"_He says: 'I humbly declare in the presence of the Gods who dwell in the water-partings, and, naming your august names, to wit--Yoshinu, Uda, Tsuge, and Katsuraki, fulfil your praises. If you, the Sovran Gods, will bestow in ears many a handsbreadth long, and ears abundant the latter harvest which you will bestow, I will fulfil your praises by offering first-fruits in ear and in juice, raising up the tops of the sake-jars and filling and setting in a row the bellies of the sake-jars. The Sovran Grandchild will then partake with ruddy countenance of that which remains as the corn of his august morning meals and his august evening meals, for his long food, and for his distant food. Therefore do I now fulfil your praises by making these plenteous offerings on his behalf._ "_'Lend ear, all of you.'_ "_He says: 'More especially, let the Kannushi and Hafuri, having received the offerings which the Imbe, hanging stout straps on weak shoulders, have prepared with purity, take them away and offer them in all due form.'_" It will be observed that this _norito_ contains paragraphs--possibly later accretions--which have nothing to do with the harvest. In some of the petitions the _do ut des_ principle is very thinly disguised. =Tsukinami no Matsuri=.--This festival was in honour of the Gods of the "Greater Shrines." The name means monthly festival, but it was really celebrated only twice a year, on the eleventh day of the sixth and twelfth months. The _norito_ (No. 7 of the _Yengishiki_) is almost identical with the Toshigohi. The _Jingishiriō_, a modern history of Shinto, describes it as a thanksgiving service for the protecting care of the Gods. Another Tsukinami ceremony was performed at Ise by a Nakatomi despatched thither as special envoy in connexion with the Toshigohi and also in the sixth and twelfth months of every year. The _norito_ (No. 16) read on these occasions was as follows:-- "_He says: 'By the great command of the Mikado, I humbly declare in the mighty presence of the Great Deity whose praises are fulfilled (in the shrine built) upon the nethermost rock-roots on the bank of the River Isuzu in Watarahi. I, of such a rank, of such a name, humbly repeat his commands, as his envoy to convey hither and make offering of the customary great offerings of Praying-for-Harvest in the second month (or as the case may be).'_" A similar service (No. 17) was performed at the same time in honour of the Goddess of Food. The phraseology is somewhat less honorific. On the two latter occasions, the Chief Priest of Ise read the following _norito_ (No. 19).