Page:Japan by the Japanese (1904).djvu/330
When Jimmu Tenno founded the empire and ascended the throne, the ceremony of coronation consisted in the worship of the Imperial Ancestors on the Hill of Torimi Yama. At the accession of every Emperor there is a ceremony called ‘Daijo-Sai’ or ‘Oname-no-Matsuri,’ usually on the first festival day of Shinsho-Sai, the eleventh festival day already referred to, in which the newly-crowned Emperor offers the first-fruits of the year to his ancestors. Article 11 of the Imperial House Law says: ‘The ceremonies of Coronation shall be formed, and Daijo-Sai shall be held at Kyoto.’ Article 10 of the same law provides that ‘upon the demise of the Emperor the Imperial Heir shall ascend the throne, and shall acquire the Divine Treasures of the Imperial Ancestors.’ These divine treasures consist of the mirror before mentioned, a sword and a precious stone which have been bequeathed by the First Imperial Ancestor, Amaterasu Omi Kami, to her descendants as symbols of the Imperial power.
The foregoing facts relating to the Constitution of the empire will suffice to show that the sovereignty of Japan is the heritage of Imperial Ancestors, and that the foundation of the Constitution is ancestor-worship.
That the worship of Imperial Ancestors is our national worship has already been stated. They are worshipped, not only because they are the ancestors of our august Sovereign, but because they are the Sovereigns of our ancestors. Formerly, as has been stated, the people of Japan were divided into three branches, or ‘three bodies,’ and each branch was divided into many clans. Each individual subject had a ‘Uji,’ or clan name, which was the mark of descent from a certain ancestor. Each clan, whether great or small, had its chief, called ‘Uji-no-kami,’ who was usually the oldest male descendant of the eponymous ancestor. He was obeyed and honoured by the clansmen as the representative of their common ancestor. He was the head of their worship, their leader in time of war, and their governor in the time of peace. Small clansmen were governed by the ‘Uji-no-kami’ of the clan, who was himself subject to the ‘Uji-no-kami’ of the great clan. The Emperor was the supreme authority over them all, and laws and proclamations of the Imperial Government were transmitted to the ‘Uji-no-kami’ of great clans, who in turn transmitted them to the ‘Uji-no-kami’ of the small clans, and thus each clan, which was a body founded on the community of blood and worship, formed an administrative division of the country, corresponding to the present administration divisions, such as provinces, cities, towns, districts, and