26 



Professor Aijrton 



[Jan. 24, 



the mirror is part of the Japanese religion, and is mixed up with the 

 " Divine Eight of Kings," that it is the most precious of the posses- 

 sions of a Japanese woman, and constitutes the most important part 

 of the trousseau of a bride, and that the "Two Great Divine Palaces " 

 at Ise in which was deposited the first made mirror, have in the eyes 

 of the Japanese the same importance as has the Holy Sepulchre for 

 the Greeks and Armenians, and Mecca for the Mahommedans. 



And to realize the reason of this the stranger must learn that there 

 is a famous ancient myth in Jaj)an, which was recounted by the lec- 

 turer, detailing how the sun-goddess in a rage shut herself up in a 

 rocky cave, and how the other gods, to dispel the darkness thus caused, 



used various artifices to entice her forth, the most successful ruse being 

 the manufacture of the first historical mirror, in which seeing her face 

 she was drawn forth by her curiosity and jealousy. He will also 

 learn how in the supposed creation of the Japanese empire, the sun- 

 goddess is reputed to have handed this mirror (with the two other 

 "gods' treasures" which, together with a mirror, at present constitute 

 the regalia of the emperor) to her grandson with these words : " Look 

 upon this mirror as my spirit, keep it in the same house and on the 

 same floor with yourself, and worship it as if you were worshipping 

 my actual presence." 



After describing many interesting points in connection with this 

 strange mirror worship of the Ja2)ancsc as seen in the palace and in 



