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journey on business, he invariably visits the graves of his ancestors in order to take leave of them. When they live in places distant from their ancestral graves, they very often make long journeys in order to visit the tombs and make sacrifices to them. In many Shintoists’ houses the offerings of saké and sakaki-tree are offered every day, and incense is continually burnt in Butsudan. In fact, the worship of the spirits of ancestors forms a part of the everyday life of the people.
The relation of ancestor-worship to law is now to be considered. That the foundation of our government was the worship of ancestors is shown by the word for ‘government,’ ‘Matsurigoto,’ which means the affairs of worship. The ceremony of ‘Seiji-hajime,’ or ‘beginning of the affairs of State,’ which takes place on the 4th of January, consists of the Emperor receiving from his Ministers the reports of the affairs of the Temple of Daijingu, the First Ancestor of the Emperor. Thus, the business of our Government begins every year with matters relating to ancestor-worship. Even after the introduction of Chinese civilization in ancient times, and the great reform of the Taikwa era in A.D. 645–649, the Department of Divine Worship was given precedence over all other Government departments, even over ‘Da-Jo-Gwan,’ or the Great Council of State, which was afterwards reorganized and established as the Cabinet. And although the affairs of Divine Worship are now administered by bureaux of the Home Department and the Imperial household, motions are brought forward in almost every session of the Diet to make representation to the Government to revive the Department of Divine Worship.
The most minute regulations with respect to rituals of worship are to be found in the old books of law, such as the Taiho Code and Yengi Shiki; and all great affairs of State, like the promulgation of the Constitution, the declaration of war, the conclusion of peace, and the revision of treaties with foreign Powers, are usually reported to the Temple of the First Imperial Ancestor at Ise, and sometimes to the tombs of other Imperial Ancestors.
The present Constitution of the Empire of Japan was promulgated by the Emperor on the 11th of February, 1889, that day being the national festival of Kigensetsu, or the anniversary of the foundation of the empire by the first Emperor, Jimmu Tenno. In the framing of this Constitution, the Constitutions of Western countries were examined, and most of the principles which