Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Volume I Part 27

2 The genealogy of the family is published in a curious little book with which I was presented at Kitzuki. Senke Takanori is the eighty- first Pontiff Governor (formerly called Kokuzo) of Kitzuki. His lineage is traced back through sixty-five generations of Kokuzo and sixteen generations of earthly deities to Ama-terasu and her brother Susanoo-no- mikoto.

3 In Sanscrit pretas. The gaki are the famished ghosts of that Circle of Torment in h.e.l.l whereof the penance is hunger; and the mouths of some are 'smaller than the points of needles.'

4 Mionoseki.

5 Now solidly united with the mainland. Many extraordinary changes, of rare interest to the physiographer and geologist, have actually taken place along the coast of Izumo and in the neighbourhood of the great lake. Even now, each year some change occurs. I have seen several very strange ones.

6 The Hakuja, or White Serpent, is also the servant of Benten, 01 Ben- zai-ten, G.o.ddess of Love, of Beauty, of Eloquence, and of the Sea. 'The Hakuja has the face of an ancient man, with white eyebrows and wears upon its head a crown.' Both G.o.ddess and serpent can be identified with ancient Indian mythological beings, and Buddhism first introduced both into j.a.pan. Among the people, especially perhaps in Izumo, certain divinities of Buddhism are often identified, or rather confused, with certain Kami, in popular wors.h.i.+p and parlance.

Since this sketch was written, I have had opportunity of seeing a Ryu-ja within a few hours after its capture. It was between two and three feet long, and about one inch in diameter at its thickest girth The upper part of the body was a very dark brown, and the belly yellowish white; toward the tail there were some beautiful yellowish mottlings. The body was not cylindrical, but curiously four-sided--like those elaborately woven whip-lashes which have four edges. The tail was flat and triangular, like that of certain fish. A j.a.panese teacher, Mr. Watanabe, of the Normal School of Matsue, identified the little creature as a hydrophid of the species called Pela-mis bicalor. It is so seldom seen, however, that I think the foregoing superficial description of it may not be without interest to some readers.

7 Ippyo, one hyo 2 1/2 hyo make one koku = 5.13 bushels. The word hyo means also the bag made to contain one hyo.

8 Either at Kitzuki or at Sada it is possible sometimes to buy a serpent. On many a 'household-G.o.d-shelf' in Matsue the little serpent may be seen. I saw one that had become brittle and black with age, but was excellently preserved by some process of which I did not learn the nature. It had been admirably posed in a tiny wire cage, made to fit exactly into a small shrine of white wood, and must have been, when alive, about two feet four inches in length. A little lamp was lighted daily before it, and some s.h.i.+nto formula recited by the poor family to whom it belonged.

9 Translated by Professor Chamberlain the 'Deity Master-of-the-Great- Land'-one of the most ancient divinities of j.a.pan, but in popular wors.h.i.+p confounded with Daikoku, G.o.d of Wealth. His son, Koto-s.h.i.+ro- nus.h.i.+-no-Kami, is similarly confounded with Ebisu, or Yebisu, the patron of honest labour. The origin of the s.h.i.+nto custom of clapping the hands in prayer is said by some j.a.panese writers to have been a sign given by Koto-s.h.i.+ro-nus.h.i.+-no-Kami.

Both deities are represented by j.a.panese art in a variety of ways, Some of the twin images of them sold at Kitzuki are extremely pretty as well as curious.

10 Very large donations are made to this temple by wealthy men. The wooden tablets without the Haiden, on which are recorded the number of gifts and the names of the donors, mention several recent presents of 1000 yen, or dollars; and donations of 500 yen are not uncommon. The gift of a high civil official is rarely less than 50 yen.

11 Taku is the j.a.panese name for the paper mulberry.

12 See the curious legend in Professor Chamberlain's translation of the Kojiki.

13 From a remote period there have been two Kokuzo in theory, although but one inc.u.mbent. Two branches of the same family claim ancestral right to the office,--the rival houses of Senke and Kitajima. The government has decided always in favour of the former; but the head of the Kitajima family has usually been appointed Vice-Kokuzo. A Kitajima to-day holds the lesser office. The term Kokuzo is not, correctly speaking, a spiritual, but rather a temporal t.i.tle. The Kokuzo has always been the emperor's deputy to Kitzuki,--the person appointed to wors.h.i.+p the deity in the emperor's stead; but the real spiritual t.i.tle of such a deputy is that still borne by the present Guji,--'Mitsuye-s.h.i.+ro.'

14 Haliotis tuberculata, or 'sea-ear.' The curious sh.e.l.l is pierced with a row of holes, which vary in number with the age and size of the animal it s.h.i.+elds.

15 Literally, 'ten hiro,' or j.a.panese fathoms.

16 The fire-drill used at the s.h.i.+nto temples of Ise is far more complicated in construction, and certainly represents a much more advanced stage of mechanical knowledge than the Kitzuki fire-drill indicates.

17 During a subsequent visit to Kitzuki I learned that the koto-ita is used only as a sort of primitive 'tuning' instrument: it gives the right tone for the true chant which I did not hear during my first visit. The true chant, an ancient s.h.i.+nto hymn, is always preceded by the performance above described.

18 The tempest of the Kokuzo.

19 That is, according to Motoori, the commentator. Or more briefly: 'No or yes?' This is, according to Professor Chamberlain, a mere fanciful etymology; but it is accepted by s.h.i.+nto faith, and for that reason only is here given.

20 The t.i.tle of Kokuzo indeed, still exists, but it is now merely honorary, having no official duties connected with it. It is actually borne by Baron Senke, the father of Senke Takanori, residing in the capital. The active religious duties of the Mitsuye-s.h.i.+ro now devolve upon the Guji.

21 As late as 1890 I was told by a foreign resident, who had travelled much in the interior of the country, that in certain districts many old people may be met with who still believe that to see the face of the emperor is 'to become a Buddha'; that is, to die.

22 Hideyos.h.i.+, as is well known, was not of princely extraction

23 The Kojiki dates back, as a Written work, only to A.D. 722. But its legends and records are known to have existed in the form of oral literature from a much more ancient time.

24 In certain provinces of j.a.pan Buddhism practically absorbed s.h.i.+nto in other centuries, but in Izumo s.h.i.+nto absorbed Buddhism; and now that s.h.i.+nto is supported by the State there is a visible tendency to eliminate from its cult certain elements of Buddhist origin.

Notes for Chapter Nine

1 Such are the names given to the water-vessels or cisterns at which s.h.i.+nto wors.h.i.+ppers must wash their hands and rinse their mouths ere praying to the Kami. A mitaras.h.i.+ or o-chozubachi is placed before every s.h.i.+nto temple. The pilgrim to s.h.i.+n-Kukedo-San should perform this ceremonial ablution at the little rock-spring above described, before entering the sacred cave. Here even the G.o.ds of the cave are said to wash after having pa.s.sed through the seawater.

2 August Fire-Lady'; or, 'the August Sun-Lady,' Amaterasu-oho-mi-Kami.

Notes for Chapter Ten

1 Mionoseki

2 Zas.h.i.+ki, the best and largest room of a j.a.panese dwelling--the guest- room of a private house, or the banquet-room of a public inn.

Notes for Chapter Eleven

1 Fourteenth of August.

2 In the pretty little seaside hotel Inaba-ya, where I lived during my stay in Kitzuki, the kind old hostess begged her guests with almost tearful earnestness not to leave the house during the Minige.

3 There are ten rin to one sen, and ten mon to one rin, on one hundred to one sen. The majority of the cheap toys sold at the matsuri cost from two to nine rin. The rin is a circular copper coin with a square hole in the middle for stringing purposes.

4 Why the monkey is so respectfully mentioned in polite speech, I do not exactly know; but I think that the symbolical relation of the monkey, both to Buddhism and to s.h.i.+nto, may perhaps account for the use of the prefix 'O' (honourable) before its name.

5 As many fine dolls really are. The superior cla.s.s of O-Hina-San, such as figure in the beautiful displays of the O-Hina-no-Matsuri at rich homes, are heirlooms. Dolls are not given to children to break; and j.a.panese children seldom break them. I saw at a Doll's Festival in the house of the Governor of Izumo, dolls one hundred years old-charming figurines in ancient court costume.

6 Not to be confounded with Kos.h.i.+n, the G.o.d of Roads.

7 Celtis Wilidenowiana. Sometimes, but rarely, a pine or other tree is subst.i.tuted for the enoki.

8 'Literally, 'The Dance of the Fruitful Year.'

9 First,--unto the Taisha-Sama of Izunio; Second,--to Irokami-Sama of Niigata; Third,--unto Kompira-Sama of Sanuki; Fourth,--unto Zenkoji-Sama of s.h.i.+nano; Fifth,--to O-Yakus.h.i.+-San of Ichibata; Sixth,--to O-Jizo-Sama of Rokkakudo; Seventh,--to O-Ebisu-Sama of Nana-ura; Eighth,--unto Hachiman-Sama of Yawata; Ninth,--unto everyholy shrine of Koya; Tenth,--to the Ujigami-Sama of our village.'

j.a.panese readers will appreciate the ingenious manner in which the numeral at the beginning of each phrase is repeated in the name of the sacred place sung of.

Notes for Chapter Twelve

1 This deity is seldom called by his full name, which has been shortened by common usage from Susano-o-no-mikoto.

2 A kichinyado is an inn at which the traveller is charged only the price of the wood used for fuel in cooking his rice.

3 The thick fine straw mats, fitted upon the floor of every j.a.panese room, are always six feet long by three feet broad. The largest room in the ordinary middle-cla.s.s house is a room of eight mats. A room of one hundred mats is something worth seeing.

4 The kubi-oke was a lacquered tray with a high rim and a high cover.