Then the eighty myriads of Gods met on the bank of the Tranquil River of Heaven, and considered in what manner they should supplicate her. Accordingly Omohi-kane[1] no Kami, with profound device and far-reaching thought, at length gathered long-singing birds[2] of the Eternal Land and made them utter their prolonged cry to one another. Moreover he made Ta-jikara-wo[3] no Kami to stand beside the Rock-door. Then Ame no Koyane[4] no Mikoto, ancestor of the Nakatomi no Muraji,[5] and Futo-dama no Mikoto,[6] ancestor of the Imibe[7]
- ↑ Thought-combining or thought-including.
- ↑ The cock is meant.
- ↑ Hand-strength-male.
- ↑ Ko-yane is written with two characters which mean child and roof. Hirata ("Koshiden," Vol. XIII., p. 1) identifies this Deity with Omohi-kane no Mikoto, and endeavours to show that ko is for kokoro, heart. Ya, he thinks, is many, and ne a honorific. See also Ch. K., p. 56. I agree with Ch. that the meaning is obscure.
- ↑ Hirata and Motowori have written many pages on the derivation of Nakatomi. The former takes it to be for Naka-tori-mochi, which would give the meaning mediator, these officials being regarded as go-betweens for the Kimi, or sovereign, in his intercourse with the Kami. Perhaps it is safest to follow the Chinese characters which mean "middle-minister," in Japanese Naka-tsu-omi, tsu being a genitive particle. The Nakatomi would then be the ministers of middle rank, as opposed to Prime Ministers on the one hand, and underlings on the other. In historical times their duties were of a priestly character. Worship and government were closely associated in ancient times in more countries than Japan. Matsurigoto, government, is derived from matsuri, worship. It was they who recited the Harahi or purification rituals.
- ↑ Futo-dama, big-jewel.
- ↑ Imi-be or imbe is derived from imi, root of imu, to avoid, to shun, to practise religious abstinence, and be, a hereditary corporation. The original function of the Imibe will be understood from the following extract from a Chinese book written not long after the Christian Epoch:—"They (i.e. the Japanese) appoint a man whom they call an 'abstainer.' He is not allowed to comb his hair, to wash, to eat meat, or to approach women. When they are fortunate they make him presents, but if they fall ill, or meet with disaster, they set it down to the 'abstainer's' failure to keep his vows, and together they put him to death." Compare with this the following paragraph from a recent American newspaper.
"An Unlucky Medecine Man
Big Bob was a prominent member of the tribe, and claimed to be a "tenanimous" man, which, translated from the Chinook, means an Indian doctor. By Indian superstition a "tenanimous" man is held responsible if
