According to this mythology, the heavens and the earth having formed themselves out of nothing, gave forth a spirit--a “kami”--who was the father of a line of seven generations of spiritual beings who ruled the universe as it then was, during a period extending over millions of years, ending in a male and a female, respectively named Issanaghi and Issanami. These seem equivalents to or representatives of the male and the female principles which, according to the Chinese, pervade all animate creation. They are allegorically represented as producing the islands of Japan, the mountains, seas and other natural objects therein. Subsequently a daughter was brought forth, “Ten sho dai jin,” who is the spirit of the sun; and another, “Tsuki no kami,” the spirit of the moon. These divinities are of no further importance in history than as serving to make a line of ancestry for the reigning family. At the time when, according to tradition, the genealogy merged in mortal men, the country was found to be peopled, and there is no attempt to show whence these people came, though described as hairy, uncivilized, and living in the open air. These myths are generally of a Buddhistic origin, and were probably brought over or invented by some missionary of that religion at an early time, when the influence of India operated strongly in the spread of its doctrines. This influence is shown to this day in the repetition of prayers in an unknown language, and the retention of an Indian alphabet and writing--the Sanskrit or Devanagari--in all the religious works of Japan. Some of these divinities are so frequently heard of, and representations of them, in pictures and carvings, are so common, that even a slight acquaintance with their names and attributes is useful. The different Buddhas are worshiped; Compera; the five hundred “Rakhan” or “Lohon”; the “Kwanon,” or goddess of mercy; and the “Stchi fuku jing,” or seven gods of riches. These last are generally drawn or carved on a boat, with emblems around them of long life, etc.--the stork, tortoise, a deer, a bag of money, a fir-tree, a bamboo, a crystal ball, a fish. Their names are--Hotay Daikoku, Yaybissu, Benten, Gayho, Bistamong, Fukowo kojiu. But the religion is more or less pantheistic, and there are many other gods and divinities, even down to shapeless stones. To “Ten sho dai jin” is attributed the origin of the imperial house, as is shown by the words of the Emperor, in a letter recently written on the political position of affairs, “I am grieved, standing as I do between ‘Ten sho dai jin’ and my people.”