Shinto (the Way of the Gods)Aston, W. G. (William George)
Religion
Shinto (the Way of the Gods)
Aston, W. G. (William George)
Shinto
The honours paid to deceased Mikados were much neglected before the
Restoration of 1868. At present they consist in four solemn mourning
services held in the Palace, one on the anniversary of the death of
the late Emperor, the second on that of the death of Jimmu Tennō, the
third and fourth in spring and autumn, in memory of all the Imperial
ancestors.[23] Embassies are also despatched to the Imperial tombs
(_misasagi_), which now have _toriwi_ (the distinctive Shinto honorary
gateway) erected in front of them. Two of the Mikados, namely, Ojin and
Kwammu, have special State shrines dedicated to them. Concurrent with
the enhancement of the political prestige of the Crown there has been
a strong tendency in the present reign to increase the respect paid to
the Imperial House, so that it now amounts to something like religious
worship. The ceremony of the _naishi dokoro_,[24] which in ancient
times was in honour of the sacred sun-mirror, now includes the tablets
of the deceased Mikados.
=Other Deifications=.--Even in the case of the deification of living
and dead Mikados there is much room for suspicion of foreign influence.
Of the deification of other men I find no clear evidence in the older
records. It is probable, however, that some of the numerous obscure
deities mentioned in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_ are deified men. A
number of the legendary and historical personages named in these works
were deified at a subsequent period. Others have been added from time
to time. The case of the God of Suha has a special interest. Here the
God's living descendant, real or supposed, is regarded as a God, and
a cave (probably a tomb) occupies the place of the shrine. A fuller
account of this cult is given below.[25] The high-priest of the Great
Shrine of Idzumo is called an _iki-gami_, or living deity. Not only
good but bad men might be deified or canonized, as in the case of the
archrebel Masakado, the robber Kumasaka Chohan, and in our own day,
Nishitaro Buntarō, the murderer of Mori, the Minister for Education.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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