Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/214

 receive homage as associated deities performing a special tutelary rôle; the other members of the pantheon are collectively reverenced.

Shrines are divided into four official grades, — State, provincial, prefectural, and divisional or district. There are subdivisions. State shrines are dedicated, for the most part, to the divine ancestors, but at a few the objects of worship are sovereigns or subjects that attained special distinction. Between a State shrine of the first grade and a district shrine of the last, there is, of course, a great difference in standing, but there need not be any corresponding difference in the relative importance of the deities worshipped there. Sometimes the object of worship at a State shrine of most imposing character is venerated elsewhere under circumstances that suggest an altogether inferior being. It is simply a question of local repute, financial capabilities, or other independent causes, just as in the Occident the same God is prayed to in city cathedrals and village churches. The shrine of the Sun Goddess, the Daijin-gu of Ise, stands at the head of all, but scarcely a hamlet in the realm is without a Daijin-gu of its own under the alias of Myo-jin. As for the number of the deities, it has never been counted by official statisticians. But the shrines that enjoy any considerable popularity are comparatively few, not more than ten in all. The incomes enjoyed by these shrines are not