ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: JAPAN SHINTÔ SHINTÔ At the Fountain-head of Japan JEAN HERBERT With a preface by MARQUIS YUKITADA SASAKI Volume 81 LONDON AND NEW YORK First published in English in 1967 This edition first published in 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 1967 George Allen & Unwin Ltd All rights reserved. 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SHINTÔ AT THE FOUNTAIN-HEAD OF JAPAN JEAN HERBERT WITH A PREFACE BY MARQUIS YUKITADA SASAKI President of the Kokugakuin University London GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD RUSKIN HOUSE • MUSEUM STREET FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1967 This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. A part from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, 1956, no portion may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be addressed to the publisher This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. © George Allen & Unwin Ltd. 1967 To my dear friend General A.Kaba formerly Military Governor of Kyôto who made me know and love his country PREFACE ACCORDING to the tradition of Japan, Shintô, in which we see the very basis of our modern life, is the result of a spontaneous growth. Although it is a highly ethical and spiritual ‘religion’, it was often misjudged by Christians, partly because their specifically Western concepts were shocked by some of its momentary distortions. Professor Jean Herbert has made an earnest endeavour to understand Shintô without any of the prevalent Christian prejudices. He made several long sojourns in Japan, visited and studied a great number of Shintô temples and had lengthy interviews with their high- priests. They were deeply impressed by his sincerity and by the respect he showed for their religious aspects. We hope that the efforts made by this excellent scholar will reveal to the West a side of the real nature of Shintô. Since this ‘divine way’ deals with the very origins of human social life, it may be interpreted from many different standpoints, at various levels of esotericism, and with various degrees of comprehensiveness. I do wish that more scholars will follow the same pure approach to proceed to a direct and thorough scrutiny of other cultural elements of Shintô, for I believe that its essence can ever bring a most valuable contribution to the peace of the world and the welfare of mankind. Marquis Yukitada Sasaki President of the Kokugakuin University and of the Jinja-Honchô The Kokugakuin University June, 1963. CONTENTS page PREFACE vii I. INTRODUCTION 1 Note on terminology and spelling 3 PART ONE —RELIGION I. GENERALITIES 7 The Kami —Kannagara-no-michi —Scriptures and theologians II. HISTORY AND MAIN SUBDIVISIONS OF SHINTÔ 26 Before Buddhism —With Buddhism —The Reaction —The American Diktat —The present situation —Main subdivisions III. METAPHYSICS, ETHICS, SPIRITUAL EXERCISES AND AESTHETICS 41 Metaphysics —Ethics —Ritual purity —Spiritual discipline —Aesthetics IV. TEMPLES 71 Site —Himorogi and iwasaka —Secondary structures Contents ix —Shaden —Saïkigu —Honden, go-shintaï and bun-reï —Categories of temples V. PRIESTS 108 Functions and categories —Gûji —Women —Ujiko and shake —Formation —Dress VI. SYMBOLISM AND INDIVIDUAL WORSHIP 122 Symbolism —Individual worship VII. COLLECTIVE WORSHIP AND FESTIVALS 142 Generalities —Agricultural matsuri —Mat-suri for protection against evil influences VIII. COLLECTIVE WORSHIP AND FESTIVALS (continued) 166 Other individual matsuri PART TWO —MYTHOLOGY IX. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE MYTHOLOGY OF SHINTÔ 196 X. GENESIS OF THE UNIVERSE—THE PRE-MATERIAL STAGES 202 General outline —Ame-no-minaka—nushi-no-kami and the Musubi-kami —The next twelve Kami —Interpretation XI. THE BIRTH OF THE LAND 219 Onogoro-shima —The first experiments. Hiru-ko and Aha —The fourteen islands