508 REPORT OF NATIONAL MTTSEtTM, 1891. 



An abstract from ojic of the ritiiaLs, taken from Mi. Satow's transla- 

 tions, will suflieiejitly indicate tlieir style and character: 



" I declare in the presence of tlie sovran gods of the harvest. If the 

 sovran gods will bestow in many bundled ears and in luxuriant ears 

 the late ripening harvest which they will bestow, the late ripening- 

 harvest which will be produced by the dripping of foam from the 

 arms,* . . . then I will fulfill their praises by setting up the first 

 fruits in a thousand cars, . . . raising high the beer -jars, filling 

 and ranging in rows the bellies of the beer-jars, I will present themt 

 in juice and in ear." 



Following this come further declarations and promises of offerings to 

 numerous Kami, whose names are recited as Divine Producer, Fulfill- 

 ing Producer, Lofty Producer, Vivifying Producer, Great Goddess of 

 Food and others, because these grant a "luxuriant age." The ritual 

 is of universal application and is used when the Mikado makes his 

 offerings to the great shrines of the national Kami. 



Besides the liturgies we find prayers, as this: "I say with awe, deign 

 to bless me by correcting the unwitting faults which, seen and heard by 

 you, I have committed, by blowing off and clearing away the calamities 

 which evil gods might inflict, by causing me to live long like the hard 

 and lasting rock, and by repeating to the gods of heavenly origin and 

 the gods of earthly origin the petitions which 1 present every day, 

 along with your breath, that they may hear with the sharp-eareduess 

 of the forth- galloping colt." (Satow.) 



This prayer is addressed to the gods of wind at Tatsuta, in Yamato. 

 There is in it a confession of sinfulness and the idea of divine interces- 

 sion, the petition being at least borne on the winds, the breath of the 

 deities, to more distant Kami. 



Home worship is conducted before a simple household shrine known 

 as the Tiaml-dana . The deities are too numerous to be all mentioned. 

 It is only necessary to name the i^rincipal ones and to address the 

 others in a general prayer; or one may simply adore the residence of 

 the Mikado, the kami dana, the spirits of ancestors, the local patron 

 god and the deity presiding over one's calling in life. 



The ancient sun worship can be witnessed at the hour of sunrise 

 throughout Japan in the streets, in the doorways, on bridges and in 

 the fields. Once I was at Ise and I walked, with a thousand pilgrims, 

 to witness a glorious sunrise over the sea and the famous rocks at Futa- 

 ga-ura. There they gather every morning and greet the nation's god, 

 at a spot famed in native art and story and theie they find an inspira- 

 tion in the scene, which appeals to the Japanese innate sense of the 

 beautiful in nature, if not to a deep religious sentiment, which perhaps 

 they do not possess. 



* Referring to the dripping from the arms of the laliorers in setting out the rice 

 plants in Hooded fiehls. 

 t The tirat fruits. 



