198 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



the god is thought of as an anthropomorphic being; and 3, he 

 is conceived not as the natural object or its human form, but as a 

 sort of spiritual emanation — mitama — from him which resides in his 

 temple on earth and exercises his influence there. Thus the sun 

 goddess was primarily the visible orb in the sky, but at the same time 

 in a myth she is represented as a woman who hid in the rock cave 

 of heaven, and with her maidens wove garments in the hall of her 

 palace. Yet, it is neither the orb of the sun nor the sun goddess 

 in human form who inhabits the shrine of Ise, but her mitama or 

 spiritual presence. 



With the development of the religious sentiment arises the need of 

 some visible concrete token of the presence of the god through which 

 the worshipper may come into direct contact with the god. This is 

 known as the mitama-shiro ("spirit representative," "spirit token"), 

 or more commonly, as the shintai ("god-body") in which the spirit- 

 ual presence of the deity resides. The shintai varies much in form. 

 The shintai of the sun goddess in Ise is a metallic mii-ror, which she 

 gave with a sword and a jewel to Ninigi when he was about to descend 

 to earth; that of Susa-no-wo, a naginata or halberd; of Ohonamochi, 

 a necklace of jewels; of Inari, a stone or wooden ticket with his name 

 inscribed on it. The shintai is not always the same for the same god 

 worshipped in different places. It is usually inclosed in a box which 

 is seldom opened. ^^ 



The doctrine of the mitama may be considered as an attempt to 

 reconcile such facts as, for instance, the presence of the sun goddess 

 at the same time in the sky and in her temple at Ise. It is a step 

 toward the conception of the omnipresence of the deity. 



Shinto has not developed a system of ethics. There is no direct 

 moral teaching in its scriptures. It lays great stress on physical 

 purity and cleanliness. There are two semiannual national acts of 

 purification — one on the last day of the sLxth month and the other on 

 the last day of the twelfth month, when all the sins committed and 

 impurities incurred by the whole nation during the past half year 

 are purged away. In a general way Shinto enjoins absolute respect of 

 inferior to superiors, kindliness and mutual helpfulness. 



Nor is there in Shinto any definite teaching regarding the hereafter. 

 The immortality of the soul is nowhere explicitly taught. There are 

 no prayers for the dead or for happiness in a future life. The land of 

 Yomi, which is often referred to in the sacred books, corresponds to 

 the Greek Hades and the Hebrew^ Sheol. Funeral ceremonies were 



5S The mirror of the sun goddess in her shrine at Ise, measuring about 8 inches in diameter, "is kept in a 

 box of chamaeoeyparis 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, ed. 5, p. 308, quoted by Aston, Shinto, etc., p. V.\5, footnote.) 



