Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/232

221 tioned. They were let loose in the precinct. At the present day albinos are selected for this purpose, white being considered an auspicious colour. Wooden figures might be substituted by those who could not afford real horses. At the festivals of Gion and Hachiman men riding on hobby-horses (koma-gata) or with a wooden horse's head attached to their breasts formed part of the procession. They no doubt represented riding-horses for the deity. In more recent times the further step was



taken of offering pictures of horses. This practice became so common that special buildings, called emadō (horse-picture-gallery) were erected for their accommodation. But they contained many other pictures as well. The emadō of Kiyomidzu in Kiōto and of Itsukushima in the Inland Sea are very curious collections of this kind. They correspond to the ex-voto churches of Roman Catholic countries.

Carriages.—The Mikoshi, or carriage of the God (pp. 224, 225), in which his shintai is promenaded on festival occa- sions, is usually a very elaborate and costly construction. It is carried on men's shoulders to a tabi no miya (travel-shrine)