Page:The Thunder-Weapon in Ancient Japan.djvu/9

Rh Tōgo lists seven Kamo (usually written  or ) Shrines, which are for the most part dedicated to another thunder god, Wakeikazuchi-no-mikoto. In no case is it clearly stated that the object of worship in any of these shrines is a weapon which can be identified with a stone thunderbolt, but it is significant that in one case this is indirectly implied. The Kamo Shrine at Haruta  in the extreme north of Ise  is one of the few places in that province known as a site abounding in prehistoric stone implements, so it is not improbable that a stone thunderbolt was the original deity of this shrine also.

This scattered evidence in favor of the identification of stone weapons with thunderbolts in ancient Japan is far from being conclusive. It is all too scanty and trivial in the face of the almost complete absence of corroborative evidence in the passages on stone and thunder deities in such early works as the Kojiki, the Kogoshūi, and the Nihon shoki and other volumes of the Rikkokushi. However, it is sufficient to hint strongly at a very interesting possibility, which deserves further study.