SHINTO, THE OLD RELIGION OF JAJPAN. 213 



other things which were connected with the gods were carefully- 

 kept clean that is, away from any unclean things. For this pur- 

 pose the sliime-nawa, or clean rice-straw rope, is used in many 

 cases to mark off the sacred objects. If one travel in Japan even 

 at present he will find many things thus marked off, especially in 

 temple precincts. Here he may find an old tree with the shime- 

 naiva around its trunk. There he may see an old well marked 

 off in the same manner. Thus, if he find anything with the 

 shime-naiva, he never does wrong to conclude that some kind of 

 superstition, fear, or reverence is entertained by the people to- 

 ward that object. Especially the unclean people are afraid of 

 coming in contact with any object thus distinguished, because 

 they believe they may thus incur some evil or punishment for 

 defiling the sacred object. 



In many cases, however, men can not avoid coming in contact 

 with unclean things, and hence there are several means of purifi- 

 cation in Shinto. Purification by washing with water is the com- 

 monest method. Sprinkling salt is another common method, and 

 purification by fire is also common. Purification is performed at 

 any time when it is necessary, either privately or publicly. The 

 length of the time required for purification differs in different 

 cases and degrees of uncleanness. Often one purifies himself, but 

 sometimes he asks the help and intercession of the priest. There 

 are two semiannual national acts of purification one on the last 

 day of the sixth month and the other on the last day of the twelfth 

 month when all the sins committed and impurities incurred Iqj 

 the whole nation during the past half year are purged away. These 

 are called the " Great Purifications," and even now are performed 

 at the great temples of Ise by the Emperor in deputy. 



To the Shintoist the essential character of sin is impurity or 

 uncleanness, and it has more of a physical than of a moral nature ; 

 for with the early Japanese, as with any primitive people, moral- 

 ity, if there was any, was more external than internal, more phys- 

 ical than spiritual. Many an act was regarded as unclean, not 

 because it was morally and intrinsically wrong, but more because 

 it caused physical uncleanness and made the parties concerned 

 liable to the anger and curse of the gods. If anything is merito- 

 rious in Shinto, this strong emphasis of physical purity and clean- 

 liness is one ; and there can be no doubt that this Shinto teaching 

 of physical cleanliness has had much influence upon the progress 

 of moral cleanliness of the Japanese nation. 



How the meaning of purity and cleanliness passed from exter- 

 nal or physical to internal or spiritual, and how strong the practi- 

 cal influence of such a transference of the meaning was, can be 

 seen from many facts. The great Shinto scholar Motoori, who 

 lived during the latter half of the last century and was one of the 



