Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/240

230 officialdom of the place. This is in accordance with the impersonal habit of the Japanese mind already referred to. Strange to say, in some even of the most popular shrines, the identity of the God is doubtful or unknown. Kompira is a conspicuous example. According to some he is a demon, the alligator of the Ganges. Others say that Buddha himself became "the boy Kompira" in order to overcome the heretics and enemies of religion who pressed upon him one day as he was preaching. The mediæval Shintoists identified him with Susa no wo. More recently it has been declared officially that he is really Kotohira, an obscure Shinto deity, whose name has a resemblance in sound to that of the Indian God. His popularity has been little affected by these changes.

In 965 a selection of sixteen of the more important shrines was made to which special offerings were sent. These were as follows:—