CHAPTER XIV._Shinto (the Way of the Gods)

DECAY OF SHINTO.--ITS MODERN SECTS.

=Rise of Buddhism=.--The later history of Shinto is one of neglect and

decay. Such vitality as it retained was owing mainly to the Buddhist

ideas which were engrafted upon it. The influence of Chinese systems

of ethics and philosophy was also very perceptible, especially in more

recent times. The Buddhism of Japan is not simply the doctrine of the

founder, described by some as atheistic. It is a real religion, and

besides the worship of other Buddhas, comprises that of an Infinite

Being--the Buddha Amida--having certain attributes which we should term

divine, and of his assessors, with doctrines far more abstruse and

profound than those which were taught by Sakyamuni himself. In the main

a form of the northern branch of Buddhism, it found its way originally

to Japan _viâ_ Tibet, Western China, and Korea.[331]

In A.D. 552 the King of Pèkché, in Korea, sent an embassy to Japan with

a present to the Mikado of an image of Shaka (Sakyamuni) and several

volumes of Sutras. They were gladly received, and were entrusted to the

charge of a Minister with instructions to practise the new faith. But

the jealousy of the adherents of the older religion was aroused. When

a pestilence broke out soon after, they attributed it to the wrath of

the native deities, and found means to have the Buddhist temple burnt

and the holy image thrown into a canal. Other attempts to propagate

Buddhism were little more successful, and it was not until the time of

the Regent Shōtoku Taishi that it made any substantial progress. At

his death in 621 there were in Japan 46 temples or monasteries and 1385

monastics, male and female. In 686 it was decreed that every household

should have its domestic Buddhist shrine.

When Buddhism, after Christianity the great religion of the world, had

once gained a foothold in Japan, its ultimate victory was certain.

There was nothing in Shinto which could rival in attraction the

sculpture, architecture, painting, costumes, and ritual of the foreign

faith. Its organization was more complete and effective. It presented

ideals of humanity, charity, self-abnegation, and purity, far higher

than any previously known to the Japanese nation. Its doctrines of

sin and repentance, of fate, of future bliss and woe, its profound

metaphysics, and, perhaps more than aught else, the satisfaction

which it offered to the yearnings of many a wounded spirit for a holy

contemplative life, detached from the toil and worry, the sorrow and

the disturbing passions of the world, were well calculated to find a

welcome in their hearts.

At first the two religions held aloof from one another. But while

Buddhism flourished more and more, Shinto was gradually weakened by

the diversion into another channel of material resources and religious

thought which might otherwise have been bestowed upon itself.

=Ryôbu Shinto=.--The two religions came into more direct contact in

the eighth century, when there began a process of pacific penetration

of the weaker by the stronger cult, which yielded some curious and

important results. Buddhism is not a militant religion in the sense

that Islam was. It owes little or nothing to the aid of the secular

arm, and avoids rather than seeks open conflicts with other faiths.

What the Japanese call _hōben_ (pious device) and to which we should

often apply the harsher terms "pious fraud" or "priestcraft," are more

congenial to it. A notable application of the _hōben_ method occurred

in the time of the Mikado Shōmu, who reigned at Nara from 724 to 756.

Wishing to celebrate his reign by the erection of a great Buddhist

temple and image, he took advice of Gyōgi, a priest renowned to this

day for many services to civilization, and despatched him to Ise

with a present for the Sun-Goddess of a relic of Buddha. Gyōgi spent

seven days and seven nights in prayer under a tree close to the gate

of the shrine, and was then vouchsafed an oracle in the form of some

couplets of Chinese verse couched in purely Buddhistic phraseology.

It spoke of the Sun of truth enlightening the long night of life and

death and of the Moon of eternal reality dispersing the clouds of

sin and ignorance. This was interpreted to mean that the Sun-Goddess

identified herself with Vairochana, called by the Japanese Birushana or

Dainichi (great Sun), a person of a Buddhist trinity and described as

the personification of essential _bodhi_ (enlightenment) and absolute

purity. The Sun-Goddess subsequently appeared to the Mikado in a dream

and confirmed this view of her character. The temple (Tōdaiji) founded

by Shōmu--though not the original building--is still in existence. It

contains the famous colossal statue of Birushana, which is at this day

one of the wonders of Japan.

The principle of recognizing the Kami as avatars or incarnations of

Buddhist deities, of which the case of the Sun-Goddess and Vairochana

was the first in Japan--it had been already applied in China to Laotze

and Confucius--was subsequently much extended, and, with a spice of

Chinese philosophy added, formed the basis of a new sect called Ryōbu

Shinto. Its Buddhist character is indicated by its name, which means

"two parts," the two parts being the two mystic worlds of Buddhism,

namely, the Kongôkai and the Taizōkai. The principal founder of Ryōbu

was the famous (and fabulous) Kōbō Daishi (died 835), to whom the

invention of the Hiragana syllabary and quite a miraculous number

of sculptures, writings, and paintings are ascribed. The sect of

Buddhism engrafted by him on Shinto is that known as Shingon (true

word). It is not one of its highest forms, and deals much in magic

finger-twistings, endless repetitions of mystic formulæ unintelligible

to the worshipper, and other superstitious practices.

Despite its professions of eclecticism, the soul of Ryōbu is

essentially Buddhist. It borrows little more from Shinto than the

names of a few deities, notably Kuni-toko-tachi, to whom it gives

an importance by no means justified by anything in the older Shinto

writings.[332] Ryōbu owed much of its success to forgeries and other

means, which were considered less objectionable in those days than they

would be at present. Great indulgence has always been shown in Japan

towards means of edification (_hōben_) that would hardly recommend

themselves to our more scrupulous minds. Yet there was something more

than priestcraft in the attempt to weld Buddhism, Confucianism, and

Shinto into one consistent whole. It is surely a true instinct which

leads mankind to recognize an essential unity in all religions, and

to reconcile, as far as possible, the outwardly conflicting forms in

which it is clothed. The religious history of Japan is full of such

endeavours.[333] But Shinto, Buddhism of various sects, Confucianism,

and Sung philosophy constituted a very refractory mass of material,

and the results obtained, while they testify to much industry and

ingenuity, are more curious than valuable.

=Yui-itsu=.--The Yui-itsu Shinto was a branch of Ryōbu. It was

invented about the end of the fifteenth century. Yui-itsu is short for

Ten-jin-yui-itsu (Heaven-man-only-one), a doctrine borrowed, according

to Hirata, by the Chinese philosophers from Buddhism. Of course in this

connexion Ten does not mean the visible sky. It is rather a conception

which fluctuates between Nature and God. It will be seen that the

fundamental problem which has so much occupied the minds of Western

theologians and philosophers--namely, that of the relation which exists

between the human and the divine--has not escaped the attention of Far

Eastern thinkers. Motoöri treats the doctrine of the identity of Ten

and man with much contempt. "How can there be anything in common," he

asks, "between Ten, the country where the Gods live, and man?"

To the people, a Ryōbu shrine was one where Buddhist priests

officiated, a Yui-itsu shrine one where none but Shinto functionaries

were seen.

Other sects, or rather schools, of Shinto were those of Deguchi and

Suwiga, both of which arose in the seventeenth century. The former

explains the phenomena of the Divine Age on principles derived from

the Yih-King, an ancient Chinese book of divination; the latter is a

combination of Yui-itsu Shinto with Sung philosophy.

All these sects were much given to strained analogies and fanciful

comparisons in support of their views. The conversion of Saruta-hiko

into a great moral teacher by the Deguchi Shinto is an example.

Saruta-hiko is worshipped at road sides. He therefore came to be

considered the God of roads and the guide and protector of travellers.

But the road or way may be used metaphorically for the path of duty or

virtue. Hence we have the astonishing result by which a phallic deity

figures as the chief Shinto apostle of morality.

Other instances are the symbolic meanings ascribed to the regalia and

the notion that the cross timbers of the roof of the typical Shinto

shrine represent the (Chinese) virtues of benevolence, justice,

courtesy, and wisdom.

These and many more of a similar character are argute scholastic

speculations in which the people take little concern.

The Ryōbu, which retained its predominance until the eighteenth

century, was by far the most important of these so-called Shinto sects.

It is impossible to trace here their somewhat complicated history. I

may, however, note a few facts which will illustrate the character and

extent of the encroachment of Buddhist and Chinese ideas on the native

faith and cult.

As early as the eighth century a Mikado began the custom, subsequently

continued during many centuries, of abdicating the throne after a

few years' reign and assuming the Buddhist tonsure. The mode of

imperial burial was modified in accordance with Buddhist ideas of

the worthlessness of these mortal frames of ours. Some Mikados were

cremated. One described himself as a slave of Buddha, and another in

an official ordinance spoke of the Kami as obeying the laws of Buddha.

After such an example was set by the high priests of Shinto, it could

not be expected that their Court should be more faithful to the older

cult. In the Heian period the nobles could not be induced to trouble

themselves about the Shinto ceremonies, which were either deputed

to subordinates or omitted altogether. The regular embassies to the

shrines were neglected, except on some great emergency, such as famine,

plague, or earthquake. Even the greatest Shinto rite of all--the

Ohonihe, or coronation ceremony--was in abeyance for eight reigns,

viz., from 1465 to 1687. What would have seemed even more shocking

to an old Shintoist was the circumstance that Buddhist priests were

allowed to take part in it.

Buddhist priests had the custody of nearly all the shrines, read

Sutras, and performed Buddhist ceremonies there, such as baptism and

_goma_ sprinkling. Relics of Buddha were deposited in them. Buddhist

temples had Shinto shrines of a Chinjiu, or protecting Kami, built in

their courtyards. Buddhist architecture and ornaments were used for the

Miya and _ni-wô_ (the two kings, guardians of the gate) or _shishi_

(lions) set up before them. The latter are an Indian conceit. They were

originally set up at cemeteries in order to frighten wild beasts and

prevent them from tearing up the dead. We are told that in the reign of

Horikawa (1099) nearly all the shrines were in ruin.

The Onyôshi, or official college of professors of the Yin and Yang

natural philosophy of China, who were equally prepared to compute an

almanac or to exorcise a demon, were for many centuries entrusted with

the performance of the _harahi_ (purification ceremonies), and other

Shinto functions.

The accompanying illustration shows another form of the admixture of

Buddhism with Shinto which prevailed until quite recently. Of the three

shrines here represented, the central only is dedicated to a Shinto

Deity, viz., Atago, or the Fire-God, who, moreover, has the Buddhist

epithet Daigongen affixed to his name. The other two are dedicated to

the Buddhist deities Benzaiten and Bishamon.

The myths of the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ did not escape from admixture

with Indian cosmology and Chinese philosophy, a process which yielded

the strangest results. Thus a fourteenth-century writer described

the Yin and Yang as evolving by their mutual interaction Izanagi and

Izanami, the earlier generations of the _Nihongi_ story being omitted.

Their child, the Sun Goddess, proves to be a manifestation of Buddha,

one of whose services to humanity was at some far remote period to

subdue the "Evil Kings of the Six Heavens" of Indian myth, and compel

them to withdraw their opposition to the spread of the true doctrine

(that is, Buddhism) in Japan.

[Illustration]

Still there were a few exceptions to the general decay. At the two

great shrines of Ise and Idzumo, the old cult was maintained in

tolerable purity, and doubtless many local shrines were preserved by

their insignificance from Buddhist encroachment. It should not be

forgotten, moreover, that, although the history of Shinto under foreign

influence was one of neglect and decay, in so far as its original

elements were concerned, it borrowed from Buddhism and Confucianism

germs of a higher thought, which under more favourable circumstances

might have borne precious fruit. I have before me a book entitled,

'Wa Rongo; or, Japanese (Confucian) Analects,' which shows the later

Shinto in a more favourable light. It was published in 1669. The

preface states that the original work belongs to the reign of Gotoba

no In (1184-1198), and gives a list of successive editors or compilers

from 1219 to 1628. It is a collection of oracles of Shinto gods and

wise utterances of mikados, princes, and others, of a tolerably

heterogeneous kind. Most of them, however, bear the stamp of the Ryōbu

Shinto. They are Buddhism, Confucianism, or Sung philosophy in a Shinto

dress. The first volume contains 108 (the number of beads in a Buddhist

rosary) oracles attributed to the Gods of various Shinto shrines

throughout Japan.

These oracles are by no means consistent with one another. Some are

frankly Buddhist in character, others inculcate the doctrine of the

identity of Kami and Buddhas, while others, again, denounce the

practice of alien religions. In some, Heaven-and-Earth is recognized as

a sort of pantheistic deity, distinct from the physical universe. Here

we have Chinese inspiration. Purity of heart, charity to the poor, and

the avoidance of vain repetitions are much insisted on. No moral code

is anywhere set forth. When virtue is spoken of, it is the Confucian

morality, or the observance of the Buddhist commandments, that must be

understood.

In the following examples the reader will find himself in a wholly

different and far higher moral and religious atmosphere from that of

the unadulterated older Shinto described in the preceding chapters.

=Shinto Oracles=.--The Sun-Goddess enjoins uprightness and truth, on

pain of being sent to Ne no kuni.[334] Men should make their hearts

like unto Heaven-and-Earth.[335] Wearisome ceremonies and repetitions

(of some Buddhist sects) should be abandoned, and reverence shown to

the Gods of the ancestral shrines.[336]

The Mikado Gotoba no In received the following inspiration in a dream

from the two shrines of Ise:--

_In the last days the world will be disturbed and all men troubled. The

sovereign house will show respect for the military house, and local

governors will make friends with wearisome fellows (Buddhist monks).

Buddhist priests will take to them wives, eat flesh, and propagate base

doctrines. The land of Ashihara of the fair rice-ears is the rightful

property of my descendants._

An oracle of Hachiman:--

_I refuse the offerings of the impure of heart. Some Gods are great,

some small, some good and others bad. My name is Dai jizai wō

bosatsu._[337]

An inspired poem (A.D. 1204):--

_Loving-kindness is of the Buddhas:_

_Uprightness of the Kami:_

_Error of the sons of men._

_Thus of the same heart there is a triple division._

The Gods of Kamo promise their divine help and the fulfilment of their

prayers to their worshippers, especially those who regularly visit the

shrine.

Oracle of the Gods of Kasuga:--

_Even though men prepare for us a pure abode and offer there the rare

things of the land, though they hang up offerings of the seven precious

things, and with anxious hearts pray to us for hundreds of days, yet

will we refuse to enter the house of the depraved and miserly. But we

will surely visit the dwellings even of those in deep mourning[338]

without an invitation, if loving-kindness is there always. The reason

is that we make loving-kindness our shintai._

_Hear all men! If you desire to obtain help from the Gods, put away

pride. Even a hair of pride shuts you off from the Gods as it were by a

great cloud._

_Hear all men! The good Kami find their strength and their support in

piety. Therefore they love not the offerings of those who practise

tedious ceremonies._

The Deity of Matsunowo says:--

_Any one who makes a single obeisance to one Kami will receive infinite

help: much more so any one who makes pure his heart and enters the

great way of single-minded uprightness._

Oracle of _Temman tenjin_, the deified Minister Sugahara no

Michizane[339]:--

_All ye who come before me hoping to attain the accomplishment of

your desires, pray with hearts pure from falsehood, clean within and

without, reflecting the truth like a mirror. If those who are falsely

accused of crime[340] come to me for help, within seven days their

prayer will be granted, or else call me not a God._

An oracle of Mume no miya promises that if an offering of sand is made

help will be given to women in child-birth, and children to those who

have none.

An oracle of Atago (the Fire-God) denounces his vengeance on those

who pollute fire, and on the wealthy who do not assist their poorer

neighbours.

_Leave the things of this world and come to me daily and monthly with

pure bodies and pure hearts. You will then enjoy paradise in this world

and have all your desires accomplished._

Oracle of the God of Kashima[341]:--

_I am the protector of Japan against foreign violence and break the

spear-points of Heavenly demons and Earthly demons. All enjoy my divine

power. I derive strength from the multiplication of devout men in the

land. Then do the forces of demons melt away like snow in the sun. When

devout men are few, my powers dwindle, my heart is distressed and the

demon powers gain vigour while the divine power is weakened._

Oracle of the God of Atsuta:--

_All ye men who dwell under Heaven. Receive the just commands of the

Gods. Regard Heaven as your father, Earth as your mother, and all

things as your brothers and sisters. You will then enjoy this divine

country which excels all others, free from hate and sorrow. Obey the

instructions of the Heaven-shining Deity and honour the Mikado. If any

are rebellious, come before me and name their names. I will surely

crush the foe and yield you satisfaction._

An oracle of the God of Suha[342] promises to hear the prayers of all

true worshippers, even though they may have eaten flesh. No outward

purity avails a whit.

Oracle of Tatsuta (the Wind-God):--

_All ye of high and low degree, rather than pray to Heaven-and-Earth,

rather than pray to all the Kami, dutifully serve your parents. For

your parents are the Gods of without and within.[343] If that which

is within is not bright it is useless to pray only for that which is

without._

An oracle of Inari, near Kioto, speaks of this polluted world (a

Buddhist phrase), and recommends the reading of Sutras and Dharani.

The following sentiments are ascribed to the God of Fujiyama:--

_Ye men of mine. Shun desire. If you shun desire you will ascend to a

level with the Gods. Every little yielding to anxiety is a step away

from the natural heart of man. If one leaves the natural heart of man,

he becomes a beast. That men should be made so, is to me intolerable

pain and unending sorrow._

A son of a Mikado received the following inspiration in a dream:--

_It is the upright heart of all men which is identical with the highest

of the high, and therefore the God of Gods. There is no room in

Heaven-and-Earth for the false and crooked person._

The following poem was revealed in a dream to the Mikado Seiwa:--

_If we keep unperverted the human heart, which is like unto Heaven and

received from Earth, that is God. The Gods have their abode in the

heart. Amongst the various ordinances none is more excellent than that

of religious meditation._

The God of a Tajima shrine says:--

_When the sky is clear, and the wind hums in the fir-trees, 'tis the

heart of a God who thus reveals himself._

An oracle of Hachiman (the War-God) enjoins on his worshippers to

be full of pity and mercy for beggars and lepers, and even for ants

and crickets. Those whose pity and charity are wide will have their

precious cord (of life) extended immeasurably; their posterity will be

spread abroad like the wings of a crane. They will become the upright

heart of the Gods of Heaven.

Another oracle of Hachiman:--

_All men's love of children and love of self are heinous crimes.

Nothing is more admirable than to sever, were it only for a time, all

earthly relations._

_If men will have upright hearts they must be neither foolish nor

clever, they must indulge neither in grief nor in hate, but be as the

flowers which unfold under the genial warmth of a vernal sun._

_If there be any who, having studied the books of China or practised

the teachings of India, despise the instructions of the Gods of our

own Japan, I will go to their houses and either slay their infant

children or visit them with sore disease, or turn away from them their

followers, or by the God of Fire destroy their dwellings. This is not

because I hate the doctrines of China or India, but because it is

rejecting the root for the branches._

Oracle of Itsukushima in Aki:--

_Of old the people of my country knew not my name. Therefore I was born

into the visible world and endured a base existence. In highest Heaven

I am the Deity of the Sun, in the mid-sky I show my doings. I hide

in the great Earth and produce all things: in the midst of the Ocean

I am the eight Dragon-kings, and my power pervades the four seas. If

the poorest of mankind come here once for worship, show me their faces

and declare their wishes, within seven days, fourteen days, twenty-one

days, or it may be three years or seven years, according to the person

and the importance of his prayer, I will surely grant their heart's

desire. But the wicked of heart must not apply to me. Those who do not

abandon mercy will not be abandoned by me._

=Revival of Pure Shinto=.--The seventeenth century witnessed a great

revival of Chinese learning in Japan. It embraced not only the renewed

study of the ancient classics of Confucius and Mencius, but the

philosophical writings of Chu-hi and other sceptical writers of the

Sung Dynasty (960-1278). The Samurai, or governing caste of the nation,

devoted themselves to these studies with amazing zeal and enthusiasm,

to the great neglect of Buddhism, which from this time forward was

left mainly to the common people. This movement reached a climax in

the eighteenth century, when a reaction set in. Kada, Mabuchi, and

other patriotic scholars, resenting the undue preponderance allowed

to Chinese thought, did their utmost, by commentaries and exegetical

treatises, to recall attention to the monuments of the ancient national

literature, such as the _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and _Manyōshiu_, which had

been so long neglected that they were in great part unintelligible even

to educated men. Under their pupil and successor Motoöri (1730-1801),

this movement assumed a religious character. His patriotic prejudices

were offended by the foreign elements which he found in the Ryōbu and

other prevailing forms of Shinto, while the Sung doctrine of a "Great

Absolute" was not only odious to him on account of its alien origin,

but failed to satisfy his soul-hunger for a more personal object of

worship. He therefore turned back to the older form of Shinto. To its

propagation by lectures and books he devoted many years of his life,

and not without success. He had numerous followers among the more

educated classes.

Motoöri's principal work is the _Kojiki den_, a commentary on the

_Kojiki_, in which he loses no opportunity of attacking everything

Chinese and of exalting the old Japanese customs, language, and

religion in a spirit of ardent and undiscriminating patriotism. He

seems to have been wholly blind to the fact that the exotic faiths and

philosophies, whose intrusion into Shinto he so bitterly resented,

contain elements far otherwise valuable to mankind than the ritual of

the _Yengishiki_ and the old-world myths of the _Kojiki_.

His pupil Hirata (1776-1843) was less of a literary man and more of a

theologian than his master. In a long life he wrote numbers of books,

amounting to hundreds of volumes, and delivered innumerable lectures

urging the claims of the old Shinto. His teaching was so successful

that it at last drew upon him the attention of the Shōgun's Government,

who, finding that their own authority was being undermined by the

prominence given to the _de jure_ sovereign rights of the Sun-Goddess's

descendants, forbade his lectures and banished him to his native

province of Dewa. Hirata's anti-foreign prejudices did not prevent him

from believing in the immortality of the soul--a doctrine of Buddhist

origin--or from borrowing from China a worship of ancestors quite

different from anything in the old Shinto. He adopts the Chinese duty

of "filial piety," and makes strenuous but unavailing efforts to find

countenance for it in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. Though he says that

the Kami detest Buddhism because it teaches us to abandon lord and

parent, wife and child, and is therefore destructive of morality, and

because its adherents are filthy beggars, who boast of wearing cast-off

rags and eating food given in charity, in another place he goes so far

as to admit Buddha to his Shinto Pantheon, on condition that he shall

be content with an inferior position. He tacitly accepts the moral code

of China, while protesting that such things are unnecessary, as we are

endowed by nature with an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong.

The agitation for the revival of Pure Shinto was a retrograde movement,

which could only end in failure. It contributed substantially, however,

to the success of the political revolution which in 1868 brought about

the restoration of the Mikado to the sovereign position which was

the logical outcome of Motoöri's and Hirata's teachings. The Shinto

reformation of the same date, when the Buddhist priests were removed

from the Ryōbu shrines, and a certain purification of ritual and

ornaments was effected, was also due to their influence.[344]

=Shingaku=.--A school of preachers who called their doctrine _shingaku_

or "heart-learning," and professed to combine Shinto with Buddhism

and Confucianism, had some vogue in the first half of the nineteenth

century. These men were in reality rationalists, who took the maxims

of Confucius and Mencius as the basis of their doctrines. Any Shinto

element which they may contain is quite inappreciable. Their sermons,

of which a good number have been printed, are in the colloquial

dialect. They are very entertaining and, despite an occasional bit of

indecency, not unedifying.

=Tenrikyô=,[345] or the "teaching of the Heavenly Reason," is a

modern sect. The founder was a woman named Omiki, who was born in

the province of Yamato in 1798, and died in 1887. Her religion

owes much to the Shingaku and Ryōbu doctrines. While professing to

worship Kunitokotachi, Izanagi, Izanami, and seven other Shinto

deities, practically Izanagi and Izanami are her only Gods. The

former (identified with the sun) is taken to represent the male, and

the latter the female principle, corresponding in nature to Heaven

and Earth, and in human society to husband and wife. These Gods are

spiritual beings, chiefly revealed in the heart of man, and are endowed

with personal attributes. Tenrikyô has high moral aims, and has made

rapid progress. In 1894 there were claimed for it 10,000 priests and

preachers, and 1,400,000 adherents.

=Remmonkyô=.[346]--The name of this sect implies that, like the

spotless lotus-flower, which has its roots in the mud, it attains to

purity in the midst of a wicked world. It is stated to have originated

with a certain Yanagita Ichibeimon, but its real founder was his

disciple, a woman named Shimamura Mitsuko, who was still alive and

preaching in 1901.

The Remmonkyô professes to be a reformed Shinto, but in reality it

owes little to this source beyond the names of the Gods Ame no minaka

nushi, Taka-musubi, and Kami-musubi, who are termed the three Creator

Deities. They are considered, however, to be only manifestations of

the Ji no Myôhô, or "Wonderful Law of Things," and the real God of the

sect is the personified Myôhô (wonderful law) a conception borrowed

from the Buddhist Nichiren sect. The followers of Shimamura call her an

_ikigami_ (live God), and regard her as identical with the Myôhô. How

often in Japanese religious history do we meet with this idea of the

incarnation of the God in his priest or prophet!

The _shintai,_ or material representative of the Myôhô, is a slip of

paper bearing the words "Ji no Myôhô," written by the founder herself.

It is sold as a charm against disease and danger. Faith-healing is a

practice of this sect, as it is of the Tenrikyô. Their moral code is of

the ordinary Confucian type.

The last-named two sects are not likely to play an important part in

religious history. The founders of both were ignorant women, and their

doctrines are a mere jumble of conflicting ideas borrowed from various

sources, and inspired by no great central thought. We may, perhaps,

compare their position in Japan to that of the Salvation Army or the

Plymouth Brethren in this country.

=Official Shinto=.--The official cult of the present day is

substantially the "Pure Shinto" of Motoöri and Hirata. But it has

little vitality. A rudimentary religion of this kind is quite

inadequate for the spiritual sustenance of a nation which in these

latter days has raised itself to so high a pitch of enlightenment and

civilization. No doubt some religious enthusiasm is excited by the

great festivals of Ise, Idzumo, and a few other shrines, and by the

annual pilgrimages--which, however, have other _raisons d'être_. The

reverence paid to the Mikado is not devoid of a religious quality which

has its source in Shinto. But the main stream of Japanese piety has cut

out for itself new channels. It has turned to Buddhism, which, at the

time of the Restoration in a languishing state, is now showing signs of

renewed life and activity. Another and still more formidable rival has

appeared, to whose progress, daily increasing in momentum, what limit

shall be prescribed?

As a national religion, Shinto is almost extinct. But it will long

continue to survive in folk-lore and custom, and in that lively

sensibility to the divine in its simpler and more material aspects

which characterizes the people of Japan.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[331] For an account of Japanese Buddhism, consult Murray's 'Japan,' or

the more comprehensive description in Griffis's 'Religions of Japan.'

[332] See above, p. 175.

[333] The novelist Bakin, who cannot be charged with priestcraft, says:

"Shinto reverences the way of the Sun; the Chinese philosophers honour

Heaven; the teaching of Shaka fails not to make the Sun a deity. Among

differences of doctrine the fundamental principle is the same."

[334] In the old Shinto, Ne no kuni, or Hades, is not a place of

punishment for the wicked. Here it stands for the Jigoku, or Hell, of

the Buddhists.

[335] That is, Nature--a Chinese idea.

[336] This is Chinese.

[337] A Buddhist designation.

[338] And therefore unclean.

[339] See above, p. 179.

[340] As Sugahara himself was.

[341] See above, p. 155.

[342] See above, p. 177.

[343] Alluding to the inner and outer shrines of Ise.

[344] For a full account of the Revival of Pure Shinto, see Sir E.

Satow's papers contributed to the _T. A. S. J._ in 1875. Our knowledge

of Shinto dates from this time.

[345] An interesting account of this sect is given in a paper by Dr.

Greene in the _T. A. S. J._, December, 1895.

[346] See papers by Dr. Greene and Rev. A. Lloyd in the _T. A. S. J._,

1901.

INDEX.

_N.B.--Where there are several references the most important is placed

first._

Ablution, 259, 83, 171

See Lustration, misogi.

Abstinence, 271, 273. See Imi.

Abstractions, Gods of, 62, 169, 186

Abstractions, few in Japanese, 35

Accession announced to Gods, 324

Acupuncture, 334

Adoption, 45

Adultery, 91, 244, 246

Adzuki. See Bean.

Adzusa bow, 206, 335

Agamono, 261, 306. See Ransom.

Agnostic, 13, 78

Ahidono, 227

Agriculture in Shinto, Preface, 86, 102, 121, 164, 172

Ahiname or Ahimbe, 278

Ainus, 160, 193, 252

Akitsu Kami, 41

Aliases of deities, 22

Allen, Grant, 36

Altar, 217, 218, 227. See Kamidana.

Altro intende, 77

Amagatsu, 263

Ama no hohi, 110, 258, 274

Ama no sagume, 109

Amaterasu, 125

Ame (heaven), 96, 142

Ame no hashidate, 95

Ame no hiwashi, 136

Ame no kagase wo, 142

Ame no minaka nushi, 69, 85, 142, 375

Ame yudzuru, 85

Ame waka hiko, 108

Amulet, 258. See Talisman.

Ancestor-worship, 44, 36, 95, 116, 177, 279, 374

Ancestor and ancestress of the Mikado, 271, 296

Animals, 63

Animal sacrifices, 212, 213

Animal food, offerings of, 196, 205, impure, 253

Anthropomorphism, 17

Ara-mitama, 31, 33, Addenda. See Nigitama.

Ascetic, 203

Ashinadzuchi, 103

Aso, Mount, God of, 147

Asuha no Kami, 146

Atago, 159, 365, 369. See Fire-God.

Augury, 344

August Grandchild. See Sovran Grandchild.

Augustine, St., Addenda, 198

Avatar, 361, 186

Avoidance of uncleanness. See Imi.

Axe, sacred, 289

Baelz, Dr., 358

Bakemono (ghost), 49

Bakin, 328, 362

Baldness unclean, 253

Bargain with Gods, 212. See also Do ut des.

Bashô, 48

Batchelor, 295

Be (Government corporation), 112, 183

Bean, 190, 165, 193, 309, 312, 313, 342

Beneficent character of Gods, 6, 15, 129

Bestiality, 300

Bewitchment, 300

Birushana, 361

Biso, 48

Black animals offered for rain, 287

Blessing of the Palace, 287

Blood, 213

Bosatsu, 178, 325, 368

Bow as offering, 314

Bow as a stringed musical instrument, 238

Bow in magic, 335, 206, 356. See Hama yumi, Adzusa yumi.

Bowing, 209

Breath put for life, 51

Breathing on, 261-63

Brewer-maiden, 269 _et seqq_.

Bridge-divination, 341

Brinkley, Capt., 326

Brinton, Mr. D. G., 83, 139

Browning's 'Saul,' 39

Bubbles as a charm against fire, 333

Buckley, Dr., 137, 149, 198

Buddhism, 4, 354, 359, 364, 353, 178, 182, 183, 199, 212, 253, 254, 255, 304

Bun-shin, 21

Burial, 55-61, Addenda

Burnt-offerings, 213, 210

Caird, Dr. E., 46

Calamities causing uncleanness, 255

Caldron-divination, 343

Carriage of God, 222

Caterpillar worshipped, 70

Ceremonial, 268

Chamberlain, Mr. B. H., 2, 24, 232, 305, 326, 344, 357

Chaos, 84

Charm, 114, 189, 337. See Magic, Talisman.

Chiburi no Kami, 197, 315

Chieftain conception of Gods, 19

Chimata no Kami, 188

Childbirth as a source of uncleanness, 251

Chinese philosophy, 92, 169, 234, 244, 264, 305, 323, 339, 342, 372

Chinese religion, 1

Chinese traits in myth, 92, 115

Chinjiu, 65, 326, 364

Chinkonsai, 294

Chi no wa, 264-6

Chronology, 116

Church and State, 200, 274

Circumambulation, 240, 90, 157, 312, 321

Civilization of ancient Japanese, Preface.

Clapping hands, 209, 320

Classes, Gods of, 15, 34

Classes, deified classes of men, 61

Classification of Gods, 15

Clay, God of, 92, 146, 316

Cleyera japonica, 98, 215, 216, 269, 293

Clothing, offerings of, 213, 237. See Yufu, 270, 287

Cock, 100

Communion, 120, 161, 211

Comte, 62, 63, 142

Conception of deity, phases of, 16

Consanguineous unions, 250

Confucius, 21, cult of, 182, 361

Cooking furnace, 279, 16, 17, 280, 322, 329.