1880, | Anthropology. 903 
“Tt is not intended at present to describe more than one mode of 
divination; but it isthe mode which is universal among the lower 
classes, and which can be seen at work every day in the temples 
and 
elsewhere. The materials are very simple. small rectangular 
or oblong box is filled with slips of bamboo, each about six inches 
in length, and having a number written on the end. These can 
be shaken out, one by one, through a hole in the end of the box; 
and, according to the number on the first stick, the diviner selects 
rom a drawer in a cabinet, close at hand, a printed slip of paper 
containing the inquirer’s fate. The boxes vary according to age 
and sex; but the number of boxes in the possession of one temple 
aay exceeds sixteen, eight for the various ages, and two for the 
sexes, with corrésponding drawers in the cabinet. The stock in 
trade being so small, and the divining pee generally holding 
some other occupation about the temple, he can afford to sell his 
wares cheaply. Yet on festival days he must receive a large sum. 
At the temple between Kawasaki and the sea, the writer has seen 
as many as two hundred persons draw the divining sticks— Miku- 
Ji wo hiku, as it is called—in an hour, and all of them seemed to 
treat the ceremony with the utmost seriousness and solemnity, 
generally stepping out before He prak the stick, and elevating 
their hands in prayer to the i 
“This form of divination seems to be connected with Bud- 
dhism, as we find it also used in joss-houses in China. The box 
and sticks are rarely found among the possessions of an itinerant 
fortune-teller,and even then he is regarded as an impostor, or a 
priest who has been discharged for misconduct from his temple. 
In China, it is said, street fortune-tellers frequently train birds to 
select these sticks, thus adding an amusing element to the cere- 
mony 
is Ín conclusion, translations of a few slips ‘of paper, thus 
selected, may not be uninteresting. It will be observed that the 
style is somewhat oraculař, and the fates decline to descend from 
the general to the particular. But papers are frequently drawn in 
which traders are recommended what to invest in and what to 
avoid: 
“1, To a man of twenty-eight years :—At first evil, then good: 
wealth will be scattered and lost. Misfortune will come suddenly; 
and opriti will take place with wife and brethren. 
o a woman of thirty-seven. -—During spring and summer, 
the ites are unfavorable; but in autumn and winter things will 
go well. The expectations of youth will not be realized in old 
age. 
“*3. To a youth of nineteen :—This world and the things thereof — 
pass rapidly away, and it is ill to change present occupation for a 
new one. Sickness, when it comes, will do so with a heavy hand. 
Sa loa gti of sixteen: -—Disappointment at first, but early 
