with their continual use of the 
name of Allah, are the antipodes of the Japanese in this 
respect 

Bank of DeitiM. — A system of official ranks, borrowed 
from China, was introduced into Japan in the seventh 
century. There were at one time forty-eight different 
grades, each with its distinct costume, insignia, and privi-. 
leges. The first notice of deities being granted such ranks , 
occurs in 672, when we are told that three deities wej?e 
" raised in quality " on account of useful military informa- j 
tion supplied by their oracles. This practice became4 
systematized in the period 749-757, and was very prevalent ' 
for several centuries longer. A rain of volcanic ashes 
which fell in many of the eastern provinces in 838 was 
attributed by the diviners to the jealousy of a Goddess, the 
true wife of a God, and mother by him of five children, at 
a step of official rank granted by the Mikado to a younger 
rival. Tantae i^e animis cslestibus irae ! In 85 1 Susa no 



238 WORSHIP. 

WO and Oho-kuni-nushi recdved the lower third rank and 
in 859 were promoted to the upper third rank. The Mikado 
Daigo,on his accession in 898, raised the rank of 340 shrines. 
In 1076 and 1172 wholesale promotions of deities took 
place. After this time the custom fell into neglect, owing 
partly to the circumstance that many of the Grods iiad 
reached the highest class and could not be promoted any 
further. Several of the most important deities were not 
honoured in this way. The Sun-Goddess and the Food- 

< Goddess were among this number. The same deity might 
have different ranks in different places. The lowness of 
the ranks with which the inferior deities were thought to be 
gratified is rather surprising. It throws a light on the 
mental attitude of the Japanese towards them. Beings 
I who could be supposed to take pleasure in a D.S.O. or 
I a brevet majority must have seemed to them not very far 
exalted above humanity. 

Kagura. — ^This word is written with two Chinese cha- 
racters which mean " God-pleasure." It is a pantomimic 
dance with music, usually representing some incideai of the 
mythical narrative. Uzume's dance before the cave to 
which the Sun-Goddess had retired is supposed to be its 
prototype. Important shrines have a stage and a corps of 
trained girl-dancers {miko\ for the purpose of these repre- 
sentations. Kagura was also performed in the Naishidokoro 
(the chamber in the Palace where the Regalia were kept), 
and under Chinese influences became a very solemn function, 
in which numerous officials were concerned. Many kinds 
f music, song, and dance are included in this term. It 
was the parent in the fourteenth century of the No, a sort 
of religious lyrical drama, and less directly of the modem 
popular drama. 

Some authorities say that the music of the Kagura con- 
sisted at first of flutes made by opening holes between the 
joints of a bamboo, of wooden castanets, and of a stringed 
ipstfument made by placing six bows together. 



I 



WokSHip. 239 

ftljgrimag etk — F^ing visits is a recognized mode of 
,^pwing rr^pf^^f to Gods as it is to men. The Mikado 
himself formerly paid frequent visits to the shrines of Ki5to 
and the vicinity, and in all periods of history embassies 
were continually despatched by him to the great shrines of 
the Empire. The private worshipper, besides visiting thel 
shrine of his local deity, generally makes it his business, at\ 
least once in his lifetime, to pay his respects to more distant \ 
Gods, such as those of Ise, Miha, Ontake, Nantai (at Nikko), ; 
Kompira, Fujiyama, Miyajima, &c. Intending pilgrims/ 
associate themselves in clubs* called Kd, whose membersj[ 
each contribute five sen a month to the pilgrimage fund. / 
When the proper time of year comes round, a certain 
number of members are chosen by lot to represent the club 
at the shrine of their devotion, all expenses being defrayed 
out of the common fund. One of the number who has 
made the pilgrimage before acts as leader and cicerone. 
As a general rule the pilgrims wear no special garb, but 
those bound for Fuji, Ontake, or other high mountains 
may be distinguished by their white clothes and sloping i 
bcoad bats. While making an ascent, they often ring a . 
beU ^nd chant the prayer, " May our six senses be pure and 
the weather fair on the honourable mountain."* Many 
thousand pilgrims annually ascend Fuji, and over 11,000 
paid their devotions at Ise on a recent New Year's day. 
Almost all Japanese cherish the hope of visiting this shrine ' 
at least once in their lives, and many a Tokio merchant ^ 
thinks that his success in business depends largely on his . 
doing so. Pilgrimages are an ancient institution in Japan. i\ 
It is recorded that in the ninth month of 934, 10,000,000 
pilgrims of all classes visited the shrines .ofllse'. 

Boys and even girls often run away from their homes and 
b^ their way to Ise. This is regarded as a pardonable 
escapade. < 

When an actual visit to a shrine is inconvenient or 

* Sec Index, Rokkan SkOjo, 



24d Worship. 

impossible, the worshipper may offer his devotions from a 
distance. This is called em-fm ^ or distant worship. Special 
shrines are provided m some {Places wlHsie the God will 
accept such substituted service. Processions may be joint 
formal visits of the worshippers to the God's shrine, but 
they oftener consist in attending him on an excursion from 
it to some place in the neighbourhood and back again. 
They much resemble in character the carnival processions 
of Southern Europe. 

Oironmambnlation. — The Brahmanic and Buddhist 
ceremony of pradakckina^ thatt is, going round a holy object 
with one's right side turned to it, is not found in Shinta 
The principle, however, on which it rests — namely, that of 
following or imitating the course of the Sun — ^is recognized 
in the Jimmu legend. Jimmu says :* " If I should proceed 
against the Sun to attack the enemy, I should act contrary 

to the way of Heaven Bringing on our backs the 

might of the Sun-Goddess, let us follow herraysand trample 
them down." It is difficult to reconcile with this a passage 
in the Kojiki\ where it is counted unlucky for the Mikado 
to travel from East to West, because in so doing he mu^ 
turn his back upon the Sun. 

Horses presented to shrines were led round them eight 
times. 

* Nikongiy L 113. 

t Chamberlain's Kojiki^ p. 312. 



24t 



CHAPTER XL 

MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

In the previous chapter we dealt with the positive side 
of religious conduct We have now to examine its n^ative 
aspect, namely, those prohibitions which fall under the 
general description of morality and ceremonial purity. 

Morals. — Before proceeding to examine the relation of 
morals to religion in Shinto, let us note some general con- 
siderations. Right conduct has three motives: first, selfish 
prudence ; second, altruism, in the various forms of domestic 
affection, sympathy with others and respect for their rights, 
public spirit, patriotism and philanthropy ; and third, the 
love of God. Conduct which is opposed to these three 
sanctions is called in the case of the first folly, of the second 
crime, and of the third sin ; to which are opposed prudence, 
morality* and holiness. With the infant and the savage 
the first motive predominates. . With advancing age in the 
individual, and civilization in the race, the second and third 
assume more and more importance. All but the lowest 
grades of animals have some idea of prudential restraint 
Many are influenced by the domestic affections, while the 
higher, and especially the gr^arious species, have some 
rudiments of the feeling of obligation towards the com- 
munity, on which altruistic morality and eventually law are ' 
based. But in the lower animals, and even in many men, 
the religious sanction is wanting. 

Right conduct may usually be easily referred to an origin 
in one or other of these three classes of motives. Th^ duty 
of refraining from excess in eating and drinking belongs 
primarily to the first, the care of children and the avoidance 
of theft, murder, or adultery to the second, acts of worship 



^4^ Morals, law/ and PORftV. 

and abstinence from impiety and blasphemy to the third. 
There is, however, a tendency for these motives to encroach 
on each other's provinces without relinquishing their own. 
Acts which belong at first to one cat^ory end by receiving 
the sanction of the other motives. Drunkenness, at first 
thought harmless, is soon recc^ized as folly, though 
harming nobody but the drunkard himself. It is eventually 
seen to be also a crime against the community, and last of 
all a sin in the eyes of God. Criminal Law is a systematic 
enforcement of the rights of others by adding prudential 
motives for respecting them. It also punishes blasphemy 
and heresy, no doubt for the protection of the interests of 
the community against the curse which such offences bring 
down. With ourselves religion condemns not only direct 
offences against the Deity as in the first three command- 
ments, but selfish folly, and throws its aegis over the rights 
of our neighbour, by prohibiting theft, murder, adultery, 
lying, disrespect to parents, &c Can it be doubted that 
these were already offences before the ten commandments 
were delivered from Mount Sinai ? 

There is no stronger proof of the rudimentary character 
of Shinto than the exceedingly casual and imperfect sanction 
which it extends to altruistic morality. It has scarcely 
anything in the nature of a code of ethics. Zeus had not 
yet wedded Themis. There is no direct moral teaching in 
its sacred books. A schedule of offences against the Gods, 
to absolve which the ceremony of Great Purification was 
performed twice a yeaur,* contains no one of the sins of the 
Decal(^^e.f Incest, bestiality, wounding, witchcraft, and 

* See Index, Ohoharahu 

t I quote here, not from any religious document, but from a poem of the 
AfoMj^skiu, a solitary instance of a religious stigma being attached to lymg : 

** If, while not loving, 
I said that I loved thee, 
The God who dwells 
In the grove of Uneda in Matori 
Will take note of if' 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 243 

certalo interferences with agricultural operations are the 
only ofi£3ace& against the moral law which it enumerates. 
The Kojiki speaks of a case of homicide being followed by 
a purification of the actor in it. But the homicide is repre- 
sented as justifiable, and the offence was therefore not so 
much moral as ritual.* Modem Japanese boldly claim this 
feature of their religion as a merit. Motoori thought that 
moral codes were good for Chinese, whose inferior natures 
required such artificial means of restraint His pupil 
Hirata denounced systems of morality as a disgrace to the 
ODuntry which produced them. In * Japan,' a recent work 
published in English by Japanese authors, we are told that 
" Shinto provides no moral code, and reli^ solely on the 
promptings of conscience for ethical guidance. If man 
derives the first principles of his duties from intuition, a 
schedule of rules and r^^lations for the direction of every- 
day conduct becomes not only superfluous but illogical." 

But although there was little religious sanction of morality 
in ancient Japan, it by no means follows that there was no 
morality. We have seen that there are moral elements in 
the character of the Sun-Groddess as delineated in myth.t 
Law, which is the enforcement by penalties of a minimum 
altruistic morality, certainly existed. A' Chinese author, 
in a description of Japan as it was in the later Han period 
(A.D. 25-220), says that " the wives and children of those 
who break the laws are confiscated, and for grave crimes 
the offender's family is extirpated The laws and cus- 
toms are strict" In 490 we hear of two men being thrown 
into prison for crimes. The Mikado Muretsu (488-506) is 
said to have been fond of criminal investigation. The 
Nihongi condemns theft, robbery, rebellion, and non-pay- 
ment of taxes, none of which matters is taken formal 
cognizance of by Shinto. Without some law, unwritten 
and ill-defined though it was, and unequal and fluctuating 

• Ch. K. 291. 

f See above, p* 129^ 



k 



244 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

in its application as it must have been, the Japanese could 
not possibly have reached even the moderate d^ree of 
^ ./organized government which we find them enjoying at the 
* dawn of their history. 

The earliest so-called l^slation which we meet with is 
embodied in a proclamation issued by the Regent Shdtoku 
\ Taishi in 'A.D. 604. */ On examination these "laws" prove 
to be a sort of homily addressed to Government officials, 
recommending harmony, good faith, a respect for Buddhism, 
obedience to the Imperial command, early rising, decorum, 
disinterestedness in deciding legal cases, fidelity to one's lord, 
and benevolence to the people. In 645 a " beginning of 
r^^lations " was promulgated. It relates to the status of 
slaves and their children. In the following year a set of 
rules was issued r^^lating the construction of tombs 
forbidding human sacrifice in honour of the dead, &c. In 
the same year laws were promulgated dealing with dis- 
honesty, retaining slaves belonging to other people, bringing 
plaints of adultery before the authorities without having 
the evidence of three credible witnesses, &c. "Severe 
penalties" are threatened in case of their infraction. In 
681 a sumptuary law in ninety-two articles was enacted. 
In 682 flogging was limited to 100 blows : in 689 a book 
of laws was distributed to all the local authorities ; and in 
701 the code known as the Taihori5 was promulgated. 
The latter was borrowed from China, and no doubt Chinese 
influences had much to do with the more partial l^slation 
which preceded. Shotoku Taishi's advice to officials is 
thoroughly Chinese. But the examples Quoted show that 
such enactments were not made without reference to the 
wants of Japan. It may be inferred from Shdtoku Taishi's 
mention of " l^al cases," and from the regulation of pro- 
cedure in cases of adultery, that there was already in 
existence a body of unwritten common law by which a 
rude sort of justice was administered. Prisons are men- 
tioned n^ore tl^an once in the seventh-century records. 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 245 

Dr. Weipert says :* " There are in the Kojiki and Nihongi 
numerous instances of arbitrary punishment inflicted by 
rulers, chieftains, &a, or of private revenge, but nothing 
shows the existence of fixed punitive laws or conventions. 

If we confine ourselves to the prehistoric times of 

Japan, we find in them no other traces of conceptions of a 
binding law than those handed down to us in the ritualsl 
dedicated to the Gods. It was indeed the power of the 
ruler which held the community together, but the idea of 
the society being subject to lawful restraint was to be found ^ 
only in the religious sentiments of the people. To the 
extent of these sentiments alone can it be said that a law- 
fully regulated community and a consciousness of such 
existed in those days. Now since we take criminal law to 
be the publicly r^ulated reaction of a community s^ainst 
all acts of its members which are detrimental to the common 
interest, we can scarcely hesitate to describe the Ohoharahif 
as the first source of Japanese criminal law." This is a 
special application to Shinto of the principle laid down in 
general terms by Dr. Pfleiderer that " the beginnings of all 
social customs and l^^l ordinances are directly derived 
from religion." Max Miiller has expressed himself neariy 
to the same effect 

I hardly think that the Japanese facts bear out these 
views. It may be admitted that before the seventh cen- 
tury there were no " fixed punitive laws or conventions in 
Japan," But between this aiKi mere " arbitrary punish-" 
ment " or " private revenge " there is a middle term, and V 
submit that it was precisely to this stage that the Japanese ^ 
nation had arrived at this time. A common law was in 
existence, unwritten and ill defined, leaving much room 
for arbitrary procedure and punishments, but yet a reality. 
It dealt, as there is evidence to show, Mrith matters so 
essential to the welfare of the community as treason, rebej- 

• Quoted by Dr. Florenz in T^ A. S^/., xxvii. p. 56, 
f See Index, s,v^ 



246 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

Hon, and robbery, none of which is so much as mentioned 
in the Ohoharahi. Indeed we could scarcely expect to 
find such offences noticed in it, as the application of the 
criminal law in these cases places the guilty persons far 
beyond the reach of a purifying process. 

In an organized community like the ancient Japanese 
there must have been many torts recognized by public 
opinion. We know that adultery and dishonesty were 
punishable. \ /Vet Shinto takes no notice of them. *T^he 
only civil wrongs singled out for religious denunciation 
relate to agriculture. The ancient authorities enumerate, 
among the misdeeds of Susa no wo, " breaking down the 
divisions of rice fields," "filling up irrigation ditches,"* 
" sowing seed over again," with one or two other offences 
of a similar kind, and the Ohoharahi includes them in its 
schedule of sins which require absolution. But surely 
rights of property (we can recognize germs of them in the 
tower animals) are long antecedent to religion, and offences 
against them are recognized as offences against man before 
they became sins against God. 

Moreover, the Ol^harahi is wanting in the first essential 
of a criminal lawQ;^' It provides no fixed punitive sanction. 
It is true that the culprit was in some cases obliged to 

\ supply at his own cost the necessary offerings for the cere- 
mony, and that practically this amounted to a fine. The 
original intention, however, was not to punish the offender, 
but to avert the wrath of the Gods. And it must be 
remembered that individual cases of purification were 
exceptional; \f For the offences of the nation generally, which 
it was the main object of the Ohoharahi to absolve, no 
punishment was practicable, or indeed dreamt of. The 
Ohoharahi fines of purificatory offerings may have contri- 

>^^ buted to a system of criminal law, but they were certainly 
not its main source. The case of Japan seems to prove 

* In ancient Egypt, which presents numerous analogies with Japan, inter- 
ference with the irrigatioq channels was deemed an offence against the deity. 



MORALS, LAW, ANt) tUftlTY. -, 247 

that, m many cases at least, altruistic morality, even in the 
crystallized form of law, is in advance of religion. And 
may we not point to cases in our own country where religion 
withholds its sanction until the law has become well 
established? The following extract from the Nihongi 
shows that the distinction hetwegn criminal law and offences 
ag^msit the Gods, with their respective punishments, was 
recognized. at an early period : — 

**A.D. 404. Winter^ loth months nth day. The Imperial 
concubine was buried. After this the Emperor^ vexed with 
himself that he had not appeased the divine curse^ and had so 
caused the death of the Imperial concubine^ again sought to 
ascertain where the fault lay. Some one said: * The Kimi of 
the Cart-keepers went to tlie Land of Tsukushi, where he held 
a review of all the Cart-keeper^ Be^ and he took along with 
them the men allotted to the service of the Deities. This 
must surely be the offence* The Emperor straightway sum- 
fnoned to him the Kimi of the Cart-keepers and questioned 
him. The facts having been ascertained^ the Emperor 
enumerated his offences ^ saying : * Thou^ although only Kimi 
of the Cart-keepers y hast arbitrarily appropriated the subjects 
of the Son of Heaven. This is one offence. Thou didst 
wrongfully take them^ comprising them in the Cart-keepers* 
Be after they had been allotted to the service of the Gods of 
Heaven and Earth. This is a second offence* So he imposed 
on him the expiation of evil and the expiation of good^ and 
sent him away to Cape Nagasa^ there to perform the rites of 
expiation. After he. had done so^ the Emperor commanded 
him J saying: ^ Henceforward thou may est not have charge of 
the Cart-keeper^ Be of Tsukushi! So he confiscated them 
all^ and allotted them aneWy giving them to the three Deities.** 

Ceremonial Parity. — Things displeasing to the Gods 
^re called by the Japanese tsumi (guilt), and the avoidance 
of sui^h -things by their worshippers is called imi (avoid- 
ance). As Motoori points out, the tsumi of Shinto com- 



248 MORALS, Law, and purity. 

prises three distinct things, namely, unglfianne^ sji^. or 
4 ^"mfi, aH r?^'"'^ The distinction between cegemonial 
^impurity and moraj. £yilt^ (pf certain specific kinds) was 
probably obscure to the ancient Japanese. Certain cala- 
mities are included among tsuffu because they were looked 
upon as tokens of the displeasure of the Gods for some 
offence, known or unknown. All tsumi involved religious 
disabilities or punishments. 

olUncleanness holds a far more important place in Shinto 
tnan moral guilt As in the Mosaic law, it assumes various 
forms. Actual personal dirt was considered disrespectful 
to the Gods, as we see by the frequent mention of bathing 
and putting on fresh garments before the performance of 
dbligious functions. The Ohoharahi includes the com- 
mitting of nuisances among the offences to be absolved 
by it 

Sexual iTOTnorallty .aoA UpolfiainnitM— It was probably 
because the consummation of a marriage was thought to 
defile the house in which it took place that a special nuptial 
hut was in the most ancient times provided for this purpose. 
The same idea is illustrated by the custom which existed 
until quite recently of soysing. with Jjwckets of water on 
New Year's DiXy young men who had been married during 
the preceding year. According to a novel called * Hino- 
deshima ' it is now the bride who is thus saluted while on 
her way to her husband's house. The bridegroom is treated 
by the boys of the neighbourhood to volleys of stones which 
break his paper windows. In later times sexual intercourse 
generally caused temporary . uncleanness. Virgins weie 
selected as priestesses and as dancers before the Gods. 
But there were no vows of perpetual chastity, and they 
married in due time just like other girls. The Nikongi 
mentions a case of the appointment of a princess as priestess 
having been cancelled on account of her unchastity. A 
modem Japanese writer says : " At Ise to-day LaTs opens 
her doors to the pilgrim almost within sight of the sacred 



MORALvS, LAW, AND PURITY. 249 

groves* To accept her invitation does not disqualify him 
In his own eyes nor in the eyes of any one else for the 
subsequent achievement of his pious purpose. A single 
act of lustration restores his moral as well as his physical 
purity." Perhaps this puts the matter too strongly. Those 
shameless wights Yajir5 and Kidahachi, the heroes of the 
Hizakurigty were troubled with scruples in this matter, 
which were not, however, invincible. 

With such ideas of uncleanness it is not surprising that 
Shinto never, had a marriage ceremony. No Shinto or 
other priest is present. We must, therefore, take with some 
reserve Max Muller's statement that marriage had a religious 
character from the very beginning of history. It is to be 
noted, however, that in modem times Susa no wo and his 
wife Inadahime are thought to preside over connubial 
happiness, and that something of a religious flavour is 
contributed to the marriage ceremony by setting out on a 
stand {shintadai) figures of the old man and old woman of 
Takasago, spirits of two ancient fir-trees, who are the 
Darby and Joan of Japanese legend. 

Uncleanness includes bestiality, incest of parent andO 
child, of a man with his mother-in-law or stepdaughter * l/^ 
but not of brothers and half-sisters by the father's side. 
Unions with a sister by the mother's side were unlawful 
and offensive to the Gods, but they are not specially 
enumerated in the Ohoharahi schedule. 

In 434 Prince Karu, then Heir to the Throne, fell in love 
with his younger sister by the same mother. At first he 
dreaded the guilt and was silent. But after a time he 
yielded to his passion. The next year, in the height of 
summer, the soup for the Mikado's meal froze and became 
ice. The diviner said, ** There is domestic disorder (incest)." 
This led to the discovery of Prince Karu's crime, but, as he 
was successor to the Throne, he was not punished, and his 

* Compare Leviticqs xviii, I7» 



( 



/ 



250 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

sister only was sent into banishment. After his father's 
death, however, the ministers and people refused him their 
alliance, and he ultimately committed suicide, or, accord- 
ing to another version of the story, went into exile. It is 
difficult to say whether the rdig^ous or the merely moral 
element predominates in such a case. The portent by 
which the Prince's crime was followed and the application 
to the diviners indicate that the crime was thought offensive 
to the Gods. On the other hand, banishment is a civil form 
of punishment, and the idea that the offence might bring 
disaster on the community was probably at the root c^ the 
indignation which it caused. Nor is it to be forgotten that 
there is another non-religious reason for the law against 
incest Consanguineous unions are notoriously unfavourable 
to the propagation of a numerous and healthy progeny, 
and therefore to the welfare of the community. The 
*Chuen,' a Chinese work written several centuries before 
the Christian era, says : " When the man and woman are of 
the same surname, the race does not continue.*' But in 
China too, the religious sanction of the prohibition of incest 
is not absent It is one of those primarily non-religious 
sexual taboos, having for their object to place a check on 
masculine tyranny over the weaker sex and the premature, 
promiscuous, and excessive indulgence of the sexual passion 
Mdiich even savages find to be fatal to the welfare of the 
individual and the community, and whose transcendent 
importance and the difficulty of enforcing them by law 
lead to be reinforced everywhere ^y religious terrors. The 
prohibition of unions between brothers and sisters by the 
mother's side — ^that is, practically of the full blood — and not 
of those of the half-blood by the father's side, may be 
partly due to the circumstance that the former are more 
commonly brought up together, and a check on immature 
and consanguineous intercourse was more necessary in 
their case. This taboo very likely dates from a period 
when parentage was reckoned chiefly by maternity. 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 25 1 

Viifgi^y ^'^"^^?]finffl*t '^^ "^ tQeatioofid in the more 
ancient books as causing ce]:ein0maL jfnpurity. 

IntfiKfiffinrr ^'^^ ^^r yirgin^estesses was not only a 
fniirf^ n f uncl^a nness, but was in some cases severely 
gijloisbficL The Nihongi states that in A.D. 465 

" Katabu and an Uneme were sent to sacrifice to the Deity 
of Munagata. Katabu and the Uneme ^ having arrived at 
the altar-place^ were about to perform the rites ^ when Katabu 
debauched the Uneme. When the Emperor heard this^ he 
said^ * When we sacrifice to the Gods and invoke from them 
blessings^ should we not be watchful over our conduct ? * So 
he sent Naniha no Hidaka no Kishi to put him to death. 
But Katabu straightway took to flight and was not to be 
found. The Emperor again sent Toyoho^ Vuge no Muraji, 
who searched the districts of that province far and wide^ and 
at length caught and slew him at Awino hara in the district 
of Mishima^^ 

Here it is primarily the offence against the Gods which 
is reprobated. 

As in the Mosaic law, menstruation and child-birth were 
r^[arded as sources of uncleanness.* The custom of pro- 
viding a special hut for parturient women has been already 
noted.! In 811 the wife of a Kannushi was delivered of a 
child close to the enclosure of the Shrine of the Goddess of 
Food at Ise. Both husband and wife had to perform an 
Ohoharahi. After that time no pr^^ant woman was 
admitted within the tori-wi of this shrine. In 882 a Prince 
was sent as Envoy to Ise because a bitch had had puppies 
within the precincts of the Imperial Palace. Several days' 
rel^ous abstinence had to be observed in consequence. 
Until recently births and deaths were prohibited on the 
sacred island of Itsukushima in the Inland Sea. 

* Leviticus xii. i ; xv. 19. 

t See above, p. 113. llie cowoade was unknown. 



252 MOkALS, LAW, AJiD I*UklfV. 

^ Disease. Wounds, and Death caused uncleanness.* 
/' The death of a relation, attending a funeral, pronouncing 
or executing a capital sentence, touching the dead body of 
a man or beast, even eating food prepared in a house of 
mourning, all involved various degrees of ritual impurity. 

Before the Nara period of Japanese history it was the 
custom on the death of a sovereign to remove the capital 
to a fresh site, no doubt for the sake of purity. The Ainus 
of Yezo^destroy huts in which ^a death has takeri^^lace. 
The modern Japanese custom of turning upside down the 
screen which is placed round a corpse is perhaps a much 
attenuated survival of the same idea. In 80 1 a Great 
Purification ceremony was performed, because a dead dog 
had been discovered under one of the palace buildings. 
The same ritual was celebrated in times of pestilence, when 
a death took place close to the palace and on the Mikado's 
putting off mourning. If any one died within the precincts 
of a shrine, no festival could be held there for thirty days. 
A disability of five days was prescribed in the case of a 
dog or other beast dying there. At the present day lucifer 
matches are advertised as " fit for sacred purposes "; that 
is, they contain no phosphorus which is made of bones, and 
therefore unclean. Leprosy, owing to its reputed contagious 
character, is specially mentioned as a cause of uncleanness.t 
Wounds, whether inflicted or received, were objectionable, 
not so much on grounds of humanity, as because of their 
offensiveness. The Nihongi relates that in A.D. 404 the 
God Izanagi expressed by the mouth of one of his priests 
his dislike for the stench of blood caused by branding some 
of the Mikado's escort The striking of a Shinto priest 
while on duty was a cause of uncleanness. In grave cases, 
however, the offender was handed over to the civil autho- 
rities. According to the strict Shinto of a later period, a 
man must abstain from worship at a shrine for thirty days 

* Compare Leviticus xiii. 3 ; Nnmbers xix. 11. See also above, p. 93. 
t Numbers v. 3. 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 2$$ 

if he has wounded somebody, or, if he has accidentally 
hurt himself, so that more than three drops of blood have 
flowed, for that day. If he has vomited or passed blood, 
he must' not worship for two days, if he has an abscess, 
until it is cured, for seven days after moxa is applied, and 
for three days in the case of the operator. At the present 
day the common word for wound is k^a^ that is to say, 
defilemenL. 

Baldness and emaciation were regarded as disqualifica- 
tions for the position of Imperial Princess consecrated to 
the service of the Gods.* 

It was no doubt the fear of contagion and an instinctive 
feeling of horror and repulsion which inspired this class of 
taboos. G>ntact with death, disease, and wounds are dis- 
pleasing to living human beings, and therefore to the Gods. 
In ancient Greeee it was not thentis for the Grods to look 
on death. There is an obvious absurdity in referring such 
incidents of religious ritual to the principle that we must 
seek for the origin of forms of divine worship in observances 
towards the dead. 

Bating KImIl — Eating flesh is not inrludfri among the 
causes of uncleanness enumerated in the Kojiki\ or in the 
OhoharahL A Chinese notice of Japan written centuries 
before the dawn of Japanese history says that the "abstainers" 
(medicine men) of Japan were not allowed to comb their 
hair, to wash, to eat flesh meat, or to approach women. 
But this was perhaps asceticism rather than religion. A 
prohibition of the eating of the flesh of the ox, the horse, 
the d<^, the monkey, and the fowl in A.D.647 was certainly 
due to Buddhist influences. The first hint that it was 
offensive to the Shinto Gods to eat flesh is found in the 
KogO'jim^ where it is stated that when the son of Mitoshi 
no Kami saw that Ohotokonushi no Kami had given beef 
to his field labourers he spat upon their offering and 

* Compftre Leviticus xxi. VJ tt stqq, 
t Ch. K. 230. 



^N 



254 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITV. 

reported the matter to his father, who was angry and sent 
a blight upon the rice. But this very passage speaks of a 
horse, a pig, and a cock as acceptable offerings. In the 
norito things coarse of hair and things soft of hair occur 
frequently in the lists of offerings. Hirata points out that 
in sacrifices to the Sun-Goddess no flesh was used. In the 
most ancient times there was no prejudice against eating 
the flesh of animals. The Food- Goddess entertained Tsuki- 
yomi with things soft of hair and things coarse of hair. 
Hohodemi was a hunter by profession. The ancient 
Mikados frequently went hunting, and had no scruple in 
partaking of the products of the chase. Under Buddhist 
influences, however, there came a change. In ^'tjogwan' 
shiki (859-877) we find that persons who ate flesh were 
unclean for one day. In the Yengishiki three days are the 
limit As time went on the prohibition was extended, 
until in 1683 we find that to eat the flesh of horse, cow, 
pig, goat, wild boar, deer, monkey, bear, or antelope caused 
uncleanness for one hundred days. Birds and fish, it will 
be observed, are not included in this schedule. Whereas 
in ancient times the Mikados ate the flesh of deer 
and wild boar as ha-gatame (hardening the teeth) on the 
third day of the year, from which a person's age was 
reckoned, fish, fowl, and rice-cake were substituted at a 
later period. 

Persons who are unclean for any cause must have nothing 
to do with the preparation or serving of the Mikado's food. 

Intoxicating liquors are not tabooed in Shinto. There 
is, however, mention of an embassy to Ise in 749, the 
members of which were not allowed to take animal life, to 
eat flesh, or to drink sake. 

Impure food communicated its undeanness to the fire 
with which it had been cooked. Persons who used su4:;h a 
fire {kegare-bt) for cooking were unclean for seven days. 
Hirata suggests that the reason why Izanami was unable to 
return to the upper world after partaking of the food of 




MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 255 

Yomi was because of the unclean fire with which it had 
been cooked. 

On the first day of the sixth month, the Mikado was 
served with food specially prepared with pure fire (imu-U 
no sen). 

Buddhist Rites. — The performance of Buddhist rites 
incapacitated a man from the service of the Shinto Gods 
until he had been subjected to purification. For an infringe- 
ment of this rule, Shinto functionaries might be fined or 
dismissed. The use of Buddhist terms was forbidden to 
every one concerned in the Shinto ceremonies at Ise and 
Kamo. A Sutra was called "tinted paper," Buddha the 
" middle child," a Buddhist temple a " tile roof." Buddhist 
priests and nuns were ironically styled the 'Mong-haired 
ones." At Ise Buddhist priests were not admitted to the 
sacred precincts beyond a certain cryptomeria tree. A 
separate place was assigned them for their prayers. 

Other words of ill omen were "death," for which 
" recovery " was used ; for " disease " the participant in a 
Shinto festival said "rest" ; for "weeping," "brine-dripping" ; 
for "blood," "sweat"; for "strike," "stroke"; for "flesh," 
" mushroom " ; for " tomb," " clod," &c. These are later 
inventions. 

QalWI^ties. — We learn firom the Ohoharahi that snake- 
bite, being struck by lightning, and other accidents were 
r^^ded as tsumiy or sources of impurity. At a later time, 
a fire which destroyed a man's house made him unclean for 
seven days. 

Any neglect or irregularity in the divine services, any -, 
interference with the treasures, priests, or slaves of the 1/' 
shrine» or with the sacred grove around it, or failure to repair 
it whenever necessary, aroused the anger of the God and 
involvdd-^he uncleanness of the culprit 

M^c or witchcraft (majinaki) is one of the sources of 
impurity enumerated by the Ohoharahi.* 

* PeMteronom^ xvn. ii. See Index, * Magic/ 



2S6 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

The above account of Shinto offences must be taken with 
some qualifications. It is drawn from various sources and 
different periods of history. 2 Some apph'ed to the whole 
people, but in most cases it was only the priests and other 
persons concerned on whom the prohibitions were binding. 
The Skintd Miomoku has an enumeration of the " six pro- 
hibited things" which includes only ''mourning for a 
relative, visiting the sick, eating flesh of quadrupeds, con- 
demnation of criminals, execution of criminals, music, and 
contact with impure things." 

Ixnl. — The avoidance of impurity in preparation . .f» a 
/ festival was called imi (avoidance). The intending offidator 
or worshipper remained indoors (i-gomori)^ abstained from 
speech and noise, and ate food cooked at a pure fire For six 
days previous to the celebration of a festival at the Great 
Shrine of Idzumo there was no singing or dancing, no 
musical performances, the shrine was not swept out, no build- 
ing operations were carried on, and no rice pounded. Every- 
thing was done in stillness. A special imi of one month was 
observed by the priests before participating in the greater 
festivals. This was called araimi. For middle-class festivals 
three days' ipu were sufficient, and for those of the third 
class one day. At the present time imi is usually confined to 
abstinence from meat and from v^etables of the onion class. 

By a natural transition imi is also used in the sense of 
sacred, holy. An imi'dano is a building in which purity is 
observed. Sacred {imi) axes and mattocks were used in 
some ceremonies. The Sun-Goddess was in her sacred 
weaving-hall when Susa no wo outraged her by flinging 
the hide of a horse into it A modem derivative of f »ri, 
namely, imeimasfU^ is the nearest Japanese equivalent for 
"Hang it!' Compare the two meanings of the French 

sacri. 

Mourning is also called imi^ perhaps in the passive sense 
of something to be avoided in connexion with the service 
of the Gods, 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 257 

The following story illustrates the danger of appearing 
before the Gods while in a state of impurity. In 463 the 
Mikado Yuriaku desired to see the form of the deity of 
Mimuro, and ordered one of his Ministers to fetch the God. 
The Minister brought him before the Mikado in the form 
of a g^eat serpent But the Mikado had not practised 
religious abstinence, and when the God showed his dis- 
pleasure by rolling his thunder and showing his fiery 
eyeballs, the Mikado covered his eyes and fled into the 
interior of the palace. 

FlreH(l£llL-^In order to avoid the- risk of ttsing unclean 
fire in the great Shinto ceremonies, it was the custom at 
the shrines of Idzumo, Ise, Kasuga, Kamo, and perhaps \ 
other places, to make fire afresh on each occasion by means 
of the fire-drill. Even when not produced in this way, the 
sacrificial fire was called kiri-bi or drill-fire. A description 
of the Japanese form of the fire-drill will be found in a 
paper by Sir Ernest Sato\<r, T. A. S./., vol. vi. pt ii, p. 223, 
and a good specimen from Idzumo itself may be seen in 
the Oxford University Museum. Dr. Tylor, in his * Early 
History of Mankind,' has shown how universally this 
method of producing fire has been employed. It is a 
natural development of the savage plan of rubbing two 
sticks together, and no doubt originated independently in 
many places. It is therefore unnecessary to assume that 
the Japanese fire-drill was borrowed from India, where it 
is used for sacred purposes, or even from nearer China, 
where it is also known. It is frequently mentioned in the 
old Japanese traditions. The Kojiki says that the God 
Kushiyadama was appointed steward for the service of 
Ohonamochi (the God of Idzumo), in which capacity he 
recited prayers,madeafire-drill, and drilled out fire wherewith 
to cook the heavenly august banquet of fish for the deity.* 
The priests of Idzumo have always used pure fire produced 
in this way, and pure water firom a special well called the 

* Ch. K., p. 104. See also Ch. K., p. 211, and Nihongiy L 205. 

K 



2S6 MOEALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

Ama no mana-wi (true well of Heaven). At the present 
day» when die office is transmitted from one high priest to 
his successor, they proceed to the '' Shrine of the Great 
Precinct," where the ceremony of " divine fire " and " divine 
water " is held. The original fire-drill, given by Amaterasu 
to Ame no hohi and preserved as the chief treasure of the 
shrine, is carried in a bag slung round the neck of the chief 
priest, who solemnly delivers it over to his successor. This 
ceremony is called hi-tsugi (fire-continuance). It is curious 
that the same term {hitsugi) is constantly used of the 
/succession to the Mikado's throne, and that the delivery of 
\ the sun-mirror formed part of the ceremlpny used on his 
accession. Hi means either sun or fire. 

The old fire-drill was worshipped every New Year's day 
at Idzumo at a festival called hi no matsuri (fire or sun- 
festival). A fire-drill was among the objects carried in 
procession at the Ohonihe^ or coronation ceremony, and 
was used to produce' the fire used for cooking the sacred 
rice offered on this occasion. 

A modem Japanese writer, describing a festival celebrated 
at Gion in Ki6to on the last day of the year, says : " A big 
bonfire ^buros within the precincts of the shriae. It has 
been kindled from a year-old flame tended in a lamp under 
the eaves of the sacred building, and people come there to 
light a taper, which, burning before the household altar, 
shall be the beacon of domestic prosperity. At 2 A.M. the 
Festival of Pine Shavings takes place. A Shinto priest 
reads a ritual. His colleagues obtain a spark by the friction 
of two pieces of wood, and set fire to a quantity of shavings 
packed into a large iron lamp. These charred fragments 
of pine wood the worshippers receive and carry away as 
amulets against plague and pestilence." 

A Japanese book written two centuries ago informs us 
that sticks resembling the wands used for offerings at the 
purification ceremony were part shaven and set up in 
bundles at the four corners of the Gion shrine on the last 



MORALS, LAW, AND t^URltV. 259 

day of. the year. The priests, after prayers were recited, 
broke up the bundles and set fire to the sticks, which the 
people then carried home to light their household fires 
with for the New Year.* The object of this ceremony was 
to avert pestilence. There is here a striking resemblance 
to the Christian practice mentioned by M. D'Alviella: 
" The fire which the clergy, on the dawn of Easter, had 
struck from the flint and steel, served to rekindle the fires 
of individuals which had all been previously extinguished." 
The use of such fire to prevent pestilence may also be 
illustrated from European customs. The need-fire, made 
t^ striking flints or by the fire-drill, and used to rekindle 
all household fires, is one of numerous examples.! 

Removal of Impuri^. Lw^rattoxu — With eveiy pre- 
caution, it is not always possible to avoid the pollution of 
dirt, disease, and sin. In order, therefore, to do away with • 
the offence to the Gods arising from such impure conditions, 
various expedients are resorted to. The most natural and 2^ 
universal of these is washing or lustratioat The Chinese 
notices of ancient J^pan already quoted from inform us 
that the Japanese, after the ten days' mourning was con- 
cluded, all went into the river and washed. Hirata says 
that even at the present day, when mourning is over, people 
go to the bank of a stream or to the sea-beach and cleanse 
themselves. The mythical account of Izanagi's washing in . 
the sea in order to remove the pollutions of Yomi has been y 
pven above. In a fourteenth-century work entitled Kemmu 
nenchiu gidgi^ the ablutions of the Mikado previous to the 
ceremony of Shingonjiki are described with great minute- 
ness; and if this preliminary is usually passed over in 
descriptions of Shinto ceremonies, the reason no doubt 
is that it was too well known to require special mention. 

* See a paper on the Japanese gohH in ^<t Journal of the Anthropologica 
Institute, vol. xxzi., 1901. Also a note in Afoif, October, 1892. 
t See Grimm's ' Teutonic Mjrthology,' ii. 603, Stallybrass's translation. 
X See Dr. Tyler's * Primitive Culture,' iL 434. 

K 2 



i6o I^ORALS, law, AKt> l>URItV. 

Clean garments were put on at the same time. Both the 
Japanese words for the purification ceremony show by 
their derivation that washing was originally its cardinal 
feature. Misogi means " body-sprinkling," and harahi is 
probably the same word as arahi^ " wash."* Penitence is 
not one of the old Shinto means of purification. 

Salt. — In Japan, as in other countries, the antiseptic 
quality of salt has led to its religious use as a symbol for, 
and means of, purification. In a modem harahi ceremony 
the priest jgurifies the himorogi with salt water. At the 
entranc es to^ theatres at the present day a saucer of s«Ut is 
placed on a table in order to keep out evil influences. The 
kananU'ishi^ or pivot stones of the earth,t are covered with 
salt, which is then rubbed on a diseased part in order to 
obtain relief. " A housewife will not buy salt at night 
When obtained in the daytime, a portion of it must first 
be thrown into the fire to ward off all danger, and espe- 
cially to prevent quarrelling in the family. It is also used 
to scatter round the threshold and 4»' the house after a 
funeral for purificatory purposes. "J 

SpittUig. — Spitting, or the ejection from the mouth of 
any disagreeable substance, is naturally used by analc^ 
as a symbol of dislike and disgust when other senses or 
feelings than that of taste are offended. The modem 
writer Fukuzawa tells us that when he left his home for 
the first time he spat in order to show his disgust with the 
narrowness and poverty of his life there.§ ^Spitting as a 
\ means of symbolical purification is a further corollary from 
the natural function of this act In the Izanagi myth a 
God of the Spittle (Haya-tama no wo) is the result of that 

* "Sprinkle the water of expiation on them and lei ihcni wash their 

clothes.'* — Numbers vii. 7. 

f The ** earth-fast" stones of our own folk-lore. 

X Griffis, * Mikado's Empire,' p. 47a 

f We have a good Illustration of the transition from the ph3^cal to the 
metaphorical use of spitting in Revelation iii. 16 : '* Because thou art luke- 
warm and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth." 



1 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 261 

deity's spitting during the ceremony of divorce. The 
" spittle " deity is here associated with another God, who is 
styled a God of Purification. A commentator on this 
passage says that " at the present day spitting is essential 
in the purification ceremony." The ritual, however, does 
not mention it Another writer adds that "this is the 
reason why at the present day people spit when they see 
anything impure." In the myth of Susa no wo spittle is 
mentioned along with the nails of the fingers and toes and 
nose-mucus among the materials for expiatory oflTerings. 
When Hohodemi is recommended to " spit thrice " before 
giving back the lost fish-hook to his brother, a magical 
effect is probably intended, such as to convey to him any 
impurity which may have become attached to his own person. 
Rinsing the mouth as a purifying ceremony before pro- 
nouncing an oath is mentioned in the Nihongi,^ 

Breathing on. — Ritual impurity may also be conveyed 
away by the breath. The origin of this practice is the 
sudden expulsion of air from the mouth when some 
offensive odour or vapour has found an entrance. This 
instinctive actionf is represented onomatopoetically in 
English by Pooh ! Faugh ! Pshaw ! and in other languages 
by similar words, which have come to express not only 
physical repulsion, but dislike and contempt generally. 

As a religious practice, breathing away impurity is 
exemplified by the custom of the Mikado breathing on 
certain aga mono (ransom-objects) of the harahi ceremony, 
thus communicating to them the pollutions of his own 
person. It is in order to avoid polluting the offerings by 
their breath that in some ceremonies the assistant priests 
cover their mouths with a white fillet and hold their arms 

• H. 96. 

f Hirala says that in books 01 inajjic ihnkite harafu (clearing away hy 
pafling) is a means adopted by men naturally, without teaching, for cleansing 
away evil influences. See also Darwin's 'Expression of the Emotions,' 
pp, 258, 361. 



262 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

outstretched. Even at the present day the stewards who 
prepare the Mikado's food cover their mouths with a white 
paper nnask. The Nihongi states that when Izanagi washed 
in the sea in order to remove the pollutions of Yomi, he 
"blew out" and produced a number of deities, among 
which were the Great God of Remedy and the Great God 
of Offences. But the action of the Sun-Goddess and Susa 
no wo in producing children by crunching various objects 
and then " blowing away " the fragments, and of Izanagi's 
creation of the Wind-God by puAing away the mists, 
requires further explanation.^ These myths were probably 
the work of a person who had only a vague idea of the 
precise nature of the efficacy of this act, and r^^rded it 
simply as attended with some magical power. Spitting, 
primarily a mark of disgust, then practised with the object 
of purification, is finally done simply " for luck." 

Ramiom. —The notion 6f expiating ritual guilt by giving 
ransom {aga-mono) is familiar to the Japanese. The more 
intimately the objects offered are connected with the person 
of the offender, the more effectual is the sacrifice. Susa 
no wo is said to have expiated his offences by the loss of 
his hair and of his finger and toe nails.o Among ob[ect§ of 
ransom presented by the Mikado at ptrnfltatipn ceremonies 
clothing is the most important The Mikado was measured 
with great ceremony for suits of garments. Bamboo sticks 
were used for this purpose, which were broken to the 
required lengths. Hence the ceremony was called yo-ori 
(joint-break). The clothing when made was placed in a 
vase, and set before the Mikado by a NakatoiAi woman. 
He breathed on it thrice, and then returned it to be 
taken away by the Urahe (diviners) and thrown into 
a stream. Other ransom offerings were human figures of 
iron, wood, or leather, and swords, which were similarly 
treated. 

A special mi-aganahi no /«^?to^f7 (august-ransom-celebra- 
tion) was inaugurated in 814 for the sake of the Mikado, 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 263 

who was then ill. It was continued annually every sixth 
and twelfth month, the tniko officiating. 

In the thirteenth century the Onyoshi (diviners of the 
Chinese school) presented to the Mikado human figures in 
a box, inscribed with the place and name. The Mikado 
breathed on them, rubbed them on his person, and then 
returned them to the box. 

The principle of ransom is iUustratad4n the present day 
by thg Ctfstpm of kata-shiro (form-token) or nade-mono 
(rub-thing). At a ahrinft. of the Sea-Gods in Tokio a 
purification ceremony is performed twic^ a year, A fiew 
days before, the parishioners and other believers who wish 
to be purified go to the shrine and obtain from its official 
a katashiro^ that is, a white paper cut into the shape of a 
garment On this the person to be purified writes the year 
and month of his birth and his or her sex, and rubs it over 
his JUbple body. When he has thus transferred his im- 
purities to the paper he returns it to the shrine; All the 
Hatashiro which are brought back are packed into two 
sheaths of reed and placed on a table of unbarked wood. 
They are then called harahi tsu mono^ or things of purifi- 
cation. Finally they are put into a boat which is rowed 
9Ut . into the sea, and they are thrown away there.* The 
bundles of reeds or rushes which are thrown into the sea 
at the shrine of Gion at Tsushima in Owari, to avert pesti- 
lence, probably represent human figures. It is said that 
wherever they float to, pestilence breaks out. 

A more expeditious form of the same custom is when 
the katashiro or nademono are simply bought from the 
Kashimorfurey strolling vendors belonging to the shrine of 
Kashima, rubbed over the body, and cast into a stream. 
The object, however, is not so much the removal of ritual 
pollution as protection against disease. At the present 
day paper figures, called Ama-gatsu, are made to avert 
calamity from children. They are prepared before the 

* Dr. Florenz, in T, A* S./.^ December, 1899. 



264 MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 

birth of the child, and are worn up to the age of three. It 
is thought that evil spirits are diverted into these images 
from the infant It is an obvious d^^adation of these 
practices when they are used merely to procure good 
luck instead of to remove impurities offensive to the 
Gods. 

Ohi no wa (Beed-ring). — In a modem form of the 
harahi ceremony there is a kind of purification which 
consists in passing three times through a large ring made 
of reeds (pp. 266, 267), holding in the hands hemp leaves 
and reeds, and repeating the verse : — 

The sixth month's 

Summer — passing-away — 

Purification 

Who ever doeth 

Is said tojextend his life 

To one thousand years. 

Or, according to another version : — 

To the end that 
My impure thoughts 
May be annihilated. 
These hemp leaves, 
Cutting with many a cut, 
I have performed purification. 

The Shinto Miomoku (1699) says that this ring represents 
the round of the universe. The same work adds that the 
object of the ceremony is to avert the dangers connected 
with the change of summer influences to those of autumn. 
But these explanations have a tincture of Chinese philo- 
sophy. The purification of the heart from evil thoughts 
is also a conception foreign to the older Shinto. The 
injunction to cleanse the inside of the cup and the platter 
belongs to a later stage of religious development. 

The chi no wa is subsequently flung into the water. 

Another means of purification was to shake a gohei over 
the person or thing to be purified. 



MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY. 265 

The virtue of set forms of speech in absolving from 
uncleanness is fully recognized in Shinto, as will be seen in 
the next chapter. 

There were various forms of purification at various places 
for consecrating a new shrine, or new utensils for it, or for 
reconsecrating a place which had become unclean. 



266 







26/ 




268 



CHAPTER XII. 

CEREMONIAL. 

Ceremonies are combinations for some specific purpose 
of the elements of worship described in the two preceding 
chapters .♦ 

The Yengishiki is the chief authority for the following 
account of some of the more important ceremonies of 
Shinto. I have also availed myself freely of the results of 
Sir E. Satow's researches contained in vols. vii. and ix. 
ofther.AS./. ' • 

Ohonihe or DaUowe. — The Yengishiki ip\2LC^s theOhonihe 
in a class by itself, as much the most solemn and important 
festival of the Shinto religion. Oho means great, and nihe 
fooc| ofTering. It was substantially a more elaborate and 
sumptuous Nihi-name (new-tasting), or festij^al .q£. fir§t_ 
fruits, perforraed 300a after thfr acceoftten of a Mikado .to 
the throne» and, like our coronation ceremony, constituting 
the formal religious sanction of his sovereignty. 

A modem Japanese writer explains its object as follows : 

^^Ancientfy the Mikado received the auspicious grain from 
tJu Gods of Heaven^ and therewithal nourished the people. 
In the Daijowe {or Ohonihe) the Mikado^ when the grain 
became ripe^ joined unto him the people in sincere veneration, 
and, as in duty bound, made return to the Gods of Heaven. 
He thereafter partook of it cUong 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 Hiaven^ 

* " Un rite est un assemblage de symboles group^ autoar d'une id^ 
religiense ou d'un acte religieux, destin^ ^ en rehausser le caractere solennel 
ou bien Ji en d^velopper le sens." — Reville, * Prolegom^es.' 



CEREMONIAL. 269 

In SO far as the motive of the Japanese worshipper is 
concerned, this is, I think, nearer the mark than Mr.Frazer's : 
" Primitive peoples are, as a rule, reluctant to taste the 
annual first-fruits of any crop until some ceremcwiy has 
been performed which makes it safe and pious for them to ^ 
do so. The reason of this reluctance appears to be that 
the first-fruits either are the property of, or actually contain, ^ 
a divinity." It is gratitude rather than fear which animates'^ 
thr J^p?in^f^ 

The preparations for the Ohonihe began months in 
advance. The first step was to desig^nate by divination two 
provinces from which the rice used in the ceremony was to 
be provided. These were called respectively yuki and suki. 
The most probable meaning of the former term is "religious 
purity." Suki is said to mean next or subsidiary. The 
object of thus duplicating the offerings was, no doubt, that 
if any unnoticed irregularity or impurity occurred in one 
case, the error might not vitiate the whole proceedings. 
Officers called nuki-ko no /jw/t^A/ (messengers of the plucked- 
up ears) were then selected by divination. One of these 
was called the Inami no Urabe, or rice-fruit diviner, the 
other the N^ no Urabe, or prayer-diviner. These officers 
on arriving at thtyuki or suki district performed a purifica- 
tion ceremony in presence of the local officials and people. 
The site of the inami-chna^ or rice-fruit-hall, was then chosen 
by divination and marked out at the four comers by 
twigs of the sacred evergreen tree {sakaki) hung with tree- 
fibre.* It was 160 feet square. Somewhat more than an 
acre of rice-field was next set apart, the owner being com- 
pensated by the authorities. Here two sakaki twigs hung 
with tree- fibre were planted, and a guard of four labourers 
was set over it. Divination was also used for the selection 
of a local staff of religious functionaries. It consisted of 
one Saka-tsu-ko, that is, sake-child or brewer-maiden, an 
unmarried girl of good family, with several other girls as 

* See Index, Yufu^ 



% 



2/0 CEREMONIAL. 

assistants, an I nam! no kimi, or rice-fruit-lord,* a charcoal- 
burner, wood-cutters, &c. A choir of twenty male and 
female singers was also provided. Then the sit e oLth e 
Inami-dono was propitiated by prayer and offerings. A 
pure mattock and sickle were used in clearing the ground 
for the buildings, which comprised a shrine to the eight Gods 
Mi-toshi no Kami (august harvest deity), Taka mi musubi, 
Niha-taka-hi no Kami (courtyard-high-sun-deity), Mi ketsu 
no Kami (food-Goddess), Ohomiyanome no Kami, Koto- 
shiro-nushi, Asuha, and Hahigi.t A " rice-fruit-store," an 
office for the envoys from Kidto, and lodgings for the rice- 
fruit-lord and for the brewer-maiden and her assistants were 
built of unbarked wood and grass. The surrounding fence 
was made of brushwood and the gates consisted of hurdles. 

Offerings having been made to the eight Gods above 
'mentioned, the diviners from Kioto, accompanied by the 
local authorities and by the special staff of the inami-dono 
proceeded to the rice-field The brewer-maiden plucked 
up the first ears. She was followed by the rice-fruit-lord 
and the people. Songs were sung during the op^ation. 
The first four sheaves were reserved for the offering of 
boiled rice to be made by the Mikado to the Gods. When 
all the rice was pulled up, it was carried in procession to 
die capital, with the four reserved sheaves in the place of 
honour and the rice-fruit-lord acting as guide. It arrived 
at Kidto in the last decade of the ninth month. 

Meanwhile a general purification of the whole country 
had been performed, and to prevent all possibility of error, 
repeated at a short interval. As soon as this formality was 
completed, offerings of cloth and of material for wearing 
apparel were sent to all the Gods. The following noritdX 
was read on this occasion : — 

* Have we here one of those humaa representatives of the grain so familiar 
to us in European folk-lore? See Mr. Frazer*s * Golden Bough.' 
f See Index for these deities. 
\ No. 14 of the Yen^kiku 



CEREMONIAL. tj^t 

^'He says: ^ Hearken I all ye assembled kannushi and 
hafuri. I kumbly declare in the presence &fthe sovran Gods, 
who, according to the command of the dear divine ancestor 
and dear divine ancestress who dwell in the Plain of High 
Heaven, bear sway as Heavenly Shrines and Earthly Shrines.* 

''He says: ' To the end that on the middle day of the Hare 
of the nth month of this year, the Sovran Grandchild^ may 
partake of the Great Food (phonihe) as Heavenly Food, as 
Long Food, as Distant Food, I pray that ye sovran Gods will 
jointly undertake to bless his reign, to be firm and enduring, 
and give it happiness as a prosperous reign. Therefore, on 
behalf of the Sovran Grandchild, who will rule peacefully 
and serenely for one thousand autumns and five hundred 
autumns tmth festive ruddy countenance, do I set forth 
these fair offerings, namely, bright cloth, shining cloth, soft 
cloth, and rough cloth. 

" * Hearken I all of you to this fulfilling of praises as the 
morning sun rises in glory' 

'' He says : ' More especially would I enjoin on the kannushi 
and hafuri with all due ceremony to receive, take up^ and 
present the offerings purely provided by the Imbe, hanging 
stout straps on weak shoulders^ " 

A special embassy was sent to Ise, consisting of one 
Prince, one Nakatomi, one Imbe, and one Urabe 

In ^e third decade of the tenth month the Mikado went 
in state to a river-bank near Kioto and performed a cere- 
monial ablution {misogi). 

For one month before the Ohonihe lesser abstinence 
{ara-imi) was enjoined, and for three days greater abstinence 
(ma-imt). Buddhist ceremonies, and the eating of impure 
food, were interdicted throughout the five home provinces. 
Purity of languaget was also necessary. During the three 
days of ma-imi, no official was allowed to do any work 
except that connected with the ceremony. 

* The Mikado. 

t See above, p. 355. 



2J2 c£:k£MoNiAL. 

Sggda.1 byildings wer e ergjcterl for the Ohonihe at iCittoO, 

a suburb of Kioto. After a purification ceremony, a site 
480 feet square was marked out by twigs of sakaki hui^ 
with tree-fibre. On the arrival of the yuki and suki rice 
from the provinces, this site was propitiated. The Brewer- 
maidens then with a pure mattock turned the first sod and 
dug the holes for the four comer posts. The Urabe went 
to the mountain where the timber was to be cut, and wor- 
shipped the God of the mountain. The Brewer-maiden 
struck the first blow with a pure axe, and wood-cutters 
completed the work. Similar formalities were practised in 
cutting the grass for thatch and in digging wells. 

The sacred enclosure {yu-nika) was divided into two 
sections, an inner and an outer, and contained numerous 
buildings, such as shrines to the eight Gods already men- 
tioned, storehouses for the rice and other necessaries, 
lodgings for the Brewer-maidens and their assistants, 
kitchens, &c. 

The site of the principal building, or Ohonihe no Miya, 
measured 214 feet by 150 feet It was erected after the 
others and was in duplicate, one being for the yuki^ the 
other for the suki. Each was forty feet long by sixteen 
feet wide. The roof-tree ran north and south. Undressed 
wood was used for the erection, which was covered by a 
roof of thatch. The floor was strewn with bundles of grass 
over which bamboo mats were placed. In the centre of 
the sleeping-chamber (the sanctum) several white tatami 
(thick mats) were laid down and upon them tYicSaka-mitkura^ 
which was a cushion three feet broad by four feet long, for 
the use of the God or Gods.* This was called the " I>eity 
seat" The Mikado's seat was placed to the south of it 

The preparation of the sake for the ceremony was pre- 
ceded by worship of the Well-God, the Fumacc-God, and 

* Sir Ernest Satow says that sleeping in a house being regarded as the sign 
of ownership, a pillow {fHo^ura) is often placed in the shrine as a s3rmbol of 
the God's presence. 



ckkEMoKtAL ifi ,• 

^le^^akfiiGod. The iir3t fire was produced by a fire-drill. > 
The Brewer-maiden began to turn it and the Rice-fiiiit-lord 
continued the work. A third official blew the fire and the 
attendants then kindled a torch with it All the utensils 
had been provided by the Imbe with great care, performing 
harahi and worship at every step. 

The A^ikada himself practised lesser abstinence for a month 
and greater abstinence for three days before the ceremony. 
The piiQC^ure at the Ohonihe is too elaborate to describe 
in detail It included the recitation before the Mikado of 
"old words" (myths and legends?) by the Kataribe, or 
corporation of reciters, and songs by the women who 
pounded the rice for the offerings^ jvishiog him long life and 
prosp erity. The rice was presented to him by the Nukiho 
no tsukahi, with the words, ''We bring a thousand and five 
hundred auspicious ears which we offer as divine food of a 
million loads." Old-fashJQi}^ music was performed and 
the r^^lia were delivered to him by the Urabe. 

The cardinal feature of the Ohonihe was the offering of 
foodJaJthe God (or Gods) by the Mikado in person. With 
his own hands he sprinkled rice with sake which he then 
placed before the " Deity-seat." No one else was present 
but the Uneme, or ladies-in-waiting, who repeated the 
formula, " Let that which ye should clip first be clipped 
afterwards. Moreover, whatever faults there be, receive 
these offerings with divine amendment, with great amend- 
ment." The Mikado then bowed his head slightly, clapped 
his hands, and said 6 (amen), after which he joined the 
Grod in partaking of the food. When the yuki ceremony 
was completed the Mikado went to his retiring-room, washed 
and changed his clothes, after which he proceeded to the 
suki chamber and repeated the same ceremonial. 

It is not quite certain what God or Gods were worshipped. 
Some say that the offerings were to the Sun-Goddess, others ^' 
think that all the Gods were included. The haziness on 
this point is highly characteristic of Shinto. 



274 CEREMONIAL. 

The following norito^ No. 27 of the YingiskikiyW^jmz 
nouncfid l^ the Idzumo no miyakko on this occasion. 
They were the reputed descendants of Ama no hohi, who 
holds the same position in the Ohonamochi mytli that 
Koyane does in that of the Sun-Goddess. They were 
originally the hereditary Governors — perhaps even kings — 
of the province and had also sacerdotal functions. They 
retained the latter after all lay jurisdiction had been taken 
from them. 

" The words 0/ blessing of the Miyakko of Idzutno. 

^^ Among the many tens of days that be, on this day, this 
living day, this perfect day, do I [here insert name], Miyakko 
of the Land of Idzumo, humbly declare with deepest reverence, 
to wit: * With the object of pronouncing a blessing on the great 
august reign of our Sovran Lord, who rules the Great-^ght- 
island country as — with fear be it said— a wise manifesi 
deity, and blessing it cu a long and great reign, did I, hanging 
stout straps on weak shoulders,* fastening the cords of ike 
sacred offerings, wearing the celestial cap, shearing and 
spreading the coarse grass as a sacred mat in the sacred 
house, blackening the sacred vessels, dwelling in pure retire* 
ment by the celestial sake-jars, calming the deities in their 
calm shrines by the avoidance of impurity, did service first 
to the Great God of Kumano, Kushi mikenu^ our ctivhu 
ancestor, the Great-GrandckHdoflzanagi, and to Ohonamochi, 
the maker of the land, for whom within the blue hill-confines 
of the province of Idsumo the temple pillars have been stoutly 
planted on the rock-roots below, while the projecting cross- 
beams of the roof are exalted to the Plain of High Heaven. 
Thereafter I did worship to the Sovran Gods who dwell m 
the one hundred and eighty-six shrines.* 

" Then, as the morning sun went up in glory, there came 
these good words of divine blessing, to wit: * When Taka- 

* That is, wearing the garb of a priest who makes oflferings. 
t Probably the same as Ame no hohi, from whom the Miyakko dahned 
descent. 



CEREMONIAL. 275 

mi'tnusubi and Kami mi-musubi^ the High-Heaven divine 
ancestors, bestowed upon the Sovran Grandchild this sub-celes- 
tial Great-eight'island country , Ama no hohi, the remote 
divine ancestor of the Omi^ of Idzumo, was sent by them to 
view the condition of the land. Forcing his way through the 
eight-fold clouds of Heaven, soaring across the sky, soaring 
over the earth, he surveyed the Under-Heaven on all sides, 
and made report that the Fair-Ear- Land of the Rich-Reed- 
Plain was a savage land where there were Gods who in the 
daytime swarmed like flies in the fifth month, and at night 
shone like fire potSj and where the rocks, trees, and blue water 
foam had power of speech. However, he promised that it 
should be subdued so that the Sovran Grandchild might rule 
it serenely as a peaceful land. Therefore his son Ame-hina- 
dori, and with him Futsunushi were sent down from Heaven. 
They drove out and subdued the savage deities, and persuaded 
the Great God who made the Land^ to divide off the visible 
outward thingsX of the Great-eight-island Country! 

" Then Ohonamochi said: * In the land to be governed by 
the Sovran Grandchild and called Great Yamato I will 
make my own gentle spirit (nigi-tama) to be attached to an 
eight-hand mirror, and enshrined in Miha, under the title 
of Yamato no Oho-mono-nushi kushi-mika-tama no mikoto 
{great'thing-master-wondrous-awful-spirit), the spirit of n^ 
son Ajisuki-taka-kikone to be enshrined at Kamo in Katsu- 
raki, that of Kotoshironushi at Unade, and that of Kqya- 
narumi at Asuka, dedicating them to dwell there divinely as 
near guardian deities of the Sovran Grandchild.* He then 
went to rest in the shrine of fertile Kitsuki.^ Thereupon the 
Sovran dear divine ancestor and ancestress {of the Mikado ?) 



* The same as the Miyakko. 

t Ohonamochi. 

X That is, to surrender the civil jurisdiction. 

§ It is to be understood that after he had enshrined his nigi'tama, or gentle 
^rit, in Yamato, Ohonamochi himself, or perhaps his aratama, or rough 
spirit, retired to Idzuma 



2/6 CEREMONIAL. 

gctve command^ saying : * Do thou Hohi no Mikoto bless the 
Sovraiis long age so that it may be firm and enduring^ and 
make it happy as a prosperous age' 

** In accordance with this injunction^ I (his successor) perform 
this service of blessings and as the fnoming sun rises in glory, 
bring tribute of congratulatory divine treasures in token of 
the Gods {Hohi) regard and in token of the Omfs (his own) 
regard, 

^* (These) white jewels are (a prognostic of) the great august 
white hairs (to which your majesty will reach). The 
red jewels are the august^ healthful, ruddy countenance, and 
the green-estuary jewels are the harmonious fitness with which 
your Majesty will establish far and wide, as with a broad 
sword-blade, his lasting great august reign over the Great- 
eight-island-country which he governs. As (this) white 
horse plants firmly his fore hoofs and his hind-hoofs, so will 
the pillars of the Great Palace be set finnly on the upper 
rocks and frozen firmly on the lower rocks. The pricking up 
of his ears is a sign that Your Majesty will, with ears ever 
more erect, rule the Under-Heaven, {Here follows a passage 
^ too corrupt for translation. It continues to allude to the 
emblematic character of the offerings,'\ As a token that the 
visible deity {the Mikado) shall peacefully and serenely rule 
the Great-eight-island country as long as Heaven and Earth, 
the Sun and Moon endure, I offer these congratulatory divine 
treasures by way of respect from the God, and by way of 
respect from the Omi, with profound awe, and pronouna 
these auspicious words of divine congratulation delivered to 
me from Heaven^ 

The offerings were sixty jewels, white, red, and green, a 
sword with mountings of gold and silver, a mirror, two 
pieces of cloth, a horse, a swan, and fifty trays of eatables. 

The similar formula used by the Nakatomi in 1 142, in- 
voking the blessing of the Gods on the new sovereign, is 
given in Dr. Florenz's German translation of the ^ihongi^ 
Book XXX., Appendix. 



CEREMONIAL. 277 

The above is the merest outline of a ceremony to a de- 
scription of which Hirata devotes 480 pages of his Koshiden, 
It varied a good deal at different times, and was altogether 
discontinued for eight reigns (1465- 1687) no doubt because 
it was found too heavy a burden on the people. 

Wt^^'^ttiTttg — The Nihi-name or new^tasting, when the 
rice of the new harvest was first partaken of, was the same 
as th^Qboniher except that it was simpler and was cele- 
brated annually. The festival is frequently referred to in 
the kojiki and Nihongi, The Sun-Goddess is said to have 
celebrated a Nihi-name in a New Palace. It was accom- 
panied by songs and dances and was followed by feasting 
in holiday dress and presents to the Court and officials. 

At shrines not officially recognized, the local official in 
charge conducted this ceremony. It was then called o-hi- 
taki (august-fire-kindling) because a courtyard fire {nihabt) 
was- made, the ceremony taking place at night. Strict 
Shinto devotees wemld not eat the new season's rice until it 
had been performed. 

It appears from allusions in poetry and l^end that there 
was also a household Nihi-name. It was celebrated with 
closed doors, no stranger being admitted, apparently in 
order to prevent pollution by impure persons. The follow- 
ing legend from the Hitachi Fudoki illustrates this point 

**lVAen the God called the ^Divine Ancestor^ went to 
the places of the various deities^ he came to the Peak 
of Fuji in Suruga, The sun went down and he asked for 
a lodging, but the God of Fuji refused, saying that he was 
that day performing the Nihi-name, and his household were 
therefore practising abstinence. So he ascended the Peak 
of Tsukuba, and asked for a lodging. The God of Tsukuba 
said: ^Although I am this night celebrating the Nihi-name, 
why should that prevent me from acceding to your august 
behest?''* 

Wanftkima. — There was in later times a corresponding 



2/8 CEREMONIAL. 

spring festival called Nana-kusa (seven herbs), in which 
wild potherbs of seven different kinds were gathered and 
eaten. 

Ahi^nama or Ahimbe. — This word means "joint-tasting." 
It was a harvest festival not essentially diffmng from the 
Nihi-name, and was so called because the Mikado joined 
the Gods with himself in tasting the new season's rice and 
sake, Hirata thinks, however, that the expression *' joint- 
tasting " refers to the association of certain inferior Gods 
with the greater Gods directly worshipped at this time. It 
was celebrated on the first Hare day of the eleventh month, 
and was in honour of the deities of seventy-one shrines. 

Kan-namo (divine-tasting). — This was another harvest 
festival, distinguished from the preceding by being cde- 
brated in the ninth month, and being confined to the 
deities of the Ise shrines. An embassy of high officials 
was specially dispatched to Ise for the purpose, after an 
elaborate ceremonial in the Palace, in which the Mikado 
himself took part 

The norito (Nos. 20, 21, and 22) used on this occa^<»i 
are preserved in the Yengishiki. They contain nothing of 
interest. 

When a princess was dedicated to the service of the 
shrines, the following formula (No. 23) was added : — 

^^ More espedcUly do I humbly declare: * The offering of a 
Sacred Princess of the Blood Imperial to serve as the Deititi 
staffs having firsts according to custom^ observed the rules 
of religious purity for three years^ is to the end that thou 
may St cause the Sovran Grandchild to live peacefully and 
firmly as long as Heaven and Earthy the Sun and Mow, 
may last, /, the Great Nakatomi^ holding the dread spear 
by the middle^ with deepest awe pronounce this d e dica ti on 
of her by the Mikado to the end that she may serve as a» 
august staffs " 

* Explained to mean ** in the discharge of my mediatoiy fhnction." 



CEREMONIAL. 279 

Kanm-ima-go or Bhlngos^iU. — This festival was cele- 
brated in the palace at night after the Tsukinami. The name 
means literally God-new-food. It consisted in the Mikado 
in person or by deputy making an offering of food to the 
Sun-Goddess. The forms resembled those in use for the 
Ohonihe or Nihi- name, and included laying down a cushion 
{saka-makura) to represent the Deity, the use of a fire- 
drill, &c 

Hlrano no Hatrarl. — Festival of Hirano, a village in the 
province of Settsu. There is much doubt as to the deities 
in whose honour this service (No. 5 of the Yengishiki) was 
first instituted. It is believed that it was originally cele- 
brated in honour of Image no Kami (the God of New Food) 
and of Kudo no Kami and Kobe no Kami, the Gods of the \ 
kitchen-boiler and of the cooking-pan. The Image was 
probably, as explained by Sir E. Satow, freshly hulled rice 
offered monthly to the Gods. 

After the Mikado Kwammu founded the shrine of Hirano, 
about the end of the eighth century, it became the custom 
for all the branches of the Imperial family to be represented 
at the two annual celebrations. It was Kitabatake Chika- 
fusa (1293- 1 3 59) who first invented the popular account 
of the Grods worshipped here. Knowing that they were 
in some manner family deities, he proceeded to allot 
as uji-gami to the Tahira, Minamoto, Ohoye and 
Takashina families, ancient members of the Imperial 
line taken here and there at random, and comprising 
the Sun-Goddess, Yamato-dake, and the Mikados Chiuai 
and Nintoku. This is an instructive example of 
the intrusion of ancestor-worship so-called into the older 
Shinto. 

The norito read at this festival affords no clue to the 
identity of the Gods worshipped. It mentions the founding 
of the shrine at the behest of the Sovran Great God (or 
Gods) and makes offerings in acknowledgment of his (or 



280 CERfel^ONtAL 

their) preserving the Mikado's life and prospering his 
reign.* 

Kudo and Kobe no MatoarL — ^This service (No. 6 of the 
Yengiskiki) is practically identical with the last, which is 
natural, if, as is probable, the Gods worshipped are reaUy 
the same. 

Toahigohi no Matogii (harvest-praying service). — ^This 
festival ^No. I of the Yengiskiki) was in hoaour 9f Jtte 
deities of the 3,132 official shrines, in other words, the entire 
Shinto Pantheon. It was cglebcated on the 4th day of 
the 2nd month (when, tbajsecd ric? is sojro). in the Sot-in, 
or sacred precinct, a courtyard in the Palace measuring 
230 feet by 370 feet, with offices opening on to it on all 
sides. On the west were the shrines of the eight deitiesf 
in a row, surrounded by a fence to the interior of which 
three sacred archways gave access. In the centre of the 
court a temporary shed was erected in which the altars 
were placed. Early on the morning of the festival day, the 
offcrin^Sj prepared by the Imbe, were set out here. They 
are minutely described in the Yengiskiki^ ^A consisted of 
silk and cloth of various kinds, some of the raw materials 
for the same, models of swords, shields, spear-heads, bows, 
quivers, stags' horns, mattocks, sake, fish of various kinds, 
edible seaweed, salt, and matting. In the case of the Ise 
temples, a horse was added. A white horse, cock, and boar 
were sent to Mitoshi no Kami, the special deity of Harvest, 
and a horse to each of nineteen others, including the God 
of Growth and the water-deities of Yamato. 

When everything was ready, the officials of th& Jingikwan, 
accompanied by the miko^ or virgin priestesses, entered by 
the middle gate and took their places in the western offices 
with their faces to the east, the north being the upper (or 
more honourable) end. The Ministers of State and their 

* For a more detailed discussion of this ritual, see Sir £. Satow in T. A, S. /., 
vol. iz. pt. ii. p. 183. 
t Sec above, p. 370. 



CEREMONIAL. 28 1 

subordinates entered by the north gate and took their 
places in the north office, the Ministers facing the south, 
the others east or west The priestesses occupied seats 
below the office. The other officials entered by the south 
gate and sat facing the north. The subordinate Shinto 
functionaries and hafuri stood in the courtyard south of the 
west office. 

Then the Jingikwan officials came down and took their 
places in front of their office. They were followed by the 
Ministers of State. A Nakatomi read the norito. the hafuri 
responding with 6 ("Yes " or ** Amen ") at the end of every 
paragraph. It is as follows : — 

"//(?* says: ^Hearken all ye assembled Kannushi and 
Hafuri: 

** He says: ^ I humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
Gods J nvhose praises are fulfilled as Heavenly Deities and as 
Earthly Deities^ by command of the Sovran^ dear, divine 
ancestor and ancestress who divinely dwell in the Plain of 
High-Heaven. 

" * In the second month of this year the Sovran Grandchild 
is graciously pleased to pray for harvest, and I, therefore, as 
the morning sun rises in glory, offer up his plenteous offerings, 
thus fulfilling your praised [Here the Kannushi and Hafuri 
of the shrines concerned remove this set of offerings^l 

" He says : * / humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
Gods of the harvest. 

" * If the Sovran Gods will bestow in ears many a hand's 
breadth long and ears abundant the latter harvest which they 
ivill bestow, the latter Itarvest produced by the labour of nun 
from whose arms the foam drips down, on wliose opposing 
thighs the mud is gathered, I will fulfil their praises by 
humbly offering first fruits, of ears a tliousand, of ears many 
a hundred, raising up the tops of the sake-jars, and setting 
in rows the bellies of the sake-jars, in juice and in ear will I 

• The Nakatomi. 



2S2 CEREMONIAL. 

present them^ of things grazving 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 offin^ edible seaweed^ 
too^from the offing and seaweed from the shore ^ of clothings 
bright stuffs and shining stuffs^ soft stuffs and coarse stuffs 
— with these I will fulfil your praises, [In the meantime] 
having furnished a white horse^ a white boar^ and a white 
cock^ with things of various kinds before the Sovran Gods of 
the Harvest^ I fulfil their praises by humbly presenting these 
plenteous offerings of the Sovran Grandchild* 

" He says : ' / humbly declare in the presence of the Sotrran 
Gods whose praises the chief priestess fulfils^ and I fulfil 
your praiseSf namely, Kami-musubi, Taka-mi-musubi, Iku- 
musubiy Taru-musubiy Tama-tsume-musubi, Oho-miya no me, 
Oho-mi-ketsu no kami, and Kotoshironushi Because you 
bless the Sovran Grandchild* s reign as a long reign, firm 
and enduring, and render it a happy and prosperous reign, 
I fulfil your praises as our Sovran* s dear, divine ancestor 
and ancestress by making these plenteous offerings on his 
behalf: 

"//ie says: */ humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
Gods, whose praises the priestess of Wigcuuri fulfils. I fulfil 
your praises, repeating your names, to wit. Live Well, Blessing 
Well, Long-rope Well, Asuha, and Hahigi.* Whereas, on 
the nethermost rock-roots ruled by the Sovran Gods (Just 
named) the palace pillars have been raised stout and high, 
and the prof ecting cross-beams exalted to the Plain of High- 
Heaven, furnishing a fair abode for the Sovran Grandchild, 
wherein, finding shelter from the rain and shelter from the 
sun, he serenely governs in peace the world on all sides, 
I fulfil your praises by making these plenteous offerings on 
his behalf: 

^^He says: * / humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
Gods, whose praises are fulfilled by the priestess of the Gate, 
Repeating your names, to wit, Kushi-iha-mculo (wondrous- 

* See Index for these two deities. 



CEREMONIAL. 283 

ro€k'gat€)jand Toyo-ika-mado {jrich''rock-g€Ue\ I fulfil your 
praises. ^ Whereas you guard the gates of the four quarters 
by night and day^ obstructing the passage like manifold piles 
of rocky and whether you open them in the morning or close 
them in the evenings guard below against unfriendly things 
coming from below ^ attd guard above against unfriendly 
things coming from above^ I fulfil your praises by making 
these offerings on behalf of the Sovran GrandchUdlj 

^He says: */ humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
GodSy whose praises the priestess of Ikuskima (live-island or 
region) fulfils. Repeating your names ^ to wit^ Iku-kuni {live 
country) and Taru-kuni^ {perfect country) y I fulfil your 
praises. Because you the Sovran Gods^ who rule the islands 
many tens in number wherever the frog of the valley finds 
his way^ wherever the ouan foam extends ^ making wide the 
narrow regions and the steep regions levels have granted these 
many islands to him every one^ I fulfil your praises by making 
these plenteous offerings on behalf of the Sovran Grandchild^ 
^He says : * More especially do I humbly declare in the 
mighty presence of the Great Heaven-shining Deity who 
dwells in Ise. Because the Great Deity has bestowed on him 
the lands of the four quarters over which her glance extends 
as far as where the wall of Heaven riseSy as far as where 
the bounds of Earth stand up^ asfarcu the blue clouds are 
diffused^ as far as where the white clouds settle down oppo- 
sitCy by the blue sea-plain^ as far as the prows of ships can go 
without letting dry their poles and oars ; by land^ as far 
as the hoofs of horses can go ^ with tightened baggage-cords ^ 
treading their way among rock-roots and tree-roots where the 
long road extends^ continuously widening the narrow regions 
and making the steep regions levels drawing together ^ as it 
wercy the distant regions by throwing over them {a net of) 
many ropes ^ — therefore will the first-fruits for the Sovran 
GrecU Deity be piled up in her mighty presence like a range of 
hiUsy leaving the remainder for him tranquilly to partake of* 

* See Index. 



284 CEREMONIAL. 

" * Moreover^ whereas you bless the Sovran GrandchiUTs 
reign as a long reign^ firm and enduring^ and render it a 
happy and prosperous reign^ I plunge down my neck cor- 
morant-wise in reverence to you asour Sovratis dear^ divine 
ancestress y and fulfil your praises by making these plenteous 
offerings on his behalf' 

" He says : * / humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran 
Gods who dwell in the Crown lands and name your august 
nafnesy to wit — Takechi, Katsuraki, Tohochi^ Shiki^ Yama- 
nobe and Sofu,* Whereas the Sovran Grandchild partakes 
of as his long food, his distant foody the sweet herbs and 
bitter herbs which grow in and are brought from the six 
Crown lands aforesaid^ I fulfil your praises by making 
these plenteous offerings on his behalf' 

" * / humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods 
who dwell in the mountain-fnouths and natne your august 
names, to wit — Asuka, I hare ^ Osaka, Hatsuse, Unebi, and 
Miminashi,^ Whereas the great trees and the small trees 
which grow on the near mountains and on the far mountains 
are cut at the root and at the top, and brought to furnish 
a fair abode for the Sovran Grandchild, wherein, sheltered 
frotn the rain and sun, he serenely governs in peace the lands 
of the four quarters, I fulfil your' praises by tnaking these 
plenteous offerings on his behalf! 

" He says : * / humbly declare in the presence of the Gods 
who dwell in the water-partings, and, naming your august 
names, to wit — Yoshinu, Uda, Tsuge, and Katsuraki, fulfil 
your praises. If you, the Sovran Gods, will bestow in ears 
tnany a handsbreadth long, and ears abundant the latter 
harvest which you will bestow, I will fulfil your praises by 
offering firsfifruits in ear and in juice, raising up the tops 
of the sake-jars and filling and setting in a row the bellies 
of the sake-jars. The Sovran Grandchild will then partake 
with ruddy countenance of that which remains as the com of 

* These are names of places. The Gods seem to have had no otheis. 
^ These are names of mountains. 



CEREMONIAL. 285 

his august morning meals and his august evening meals ^ for 
his long food^ and for his distant food. Therefore do I 
now fulfU your praises by making these plenteous offerings on 
his behalf 
" * Lend ear^ all of you* 

" He says : * More especially^ let the Kannushi and Hafuri, 
having received the offerings which the Imbe^ hanging stout 
straps on weak shoulders^ have prepared with purity^ take 
them away and offer them in all due form' " 

It will be observed that this norito contains paragraphs — 
possibly later accretions — which have nothing to do with 
the harvest. In some of the petitions the do ut des principle 
is very thinly disguised. 

Tlnikinami no Matsorl. — This festival was in honour of 
the Gods of the "Greater Shrines." The name means 
monthly festival, but it was really celebrated only twice a 
year, on the eleventh day of the sixth and twelfth months. 
The norito (No. 7 of the Yengishiki) is almost identical with 
the Toshigohi. The fingishirio^ a modern history of Shinto, 
describes it as a thanksgiving service for the protecting care 
of the Gods. 

Another Tsukinami ceremony was performed at Ise by a 
Nakatomi despatched thither as special envoy in connexion 
with the Toshigohi and also in the sixth and twelfth 
months of every year. The norito (No. 16) read on these 
occasions was as follows : — 

^^ He says: ^ By the great comtnand of the Mikado^ I 
humbly declare in the mighty presence of the Great Deify 
whose praises are fulfilled {in the shrine biMt) upon the 
nethermost rock-roots on the bank of the River Isuzu in 
Watarahi. /, of such a rank^ of such a nanu^ humbly repeat 
his commands^ as his envoy to convey hither and make offering 
of the customary great offerings of Praying-for-Harvest in 
the second month {or as the ccLse may bey " 



286 CEREMONIAL. 

A similar service (No. 17) was performed at the same 
time in honour of the Goddess of Food. The phraseology 
is somewhat less honorific. 

On the two latter occasions, the Chief Priest of Ise read 
the following norito (No. 19). 

" He says : * Hearken^ all ye kannushi and inofuhimi to 
this celestial^ this great narttOy which I humbly pronounce m 
the mighty presence of the Heaven-Shining Great Deity^ 
whose praises are fulfilled in Uji of Watarakiy where on the 
bank of the River Isuzu the pillars of the Great Shrine are 
stoutly erected, and the projecting cross-beams are exalted to 
the Plain of High-Heaven. {Here the Negi and Uchi-bito, 
priests of lower rank, answer "d," that is/* Yes,'* or **Afnen*) 
Bless the life of our Sovereign as a long life, let his reign be 
prosperous, firm and enduring as a pile of multitudinous 
rocks, and show thy favour to the princes bom of him. As 
to the functionaries of every rank, down to the peasants of the 
four quarters of the Under-Heaven, make the five grains 
which they long and peacefully cultivate to flourish abund- 
antly. Favour them with thy protection, and grant them 
thy blessing. 

" * On this seventeenth day of the sixth month {or as the 
case may be) as the morning sun rises in glory, I fulfil thy 
praises, setting before thee in ample measure, like seas and 
mountains, the tribute yam and the great food-offerings cf 
holy rice and sake, provided according to custom by the con- 
secrcUed peasants of the three districts, and the varums 
localities of the various provinces, while the Great Nakatomi 
himself is hidden in offering-branches. 

" * Heark^, all ye kannushi and mono-imi* 
" He says : * This service is likewise addressed to the Ara- 
matsuri shrine and to the Tsukiyomi {Moon-God) shrine' 
{The kannushi again answer * ().*)" 

Kl-u no Httteorl (praying for rain). No norito of this 
ceremony is given in the Yengishiku It was performed in 



CfiRBMOHUL. a8;r 

honour of the Gods of eighty-five shrines, and was accom- 
panied by the HSlial f)^<fffi"gi? Qfclnth-g^ffs. To a few out 
of the number a bl a^ k hoyse was oB&ed in addition. The 3? ^ 
choice of a black animal for this purpose belongs to the 
magical pre-religious stage of thought Black is the colour 
of the rain-clouds, and therefore, on the principle that what 
suggests a thing will actually produce it, the exhibition of a 
black horse is thought likely to make the clouds collect and 
rain to fall. A white horse was offered when fine weather 
was desired. 

Mr. Weston, in his * Mountaineering in the Japanese 
Alps,' describes the sacrifice of a black dog ^* symbolical of 
the wished-for storm-clouds " in order to cause rain. 

Kama miso no matfuri (divine-clothing-service). — This 
ceremony consisted in presenting offerings of clothing to 
the Sun-Goddess at Ise. It was celebrated twice a year, in 
the fourth and ninth months. The norito (No. i8) is very 
short and uninteresting. 

Service for the Removal of the lee Shrine. — The norito 
(No. 24) is a very short formula. It announces to the Sun- 
Goddess the rebuilding of her shrine, which took place every 
twentieth year. A similar form was used in the case of the 
Food-Goddess. 

Oho-tono hogahi (luck: wishing or blessing of the Gr^at 
^^age).— This ceremony was performed on the morning 
after the Kamu image and the Nihi-name. It was in honour 
of three deities, namely, the two Yabune no Kami, or 
House deities, and Oho-miya no me, a personified Lady 
Chamberlain. 

I quote from Sir Ernest Satow's * Ancient Japanese 
Rituals' in the 71 A. S.J.^ vol. ix. pt. ii., a ninth-century 
description of this ceremony : — 

"The Jingikwan took four boxes containing precious 
stones, cut paper-mulberry bark, rice and sake in bottles, 
and placed them on two eight-legged tables, which were 
then borne by four attendants, preceded by Nakatomi and 



288 CEREMONIAL. 

Imbe functionaries, all wearing wreaths and scarfs of paper- 
mulbeny bark, walking in double line, the rear being 
brought up by virgin priestesses. On the procession 
arriving in front of the Palace gate, the tables were 
deposited under the arcade which ran along the outside of 
the wall. A servant called out for admittance, and the 
porter having announced the procession by saying that an 
officer of the Imperial Household had asked for admission 
in order to pronounce the Luck-wishing of the Great 
Palace, the order, ' Let him pronounce it,' was transmitted 
back from the Mikado. The porter thereupon called out 
' Let him declare his name and surname,' in reply to which 
the officer advanced to a spot previously marked out by 
a wooden ticket with his name on it, and said : ' It is so 
and so, of the Jingfikwan, who wish to perform the Luck- 
wishing of the Great Palace.' To this the Mikado's answer 
was * Call them.' The officer of the household replied * 0,' 
and retiring called the functionaries of the Jingikwan, who 
in their turn replied * 6.' The Nakatomi and Imbe then 
put on their wreaths of paper-mulberry, to which the latter 
added straps of the same material, and advanced ahead of 
the tables up to the * Hall of Benevolence and Long Life.* 
The virgin priestesses had meanwhile entered by another 
gate, and were waiting in the Palace enclosure. *They now 
followed the tables, and came up to the verandah on the 
east side of the building, where they took charge of the 
boxes of offerings. The procession then entered the build- 
ing. One virgin priestess went to the Hall of Audience 
and scattered rice about it, while another proceeded to the 
gate on its south side and performed the same ceremony 
there. The Imbe took out the precious stones and hung 
them at the four comers of the Hall, and the priestesses 
withdrew, after sprinkling sake and scattering rice and cut 
paper-mulberry fibre at the four comers of the interior. 
The Nakatomi stood on the south side of the building 
while the Imbe turned to the south-east, and in a low 



CEREMONIAL. 289 

voice read the ritual. The whole company next went to 
the Mikado's bath-room, and hung precious stones at its 
four angles, and the same at his privy, while the priestesses 
scattered rice and sprinkled sake as before.** 

The norito (No. 8) of this ceremony, as appears from the 
archaic forms of language which it contains, is probably 
very ancient. It is quoted in the Kogojiui ; and the 
Nikongi describes as ** an ancient saying " a sentence which 
forms part of it 

The reader will note the confusion — of a kind inherent 
in all mytholc^ies — between the house considered as a 
deity and the protecting deity of the house. 

^^When by command of the dear^ divine ancestor and 
ancestress who divinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaven^ 
the Sovran Grandchild^ was made to take his seat on the 
high august throne of Heaven^ and the Heavenly Emblems^ 
namely^ the mirror and the sword^ were delivered to him^ 
these words of blessifig were pronounced: * Let our sovran 
great offsprings the Sovran Grandchild^ receiving over the 
celestial Sun-succession on this high throne of Heaven^ rule 
tranquilly for myriads of thousands of autumns^ for long 
autumns^ over the Great-Eight-islandSy the Rich Reed-plain^ 
Land of fair rice-ears^ as a peaceful country! With these 
words they delivered it unto him, Then^ celestial counsel 
having been held^ they put to silence the rock-roots and tree- 
roots ^ even to the smallest blades of grass ^ that previously had 
power of speech, 

'* And for the Sovran Grandchild who in Heavenly Sun- 
succession rules the Under-Heaveny to which he had descended^ 
trus are now cut down with the sa cred ax es of the Imbe in 
the great valleys and the small valleys of the secluded mountains y 
and sacrifice having been made of their tops and bottoms to the 
God of the mountains^ the middle parts are brought forth and 
set up as scured pillars with sacred mattocks to form a fair 

* Ninigi- Below the same term means the Mikado. 



( 



290 CEREMONIAL. 

Patau wherein the Sovran Grandchild finds shelter from the 
sky and shelter from the sun. To thee^ therefore^ Ya-bune 
no Mikoto [the Palace treated as a God] I address these 
heavenly^ wondrous^ auspicious words of calm and blessing. 

** He says : * / humbly declare the names of the Gods who 
calmly and peacefully watch so that this Great Palace where 
he holds rule^ as far downwards as the lowermost rock-roots^ 
suffer no harm from reptiles among its bottom-ropes* as far 
upwards as the blue clouds are diffused in the Plain of High 
Heaven^ may suffer no harm from flying birds in the celestial 
smoke-hole^ that the joinings of the firmly planted pillars^ 
and of the crossbeams ^rafters^doors^aftd windows may not move 
or make a noise, that there may be no slackening of the tied 
rope-knots and no dishevelment of the roof thatch, no creaking 
of the floor-joints or alarms by night, I humbly praise your 
honoured names, to wit, Yabune Kukunochi no Mikoto and 
Yabune Toyo-uke hime no Mikoto [House-tree God and House- 
food Goddess].^ And inasmuch as you humbly preserve the 
Sovran Grandchild s reign to be firm and enduring, and 
humbly bless it as a lasting, prosperous, and perfect reign, 
the Imbe no Sukune [name\ adding shining cloth and lustrous 
fine cloth to the countless strings of fair jewels prepared by 
the sacred jewel-makers with observance of purity and avoid- 
ance of pollution, and hanging stout straps on weak shoulders 
[will offer them to you], with words of blessing and calm. 
A nd let the Gods Kamu-nahobi and Oho-nahobi peacefully and 
tranquilly exercise their office, correcting, whether in things 
heard or in things seen, at^ omission which he may make in 
so doing* 

" More especially does he humbly declare : ' Naming her as 
Oho-miya-no-me I humbly fulfil her praises because, within 
the same Palace as the Sovran Grandchild, she blocks the way 
and takes cognizance and makes choice of the persons who go 

* The ancient Japanese houses had their timbers lashed toother with ropes, 
t The translation is doubtful. 
\ See above, p. 167. 



CERfeMONiAL :lg{ 

in and out, with words amends and mollifies the hurry and 
roughness of the Gods^ keeps from error the hands and feet 
of the scarf-wearing attendants and the strap-wearing attend- 
ants^ who serve the morning meal and the evening meal 
of the Sovran Grandchild^ preventing the Imperial Princes^ 
PrinceSy Ministers of State^ and all the functionaries from 
indulging their several inclinations and causing them^pure 
of evil intents and base hearts^ to attend in the Palace with 
a Palace-attendance^ and to serve in the Palace with a 
Palace-service^ and amending to eye and ear all fatdts and 
errors^ so that their duties may be performed peacefully and 
tranquilly! " 

Naishi-dokoro or Eaahiko-dokoro. — Eygrynew moon 
offgrrngs were presented in the naishi-dokoro (naishi-pl^ce) 
or kashiko-dokoro (place of reverencet) by the naishi or 
female attendants of the Palace ta the. sacred mirror which 
represented the Sun-Goddess. They consisted of rice, 
cakes, paper, cloth, egg-plant, fish, shellfish, &c. Twice a 
year Kagura was performed. The ceremonies used on 
these occasions were r^ulated in Uda's reign (889-898) 
and closely resembled those of the Great Shrine of Ise. 
The Yengishiki has not preserved the norito belonging 
to it 

A Japanese writer thus describes the modem form of this 
ceremony : — 

"Within the palace there is a large hall, the kashiko-dokoro^ 
or place of reverence, constructed of milk-white, knotless 
timbers, exquisitely joined and smooth as mirrors, but 
absolutely devoid of decoration. At one end stands a large 
shrine, also of snow-pure wood, with delicately chased 
mountings of silver gilt It encloses models of the divine 
insignia, and a number of long, narrow tablets of pine, on 
which are inscribed the posthumous titles of all the 

* Male and female attendants. 

t These terms are often used as synonymous with the r^alia, of which the 
Stm-mirror was the chief. 

L 2 



292 CEREMONIAL. 

Emperors since the days of Jimmu. Within the folding 
doors of the shrine hangs a curtain woven of bamboo 
threads. At the appointed hour, generally the grey of 
morning, saJiafei boughs are laid beside the shrine and 
provision of incense is made ; after which J'he offiriaU of 
the Bureau of Rites and those of the Imperial Household 
fileJn and seat themselves on -either side of the hall. The 
doors of the shrine are then opened and ofrerings.Q£,va]i0U8 
kinds — vegetables, fish, cloth, and so forth — are carried in 
and ranged before it» solemn music in Japanese style, being 
performed the while. Thereafter the princes of the blood 
and all officials of the two highest ranks as well a»the peers 
of the * musk-chamber ' and the ' golden-pheasant chamber' 
enter, ani when they are seated the Emperor himself 
appears and, proceeding slowly to the shrine, bows .his 
head^ takes a branch of sakaki with pendant gohet^ and 
having waved it in token of the purification of sins, ignites 
a stick of incense* and places it upright in the censer, 
thereafter repeating a ritual (norito). So long as his 
Majesty is present in the hall, all the officials remain stand- 
ing. His Majesty then retires, and, on his departure, 
worship of the same kind, but without any prayer, is per- 
formed by a representative of the Prince Imperial," and 
subsequently by the other members of the Court 

Mitama Shidzomum no matsori (ceremony for settling 
or calming the august spirit). 

There was an ancient ceremony called mitama furishiki 
that is, shaking the august jewels, which is referred to in 
the Kiujiku We are there told that when the Sun-Goddess 
sent down Ninigi to rule the world, she gave him " ten 
auspicious treasures, namely, one mirror of the offing, one 
mirror of the shore, one eight-hands-breadth sword, one jewel 
{tamd) of birth, one jewel of return from death, one perfect 
jewel, one road-returning jewel (that is, a jewel which has the 
property of making evil things return by the road they came), 

* The incense is Buddhist. 



CEREMONIAL. 293 

one serpent-scarf (a scarf which has power when waved to 
keep away serpents), one bee-scarf, and one scarf of various 
things," saying : ** In case of illness shake these treasures 
and repeat to them the words, * One, two, three, four, five, 
six, seven, eight, nine, ten.' If thou doest so the dead will 
certainly return to life." 

The Nikongi states that in A.D. 685 the ceremony of 
calling on the spirit (mitama) was performed for the 
Mikado's sake. An ancient gloss identifies this ceremony 
with that of the mitama furishiH just described. The 
object of the two ceremonies was, no doubt, the same, but 
it is to be noted thatt mitama^ which in the one case means 
jewel or talisman, in the other means spirit — a rare case 
in the older Shinto records of this word being applied to 
the human soul. The phrases " calling on the spirit " and 
^ settling the spirit " are of Chinese origin, mitama being in 
this connexion simply a translation of the Chinese hun 
(pronounced kon in Japanese). The same ceremony is 
known in China, and some features of its Japanese form 
were probably borrowed from that country. Its object, 
according to a modem writer, was to summon back to and 
settle in the body the volatile kon. It was performed every 
year in the eleventh month in the Chapel of the Jingikwan, 
and also at one time in connexion with the coronation 
ceremony. 

The norito (No. 15 of the Yengishiki) b^ins with a 
recital of the Mikado's divine claims to sovereignty. Then 
the offerings are enumerated. It concludes with a prayer 
to the eight Gods of the Jingikwan to grant the Mikado a 
long aad prosperous reign, and that he may dwefl peace- 
fully in his Palace during the ensuing year. It says 
nothing of the Mikado's spirit, an expression found only 
in the heading, which may be supposed to be a later 
addition. 

A performance by the Miko resembling that of Uzume 
before the Rbck-cave of Heaven, and comprising the repeti- 



294 CERENONIAL. 

tion of the magic words one, two, three, &c, formed part, 
no doubt the oldest part, of the ceremony. It is now 
usually called by the Chinese name ChinkonsaL 

There is a story of a thief having stolen the clothing 
presented on this occasion, and also the string which tied 
the Mikado's mitanta^ whatever that may mean. 

Oho-hajrahl (Great. Pnrifiratinn).* — This ceremony Jn- 
cludes a- preliminary lustration^ expiatory offerings^ and the 
recital of a norito or formula — not a prayer, as it is some- 
times called — ^in which the Mikado, by virtue of the autho- 
rity transmitted to him from the Sun-Goddess, declares to 
his ministers and people the absolution of their sins and 
impurities. This formula is often referred to as if it 
constituted the whole ceremony. It is known as the 
NakatonU no Oho-harahi^ because in ancient times it was 
usually read by the Nakatomi as representatives of the 
Mikado. 

The myths which represent Izanagi as flinging down his 
garments during his flight from Yomi, and washing away 
in the sea the pollution contracted by his visit there, and 
describe the expiatory offerings exacted from Susa no wo, 
presume an acquaintance with the ceremony of which the 
Oho-harahi norito forms a chief part The Nihongi informs 
us, under the l^^endary date A.D. 200, that after the sudden 
death of the Mikado Chiuai, his widow and successor Jingo 
commanded her ministers " to purge offences and to .rectify 
transgressions," while in the parallel passage of the Kojiki\ 
details are given of these offences, which, as far as they go, 
are identical with those enumerated in the Oho-harahi itself. 
Great Purifications are mentioned as having been performed 
in 676^ 678, and 686. The Japanese scholar Mabuchi 
ascribes the present Oho-harahi norito to this last-named 
period. In substance it must be very much older. 

* I am much indebted to Dr. Florenz's exhaustive monograph on this rite 
in vol. xxvii. of the T, A. S. J, 
f Ch. K., p. 230. 



CEREMONIAL. 295 

The chief ceremony was performed in the capital twice 
yearly, on the last days of the sixth and twelfth months. 
These dates are not chosen arbitrarily. There is a natural 
impulse at the close of the year to wipe out old scores and 
to make a fresh start with good resolutions. The tsuina^ 
or demon-expelling ceremonies, of the last day of the year, 
described below, are prompted by a similar motive. Tenny- 
son gfives expression to this feeling in his ' In Memoriam ' : — 

^ The year is dying in the night, 

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

« « « « 

Ring out the £Edse, ring in the true, 

Ring out the want, the care, the sin, 
« ♦ * « 

Ring out old shapes of foul disease." 

The summer celebration of the Oho-harahi is analogous to 
the custom of lustration, or bathing on St John's Eve, 
formerly practised in Germany, Italy, and other countries. 

The Chinese had an Oho-harahi, defined by Mr. Giles in 
his * Chinese Dictionary * as " a religious ceremony of puri- 
fication performed in spring and autumn, with a view to 
secure divine protection for agricultural interests." The 
Ainus of Yezo have a similar ceremony .f 

The Oho-harahi was not confined to the last days of the 
sixth and twelfth months. It was performed as a pre* 
liminary to several of the great Shinto ceremonies, notably 
the Ohonihe, and on other emergencies, such as an outbreak 
of pestilence,^ the finding of a dead body in the Palace 
(865), the officiating of a Nakatomi who had performed 
Buddhist rites (816), &c. 

* See Index, mb voce, 

f See Mr. Batchelor in 7*. A, S.J,^ zziy. 46. 

% It will be remembered that it was on an occasion of this kind that 
Agamemnon ordered an Oho-harahi to be performed : — 

Aa^v9 &iro\vfAalv€a'Oni Avoiycv, 

**0* S* an-iXyfiaivovTO Kal els aXa kv/Mar ifiaWov. 

' Iliad,' I. 313. 



1^ 



296 CEREMONIAL. 

We learn from the regulations of the period Jogwan 
(859-876) that at that time the ceremcmy was performed 
at the southern gate of the Kioto Palace, in front of which 
there was a canal The purification offerings were set out 
before this gate. The officials took their seats in due 
order, the women being separated off by a curtain. The 
oflficials of the Jingikwan then distributed kiri-nusa* among 
the audience, upon which the Nakatomi took his place and 
recited the ritual, the officials responding after every 
paragraph. When the purification was finished, the Oho- 
nusa ceremony was performed. It had also a purifying 
influence, and consisted, according to Dr. Florenz, in bran- 
dishing the Oho-nusa over the assembly, first to left, then 
to right, and then again to left 

The norito (No. 10 of the Yengishikt) is as follows : — 

" Hi!\ says : * Give ear^ all ye Imperial Princes^ Princes^ 
Ministers ofState^ and functionaries who are here assembled^ 
and hearken every one to the Great Purification by which at 
this yearns inter lune of the sixth {or twelfth) month he deigns 
to purge and absolve all manner of faults and transgressions 
which may have been committed by those who serve in the 
Imperial Courts whether they wear the scarf or the shoulder- 
strap y whether they bear on their back the quiver or gird on 
them the swordy the eighty attendants of the attendants^ 
including^ moreover^ all those who do duty in the various 
offices of State' 

"//> says: ^ Hearken^ all of you. The Sovran dear 
ancestors X '^ho divinely dwell in the Plain of High Heaveny 
having summoned to an assembly the eight hundred myriculs 
of deitieSy held divine counsel with themy and then gave 
commandy saying: ^^Let our August Grandchild^ hold serene 

* See Index. 

t " He " is the offidating Nakatomi, speaking on behalf of the Mikado. 
K Usually said to be Taka-nrasabi, Kamv-musabi, and the Son-Goddess, 
I Ninigi. 



CEREMONIAL. 297 

rule aver the fertile reed-plain^ the region affair rice-ears^ 
as a land afpeace^ 

'' ' But in the realm thus assigned ta him there were savage 
deities. These were called ta a divine accaunt and expelled 
with a divine expulsion. Moreover^ the racks^ treeSy and 
smallest leaves of grass which had power af speech were put 
ta silence. Then they despatched him downward from his 
celestial everlasting throne^ cleaving as he went with an awful 
way-cleaving the many-piled clouds afHeaveny and delivered 
ta him the Land. At the middle paint af the lands af the four 
quarters thus entrusted ta him^ Yamata^ the High-Sun-Landy 
was established as a peaceful land^ and there was built here far 
the Sovran Grandchild a fair Palace wherewithal to shelter 
him from sun and sky yi with massy pillars based deep an the 
nethermost racks and upraising ta the Plain a f High Heaven 
the cross-timbers of its raaf 

'' ' Now af the various faults and transgressions to be 
committed by the celestial race destined mare and more ta 
people this land af his peaceful ruUy same are af Heaven^ 
to wity the breaking down af divisions between rice-fieldsy 
filling up af irrigation channels ^ removing wcUer-pipeSy saw- 
ing seed aver againX planting skewersf^ flaying alivCy 

* Poetical expressioiis for Japan. 

t That is, lain. 

X Sowing wild oats was one of the misdeeds of Loki, the Scandinavian 
mischief-God. Compare also Matthew xiii. 24 : " The kingdom of Heaven 
is likened mito a man that sowed good seed in his field : hot while men 
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat" See above, 

p. 97. 
{ Motoori says that this is with the malicious intention of injuring the feet 

of the owner of the ground. I prefer the explanation suggested by the Skikiy 

an ancient commentary on the Nikongi. It says : " Planting rods (or skewers) 

in the rice-fields with words of incantation is called ' skewer-plant in g.' The 

object is the destruction of any one who should wrongly claim that field. 

The present custom of planting skewers in a field whose ownership is disputed 

is probably a survival of this." Kuskiy or skewer, is the word used for the 

wand to which offerings are attached. See Florenz's 'Ancient Japanese 

Rituals' in T. A. S.J.y p. 32. 



298 




k 



300 CEREMONIAL. 

flaying backwards. These are distingidshed as Heavenly 
offences.^ 

^^ Earthly offences which will be committed are the cutting 
of living bodies^ the cutting of dead bodies ^ leprosy^ kokumi^ 
incest of a man with his mother or daughter^ with his mother- 
in-law or step-daughter^ bestiality y calamities from creeping 
things^ from the high God^ and from high birds^ killing 
animals^ bewitchments.^ 

" * Whensoever they may be committed, let the Great Naka- 
tomiy in accordance with the custom of the Heavenly Palace^ 
cut Heavenly saplings at the top and cut them at the bottom^ 
and nuike thereof a complete array of one thousand stands for 
offerings\ 

* The native commentators point oot that the " Heavenly Offences " are so 
called because they were first committed by Sasa no wo in Heaven. This 
passage of the noriio was therefore suggested by the myth. (See above, 
p. 83.) The object of the myth-maker, however, was simply to enhance the 
dramatic qiudity of his story by attributing to the boisterous Rain-storm God 
misdeeds whose odious character would forcibly strike his audience, a nation 
of agriculturists. In the norito the further step is taken of recognising the 
same acts, committed on earth, as offences not only against men, but as sins 
before the Gods. He may have argued that the Sun-Goddess has a tender 
care for the rice-fields of her beloved race of men as well as for her own, and 
that any interference with them is therefore hateful to her. Ttie " skewer- 
plantii^" above mentioned points to a still earlier attempt to bring agriculture 
under religious protection. There is no substantial basis for the distinction 
between Heavenly and Earthly offences. The author's real object in making 
it was no doubt rhetcHricaL He wished to break up the long list of offences 
into two balanced sentences, after a fashion common in Japanese poetry and 
poetical prose composition. I suspect that the "flaying alive" and "&iying 
backwards" were magical practices of the same dass as the '* witchcraft'* 
condemned just below. The flaying was objected to, not for its cruelty, but 
on account of the malicious use to which the skins so procured were put. 
See Index, Imtgami, 

f A disease which has not been clearly identified. Dr. Florenz renders 
'^ afflicted with excrescences." 

X Especially being struck l^ lightning. 

§ Another rendering is "killing animals by bewitchments." The Chinese 
character used implies that it is for an evil purpose. 

I Dr. Florenz, following Motoori, renders "and deposit [upon them] in 
abundance [the purification offerings]." The character of tl^se offerings is 
indicated by a passage in ^<tNihoHgi (a.d. 676) : " The Mikado commanded. 



CEREMONIAL. $01 



u 



* Having triipimed rushes of heaven at the tap and trimmed 
tkefn at the bottom^ let him split them into manifold slivers^ 

'^ ' Then let him recite the mighty ritual words of the 
celestial ritual.^ 

** • When he (foes so^ the Gods of Heaven^ thrusting open 
the adamantine door of Heaven and cleaving the many -piled 
clouds of Heaven with an awful way-cleaving will lend ear. 
The Gods of Earthy climbing to the tops of the high mountains 
and to the tops of the low mountains^ sweeping apart the 
mists of the high mountains and the mists of the low 
mountains^ will lend ear, 

" * When they have thus lent ear^ all offences whatsoever 
will be annulled^ from the Court of the Sovran Grandchild 
to the provinces of the four quarters of the Under-Heaven, 

^^^ As the many-piled clouds of Heaven are scattered by the 
breath of the Wind-Gods ; as the morning breezes and the 
evening breezes dissipate the dense morning vapours and the 
dense evening vapours ; as a huge shipy moored in a great 
harbour^ casting off its stem moorings^ casting off its bow 
mooringSy drives forth into the great sea-plain ; as yonder 

saying : ' Let a Great Purification (Oho-harahi) be held in all quarters. The 
articles needed for this purpose are to be forwarded to the shrines of purifica- 
tion by the governors of each proWnoe, to wit, one horse and one piece of 
cloth. The other things are to be supplied by the governors of districts, 
namely, each one sword, one deerskin, one mattock, one smaller sword, one 
sickle, one set of arrows, and one sheaf of rice in the ear. Further, let each 
house provide a bundle of hemp.'" This Oho-harahi was doubtless celebrated 
in consequence of the appearance of a comet at this time. On another occa- 
sion (68 1 ) each local governor supplied a slave as a purification ofiiering. In 
later times the Harahi-tsu-mono, or purification offerings, were fumtriMd by 
the central Government. 

* The meaning of t^is clause is doubtful. The object seems to be to pro- 
vide a brush for brushing away {karahi) offences. Sir E. Satow says, with 
regard to a different ceremony : " The high priest waves before the company 
a sort of bioom made of grass, to symbolise the sweeping away of their 
offences." 

\ In later times it was thought, without suffidenl reason, that the *' ritual 
words" here spoken of were a speckd form of incantation distinct firom the 
nfirUo itself. 



302 CEREMONIAL. 

thick brushwood is smitten and cleared away by the sharp 
sickle forged in thefire^ so shall all offences be utterly annulled. 
Therefore he {the Mikacb) is graciously pleased to purify 
and cleanse them away. The Goddess called Se^^ri-tsu-hime 
who dwells in the rapids of the swift streams whose cataracts 
tumble headlong from the tops of the high moutUains and from 
the tops of the low mountains will bear them out into the great 
sea-plain. Thereupon the Goddess called Haya-aki-tsu-hime^ 
who dwells in the myriad meetings of the tides of the myriad 
brine-paths of "jfit iffiyriwd wayi -of the currents of the 
boisterous sea will swallow them up. And the God Ibuki-do 
nushiy who dwells in the Breath-blawing-place^ will puff them 
away to the Root-country ^ the Bottom Country. \ Then the 
Goddess Haya-sasura-himeX "Ufho dwells in the Root-country^ 
the Bottom-country y will banish and abolish them. When 
they have been so destroyed^ every one^from the servants of the 
Imperial Court to the four quarters of the Under-Heaven^ 
will remain void of all offences whatsoever, 

*** Attend, therefore, ail of you to this Great Purification, 
by which he is graciously pleased at sunset on this interlunar 
day of the sixth {or twelfth) month of this year to purify and 
cleanse you, having led hither a horse as an animal that 
pricks up its ears to the Plain of High-Heaven*^ 

^^ He says: * Ye diviners {Urabe) of the four provinces, 
remove them to the great river-way and abolish them' "| 

* See above, p. 261. 

t Yomi or Hades. 

X Swift-banishment-lady. 

§ A horse was one of the expiatory offerings. It seems here to typify the 
attentive attitude of the andience, or perhaps of the deities concerned. 

H Harahi'zare. There is some conifosion here between the offences and the 
expiatory offerings. The haraki'tsu-mono were then taken away and thrown 
into some convenient river. I suspect, however, that most of them were not 
thrown away, but went to provide a fond for the expenses of the ceremony. 
It is not clear what became of the hoise or of the slaves. The karuki'Uu-mtmc 
were not gifts to any particular Gods, but rather, like the scape-goat of the 
Mosaic law, vehicles by which the transgressions of the people were conveyed 
^wav. Bqt \t is bettef jioi to pf|t tl^s too ^weepingly. T^ere is reiisofi tp 



In addition to the Oho-harahi, or National Purifications, 
there were local and individual celebrations. In the latter 
case, of which Susa no wo's punishment is the mythical 
type, the harahutsu-fHono were naturally furnished by the 
person for whose benefit they were performed, and so 
amounted practically to a fine on the offender. TY^Nihongi . 
(A.D. 646) mentions a number of cases in which travellers 
and others were compelled by the country people to do 
harahiy that is, to pay a fine, under various pretences. For 
example, when a man returning from forced labour fell 
down by the roadside and died, the villagers of the place 
said, " Why should a man be allowed to die on our road ? " 
and detained the companions of the deceased until they 
had done harahL Cases of drowning were followed by 
similar claims, and even the cooking of rice by the roadside 
or the upsetting of a borrowed pot An Imperial decree 
was issued prohibiting these extortions, which are described 
as habitual with the unenlightened vulgar. 

The application of the karahi to the purpose of a fine 
was regulated by an ordinance which was issued in 801. 
Those who were gfuilty of n^lect in connexion with the 
celebration of the Ohonihe, or who, during the month of 
special avoidance of impurity, contracted mourning, visited 
the sick, were concerned with capital sentences, ate flesh, 
or touched anything impure were mulcted in an oho-harahi^ 
which in this case meant simply a heavy fine. It consisted 
of one horse, two swords, two bows, and a long list of other 
sundries. Other offences of the same classes were fined in 
a naka-harahiy or medium harahi. 

Dr. Florenz describes a more modem form of harahi 
as follows : ** As a third species of harahi we may mention 
the purification preceding- every greater festival of a Shinto 
shrine, tiirough which the priests and others taking part in 

think that by some they weie thought to be ofierings to Se-ori-tsu-hime and 
the other deities mentioned. At the present day they consist of a few pieces 
of cloth. 



364 CkREMONtAL 

the Matsuri ai]&4Ui£ified« This ceremony takes place in a 
hall or open place specially prepared for the purpose, called 
harahi'dokoro (purification-place). It consists in the Kamt" 
aroshi (bringing down the spirits of the purifying deities) 
into the himorogi^ which stands on an eight-legged table in 
the middle of the harahudokorOy the recitation of the purifi- 
cation prayer, various subsequent symbolic ceremonies, and 
the Kami-age^ or sending back the Gods to their abodes. 
Thereupon the priests are considered to be pure, and the 
Matsuri proper can begin. The prayer addressed to the 
Gods is as follows : — 

** In reverence and awe : Tf^ great gods of the purification 
place who came into existence when the Great God Izanagi 
deigned to wash and purify himself on the plain of Ahagi 
[east] of Tachiiana [near] the River IVoto in Himuka in 
Tsukushiy shall deign to purify and deign to cleanse whatever 
there may be of sins and pollutions committed inadvertently 
or deliberately by the officials serving here to-day. Listen ye 
to these my words. Thus I say reverentially ^ 

In later times there were many abuses and perversion^ of 
the harahiy due mainly to Buddhist influence. The 
formula was much modified, and is found in numerous 
versions. Some of these are wholly Buddhist, such as the 
well-known " Rokkon shojo " (may the six senses be pure), 
so constantly in the mouths of pilgrims at this day. Others 
include a prayer for purity of heart, which is an idea quite 
foreign to the ancient Shinto. Harahi-bako {harahi-hoxGa) 
were sold at Ise with inscriptions half Buddhist and half 
Shinto. In imitation of a similar Buddhist practice, these 
boxes contained a certificate that the harahi had been 
recited one thousand or ten thousand times for the 
purchaser's benefit Pieces of ihtgohei wand used'by the 
priests at the Oho-harahi of the sixth and twelfth months 
were enclosed with these certificates. Sometimes a small 
fragment of the old shrine, which was broken up every 



CtREKtONIAL ioi 

twentieth year and a new one erected, was compressed 
between two thin boards and called an <hharahi. Pilgrims 
leceived these in return for their offerings. The devout 
could even purchase them from hawkers, who went about 
the country (like the sellers of indulgences in Luther's time) 
disposing of them for the benefit of the shrine. This 
practice is now prohibited.* 

The ideas associated with the harahi ceremony also 
underwent a change. Some writers speak of it as intended 
" to propitiate evil deities." The harahi sold by the priests 
of Ise were set up in the Kamudana^ or domestic shrine, and 
worshipped as the shintaioi the deity. They were supposed 
to be indestructible by fire or water, to keep away robbers, 
to heal diseases, to make the old young, and to protect 
against calamity of every kind. 

In some later forms of the harahi t he punfy j ng Go ds are 
besought to cleanse from evil, sin, and pollution. This 
marks a different attitude from that of the Nakatomi no 
Oho-harahi, where they are merely a part of the machinery 
oLpurification. 

Invooation by the Hereditary Oorporation of Soholars 

of Tamato and Kahaohi This norito (No. 1 1 of the Yengi- ^ // 

shiki) was read previous to the performance of the Oho- 
harahi. The two corporations named were descendants, or, 
at least, successors of the Korean scholars who in the fiflh 
century introduced Chinese learning into Japan The 
language, thought, and sentiment of this norito are Chinese. 
The Sun, Moon (not Hirume and Tsukiyomi) and stars, 
the High Emperor of Supreme Heaven (Shangti), the five 
Emperors of the five cardinal points, the King-father 
of the East, the King-mother of the West, the four 
influences of the four seasons, and other Chinese divinities are 
invoked to grant prosperity to the Mikado. An offering 

* See ' Notes of some Minor Japanese Religions Practioes,' by Mr. B. H. 
Cbombevlain, in ^t. Journal of the Anthropological Institute, May, 1895, and 
Sir E. Satow's * Visit to the Shrines of Ise/ 71 A. S.J,, 1874. 



io6 CiERfeMONtAL 

was made of a silver man in order diat calamity might be 
averted from him, and of a golden sword so that his reign 
might be lengthened. The sword, really of wood gilt, was 
called the harakutsu-Uu:kiy or sword of purification, and was 
breathed upon by the Mikado before being taken away. 
The silver man was also for use as an aga-fnono^ or ransom- 
object 

Miohi-ahe no HatsiirL— ^^The object of this ceremony 
was to invoke the aid of the Sahe no Kami in preventing 
evil spirits, that is to say, pestilences, from entering Kioto.* 
The norito (No. 1 3 of the Yengishikt) read on this occasion 
is as follows : — 

" / humbly declare in the presence of the Sovran Gods^ 
whose Junctions first began in the Plain of High Heaven, 
when they fulfiMed the praisesff of the Sovran Grandchild 
by guarding the great eight-road-forks like a multitudinous 
assemblage ofrocks^ 

" Naming your honoured names ^ to wit, Yachimata-hiko, 
Yachimata-hime, and Kunado^ I fulfil your praises. When- 
ever from the Root-country the Bottom-country there may 
come savage and unfriendly beings^ consort not and parley 
not with them^ but if they go below, keep watch below, if they 
go above, keep watch above, protecting us against pollution 
with a night guarding and with a day guarding. 

^The offerings I furnish in your honour are bright cloth, 
shining cloth, soft cloth, and rough cloth. Of sake I raise up 
the tops of the jars and fill and range in order the bellies of 
the jars. [Grain] in juice and in ear I offer you. Of things 
that dwell in the mountains and on the moors I offer the soft 
of hair and the coarse of hair. Of things that dwell in the 
blue sea-plain, the brocul of fin and the narrow of fin, even to 
the weeds of the offing and the weeds of the shore. Peacefully 

* See above, p. 187. 
t That is, "did honour to." 

X These deities were worshipped at cross-roads, and were called the eight- 
cross-road deities. 



CEREMONIAL. 30/ 

partaking of these plenteous offeringSy which I lay before you 
in full measure like a cross range of hills^ hold guard on the 
highways like a multitudinous assemblage of rocks^preserving 
frompoUutian the Sovran Grandchild firmly and enduringly^ 
and bless his reign to be a prosperous reign, 

*^ Also be pleased peacefully to preserve from pollution the 
Imperial Princes ^ the Princes^ the Ministers of State^ and all 
the functionaries^ including^ moreover^ the people of the Under- 
Heaven, 

" /, as official of the Department of Religion^ humbly fulfil 
your praises by this celestial^ this great pronouncement^^ 

The offerings included hides of oxen, boar, deer, and 
bear, in addition to those above enumerated. ^ 

Sagi-oh5. — This is a modem ceremony, which was also 
intended to repel evil influences. The Wakan-Sansai- 
•dzuye (17 13) gives the following description of it as 
practised in the Imperial Palace : — 

^ On the fifteenth day of the first manth^ green bamboos 
are burnt in the courtyard of the Seirydden^ and happy report^ 
sent up to Heaven therewith. On the eighteenth also bamboos 
are dressed up with fans attached to them^ which are burnt 
at the same place. There is a reader of spells called Daikoku 
Matsudaiyu^ who has four followers^ two old men and two 
old women. These wear devil-masks and ^red-bear* wigs. 
The two old women carry drums ^ and the two old men run 
after them trying to beat the drums. There are two boys 
without masks y but with ^red-bear' wigs^ who beat double 
cymbals. Moreover^ there are five men in dress of ceremony 
who stanfl in a row and join in with cries of^ dondoya^ while 
one costumed somewhat differently calls out ^Ha f * " 

The Wakan Sansai does not know the origin of this 
ceremony, which is said to expel demons. There is a 

* The date of one Sabe no Kami festiraL 

f Written on p^per and^tbrowo into the flames. 



308 CEREMONIAL. 

similar Chinese practice, though on a diilereDt date, namdy, 
the first day of the year. Its object is said to be to drive 
away mountain elyes.^ 

mkftdo matrari. — This ceremony was in honour of two 
Gate Gods named Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-gate) 
and Toyo-iha-mado (rich-rock-gate).* The Yengishiki 
contains a norito (No. 9) in which their praises are fulfilled, 
because they prevent the entrance to the Palace of noxious 
things and exercise a superintendence over the persons 
who come in and go out 

Tsoina or ^^-yft*^^*, that is to say, demo n expelling, is 
a sort of drama in which disease, or more generally ill-}j^£k, 
is personified, and driven away with threats and a show d" 
yriplence. Like the Oho-harahi, it was performed on the 
last day of the year. This association is only natural. 
The demons of the tsuina are personified wintry influences, 
with the diseases which they bring with them, while the 
Oho-harahi is intended to cleanse the people from sin and 
uncleanness, things closely related to disease, as wdl as 
from disease itself. Though probably of Chinese origin, 
the tsuina is a tolerably ancient rite. It is alluded to in 
the Nihongi under the date A.D. 689. It was at one time 
performed at Court on an imposing scale. Four bands of 
twenty youths, each wearing a four-eyed mask, and eadi 
carrying a halberd in the left hand, marched simultaneously 
from the four gates of the Palace, driving the devils before 
them. Another account of this ceremony says that a man 
disguised himself as the demon of pestilence, in which garb 
he was shot at and driven off by the courtiers armed 
with peach-wood bows and arrows of reed. (See illus- 
tration, p. 310.) Peach- wood staves were used for the 
same purpose. There was formerly a practice at Asa- 
kusa in Tokio on the last day of the year for a man 
got up as a devil to be chased round the pagoda there 
by another wearing a mask. After this 3,000 tickets were 

* See above, p. 168. 



CEREMONIAL. 309 

scrambled for by the spectators. These were carried 
away and pasted up over the doors as a charm against 
pestilence. At the present day, the popular form of 
tsuina consists in scattering parched beans with the cry, 
" Oni ha soto : fuku ha uchil' that is, ** Out with the devils 
and in with the luck." The former phrase is uttered in a 
loud voice, the latter in a low tone. This office should 
properly be dischai^ed by the head of the family, but it is 
frequently delegated to a servant The performer is called 
the toshi'Otokoy or year-man. In the Shogun's palace a 
specially appointed toshuotoko sprmkled parched beans in 
all the principal rooms. These beans were picked up by 
the women of the palace, who wrapped them in paper in 
number equal to the years of their age, and then flung them 
backwards out of doors. Son^gtlmes tsuina beans were 
gathered by people who had reached an unlucky year 
{yaku'toshi)y one for each year of their age and one over, 
and wrapped in paper with a small copper coin, which had 
been rubbed over their body to transfer the ill-luck. These 
were placed in a bamboo tube and flung away at cross- 
roads. This was called yaku-sute (flinging away ill-luck). 
Other people pass under seven tori-wi as an antidote. 

The significance of the peach and bean in this ceremony 
has been already explained.* The vulgar notion is that 
the beans hit the devils in the eye and blind them. A 
more philosophical theory is that the beans dispel the in- 
aku no ki^ or female evil influences, and welcome in the 
sei-yOy green male influences. By the female influences are 
here meant wintry influences ; by male influences those of 
spring. 

Mr. J. G. Frazer, in * The Golden Bough,* iii. 6^^ second 
edition, gives an interesting account of another Japanese 
form of this custom. 

The tsuina is only a special form of a world-wide cere- 
mony. We may compare with it the Roman Lemuria, a 

* See above, pp. 189, 190. 



3" 




3 12 CEREMONIAL. 

festival for the souls of the dead, in which the celebrators 
threw black beans nine times behind their backs, believing 
by this ceremony to secure themselves against the Lemures. 
Some of my readers may have witnessed the Scotch Hog- 
manay, when the house is thrice circumambulated on the 
last day of the year in order to frighten away devils. In 
Lady Burton's life of her husband she tells us that at 
Trieste on St Sylvester's Eve, the servants went through a 
very usual ceremony of forming procession and chevying 
the evil spirits with sticks and brooms out of the house, 
inviting the good spirits and good luck to come and dwell 
there. This is curiously like the Japanese formula just 
quoted. At Chaeronea, in Boeotia, the chief magistrate at 
the town hall and every householder in his own house, as 
we learn from Plutarch, had on a certain day to beat a 
slave with rods of agnus castus^ and turn him out of doors, 
with the formula, '^Out hunger I in health and wealth." 
The " expulsion of winter " of Teutonic and Slavonic folk- 
lore belongs to the same class of customs. It should be 
remembered that the Japanese New Year was later than 
our own, and was recognized as the begfinning of spring. 

I must not quote further from the extensive literatiu^ of 
this subject The reader is referred to * The Grolden Bough,' 
second edition, vol. iiL pp. 39 et seqq,^ for a rich collection of 
evidence relating to it 

New Tear in Modem Japan. — Although most of the 
New Year's observances in modem Japan belong to the 
province of popular magic rather than of Shinto, some 
general account of them may not be out of place here. The 
preparations begin on the thirteenth day of the last month, 
which is therefore called koto-kajime (banning of things) 
On this day people eat okotojiru^ a kind of stew, whose 
ingredients are generally red beans, potatoes, mushrooois, 
sliced fish, and a root called konnyaku. Presents of money 
are made to servants at this time. About the same date 
there is a partly real, partly ceremonial house-cleaning 



CEREMONIAL. 313 

called susu'harahi (soot-sweeping). The other preparations 
for the New Year consist in decorating the front entrance 
by planting at each side of it small iir-trees, with which 
banaboos are frequently joined. Both of these symbolize 
an ever-green prosperity. A shimenaha is hung over the 
door or gate, attached to which are fern leaves, and yudsuri- 
ha (JDaphniphyllufn macropodum) with dcddai (a kind of 
bitter orange). Daidai also means ages, g^ierations, so that 
this is a sort of punning prayer for long life and the con- 
tinuance of the family. The prawn, which forms part of the 
decorations, is supposed by its curved back to suggest old 
age. Sometimes holly leaves, of which the prickles are 
thought, as in Europe, obnoxious to demons, bean pods, and 
a head of a salt sardine (£iajA(/) are added. On the domestic 
shrine is placed an offering of unleavened cakes of glutinous 
pounded rice, the preparation of which is a matter for much 
fun and excitement These cakes are called kagamumochi^ 
or mirror-cakes, on account of their shape, which is that of 
a flattened sphere. There are two of them. One is said 
to represent the sun, the yo^ or male principle of Chinese 
philosophy, the parent and the husband, while the other is 
put for the moon, the female principle, the child and the 
wife. The kagafni-mochi is also called the ha-gatame tnochi 
(tooth-hardening cake) because it fortifies the constitution. 
The explanation given is that the Chinese character for ha^ 
" tooth," also means " age." 

The tsuina on the last day of the year is described above. 
The first act of the New Year is for the toshi-otoko to 
proceed at dawn to the well or stream whence the house- 
hold water is supplied. He throws into it a small offering 
of rice, and draws water in a new pail crowned with shime- 
naha. To drink this water, called waka-midzu or young 
water, brings luck and exemption from disease during the 
year. 

On New Year's day zoni^ a stew of various kinds of 
vegetables is eaten and a spiced sake called toso is drunk 



314 CEREMONIAL. 

and offered to visitors. No work is dcme. Visits are 
exchanged between friends, and formal calls made on 
superiors. The phrase S hitmen o medetd gosarimasu (New 
Year's congratulations to you) is in everybody's moudL 
1^ ujigami are visited and also the Shinto temples which 
lie in the direction {ehS) indicated by the cyclic name of the 
year. Thus the year of the Hare is associated with the 
East The Gods who preside over this particular year are 
called the Toshi-toku-jin (year-virtue-Gods). 

In some places a lamp, consisting of a coarse earthenware 
saucer with a wick, is lighted at the New Year in honour of 
the God of the Privy. Sick people at this time throw away 
their stockings or drawers on a frequented road, and if aoy 
one picks them up they expect to recover. Samurai boys 
receive presents of kamayumi (devil-quelling bows). 

The seventh of the first month is called Nanakusa, or 
seven herbs, because in ancient times people went out into 
the country to gather wild pot-herbs which were made into 
a mess with rice and eaten on this day. 

The New Year's celebrations end with the Sahe no Kami 
festival (now called dondo or saguhd) on the fourteenth or 
fifteenth of the first month, when the decorations above 
described are made the material for a bonfire.* 

Tatari-gami wo ntsashi-tatematsara norito (sendocfor 
the respectful removal of deities who send a curse).— 
This norito (No. 25) is long, but it contains nothing worthy 
of special notice. The mischievous deities are reminded 
of the divine right of the Mikado, and of the quelling by 
Futsunushi and Takemika-dzuchi of the evil beings wIk) 
plagued Japan before the descent of Ninigi. Offerings of 
cloth, a mirror, jewels, bows and arrows, swords, a horse, 
sake, rice in ear and in grain, and various kinds of flesh 
and vegetables, are set before them, with the request that 
they should retire to enjoy these good things in some pure 

• Sec Above, p. 313. 



CEREMONIAL. 31S 

spot among the hills and streams and remain there, rather 
than work curses and violence in the Palace. 

It is to be distingfuished from the Michiahe ritual, which 
was addressed to the Protective Road-deities in order to 
keep off pestilence. The present formula is a direct appeal 
to the evil deities themselves. It is not quite clear who 
they were. Perhaps all possibly harmful Gods were meant 
to be included. 

Oeremony wben Bnvoys were despatched to Foreign 
Cionxitries. — On such occasions the Cods of Heaven and 
Earth, with the phallic Chiburi nqv^ami, or Road-Gods, 
were worshipped outside the city, the envoys taking part 
in the ceremony and reading a norito. The wood-Gods 
and mountain-Gods were worshipped before cutting the 
timber for building their ship. 

The Yengishiki preserves a norito (No. 26) used on one 
of these occasions. It is addressed to the Sea-Gods of 
Sumiyoshi, and presents thank-offerings to them for pro- 
viding a harbour there more convenient for the envoys to 
sail from than a more distant port in Harima. 

Ho-ahidznxne no Hotinri (fite-<;alming-service). — This 
ceremony was performed on the last days of the sixth and 
twelfth months by the Urabe, or diviners, at the four outer 
comers of the Imperial Palace, in order to prevent its 
destruction by fire. The Urabe kindled a fire by means of 
the fire-drill and worshipped it The following norito 
(No. 12) was read on the occasion : — 

" / humbly declare according to the celestial the great pro- 
nouncement {norito^ delivered to the Sovran Grandchild by 
his Sovran^ deary divine ancestor and ancestress when they 
granted to him the Under-Heaven^ commanding him to rule 
tranquilly cu a peaceful realm the fair Rice-ear-land of the 
Rich-reed-plainy cts follows : ' The two Gods Izanagi and 
Izanamiy having become united cu husband and wife^ pro- 
created the eighty countries and the eighty islands and gave 



3l6 CEREMONIAL. 

birth to the eight hundred myriads of deities. When 
Isanami*s last son^ the God Homusubi {fire-growth^ was 
bom her pudenda were burnt and she became rock-concealed? 
She said^ " For nights seven and for days seven look not on 
me^ oh my husband^ But before the seven days were fulfiUed^ 
Izanagi; wondering at her concealment^ viewed her^ and 
behold^ her pudenda had been burnt in giving birth to the 
Fire,\ " Oh^ my honoured husband*^ said Izanamiy *' thm 
hast insulted me by looking on me despite my having besought 
thee to refrain from doing so at such a time. Therefore thou 
must govern the upper world and I the lower worlds* So 
sayings she was rock-concealed. When she had reached the 
Even Pass of Yomi^ she bethought herself: ** I gave birth to, 
and left behind me in the upper world ruled by my honoured 
husband^ an evil-hearted childr So she went back and gave 
birth to other children^ namely ^ the God of Water , the Gourd, 
the River-weed^ and the Clay-mountain-lady, four kinds in 
all. Moreover, she taught him, saying, " When the temper of 
this evil-hearted child becomes violent, do thou assuage it with 
the Water-God, the Gourd, the River-weed, and the Clay- 
mountain-lady r 

"* Therefore do I fulfU thy praises c^ follows: To the end 
that thou may est deign to control thy transports against the 
Palace of the Sovran Grandchild, I offer thee bright cloth, 
shining cloth, smooth cloth, and rough cloth, of various colours. 
Of things which dwell in the blue sea-plain, I offer the broad 
of fin and the narrow of fin, even unto the weeds of the offing 
and the weeds of the shore. Of sake, I reuse up the tops 
of the jars, and fill and range in order the bellies of the Jars. 
Nor do I omit rice, cleaned and in the husk. Heaping up 
these things like a cross-range of hiUs^ I fulfil thy praises 
according to the Celestial, the Great pronouncement^ " 

It will be observed that Ibe tone -of this norito is not 
particularly rev«rent It reads more like an offer to pay 

* That is, died. 

t Whmt was the God of Fkre in the previous sentence b here simply ** Fiic* 



7 



CEREMONIAL. 317 

Jblac kmail than a prayer. The phraseology implies that 
the Mikado is the God's superior. And surely there is a 
malicious humour in the reminder that the God was a bad 
boy, to provide the means for whose control and chastise- 
ment his mother came back expressly from Hades. 

Kaimgft no Matstui. — This service is comparatively 
modem, having been first used in 859. It is inhonour of 
the Gods worshipped at Kasuga, near Nara, namely, Take- 
mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi, Koyane, and a Goddess who is 
supposed to be the wife of the last-named deity. It was 
celebrated twice annually by a priestess despatched from 
Kioto to Nara for the purpose. I take from Sir Ernest 
SatoVs * Ancient Japanese Rituals' in the T.A.S.J, the // 
following account of the ceremonies used on this occasion. 
They may serve as an example of the elaborate ritual of 
Shinto at this period, and to illustrate the intimate associa- 
tion of government with religion. 

Before the celebration of the service, orders were given 
to the Divination Office to fix a day, hour, and locality for 
a purification (Jtarahi) to be performed. On the day 
preceding the purification a sort of tent was erected near 
the river (f>., the Kamogaha at Kioto), and at the hour 
appointed the priestess who had been selected for the 
occasion proceeded to the place of purification in a bullock- 
car. The procession was magnificent, and was ordered 
with extreme precision. It consisted of nearly (Mie hundred 
and forty persons, besides porters. First went two municipal 
men-at-arms, followed by two citizens and eight officials of 
rank. They were succeeded by the bailiff of the priestess's 
official residence with four attendants, after whom came 
ten corporals of the Guard of the Palace Gates, and a few 
men from the other four Imperial Guards. Next came the 
car of the priestess herself, with eight attendants in brown 
hempen mantles, two young boys in brown, and four 
nmnii^ foot pages in white dresses with purple skirts. A 
silk umbrella and a huge long-handled fan were borne on 



X 



3l8 CEREMONIAL. 

either side of the car by four men in scarlet coats. Ten 
more servants completed her immediate retinue. Then 
came a chest full of sacrificial utensils, and two carriages 
containing a lady, who seems to have acted as a sort of 
duenna to the priestess, and the Mikado's messengers, 
surrounded by attendants in number suited to their rank. 
Close behind them were borne two chests full of food- 
offerings, and four containing gifts from the Mikado 
intended for those members of the Fujihara family who 
attended on the occasion. Seven carriages carried the 
female servants of the priestess, each of them being a lady 
of rank, and therefore accompanied by half-a-dozen followers 
of both sexes. Two high oiKcials of the provincial govern- 
ment of Yamashiro awaited the procession at a convenient 
point, and conducted it to the spot chosen for the ceremony 
of purification. A member of the Nakatomi tribe presented 
the nusay consisting of a white wand with hemp-fibre hang- 
ing from its upper end, the symbol of the primitive offerings 
of greater value, and a diviner read the purification ritual 
After the ceremony was over, refreshments were served out, 
and the Mikado's gifls distributed. The priestess then 
returned to her ofllicial residence. 

On her journey to the temple of Kasuga, the priestess 
was preceded by various priests, diviners, musicians, cooks, 
and other functionaries of inferior grade, who set out one 
day earlier in the charge of an officer of the Ministry of 
Religion. At the boundary of the province of Yamato she 
was received by officers of the Provincial Government, who 
accompanied her to the temporary building erected for ha 
accommodation on the bank of the Saho-gaha. During 
the day the rite of purification was performed on the west- 
em side of the temple, and the offerings placed in readiness 
for the final ceremony. At dawn on the following day 
officials of the Ministry of Religion superintended the 
cleaning of the shrine by a young girl {tnono imi) who had 
been carefully guarded for some time previous from con- 



CEREMONIAL. 319 

tracting any ceremonial uncleanness, while other officials 
decorated the buildings and set out the sacred treasures 
close to the shrines and by the side of the arcade round the 
innermost enclosure. Everything being now in readiness, 
the high officers of State who had come down from the 
capital for the service entered by the gate assigned to them, 
and took their seats in the outer court, followed by members 
of the Fujihara family of the sixth rank and under. The 
priestess now arri^pd in a palanquin, with a numerous 
retinue of local functionaries, infantry and cavalry soldiers, 
and followed by porters carrying the offerings of the Mikado, 
his consort, the heir-apparent, and of the, priestess herself. 
Next came race-horses sent by the Mikado's consort, by 
the heir-apparent, and from the Six Guards of the Palace, 
the rear of the procession being brought up by a crowd of 
lesser officials and men-at-arms. The palanquin of the 
priestess was surrounded by a large body of guards, torch- 
bearers, and running pages, umbrella and screen-bearers, 
and women and*girls on horseback. After them came the 
chest of sacrificial vessels, a number of servants, three chests 
full of food-offerings, six chests of clothing for the Gods, with 
carriages containing some of the Mikado's female attendants, 
the priestess's duenna, and some young girls. On arriving at 
the north gate, on the west side of the temple enclosure, the 
men got off their horses and the women descended from their 
carriages. The priestess then alighted from her palanquin, 
and passing between curtains held by her attendants in such 
a way as to render her invisible to the crowd, entered the 
waiting-room prepared for her inside the courtyard, followed 
by the women of the Mikado's household. The Mikado's 
offerings were now brought forward by the Keeper of the 
Privy Purse and laid on a table outside the gate, while 
the women of the Household entered the inner enclosure^ 
and took their places in readiness to inspect the offerings. 
In a few minutes they were joined by the priestess, who 
bad changed her travelling dress for sacrificial robes. The 



320 CEREMONIAL. 

Keeper of the Privy Purse now brought the Mikado's 
presents in through the gate, and placing them on a taUe 
in front of the mideu-gakt^ or inner fence, saluted the 
chapels by clapping his hands four times, alternately 
standing upright and bowing down to the ground On 
his retiring, the same ceremony was performed by the 
persons charged with the offerings of the Mikado's consort 
and heir-apparent, after which the offerings of the Fujihara 
and other noble families were deposited on lower tables, 
with similar ceremonies. The kandomo^ or subordinate 
officials of the Ministry of Religion, next carried up the 
Mikado's offerings and delivered them to the mono^tmi^ 
who carried them into the chapel. The kandomo then 
spread matting on the ground in front of each of the four 
chapels, and members of the Fujihara clan* who held a 
sufficiently high rank carried in and arranged the tables 
destined to receive the food-offerings. Two barrels of sake 
were then brought in and placed between the first and 
second and third and fourth chapels, in a line with the 
tables, a jar of sake brewed by the priests being also placed 
in front of each chapel. This over, every one quitted the 
enclosure, making way for the women of the Household, 
who uncovered the food-offerings and poured out two cups 
of sake for each deity. The liquor appears to have been of 
the turbid sort called nigori-zake. All the preparations 
being thus complete, the high officers of State and Ac 
messengers sent by the Court entered the enclosure and 
took their seats. Four saddle-horses intended as offerings 
to the Gods and eight race-horses were now led up in front 
of the temple, preceded by a major-general of the Guards 
and a Master of the Horse. A superior priest, with his brows 
bound with a fillet of paper mulberry fibre {yufu-kadsurd) 
then advanced and read the ritual, bowed twice, clapped 
his hands four times, and retired. The congregatkm after- 

• A branch of the Nakatomi, who chiimed descent from Ko^rane, one <^ 
the fo«r (jods worshipped. 



CEREMONIAL. 321 

wards withdrew to the refectory, where the food-ofTerings 
were consumed by the participants in the solemn act of 
worship, and the sansai, or thanksgiving service, was con- 
ducted by the kandotno of the Ministry of Religion. 

The sacred horses were then led eight times round the 
temple by the g^rooms of the Mikado's stables, who received 
a draught of consecrated sake as their reward. The general 
of the body-guard next directed some of his men to perform 
the dance called Adzufna-mahiyZnd when they had finished 
a meal of rice was served to them with much ceremony by 
the Mikado's cooks. At the command of the Vice-Minister 
of Religion, the harpists and flute-players were summoned 
to perform a piece of music, called mi kotofuwe ahase (the 
concert of harp and flute) ; the flutes played a short move- 
ment alone, and were then joined by the harps, whereupon 
the singers struck in. An officer of the Ministry of Religion 
sang the first few bars, and the official singers finished the 
piece. This was followed by one of the dances called 
Yamato-mahiy performed in turn by the principal priests 
of the temple, by members of the Fujihara family and by 
the Vice-Minister of Religion himself. After the i'^i>^/-cup 
had been passed round three times, the company clapped 
their hands once and separated. Then everybody adjourned 
to the race-course, and the day was wound up with gallop- 
ing matches. 

The narito (No. 2 of the Yengishiki) read on this occasion 
has been translated by Sir Ernest Satow. It is of minor 
interest 

Hiroae Oho-imi no Matsoil (service in honour of the 
Food-Goddess of Hirose). — ^The norito of this ceremony 
(No. 3 of the Yengishiki) announces offerings to the Food- 
Goddess and makes promise of more if good harvests are 
granted by her. The Gods of the ravines which supply 
water for irrigating the Crown-farms are joined with her 
in this service. Sir £. Satow has translated this norito. 
It contains nothing of special interest 

M 



322 CEREMONIAL. 

Tatsata kaie no kaml no Matsoil (service of the Wind- 
Gods at Tatsuta). — ^The norito (No. 4 of the Yengishikt) of 
this service has been translated by Sir E. Satow. It contains 
a legend which professes to account for its first institution 
and for the founding of the shrine at which it was celebrated. 
For several years in succession violent storms had destroyed 
the crops. The diviners having in vain endeavoured to 
discover the cause of this calamity, the Wind-Gods revealed 
themselves to the Mikado in a dream and proposed to him 
a bargain, namely, that if he built them a shrine, and made 
them certain offerings, they would in future bless and ripen 
the grain and vegetables. The "golden thread-box," 
"golden shuttle," and "golden reel" enumerated in this 
norito as offerings to the Groddess were in reality of painted 
wood, one of the numerous cases of cheaper substitutes in 
Shinto ritual. 

The Nihongi mentions very frequent embassies from the 
Mikado to this shrine in the seventh century. Princes were 
selected for the office of envoy. 

In addition to the above, the Yengishiki^azs brief mention 
of ceremonies for " calming " the roaring of the kitchen- 
furnace, calming (or propitiating ?) the God of Water, the 
August Abiding-place (of the Mikado), the Earth-Prince, 
the site of a new palace, in honour of the kitchen-furnace, 
of the august well (such as that from which water was taken 
for the Ohonihe ceremony), of the birth-well (from which 
water was drawn for washing a new-bom prince), of the 
water of a privy, and a ceremony performed when the 
Mikado went out from the Palace. The same work contains 
schedules of offerings to various local deities, of whom we 
know little or nothing. 

More reoent norito. — In addition to the old norito of the 

Yengishiki^ a good number have come down to us of more 

recent date, chiefly from the ninth century. We find among 

them for the first time norito addressed to deceased Mikados, 

a practice which was, no doubt, introduced from China, I 



CfefeEMONIAL. 32J 

give the substance of some selected examples.* They 
exhibit numerous traits of Chinese origin. 

A.D. 733. The protection of the Sea-Gods of Suminoye 
was invoked for ships sailing to China. 

805. The wrath of the God of Iso no kami was depre- 
cate He was supposed to have sent an illness upon the 
Mikado because his *' divine treasures " had been removed 
for convenience to a place nearer the capital. 

825. Elnvoys were sent to the tomb of a deceased 
Mikado to promise that it should be removed elsewhere 
the Urabe having discovered that he was dissatisfied with 
its site. 

827. The Sun-Goddess was besought to stay a pestilence, 
and a member of the Imperial family promised her as 
priestess. 

827. The diviners having attributed the Mikado's illness 
to the cutting down of the trees of the shrine of Inari, 
envoys were sent to recite a nori^o asking for pardon, and that 
he should be restored to health. 

836. D^^ees of rank were conferred on Futsunushi 
(lower third), Mikatsuchi (upper second), and Koyane 
(upper third), with the lower fourth rank for the Himegami 
(lady-deity). Prayer was made that the envoys should have 
a safe journey. 

839. Trees on the Empress Jingo's tomb having been cut 
down, the Mikado feared that a drought might be the con- 
sequence, and sent envoys to deprecate her wrath. 

840. The Mikado being affected by an evil influence (mono 
no ke)y the diviners attributed it to a curse from the Great 
Abstinence (pho-imi) deity of Deha.f At the same time 
envoys to China were cast away among southern savages. 
The savages were many and they were few, but by the help 
of some God, they had the victory over them. A report 
was received from Deha that on the same date a noise of 

* From a modern collection entitled Noriio Bunni. 
f In the north of Japan. 

M 2 



324 CEREMONIAL. 

fighting was heard in the clouds of the Great God and a 
rain of missile stones fell. The Mikado in Sinorito expressed 
his gratitude and wonder at the far-reaching power of the 
God, and conferred on him the low;er fourth rank with two 
households of peasants to serve him. 

841, The Mikados Jimmu and Jingo were prayed to for 
rain, and apology made for previous n^lect 

850. The Mikado Mondoku announced to his predecessor 
his accession to the throne in the following norito^ which 
was read at his tomb by a high official commissioned for 
the purpose : — 

•* / hufptbly make representation : ' He [tke Mikado] with 
profound reverence declares — with respect be it spoken — to 
Your Sovran Majesty. In accordance with the comma$ids 
bequeathed by Your Majesty the Court nobles repeatedly 
besought him to take over the celestial succession, but as the 
date [of his predecessof^s death] was still fresh and his heart 
distracted by grief he twice and three times humbly declared 
his inability to accede to this request. But when they strongly 
insisted, saying that it was the wish of Your Majesty, he felt 
that he ought not to indtUge his own inclination. After 
considering the matter in all its bearings, he therefore purified 
the Great Abiding place, and reverently assumed the celestial 
succession, which he now with reverence announces to Your 
Majesty his intention to maintain^ 

^^ Furthennore he says, with profoundest reverence, * That 
he hopes Your {with respect be it spoken) Sovran Majesty 
will deign to bestow on him your gracious loving favour, so 
that he may continue peacefully to maintain the government 
of the celestial succession as long as Heaven and Earth, tke 
Sun and Moon endure* *' 

850. The Wind-Gods of Tatsuta were thanked for their 
protection, awarded the lower fifth rank, and begged to 
continue their guardianship. 

85a The Mikado Jimmu was prayed to on behalf of the 
reigning Mikado, who was dangerously ill. 



CEREMONIAL. 325 

851. Floods having been caused by pollution, prayer was 
made for fine weather to the Grods of Ise, Kamo, Matsu 
no wo, and Otokuni. 

857. The Mikado Mondoku despatched envoys to all the 
famous shrines to announce the change of the year-name 
{nengo) to Tenan (celestial tranquillity) which had been 
made in consequence of the good omens of trees whose 
branches had grown together and of the appearance of a 
white deer. He sent offerings with prayers for abundance 
and immunity from storms and floods. He further peti- 
tioned the Gods to guard him by day and by night and to 
grant him a long reign. 

864. Envoys were sent to Yahata (Hachiman) Daibo- 
satsu* in Buzen to give thanks for preservation from 
calamity. But as a boiling ef the Lake of Aso (a volcano 
in Kiushiu) was held by the diviners to portend war and 
pestilence, and numerous other portents occurred, a lucky 
day had been chosen and offerings (which would have been 
sent sooner only for pollution) made. 

866. Envoys were sent to all the Gods of Nankaido 
asking their protection against rebellion, for a good harvest 
&c, and apologizing for a delay caused by pollution. 

866. An envoy was sent to Ihashimidzu with an offering 
of shields, spears, and saddles to the God Hachiman Bosatsu. 
It is explained that of three saddles two only have been 
sent ; the third is to be despatched by a later opportunity. 
He is asked to guard the Mikado by day and by night and 
to watch over the affairs of the Empire. 

866. A fire having destroyed one of the gates of the 
Palace, the diviners said that it portended sickness to the 
Imperial person with disasters by conflagration and battle. 
After some delay, caused by various pollutions, the Mikado 
sent an envoy to the shrine of the Sun-Groddess at Ise with 
prayer to avert these calamities, and more especially to 

* A Buddhist title. 



326 CEREMONIAL. 

said down a sweet rain on the land which was then suf- 
fering from drought 

868. Envoys were sent to Hirota and Ikuta praying the 
Gods of these places that earthquake shocks attributed to 
them should cease. A patent of rank was sent to them, 
and they were besought to bless the Mikado and the 
country. Thanks were also given for a good harvest 

874. Inari was raised in rank and prayed to for many 
blessings, of which some do not apparently belong to the 
province of a Rice-God. 

For an account of Shinto festivals at the present day, 
Mr, B. H. Chamberlain's * Things Japanese' or Capt 
Brinkley's 'Japan and China' may be consulted. Their 
nearest counterpart is the carnival of Southern Europe. 
The Chinjiu Matsuri, or annual festival of the local patron 
deity, is everywhere a great event, with processions, dramatic 
performances, wrestling, fireworks, races, new clothes for 
the children, &c. 



327 



CHAPTER XIII. 

MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

The reader will find few traces of normal religious 
development in the practices to be described in this chap- 
ter. The pathological element is decidedly predominant. 

Ma0o« — ^The older view of magic is that of Prof. Zim- 
mem, who defines it as "the attempt on man's part to 
influence, persuade, or compel spiritual beings to comply 
with certain requests or demands." With this the view of 
the modem Japanese lexicographer Yamada, who calls 
magic (in Japanese majinaki) '^ the keeping off of calamity 
by the aid of the supernatural power of Kami and Buddhas," 
is in substantial agreement Prof. Zimmem's definiticMi is 
open to several objections. It is too wide, as it would 
include prayer and sacrifice ; it assumes that all the sentient 
beings appealed to are spiritual, and it excludes the numerous 
cases of magic in which Gods and spirits are in no wise 
concerned. It is, however, impossible to leave out of con- 
sideration the last-mentioned class of magic, though it 
might be convenient to distinguish it by a different name, 
as " charms." Sir Alfred Lyall and Mr. J. G. Frazer have 
diown that magic of this kind has preceded religion, and 
that it is in principle the same as science, although based 
on wrong premises. 

Magic and Hedlolne. — Ms^c is the bastard brother of 
medicine. The two arts are associated in many countries. 
Hirata says that in China medicine had its origin in magic. 
In Japan, in K5toku's reign (645-654), we find State depart- 
ments of medicine and of magic organized on a similar 
footing. A Nihongi myth states that mankind owes both 
arts to the teaching of the Gods Ohonamochi and Sukuna- 
bikona. Evidently the myth by which these institutions 



328 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION, 

are referred to a divine origin is of later growth than the 
institutions themselves. The same is plainly the case with 
the deification of the phallic emblems used to repel disease,* 
and with the various magical appliances described on p. 196. 
The object of the myth-maker in these cases was to lend a 
religious sanction to what was in its origin a non-religious 
magical procedure. The same principle might be copiously 
illustrated from non- Japanese sources. On the other hand, 
there are cases in which a practice based on rdigion has its 
original character obliterated, so that it might easily be 
mistaken for a charm of no religious import 

BaUn on Hagio. — I have before me a collection of 
"vulgar magical practices" (majinaht) made early in the 
last century, by the famous novelist Bakin.f It illustrates 
the confusion, even with highly educated men, between 
science and magic on the one hand, and between non- 
religious and religious magic on the other.^ A good many 
of Bakin's so-called majinahi turn out to be merely recipes, 
such as how to remove oil stains from books by an appli- 
cation of lime ; to cure costiveness in fowls by doses of 
saltpetre ; to kill the parasites of gold-fish by means of a 
preparation of human excrement; to keep away book- 
worms by exposing the books in the sun : " If a pot-tree 
withers in the middle and seems likely to die, take it out, 
shake the earth from its roots, and expose it to the sun for 
one day. Then steep its roots in a drain for one night 
When replanted it will thrive." The scrapings of a copper 
ladle mixed with fish will cure disease in cats. We approach 
true magic more nearly in the following : ** When stung by 
a wasp, take up a pebble which is half sunk in the ground, 
I turn it over, and replace it, when the pain will at once 
leaveyoiiy The cure of illness from eating poisonous fish 
by swallowing the ashes of an old almanac seems also 
•^ to belong rather to magic than to medicine. There 

• See above, p. 197. 
t • Ycineki Zasrfii,' v, j, 



MAGtC, DiVlNATtON, INSPIRATION. 3^9 

are traces of a religious element in the following : " To 
cure toothache, apply to the tooth the ashes of a sardine 
which has been set up over the door on the last day of the 
year."* Another plan is : •* Inscribe on a slip of wood 
certain incantations (given) in the ordinary Chinese cha- 
racter, in the seal character, and in Sanskrit Beside the 
inscription make two circles. If the toothache is in the 
upper jaw, knock a new nail with a purified hammer into 
the upper circle ; if in the lower jaw, into the lower circle. 
If the pain does not go away, continue knocking the nail 
with the hammer. The slip of wood should be afterwards 
thrown away into a stream."t Bakin tried this plan and 
found it effectual. He attributes his immunity from con- 
flagration to his respect for fire. He always avoided 
stamping it out with his foot, and enjoins on his descend- 
ants to follow his example. If the master of a house 
before going to l)ed goes round calling out, ** Be careful of 
fire : fasten well the doors," the spirit (of his words) will 
fill the house, and it will be preserved against fire and 
robbery. On the last night of the year, and on other 
festival occasions, water should be drawn from the well at 
sunset, placed in a clean vessel, and offered without a drop 
being spilled to the God of the kitchen furnace. It should 
be returned to the well the next morning. This will pre- 
vent danger of fire. 

A Korean book of household recipes contains, along with 
instructions for making cakes, spiced wine, &c, such magical, 
but non-religious devices as the following: **To make a 
runaway slave come back of his own accord. Take a 
garment which he has worn and put it down the well, or 
hang some of his hair on a wheel and turn it round. He 
will then not know where to go and will come back to 
you." 



* When demons and evil influences are expelled. See above, p. 308. 
t After the manner of the Oho-harahi offerings. 



{ 
I 



33o MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

Imitative or Qjmpaitheiio Ma^o. — ^These Korean ex- 
amples illustrate the principle of imitative or sympathetic 
magic thus described by Mr. J. G. Frazer*: — 

** Manifold as are the applications of this crude philosophy 
— for a philosophy it is as wdl as an art — ^the fundamental 
principles on which it is based would seem to be reducible 
to two; first, that like produces like, or that an effect 
resembles its cause; and second, that things which have 
once been in contact, but have ceased to be so, continue to 
act on each other as if the contact still persisted. Frora'7 
the first of these principles the savage infers that he can^ 
produce any desired effect merely by imitating it; from 
the second he concludes that he can influence at pleasure 
and at any distance any person of whom, or anything of 
which, he possesses a particle. Magic of the latter sort, 
resting as it does on the belief in a certain secret sympathy 
which unites indissolubly things that have once been con- 
nected with each other, may appropriately be termed 
sympathetic in the strict sense of the term. Magic of the 
former kind, in which the supposed cause resembles or 
simulates the supposed effect, may conveniently be described 
as imitative or mimetic" 

The sympathetic or imitative principle is not very con- 
spicuous in the instances of vulgar (that is, non-professional) 
magic quoted by Bakin. It is, however, illustrated by other 
Japanese customs. There is a round stone in a shrine in 
Sagami which brings rain when water is poured over it 
The stone is supposed to be the sAintai of bxi Aburi no Kami 
(rain-fall-God), to whom the shrine is dedicated. Here we have 
a combination of religion with magicf Whistling in order 
to raise the wind^ is a purely non-religious piece of imitative 

* ' The Golden Boug^,' second edition, p. 9. 

t I cannot ofier any explanation of the magic used by women and ditldren 
in order to bring fine weather. They hang upside down to the eaves or 00 
the branch of a tree haman figures cut in paper, and called Tgri-'Uri-Um 
(shine-shine-priest). 

J See above, p. 115. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 33 1 

magic, but in the Nikongi myth it is associated with religion 
by being represented as taught by a God. We should 
probably regard as a form of sympathetic magic the modem 
practice of devout visitors to the shrine of Tenjin, near 
Kidto, who, in order to obtain relief from their ailments, 
rub the corresponding part of a bronze bull which stands 
before the shrine. A characteristic example of non-religious 
imitative magic is the custom of hasedari. When a marrt^^e 
is unfruitful, the old women of the neighbourhood come to 
the house an|i go through the form of delivering the wife 
of a child. The infant is represented by a dolL The date 
selected for this ceremony is not immaterial It is that of 
the festival of Sahe no kami. This, no doubt, gives it a 
quasi-religious flavour. To this class we may also refer 
the New Year's practice of going to sleep with a picture 
of a boat under the pillow. If lucky dreams follow an 
anchor is painted to it, if unlucky dreams a sail. 

The Nihongf^ records a case in which a woman took 
earth from Mount Kako in Yamato, which she wrapped in 
her neckerchief and prayed, saying : '' ' This earth represents 
the country of Yamato/ Then she turned it upside down.'* 
The common witchcraft of ill-treating a figure of the intended 
victim in order to make him suffer in a corresponding 
manner is well known in Japan. The Nihangi (A.IX 587) 
speaks of a rebellious Minister preparing figures of the 
Heir to the Throne and loathing them. Dr. Griffisf gives 
the following description of a magical ceremony performed 
by a woman in revenge for her lover's desertion of her : — 

'*At two o'clock in the morning she proceeds to the 
shrine of her patron-God, usually the Ujigami. Sometimes 
she wears a crown, made of an iron tripod reversed, on 
which bum three candles. In her left hand she carries a 
straw effigy of her victim ; in her right she grasps a hammer. 
On her bc^m is suspended a mirror. Reaching the sacred 

• 1. 157. 

t ' The Mikado's Empire,' p. 474. 



332 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

tree before the shrine, she impales the effigy upon it with 
nails, adjuring the Gods to save their tree, impute the guilt 
of desecration to the traitor, and visit him with their deadly 
vengeance. The visit is repeated nightly until the object 
of her sorcery sickens and dies. At Sabae, before a shrine 
of Kompira, stood a pine tree about a foot thick, plentifully 
studded with such nails."* 

The possession by the operator of the hair or nails of his 
victim adds greatly to the potency of his devices. Hence 
they are carefully kept by the proper owners and thrown 
away together in the twelfth month. 

Another form of witchcraft is represented by the later 
custom of Inu-gami (dog-deity) thus described by Motoori: 
'^ A hungry dog is tied up in sight of food which he is not 
allowed to eat When his desire is keenest, his head is cut 
off and at once flies to seize the food. This head is put 
into a vessel and worshipped. A serpent or a weasel will 
da as well." It constitutes a mighty charm, which evidently 
owes its power to the keenness of the animal's sufrerings.t 
The Fuzoku Gwaho tells a story which was probably 
invented in order to account for this custom. '' An old 
woman buried her pet dog, leaving only the head above 
ground. Then she cut him about with a bamboo saw, say- 
ing, * If thou hast a soul, kill such a one, and I will make 
thee a God.' The man really did die afterwards in strange 
fashion. From that time the dog-deity dwelt in the old 
woman's house and wrought many wonderful curses." In 
Tosa each ville^e has several Inugami-mochi (dog-deity- 
owners). They are shunned by their neighbours. A match- 
maker's very first inquiry is whether there is such a p^son 
in the family. Leprosy is the next subject of his questions, 

* See also Ch. K. 263. 

t According to Van Helmont, the reason why ball's fiat is so powerfol in a 
Tulnerary ointment is that the bull at the time of slaughter is fiiU of secret 
reloctancy and vindictive murmurs, and therefore dies with a higher flame of 
revenge about him than any other animal. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 333 

sudden death (supposed to be hereditary), riches or poverty, 
wisdom or foolishness, are of subsidiary importance. 

The same idea of a materialized emotion is illustrated by 
a practice common near Yamaguchi. In order to drive 
away certain destructive insects from the rice-fields a straw 
figure, made to resemble a cavalry soldier, is led round in 
stately procession, and finally flung into the sea. This 
figure represents the leader of some fugitives from a battle 
who hid in these fields, but were pursued and slain there. 
The noxious insects are their materialized resentment at 
this fate. 

The principles of sympathetic and imitative magic, so 
copiously illustrated in ^ The Golden Bough,' are not applic- 
able to all magical procedures. Many defy specific explana- 
tion, and are possibly the result of some chance association 
of ideas no longer traceable, or of a mistaken empiricism. 
Post hoCy ergo propter hoc is responsible for much that is 
called magic. 

The description of magic in Hastings's * Dictionary of 
the Bible' as a "means of binding superhuman powers, 
either to restrain them from injuring oneself, or to con- 
strain them to injure others and put them under a spell, 
or to reveal what to mortal man was unknown," scarcely 
applies at all to Japanese magic. I have not met with any 
mention in the older literature of pacts with demons or 
the coercion of spirits. 

The Symbol in Magic— Injapan, as in other countries, 
magic makes great use of tbe^ymbol, the Talisman, and the 
Formula, spoken or written. This seems to depend on 
the more general notion that things which are associated 
in thought must have also a direct physical influence on 
each other, of which a familiar example among ourselves 
is the objection to receive a knife as a present, because it 
might cut the friendship between the giver and receiver. 
Possibly this association of the subjective with the objective 
(in Dr. Tylor's words " mistaking an ideal for a real coq- 



334 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

nexion ")* was in Hirata's mind when he used the somewhat 
cryptic phrase, " Magic {majinahi^ or magic, means etymo- 
logically mixture) is so called because it mixes the spirit 
(Jama) of that which is here with the body of that which 
is there." We have seenf that the phallus, as a symbol of 
robust animal life, was used to exorcise evil things, whedier 
demons or diseases. Roof-tiles impressed with a symbol 
(bubbles) which is indicative of water, are used at the 
present day as a charm to protect houses from fire. The 
deification of the gourd, the clay and the water-plant, no 
doubt, points to a previous magical use as preventives 
of conflagration. Rice, perhaps as a representative of the 
kteis, is used for several magical purposes. In one of the 
Fudoki, unhuUed rice is scattered broadcalst by Tsuchi- 
gumo,f to disperse a strange darkness which turned day 
into night. 

The TaUsman. — When the meaning of the symbol is 
altogether obliterated or unknown, we have the Talisman. 
It is not clear what was meant by the ** tide-ebbing " and 
" tide-flowing " jewels given by the Sea-God to Hohodemi,{ 
or even that they had any meaning at all. A sort of scarf 
{hire) was much used as a talisman. In the Kqfiki we 
are told of a scarf, which, when waved thrice, quieted 
snakes. Another kind gave protection against wasps and 
centipedes.] The Nihongi has the following account of 
magical practices, suggested apparently by some acquaint- 
ance with the art of acupuncture : — 

* See ' Primitive Culture,' i. 1 16, where numerous examples of sjrmboUc 
magic are given. 

t See above, p. 187. 

X The Tsuchigumo (earth-hiders) were men of a low class, who lived in 
dwellings sunk in the earth, and gave much trouble to the Japanese Govern- 
ment in ancient times. Dr. Tylor, in his ' Primitive Culture,' i. 113, has 
noted the tendency to attribute magical powers to pariahs and fore^;nen. 
Snkunabikona, the teacher of magic to Japan, came from abroad. 

§ See above, p. 115. 

P See above, p. 106. 



Magic, niviNAtioN, Inspiration. 33S 

*' Summer^ 4/A months ist day. The Kory'6 student-priests 
said that their fellow-student Kura-tsukuri no Tokushi had 
made friends with a tiger^ and had learnt from hint his arts^ 
such as to make a barren mountain change into a green 
mountain^ or to cause yellow earth to become clear water ^ and 
all manner of wonderful arts too many to enumerate. More- 
over ^ the tiger bestowed on him his needle^ saying : * Be 
watchful I be watchful^ and let no one know ! Treated with 
thisy there is no disease which may not be cured' Truly, as 
the tiger had said, there was no disease which was not cured 
when treated by it. Tokushi always kept the needle concealed 
in a pillar. Afterwards the tiger broke the pillar and ran 
away^ taking the needle with him'' '^ 

Shaking or jingling talismans or other objects is sup- 
posed to have a ms^cal virtue. Izans^ shakes the jewels 
which he takes from his. neck to bestow on the Sun- 
Goddess. The Sun-Goddess and Susa no wo shook the 
jewels from which their children were produced. Shaking 
a number of talismans was part of the ceremony of 
Mitama furishiki, above described.* 

Part of the outfit of a district wise-woman or sorceress 
in recent times was a small bow, called adzusa-yumi, by 
twanging which she could call from the vasty deep the 
spirits of the dead, or even summon deities to her behests. 
Another small bow, called ha-ma-yumi (break-demon-bow) 
is given to boys at the New Year. I conjecture that both 
of these had something to do with the bows used in the 
ceremony of tsuina described above. .' 

Another magical appliance for the restraint of demoniac 
or evil influences is the shime-naha, or close-rope. It is 
made of rice-straw plucked up by the roots, the ends being 
allowed to dangle down at regular intervals. A rope of 
this kind was used to prevent the Sun-Goddess from 
returning into the Rock-cave of Heaven. At the present 

* See p. 292, 



33^ MAGIC, WVIKATIOK, iKsMRAtloN. 

day it is hung in front of shrines, and at the New Year 
before ordinary dwellings. Sacred trees are girt with it 
or it may be suspended across a road to prevent the 
passage of evil spirits. Some people wear shime-naka cm 
their person. The twin rocks at Ise, between which there 
is a view of Fuji and the rising sun, are connected by an 
immense shinu-naha^ with which a l^;end b associated to 
the effect that Susa no wo, in return for hospitality, taught 
his host how to keep out the God of Pestilence by stretch- 
ing such a rope across the door. The shime-naha is 
sometimes called Hi no mi tsuna (sun-august-rope). The 
shimi-naha is the counterpart of the consecrated rope 
which in Siam is fastened on the last day of the year 
round the city walls to prevent the banished demons from 
returning. 

Garlic has the same power over evil spirits in Japan that 
it has in Europe. 

The Fonnnla in Magio. — The magic power of set 
forms of speech, quite distinct from any meaning which 
they may possess, is well illustrated by the use of the 
numerals from one to ten as a me^ic formula for the cure 
of disease. But in the instructions of the Sea-God to 
Hohodemi to return the lost fish-hook to his brother with 
the words, " A hook of poverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of 
downfall," the proper meaning of the words is retained, 
though they are evidently supposed to be accompanied by 
some mysterious potency, independent of it Beyond the 
circumstance that they were taught by Gods, these 
incantations do not seem to have had any religious 
character. Nor, when a judge* is about to execute some 
criminals by casting them into the fire, and uses the charm, 
"Not by my hands are they cast," is there apparently 
any God invoked. The words themselves avert any evil 
result There is no hint of a religious origin in the 
passage of the Nihongi which states that the first 

* Nihongi^ ii. 82. 



MaCIC, JblVlKAtlON, INSPIRATION. 337 

Mikado, Jimmu, invented magical fjprmulse for the dissi- 
pation of evil influences. Of course, there are many 
formulae of this kind which stand on a different footing. 
When, at the present day, a Japanese calls out KuHabara ! 
Kuhabara ! (mulberry-grove) during a thunderstorm, it is 
no doubt with the idea of suggesting to the Thunder-God 
that the place is a mulberry grove, which, it is believed, is 
never struck by lightning. Charms often consist of a 
ticket with the name of the God (usually the ubusuna) and 
a statement that the bearer is under his protection. 

Magio and Shinto. — The treatment of magic by Shinto 
is not uniform. We have seen that it lends its sanction to> 
some practices of this kind by affirming that they wero' 
taught or practised by Gods, or by deifying the objects 
used in them. But there are others which it condemns, 
including them in the offences against the Gods enumerated 
in the Oho-harahi.* It is, however, for their malicious pur- 
pose that they are reprobated. There is no trace in the 
old records of any scepticism as to their efficacy. A scientific 
knowledge sufficient to arouse doubts of the power of magic 
did not then exist, and would have been equally fatal to 
much in Shinto itself. Even in modem times such highly 
educated men as Bakin and Hirata had an implicit belief 
in the efficacy of this art The latter complains that there 
is a tendency among physicians of the Chinese school to 
n^lect it Some diseases, he says, are caused by evil 
spirits and some by minute insects (microbes?). Ms^c 
and medicine should therefore, in his opinion, be combined. 

The. decay of magic in modem Japan is not owing to 
religious but to scientific progress. It is due to China, 
whose philosophy, imperfect as it is, taught far truer views 
of the limitations of man's powers than anything Japan 
was able to discover for herself 

Divination. — Divination (in Japanese uranoAt) is magic 1/ 
which has a special object, namely, the revelation of the 

* See above, p. 294. 



33^ MAGtC, DiVlNATtON, iKSPlkAttO^l. 

unknown. This b implied by the Japanese word, which is 
derived from ura, the Vear, heart, lining, obverse, and hence 
that which is concealed Ordinary experience, and, at a 
later stage of prc^ess, science, enable us to reason with 
more or less certainty from the known to the unknown ; 
but mankind, not satisfied with legitimate methods, have 
supplemented them by divination, which comprises various 
irregular and ineffective processes specially directed to 
discovering the will of the Gods, ascertaining what will be 
lucky or unlucky, and predicting future events. 

Otjeoii of ffl yJTifttiQtt, — In Japan we find divination 
practised to ascertain whether an expedition would be 
successful or unsuccessful, the reason of the disturbed state 
1 of the country and its remedy, the best site for a temple, 
. ^tomb, or dwelling-house, whether the Mikado should make 
a progress to a certain place and perform sacrifices there^ 
what crops it is best to sow, what days will be lucky or 
unlucky, when to expect a lover, the name of a future 
husband, &c. The priestess of Ise was selected by divina- 
tion, and the provinces from which the rice for the Ohonihc 
ceremony should be taken. Ominous occurrences were 
interpreted by the help of this art The purity of persons 
about to take part in a religious ceremony was tested in 
this manner. Or divination might be applied to the baser 
use of recovering lost property or discovering thieves. 
There was a special divination on the loth day of the 
1 2th month to ascertain what ill luck threatened the 
Mikado during the ensuing six months, so that the Gods 
whose curse was feared might be propitiated in advance. 

Beligioos and Non-religioas DivlxiatioxL — Divination, 
like magic, does not necessarily involve the intervention of 
superhuman sentient beings, as we may see by our own 
palmistry, fortune-telling by cards, and Shakespeare crypto- 
grams. That the art passed through a non-religious phase 
is highly probable. In Japan, however, the cases met with 
in the oldest records are commonly associated, explicitly 



M'AGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 339 

or imglicitly, with an appeal for divine guidance. Hirata 
defines divination as ^ respectfully inquiring the heart (ura) 
of the Gods.'* Motoori takes the same view, though both 
writers admit that in modem times divination which has 
no religious sanction is sometimes resorted to, playfully, or 
in unimportant matters. 

The Chreater Divination. — ^The greater, or official, divi- 
nation consists in drawing conclusions according to certain 
conventional rules from the cracks which appear in a deer's 
shoulder-blade when exposed to fire. This practice is 
known not only to the Chinese, Kalmucks, Cherkeses, and 
other races of North-Eastern Asia, but to the ancient 
Germans and Greeks. Nearer home we have the " reading 
the speal " (jpauli), a sort of divination by examining the 
marks on a shoujder-blade of mutton, practised not very 
long ago in the Highlands of Scotland. The Nihongi tells 
us that the Gods themselves made use of the Greater Divi- 
nation in order to learn the reason of Izans^ and Izanami's 
abortive children the Hiruko and the Island of Ahaji. The 
God Koyane, ancestor of the Nakatomi, was specially 
charged with this form of divination. In the numerous 
passages of the Nihongi where divination is mentioned 
without further description, it is no doubt the Greater Divi- 
nation which is intended. Chinese methods of divination 
were introduced into Japan from Korea at an eariy date. 
In 553 it seems to have, been an established practice that 
Koreans learned in medicine, in divination, and in calendar- 
making should take turns of service at the Court of Japan. 
It was no doubt owing to their influence that the tortoise- 
shell was substituted for the deer's shoulder-blade in this 
divination. A reference to the " divine Tortoise " in the 
Nihongi under the legendary date B.C 92 is merely an 
anachronism. But the tortoise was really in use for this 
purpose in the eighth century. The Yengishiki recognizes 
no other, though in the country districts the shoulder- 
blades of deer were long retained. 



340 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION 

In an old book purporting to describe the practice of the 
Tsushima college of diviners at a much later period than 
the Yengishiki, we are told that the diviner, after practising 
religious abstinence for seven days, took his place in the 
divination plot {uraba or uranihd)^ from which all other 
persons were rigorously excluded. He was provided with 
the tortoise-shell, some hahaka wood, and other requisites. 
Having prayed to the God of the divination plot,* who is 
besought to grant a true divination, the diviner recites the 
Kanti-oroshi (formula which brings down the God), and 
kindles in a blazing fire a stick of hahaka about four or five 
inches long, and of the thickness of a chopstick. When it 
has taken fire, he blows it out, and with it pricks the 
tortoise-shell from the back. Divination is then made 
from the lines thus produced. When the divination is over, 
the Kami-^gari (ascent of the God) is recited, and the cere- 
mony is at an end. 

The Shinto Mtomoku Ruijiu gives the following descrip- 
tion of a form of tortoise-shell divination practised at 
Kashima to select young girls for the service of the God 
{moruh-imi). Two candidates who have not reached puberty 
perform rites to the God for loo days. On the final day a 
caldron is set up before the shrine and two tortoise-shells 
are placed in it, each of which bears the name of one of 
the girls. These are roasted from early morning till dusk. 
The tortoise-shell with the name of the successful candidate 
is then found to be wholly uninjured by the fire whilst the 
other is reduced to ashes. It is said that the girl selected 
attains a great age and that she never menstruates. 

Trajl-ora (cross-roads divination).! — This form of divina- 
tion was much practised in ancient Japan, especially by 

* Koyane. Jflirata speaks with scorn of Uie Chinese methods of divining 
current in Japan in later times, in which no invocation of the Gods was osed. 
Sometimes other Gods, and even Baddhas, were invoked. 

t " The King of Babflon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of 
the two ways, to perform divination," — Easekiel ^i, 21, 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 34 1 

women and lovers. It consisted in going out to the road 
at dusk, planting a stick in the ground to represent Kunado, 
the phallic God of roads, and interpreting the fragmentary 
talk of passers-by as an answer to the question.* Another 
account says that to perform tsuji-ura you take a box- wood 
comb in your hand, go to cross-roads and sound it three 
times by drawing your finger along it {tsuge^ " box-wood," 
also means "inform me"). Then, with devotion to the 
Sahe no Kami, repeat this verse three times : ** Oh, thou 
God of the cross-roads-divination, grant me a true response." 
Good or bad luck is to be inferred from the words of the 
next (or the third) person who makes his appearance. Some- 
times a boundary line was marked out and rice sprinkled 
to keep away evil influences. The words of the passer-by 
who first entered the charmed limit constituted the response. 

Hashi-ora (bridge-divination). Little is known of this 
kind of divination. The procedure was the same as in 
tsuji'Ura^ and the Gods concerned were probably the Sahe 
no Kami. The end-post of a bridge was, and still is, a 
wo-bashira^ that is, male pillar or phallus. 

lahi-ura, or stone-divination, is mentioned in the Man- 
yoshiu along with tsuji-ura. The " stone " is probably the 
stone emblem of Kunado or Sahe no Kami. It consisted 
in judging of future fortune by the apparent weight of the 
stone when lifted. Such stones were called Ishi-gami (stone- 
deities) and were no doubt phallic. 

Mikayu-ara (divination by gruel). This kind of divina- 
tion is also associated with the Sahe no Kami. It was 
practised in various forms at Hirawoka in Kahachi, Suha 
in Shinano, and other places, on the 15th day of the ist 
monthf in order to ascertain what crops it would be best 
to sow .that year. A pot was set up before the God in 

* Paniwrnias says that in ancient Greece the inquirer, after asking his ques- 
tion of the God and making his offering, took as the divine answer the first 
words he might hear on quitting the sanctuary. 

t The date of the festival of the Sahe no Kami, 



342 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

which adzuki beans* were bofled. Then tubes of reed, five 
or six inches long, marked with the names of all manner 
of crops were plunged into the gruel. The negi (priests) 
stood by, and taking out the tubes with chopsticks divined 
from the manner in which the grains of rice (mixed witii 
the gruel) entered them whether the crop in question would 
be good or bad. At Haruna the priests published the 
results to the peasants in a printed form. 

Hirata mentions another form of divination in vrhlA 
beans are set in a row round the hearth and fire brought 
close to them. Some are roasted black while others remain 
white, and from this the weather and luck of the ensuing 
year are divined. 

Koio-Qra (harp-divination) was formerly (nth century) 
practised at Ise with the object of ascertaining whether the 
priests who were to take part in the three great religious 
services of the year and the utensils employed were pure 
or not Prayer having been made to the Sun-Goddess, the 
officiating priest struck a harp three times,t uttering witfi 
each note a loud Hush! He then recited the following 
Kami'Oroshi (bringing-down the Gods) : — 

** Ah / we protest that we are in earnest^ 
To your pure secU deign to descend 
AH ye Gods of Heaven and Earthy 

Ah / we protest that we are in earnest^ 
To thy pure seat deign to descend 
Thou Thunder-God also. 

Ah / we protest that we are im earnest. 
To your pure seat deign to descend 
Oh thou upper great brother attd thou lower 
great brother J*X 

The names of the priests were then called over and the 
question asked in the case of each, '' Is he clean or unclean?" 

* See aboTe, p. 193. 

t The Kami-yori'ita (God-resort-board), struck in later times to brinf 
down the Gods, is believeid to be a sabstitate for this harp. 
$ It is not known who these Gods were. 



UACtC, DlVlKATtON, INSMRATlOK. 343 

The officiating priest then struck the harp and tried to 
whistle by drawing in his breath. If the whistle was audible 
it was a sign of purity, and vice versd. The same procedure 
was observed with regard to the persons who had prepared 
the offerings, the offerings themselves, and the utensils 
required in the service. 

Caldron-DivixiatioiL — At the shrine of Kibitsu no miya 
in Bittchu there is a mode of divining good and ill-luck 
from the sound made by a caldron in boiling. The priests, 
on the application of a worshipper, recite norito and kindle 
a fire of brushwood under a caldron. If the sound produced 
resembles the bellowing of a bull, the prognostic is good, if 
otherwise, it is bad 

Divixiatloai by Lota. — Sticks with numbers inscribed on 
them, or slips of paper, were much used for divination. 
The succession to the Imperial throne has been decided in 
this way. Prayer to the Kami often preceded their use. 
The following is a form of divination by lot which is used 
by sailors when they have lost their reckoning. The names 
of the points of the compass are written on slips of paper, 
placed in a measure of rice, and the whole mixed up. A 
karahi'bako of the Great Deity of Ise is put on the top. 
Prayer is offered and the lot which is found to adhere to 
the haraki-bako is looked upon as the answer of the Deity. 
Another form of divination by lots is thus described : " You 
place three sticks, numbered one, two, three, in a bamboo 
tube and inquire of the God as to good or ill luck, saying 
reverently, * If the thing is lucky, let it be such a number, if 
unlucky, such another number.'" In what is called 
harahi-kuji " you write lucky or unlucky, or whatever your 
prayer may be, on papers which you fold up and roll into a 
ball. Then having offered reverent prayer to the God, rub 
the lots with harahi ko-nusa* when that which adheres to 
them is concluded to be the answer. This is common at 
all shrines." 

* Smaller gokei used in the harahi ceremony. 



344 MAGIC, blVlNAtlOK, INSPIRATION. 

Lots were, and still are, used for all manner ot non- 
religious purposes. If a solitary passenger appears at a 
jinriksha stand, he is often cast lots for by means of a set 
of cords of various lengths knotted together at one end 
which is kept for the purpose. The * Yih-King,' a Chinese 
book which sets forth a non-religious system of divination 
depending partly on drawing lots is much used in Japan. 

Dlvixiatlon by Means of the Stars was first introduced 
in A.D. 675 by the Korean teachers of Chinese arts. 

Kltsone-tsokahL — ^''Amongst the ordinary diviners is 
one called Kitsune " tsukahi^ i.e,^ a fox-possessor. The 
divination is carried on by means of a small image of a 
fox, made in a very odd way. A fox is buried alive in a 
hole with its head left free. Food of the sort of which 
foxes are known to be most fond is placed just beyond 
the animal's reach. As days pass by the poor beast in its 
dying agony of hunger makes frantic efforts to reach the 
food ; but in vain. At the moment of death the spirit of 
the fox is supposed to pass into the food, which is then 
mixed with a quantity of clay, and shaped into the form 
of the animal. Armed with this extraordinary object, the 
miko is supposed to become an infallible guide to fore- 
telling future events of every kind/'*. \ 

Augury by various kinds of birds was known. The 
geomancy practised to some extent in Japan is of Chinese 
origin. 

The Nihongi mentions a number of isolated cases of 
divination invented on the spur of the moment The 
follo>ying is an example : — 

" When the Emperor was about to attack the enemy, he 
made a station on the great moor of Kashihawo. On this 
moor there was a stone six feet in length, three feet in 
breadth, and one foot five inches in thickness. The 
Emperor prayed, saying : ' If we are to succeed in destroy- 

* Weston, * Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' p. 307. See also Index, 
Inugami; and Mr. Chamberlain's ' Things Japanese,' third edition, p. Iia 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 345 

ing the Tsuchi-gumo, when we kick this stoae, may we 
make it mount up like a kashiha leaf.' Accordingly he 
kicked it, upon which, like a kashiha leaf, it arose to the 
Great Void. Therefore that stone was called Homishi. 
The Gods whom he prayed to at this time were the God 
of Shiga, the God of the Mononobe of Nawori, and the 
God of the Nakatomi of Nawori — these three Gods."* 

Omens are frequently mentioned. A leg-rest breaking 
without apparent cause was a bad omen. The migration 
of rats from the capital, the movements of a swarm of 
flies, comets, a dog bringing in a dead man*s hand and 
depositing it in a shrine, prolonged darkness, to meet a 
blind or a lame person are examples of evil omens. 
Earthquakes, floods and storms were supposed to portend 
war. A wren's entering a parturition-house is described 
as a favourable omen. White animals of all kinds were 
good omens, and also three-legged crows or even sparrows, 
no doubt because the Sun-crow had three legs. 

Dreams. — At all stages of human progress, the rational, 
normal, and usual attitude of mankind towards dreams is 
a disbelief in their reality. The ivory gate is recognized 
to b6 their ordinary, every-day thoroughfare. There are 
good reasons for this. Most dreams are so palpably 
absurd that the common sense even of the primitive man, 
enlightened by daily experience, rejects them as something 
not to be depended on. A man dreams that he has partaken 
of a hearty meal and wakes up hungry. The cogent 
logic of an empty belly leaves him no choice but to 
reject unhesitatingly the proposition that his dream was a 
reality. He dreams that he has broken his leg. Will he, 
therefore, lie up for a month to give it time to heal ? In 
his dreams he can fly. Nature exacts a stern penalty if 
he is idiotic enough to act on the belief that he can do so 
in reality. The practical necessities of life prohibit a 

* Compare the story of Gideon's fleece in Jodges vi. 37. See also Nihanp^ 
i. 237, and Ch. K. 194. 



I 



346 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

man who has to earn a living and support a family from 
indulging in any such foolish imaginations. The analogy 
of his own day-dreams, which he must know to be unreal, 
is too obvious to be disr^^rded. 

It is true that we do not find much evidence of this 
attitude of mind in books of travel or history. Nobody 
thinks it worth while to commit to paper instances of so 
very evident a fact. Most men are comparatively un- 
interested in the normal and familiar. Travellers, and some- 
times even men of science, are prone to n^lect the 
universal and commonplace for the strange and unusual 
Like Desdemona, they seriously incline to hear of 

^ The Anthropophagi, and men whose heads 
Do grow beneath their shoulders." 

Herbert Spencer* thinks that the primitive man accepts 
the events dreamed as events that have actually occurred, 
and adduces evidence which no doubt shows that there 
really is a current of thought to that effect among savages 
and others. For the reasons above stated I prefer to rtgard 
such cases as abnormal and exceptional. The Kojiki and*^ 
Nihongi have many instances of Gods appearing to men in ^ 
dreams and giving them instructions. These are doubtless 
inventions of some scribe, but they indicate a belief in the 
possibility of such occurrences. Hirata thought it possible 
by witchcraft to cause people to have dreams. 

A more frequent view of dreams is that, although not in 
themselves realities, it is possible by suitable interpretation 
to deduce truth from them— 4isually in the form of pre- 
dictions of the future. Ther^ are cases of this kind in the 
old Japanese records. A deer, for example, dreams that a 
white mist has come down and covered him. This portends 
that he will be killed by hunters and his body covered with 
white salt 

There is evidence that some men occasionally attain in 



• < 



Sociology,' i. 154. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 347 

dreams to a deeper spiritual insight and a keener emotional 
sensibility to divine influences than in their waking moments. 
Those who have had such experiences do not speak lightly 
of them. At the present time science is not in a position 
to deal adequately with this matter. Shinto helps us 
nothing. 

Ordeal is a species of divination. Under the date AD. 
277 the Nikongi has the following : — ^^^^ 

" The Emperor forthwith questi^ffCeoTakechi no Sukune 
cdong with Utnashi no Sukune^ upon which these two men 
were each obstinate^ and wrangled with one another^ so that 
it was impossible to ascertain the right and the wrong. The 
Emperor then gave orders to ask of the Gods of Heaven and 
Earth the orcUcU by boiling water. Hereupon Takechi no 
Sukune and Umashi no Sukune^went out together to the 
bank of the Shiki rivers and underwent the ordeal of boiling 
water. Takechi no Sukune was victorious. Taking his 
cross*swordy he threw down Umashi no Sukune^ and was at 
length about to shy him^ when the Emperor ordered him to 
let him go. So he gave him to the ancestor of the Atahe 
of KW 

The same authority informs us that in A.D. 415 the 
Mikado, in consequence of the great confusion caused by 
the assumption of false names and titles, commanded the 
people of the various houses and surnames to wash them- 
selves and jMractise abstinence. 

^ Then let them^ each calling upon the Gods to witness^ 
plunge their hands in boiling water. Hereupon every one 
put on straps oftrte-fibrCy and coming to the caldrons ^ plunged 
their hands in the boiling water y when those who were true 
remained naturally uninjured^ and all those who were false 
were harmed. Therefore those who had falsified [their titles] 
were afraid^ and^ slipping away beforehandy did not come for- 
ward. From this time forward the Houses and surnames 
were spontaneously ordered^ and there was no longer any one 
who falsified them." 



348 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

A note adds : — 

** This is called Kugadachi, Sometimes mud was put inte 
a caldron and made to boil up. Then the arms were bared 
and the boiling mud stirred with them. Sometimes an axe 
was heated red-hot and placed on the palm of the hand'* 

In a case which occurred in A.D. 530, it is stated that a 
judge, in order to save himself trouble, was too ready to 
resort to the boiling-water ordeal and that many persons 
were scalded to death in consequence. 

At the present day plunging the hand into boiling water, 
walking barefoot over a bed of live coals and climbing a 
ladder formed of sword-blades set edge upwards are 
practised, not by way of ordeal, but to excite the awe and 
stimulate the piety of the ignorant spectators.* 

Xiuq>iration. — Such knowledge as we possess of the 
divine will and nature comes in the first place to the nobler 
individuals of our race, men in whom high intellectual 
powers are harmoniously allied to keen and healthy 
emotional susceptibilities and ripened by long years of 
experience and reflection. They it is — ^the seers, inspired 
prophets, men of genius, or by whatever name we may call 
them — who furnish the material out of which religion is 
developed, not the vulgar, with their superstitions which are 
only a product of its decay. 

Inspiration is not an isolated phenomenon. Like all our 
thoughts and doings, it is the resultant of three component 
factors — namely, our own ego and that of our fellow-men, 
and the all-pervading influence of that divine environment 
in which we live, and move, and have our being. Each <A 
these may predominate according to circumstances. In 
what we call inspiration, the two former are, as far as may 
be, in abeyance, and the mind is left free to be acted on by 
such higher influences as it is capable of receiving. 

In the case of Shinto, we have, unfortunately, no recofd 

♦ Sec Mr. P. LoweU's • Occult Japui,' p. 36. 



MAGIC, mVlNATlON, INSPIRATION. 349 

of the conditions under which such truths as it contains 
became revealed. The deification of the Sun and the ( 
recognition of the fact that there is love for mankind in the \ \/ 
warmth and light which proceed from him was a truly 
magnificent idea in a world destitute of religion. The 
Izanagi myth, by which so many of the Gods were assigned 
a common parentage, was a brilliant conception, paving the 
way towards monotheism. Musubi, the God of Growth, 
marks a further stage of progress in this direction. To 
these may be added such few and vague glimpses as were 
caught of the truth that offences against our neighbour are 
also displeasing to the Gods. But we have no knowledge 
of the circumstances attending these discoveries or of the 
persons who made them. The only true seer of whom the 
old records tell us anything was an unfortunate man who 
in A.D. 644 taught his countrymen to worship — albeit in the 
form of a caterpillar — the God of the Everlasting World, 
the God of Gods, and suffered death in consequence. 

The seer is not equally clear sighted at all times. He has 
temporary enhancements of lucidity due to conditions 
which are very imperfectly understood. Some are of a 
physical nature. The moderate use of certain drugs and 
stimulants is an acknowledged help towards producing such 
exalted states of mind. Music, quiet, sympathy, voluntary 
concentration of mind (lapsing sometimes into the hypnotic 
trance, or something resembling it), general abstemiousness, 
and occasional fasting, are all aids of recognized value 
which are not n^lected by the individual, compact of 
common clay, who vainly aspires to fill the high office of 
interpreter between Gods and men. 

The Japanese word for inspiration is Kangakari^ which 
means God-attachment, and is nearly equivalent to our 
"possession." It is indicative of the passive attitude 
claimed by the seer in all countries, with an earnestness 
which, however genuine, notoriously does not exclude the 
possibility of error. The most transparent bodies deflect 



350 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

or modify the light which passes through them. Other 
words for inspiration are takusen and shtntaku. They are 
of Chinese origin, and involve the idea of a divine message 
or commission. 

In the notices of inspired communications recorded in 
the Shinto books we seldom or never recognize the true 
prophet Instead of revelations of divine truth, we are 
given the fruits of hypnotism, imposture, and a credulous 
interpretation of meaningless things. The reader wiU dis- 
cern few traces of genuine inspiration in the following 
examples, of which the earlier are taken from the Nihongu 

The Goddess Uzume gave forth an ^ ins{nred utterance" 
as part of her performance before the Rock-cave of Heaven 
into which the Sun Goddess had retired. It consisted of 
the numerals from one to ten. 

B.C. 5. The Sun-Groddess instructed the Princess-priestess 
Yamato-hime that a shrine should be erected to her in the 
province of Ise. 

B.C. 38. A young child pronounced an unintelligible 
speech which sounded like the names of deities, and was 
thought to be inspired. Worship was offered in consequence. 

B.C. 91. A God inspired Yamato totohi momoso hime (a 
Princess) to say as follows : " Why is the Emperor grieved 
at the disordered state of the country ? If he duly did us 
reverence it would assuredly become pacified of itsel£" 

A.D. 193. The Empress Jingd was inspired by a certain 
God to urge her husband the Mikado to invade Korea. 

"^00. 3rd monthy 1st day. The same Empress^ hatm^ 
selected a lucky day^ entered the Palace of worship ^ and €lis- 
charged in person the office of priest^ She commanded 
Takechi no Sukune to play on the bUe^ and the Nakatomi^ 
Igatsu no Omit was designcUed as Saniha.^ Then placing 
one thousand pieces of clothe high pieces of clothy on the top 

* KoHHUSki. 

t Saniha (pure court) is explained as the official who examinea tbe vtkr- 
ances prompted by the Deity. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION, 351 

and bottom of the lute^ she prayed^ saying: * Who is the God 
who on a former day instructed the Emperor ? I pray that 
I may know his name' After seven days and seven nights 
there came an answer^ saying: ^ I am the Deity who dwells 
in the Shrine oflse.* " 

"^<?7. A certain man^ inspired by the Moon-God^saidy ^My 

forefather Taka-musubi had the merit of creating Heaven 

and Earth. Let him be honoured by dedicating to him 

people and land. I am the Moon-God and I shall rejoice 

if this my desire is complied with! " 

555. Mention is made of a divine inspiration by which 
the Hafuriy a century before, had advised humble prayer 
to the " Founder of the Land " before going to the assist- 
ance of a Korean king. 

" 6y2. KonUy Takechi no Agata-nushiy Governor of the 
district of Takechi^ suddenly had his mouth closed so that he 
could not speak. After three days^ a divine inspiration came 
upon him, and he said: '/ am the God who dwells in the 
Shrine of Takechi, and my name is Koto-shiro-nushi no 
Kami' Again, * / am the God who dwells in the Shrine of 
Musa, and my name is Iku-ikadeuchi no Kami! This was 
their revelation : * Let offerings of horses and weapons of all 
kinds be made at the misasagi {tomb) of the Emperor Kamu- 
yamcUo-ihare-biko! Further they said: * We stood in front 
and rear of the Imperial descendant and escorted him to 
Fuha, whence we returned We have now again taken our 
stand in the midst of the Imperial army for its protection! 
Further they said: ^ An army is about to arrive by the 
Western road Be on your guard! When he had done 
speaking, he awoke [from his trance]. For this reason, 
therefore, Kome was sent to worship at the Imperial misasagi 
and to make offerings of horses and weapons. He also made 
offerings of doth and worshipped the Gods of the Shrines of 
Takechi and Musa. 

** After this Karakuni, Iki no Fubito, arrived from 
Ohosaka. Therefore the people of that day said: ' The 



352 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

words of the instructions of the Gods of the two Shrines art 
in accordance with the fact.* 

'' Moreover the Goddess of Muraya said by the mouth of a 
priest: ^ An army is now about to arrive by the middle road 
of my shrine. Therefore let the middle road of my shrine he 
blocked^ Accordingly^ not many days after, the am^ ^ 
Kujira, Ihorrwi no Miyakko, arrived by the middle road 
The men of that day said: * So the words of the teaching nf 
the God were right! When the war was over, the Generals 
reported the monitions of these three Gods to the Emperor, 
who straightway commanded that the three Gods should be 
raised in rank and worshipped accordingly*' 

8 1 2. A decree was passed denouncing punishment on 
peasants who, without reason, predicted good or bad 
fortune. The authorities were at the same time enjoined 
to report any genuine predictions. 

103 1. While a service to the Sun-Goddess was being 
performed at Ise, a storm of thunder and lightning came 
on. The Saiw5 (virgin priestess of Imperial blood) was 
inspired and said : ** I am the Ara-matsuri no miya, the 
first of the separate shrines of the Great Shrine, and I now 
speak by command of the Great God. The Sato [an 
official designation] Sodzu and his wife have for years 
past made absurd pretensions, such as that the two great 
Deities have flown to and attached themselves to them, the 
Ara-matsuri and the Takamiya to their children and the 
[deities of] the five separate shrines to their domestic 
Such extraordinary assertions evince a want of loyalty 
both to the Gods and to the Mikado. Their disregard of 
the ceremonial r^^lations and the fewness of the ofierings 
are not (in themselves) deserving of severe blame, but they 
show a want of respect to the Gods. Iga no Kami reaped 
the rice officially set apart for the service of the shrine and 
slew the peasants of the Deity. Yet, by the remissness of 
the Government officials, it was the third year before he 
was banished..,.., Let Sod:(q be sent into exile at once" 



MAdIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRAtlON. 353 

After delivering this message the Saiw5 drank several cups 
of the sacred sake. Nowadays, with ourselves, recourse 
is had, under like circumstances, to a letter to the Times or 
a question in the House of Commons. 

1225-27. Though not an inspiration, I may mention here 
an oracle which was delivered at Idzumo by wormholes 
in the wood of the old Temple which took the form of 
Chinese characters. It intimated that the God did not 
care for lofty buildings, but that the people should turn to 
virtue. Motoori strongly suspects its authenticity. No 
Shinto God, he thinks, would be likely to use Chinese for 
his oracles. 

1348. A Buddhist priest of the province of Ise, having 
made prayer for 1,000 days at the Shrine of the Great 
Deity, saw on the thousandth day a bright object floating 
on the sea. This he found to be a sword two feet five or 
six inches in length. At this time a boy of twelve or 
thirteen, being divinely inspired, said : " This is one of the 
three r^alia, the precious sword sunk in the sea."* The 
matter was reported to Kioto, where the authenticity of 
the sword was corroborated by dreams, but ultimately not 
officially recognized. 

The Wa RongOy a work published in 1669, contains a 
number of oracles {Kangakari) attributed to a great variety 
of Deities throughout Japan. Some account of this work 
will be given in the next chapter. 

Numerous other cases of inspired utterances are recorded 
in Japanese history. They have generally relation to thi 
worship of the God concerned, directing the erection 
new shrine, indicating religious observances which will do 
him pleasure, or complaining that he is neglected or 
insulted. The Buddhist priests, who converted Shinto to 
their own purposes, made frequent use of this means of 
sanctioning their encroachments, and it was also made to 
serve political purposes. 

* At the battle of Dftnnoiiira, in 11S4. 

N 



n to the^y 
Jon of a y 

I iinll tKr\ ' 



354 M4GIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 

Some of the above notices are purely l^endary, and of i 
the rest many are open to a suspicion of imposture. It is 
probable, however, that in most cases the writers who 
recorded or invented them had in view the hypnotic trance, 
a kind of condition which is well known in Japan at the 
present day. The following description of a hypnotic 
s/ance is abridged from Mr. Percival Lowell's interesting 
book, * Occult Japan.' 

A place having been chosen, either holy or else purified 
ad hocy a gohei is set up with lighted candles beside it 
and flanking these, sprigs of sakaki^ the sacred tree of 
Shinto. In front of the gohei is set out a feast for the 
God. Some five feet in front a porous earthenware bowl 
is placed on a stand, and in the bowl a pyre of incense 
sticks. The purification of the place consists in enclosing 
the spot with strings, from which depend at intervals small 
gohei^ and from the space so shut off driving out all evil 
spirits by prayer, finger - charms,* sprinkling of salt, 
striking of sparks by flint and steel, and brandishing a 
goheL 

The persons of the ofliciators are purified by bathing 
and putting on fresh white garments. 

In its full complement the company consists of eight 
persons, the naka-za (middle-seat) corresponding to the 
medium, the mae-za (front-seat), who is the director of the 
proceedings, and puts the necessary questions to the 
medium, and several others whose business it is to ward 
off evil influences, &c. 

A purification service having been chanted under the 
leadership of the mae-za^ and songs sung to the accom- 
paniment of the shaku'jo^ a sort of staff with metal rings 
attached to it, the pyre is lighted, and as the flames ascend 
into the air prayers go up to Fudosama4 

* In^imaubiy a Chinese pracdoe. 

t A Buddhist religious implement. 

X A Buddhist deity. The incense is also Buddhist. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION. 3$$ 

The gokei having been removed and set up in the middle, 
the men take their seats for the descent of the God. 
Facing the goAei, they go through a further short incanta- 
tion. Then one of the subordinates holds the ^oA€i while 
the naka-sa seats himself where it had been and closes his 
eyes. The mae-sa takes the gohei and places it between 
the hands of the naka-za. Then all the others join in 
chant, and watch for the advent of the God. 

For a few minutes, the time varying with the particular 
naka-za^ the man remains perfectly motionless. Then 
suddenly the gohei begins to quiver. The quiver gains 
till all at once the man is seized with a convulsive throe. 
In some trances the eyes then open, the eyeballs being 
rolled up half out of sight In others the eyes remain half 
shpt Then the throe subsides again to a permanent 
quiver, the eyes, if open, fixed in the trance look. The 
man has now become the God. 

The moi'Za, bowed down, then reverently asks the name 
of the God, and the God answers, after which the mae-za 
prefers his petitions, to which the God makes reply. When 
he has finished, the naka-za falls forward on his face. The 
mae-za concludes with a prayer, then, striking the naka-za 
on the back, wakes him up. One of the others gives him 
water from a cup, and when he has been able to swallow it 
the rest set to and rub his arms and body out of their 
cataleptic contraction. 
[ The Sankairiy a work published in 1853, mentions a 
kind of inspired medium known ^syori-dai: — 

•* There are numbers of these in Osaka who practise Kami- 
aroshi {bringing down the God). An altar to Sho-ichi-i 
Inari Midjin (first of first rank illustrious God Inari) is 
consecrated within their dwelling-house, before which the 
medium takes his seat. Some of these bringers-down of the 
God are men, others women. They take a gohei in each hand 
and repeat the Rokkon shojo no harahi [a bastard Buddhist 
form ofharahi\, muttering at the same time something or 

N 2 



3S6 MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIKATION, 

another so that one might think they were veritable official 
bringerS'down of the God. 

'^At Tenoji there is a Miko-machi^ or street of mediums 
who pretend that it was established by Shotoku TaishL 
When the cries of these mediums reach the street^ people look 
in at the windows. They differ^ however^ from the Inari- 
oroshi. Some there are who use the formula^ * Is it a living 
mouth or a dead mouth ? ' so that they probably belong to the 
Shinano mediums ^ who talk of [the God] being drawn by the 
adsusa bow. There is also a kind of witchcraft called Inu- 
gamu* But the Miojin-oroshi [or yoridai] we speak of 
repeats over and over again the phrase * Be pleased to clecmu^ 
be pleased to purify I so long as he retains his senses. Then 
his complexion changes and he becomes pale^ while the gohei 
in his hands shake themselves erect. He will then answer^ 
one after another^ by manifest inspiration^ any questions which 
the applicant may put to him'* 

The Sankairi is a Buddhist book, and goes on to tell a 
story of a Kami being brought down by nembutsu (Buddhist 
prayers) and the medium repeating a Buddhist hymn-f 

It need hardly be said that, as in the case of our own 
spiritualistic s/ances, the net value of the information 
obtained by this process is nil. It is hardly fair to Shinto 
to call this sort of thing " esoteric Shinto," as Mr. Lowell 
does. Spiritualism is not esoteric Christianity, but a 
diseased excrescence on it The higher Shinto func- 
tionaries do not condescend to such practices, and, indeed, 
they are commonly performed by laymen, or even by 
Buddhist priests. The official Shinto mode of ascertaining 
the will of the Gods was by the " Greater Divination,** that 
> is, by the deer's shoulder-blade or the tortoise-shelL Ka^gar 
kari, or inspiration, was, however, known at all periods of 
Japanese history ; and although no detailed accounts have 

♦ Sec above, p. 332. 

t An excellent account of a Japanese hj^motic sAmce is giv^n in Hr, Weston's 
* Mountaineering in the Japanese Alps,' p. 289, 



s. 



MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION, 35/ 

reached us of the methods used to produce it, there are 
indications that they were of a similar character to those 
described by Mr. Lowell. The kannushi of the ceremony 
of the Empress Jingo's inspiration* seems to be the same 
as Mr. Lowell's naka-za^ and the sanika corresponds to 
his tnae-za. We may presume that his office sometimes 
resembled that of the functionary at Delphi, whose business 
it was to clarify the obscurities of the Vythizn priestess's 
utterances. The ntiko of the shrine of Ise gave inspired 
utterances. The sprinkling of boiling water is said to have 
been part of the process by which they were induced. 

True inspiration, ^uch as that which touched Isaiah's 
hallowed lips with fire, belongs chiefly to the male sex. 
The kangakariy or hypnotic trance, on the other hand, has 
in Japan, as elsewhere, a decided preference for women or 
boys.t 

* Occult Japan ' deals only with the hypnotic trance as 
a condition in which communications are received from the 
Gods. But there are also mediums, called miko or ichiko^ 
who when hypnotized deliver messages from deceased 
relatives and others.:^ Hirata speaks of the miko and hafuri 
providing j^ori'iito (mediums), by whom they brought near 
(yoru) by prayer the spirits of Gods or men and questioned 
them. Ichiko is defined in the dictionary, Kotoba no Idzumi^ 
as a woman who, as the representative of a God or living 
soul, or dead man's soul, delivers their thoughts from her 
own mouth. 

Possession by foxes, badgers, and other animals is a well- 
known phenomenon in Japan, but as it has no special 
connexion with Shinto I shall only refer the reader to Mr. 
B. H. Chamberlain's 'Things Japanese,' which contains a 

♦ See above, p. 35a 

f << Antiquity regarded the soul of woman as more accessible to every sort 
of inspiration, which also, according to ancient opinion, is a ir^^x'ov" — 
Mffller, * Sc Myth.,' p. 217. 

X See^above, p. ao6. 



358 MAGIC, DIVIKATION, INSPIKATION. 



account of this form c^ disease from the pen of 
Dr. Baelz. 

There are m Japan fam&ies who are believed to own 
foxes, by whom they are assisted and protected, and who 
watch over their fields and prevent outsiders from ddng 
damage. Such families are avoided, and none but members 
of similar fox-owning families will intermarry with them.^ 

* See abore, p. 344. 



m 



CHAPTER XIV. 

BEGAY OF SHINTO.— ITS MODERN SECTS. 

Rise of BaddUsm. — ^The later history of Shinto is one 
of neglect and decay. Such vitality as it retained wasV 
owing mainly to the Buddhist ideas which were engrafted; 
upon it The influence of Chinese systems of ethics and v 
philosophy was also very perceptible, especially in more r 
recent times. The Buddhism of Japan is not simply the 
doctrine of the founder, described by some as atheistic It 
is a real religion, and besides the worship of other Buddhas, 
comprises that of an Infinite Being — the Buddha Amida — 
having certain attributes which we should term divine, and 
of his assessors, withdoctrines far more abstruse and profound 
than those which were taught by Sakyamuni himsei£ In 
the main a form of the northern branch of Buddhism, it 
found its way originally to Japan vid Tibet, Western China, 
and Korea.* 

In A.D. 552 the King of F^kch^ in Korea, sent an embassy 
to Japan with a present to the Mikado of an image of 
Shaka (Sakyamuni) and several volumes of Sutras. They 
were gladly received, and were entrusted to the chaise of 
a Minister with instructions to practise the new faith. But 
the jealousy of the adherents of the older religion was 
aroused. When a pestilence broke out soon after, they 
attributed it to the wrath of the native deities, and found 
means to have the Buddhist temple burnt and the holy 
image thrown into a canal Other attempts to propagate 
Buddhism were little more successful, and it was not until 
the time of the Regent Shdtoku Taishi that it made any 

* ¥at tnaocosnttof JttpaiMie Buddhism ooomtt Muraiy's '}«pttfr,'ortbe 
move oomprobcnaive dcscriptko in Griffis^s ' ReligiMis •£ JupAo.' 



ft 



360 DECAY OF SmNTO, 

substantial progress. At his death in 621 there were in 
Japan 46 temples or monasteries and 1385 monastics, male 
and female. In 686 it was decreed that every household 
should have its domestic Buddhist shrine. 

When Buddhism, after Christianity the great religion of 
the world, had once gained a foothold in Japan, its ultimate 
victory was certain. There was nothing in Shinto which 
could rival in attraction the sculpture, architecture, painting, 
costumes, and ritual of the foreign faith. Its organization 
was more complete and effective. It presented ideals of 
humanity, charity, self-abn^ation, and purity, far higher 
than any previously known to the Japanese nation. Its 
doctrines of sin and repentance, of fate, of future bliss and 
woe, its profound metaphysics, and, perhaps more than 
aught else, the satisfaction which it offered to the yearnings 
of many a wounded spirit for a holy contemplative life, 
detached from the toil and worry, the sorrow and the dis- 
turbing passions of the world, were well calculated to find 

. a welcome in their hearts. 

^ At first the two religions held aloof from one another. 
But while Buddhism flourished more and more, Shinto was 
gradually weakened by the diversion into another channel 
of material resources and religious thought which might 
otherwise have been bestowed upon itself. 

By6ba Gttiinto. — The two religions came into more direct 
contact in the eighth century, when there b^an a process of 
pacific penetration of the weaker by the stronger cult, which 
yielded some curious and important results. Buddhism is 
not a militant religion in the sense that Islam was. It 
owes little or nothing to the aid of the secular arm, and 
avoids rather than seeks open conflicts with other faiths. 
What the Japanese call Adien (pious device) and to which 
we should often apply the harsher terms " pious fraud " or 
" priestcraft," are more congenial to it A notable applica- 
tion of the Adien method occurred in the time of the 
Mikado Shomu, who reigned at Nara from 724 to 756. 



DECAY OP SHINTO, 361 

Wishing to celebrate his reign by the erection of a great 
Buddhist temple and image, he took advice of Gydgi, a 
priest renowned to this day for many services to civilization, 
and despatched him to Ise with a present for the Sun- 
Groddess of a relic of Buddha. Gyogi spent seven days and 
seven n^hts in prayer under a tree close to the gate of the 
shrine, and was then vouchsafed an oracle in the form of 
some couplets ofChinese verse couched in purely Buddhistic 
phraseology. It spoke of the Sun of truth enlightening the 
long night of life and death and of the Moon of eternal 
reality dispersing the clouds of sin and ignorance. This 
was interpreted to mean that the Sun-Goddess identified 
herself with Vairochana, called by the Japanese Birushana 
or Dainichi (great Sun), a person of a Buddhist trinity and 
described as the personification of essential dt?^/ (enlighten- 
ment) and absolute purity. The Sun-Goddess subsequently 
appeared to the Mikado in a dream and confirmed this view 
of her character. The temple (Todaiji) founded by Shomu 
— ^though not the original building — is still in existence. 
It contains the famous colossal statue of Birushana, which 
is at this day one of the wonders of Japan. 

The principle of recognizing the Kami as avatars or 
iiKamations of Buddhist deities, of which the case of the 
Sun-Goddess and Vairochana was the first in Japan — it 
had been already applied in China to Laotze and Confucius 
— was subsequently much extended, and, with a spice of 
Chinese philosophy added, formed the basis of a new sect 
called Ry5bu Shinto. Its Buddhist character is indicated 
by its name, which means " two parts," the two parts being 
the two mystic worlds of Buddhism, namely, the Kongdkai 
and the TaizokaL The principal founder of Ryobu was 
the famous (and fabulous) Kobo Daishi (died 835), to whom 
the invention of the Hiragana syllabary and quite a mira- 
culous number of sculptures, writings, and paintings are 
ascribed. The sect of Buddhism engrafted by him on 
Shinto is that known as Shingon (true word). It is not 



36a DECAY OF SHINTO. 

(me of its higbest forms, and deab much in magic finger- 
twistings,endless repetitions of mystic formuls unintelligiUe 
to the worshipper, and other superstitious practices. 

Despite its professions of eclecticism, the soul of Rydbu 
is essentially Buddhist It Ixmtows littie more from Shinto 
than the names of a few deities, notably Kuni-toko-tachit 
to whom it gives an importance by no means justified by 
anythii^ in the older Shinto writings * Ry5bu owed modi 
of its success to forgeries and other means, which were con^ 
sidered less objectionable in those days than they would be 
at present Great indulgence has always been ^own in 
Japan towards means of edification (kdben) that would 
hardly recommend themselves to our more scrupulous 
minds. Yet there was something more than priestcraft in 
the attempt to weld Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shinto 
\ Into one consistent whole. It is surely a true instinct wiiich 
leads mankind to recognize an essential unity in all religions, 
and to reconcile, as far as possible, the outwardly conflicting 
forms in which it is clothed. The religious history of Japan 
is full of such endeavours.t But Shinto, Buddhism of 
various sects, Confucianism, and Sung philosophy consti- 
tuted a very refractory mass of material, and the results 
obtained, while they testify to much industry and ingenuity, 
are more curious than valuable. 

Toi-itsu. — ^The Yui-itsu Shinto was a branch of Rydbu. 
It was invented about the end of the fifteenth century. 
Yui-itsu is short for Ten-jin-yui-itsu (Heaven-man-only- 
one), a doctrine borrowed, according to Hirata, by the 
Chinese philosophers from Buddhism. Of course in tills 
connexion Ten does not mean the visible sky. It is rather 
a conception which fluctuates between Nature and God 

* See above, p. 175. 

t Tbe Borelist Btldn, who cannot be diaiged with priestciaft, uj% : '^ShintD 
rererences the way of the Son : the Chinese phitoiophers honour HeaTcn ; 
the teaching of Shaka iSdls not to make the Son a deitj. Among difiercnces 
of doctrine the fundamental principle is the same." 



DECAY Of StttNTO. 363 

It will be seen that the fundamental problem which has so 
much occupied the minds of Western theologians and 
philosophers — ^namely, that of the relation which exists 
between the human and the divine — ^has not escaped the 
attention of Far Eastern thinkers. Motoori treats the 
doctrine of the identity of Ten and man with much 
contempt '' How can tiliere be anything in common/' he 
asks, ** between Ten, the country where the Gods live, and 
man ? " 

To the people, a Ry5bu shrine was one where Buddhist 
priests officiated, a Yui-itsu shrine one where none but 
Shinto functionaries were seen. 

Other sects, or rather schools, of Shinto were those of 
D^fuchi and Suwiga, both of which arose in the seven- 
teenth century. The former explains the phenomena of 
the Divine Age on principles derived from the Yih-King, 
an ancient Chinese book of divination ; the latter is a 
combination of Yui-itsu Shinto with Sung philosophy. 

All these sects were much given to strained analogies 
and fandful comparisons in support of their views. The 
conversion of Saruta-hiko into a great moral teacher by the 
D^fuchi Shinto is an example. Saruta-hiko is worshipped 
at road sides. He therefore came to be considered the 
God of roads and the guide and protector of travellers. 
But the road or way may be used metaphorically for the 
path of duty or virtue. Hence we have the astonishing 
result by which a phallic deity figures as the chief Shinto 
apostle of morality. 

Other instances are the symbolic meanings ascribed to 
the regalia and the notion that the cross timbers of the 
roof of the typical Shinto shrine represent the (Chinese) 
virtues of benevolence, justice, courtesy, and wisdom. 

These and many more of a similar character are argute 
scholastic speculations in which the people take little 
concern. 

The Ryobu, which retained its predominance until the 



364 ^ DECAY OF SttlKTO. 

eighteenth century, was by far the most important of these 
so-called Shinto sects. 

It is impossible to trace here their somewhat complicated 
history. I may, however, note a few fects which will illus- 
trate the character and extent of the encroachment of 
Buddhist and Chinese ideas on the native hdth and cult 

As eariy as the eighth century a Mikado began die 
custom, subsequently continued during many centuries, of 
abdicating the throne after a few years' reig^ and assuming 
the Buddhist tonsure. The mode of imperial burial was 
modified in accordance with Buddhist ideas of the worth- 
lessness of these mortal frames of ours. Some Mikados 
were cremated. One described himself as a slave of Buddha, 
and another in an official ordinance spoke of the Kami as 
obeying the laws of Buddha. After such an example was 
set by the high priests of Shinto, it could not be expected 
that their Court should be more faithful to the older cult 
In the Heian period the nobles could not be induced to 
trouble themselves about the Shinto ceremonies, widdi 
were either deputed to subordinates or omitted altc^fedier. 
The r^^ar embassies to the shrines were n^lected, except 
on some great emergency, such as famine, plague, or earth- , 
quake. Even the greatest Shinto rite of all — ^the OhoniheJJ 
or coronation ceremony — ^was in abeyance for eight reigns, 
viz., from 1465 to 1687. What would have seemed even 
more shocking to an old Shintoist was the circumstance 
that Buddhist priests were allowed to take part in it 

Buddhist priests had the custody of nearly all die shrines 
read Sutras, and performed Buddhist ceremonies there, 
such as baptism sj\d £^oma sprinkling. Relics of Buddha 
were deposited in them. Buddhist temples had Shinto 
shrines of a Chinjiu, or protecting Kami, built in their court- 
yards. Buddhist architecture and ornaments were used for 
the Miya and ni-wd (the two kings, guardians of the gate) 
or sAisAi (lions) set up before them. The latter are an 
Indian conceit They were originally set up at cemeteries 



DECAV OF SHINTO. 365 

in order to frighten wild beasts and prevent them from 
tearing up the dead. We are told that in the reign of 
Horikawa (1099) nearly all the shrines were in ruin. 

The Onydshi, or official college of professors of the Yin 
and Yang natural philosophy of China, who were equally 
prepared to compute an almanac or to exorcise a demon, 
were for many centuries entrusted with the performance of 
the harahi (purification ceremonies), and other Shinto 
functions. 

The accompanying illustration shows another form of the 
admixture of Buddhism with Shinto which prevailed until 
quite recently. Of the three shrines here represented, the 
central only is dedicated to a Shinto Deity, viz.j Atago, or 
the Fire-God, who, moreover, has the Buddhist epithet 
Daigongen affixed to his name. The other two are dedicated 
to the Buddhist deities Benzaiten and Bishamon. 

The m)^hs of the Kojiki and Nihongi did not escape 
from admixture with Indian cosmology and Chinese philo- 
sophy, a process which yielded the strangest results. Thus 
a fourteenth-century writer described the Yin and Yang as 
evolving by their mutual interaction Izanagi and Izanami, 
the earlier generations of the Nihongi story being omitted. 
Their child, the Sun Goddess, proves to be a manifestation 
of Buddha, one of whose services to humanity was at some 
far remote period to subdue the " Evil Kings of the Six 
Heavens " of Indian m}^, and compel them to withdraw 
their opposition to the spread of the true doctrine (that is. 
Buddhism) in Japan. 

Still there were a few exceptions to the general decay. 
At the two great shrines of Ise and Idzumo, the old cult 
was maintained in tolerable purity, and doubtless manyl/ 
local shrines were preserved by their insignificance from 
Buddhist encroachment It should not be forgotten, 
moreover, that, although the history of Shinto under foreign 
influence was one of neglect and decay, in so far as 
its original elements were concerned, it borrowed from 



366 




DECAY OF SHINTO. 367 

Buddhism and Confucianism germs of a higher thought, 
which under more favourable circumstances might have 
borne precious fruit I have before me a book entitled, 
*Wa Rongo; or, Japanese (Confucian) Analects,' which ^ 
shows the later Shinto in a more favourable light It was 
published in 1669. The preface states that the original 1 
work belongs to the reign of Gotoba no In (11 84-1 198), 
and gives a list of successive editors or compilers from 
1 2 19 to 1628. It is a collection of oracles of Shinto gods 
and wise utterances of mikados, princes, and others, of a 
tolerably heterogeneous kind. Most of them, however, 
bear the stamp of the Rydbu Shinto. They are Buddhism, 
Confucianism, or Sung philosophy in a Shinto dress. The 
first volume contains 108 (the niunber of beads in a 
Buddhist rosary) oracles attributed to the Gods of various 
Shinto shrines throughout Japan. ^ 

These oracles are by no means consistent with one' 
another. Some are frankly Buddhist in character, others 
inculcate the doctrine of the identity of Kami and 
Buddhas, while others, again, denounce the practice of 
alien religions. In some Heaven-and-Earth is recognized 
as a sort of pantheistic deity, distinct from the physical 
universe. Here we have Chinese inspiration. Purity of 
heart, charity to the poor, and the avoidance of vain repeti- 
tions are much insisted on. No moral code is anywhere 
set forth. When virtue is spoken of, it is the Confucian 
morality, or the observance of the Buddhist command- 
ments, that must be understood. 

In the following examples the reader will find himself in 
a wholly different and far higher moral and religious 
atmosphere from that of the unadulterated older Shinto 
described in the preceding chapters. 

Shinto Oracles. — ^The Sun-Goddess enjoins uprightness 
and truth, on pain of beii^ sent to Ne no kunl* Men 

* In the old Shinto, Ne no kuni, or Hades, is not a place of punishment 
for the wicked. Here it stands for the Jigoka, or Hell, of the Buddhists. 



368 DECAY OF SHINTO. 

should make their hearts like unto Heaven-and-Earth.* 
Wearisome ceremonies and repetitions (of some Buddhist 
sects) should be abandoned, and reverence shown to the 
Gods of the ancestral shrines.t 

The Mikado Gotoba no In received the following 
inspiration in a dream from the two shrines of Ise : — 

In the last days the world will be disturbed and all men 
troubled The sovereign house will show respect for the 
military house^ and local governors will make friends with 
wearisome fellows {Buddhist monks), Buddhist priests will 
take to them wives ^ eat *flesh, and propagate base doctrines. 
The land of Ashihara of the fair rice-ears is the rightful 
property of my descendants. 

An oracle of Hachiman : — 

I refuse the offerings of the impure of heart. Some Gods 
are greaty some small^ some good and others bad. My name 
is Daijizai wd bosatsu.X 

An inspired poem (A.D. 1204) : — 

Loving-kindness is of the Buddhas : 

Uprightness of the Kami : 

Error of the sons of men. 

Thus of the same heart there is a triple divisunu 

The Gods of Kamo promise their divine help and the 
fulfilment of their prayers to their worshippers, especially 
those who regularly visit the shrine. 

Oracle of the Gods of Kasuga : — 

Even though men prepare for us a pure cdfode and offer 
there the rare things of the land^ though they hang up 
offerings of the seven precious things^ and with anxious 
hearts pray to us for hundreds of days ^ yet will we refuse 
to enter the house of the depraved and miserly. But we wiU 

* That is, Nature— a Chinese idea. 

t This is Chinese. 

X A Buddhist designation. 



DECAY OF SHINTO. 369 

surely visit the dwellings even of those in deep moumtnig* 
without an invitation^ if loving-kindness is there always. 
The reason is that we make loving-kindness our shintau 

Heat all men ! If you desire to obtain help from the 
GodSy put away pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you 
off from the Gods as it were by a great cloud 

Hear all men I The good Kami find their strength and 
their support in piety. Therefore they hue not the offerings 
of those who practise tedious ceremonies. 

The Deity of Matsunowo says : — 

Any one who makes a single obeisance to one Kami wUl 
receive infinite help : much more so any one who makes pure 
his heart and enters the great way of single-minded up- 
Tightness. 

Oracle of Temman tenfin^ the deified Minister Sugahara 
no Michizanef : — 

All ye who come before me hoping to attain the accomplish- 
ment of your desires^ pray with hearts pure from falsehood^ 
clean within and without^ reflecting the truth like a mirror. 
If those who are falsely accused of crimei come to me for 
help^ within seven days their prayer will be granted^ or else 
call me not a God 

An oracle of Mume no miya promises that if an offering 
of sand is made help will be given to women in child-birth, 
and children to those who have none. 

An oracle of Atago (the Fire-God) denounces his 
vengeance on those who pollute fire, and on the wealthy 
who do not assist their poorer neighbours. 

Leave the things of this world and come to me daily and 
monthly with pure bodies and pure hearts. You will then 
enjoy paradise in this world and have all your desires 
accomplished. 

* And therefore miclemn. 

f See above, p. 179. 

X As Sngahftia fainuelf ww. 



370 DECAY OF SHINTO. 

Oracle of tbe God of Kashima* : — 

I am the protector of Japan against foreign violence and 
break the spear-points of Heavenly demons and Earthly 
demons. All enjoy my divine power. I derive strength from 
the multiplication of devout men in the land. Then do the 
forces of demons melt away like snow in the sun. When 
devout men are feWy my powers dwindle^ my heart is dis- 
tressed and the demon powers gain vigour while the divine 
power is weakened. 

Oracle of the God of Atsuta : — 

All ye men who dwell under Heaven, Receive the just 
commands of the Gods. Regard Heaven as your father^ Earth 
as your mother ^ and all things as your brothers and sisters. 
You will then enjoy this divine country which excels allot hers y 
free from hate and sorrow. Obey the instructions of the 
Heaven-shining Deity and honour the Mikado. If any are 
rebellious^ come before me and name their names. I will 
surely crush the foe and yield you satisfaction. 

An oracle of the God of Suhat promises to hear tbe 
prayers of all true worshippers, even though they may have 
eaten flesh. No outward purity avails a whit 

Oracle of Tatsuta (the Wind-God) : — 

All ye of high and low degree^ rather than pray to Heaven- 
and-Earthy rather than pray to all the Kamiy dutifully serve 
your parents. For your parents are the Gods of without and 
withinX If that which is within is not bright it is useless 
to pray only for that which is without. 

An oracle of Inari, near Kioto, speaks of this polluted 
world (a Buddhist phrase), and recommends the reading 
of Sutras and DharanL 



* See above, p. 155. 
t See above, p. 177. 
X Alluding, to Uie inner and outer sluines of Ise. 



The following senttments are ascribed to the God of 
Fujiyama: — * 

Ye men of mine. Shun desire. If you shun desire you 
will ascend to a level with the Gods. Every little yielding to 
anxiety is a step away from the natural heart of man. If 
one leaves the natural heart ofman^ he becomes a beast. That 
men should be made so ^ is tome intolerable pain and unending 
sorrow. 

A son of a Mikado received the following inspiration in 
a dream : — 

// is the upright heart of all men which is identical with 
the highest of the high^ and therefore the God of Gods. 
There is no room in Heaven-and-Earth for the false and 
crooked person. 

The following poem was revealed in a dream to the 
Mikado Seiwa: — 

If we keep unperverted the human hearty which is like unto 
Heaven and received from Earthy that is God. The Gods 
have their abode in the heart Amongst the various ordi- 
nances none is more excellent than that of religious medi- 
tation. 

The God of a Tajima shrine says : — 
When the sky is clear^ and the wind hums in the fir-trees^ 
*tis the heart of a God who thus reveals himself. 

An oracle of Hachiman (the War-God) enjoins on his 
worshippers to be full of pity and mercy for b^gars and 
lepers, and even for ants and crickets. Those whose pity 
and charity are wide will have their precious cord (of life) 
extended immeasurably; their posterity will be spread 
abroad like the wings of a crane. They will become the 
upright heart of the Gods of Heaven. 

Another oracle of Hachiman : — 

All metis love of children and love of self are heinous 
crimes. Nothing is more admirable than to sever ^ were it 
only for a tinu^ all earthly relations. 



Si^2 DfiCAV Of StttNfO. 

I/miH will have upright hearts they must be neither /ooKsh 
nor clever^ they must ind$Uge neither in grief -nor in haie^ hmt 
be as the flowers which unfold under the genial warmth of a 
vernal sun. 

If there be any who^ having stmdied the boohs of China or 
practised the teachings oflndia^ despise the instructions of tike 
Gods of our ovon Japan^ I will go to their houses and eitker 
slay their infant children or visit them with sore disease^ or 
turn away from them their followers^ or by the God of Fire 
destroy their dwellings. This is not because I hate the 
doctrines of China or India^ but became it is rgectimg the 
root for the branches. 

Oracle of Itsukushima in Aid : — 

Of old the people of my country knew not my name. 
Therefore I was bom into the visible world aftd endur&l a 
base existence. In highest Heaven I am the Deity of the Sun, 
in the mid-sky I show my doings. I hide in the great Earth 
and produce all things : in the midst of the Ocean I am the 
eight Dragon-kings, and my power pervades the four seas. 
If the poorest of mankind come here onu for worship, show 
me their faces and declare their wishes, within seven days, 
fourteen days, twenty-one days, or it may be three years or 
seven years, according to the person and the importance of his 
prayer, I will surely grant their hearts desire. But the wicked 
of heart must not apply to me. Those who do not abandon 
mercy will not be abandoned by me. 

B«viv«l of Pare Shinto. — ^The seventeenth centtiiy wit- 
nessed a great revival of Chinese learning in Japan. It 
embraced not only the renewed study of the ancient classics 
of Confucius and Mencius, but the philosophical writings of 
Chu-hi and other sceptical writers of the Sung Dynasty 
(960- 1 278). The Samurai, or governing caste of the nation, 
devoted themselves to these studies with amazing zeal and 
enthusiasm, to the great n^ect of Buddhism, which from 
this time forward was left mainly to the common people. 



DECAY or SHINTO. 373 

This movement reached a climax in the dg^toenth century, VA 
when a reaction set ia Kada, Mabuchi, and other patriotic 
scholars, resenting the undue preponderance allowed to 
Chinese thought, did their utmost, by commentaries and 
exegetical treatises, to recall attention to the monuments of 
the ancient national literature, such as the Kafiki^ Nihongt^ 
and Manydshiu^ wliich had been so long n^lected that 
they were in great part unintelligible even to educated men. 
Under their pupil and successor Motodri (1730-1801), this 
movement assumed a religious character. His patriotic 
prejudices were offended by the foreign elements which he 
found in the Ryobu and other prevailing forms of Shinto, 
while the Sung doctrine of a '^ Great Absolute " was not 
only odious to him on account of its alien origin, but failed 
to satisfy his soul-hunger for a more personal object of 
worship. He therefore turned back to the older form of 
Shinto. To its propagation by lectures and books he 
devoted many years of his life, and not without success. 
He had numerous followers among the more educated 
classes. 

Motodri's principal work is the Kojiki den^ a commentary 
on the Kojikiy in which he loses no opportunity of attacking 
everything Chinese and of exalting the old Japanese cus- 
toms, language, and religion in a spirit of ardent and 
undiscriminating patriotism. He seems to have been wholly 
blind to the fact that the exotic faiths and philosophies, 
whose intrusion into Shinto he so bitterly resented, contain ^ . 
elements far otherwise valuable to mankind than the ritual 
of the Yengishiki and the old-world myths of the Kojiki . ^ 

His pupil Hirata (1776- 1 843) was less of a literary man '*. 
and more of a theologian than his master. In a long life 
he wrote numbers of books, amounting to hundreds of 
volumes, and delivered innumerable lectures urgii^ the 
claims of the old Shinto. His teaching was so successful 
that it at last drew upon him the attention of the Shdgun's 
Government, who, finding that their own authority was 



374 MCCAY OT SHIOTO. 

being undermined by the prominence given to the dejurt 
sovereign rights of the Sun-Goddess's descendants, forbade 
his le^ures and banished him to his native province of 
Dewa* Hirata's anti-foreign prejudices did not prevent 
him ftx>m believing in the immortality of the soul — a 
doctrine of Buddhist origin — or from borrowing from China 
a worship of imcestors quite different from anything in the 
old Shinto. He adopts the Chinese duty of ** filial piety," 
and makes strenuous but unavailing efforts to find coun- 
tenance for it in the KojUn and Nihongu Though he says 
that the Kami detest Buddhism because it teaches us to 
abandon lord and parent, wife and child, and is therefore 
destructive of morality, and because its adherents are filthy 
b^fgars, who boast of wearing cast-off rc^ and eating food 
given in charity, in another place he goes so far as to admit 
Buddha to his Shinto Pantheon, on condition that he shaU 
be content with an inferior position* He tacitly accepts 
the moral code of China, while protesting that such things are 
unnecessary, as we are endowed by nature with an intuitive 
knowledge of right and wrong. 

The agitation for the revival of Pure Shinto was a retro- 
grade movement, which could only end in failure. It con- 
tributed substantially, however, to the success of the 
political revolution which in 1868 brought about the resto- 
ration of the Mikado to the sovereign position which was 
the logical outcome of Motoori's and Hirata's teachings. 
The Shinto reformation of the same date, when the 
Buddhist priests were removed from the RySbu shrines, and 
a certain purification of ritual and ornaments was effected, 
was also due to their influence.* 

ShlngaktL — ^A school of preachers who called their 
doctrine skingaku or "heart-learning," and professed to 
combine Shinto with Buddhism and Confucianism, had 

* For a fan account <^ the Reyival of Pure Shinto, see Sir E. Satow's^ P^P^n 
contributed to the 7*. A. S. /. hi 1875. Our knowledge of Shinto dates from 
tfaisthne. 



DECAY OF SHINTO. 375 

some rogue in the first hUf of the nineteenth century; 
These men were in reality rationalists, who took the maxims 
of Confucius and Mencius as the basis of their doctrines. 
Any Shinto element which they may contain is quite 
inappreciable. Their sermons, of which a good number 
have been printed, are in the colloquial dialect They are 
very entertaining and, despite an occasional bit of 
indecency, not unediiying. 

Tenrlkyo,* or the " teaching of the Heavenly Reason," 
is a modem sect The founder was a woman named 
Omiki, who was bom in the province of Yamato in 1798, 
and died' in 1887. Her religion owes much to the Shingaku 
and Rydbu doctrines. While professing to worship 
Kunitokotachi, Izanagi, Izanami, and seven other Shinto 
deities, practically Izanagi and Izanami are her only Gods. 
The former (identified with the sun) is taken to represent 
tiie male, and die latter the female principle, corresponding 
in nature to Heaven and Earth, and in human society to 
husband and wife. These Gods are spiritual beings, 
chiefly revealed in the heart of man, and are endowed with 
personal attributes. Tenrikyd has high moral aims, and 
has made rapid pn^^ress. In 1894 there were claimed for 
it 10,000 priests and preachers, and 1400,000 adherents. 

Bemmonkyo.f — The name of this sect implies that, 
like the spotless lotus-flower, which has its roots in the 
mud, it attains to purity in the midst of a wicked world. 
It is stated to have originated with a certain Yanagita 
Ichibeimon, but its real founder was his disciple, a woman 
named Shimamura Mitsuko, who was still alive a^d preach- 
ing in 1901. 

The Remmonkyd professes to be a reformed Shinto, 
but in reality it owes little to this source b^ond the names 
of the Gods Ame no minaka nushi, Taka-musubi, and 

* An interesting account of this sect is given in a paper bj Dr. Gfeene 
in tbe T. A. S./.^ December, 1895. 
f See papers by Dr. Greene and Rev. A. Lloyd in the T. A, S, /., 1901. 



376 DECAY or SHINTO. 

Klami-musubi, who are termed the three Creator Deities. 
They are considered, however, to be only manifestadoDs 
of the Ji no Mydhd, or *' Wonderful Law of Thmgs," and 
the resd God of the sect is the personified Mydhd (wonder- 
ful law) a conception borrowed from the Buddhist Nkhiren 
sect The followers of Shimamura call her an ikigami 
(live God), and regard her as identical with the yLytkA. 
How often in Japanese religious history do we meet with 
this idea of the incarnation of the God in his priest or 
prophet I 

The shintaif or material representative of the Mydhd, is 
a slip of paper bearing the words '' Ji no My6hd/' written 
by the founder herself. It is sold as a charm against 
disease and danger. Faith-healing is a practice of this 
sect, as it is of the Tenrikyd. Their moral code is of the 
ordinary Ccmfudan type. 

The last-named two sects are not likely to play an 
important part in religious history. The founders of both 
were ignorant women, and their doctrines are a mere 
jumble of conflicting ideas borrowed from various sources, 
and inspired by no great central thought We may, 
perhaps, compare their position in Japan to that of the 
Salvation Army or the Plymouth Brethreo in this 
country. 

OfBioial Shinto. — The official cult of the present day is 
substantially the '' Pure Shinto " of Motoori and Hirata. 
But it has little vitality. A rudimentary religion of this 
kind is quite inadequate for the spiritual sustenance of a 
nation which in these latter days has raised itself to so high 
a pitch of enlightenment and civilization. No doubt some 
religious enthusiasm is excited by the great festivals of 
Ise, Idzumo, and a few other shrines, and by the annual 
pilgrimages — which, however, have other raisons ditn. 
The reverence paid to the Mikado is not devoid of a 
religious quality which has its source in Shinta But the 
main stream of Japanese piety has cut out for itself new 



DECAY OF SHINTO. 377 

channels. It has turned to Buddhism^ which, at the time 
of the Restoration in a languishing state, is now showing 
signs of renewed life and activity. Another and still more 
formidable rival has appeared, to whose progress, daily 
increasing in momentum, what limit shall be prescribed ? 

As a national religion, Shinto is almost extinct But it willl 
long continue to survive in folk-lore and custom, and in I 
that lively sensibility to the divine in its simpler and more I 
material aspects which characterizes the people of Japan. 



THE END. 



, c 




INDEX. 



X 



--5#- 



N,B. — Where then an several references the most trnpertani is piacea first, 

A Animal food, ofierings of, 196, 205 

•> f> impure, 353 
Anthropomorph]$m, 17 
Ara-mitama, 31, 33, Addenda. See 

Ni^tama. 
Ascetic, aot 
Aghinadzuchi, 103 
Aao, Moont, God of, 147 
Asnha no Kami, 146 
Atago, 159, 365, 369. See Fire-God. 
Augury, 344 
Aozust Grandchild. See Sovran 

(Grandchild. 
Augustine, St., Addenda, 198 
Avatar, 361, 186 

Avoidance of undeanness. See Imi. 
Axe, sacred, 289 



Abhition, 259, 83, 271. See Lustra- 
tion, misogi. 

Abstinence, 271, 273. See ImL 

Abstractions, Gods of, 62, 169, 186 

Abstractions, few in lapanese, 35 

Accession announoedto Gods, 324 

Acupuncture, 334 

Adoption, 45 

Adultery, 91, 244, 246 

Adzuld. See Bean. 

Adzusa bow, 206, 335 

Agamono, 261, 306^^ See Ransom. 

Ainostic, 13, 78 

Abidono, 227 

Agriculture in Shinto, Prefiice, 86, 
102, 121, 164, 172 

Abiname or Ahimbe, 278 

Ainus, 160, 193, 252 

Aldtsn Kami, 41 - 

Aliases of deities, 22 

Allen, Grant, «6 

Altar, 217, 218, 227. SeeKamidana. 

Altro intende, 77 

Amagatsu, 2(53 

Ama no hohi, no, 258, 274 

Ama no sagnme, 109 

Amaterasn, 125 

Ame (heaven), 96, 142 

Ame no hashidate, ck; 

Ame no hiwashi, 136 

Ame no ka^;ase wo, 142 

Ame no nunaka nushi, 69, 85, 142, 

Ame yndzuru, 85 
Ame waka hiko, 108 
Amulet, 258. See Talisman. 
Ancestor-worship, 44, 36, 95^ tT6, 

177, 279, 174 
Ancestor and ancestress of the Mikado, 

271, 296 
Animals, 63 
Animal saonfioes, 212, 213 



B 



Baek, Dr., 3<8 

Bakemono (ghost), 49 

Bakin, 328, 562 

Baldness unaean, 253 

Bargain with (?ods, 212. See also 

IX>ut des. 
Bashd, 48 
Batchelor, 295 

Be (Government corporation), 1 12, 183 
Bean, 190, 165, 193, 309. 312, 313, 342 
Beneficent character of Gods, 6^ 15, 

129 
Bestiality, 300 
Bewitchment, 300 
Birushana, 361 
Biso, 48 

Black animals offered for rain, 287 
Blessing of the Palace, 287 
Blood, 213 

Bosatsu, 178, 325, 368 
Bow as oflerhig, 314 
Bow as a stringedmusical instrument, 

238 



380 



INDEX. 



Bov in iDickt 315, ao6, 156. See 
Hania yvmi, Amaayiiiiu. 

Bowing, 309 

Breath pot for life, 51 

Breathing on, 261-63 

Brewer-maiden, 269 ei Mff . 

Bridge-divinarion, 341 

Brinkky, Capt, ^ 

Brinton, BIr. D. G., 83, 139 

Browning's ' Sanl,' 39 

Bubbles as a duum against fire, 333 

Bnckley, Dr., 137, 149, 198 

Buddhism, 4. 354» 359. 3^4. 353. 
178, i8a. 183, 199, 212, 253, ^54. 

255.304 
Bon-shin, 21 

Burial, 5^-6i> Addenda 

Bnmt-oSerings, 213, 210 



Caiid, Dr. B., 46 

Calamities cansmg iindeanness, 255 

Caldron-divination, 343 

Carria^ofGod, 222 

Caterpillar wordiipped, 70 

Ceremonial, s68 

Chamberlain, Mr. B. H., 2, 24, 232, 

305. 326, 344, 357 
Chaos, 84 
Charm, 114, 189, 337. See Magic, 

Xalisman* 
Chibnri no Kami, 197, 315 
Chieftain conception of Gods, 19 
Chimata no Kami, 188 
Childbirth as a source of mideanness, 

251 
Chinese philosophy, 92, 169, 234, 244, 

264. 305. 323. 339. 342, 372 
Chinese religion, i 
Chinese traiu in myth, 92, 1 15 
Chinjin, 6{, 326, 364 
ChinkonsBi, 294 
Chi no wa, 264-6 
Chronology, 116 
Church and State, 200, 274 
Circumambolation, 240^ 90^ I57» 31^ 

3?! 
GTilixatioQ of ancient Japanese, 

irretace. 
Clapping hands, 209, 320 
Classes, Gods of, 15, 34 
Classes, deified dasies of men, 61 



QasBtfication of Gods, 15 

Clay, God of, 92, 146, 316 

Qeyera japonica, 98, 215, 2x6^ 269^ 

«93 
Qothing, ofierings o^ 213, 237. See 

Yafn, 270, 287 
Cock, 100 

Communion, 120 161, 211 
Comte, 62, 63, 142 
Conception of deity, phases o^ 16 
Consangnineoiis anions, 250 
Confudns, 21 

,, colt of; 182, 361 
Cooking fomace, 279, 16, 17, 280^ 

322, 329. See also Kamndo and 

HettsoL 
Com Maiden, 108 
Coronation, 268 

Cosmogony, 144. See Qreatiaa. 
Cooncfl of Gods, 98, 124 
Coovade, 251 
Ovation, varioos concq> ti ops 0(84, 

87, 89, 144. 170 
Creation of mankind, 82, 171, 174 
Creator-Gods, 27, 85, 351, 376. See 

alsolanagi, Ohonamorhl, Mosobi. 
Cremation, 364 
Criminal law, 245 
Crossways, deity of, ill, x88, 197* 

See also Sahe no KamL 
„ sanctity o( 197 
„ divination, 340 
Corses, 236, X12, 181 
Cydons, loi 
^ar aeified. Addenda. 



Daidai, 313 

Daigaji,204 

Daiioweb 2^ 

Da&oko-badiira, 90, 167 

D'Alviella, Prefi&ce, 11, 165 

Dances, sacred, 100^ 321. See also 

Kagoia. 
Dante, 18, 76 
Darwin, 261 
Deasil, 9a See also Qrcomainbalar 

tion. 
Dead, state o( 53, 55. See Yonl 

„ worship o( 208 
Death, 51, 94, 252 
Definition of God, 7, 10 



INDBX. 



381 



DeHarles,38 

Deification, 36, 10^ 119 

Deified men, 9, 177, 179 

Deluge, 82 

Demon, 6, 308. See mlso OnL 

„ pacts with, 33J 

„ apd-0is$aaei" identical, 168, 

Derivations in myth, 117 

Devil. See Dtmon, Oni. 

Diseases. Seb- SuiaUpox, Leprosy^ 
Pestilencie. 

„ personified, 198 
,, andean, 252 

Divination, 337, 119, 249, 269, 323 
,, God of, 184 

Divine country, 126, 127 

Divine right of Mikado, 82, iii, 
289. 297, 293, 314 

Diviner. See Urabe. 

Divoroe, 94 

Dog-deity, 332 

Dolmen, 55, 178 

Dondo, 191, 198, 307, 314 

DMjin, 191, 193, 197 

DoaUe, 52, 140. See also Mitama. 

Doable current of deity-making 
thought, 10^ 185 

Do Qt des, 212, 234, 285 

Dragon, 9, 114, 149, 151. See 
Serpent 

Dragon-king, 115, 149, 153 

Drama, 238 

Drama and narrative, 83 

I>n*nas, 345, 346, 323, 1 18, 131 

Dual divmity, 140, 171. See also 
Aramitama. 

Duplication of ofierings and cere- 
monies, 269, 273 

Dwarf-God, 107, 186 



Earth-&st stones, 147, 260 

Earth-Gods, 142, 283 

Earthquakes, 65, 82, 126, 147, 326 

Eatkig the God, 160, loa 

Ebisu, 133 

Edio personified, o, 167 

Effigy in witchcraft, 331 

Eh5, 314 

fight, 90, 103 



Eight Gods at Ohonibe, 270 

„ of Jingikwan, 162, I74t 

227, 282 
Eighty road-windings. III 
Elements, Gods of, 92 
Emado, 222, 226 
Emotional basis of religion, 5 
Epidemics, 187 
Esoteric Shinto, 356 
Eternal Land, 98, 117 
Ethics* See Morals. 
Eubemerism, 134, 136 
Even pass of Yomi, 53, 93, 95, 107 
Everpeen trees, 313 
Everusting world, 52, 70 
Evil deities, 6, 9, 139, 314. See 

Aratama. 
Exogamy. See Incest 
Exorcism, 93 

Expiation. See Purification, Ransom. 
Expulsion of winter, 312 



Fatherhood of Gods, 6, 19, 173 
Festivals. See CeremoniaL 
Fetish, 122, IS, 63, 73, 142 
Figures of men as ransom objects, 26a, 

263 
Fillet, 215 

Fine for pnrificatioQ, lOO, 246 
Fine weather, magic producing, 330 
Finger-charms, J54, 362 
Fire, worship of 159, 315, 92, 156, 

184. See also Nmbt, Kagutsaoii, 

Futsonushi, HomusubL 
Fire, respect for, 329 
Fire, purity of, 257, 254, 369 
Fire-drill, 257, 273 
Flre-ordeal, 112, 113 
Firmament, 96 
First fruits. See Nihiname. 
First Gods, 85 

Fissiparous reproduction of deities, ai 
Flag of Japan, 39 
Flaying ahve, 297 
Flesh-eating u n cl e a n, 253 
Floating bridge of Heaven, 87 
Florcn*, Dr., 3, 6$, 263, 294, 296,297, 

300,303 
Folk-lore, 4 

Food-Goddess, 160, 19, 119, 102, 321 
Food-ofeiDgs, 2Ij| 



asa 



mDEX. 



Foot-ball God, 199 

Foieu[ii demons, measures against. 

Formula In magic, 336 

Fox attendant of Inari, 63, 163 

Fox divination, 344, 358 

Fraaer, Mr. J. G., Prefiu:e, 99, 163, 

166, 188, 269. 270, 309 
Fruit-trees ceremony, 165 
Fujihara fiunily, 184, 320 
Fniiyama deified, 17, 148, 156, 371 
Fnlcttsuke, 48 

Fonado, 94, 187. See Knnado. 
Functions of Gods, 65 
Fmierals, undean, 252 
Foneral observances, 109, 55, 96, 43, 

59, Addenda. See Burial. 
Furnace. See Kitchen furnace. 
Futami no ura, 130, 131 
Futodama, 184, 30, 98, 100, 202 
Futsu no mitama, 118, 155. See 

also Futsunushi. 
Futsunushi, 155, i, 34. 92, 109, 317, 

275 
Future life, Prefiu:e, 235. See also 
Yomi ; Dead, state of 



Garlic, power against demons, 336 
Gate-Gods, 168, 282, 308 
Gateway, honorary. See ToriwL 
Genealogy, 120 

Generative power personified, 186 
Gender neglected in Japanese 

Grammar, 22 
Geomancy, 344 

Ghost, 14, 49, 53, 171, 181, 208, 210 
Gideon's fleece, 345 
Gion, ceremonies at, 258 
Godzu TennO, 137, 139 
Gohei, 216, 264, 304, 354* See 

Ku^i 
Gohei-katsugi, 217 
Good-luck, Gods of, 199 
GoriOve, 31, 88, 141, 189 
Gourd deified, 316 
Gowland, Mr. W., 55, 57 
Grain-Gods. See UkemocM and 

Inari. 
Grain, worship of, 160 
Grass and herbs, God of. See Kaya 

nubime. 



Gratitude a sooroe of rdigioQ, 5, 183, 

210, 268, 269, 285 
Great purification. See OhohanJo. 
Greater Divination, 339 
Greene, Dr., 375 
Griffis, Dr., 127, 194, 198, 260, 331, 

359 
Growth deified, 86. See Musubi 

Gruel-Divination, 341 

Guide-Gods, 197 

Gyflgi, 361 



H 



Hadiiman, 178, 19, 42, 325 

HachOji (eight princes), 97 

Hades. Sm YomL 

Hafnri, 204. See Obo>hafuxi 

Hafuri-tsu-mono, 205 

Haiden (omtory), 22iS 

Haigi or Hahiki no kami, 146, 28s 

Hair and nails in witchcraft, 332 

Haiten (deification), 41 

Haku, 202 

Hamayumi, 314, 335 

Haniwa (cky rings), 57 

Haniyasu hime, 146 

Harani (purification), mythic oqgm, 

96 ; also 264, 303, 317, 36s 
Harahi-bako, 304, 343 
Harahi-tsu-mono, ^, 203, 301, Jpt 
Harahi-tsu-tachi, 306 
Hare and Ohonamochi, 105 
Harp divination, 342 
Hartland, Mr. S., 50, 97 
Harvest Gods, 164 
Harvest festival. See Nihi-name. 
Harvest, praying for. See Tosbi- 

gohi. 
Hashira (pillar), 71 
Hatsu nohinode, 128 
Hayato (Imperial Guards), 115 
Haya-aki-tsu-him^ 302 
Haya-sasura-hime, 302 
Haya-tama no wo, 260 
Heam, Lafcadio, 44, 145 
Heaven. See Ame, Ten, Tien. 
Heaven-and-Earth, 35, 370, 371 
Height equivalent to excellence, 8 
He|I, Buddhist, 367, 181, 182 
Hemp, offerings of, 213, 264 
Hereditary offices, 183 
Hettsni. See Kitchen furnace. 
Hiko and hime, 20, 38, 132 



INDEX. 



3^3 



Himadu, 128 

Himorogi, 223, 226, 304, 260 

Hirano festival, 279 

Hirata, 373, 4, 22, 25, 168, 235 

Hirose, 321 

Hiruko, 90, 91, 132 

Hirame, 116, 125. See Sub- 

Goddess. 
Hito-bashira, 219 
Hito-dama, 50 • 

Hito-eata, human figures oflfered to 

Gods, 219 
Hito-koto-nnshi, 41 
Hitomaro, 48, 183 
Hobby-horses, 222 
Hoben, 360 
Hogmanay, 312 
Hohodemi, 113 
Hokora, 223 
Holly, 313 

Homer, 215 ; pnrification in, 295 
Homusnln, 93, 159. See Fire-God. 
Horses as offerings, 310, 322 
Hoose-Gods, 167, 287, 290. See 

Yabune. 
House-cleaning, 313 
Ho-shidsume, 315. See Fire. 
Huacas of Peru, 9 
Human sacrifice, 56, 151, 152, 219, 

220 

Hyakn-do-ishi, 232 
Hypnotism, 354, 349 



Imi-bashira, 167 

Imi-dono, 205 

Imitative magic, loi, 153, 330, 99 

Immortality, 13, 14 

Impersonal habit of Japanese mind, 67 

Impetuous male, 141. See Sum 

no wo. 
Implements worshipped, 73 
Impurity. See Undeanness. 
In and YO. See Yin and Yang. 
Inadahime, 138 y^ 

Inao, 193 

Inari, 162, 6, 34, 63, 67, 355 
Inauspidous words, 2K$ 
Incantations, 329, 336 
Incarnation of the God in his prophet 

or priest, 376, 70, 177 
Incense, 213, 292, 354 
Incest, 300, 64, 91 
Individuals, Gods of, 15 
Individual men deified, 36, 177 
Infinite, 73 

Inspiration, 348, 98* See Grade. 
Inugami, 332 

Invocation. Sec Kami-oroshL 
Iron fish-hooks, 115 
Ishi-^ori-dome, 184 

Ishi£^,34i 
Ise shrines, 229 

,, festival on removal o( 287 

Ijreyasu, 183 

lanagi and Ixanami, 86, 171, 69, 96 



Ichiko, 206, 357 

Idii no miya, 144 

Idea of God, 6 

Idols, 71-3,' 22 

Idsumo, 108, 105, 103 

Idsnmo Fudoki, 3 

Iha-naga-hime, 112 

Ihashimidsn, 178. See Hachiman. 

Ikadasuchi, 157, 155 

Iki (breath, fife), $1 

Ikigami (living deity), 44 

Iki mitama (living soul), 52 

Ikudama, 143 

Ikukuni, 143 

Ikn-wi, 154 

Imagination, 18, 22, 24, 21, 23, 77 

Imb^ 202, 112, I, 98, 184 

Imi, 256, 202, 246, 271, 273 



evons, 24, 90 

ewels as offerings, 218 

ewd-makers, 105, 290 

ewel-spear of Heaven, 87 

i-chin-sai, 143 
; igoku, 54, 367 
^ i-matsuri, 143 
JimmuTenno, 1 16, 1x5 
[ ingikwan, 200, 202, 102, 184 
' i no myOhO, 376 

iz5, 1^ 191 

unshi (self-sacrifice at tomb), 59 



Kadomatsn, 191 
Kadori, 92, 115 



384 



IKDBX. 



Kaempler, 36, 41 

Kagami-modii^ 313 

Kagase-wo^ 7i» 142 

Kage-xen, 53 

Kagura, 327, 238, loi, 1S4 

Ka^Uachi, 92, 159 

Kaji-ao-aha, 48 

Kamado no KamL See Kitchen 

fnrnace. 
Kami, 7-10 
Kami-agari, 340 
Kami-dana, 217, 231, 305 
Kami-gi» 165 
Kami-na-dzaki, 145 
Kami-oroahi, 342, 217, 304, 340 
Kamn-be, 207 
Kamn-tmage, 279 
Kama-miisobi, 173, 174 
Kama-miso no matsuri, 287 
Kamn-naobi, 290 
Kamnnoko, 200 
Kamorogi and Kamnromi, 173, 275, 

289,296 
Kaname-ishi, 147, 260 
Kangakari, 349 
Kan-name, 278 
Kannndii, 2C14 
Kapim, 153 

Kasedorif 33' 
Kashihade, 209 

Kashikodokoro, 291 

Kashima, 92, 155, 157, 370 

Kasi^|a no matsuri, 317 

Katanbe, 2, 273 

Katasbiro, 263 

Kaya nn hime, 166 

Kedzarikake, 191, 192 

Kesa (wound or uncleanness), 253 

Kidraki, 145 

Kinjg-post, 90 

Kiri-bi (sacred fire), 257 

Kiri-ntisa, 296 

Kitano, 182 

Kitsone-tsukahi, 344 

Kitchen furnace, God of, 159, 16, 17, 

73» 146, 272, 280, 322, 329. See 

HaniTasu. 
Kitt (festival for rain), 286 
Kiujild, 3 
Kneeling, 209 
KObOdauhi, 361 
Kodama (echo), 9, 67 
Kogoohiid, 3 
K^, 2, 84 



Kc^ikiden, 373 

Komagata, £22, 67 

Kompua, 230 

Kondbana Sakuyahime, 112 

|Lo*nusa, 343 

Korea, i, 102, 156, 305 

Koto-shiro-nushi, 185, 11 1 

Kowameshi, 194 

Koyane, 183, 20, 46, 100, loi, 30i, 

317,339 
Kteis, 186, 194, 197, 334 

Kueedachi, 348 

Kuhabara, 337 

KuiL See Lots. 

Kukunodii 166, 167, 290. See Tnt- 

God. 
Knmaso, 64 ^'L 
Kunado, 187^ 189, 33, 40, 9^ up, 

306, 341. See Phallic deities. 
Kunari no kami, 144 
Kunidama, 143, 144 
Kunitoketadii, 175, 85, 68, 362, 375 
Kusanagi (name of sword), 104 
Knshi, 216, 297 
Knshi-iha-mado, 168, 308 
Kushinada hime, 103 
Kuyelnke, 71 



Lang, Mr. A., 61, 108 

Language, myth arising from penrcr- 

sion OT, 132 
Laotze, 38, 361 
Laughhig festival, 6 
Law, 242, 243, 245 
Leanness unclean, 253 
LeamiiKr, God oL See Temmangii. 
Leech-child. See Hirako. 
Left and rieht, precedence of, 129 
Legend and myth, 116 
Lemuria, 309 
Leprojv, 252, 300, 332 
Life, God of, 174. See Breadi. 
Light and darkness myth, loi 
Literal-minds, 18, 24, 50, 51, 80^ 81 
Liturgy, 100. See Norito. 
Live bow, 107 
Lloyd; Rev. A., 375 
Lots, 543 

LoweU, Mr. P., 24, 554 
Luck, 3p9. Stt Tsmna. 
Luck, Gods o^ 95 
Luck-wishing, 287 



imax. 



S85 



Lnpercalia, 190 

Lortration, 96, 3$9> ^94, a^S 
Lyinsjst^matliea, 242 



MabQchi,373 

Majresa. See Blodiun. 

Magic, 327, 99* I44» i87t 196b 355* 

300, 357 
Maine, Sir H., 24 
Majinallu. See Magic 
Make-believe, 12, 223 
Male who invites, 171 
Mamori. SeeChanns. 
Maneki-neko^ 48 
Man-deities, 36, chap. viii. 
ManyOshiu, a coltoction of andent 

poetiy, 0, 17 
Man no Kami, 199 
Marriage, 66, 90, 91, 137, 140, 248, 

249. See Nuptial hut. Wedlock. 
Masava a katso, 97 
Massha, 227 

Matexialsoals, 50, 51, 52 
Materialised feeling 33Sf 333 
Materials for study of Shinto, 1-4 
Medicine, 144, 327 
Medicine men, 203 
Mediom, 354, 355, 356. S«€ Icfaiko, 

Miko. 
Menstruation, 2CI, 340 
Meredith, Mr. Geo., 80 
Metal, God of, 92 
Metamorphods, 49, 64 
Metophor, i6-x8, 38, 76 
Michiabe, 306, 187, 188 
MichinoOmi^ 119 
Mkbochi, iy> 
Mikado deified, 9* 3S 

dhrine ri^^t of, 82, 293 
pwywf to, 235, 3«4 
at nigh priest, 201, 292 

Mikado matsari, 308 

Mikage,5i 

Miko, 206, lOi, 357 

Mikoshi, 222. 225 

Mikoto, aOb 85 

Mimi, 30 

Minagate, 43t 177 

Mioya, 19 

Miraculous birtha, 97 

Mirror, ^18, |l» 72, I34t W . 



99 
9* 
99 



Bfirror-makcrt, 184 

Misasagi, 42, 43 

Misogi, 260, 271, 298 

Mitama (spirit), 26-31, 8,^ 49» I^ 

1979 •939^4, 
Mitama forishad, 292 

sb t dsum wn no matsvi, 292 

„ shiro, yu See ShintaL 

Mitegora (ofienngs), 158, 211 

Mitoshi no Kami, 106, 253 

Miwa, 145. See Qhcmamochi. 

Miya, 200, 223. See Shrint. 
205,206 
todem Shinto, 376 

..lono-imi, 206, 318, XfO 

I^onotbeism, 66, 68, 09/709 1^59 17^9 

Moon-God, 65, 95, xot, 138. See 



rstud*macfaL 

Moial code, 24I9 1*99 3^9 374 

Mortuaiy honse, 109 

Mo«ic kir, 122, 215, 248, 251, 252, 

Motion and tansatigp, 11 
Motofiri, 3739 49 21, 249 a5 
Mountain-Gods, 147, 92, 284, 289 
Moaming. See Funeral. 
Muir, Dr. J., 94 
Miiller, Max, 16, 25 
Multiplication of Gods, 67 
Mus^oom, 189, 112 

Music 56, 939 23fc «709 3739 39*9 33i 
Musnbi, 172, 20, 21, 35, 69, 102, 275 
Mystery, 31, 32 
Myth, 759 17. 3, 16 

„ and legend, 116 

„ and ritual, 83 
Mythkal aanattve, 84 



Nademono, 220 

Naishidokoro, 291, 439 135 

Nakatomi, 201, I, 21, 46, II2, 181 

Nakatsutsu no wo, 2022. See Sea- 
Gods. 

Nakatstt-waU-dsumi, 148. See Sea- 
Gods. 

Nakaia,354 

Nakisahame, 92, 199 

Nanakusa, 2779 344 

Kam Kami, 9. See Thvndcr. 

Nature deities, 121 

9 



386 



INDEX. 



Natnre-Godt mad Man-Godt, 15 

Need-fire, 250 

Needles wonhipped, 73 

Negi (priertK 205 

Ne no kuni (root-oountiy). SeeYomL 

Nether LaDd, 104. See Yonu. 

New Year in modem Japan, 313 

Nichirin (the son), 127 

Nigi-hayahi, lao, 128 

Nigi-tama, 31, 33, 140, 14$, 275 

Nihabi, 99, loi, 277 

Nihiname (festival of first-fruits), 277, 
109, 119, I24» 161,2681269 

Nihongi, 2, 84, 169 

Niniei, 10^ iii, 112, 116, 185 

No £uioe, 238 

Nomi no Sukone, 48, 57, 183 

Norito, chap, xii passim^ 3, 42, 98, 
99, 126, 232, 235, 270, 274, 322 

North the bonoiin^e quarter, 56 

North star, 142 

Number n^ected in Japanese gram- 
mar, 16, 21, 121, 108, 169 

Number of (Sod[% 66, 98 

Numerals, magical use of, 99, 336 



Nuptial hut, 90, 104, 137, 248 
Nusa, 216, 218, 318. See Offerings, 

Kirinusa, Ohonusa. 
Nusa-bukuro, 197 
Nttshi, 20 



Oaths, 236 

Obeisance, 209. 284, 320 

' Occult Japan,' 354 

Offences, 297 

Offerings, 210, 98, 193, 280 

„ deified, 119, 161, 212 

„ todead, 60^ 211 

„ consumed by wordiipptri, 
321. See Communion. 
Offerings, sjrmbolical, 211, 276 
Oharahi. 305 
Oho-hamri, 205, 177 
Oho-harahi, 294, 4, 242, 245, 246, 270 
Oho-harahi onennss, 301 
Oho-kuni-dama. See Ohonamochi. 
Oho-kuni-nushi. See Ohonamochi. 
Oho-miya no me, 184, 287, 290 
Oho-mono-nushi, iiz 
Oho-naobi, 290 

Ohonamodii, 144, 1051 iio, 27-30^ 
46» 69, 200^ ^4 



Obo-aibe, 268, 364 

Oho-nuaa, 213 

Oho-sora, 96 

Oho-toko-nudii, 144^ 196, a53. See 

ObonamochL • 
Obo-tono bogahi, 287 
Oho-toshi, 105 

djin deified, 178. See Hadilman. 

Omens, 119, 126, 325, 345 

Omnt^resenoe of Deity, 27 

Omohi-kane, 199, 98 

Oni (demon). 198 

Oni-yarahi, 189. See Traiaa. 

Onogorojima, 89 

OnyOshi, 365 

Oradesy 367, 178, 350, 361. 80c 

Inspiratioii. 
Ordeal, 347 
O tento sama (sun), 127, 175 



P*anku, myth of, 129 

Pantheon, 121 

Pairs of deities, 86 

Parturition house, 113, 112, 114,251, 

345 , 
Patron deity, 326 

Peadi, 189, 9t 93» 908 

Penitence, 260 

Perseus and Andromeda^ 103-105, 50^ 

Personality of deitfes, 22 

Personification, 5 

Personal pronouns mt in Japanese, Q 

Pestilence deities, 187 

Pestle, a male symb(^ 189 

Pfleiderer, Dr., Prefece, li, 76, 84 

PhallidsB, 186, 7^ 363. See Bean, 
Chibnri no kami, Chiinata no kami, 
DosOjin, GonJ^it^ Ishigami, Kn- 
nado, Kteis, Kedzurikuce, llusb- 
room. Peach, Pestle, Rice, Sahe do 
kami, Sarutahiko, Shinn, Tana- 
boko, Tamuke no kami, Tsiql-uts, 
Yachimata hiko, Yakushin, Wo- 
bashira. 

Pheasant as messenger of Gods, loS 

Pictures of Gods, 71 

Piebald colt of Heaven, 97, 98 

Pilgrimage, 239 

Pillar of Heaven, 95, 154 
„ of House, 89» 90 



JNDB3C 



387 



FSons frand, 36o 

Plain of High Heaven, 98, 107, 134 

Poetry, G<^ of. See Hitomaro, 

Sotoori hime. 

Polar star, 85 

Pol^ftbeim, 66 

Positive and nentive. See Yin and 
Yangr. 

Possession, 3^0, 357 

Potsticks, striking women with, to 

produce pregnancy, 190 
PosthamoQs honours, 53 
Poverty, God of, 19^ 
Pradakdiina. SeeCurcmnamlialation. 
Praise, 234, 306 
Praver, 232, 162. See Norito. 
Prdiistoric Shinto, I 
Priesthood, 200 
Priestess, 205 

Primidve man, 77, 12, 18, 26, 80, 345 
Primitive religion, 13, 26, 121, 160, 

166, 211 
Primitive religion, Shinto not a* 

Pre&ce 
Privy, God of, 167, 289, 314 
Processions, 240, 317 
PMoreadve power deified* See 

Phallictsm. 
Prophet, 348, 350 
Propitiation otevil deities, 305, 315 
Prophvlacdc magic, 187 
Provioential character of nature Gods, 

65, 125, 156, 162 
Properties, Gods of, 15 
Proknity, 237 
Pseado-anoestor worriiip, 46 
Pore Shinto, 4, 372 
Pnrificatiop, 189 

Pttrity, 247, 343 , ,« , 
„ of heart, 264, 3^8, 3^9. 37i 
„ of language, 271, 25s 



Rain-Gods, 153 

Rain-storm. See Snsa no wo. 



Qualities, Gods of, 15, 34, 62 



Races, 321 

Rain, praying for, 42, 151, 152, 180^ 

286 
Rainbow, 87. See TaflcobashL 



Ransom offerings, 262, 220. Se 
Agamono, Katashiro, Nademono, 
Soipe-goat 
Rank conferred on Gods, 237, 323, 

324 
Rationalism, 92, 375 
Real presence, 217, 27, 72 
Red colour, 194, 56, 163, 165 
Regalia, 135, 202, 273, 289, 291, 353, 



??3 
Rdic, 



, Buddhist, 361 
Religion, nature and origin of, 5, 13 
RemmonkyO, 375 
Repentance, 102 
R^viUe, Pre&ce, 268 
Revival of Pore Shinto, 4, 372 
Rice-God. See Inari. 
Rice in magic and ritnal, 189, 288, 

^.«89» 334> 341 

Risley, Mr. H., 73 

Ritual, I, 3, 268 

River of Heaven (milky way), 97, 98, 

100, no 
River-Gods, 115, 15a See Water, 

Rain. 
River-weed deified, 316 
Road-Gods. See Sahe no KamL 
Rock-boat of Heaven, 95, 1x7, 
Rock-cave of Heaven, 97, loi 
Rokkon sh5j«, 239, 304, 355 
Rudimentaiy character of Shinto, 

Prefiice, 242 
Ry6bu, 360, 373 



Sacred. See ImL 

Sacred and Secular, 200 

Sacred tree, 165, 215. See Otyeau 

Sacrifice, 118. See Human samfice. 

Offerings. 
Sagichd, 191, 307, 314 
Sagume, 109 
Sahe no Kami, 186, 14, 31, 165, 306, 

Sai-in, 280 

Sai no Kami, 191, 195. See also Sahe 

no KamL 
Saishu, 204 
SaiwO, 205, 352 
SakakL See Qeyera. 



3M 



^KDBkt 



SakaBuUcmm, ^2, 279 

SakAtfloko, Ji9 

Sf*e (flM^bctr) not praMbited, S54, 

« ?7«» «5r3» 3» 

Sttke God, 162, 337, 273 

Mt,i96,2k^^ 

Sammai See Kke. 

S«iiil»,350 

Stand, 145. Sec ObontmoehL 

Sanune, 99, loi, 112, 184 

S«r«ta*lriko, iii, 197, 36} 

SiUow, Sir E., 3, 257, 26S, 280, 305, 

317 



Scmpt-gcMt, 3M. 

Scare-crow God, 71, 142 

Scarf in magic, 334 

Scottis Erigena, 121 

Sea, direct w^nhip of, 9 

Sea-Gods, 20. 02, 95, 114, I48t3<5> 

323. See Uhatsataa no wo, Toyo* 

tama hiko, Sumiyoshi, Soitcngii. 
Sea, old man of, 113 
Sects of Shinto, Chap. xiv. 
Sceakr and nortd little dMngBiahed 

in early times, 200 
Smaation in inaiiiniatt natvre, 11 
Seoritsn hime, 302 
Smient-wor^p, 63, 64, 257. See 

liragoB. 
Serpent, eight-headed, 103 
Seven generatkms of Gods, 85 
Sex of Gods, 19, 132, 133 
Sexual mideanneas, 248 
Shadow. See Mikftge. 
Shaking in magic, 335 
Shakttjp, 354 
Shangti, i, 305 
Shekinah, 20, 27 
Shiho-tsachi, i^ 
Shimenaha, 335, 164, 195, 313 
Shi.mp6, 218 
ShiBstsa tohe, 20 

Shinatsa hiko, 154. See Wind-Gods. 
Shingakn, 374 
Shingi, 19^ 
Shingonjiki, 279 
Shintai, 70r 3^ 34» "3, 146, 163, 

193, 212, 222, 305, 330, 376 
Shintaku (inspiration), 350 
Shitatero kinie, loi^ 109 
ShOjiroka, 3, 17c 

Shoulder-blade, divination by, 203,339 
ShOtoka Taishi, 244, 359 
Shrine, 223, 36(S 



Shrines of Ise, 226, 228 

Si&, 213 

SmpsoB^s ' Phtying Whed,' 90 

Sin, 102 

Siva, 173 

Skins, offierings of, 217, 307 

Slaves, 2G7, 221 

Small-pox, 163, 194 

Smith-God, 99, lOt 

Smith, Robertson, 211 

Sokotsatsa no wo, 20, 22 

Sokotsu wata-dsumi, 148 

Sooo no Kami, 145 

Sori-bashi. See Taiko-basfaL 

Sorcoess. See Uzume, Miko, Ichflta 

Sotoori hime, 183 

Sool, 26, 27, 374. See kfitmma. 

Soul and body, 34 

Soul, Chinese views of, 52 

Scman Giandcfaiki, 111-13, '^r ^ 

296, 306 
Speal, reading the, 339 
Spearas emblem of sutlioiity, 89, III, 

144,278 
Spencer, Herbert, 8, 10^ 23, 4CS 50^ 

59, 89, 200, 211, 3«6 
Spherical souls, 49, 50 
Spirit, 48, 7. See Mitama, SouL 
Spiritism, 25 

Spirituality of deities, 7, 171, 173 
Spitting, 114, 200 
Stars, ^ 
Star-God, 142 
Stars, divination by, 344 
Stone as shintai, 71 
Substituted ofeings, 211, 213, 216 

210, 221, 222, 240, 322 
Sugahara Michisane. See Tes- 

mangtt. 
Suha/God of, 43, i77> i^ 
Suhijini, ij6 
Suitengu, 65 

Sukuna-bikona, 186, 107, 124, 145 
Sumera, 20 

SumWoshi, Gods o( 149 
Sun-Goddess, 121, 24, 46, 68» 95, 

2S3, 372 
Sun-uoddess's attendants, 183 

„ address to Ninigi, iii 
„ unlucky to proceed 
against, 117 
Sua-GoddoBSy an flvatv of Boidbii 

361 
Snn-bird0» 138 



mtrnx. 



389 



San-CTDW. See YatflfAiasu. 

Sun-deitieSy sex of, 133, 133 
Son-mirror. See Yatakagami. 
San-myth, 80 
Son worship, I, 41, 83, 99, 128. See 

Nichirin, O tento sama. 
Supematnnl, 38 
Supreme Beii^, 69, 70, 123, 142, 171, 

I7S, 180, 182, 305 
Surnames, 47 
Snsa no wo, 136, 96, I, 14, 19, 21, 

95f 106 
Soseri hime, 106 
SusQ-harahi, 313 
Sattee, 59 

Sword, 72, 118, 157, 219 
Symbol. See Shmtai. 
Symbol in magic, 187, 333 
Sympathetic magic, 330 



Tmbi no miya (reposotr), 222 
Taboos, sexual, 250 
Taikobashi, 87, 232 
Taikyokn (great absolute), 175 
Taisha (great shrine of Idzumo), 66, 

145* 353 
Tajikara no wo, 98, 199 

TaJcama no hara. See Plain of High 

Heaven. 

Taka-musabi, 108, no, 116, 119, 173, 

'74, 275. 351. 375 
Take-mika-dzudii, 15^, 92, 109, 118, 

317* 37o> See Kaimima. 

Take-mlnakata. See Snha. 

Talisman, 334, 114, 202 

Tama, 27, 1^, 228. See Mitama. 

Tama-boko, 87 

Tama-dasuki, 45, 235 

Tama-gtishi, 216 

Tamashil (sool), 49 

Tamashiro, 45 

Tamuke no ICimii, 197 

Tanabata, 142 

Ta no Kami, 143 

Tartar religions, i 

Tatsuta, 322, 370. See Wind-God. 

TcmmangQ, 179, 65, 153, 369 

Ten (Heaven), 362 

Tenriky6, 375 

Tenjin. See Temman^ 



Tenshi (Son of Heaven), 38 
Tenshodaijin, 14, 125. See Sun- 

(joddess. 
Tentei, 180 
Teri-teri-bOBU, jjo 
Textile offerings, 213 
Theogony, 85 et leqq. 
Thunder, charm against, 337 
Thunders of Yomi, 187 
Tfaunder-(jod, 157, 9, 41 
lien (Heaven), 21 
Tiger deified, 63 

„ teaches acupuncture, 335 
Toko yo no Kuni, 52, 54, 7a See 

Yomi. 
Tomb and shrine, 42, ^3 
Toothache, cure of, 328, 329 
Toriwi, 231, 233, 43» 128, 165, 309 
Tortoise-shell in divmation, 339, 340 
Toshi-gohi festival, 280 
Toshi-otoko, 309, 313 
Toshi-toku-jin, 314 . 
Toso, 313 
Totemism, 64 
Toyo-iha-mado, 168, 308 
Toyo-tama, 185 
Toyo-tama-hiko, 113, I49 
Toyo-tama-hime, 114 
Trade-Gods, 48 
Trance, 351. See Hypnotism 
Tree-Gods, 164, 92, 290 
Tree, sacred, 332. See Kami-gi, 
Trinity of Fire-Gods, 160 






of Susa no wo, 139 
M48 



>• 



of Sea-(k)ds, 

Buddhist, 361 
Troup, Mr. J., Pre&ct 
Tsuchi, 19 

Tsuchigumo, 334, 345 
Tsuina, 308, 190, 295 
Tsuji-ura, 340, 189 
Tsuki-mam, 142 
Tsukinami festival, 285 
Tsuki^omi, 141 
Tsumi (guilt), 247 
Tsutsu, 19 
Tuke, Mr. S., 232 
Tumuli, 55, 57, I57- See 
Turan, 232 
Tylor, Dr., Pre&ce, 24, 82, 96, 257, 

Types dofied, 61, 62, 183 



390 



INDEX. 



U 



Ubasnna, 47, 337 
Vpy Females of Yomiy 93, 187 
UhMsutsii-wata-dsiiiDi, Z49 
UhatSDtsii no wo, 20, 22 
Uhijini, 146 

Uji,47 

Ujigimi, 47, 6s, 184, 231, 279, 314, 

331 
Uka no mitama, Z05 

Ukemochit 160 • 

Umashi-aihi-hikoji, 86 

Unitv of religions, 362 

Uncleannessy 248 it nqq. 

Unibe, 203, 269, 302 

Uianahi, 337 

Utsnshi-mi, 31, 72 

U«inie, 184, 98, 99, III, 134 



Vairodiana, 361 
Van Helmont, 332 
VejoTis, Addoida 
Volcano Gods, 147 
Volition ascribed to inanimate objects, 
78 



W 



Waka-hinime, 128 

Waka-midsu, 313 

Wake (prince), 20 

Wani (sea-monster), 114, 149 

Wa Ronp>, 353, 367 

War-God, 1 57. See Hadiiman, Take- 

mika-dsQuiL 
Water deified, 119 
Water-Gods, 92, I04» I54f 284, 316, 

321, 322 
Weapons as offerings, 2x8 
Wedlock, God of, 66 
Weeping GioddesB. SeeNaki-sahame. 
Weipert, Dr., 24$ 
WeU, J22, 257 
WeU-(S)d, 153, 227, 272, 282, 313, 

322 
Well-worship, 16, 313 
Weston, Mr., 287, 344, 356 
Whirlwind deified, 155 



^^^^stUng, 11^ 330 
White an anspiaoiis colovr, 196^ 222 
Will-of-the-wisp, 50 
Wind-Gods, 154, 20, 92, 322 
Whatiy Inflnences, 312 
Witchaafk, 255, 331, 346 
Wo-baahiia (male pillar), 190, 193, 

WolfdJfied,9,63 

Women rulers, 133 

Wool, ofierings o( 215 

Wordsworth, 9 

Worship, 208, 37 

Wounds andean, 252 

Wrestlii^, (Sod cL See Noni 

Sukune. 
Writing, introdnctkm of, i 



Vabone, 167, 287, 290 

Yachimata hiko, 187, 71, 306 

Yakami-hime, 105 

Yakndiin, 187 

Yakn-sate, 309 

Yaku-toshI, 309 

Yamato-dake, 36, 49 

Yashiro, 223. See Shrine. 

Yatagaiastt (sun-crow), 136, 118, 46 

Yafakagami, 134 

Yebisu, 48 

Yengishiid, 3, 268 

YihCng, 344, 363 ^ , 

Yin and Yang, 35, 52, 84, 169, 3i3i 

Yomi (Hades), 53, 93» 96, 99b. i<^ 
138, 302, 367. See Nc no kom, 
Hades. 

Yo-ori ceremony, 362 

Yoridai, 355 

Yufb, 213, 215 

Ynfu-kadmra, 320 

Yai-itso, 362 

Ynki and soki, 269, 272 

Yn-nflia (sacred enclosure), 272 



Zembk Bodi, Addenda. 
Zimmem's definitioa of magic, 327 
ZOni, 313 



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