=Fire-Gods.=—_Kagu-tsuchi_, mentioned above (p. 22), is the chief fire-deity. He is also known as Ho-musubi (fire-growth), and his shrine stands on the summit of the high hill of Atago near Kioto. Hence the name Atago-Sama by which he is usually called. Hill-shrines are dedicated to him at the chief cities of Japan; and he is believed, when duly propitiated, to preserve them from conflagration. In the old State religion the god and fire are regarded as identical. The sacrificial fire was deified, and also the _Nihabi_, a fire kindled with the object of producing sunshine. Both in ancient and modern times the domestic cooking-furnace has been considered as a deity. =Ukemochi=, the Food-goddess, is one of the two great gods worshipped at Ise, the Sun-goddess being the other. There is a tendency in modern times to identify her with Inari, a male grain-deity. Shrines of Inari are to be seen in every village, and even in many houses. They may be recognised by two figures of foxes which stand before them. These animals are thought by many to be the god himself, and small offerings of such food as is thought acceptable to foxes are placed before them. Shinto scholars say that they are only the god’s attendants or messengers. But grain is often represented by an animal in other mythologies, and possibly this may be the case in Shinto also. Inari is much invoked by the peasant to grant him good crops, but as is so often the case, his proper agricultural character is frequently forgotten, and he is appealed to for help in all imaginable difficulties, as for the cure of small-pox or the discovery of a thief. There are several harvest-gods not very clearly distinguished from the grain-deities. One of these, as well as Ukemochi, is said to be the child of Ohonamochi, the great Earth-god. =Tree-Gods.=—Trees of great size and age are worshipped in almost every village in Japan. They are girt with honorary cinctures of straw-rope, and have tiny shrines erected before them. Other sacred trees are not themselves gods, but only offerings to the deities before whose shrines they are planted. Orchard trees are the object of a quaint ceremony which has its counterpart in many other places, Devonshire amongst the number, of cajoling or intimidating the trees into bearing good crops. In Japan one man climbs the tree, while another stands at the bottom with an axe, threatening to cut it down if it does not promise to bear plentifully. The man above responds that it will do so. Perhaps, however, the pleasure of acting a little drama has more to do with such customs than any real belief in their efficacy. We also meet with a Kukunochi (trees-father) and a Kaya nu hime (reed-lady). Their worship was probably prompted by gratitude for their providing materials for house-building and thatching.