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 Mikado replied to him, “First serve the gods, and afterwards deliberate on matters of Government.” But the successors of this Mikado neglected the worship of the gods for that of Buddha, and the consequence was the decline of their authority. An effort to reform, the practice of the Court was made by the emperor Juntoku (b. 1197, d. 1242), who in his Kimpi Mishô says, “The rule of the FobiddenForbidden [sic] Precinct is that the worship of the gods comes first, and other matters afterwards. At morning and evening the wise resolve to do honour to the gods is carried out with diligence. Even in the slightest matters the Jingû (of isé) and the Naishi-dokoro are not to be placed after the emperor. According as all things arrive at maturity, they shall be offered up first (to the gods); but things presented by Buddhist monks and nuns, and from all persons who are under an interdict, these shall not be presented.” As it is the duty of subjects to imitate the practice of the incarnate god (arahito-gami) who is their sovereign, the necessity of worshipping his ancestors and the gods from whom they spring, is to be enjoined upon all every man.’

‘As the number of the gods who possess different functions is so great, it will be convenient to worship by name only the most important and to include the rest in a general petition. Those whose daily affairs are so multitudinous that they have not time to go through the whole of the following morning prayers, may content themselves with adoring the residence of the Emperor, the domestic kami-dana, the spirits of their ancestors,