Page:Shinto, the Way of the Gods - Aston - 1905.djvu/290

280 their) preserving the Mikado's life and prospering his reign.

Kudo and Kobe no Matsuri.—This service (No. 6 of the Yengishiki) is practically identical with the last, which is natural, if, as is probable, the Gods worshipped are really the same.

Toshigohi no Matsuri (harvest-praying service).—This festival (No. 1 of the Yengishiki} was in honour of the deities of the 3,132 official shrines, in other words, the entire Shinto Pantheon. It was celebrated on the 4th day of the 2nd month (when the seed rice is sown) in the Sai-in, or sacred precinct, a courtyard in the Palace measuring 230 feet by 370 feet, with offices opening on to it on all sides. On the west were the shrines of the eight deities in a row, surrounded by a fence to the interior of which three sacred archways gave access. In the centre of the court a temporary shed was erected in which the altars were placed. Early on the morning of the festival day, the offerings, prepared by the Imbe, were set out here. They are minutely described in the Yengishiki, and consisted of silk and cloth of various kinds, some of the raw materials for the same, models of swords, shields, spear-heads, bows, quivers, stags' horns, mattocks, sake, fish of various kinds, edible seaweed, salt, and matting. In the case of the Ise temples, a horse was added. A white horse, cock, and boar were sent to Mitoshi no Kami, the special deity of Harvest, and a horse to each of nineteen others, including the God of Growth and the water-deities of Yamato.

When everything was ready, the officials of the Jingikwan, accompanied by the miko, or virgin priestesses, entered by the middle gate and took their places in the western offices with their faces to the east, the north being the upper (or more honourable) end. The Ministers of State and their