MYTHOLOGY OF THE JAPANESE. 507 



LITURGIES AND FORM OF WORSHIP. 



The services at the temples consist in the repetition of prayers and 

 rituals of prescribed form, with prostrations and i^resentation of offer- 

 ings. The pure Shinto ceremonial is now but larely seen, and only at 

 two or three famous shrines. In the old time there was no priesthood, 

 but the princii)al duty of tlie Mikado was the celebration of the rites. 

 In the seventh century the Emi»eror Kotoku said to his minister, "First 

 serve the gods, afterwards consider matters of government." The Mi- 

 kado was the chief priest, and the person who at a later date read the 

 liturgies at the capital was a descendant of one of the deities who came 

 from heaven with Ninigi. The priestly office is still hereditary in the 

 same family or tribe named Nakatomi.* 



The officers in charge of Shinto shrines wear ordinary clothing, over 

 which wlien they officiate they throw a priestly robe of white. 



Shinto seems to have been a well-organized religious system at an 

 early day. The book of ceremonial law, published in the year 927, 

 contains nnich relating to the Shinto worship, including the ceremonies 

 for special occasions, organization of the priesthood, services at the 

 Ise temples, a list of temples entitled to government support, and the 

 chief norito or rituals. This book was several times reprinted — the 

 last time in 1723 — by order of the Government. Among the liturgies 

 it contains Mr. Satow enumerates the following: 



Service of the praying for harvest. 



Service of the goddess of food. 



Service of the goddess of wind. 



Service of the temple of Inaki. 



General purification on the last day of the sixth month. 



Harvest festival. 



Service of the temples of Ise. 

 The offerings to be made at tlie shrines are also prescribed. In the 

 old time the praying for harvest was celebrated on the fourth day of the 

 second month. The ministers of state, officers of the Shinto religion, 

 the priests and priestesses of the temples maintained by the Mikado, 

 assembled at the office for the worship of the Shinto gods, while through- 

 out the country the chiefs of the local administrations and governors of 

 provinces led the worship at other shrines. The articles offered included 

 silk and hemp cloth, models of swords, a spear-head, a shield, bow and 

 quiver, edible seaweed, salt, sake, and to each of the temples at Ise a 

 horse for the god to ride, a cock to tell the time and a domesticated 

 boar for food. In ancient times curved jewels or beads (magatama) 

 were offered. 



* Up to the year 1868 the nominal prime minister of the Mikado belonged to this 

 family, which in the seventli century changed its name to Fujiwara, famous in 

 Japanese histoiy. 



