Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/220

 are absolutely harmless. Wolves, however, were certainly numerous and destructive in ancient times, though they may now be said to survive in the realm of tradition only; and bears occasionally showed formidable propensities, though they, too, are to-day regarded merely as the hunter's quarry. At present the wild dog — the "mountain dog" (yama-inu) — is the only beast that inspires terror. He is not a wolf, but merely a dog that has never been domesticated. The Japanese dog is a valueless brute. In the stage of puppy-hood he presents some attractive features of fluffiness and rotundity, and artists have often recognised his picturesque qualities. But a few months of life suffice to convert him into an ill-shapen, unsightly, and useless cur. Except with children, therefore, he is never a pet, and he requites their kindness by eating them. Even within the precincts of the capital, during recent years, packs of dogs, starving outcasts, have been known to pull down a child in one of the waste spaces that mark the sites of former feudal mansions.

Nevertheless the deity of animals is regarded as an inhuman monster whom in ancient time it was considered necessary to placate by means of human sacrifices. Tradition has become much confused about this custom. Many Japanese believe that human beings were among the offerings originally made to the tutelary deities, in conjunction with fish, vegetables, and products of