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Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, 1
13 From a remote period there have been two Kokuzo in theory, although but one incumbent. Two
branches of the same family claim ancestral right to the office, - the rival houses of Senke and Kitajima.
The government has decided always in favour of the former; but the head of the Kitajima family has
usually been appointed Vice-Kokuzo. A Kitajima to-day holds the lesser office. The term Kokuzo is not,
correctly speaking, a spiritual, but rather a temporal title. The Kokuzo has always been the emperor's
deputy to Kitzuki, - the person appointed to worship the deity in the emperor's stead; but the real spiritual
title of such a deputy is that still borne by the present Guji, - 'Mitsuye-Shiro.'
14 Haliotis tuberculata, or 'sea-ear.' The curious shell is pierced with a row of holes, which vary in
number with the age and size of the animal it shields.
15 Literally, 'ten hiro,' or Japanese fathoms.
16 The fire-drill used at the Shinto temples of Ise is far more complicated in construction, and certainly
represents a much more advanced stage of mechanical knowledge than the Kitzuki fire-drill indicates.
17 During a subsequent visit to Kitzuki I learned that the koto-ita is used only as a sort of primitive
'tuning' instrument: it gives the right tone for the true chant which I did not hear during my first visit. The
true chant, an ancient Shinto hymn, is always preceded by the performance above described.
18 The tempest of the Kokuzo.
19 That is, according to Motoori, the commentator. Or more briefly: 'No or yes?' This is, according to
Professor Chamberlain, a mere fanciful etymology; but it is accepted by Shinto faith, and for that reason
only is here given.
20 The title of Kokuzo indeed, still exists, but it is now merely honorary, having no official duties
connected with it. It is actually borne by Baron Senke, the father of Senke Takanori, residing in the
capital. The active religious duties of the Mitsuye-shiro now devolve upon the Guji.
21 As late as 1890 I was told by a foreign resident, who had travelled much in the interior of the country,
that in certain districts many old people may be met with who still believe that to see the face of the
emperor is 'to become a Buddha'; that is, to die.
22 Hideyoshi, as is well known, was not of princely extraction
23 The Kojiki dates back, as a Written work, only to A.D. 722. But its legends and records are known to
have existed in the form of oral literature from a much more ancient time.
24 In certain provinces of Japan Buddhism practically absorbed Shinto in other centuries, but in Izumo
Shinto absorbed Buddhism; and now that Shinto is supported by the State there is a visible tendency to
eliminate from its cult certain elements of Buddhist origin.
Notes for Chapter Nine
1 Such are the names given to the water-vessels or cisterns at which Shinto worshippers must wash their
hands and rinse their mouths ere praying to the Kami. A mitarashi or o-chozubachi is placed before every
Shinto temple. The pilgrim to Shin-Kukedo-San should perform this ceremonial ablution at the little
rock-spring above described, before entering the sacred cave. Here even the gods of the cave are said to
wash after having passed through the seawater.
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