MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 495 



sequent allusious in the records, Japan was inhabited by deities, good 

 an<l bad, who oidy gave up their authority in the land to make way for 

 the ancestors of the Mikado and his peoj^le. But it woukl be tedious 

 and unprofitable to even repeat the names of the inunediate family of 

 Izanami and Izanagi. It is rather a large one and few of its mem- 

 bers are still known to fame. But as an illustration of the manner of 

 naming the ancient deities, which, although I am informed it is not 

 strictly peculiar to Japanese mythology, is certainly one of its extra- 

 ordinary characteristics, several names will be given with Prof. 

 Chamberlain's translations. Such are Oho-koto-oshiwono-kami, Deity- 

 great-male of- the-great- thing; Iha-tsuchi-hilco-no-Jcami, Deity-rock-eartli- 

 prince ; Kaza-ge- tsu-wal'a-no-ofihiwo-no-ka'mi, Deity-youth-of-the- wind- 

 breath- the- great-male ; Torino-iha-Jcusa-bune-no-kami, Deity-bird's-rock- 

 camphor-tree boat.* (See also pp. 498 and 502). 



Izanami gave birth to thirty-three deities, the last of whom were 

 the Deity-princess-of-great-food and the Fire-burniug-swift-male-deity, 

 which, because of his fiery nature, caused the death of Izanami when 

 she bore him. Izanagi was so grieved at the death of his wife that he 

 forthwith drew his sword and cut off the head of the child. From the 

 drops of blood on the sword and from various parts of the body of the 

 child, arose sixteen more kami, but we must pass them by. The Fire- 

 deity, the last born of Izanami, who was so cruelly treated by his 

 father, became immediately the ruler of the under world. Presumably 

 it was his spirit which descended there. 



THE LEGEND OF HADES. 



When Izanami died she descended to the under world — Hades. The 

 Chinese characters literally mean the " Yellow Stream," the Chinese 

 designation of the under world. It is the habitation of the souls of 

 the dead, for the shintoist has neither a paradise nor a hell. It is a 

 land of gloom and darkness. 



To this region Izanagi followed, wishing to see his wife once more. 

 He broke ofl" a large tooth from his comb, and, lighting it as a torch, 

 entered the gloomy portals. His wife sent messengers to prevent his 

 approach, but he persisted in his search until he found her. But her 

 body was a mass of corruption. In her head dwelt the Great-Thunder, 

 •fi her breast the Fire-Thunder, in other parts of her body the Black- 

 Thunder, Cleaving-Thunder, Earth-Thunder, Eumbling-Thunder, and 

 the Couchant-Thunder, in all the eight thunder deities. Izanami was 



^This deity is an example of an inanimate object, a boat, raised to the rank of a 

 kan.i for important service. Tliis boat is variously described by authors. It is said 

 jo be the boat in which the boneless child, Hirngo, was set adrift, already described 

 IS a boat made of reeds. The reader must be prepared for some inconsistencies as 

 wcii as startling coiiccsptions in this narrative. Tlie most the writer can hope for is 

 to give a reasonably inttdligible account of the Shinto mythology as a whole, leav- 

 ing the details to be filled iji by future researches. 



