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;[106] 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 born from the fragments 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-nagi_, "the herb-queller." His wife's name, Inada-hime (the
rice-field lady), is probably not without significance.

But mythology is rarely consistent. An explanation which suits one
episode of a story may fail altogether 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 statement of the _Nihongi_ that he was appointed to rule
the land of Yomi. A _Kojiki_ myth[107] 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-yomi. It must be admitted that if
this deity ever had a lunar quality it had become forgotten in the
times of the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. 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 deities were originally identical. The analogy of other
mythologies[108] 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 different myths
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 _norito_[109] who dwells in the Root-country, and whose business
it is to "banish" and get rid of the pollutions of the people. A
Manyōshiu 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,
observes[110]:--"Associated with the gloom of night was the darkness of
the storm, which in many mythologies is contrasted with the sunshine in
some divine struggle. 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 Ceremony. Hence his identification with
the horned Godzu Tennô, a minister of the Buddhist hell. The _Shinto
Miomoku_, which makes of him a Trinity under the name Sampô Kwôjin
(three-treasure-rough-god), consisting 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 element _ara_,
rough, 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 modern 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 Yomi, 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 rainstorm 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 goal 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 _vatha_ (the
modern German _wuthen_), to go violently, to rush, and of Hermes, from
δρμάω; but it is after all questionable. It implies a noun _susa_,
impetuosity, which does not exist. Moreover, one of Susa no wo's wife's
names was Susa no yatsu mimi, where it is not disputed that Susa is the
name of a town in Idzumo. There is a legend 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 Tsukiyomi?) for which there are many parallels in
Japanese mythology.[111]

The _shintai_ of Susa no wo, or rather of his supposed modern
representative, Godzu Tennô, is a _naginata_, or halbert. But there is
some reason to think that the great festival of Goriōye, 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.

=Tsukl-yomi=.--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, and _yomi_,
darkness. It is to be observed, however, that this _yomi_ is often
written with a character which implies a derivation from _yomu_,
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-nushi_ (local chiefs) of Iki. This was
probably a local Moon-deity.

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-God=.--There is only one mention of a Star-God in the _Nihongi_.
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 regarded 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 introduced from China. They are not
Shinto.

=Ame no minaka-nushi=.--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 regard Ame no mi-naka-nushi
(heaven-august-centre-master), as a personification of the sky, which
has already reached that secondary phase in which the God has become
distinct from the natural phenomenon. Some have endeavoured to make of
him a sort of Supreme Being. But his cult is recent. Motoöri says that
he was not worshipped in ancient times. In the _Shōjiroku_ he is the
ancestor of several noble families.

=Earth-Gods=.--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. Æschylus's All-Mother Earth, and Swinburne's
Hertha, ought not to be so stigmatized. The Earth is not a factitious
(_feitiço_, fetish) object of adoration, but a real divinity. It
should not be discarded or neglected, but, along with other primary
objects of worship, merged in the supreme synthesis 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-chin-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 practice is as old as the _Yengishiki_, and is not extinct at
the present day. Many peasants make sacrifice to the _ta no kami_, or
rice-field god, when preparing the ground for a crop, though here we
perhaps pass into the next stage, 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_[112] (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. _Ikushima_ (living island or
region), 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 progress is illustrated by the terms
_kuni-dama_ (country spirit), and _iku-dama_ (live spirit). _Kuni-dama_
is a general term for deified localities. _Iku-dama_, which has the
same meaning, is a contraction for _iku kuni-dama_. Motoöri 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 no miya_ (No. 1 shrines) of later times represent the old Gods of
localities.

The Kunari no kami, or Kunari-hime, were also apparently local
earth-deities. Kunari is for _kuni-nari_ (earth-become).

=Ohonamochi=.--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, consolidating, subduing, and
ordering or governing. The _Idzumo Fudoki_ frequently calls him the
_ame no shita tsukurashishi Oho-kami_, 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 _Manyōshiu_ 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-possessor,
and is simply honorific. An alternative 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 myths. He is the son
of Susa no wo, also an Idzumo God. The great centre of his worship
to this day, and the holiest spot in Japan, next after Ise, is
Kidzuki, a town in that province. His shrine here[113] is known all
over Japan as the _Taisha_, 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 _Kami-na-dzuki_, or the godless month. But Hirata's suggestion
that _Kami-na-dzuki_ is really for _Kami-name-dzuki_, 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 on a blunder.

The story of his deposition[114] 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 Sannō or
Hiye. The Sono no kami (garden deity), to whom there was a shrine in
the Palace, is also believed to be Ohomononushi, the _nigi-tama_ of
Ohonamochi. Along with Sukuna-bikona he is worshipped at Kanda, Tokio,
as showing special favour to the inhabitants of that city (_Yedokko no
mitama no kami_). These two deities are supposed to grant protection
against small-pox.

The _Kojiki_ story of Ohonamochi's adventures in Yomi[115] has no
apparent connexion with his status as an Earth-God. Dr. Buckley argues
that the Ohonamochi of this 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 _shintai_ of Ohonamochi is a necklace of jewels. His _nigi-tama_,
or gentle spirit, is represented by a mirror, the _shintai_ of the
_ara-tama_, or rough spirit, being a spear.

=Asuha=.--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_.
Motoöri 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 courtyard." Sir E. Satow calls Asuha no kami the "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 Earth-Gods=.--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 myth. _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 restraining the unruly element fire. The water-gourd was
deified for the same reason.

=Earthquake-Gods=.--The old myths say nothing about earthquakes, and
although they are mentioned several times in the historical part of the
_Nihongi_, in only one case[116] 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 _Shoku-nihongi_, a continuation of
the _Nihongi_, states that in the reign of Shōmu (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-ishi_, 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 importance in
promoting superstition.

=Mountain-Gods=.--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_, _Nihongi_, and _Norito_ do not
recognize any worship of volcanoes. Perhaps the Aso-tsu-hiko and
Aso-tsu-hime of the _Nihongi_[117] 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 drying 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 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 itself 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 fourth 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 (the 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.

=Mountain Class-Deities=.--The _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ mention a
Mountain-God or Gods,[118] called Yama tsu mi (mountain-body), as
among the children of Izanagi and Izanami, or as born from the blood
of Kagutsuchi when slain by his father. We hear little more of him or
them. The Mountain-God was worshipped before cutting trees for shrines
or palaces.

=Sea-Gods=.--The chief sea-deities of Shinto are the three Gods
produced by Izanagi[119] 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-dzu-mi (middle-sea-body) and
Uha-tsu-wata-dz-umi (upper-sea-body). Their chief shrine is at
Sumiyoshi, near Sakai, and they are prayed to for rescue from shipwreck
and for fair winds.[120] These three Gods are frequently spoken of as
one. Hirata identifies them with Toyotama-hiko, whose legend is related
above.[121]

With Toyotama-hiko there is associated a fabulous animal called a
_wani_, usually written with the Chinese character for crocodile. There
can be little doubt that the _wani_ is really the Chinese dragon. It
is frequently so represented in Japanese pictures. I have before me a
print which shows Toyotama-hiko and his daughter with dragons' heads
appearing over their human ones. This shows that he was conceived of
not only as a Lord of Dragons, but as a dragon himself. His daughter,
who in one version of the story changes at the moment of child-bearing
into a _wani_ as her true form, in another is converted into a dragon.
In Japanese myth the 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.

=River-Gods=.--The River Gods have no individual names. They are
called generally _midzu-chi_, or water-father. Japanese dictionaries
describe the _midzu-chi_ 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 Toyotama-hiko 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 _North China Herald_
the following: "The River-God is in every 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 effet un grand rôle
symbolique dans le culte de Tlaloc (the Mexican Rain and Water God) en
tant qu'il represente l'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 their floods, metaphorically
expressed by the serpent's poison. 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 _Nihongi_:--

_"A.D. 379. This year, at a fork of the River Kahashima, in the central
division of the Province of Kibi, there was a great water-dragon which
harassed the people. Now when travellers were passing that place on
their journey, they were sure to be affected by its poison, so that
many died. Hereupon Agatamori, 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 calabashes, 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 water-dragon
changed itself into a deer and tried to draw down the calabashes,
but the calabashes would not sink. So with upraised sword he entered
the water and slew the water-dragon. He further sought out the
water-dragon's fellows. Now the tribe of all the water-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 Agatamori."_

_"A.D. 323. 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 close
the gaps.' So he sought for these two men, and having found them,
offered them to the River-God. Hereupon Koha-kubi wept and lamented,
and plunging into the water, died. So that embankment was completed.
Koroma no ko, however, took two whole calabashes, and standing over
the water which could not be dammed, plunged the two calabashes 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, of 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 calabashes, 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-kubi's
Gap' and 'Koromo no ko's Gap.'"_

These stories, like that of Perseus and Andromeda, and the Roman
legend 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 regard 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
Buddhist Sutras was equally ineffectual, but prayers by the Mikado 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.

=Rain-Gods=.--Two special Rain-Gods are mentioned in the
_Nihongi_, 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 _Yengishiki_ 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) Gods;
but the Wind-God, the Rice-God, the Thunder-God, and many others were
added. Even deified men like Temmangū; might be prayed to for rain.
The following is a modern 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 carrying 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.

=Well-Gods=.--Sacred wells 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
association with such household deities as Ashiba no Kami (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 _ohonihe_ ceremony, and
worship paid to them.

Well-diggers (_idohori_) at the present day sometimes purify the ground
previously to beginning their operations and set up _gohei_. In fine
weather, at night, they apply their ears to the ground, when they can
hear the water-veins below. Old wells should not be wholly closed, 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-Gods=.--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, from
the blood of Kagu-tsuchi when he was slain by Izanagi.[122] The Jimmu
legend says that the water used in sacrifice to Musubi was entitled
Idzu no Midzuha no me, that is to say, "sacred-water-female," thus
identifying the element with the deity to whom it belongs.

=Wind-Gods=.--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.[123] 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 _norito_ addressed to
them[124] makes two Wind-Gods--one masculine, named Shinatsu-hiko,
and one feminine, called Shinatobe. They are also referred to as Ame
no Mihashira (august-pillar[125] 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
Gods, and that it is due to their agency that the prayers of men are
heard in Heaven. Their _shintai_ is a mirror.

Another Wind-God is Hayachi, that is, the swift father, or perhaps
swift wind. He is more especially the whirlwind. 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-dzuchi and Futsunushi=.--There is much confusion as to the
character and functions of these two deities. They are associated in
myth and in worship.[126] 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 legend calls Futsu no mitama,[127] 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-God. This is probably correct, although
it is to be remembered that Ika-dzuchi had in more ancient times the
more general signification "dread father," and is applied to other than
thunder deities.

In Futsu-nushi the latter element admittedly means "master." But I
cannot accept Motoöri's explanation of _futsu_ as an onomatopoetic word
expressing the sound made when a thing is cleanly cut or snapped off.

The following facts suggest a different derivation:--

1. The Sun-mirror (_hi-kagami_, which may also mean "fire-mirror") is
called in one writing[128] 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
_pul_, "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-futsu is an _alias_ of
Futsu-nushi.

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.[129]

But while there is a strong probability that Take-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 recognized
as 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 _Manyōshiu_ 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,[130] 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 1st 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-dzuchi=.--Take-mika-dzuchi having been converted into a war-deity
and general Providence, the Thunder itself continued to be worshipped
under the name of Ika-dzuchi, "dread father," which is short for Naru
ika-dzuchi, "the sounding dread father." He is also called Naru kami,
or "the sounding God." _Kami-nari_ (god-sound) is the modern 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 distinction into "eight
thunders" is a fancy of the writer, little recognized in later ritual.
The _Nihongi_ ignores it.

The following story from the _Nihongi_ illustrates Japanese ideas
respecting the Thunder-God:--

_"A.D. 618. 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.' 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 fell, and it
thundered and lightened. Hereupon Kahabe no Omi drew his sword, and
said: 'O Thunder-God, harm not the workmen; it is my person that thou
shouldst injure.' 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 fish, 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-Gods=.--Futsunushi's quality as a Fire-God had been
quite forgotten even in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ times. But there
are several other Fire-Gods, or perhaps we should rather say local
or occasional variants of the same deity. Kagu-tsuchi, or "radiant
father," is the name given to a Fire-God in the _Nihongi_, where he is
said to have caused the death of his mother Izanami. _Kagu_ contains
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"[131] on the summit of Atago, a mountain near
Kiōto. There are many hill-shrines to this deity near other cities in
Japan. His business is to give protection against conflagrations.

The Jimmu legend 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 unmistakable. Indeed the Japanese call fire and sun
by the same name, _hi_. Fire has also its terrible aspect, which is
recognized in myth and _norito_.[132]

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.

=Furnace Gods=.--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 _Kojiki_ and 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 furnace-gods are met with. The vulgar call him an
_aragami_ (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 personification 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 _kama_, or pot, is his _shintai_, or material
representative. There was a Kama-matsuri (pot festival) at Kiōto before
the revolution. It was celebrated at the beginning of the year, when
Shinto priests read _harahi_. The pot was addressed in song and adjured
to bring plenty of customers, usually by dyers and others in whose
business caldrons were used.

=Ukemochi (the Food Goddess)=.--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 modern student of religion has no difficulty
in answering this question in the affirmative. "Eating the God" is
a well-known institution, from the custom of the Ainus of Yezo, who
worship a bear,[133] 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 Christianity. 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 Centliotl,
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 God is to be recognized in the myth which represents the
Food-Goddess as producing 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 Yūriaku in a dream. She complained 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 Motoöri 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 consume 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, but 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 modern times pilgrims to Ise buy from the priests and eat the rice
which has been offered to the Gods.

There is some confusion in regard 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
contain the element _ke_ or _ka_, "food." One of these, namely Uka 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 rainstorm 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 Kiôto, first established
in 711. It is 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 suspected that the reverse process
has taken place. Might not Inari be _ine_, rice in a growing state, and
_ri_, a termination implying personality?

Naturally Inari is much prayed to for agricultural prosperity. 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 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
restoration of stolen property, to avert pestilence, to cure colds,
to give wealth and prosperity, and to unite friends. The Kiôto Inari
is the special patron of swordsmiths and of _jōrōs_. Another Inari is
celebrated for his protection of children from small-pox and measles.
People who desire his help in this way offer 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 Japanese 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.e._, 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 corn
appears to be conceived in the shape of a fox."

The festival of Inari is held on the first "horse" day of the second
month. The Shōguns celebrated it with great ceremony, of which dramatic
performances (_nō_) were a part.

=Harvest-Gods=.--The Harvest-Gods, of which there are several,
as Oho-toshi no Kami (Great-Harvest-God), Mitoshi no Kami
(August-Harvest-God), Waka-toshi no Kami (Young-Harvest-God), are not
very clearly distinguished 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.[134]

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 much ceremony.

=Tree-Gods=.--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
girt with _shimenaha_[135] 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-looking 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 fishermen. People with sore eyes carried away the
water which collected in a hollow part, and washed their eyes with it.
Incense was burned to it.

At the shrine of Kamo in Kiôto 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
_tori-wi_ in front of them shows that they are considered sacred.[136]
Here the emblem of unity has come to be regarded 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 evergreen, as the name, derived from _sakayuru_, to
flourish, indicates.

There is a modern 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 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 red[137] with _adzuki_ beans. This is sprinkled on the
fruit trees of the neighbourhood. 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! or I will strip you of your bark."
Brand's 'Popular Antiquities of Britain' records several variants of
this custom. "On 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,
"encircling one of the best bearing trees in the orchard, they drink
the following toast several times:--

        'Here's to thee, old apple-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 full, too! Hurra!'"

Mr. J. G. Frazer has treated this subject with his usual fulness 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 of a primitive tree-worship.

=Kukunochi=.--The older records mention a Kukunochi (trees-father),
a Ki no mi-oya no Kami (tree-august-parent-deity). There is
also a Ko-mata no Kami (tree-fork-deity) and a Ha-mori no Kami
(leaf-guardian-deity). These are 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
therefore deserving of our gratitude and worship.

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

=House-Gods=.--Our knowledge of these deities is chiefly derived from
a _norito_ in the _Yengishiki_.[138] One part of this ritual speaks
of Yabune, which may be either singular or plural; but further on in
the same document we find Yabune 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 affords other examples. _Ya_ is "house,"
and _fune_, which usually means "ship," may also be applied to other
wooden vessels, such as troughs or tubs. The _ya-bune_ is therefore
the shell[139] 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-Goddess; but it is more probable that
the prefix _yabune_ 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.[140]

=Privy-God=.--There is in modern times a God of the privy, who has no
particular name, sex, or mythic record. Hirata, in his _Tamadasuki_,
has provided a special form of prayer to him. He himself was his
devout worshipper. He saluted the God on entering and leaving, and,
that 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 well as dunghills and all unclean places,
are a favourite resort of evil spirits. They are haunted by flies
and maggots, which are the fractional souls of bad men (a Buddhist
notion?). There is, therefore, all the greater need to put ourselves
under the protection of the presiding deity of the place. He deprecates
spitting into it (which causes ophthalmia) or defiling it, and says
that women who sweep it out daily and make offering to the God of a
light on the last day of each 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.

=Gate-Gods=.--Kushi-iha-mado (wondrous-rock-door) and Toyo-iha-mado
(rich-rock-door). These two Gods are known to us from the _norito_
entitled Mikado no matsuri.[141] 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 differentiated
out of one original deity by the honorary epithets _kushi_ and _toyo_,
while the gates of the Palace were much more numerous. If it is the
gate itself, and not the spirit of the gate, which is worshipped, there
ought to be as many Gods as gates. Hirata would no doubt explain this
by saying that there are really only two Gods, but that each gate is
occupied by a _mitama_, or emanation from them. It seems more probable
that the ancient Japanese had no very definite ideas on the subject.
They conceived of the gates as in some way or another instinct with
life and exercising certain protective functions; but whether there
were two deities for each gate or two for all collectively was a
question which 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 comparatively indifferent to number, whether of Gods or
gates. Whether the Gate-divinity is one or several does not trouble
them.

GODS OF ABSTRACTIONS.

=Izanagi and Izanami=.--The conspicuous position given by the mythical
narrative[142] 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-Goddess and the
Food-Goddess.

Izanagi and Izanami are evidently creations of subsequent date to the
Sun-Goddess and other concrete deities, for whose existence they were
intended to account. I have little doubt that they were suggested by
the _Yin_ and _Yang_,[143] or female and male principles of Chinese
philosophy. Indeed there is a passage in the _Nihongi_ in which these
terms are actually applied to them. It may be said, and Motoöri 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 introduction 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 comprises, would
be somewhat as follows:--First the Sun-myth, which is the nucleus of
all, next that of the creation 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 whole. 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 represented. 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 doing several generations of Gods later.
Deities were also produced 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 contracted by his visit
thither. The Wind-God was his breath and the Gods of Water and Clay
were formed of the urine and fœces of Izanami when she was about to
die. These ideas, though not quite identical with, are closely related
to the legends of other countries which describe the creation of the
universe from the fragments of a fabulous anthropomorphic being. The
Chinese myth of P'anku has been already quoted.[144] 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."[145]

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[146] says: "In the beginning 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 stand 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.

Motoöri proposed, and most European scholars have accepted, a
derivation of Izanagi and Izanami from _izanafu_, 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 "Female who invites." There are, however,
grave difficulties in the way of this interpretation. It is scarcely
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 _nagi_ 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-Goddess), 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
followed 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 an 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
Ise no mi). A similar letter-change takes place in _manabuta_, eyelid,
for _me no futa_, and _tanasuye_ for _te no suye_. The difference
between _s_ and _z_ is of little consequence in Japanese.

=Musubi, the God of Growth=.--Musubi illustrates a different conception
of creation from that of the myths of Ohonamochi and Izanagi and
Izanami. This God is the abstract process of growth personified--that
is, a power immanent in nature and not external to it. The emotion
which prompts this personification--so natural to an agricultural
people--is well portrayed in the words of a Kafir to the French
traveller M. Arbrouseille: "Do I know how the corn 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
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 _musu_, to grow, to be born. _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, _taka_, high, or
_kamu_, 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 _Nihongi_ these are recognized 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 _Wamiōshō_ 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 regard to his name or to the somewhat 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 oya_, or august parent. Hirata thinks that
Taka-musubi and Kamu-musubi are husband and wife, the Kamurogi
(progenitor) and Kamuromi (progenitrix) of the _norito_, and condemns
his master Motoöri 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 resemblance 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, 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 _Jiu-i-shiu_,
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 _Kojik_i speaks of the two deities Taka-musubi and Kamu-musubi as
forming the second and third generations of Gods. The original text of
the _Nihongi_ omits all mention 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, sometimes Taka-musubi, sometimes both together,
and sometimes Taka-musubi alone. Jimmu, in making mention of the two
deities, gives precedence to Taka-musubi. This discordance in the
various myths seems to indicate a struggle for ascendancy 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 beginning of
the official worship of this God. In 859 several Musubi deities were
raised to the first grade of the first rank. In the tenth century eight
shrines to various Musubi deities existed within the Palace. With the
official classes Musubi was a dangerous rival to the Sun-Goddess, more
especially during the Augustan age of Japanese literature. But he
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-rōjin (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 God's
function.

The _Shōjiroku_ traces the descent of a large number of the noble
families of Japan from the various forms of Musubi. This is a literal
rendering of a statement which, in one sense, is true of everybody. We
all resemble Topsy.

=Kuni-toko-tachi=.--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. Motoöri 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 mænia
mundi." He has no sex and no special characteristics. He is barely
mentioned in myth, and his cult, which is comparatively modern, 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
precedence. 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 worshipped at Mount Ontake, in the
province of Shinano, a place much resorted to by pilgrims.

O tentō-sama (august-heaven-way-personage) was probably originally
a personification of the natural order of things--Laotze's _tao_, or
Pindar's Νὀμος, the βασιλενς of Gods and men. But this is too abstract
for the common Japanese. To them O tentō-sama is the Sun itself,
endowed, it is true, with certain moral attributes.

Drought and Famine deities belong to this class. None of these is of
much importance.

FOOTNOTES:

[96] Deuteronomy iv. 19; xvii. 3.

[97] The Vice-Royalty of Kiushiu.

[98] In Korea.

[99] See above, p. 70; also Index--'Mirror.'

[100] "The mirror is kept in a box of chamaecyparis 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 fall to pieces from age another bag is put 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 pure gold, over which
again is thrown a cloth of coarse silk falling to the floor on all
sides."--Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 308.

[101] See Index--_Naishidokoro_.

[102] A kind of hawk. 'Odyssey,' xv. 525.

[103] _Vide_ 'The _Hinomaru_' in the _T. A. S. J._, vol. xxii. p. 27.

[104] See above, p. 65.

[105] 'In the Shinto Pantheon,' in the _New World_, December, 1896.

[106] Japan is annually visited by destructive typhoons, accompanied by
great darkness and a terrific downpour of rain.

[107] See above, p. 106.

[108] Egyptian is one.

[109] See Index--'Sasura-hime.'

[110] 'Religions of Primitive Peoples,' p. 80.

[111] I offer, for consideration only, two conjectures: first, that
Tsuki-yomi was the Ise Moon-God, and Susa no wo the Idzumo lunar deity;
and second, that _Susa_ may possibly be an allotropic form of _sasura_,
banish.

[112] "The large, deep love of living sea and land."--Swinburne,
'Kynance Cove.'

[113] Graphically described in Lafcadio Hearn's 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar
Japan.'

[114] See above, p. 108.

[115] See above, p. 106.

[116] _Nihongi_, ii. 366.

[117] I. 198.

[118] See 'Ch. K.,' p. 33.

[119] See above, p. 95.

[120] See Index--'Sumiyoshi.'

[121] See p. 114.

[122] See above, p. 92.

[123] _Nihongi_, i. 22.

[124] See Index--'Wind-Gods.'

[125] In Yucatan there were four Wind-Gods, who upheld the four corners
of Heaven.

[126] See above, p. 109.

[127] _Nihongi_, i. 115.

[128] _Nihongi_, i. 44.

[129] Is it possible that Fuji no yama is really for Futsu no yama, the
mountain of fire?

[130] The sword was deified in Teutonic myth.

[131] "So called," says Hirata, "because heat makes things grow."

[132] See Index--_Ho-shidzume_, Fire-drill.

[133] As a source of food?

[134] See Index--_Toshi-gohi_.

[135] See Index.

[136] Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edit., p. 383.

[137] See Index--'Red.'

[138] See Index--_Yabune_.

[139] Compare our "nave," from the Latin _navis_.

[140] See below, p. 186.

[141] See Index, _s.v._

[142] See above, p. 86.

[143] In Japanese _In_ and _Yō_.

[144] See above, p. 129.

[145] Rhys, 'Celtic Heathendom,' p. 115.

[146] 'In Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PANTHEON, MAN DEITIES.

I. DEIFIED INDIVIDUAL MEN.

None of the _Dii majores_ of the more ancient Shinto are deified
individual men, and although it is highly probable that some of the
inferior mythical personages were originally human beings, I am unable
to point to a case of this kind which rests on anything more than
conjecture.

=Take-minakata=, 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 legend is given in the _Kojiki_[147] and
_Kiujiki_. He was a son of Ohonamochi, who, after his father's
submission, refused allegiance 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
official. At every change of office the newly appointed high priest
formerly received a cap of honour and robes from the Palace of Kiôto.
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 ground and
receives the obeisances of the people. This festival is called the
_mi-hashira-matsuri_ or "festival of the august pillars." It is so
called because instead of a shrine there is only a plot of ground
containing a "rock-cave"[148] with a great wooden post at each of the
four corners.

=Hachiman=.--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 legendary
Mikado Ôjin. The ultimate authority for this statement is an oracle of
the God himself delivered hundreds of years after Ôjin's death. There
is no mention of his worship in the _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_, and the
legends 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 seems 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 great Minamoto
family, made use of his oracles to thwart the ambitious projects of a
priest named Dôkiô, 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 Kiôto, 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 God. 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 festival for the release of living things,
which is, of course, a humanitarian Buddhist institution, wholly
foreign to the _rôle_ of a Japanese War-God.

The _shintai_ of Hachiman may be a pillow, a fly-brush, an arm-rest, or
a white stone.

Other legendary mortals, who in later times were honoured as War-Gods,
are Jimmu, the founder of the Imperial dynasty, Jingō, 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.

=Temmangu=, the God of Learning and Calligraphy, is undoubtedly a
deified human being.

"_There is nobody in the world, high or low, old or young, 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
question. 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 Michizane. He was born
in 845, and came of a family which had a hereditary 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 effect. 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[149] 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 followed 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 Tentō (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 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 banishing 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 protested 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 mean woman of Kiôto, 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, 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 Kiôto 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
incidents, 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 Michizane was a substantial part of the process of
deification, which was based on the alternate influence of the emotions
of gratitude and fear.

Nomi no Sukune, the Patron-God of wrestlers, was probably a real human
being. Hitomaro, the Poet-God, was undoubtedly so. Another muse of
poetry, Sotoöri-hime, belongs to more legendary times, but was probably
likewise a real person. Iyeyasu, the founder of the last dynasty of
Shöguns, was deified under the title of Töshö Gongen, but this, like
many other similar apotheoses, is, in reality, Buddhist rather than
Shinto.

II. GODS OF CLASSES.

=Ministers and Attendants of the Sun-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 corporations charged with some special branch
of service. There were Be of weavers, of farmers, of potters, &c., a
Be for the 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[150] House. The etymology of Koyane
is uncertain. The worship of this deity had a special importance, from
the fact that he was the Ujigami[151] 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 with 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.

=Futodama=.--Futodama means great gift or offering. The Imi-be,[152]
his reputed descendants, discharged a number of duties connected with
the State religious ceremonies, including the provision of sacrificial
offerings.

=Uzume= means "dread female." She was the ancestress of the Sarume, or
"monkey female," who performed religious 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 _norito_ splits up Oho-miya no me into five
separate deities.

=Ishikoridome= means apparently "the stonecutter." Why should the
supposed ancestor of the mirror-makers have received this name? The
circumstance that stone moulds for casting bronze objects have been
found in Japan suggests a possible answer.

=Toyo-tama=, "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 _may_ 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.

=Koto-shiro-nushi= 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 Earth-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-govern-master." The character and functions of this deity
are not well defined. He was one of the Gods who advised Jingô'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, Ohonamochi. In the _Manyôshiu_ he is called
upon by a lover to punish him if he is insincere in his protestations.
In modern 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 Motoöri is much perplexed and grieved by
this state of things.

=Sukuna-bikona=.--Another God who is associated with Ohonamochi in myth
and worship is the dwarf deity,[153] 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 him[154] may have
some foundation in the history of a real person.

III. GODS OF ABSTRACT HUMAN QUALITIES.

=Sahe no kami=.--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 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 "preventive deities." 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 personages are the same as the Ugly Females, the thunders
generated from Izanami's dead body and the armies of Yomi of myth.[155]
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 _kteis_ for
this purpose is primarily magical, and rests on the wellknown 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 Michiahe[156] 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 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 mentioned in the _Kojiki_ or
_Nihongi_. The _Kiujiki_ has a Chimata no kami (God of the Crossways),
which 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 _Nihongi_ 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 down by him during his flight thence,
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, regularly 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-ahe_, 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.[157]

A work entitled 'Fusô 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 boisterously, 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 spirits), a term which in
its Chinese form Goryō is still preserved in the name of the great
festival (Goryōye) of Gion at Kiôto. 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, where they are sometimes mistaken for Jizō, the
Buddhist children's God, and honoured in the temples.

The third of the Sahe no kami of the _norito_, namely, Kunado, can be
nothing but a simple phallus. Its shape, formed of Izanagi's staff, is
consistent with this view. In the Tsujiura, or Cross Roads divination,
this God was represented by a staff. The same inference is suggested
by its association with Yachimata-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 appliances
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 catalogue 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-born child. Hirata tells
of a case in which the rice so scattered was found marked with
blood-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 purpose, and
also of the beans used to drive off demons on the last day of the
year,[158] is due to a resemblance of this kind.[159]

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 commanding 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 forgotten. The
end-tooth of a comb was also called _wo-bashira_. 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
Sōshi_, written about A.D. 1000, 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 Cæsar':--

    "Forget not in your speed, Antonius,
    To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say
    The barren touched in this holy chase
    Shake off their steril curse."

The Japanese novelist and antiquary Kiōden, writing 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 1st 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 _sagichō_, and the burning of the _kedzurikake_
is a feature of it. In the Yamagata ken, wherever there are stone
images of Dōsōjin, the phallic God of Roads,[160] 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.

Fire, kindled from _kedzurikake_ after prayer, was given out to
the people by the priests of Gion in Kiōto 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.[161] The mythical burning of a _wobashira_ (also a
phallic emblem) by Izanagi in Yomi was probably suggested by some such
custom.[162] It will be observed that the prophylactic virtue of the
phallus has not been forgotten in the _kedzurikake_.

The _kedzurikake_ are sometimes described as the _shintai_ of
Dōsōjin, 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
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 recommendation.

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 1st
month, and called _o 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 _adzuki_.[163] The bean is a well-known
synonym in Japan for 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 dynamogenous sense impressions. Now red is especially
dynamogenous." In 'Œdipus Tyrannus,' the Chorus invoke the aid of
ruddy-faced Bacchus against pestilence. In Korea red is a terror to
devils. A modern Japanese writer says that red is obnoxious to devils
on account of its cheerful appearance.

Small-pox being a _Kijin biō_, 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 maché_ figures of
Daruma are placed near the sick-bed. It is explained that red, being
a _yô_ (male, bright, positive) colour, is fitted to counteract dark,
wintry, negative 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.

Griffis, 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 _kowameshi_, or red rice, and give
an entertainment to friends and neighbours. 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 if, on the 7th day of the 1st month, a male swallows seven, and
a female fourteen red beans, they will be free from sickness all their
lives.

The _Tō-yū-ki_, a work published in 1795, has the following:--

_"In many places along the highway at Atsumi, in the province of
Deha, where the cliffs stand up steeply on both sides, shime-naha are
stretched across from one cliff to another. Below these shime-naha
there are placed skilfully carved wooden phalli 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 Sai no kami,[164] and were
made afresh every year on the 15th day of the 1st month. As they were
local Gods, they were by no means neglectful of them, allowing them
to remain 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.
Phalli 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-naha_,[165] 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.

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:

_"Of yore, in the age of the Gods, Oho-toko-nushi no Kami
(great-earth-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 field, so that the leaves of the young rice
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 Kami, and advised him to offer a white pig, a white horse,
and a white cock in order to dispel his anger. When amends had been
made to Mi-toshi no Kami in the manner directed, the latter replied,
saying: 'Truly it was my doing. Take bare stalks of hemp, and make
of them a reel with which to reel it, take the leaves and sweep it
therewith, take "push-grass"[166] of Heaven and push it therewith.
Take, moreover, crow-fan[167] and fan it, and if then the locusts do
not depart, take ox-flesh and place it in the runnels, adding to it
shapes of the male 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 horse, 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 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 Yachimata
hime of the Michiahe _norito_, and in the _Kojiki_, 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 worshipped by the roadsides
and at crossways[168] 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 Dōsōjin, 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,[169] and were prayed to by
most travellers when starting on a journey. The phrase _chi buri no
Kami_ (Gods along the road) means the Sahe no Kami. 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
neglect of the worship of these deities.

But a very little advance in enlightenment shows that the sexual
instincts need restraint[170] 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 Kiōto, and was worshipped by
all travellers, was removed to a less prominent situation. Phallicism
ultimately 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,
laughing, 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 _dondo_, on the
15th of the 1st month, still retains traces of its phallic origin.[171]

=Oni=.--_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 peach[172] are the same as the "thunders" and the
"armies of Yomi." In other words, they are primarily personified
diseases.[173] They afterwards lost this specific character. Motoöri
defines _oni_ as _ashiki kami_, or "evil deity." He condemns their
identification by the _Wamiôshô_ 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 the owner, who
came to his house in the disguise of an old woman.

The _oni_ have red faces, hairy persons, horns, and sometimes only one
eye. They are said to devour men. The modern ideas respecting them are
mostly borrowed from Buddhist sources.

=Gods of Good and Ill Luck=.--Among deified human properties we may
reckon the Gods of Good and Ill Luck produced when Izanagi washed in
the sea after his return from Yomi. Their names, Naobi and Magatsubi,
contain the elements _nao_, 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 Bimbō-gami, the God of Poverty, is of
later origin.

FOOTNOTES:

[147] See Ch. K., p. 102.

[148] Probably a sepulchral dolmen. There are many in this district,
said to be the tombs of Minakata's descendants.

[149] The east is in Japan the soft wind--our zephyr.

[150] See Index, _Nakatomi_.

[151] See Index, _Ujigami_.

[152] See Index, _Imibe_.

[153] "There lies in dwarfs a special acquaintance with the healing
virtues hidden in herbs."--Grimm, 'Teutonic Mythology.'

[154] See above, p. 107.

[155] See above, p. 93.

[156] See Index, _Michiahe_.

[157] "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 counteracting
the baleful influence which is believed to emanate from them, or of
disinfecting, so to speak, the tainted atmosphere with which they are
supposed to be surrounded."--Frazer's 'Golden Bough,' i. 150.

[158] See Index, _Tsuina_.

[159] Eustathius, the commentator on Homer, points out that the
barley-corn denoted the vulva with the writers upon the Bacchic Komuses.

[160] I have before me a picture of a Dōsōjin. It stands at
cross-roads, and is a phalloid natural boulder over which depends a
_shimenaha_ supported by two bamboos. In front of it are little piles
of stones, of which the similar offerings to the Buddhist children's
God Jizōsama are doubtless a survival. The modern practice of bringing
the Jizō of the neighbourhood and dumping them down before the lodging
of a newly-married couple is no doubt a similar case of survival. A
custom which began with the Dōsōjin is continued with the Jizō, which
now occupy their place at crossways.

[161] 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."

[162] See above, p. 93.

[163] _Phaseolus radiatus_.

[164] The modern spelling _sai_ implies an altered conception of the
function of these objects. It means good luck, a vaguer and more
general idea than _sahe_, which means prevention (of disease).

[165] See Index.

[166] The names of plants.

[167] The names of plants.

[168] Crossways had a special sanctity in many countries. The Hermæ of
ancient Greece stood at crossways.

[169] See Index, _Tsuji-ura_.

[170] Measures were taken in ancient Greece to check the excesses of
the Bacchanalian rites.

[171] For further evidence on this subject, Dr. Buckley's 'Phallicism
in Japan' (Chicago, 1895), the _Nihongi_, i. 11, and Dr. Griffis's
'Religions of Japan' may be consulted.

[172] Nihongi, i. 30.

[173] According to St. Augustine, the devils of Scripture are our
passions and unbridled appetites.

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 ceremonies. The functionaries who performed the latter
had no specially sacerdotal character and no distinctive costume.
The Jingikwan, or Department of Religion, was simply a Government
bureau, 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 discharge religious
functions. The local governors on their appointment made a round of
visits for worship to all the shrines in their jurisdiction. All the
principal shrines had State endowments. The word _matsuri-goto_,
government, is simply _matsuri_, 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 corporation, 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 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 miyakko_) 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 miyakko_), 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 Mikado=.--The chief priest of Shinto is the Mikado himself. Jimmu,
the legendary founder of the dynasty, is represented as performing
sacrifice in person. Jingō is said to have acted on one occasion as
_kannushi_. In historical times Mikados presided personally over the
ceremonies of Nihiname, Shinkonjiki, Kanname, and other festivals. Even
at the present day the Mikado's priestly functions are not entirely
obsolete.

=Nakatomi=.--For many centuries most of the Mikado's sacerdotal
functions have been delegated. 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 recognized 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-omi_, 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 communicating 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.

A branch of the Nakatomi House, which in the seventh century took
the name of Fujihara, was famous in later history. 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 priesthood
were not ordinarily Nakatomi, and many of this House held purely civil
appointments.

The Jingikwan took precedence even of the Dajōkwan, 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 _Ô_, or prince. As explained
above, the Nakatomi were practically the Imperial family.

=Imbe=.--The Imbe were another hereditary corporation, descended, it
was said, from the God Futodama (great-gift). Their chief business was
to prepare the offerings, and their name Imi-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 (_imi_) axe the trees required
for shrines, or at least began the work, leaving it to be completed by
ordinary 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.

A Chinese description of Japan, written long before the _Kojiki_ or
_Nihongi_, 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 flesh, or to approach
women. When they are fortunate, they make him presents, but if they are
ill, or meet with disaster, they set it down to the abstainer's failure
to keep his vows, and unite to put him to death._"[174]

This is a description of a typical ascetic. In the Imbe of historical
times we have the closely allied idea of scrupulous attention to
religious purity. But they were not celibates or vegetarians except _ad
hoc_ when a festival was impending, and so far from neglecting the care
of their persons, strict cleanliness was incumbent upon them.

=Urabe=.--A third hereditary religious corporation in ancient Japan
was that of the diviners or Urabe. They are mentioned in the _Nihongi_
under the date A.D. 585. They were divided at a later period into four
branches, belonging 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 deer's shoulder-blade
or tortoise-shell divination such matters as were referred to them
by the superior officials of the department. Urabe were despatched
to the provinces 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-mono_, 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.

The Nakatomi, Imbe, Urabe, and Ô (princes of the Shirakaha House),
constitute what are called the Shi-sei, or four surnames of the
Jingikwan.

=Saishu=.--The high-priest at Ise was called Saishu, or worship-master.
This office was hereditary in the Fujinami family, a branch of the
Nakatomi.

=Daigūji=.--The high-priests of Atsuta, Kashima, Usa, and Aso were
termed Daigūji, or great-shrine-functionaries. There was a Dai-gū-ji at
Ise, subordinate to the Saishu. This office was also hereditary.

=Kannushi=.--Kannushi is for _kami-nushi_, that is, deity-master. It is
the most general word for Shinto priest. Properly it is only the chief
priest of 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 avocations 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
distinctive 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.

=Hafuri or Hōri=.--The hafuri are priests of an inferior grade.
This word, though now written with Chinese characters which mean
"prayer-official," is connected with the verb _hoburu_ or _hafuru_,
to slaughter, to throw away. _Hōmuru_, 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-mono_ (flung-away-things) is used as equivalent to
_harahi-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 _negafu_, to pray. The negi 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 Kir were called _miyakko_, a term
which originally meant "local governor."

=Priestesses.=--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.

=Saiwö=.--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 every first day of the month to an
_imi-dono_ (sacred-hall) and worshipped towards the Great Shrine
of Ise. This was called the _mi-tose no mono-imi_, or "three years'