In enumerating the officially recognized shrines throughout the rest of the country the _Yengishiki_ unfortunately, in the great majority of cases, does not name the God, but only the locality where the shrine was situated, as when we speak of Downing Street, meaning the collective officialdom of the place. This is in accordance with the impersonal habit of the Japanese mind already referred to. Strange to say, in some even of the most popular shrines, the identity of the God is doubtful or unknown. Kompira is a conspicuous example. According to some he is a demon, the alligator of the Ganges. Others say that Buddha himself became "the boy Kompira" in order to overcome the heretics and enemies of religion who pressed upon him one day as he was preaching. The mediæval Shintoists identified him with Susa no wo. More recently it has been declared officially that he is really Kotohira, an obscure Shinto deity, whose name has a resemblance in sound to that of the Indian God. His popularity has been little affected by these changes.[188] In 965 a selection of sixteen of the more important shrines was made to which special offerings were sent. These were as follows:-- _Name of Shrine_. _Province_. _God or Gods Worshipped_. Ise. Ise. Sun-Goddess and Food-Goddess. Ihashimidzu. Yamashiro. Hachiman, Jingō. Kamo. Do. ? Matsunowo. Do. Thunder-God. Hirano. Do. Probably Gods of the Cooking Furnace and New Rice. Inari. Do. Food-Goddess. Kasuga. Yamato. Koyane and his wife, Take mika-dzuchi, Futsunushi. Ohoharano. Yamashiro. Do. Miha. Yamato. Ohonamochi. Oho-yamato. Do. Do. Isonokami. Do. Futsu no mitama (a deified sword). Hirose. Do. Food-Goddess. Tatsuta. Do. Wind-Gods. Sumiyoshi. Settsu. Sea-deities. Nifu. -- Doubtful. Kibune. Yamashiro. Rain-dragon-God. FOOTNOTES: [176] II. 395. [177] The old Hebrew idea (Genesis viii. 21) was that the food actually reached God in the form of the fragrant fire-distilled essence, and thus gratified him as an agreeable gift. Hastings, 'Dict. of the Bible.' [178] Robertson Smith, 'Religion of the Semites,' p. 345. [179] See Index, _Toshigohi_. [180] See above, p. 119. [181] Reminding us of Homer's στἐμμαα θεοἶο, which consisted of tufted wool attached to a wand (σκῆπτρον). The ancient Jews made offerings of wool. [182] See Index, 'Inspiration.' [183] _Nihongi_, i. 193, 251. [184] See above, p. 70. [185] Agamemnon's sword was worshipped in Greece in the time of Pausanias. [186] _Nihongi_, ii. 293. [187] See illustration in Chapter XIV. [188] Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 50. In 991 there were added the three following:--