200 BULLETIN 148, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



WORSHIP 



There is no accommodation provided in the Shinto shrines for 

 joint worship of the congregation of believers. The individual 

 worshiper stands outside in front of the shrine, calls the attention of 

 the god by ringing a bell or striking a gong provided for the purpose, 

 bows his head reverently twice before and after prayer, deposits an 

 offering in the money box, clasps or fold his hands, and retires. 



The daily ritual is simple, consisting in the offering of food and 

 drink morning and evening. At Ise the offering to the two deities 

 there worshiped, the sun goddess and the goddess of food, are to-da}'^ 

 four cups of sake — ^rice wine, 16 saucers of rice, and 4 of salt, besides 

 fish, birds, fruits, edible seaweed, a,nd vegetables. At festivals more 

 food is offered with pieces of silk and other presents. 



To the outfit of the domestic god shelf belong tvvo jars for sake, 

 a pair of vases to hold flowers or a twig of sakaJci {Cleyera japonica), 

 the sacred tree of Shinto, and a miniature lamp, lighted every even- 

 ing. The sake and flowers are renewed on the 1st, 15th, and 28th of 



each month. 



PILGRIMAGES 



By pilgrimage is understood a journey to a holy place or shrine. 

 The object of a pilgrimage is to obtain some benefit, material, moral, 

 or spiritual, which the sanctity of the chosen spot is thought to confer. 

 In Japan pilgrimages are an ancient institution. The Mikado him- 

 self formerly paid frequent visits to the shrines of Kioto and the vicin- 

 ity. The private worshiper, besides visiting the shrine of his local 

 deity, generally makes it his business, at least once in his lifetime, to 

 pay his respects to more distant gods, such as those of Ise, the Mecca 

 of the Shintos, Meha, Ontaka, Fujiyama, etc. It is recorded that in 

 934 A. D., 10,000,000 pilgrims of all classes visited the shrines of 

 Ise, and after the national shrine of Ise the great temple of Idzumo is 

 said to be visited by 200,000 to 250,000 pilgrims every year. 



HISTORY OF SHINTO 



Shinto was the only cult of Japan prior to the introduction of Bud- 

 dhism from Korea in the sixth century A. D. This is the period during 

 which Shinto I'emained almost in the state of original purity and may 

 be termed the "period of pure Shinto." The medieval period of 

 the history of Shinto begins with the seventh century and comes 

 down to the latter half of the seventeenth century, when it had to 

 compete with Confucianism and Buddhism. Confucianism, as a 

 code of morals, as the science of state, as an educational force, com- 

 ported well with Shinto. But not so Buddhism. A conflict followed, 

 and Shinto had to give way. Its simple and na'ive content was no 

 match for the orderly and profound teaching of Buddhism, and the 

 splendor of its cult. But the triumph of Buddhism was not complete. 



