THE PRIESTHOOD
In ancient Japan, the sacred and the secular were imperfectly
differentiated from one another. The Department of Shinto was simply
a Government bureau. Miya meant equally shrine and palace. Matsuri, a
Shinto festival, is the same word that we also find in Matsurigoto,
government. The Mikado was at once the high priest and the sovereign
of the nation. In the oldest legends he appears frequently in a
sacerdotal capacity, and, even at the present day, he takes a personal
part in some of the Shinto rites. Only last year he went to Ise to
perform the ceremony of Nihiname, or tasting the first rice of the
new harvest after making an offering of it to the Sun-goddess. But
even in the oldest records there occur instances of his deputing his
sacerdotal functions. Jimmu Tenno is said to have appointed Michi No
Omi (minister-of-the-way) as ‘Ruler of a festival.’ The rubrics of the
_norito_ (rituals) show that they were intended to be read by a deputy
and not by the Mikado in person.
=The Nakatomi.=—The chief officials of the Bureau of Shinto were
appointed from the hereditary clan or family of the Nakatomi, from
which the principal ministers of state and the Imperial Consorts were
also selected. The great Fujiwara House, so famous in later times, was
a branch of the Nakatomi.
=The Imbe= had the duty of preparing the offerings for sacrifice. Their
name, which includes the word ‘imi,’ signifying religious abstinence,
purity, refers to the strict avoidance of ritual pollution which was
incumbent on them in the discharge of this function.
=The Urabe= were diviners attached to the bureau of Shinto.
=Kannushi= is the ordinary word for a Shinto priest. The Kannushi
are not celibates, and are not distinguishable from the laity except
when in the actual discharge of their functions. Even the costume
which they wear on these occasions is not properly sacerdotal. It is
only an ancient court uniform. All Shinto priests are appointed by
the civil authorities. They have no ‘cure of souls,’ and their duties
are confined to reading the litanies and seeing to the repairs of the
shrine.
=Priestesses.=—In ancient times it was the custom to attach a virgin
princess of the Imperial blood to the great shrine of Ise. All great
shrines have a corps of girl dancers for the performance of the sacred
pantomimes (Kagura). The latter, on reaching a marriageable age,
usually resign their office, and are merged in the general population.