Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 6.djvu/45

 occupants of the cave join the melee, the rule observed by each new-comer being to aid the weak and beat back the strong. It may be imagined that from a mad contest in which four or five thousand strong men engage, struggling desperately in the snow and among the rocks on the summit of a lofty mountain in midwinter, many must emerge with serious injuries. But tradition affirms that no one has ever been known to receive a disabling hurt. The deity, they say, protects his devotees. The truth is that in competitions of such a nature the Japanese maintain from first to last the most imperturbable good-humour. Any one losing his temper would be ridiculed for months. After the wrestling is over, and when each man has given stalwart proof of the earnestness of his faith, they all join in one band and march down the mountain singing.

At Ono-machi in Bingo the people worship Susa-no-o, the rough deity, whose unruly conduct terrified his sister the Sun Goddess so much that she retired into a cave. The festival in honour of the god takes place in the sixth month, and is of such a nature as "the impetuous male deity" himself might be supposed to organise if he gave any thought to the question. There is no stately procession, no display of gorgeous dashi, no dancing of brilliantly robed damsels. The whole affair consists of a tumultuous trial of speed and strength. Bands of strong men seize the sacred cars, race with them to the sea, and, having