Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/322
made and placed in the sanctuary of the palace, in order that he and his descendants might worship as heretofore. Thus, the true mirror is now in the Temple of Daijingu at Ise, and the duplicate in the Temple of Kashiko-Dokoro in the Imperial sanctuary. At the present time, not only does every loyal Japanese worship Daijingu in his own house, but many look upon it as a duty to make a pilgrimage to Ise, or ‘Ise-Mairi,’ at least once during a lifetime. Thousands of people, high and low, rich and poor, yearly throng the Temple of Daijingu from all parts of the country, and offer holy music and dances, called ‘Dai-dai-Kagura,’ in honour of the Imperial Ancestor.
In the sanctuary of the Imperial palace there are three temples—Kashiko-Dokoro, Kworei-Den, and Shin-Den. Kashiko-Dokoro occupies the central position, and is where the divine mirror is placed, and is dedicated to the worship of the First Imperial Ancestor. Kworei-Den stands to the west of Kashiko-Dokoro, and is dedicated to the worship of all the Imperial ancestors since Jimmu Tenno, the first Emperor and the founder of the empire. The third temple, Shin-Den, stands to the east of Kashiko-Dokoro, and serves to honour all the other deities.
At the present time eleven ‘great festival days’ are observed as national holidays. All these, with the exception of two—one of which is the birthday of the Emperor, and the other the banquet of the New Year—relate to the worship of the Imperial Ancestors. The first holiday is New Year’s Day, on which the Emperor performs the ceremony of ‘Shihohai,’ or ‘worship in four directions.’ This ceremony takes place in the palace at four o’clock in the morning of the first day of the year. He begins by worshipping the First Imperial Ancestor in the direction of the west, and after in the directions of the respective graves of the first Emperor Jimmu Tenno, and the Imperial Father Komei Tenno, and other deities.
At the termination of this ceremony, the Emperor and the Empress receive New Year’s congratulations from the members of the Imperial Family, foreign Ministers, officials, nobles, and other dignitaries; and thus the first ceremony of Court may be said to begin with the worship of Imperial Ancestors.
The second festival takes place on the 3rd of January, and is called ‘Genshi Sai,’ meaning ‘sacrifice to the origin.’ On this occasion the Emperor personally performs the sacra in the three temples of the sanctuary, attended by the members of the Imperial household and all the high officials of Shin-nin and Chioku-nin rank. In the afternoon the nobility and all officials down to those of the lowest rank, attend the sanctuary to worship the three temples.
The third national festival, called ‘Shinnen Yenkwai,’ or the