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 solar character of Ama-terasu or Tenshōdaijin having become
obscured, the people have personified the Sun afresh under the
names of Nichi-rin sama (sun-wheel-personage) and O tentō sama
(august-heaven-path-personage). To the lower class of Japanese at the
present day, and especially to women and children, O tentō sama is the
actual sun--sexless, mythless, and unencumbered by any formal cult,
but looked up to as a moral being who rewards the good, punishes the
wicked, and enforces oaths made in his name. In his 'Religions of
Japan,' Dr. Griffis says: "To the common people the Sun is actually
a God, as none can doubt who sees them worshipping it morning and
evening. The writer can never forget one of many similar scenes in
Tokio, when, late one afternoon, O tentō sama, which had been hidden
behind clouds for a fortnight, shone out on the muddy streets. In
a moment, as with the promptness of a military drill, scores of
people rushed out of their houses, and with faces westward, kneeling,
squatting, began prayer and worship before the great luminary."
I reproduce a drawing by a Japanese artist of a famous spot on the
coast of Ise to which pilgrims resort in order to worship the sun as
he rises over distant Fujiyama. The _tori-wi_, which in some prints of
this scene is seen in the foreground, fulfils the same function as the
great trilithon at Stonehenge, viz., to mark the direction of worship.
I have seen the eastern wall of a private courtyard which was pierced
with a round hole for the convenience of worshipping the morning sun.
There is a modern custom, called _himachi_ (sun-waiting), of keeping
awake the whole night of the 5th day of the 10th month in order to
worship the sun on his rising. The rules of religious purity must be
observed from the previous day. Many persons assemble at Takanaha,
Uheno, Atago, and other open places in Tokio to worship the rising Sun
on the first day of the year. This is called _hatsu no hi no de_ (the
first sunrise).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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