Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/218



T will have been gathered, from what has been already written, that the Japanese are superstitious. They believe in ghosts, in demons, in the possession of supernatural powers by animals, in the efficacy of divination, and in the potency of spells and amulets. Of course the degree of such credulity varies greatly in the different strata of society, the upper and the educated classes giving themselves little concern about theories and traditions which play no small part in the lives of the low-born and the ignorant. That differentiation should be always remembered in reading what follows.

Not many painful superstitions attach to the lower orders of creation. Birds, animals, or fishes that have lived to a great age in secluded places are regarded as tutelary spirits, especially when they have an awe-inspiring aspect, as is the case with the bear, the monkey, the eagle, the cat-fish, the eel, the turtle, and the snake. Rustics call these creatures nushi (master), and treat them with profound reverence. A cognate form of superstition is to revere doves as messengers