=Ohonihe or Daijowe=.--The _Yengishiki_ places the Ohonihe in a class by itself, as much the most solemn and important festival of the Shinto religion. _Oho_ means great, and _nihe_ food offering. It was substantially a more elaborate and sumptuous Nihi-name (new-tasting), or festival of first fruits, performed soon after the accession of a Mikado to the throne, and, like our coronation ceremony, constituting the formal religious sanction of his sovereignty. A modern Japanese writer explains its object as follows: "_Anciently the Mikado received the auspicious grain from the Gods of Heaven, and therewithal nourished the people. In the Daijowe (or Ohonihe) the Mikado, when the grain became ripe, joined unto him the people in sincere veneration, and, as in duty bound, made return to the Gods of Heaven. He thereafter partook of it along with the nation. Thus the people learnt that the grain which they eat is no other than the seed bestowed on them by the Gods of Heaven._" In so far as the motive of the Japanese worshipper is concerned, this is, I think, nearer the mark than Mr. Frazer's: "Primitive peoples are, as a rule, reluctant to taste the annual first-fruits of any crop until some ceremony has been performed which makes it safe and pious for them to do so. The reason of this reluctance appears to be that the first-fruits either are the property of, or actually contain, a divinity." It is gratitude rather than fear which animates the Japanese. The preparations for the Ohonihe began months in advance. The first step was to designate by divination two provinces from which the rice used in the ceremony was to be provided. These were called respectively _yuki_ and _suki_. The most probable meaning of the former term is "religious purity." _Suki_ is said to mean next or subsidiary. The object of thus duplicating the offerings was, no doubt, that if any unnoticed irregularity or impurity occurred in one case, the error might not vitiate the whole proceedings. Officers called _nuki-ho no tsukahi_ (messengers of the plucked-up ears) were then selected by divination. One of these was called the Inami no Urabe, or rice-fruit diviner, the other the Negi no Urabe, or prayer-diviner. These officers on arriving at the _yuki_ or _suki_ district performed a purification ceremony in presence of the local officials and people. The site of the _inami-dono_, or rice-fruit-hall, was then chosen by divination and marked out at the four corners by twigs of the sacred evergreen tree (_sakaki_) hung with tree-fibre.[220] It was 160 feet square. Somewhat more than an acre of rice-field was next set apart, the owner being compensated by the authorities. Here two _sakaki_ twigs hung with tree-fibre were planted, and a guard of four labourers was set over it. Divination was also used for the selection of a local staff of religious functionaries. It consisted of one Saka-tsu-ko, that is, sake-child or brewer-maiden, an unmarried girl