The Origin of the Deity of the Ise Shrine
Moriyuki Abukuma Murakami
INTRODUCTION
This paper attempts to unveil the origin of the deity
of the Ise Shrine in the early era of the Yamato state
(between the 2nd and 6th centuries). [1] For the original
image of the deity, this study focuses on the history of
the deity-body (shintai), or the Imperial Regalia, of the
Ise Shrine. As for the original character of the deity,
this study focuses on the Rites of Great Sacrifice (Oho
Nie) and the Abstained Virgin Princess (Saio) in their
relationship to the Imperial House.
The deity of the Ise Shrine is presently called the
Great Deity of Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, and is also the
supreme ancestor of the Imperial house. The Kojiki and
the Nihongi, the oldest Japanese half-mythologized
chronicles, treat the Great Deity of Amaterasu as the
highest deity of the anthropomorphized Heavenly gods.
Between the 2nd and 6th centuries (from the first emperor
Jimmu to the empress Kogyoku), however, the name of the
Great Deity of Amaterasu does not appear in the chronicles
except once (seemingly later-modification) in the reign of
Sujin. Some scholars argue that the concept of the
abstract god and the concept of the anthropomorphized god
was not developed in the early era of the Yamato state.
Kojiro Naoki, for instance, points out that the concept of
anthropomorphized god could only appeared after the 6th
century, and that the god as the object of worship at an
established shrine only appeared in the Nara period (1964,
244-5). Mutsuko Mizoguchi too argues that, before the 6th
century, the name of the Great Deity (Oho kami) of
Amaterasu did not have actual entity like Oho hiru-me
muchi (a female of the sun) or even an older idea of the
spirit like Takami-musuhi (Great spirit of heavenly
procreation), but was a fabrication after the 6th century
(1974 b, 82-98). Between the 5th and 6th centuries, the
deity of the Ise Shrine was just called the deity of Sun,
the deity of wind, the deity of Heaven, the violent
spirit, the peaceful spirit, etc. Through a complete
survey of the suffix of god's name in the Kojiki and the
Nihongi, she concluded that the term "kami" or "kamu" was
originally used to the "fearful" aspect of the nature and
of the object such as thunder (kami-nari) and violent
human beings such as the warrior Jimmu (kamu Iware-hiko).
Furthermore, she discovered that the older ideas of the
extraordinary power (chi) and the anima (tama,) before
they were anthropomorphized by the name of god (-kami)
(1973 a, 70-75).
Max Weber's sociological principle also tells us that
there was no concept of god in the beginning of human
history; only an idea of the extraordinary power was
conceived, then an animistic idea of the spirit, and
gradually the abstract concept of god developed in the
human mind. When the people conceived a mirror and a
sword as an extraordinary power as such, they had
naturalistic and materialistic images of the deity. For
them, "the rocks, tree-stems and herbage have still the
power of speech" (Aston I, 90). In those days, neither
Sun Goddess, nor the anthropomorphized deity of Amaterasu
were conceived, but the sun itself or an extraordinary
human being, or a tree per se were regarded as the
extraordinary power that could change the event of nature
and history.
Therefore, in order to trace the original image of the
deity or the extraordinary power, this paper focuses on
the deity-body (shintai), i.e., the Imperial regalia, of
the Ise Shrine, instead of the anthropomorphized deity of
Amaterasu. The majority of the great shrines have such a
deity-body, the concrete object of the extraordinary power
like a magical mirror, a fearful sword, and precious
stones. The regalia of the Izumo Shrine of Izumo (present
Shimane Prefecture), the sun mirror of the Hinokuma Shrine
in Kii (present Wakayama Prefecture), the Futsu-tama sword
of the Kashima Shrine of Hitachi (present Ibaraki
Prefecture), the Kusanagi sword of the Atsuta Shrine of
Owari (present Aichi Prefecture), and the Yasaka sword of
the Isonokami Shrine of Yamato (present Nara Prefecture),
all of them are regarded as the manifestation of the
deity.
The present institutionalized cult of the Ise Shrine
was initiated by Emperor Temmu (672-686 AD), who believed
that the deity of the Ise Shrine responded to his prayer,
and brought him the victory in the Jinshin War of
Succession. Through the institutionalization of State
ritual between the 7th and 8th centuries, the old
occasional rite of Oho Nie was divided into the three
rites: the ceremony of Emperor's enthronement (Daijo sai),
the yearly offering of first fruits at the Imperial house
(Niiname sai) and at the Ise Shrine (Kanname sai). The
offering of first fruits centers on new harvested rice and
sake, although it also includes seafood, weapons, jewels,
pictures, effigies etc. In the original rite of Oho Nie,
however, the offering centered on animals, human beings
and weapons, not new harvests of rice and sake. This
paper tries to uncover the old rite of Oho Nie, focusing
on sacrificial offerings.
The appointment of a virgin princess for the Ise
Shrine was also instituted by Emperor Temmu, and
thereafter most emperors appointed a virgin princess until
the early 13th century. Before Emperor Temmu, the virgin
princess of the Ise Shrine is an ambiguous figure. Only,
in the reign of Yuryaku, the virgin princess played a role
as the oracle giver. However, for the institution of the
virgin princess, Queen Himiko and Empress Jingu seems to
give a decisive impact. Their ecstatic oracles decided
the historical course of the Yamato state. This paper,
therefore, focuses on the role of Queen Himiko and Empress
Jingu for the development of the virgin princess.
This paper aims to understand the origin and nature of
the deity of Ise Shrine from the viewpoint of the
historical development of the deity. In order to grasp
the historical reality clearly, this paper employs the
ideal typical setting of the concept according to Weber's
methodology of social science. This paper examines the
validity of the ideal typical construction of the
historical reality through historiographical and
archaeological evidence, and through sociological and
genealogical principles.
History of the Deity-body of the Ise Shrine
The Significance of the Regalia
The deity-body (shintai) of the Ise Shrine is the
Mirror, one of the three Imperial regalia. In the
beginning of the Yamato era, the regalia, i.e., mirrors,
swords, and jewels, were signs of the Heavenly clans
including the Imperial clan and their followers, and
sources of the ruling authority. According to the
traditions, the Heavenly clans immigrated to the earthly
land or, the eight islands of Japan, from the Heavenly
Highland. The Heavenly clans, then, conquered the land of
the native Japanese (the earthly clans), and monopolized
the ruling class. In so doing, the Heavenly invaders made
the regalia a sign of their clans because the earthly
clans did not usually possess these treasures. Jimmu, the
first emperor, recognized Nigihayahi, the ancestor of the
Mononobe House, as an offspring of the Heavenly clans
because they had the signs of proof. [2] The Imperial
army and other Heavenly followers made naval expeditions,
hung the regalia on the bow of a ship as the sign of their
belonging. In the era of Prince Yamato Takeru (the early
4th c. AD), his naval ship hanged a big mirror on the
front edge (Aston I, 206). In the era of Emperor Chuai
(the mid 4th c. AD), princes of Tsukushi welcomed
Emperor's navy with the ship hanging the regalia on the
Sakaki tree in the bow (Aston I, 221). In the era of
Queen Jingu (the mid 4th c. AD), a naval ship from Tajima
hung the mirror on the bow, and followed Jingu's
expedition to Korea (Mizoguchi 1982, 227). In addition to
being the sign of the Heavenly clan, the regalia was a
source of the ruling authority and the kingship. In the
early Yamato era, the people believed in magical power of
the regalia, which could control the tide, maintain long
life, resurrect the dead, ward off harmful animals, and
drive off illnesses (Varley, 73). The archeological
evidence from the Great Burials supports that the people
believed in the magical power of the regalia. Mirrors,
weapons, and jewels are main grave goods of the Great
Burials between the 1st and the 5th centuries AD. Such
goods are believed to have a power of enclosing or
absorbing the anima of the dead. Keeping in mind the
above significance of the regalia, let us trace the
history of the deity-body of the Ise Shrine
From the Heaven to Kyushu
To begin with the argument of the move of the Imperial
Regalia from the home land to Kyushu, let us take Namio
Egami's epoch-making hypothesis of the continental
conqueror's foundation of Japan. In 1967, Egami, a
prominent scholar of Mongolian history, presented the
hypothesis that the continental conqueror from the Korean
peninsula immigrated to Kyushu, and then conquered the
land of Yamato. He based his arguments on social
scientific principles and evidence, and thereby made his
hypothesis a far-reaching impact on the study of early
Japanese history both pro and con, directing later
scholars to tackle with his arguments. [3] This paper
follows Egami's direction, although it does not take his
hypothesis of the horse-rider and the dating of the
foundation of the Yamato state.
The history of the deity-body of the Ise Shrine set
out from the Heavenly Highland, according to the Nihongi
and the Kojiki. At the Heavenly Highland, Takami-musuhi
and Oho-hiru-me-muchi, the great ancestors of the Imperial
house, gave Ninigi, their Grandchild, the Imperial regalia
and the five magical functionaries (the diviners, the
singers, the dancers, the mirror-makers, and the
jewel-makers), and ordered him to conquer the land of
Japan (Aston 1, 76-7; Philippi 1969, 137-40). Ninigi came
to the Mt. Kushifuru of Tsukushi in northern Kyushu, and
subdued the enemy with the sword, and ruled over the land
of Tsukushi, with the illumination of the mirror and the
sway of the jewels (Varley, 73; Aston I, 110; Philippi
1969, 141). The Nihongi legitimizes Ninigi's invasion to
northern Kyushu:
At this time the world was given over to widespread
desolation. It was an age of darkness and
disorder. In this gloom, therefore, he [Ninigi]
fostered justice, and so governed this western
border (Aston I, 110).
Recent archeological evidence suggests that the
immigrants established the kingdom among the tribal
communities in northern Kyushu around the Common Era (the
middle Yayoi period). The tomb of personal ruler suddenly
emerged from northern Kyushu in the middle Yayoi period
(BC. 1st c. - 1st c. AD). The king's tomb is different
from the previous tribal tombs in several aspects. Before
that time, the tomb was collective site for the tribal
community; the members of a community were buried at the
same tomb collectively. The ruler's tomb, however, is
personal. The king's tombs are not only bigger in area
and volume than previous communal tombs, but also have
more varieties of grave goods. For example, a King's tomb
of the Ito state contains 57 Early Han Mirrors, a bronze
sword, 2 bronze spears, 4 gold jewels, 8 glass jewels, 1
jade jewel, and the like (Yanagida, 160). Here the
personal tomb and the set of grave goods (two digit of
mirrors, weapons and jewels) first emerged in Japan,
differentiating the king's culture from the communal Yayoi
culture.
If the deity-body and the Heavenly clan first came to
Kyushu, where is the Heavenly highland, the home of the
deity-body of the Ise Shrine? Several sources indicate
that the Heavenly highland is the Korean peninsula, and
that the deity of the Ise is a deity of Korea.
In the era of Emperor Suinin (the late 3rd c. AD),
Hiboko (namely the Heavenly spear), the ancestor of the
Tajima clan, came from Korea. He was a prince of Silla,
and a Heavenly offspring. Like the Imperial house, he
brought the divine regalia-- the mirror, the sword, the
jewels and the garments (himorogi) (Aston I, 168). As
late as the 7th century, Emperor Temmu counted several
descendants of the Paekche King to the Heavenly Imperial
clan, and gave them the highest rank of the clan title
(mahito). According to the Shinsen Shojiroku, the Shiraki
clan, a descendants of a Silla King, claimed that they
were descendants of Inaihi no mikoto, a brother of Emperor
Jimmu (Saeki, 185). In the 6th century, Emperor Keitati
called Mimana (Korean; Kaya) the home country of Japan
(mototsu kuni), and tried to maintain Mimana under direct
jurisdiction, even if Silla annexed the land (Aston II,
19).
Not only people and clan, but also deities came to
Japan from Korea. According to a book of the Nihongi ,
the deity of the Ise Shrine came from Korea (Mukatsu).
When Queen Jingu asked who instructed her, the female
deity of Ise answered:
I am the Deity who dwells in the Shrine of split-bell Isuzu
in the district of hundred-transmit Watarai in the province
of divine-wind Ise, and my name is Tsuki-Sakaki idzu no
mi-tama amazakaru Mukatsu hime no Mikoto (Aston I, 225).
In the same era, Queen Jingu referred to the term Mukatsu
(the harbor of across) as Korea; she called the land of
Silla the land of Mukatsu (Aston I, 221). Here, the deity
of the Ise Shrine is regarded as a deity of Korea. In
addition, according to the oracle collection of the Usa
Shrine in Kyushu, the god came from the castle of Korea.
The Usa Shrine, the second ranked shrine next to the Ise
Shrine in early Japan, enshrines the deity of Korea with
Queen Jingu and Emperor Ojin as its chief deities.
According to the Nihongi, in the reign of Emperor Yuryaku
(the late 5th c.), Soga no Omi, a minister of Japan,
regarded that the founder God of the Land (kuni wo tateshi
kami) was the same in both Japan and Paekche. In the
Nihongi, the minister speaks:
"Now the God of the originally founded this country is the
God who descended from Heaven and established this State in
the period when Heaven and Earth became separated, and when
trees and herbs had speech. I have recently been informed
that your country has ceased to worship him" (Aston II, 77).
This tradition identifies Tankun, the founder of three
Hans of ancient Korea, with Takami-musuhi, the ancestor of
the Japanese Emperor (cf. Sakamoto et al. 1965, 114-5).
[4] According to the Seitoki, Emperor Kammu (781-806)
burnt the book which stated that the founder deity of
Japan was the same one of the Korean states (Aston II,
77).
Thus, the above pieces of evidence and their arguments
suggest that the Heavenly clans and the deity-body of the
Ise Shrine came from Korea, and settled first in northern
Kyushu. The next task of this paper is to trace the move
of the deity-body from Kyushu to Yamato.
From Kyushu to Yamato
The move of the deity-body from Kyushu to Yamato
begins with the first Emperor Jimmu's expedition of the
east. Jimmu's conquest of the east is the main theme of
the old Japanese chronicles and traditions, and was
remembered as an extraordinary event. According to the
Nihongi and the Kojiki, Jimmu, an offspring of Ninigi,
made the expedition to the east, carrying the Imperial
regalia. Just before the expedition, the Nihongi states
the condition of the land of Yamato, and legitimizes the
adventure:
The remote regions do not yet enjoy the blessings of Imperial
rule. Every town has always been allowed to have its lord,
and every village its chief, who, each one for himself, makes
division of territory and practises mutual aggression and
conflict. ._ I think that this land will undoubtedly be
suitable for the extension of the Heavenly task, so that its
glory should fill the universe (Aston I, 110-1).
Jimmu started the expedition from Kyushu to Chugoku and
Kinki, and finally established the state in Yamato (Aston
I: 111-132; Philippi 1968, 163-77). The conquest,
however, was not an easy adventure; it involved a set of
defeats and difficulties including the death of Jimmu's
brothers. Emperor Jimmu frequently sought miraculous
guidance and protection of the deity-bodies and other
magical powers at the critical times. Jimmu had lived and
slept with the mirror in the enemy's land, according to
the Kogoshui and the Kuji hongi (Kato and Hoshino, 46;
Kuroita 1926 b, 44).
As for archeological evidence, the previous section
showed that the peculiar set of the grave regalia
originated from the king's tomb in northern Kyushu around
the Common Era. However, in Kyushu, the king's tomb
disappeared in the 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD. This
custom, then, suddenly appeared in Yamato in the late 3rd
century, and became the standard grave goods from the
initial explosion of the Great Burial culture between the
late 3rd and the 5th centuries (Mori, 268-9). In
addition, the oldest type of the key-hole shape mound
(Zenpo koen fun) simultaneously emerged in northern Kyushu
and Yamato during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries
(Yanagida, 168-74). Another piece of archeological
evidence is the hilltop fortress which suddenly emerged
alongside Inner Sea in the late 2nd century, and
thereafter disappeared. The time corresponds to the great
wars of Yamato in the late 2nd century according to
Chinese histories. In this period, however, northern
Kyushu had little hilltop fortresses, unlike the seacoast
of the Inland Sea. This means that the king's tomb
disappeared without the war in northern Kyushu.
Therefore, it is possible to infer that the king of Kyushu
immigrated into other places around the 2nd century AD.
Moreover, a new styled and large scaled market site (the
Makimuku) suddenly appeared in the foot hill of Mt. Miwa
in Yamato in the late 2nd century. In this site, the
magico-religious rite seems to be performed up to early
4th century. A considerable number of ritual instruments
such as circled wood with curved lines (komon enban) and
bird-shape wood (tori-gata mokuseihin) is discovered.
There are many holes (38 holes in the Tsuji district),
which seem to be used to burry the instruments and the
remains after the rite, as the Ise Shrine has performed
such custom until now in order to burry the remains of the
ceremony. The culture of the Makimuku site has a leap
from the previous Yayoi culture of the Karako and the Kagi
sites in the same Yamato area. Koichi Mori summarizes the
characteristics of the Makimuku site:
This [Makimuku] site is a remarkable one in several aspects.
First, it has little remains of the Yayoi culture. Second,
it suddenly appeared in the beginning of the Great Burial
culture, having the Makimuku or Shonai style pottery. Third,
it contains six Keyhole-shape tombs including Tomb Hashi._
Thus, for the researchers who take the Yamato hypothesis of
the State Yamatai, the Makimuku site may be the capital of
State Yamatai, although it is my guessing and secret
expectation (p. 230-1).
From above pieces of archeological evidence, one can infer
that there is a close relationships of culture and
political system between northern Kyushu and Yamato during
the 1st century AD to the 3rd century, and that the ruling
group who conducted a peculiar burial custom moved from
northern Kyushu to Yamato, conquering the seacoast of the
Inland Sea, and established the capital of the state in
Yamato.
In addition to the archeological research, some
genealogical studies too suggest that Jimmu moved from
Kyushu to Yamato, and founded the Yamato state. Akira
Ota, a distinguished scholar of Japanese genealogy, argues
that Jimmu and his followers immigrated into Yamato from
Kyushu. From an extensive survey of the geographical
distribution of clan-name, Ota discovered that the
descendents of Jimmu and Takami-musuhi, the principal
figure of the Jimmu's ancestor, spread over mostly in
northern Kyushu and Yamato (1928, 305-66). The ancient
governors of Hita, Usa, Iki, and Tsushima in northern
Kyushu, were all the descendants of Takami-musuhi. The
governors of Hi, Ohoita, and Aso, were the descendants of
Kamiyai-mimi, a son of Jimmu. Ota also found that the
clan name of Jimmu's followers such as Nakatomi, Ohotomo,
and Mononobe, originated from northern Kyushu (1928,
227-44).
A sociological study also shows the probability of the
outsider origin of the Japanese ruler. Max Weber, the
founder of the understanding sociology, characterizes the
Emperor Jimmu as a charismatic king who immigrated into
the land of Yamato with his followers (1978, 1136). Weber
takes the early Japanese nation as an example of the pure
type of hereditary charisma state (1978, 250). The
outsiders often establish a strict type of political or
religious ruling system in the conquered land or the
hostile missionary land such as English feudalism by
William the Conqueror, the Sparta city-state in the
conquered land of Peloponnese, the Roman Catholic church
in pagan Rome, and hierarchal Lamaism in the snow-desert
land of Tibet. The strictly stereotyped politics and
society is reflected on the uninterrupted succession of
the imperial house for more than 1500 years, and the long
lasting system of genealogical clan administration. No
other clans could challenge the supremacy of the Imperial
house; the succession of the throne is the monopoly of the
imperial house, not first among equal clans, even if the
political power of the imperial house became increasingly
impotent. These are far-reaching consequences of the
first emperor Jimmu's military charisma and his foundation
of Japan. From a sociological point of view, therefore,
it is most probable that the Emperor Jimmu, the immigrated
charismatic leader, founded a strict system of hereditary
charisma state in the conquered land.
Thus, from historiographical, archeological,
genealogical and sociological arguments, the deity-body of
the Ise Shrine or the Imperial regalia most possibly moved
into Yamato from Kyushu. Yet the journey of the Imperial
Regalia did not end at the capital of the Yamato state,
but further went to the remote seacoast of Ise. Let us
next discuss how and why the Imperial regalia became the
deity-body of the Ise Shrine.
From Yamato to Ise
In the reign of Emperor Suinin (the late 3rd c.),
according to the Nihongi and the Yamato Hime no Mikoto
Seiki, the deity-bodies, or the Yasaka Mirror and the
Kusanagi Sword were entrusted to Princess Yamato, and
moved first to Uda of Yamato, next to Ohmi and to Mino,
and finally to Ise (Aston I, 176; Kuroita 1926 b, 45-49).
Then, by the oracle of the deity, Princess Yamato built
the sanctuary of the deity-body and other weapons at the
port of Ise Bay, and resided there. According to the
Yamato hime no Mikoto Seiki, Princess Yamato's march can
be characterized a military campaign or an inspection
campaign with a military force. First she was accompanied
by five distinctive generals such as "Abe no Takenuka wake
no mikoto, Wani no Hiko Kuni-buku no mikoto, Nakatomi no
kuni-no kasuri Oho Kashima no mikoto, Mononobe no Tochine
no mikoto, and Ohotomo no Takehi no mikoto" (Kuroita 1926
b, 51). Second, they carried weapons such as "long
swords, short swords, spears, shields, bows and arrows"
(Kuroita 1926 b, 51). Third, they faced a great battle at
Asakata of Ise which caused them to ask the additional
weapons to the court at Yamato (Kuroita 1926 b, 46-7).
There are some pieces of evidence that support the
objective possibility of the journey to Ise. Torajiro
Naito found that a considerable number of the countries of
the Yamatai state, which the History of Wei states,
corresponds to the countries which Princess Yamato went
though in the Yamato hime no Mikoto Seiki (1981, 3-22).
The countries which Princess Yamato journeyed correspond
to the distribution of the Agata province, the oldest type
of country, in central Japan (cf. Ueda 1959, 133-6).
According to Ota's geographical survey of the distribution
of clan-name, the descendants of the five generals had
spread over the countries alongside the journey of
Princess Yamato, and alongside the routes of the east
expedition (1928, 163-94, 405-16).
Suppose the journey had actually taken place, the next
question is why it ended at Ise. For the early Yamato
state, the naval ports and ships were "cardinal
importance" (Aston I, 61). Ise was a key strategic port
for the further naval expedition to the east (Torigoe
1973, 208-24). The land of Ise had geographical
important conditions: mighty trade wind, calm bay, rich
forests, and wide river. The sacrificial rite at the
mouth of Ise Bay was performed for the success and
protection of the military expedition to the east by the
sea route (Tokai do). This initial function of the Ise
Shrine, however, was over when the conquest of Kanto plain
was completed by Prince Yamato Takeru in the early 4th
century. Yet the military efficacy of the Ise Shrine
remained strong in the Yamato court.
The Moving, a Characteristic of the Japanese Deity
Finally we come to the conclusion of the journey.
What does the above narrated long journey of the
deity-body mean? Although not all of the above stories
might take place, the journey indicates that the
deity-body came to Ise from outside; it dose not originate
in a local deity of native Ise. This conclusion opposes
scholars' consensus that the deity of the Ise Shrine may
originate in a local deity of Ise (Naoki 1964, 257;
Matsumae, 348-50; Sakamoto et al. 1967, 591 ) The move
and invitation of the deity from outside is common among
Japanese deities. The sword of the Kashima Shrine came to
Hitachi from the Heavenly Highland via the Isonokami
Shrine at Yamato. The deity-body of the Atsuta Shrine
came from Izumo via Yamato and Ise. The Suminoe Shrine
(present Osaka Prefecture) was imported from Munakata of
Kyushu; Iwashimizu-Hachiman of Kyoto from Usa of Kyushu;
the Outer Shrine of Ise from Tamba. All of them were
instituted by the state because of its political and
military merits. In addition, the wide- spread
distribution of the Amateru or Amaterasu Shrine over the
counties also indicates that the Amaterasu deity of the
Ise Shrine is not a particular deity of local Ise, but an
ubiquitous deity of Japan. In the late 5th century, the
court introduced an Amateru Shrine into Yamashiro
according to the oracle of the Sun deity of Tsushima (not
of Ise) (Aston I, 391-2). In the 8th century, according
to the Engi-shiki, the Amaterasu or Amateru deity was
enshrined at Tsushima, Tsukushi, Harima, Tajima, Settsu,
Kawachi, Yamashiro, Yamato and Ise (Block, II, 115-71).
[5] The wide-spread distribution of a deity is a common
phenomenon, especially of the Heavenly deities. When a
particular deity manifests its efficacy, such a deity is
invited to wherever the concerned people live. The
Kashima Shrine, the Hachiman Shrine, the Kompira Shrine,
the Kasuga Shrine, the Suwa Shrine, and the Inari Shrine
are among the most wide-spread and popular ones. The
Japanese deity rides on the Mikoshi, the carriage of the
god, and moves from place to place. The Japanese deity
has such high mobility, and is not restricted by its
locality.
The Character of the Deity
In the above chapter, this paper has traced the
history and origin of the deity-body (shintai) of the Ise
Shrine, and argued the outside origination. In addition,
the journey of the deity-body also has indicated its
military nature, the protector of the Imperial army and
the guarantor of the victorious campaign. This chapter,
therefore, discusses the original character and nature of
the deity, focusing on the Rite of Great Sacrifice (Oho
Nie) and the abstained Virgin Princess.
THE RITE OF GREAT SACRIFICE
The present three highest rites of the Imperial house
and the Ise Shrine are the ceremony of Emperor's
enthronement (Daijo sai), the offering of first fruits at
the Imperial house (Niname sai) and at the Ise Shrine
(Kanname sai). These three rites originate from the same
rite called Oho Nie (Naoki 1975, 280-1). In the
chronicles and the local gazette (Fudoki), the words "Oho
Nie" and "Nie" appears as a kind of tribute to the court
from local countries (Naoki 1975, 282-3). However, the
word "Nie" also connotes "sacrifice"; "ike-nie," still
today, specifically means living human or animal sacrifice
to a deity (Saigo, 164). In the Fujiwara and Nara
periods, according to the recent discovery of the Nie
tags, main offerings from the countries at the Rite of Oho
Nie were animals, not grains and vegetables (Naoki 1971,
97). In the 9th century, "a white wild boar, a white
horse, and white domestic fowls" were still offered at the
court and the Ise Shrine (Philippi 1990, 18; Kato and
Hoshino, 51). And human sacrifices are also found in the
records. In 681, the court ordered a rite of human
sacrifice to each province (Aston II, 352). Genchi Kato
cites a source in Atsutane Hirata's Koshiden that living
human sacrifices were sent to the court as tribute (Nie) :
According to a tradition handed down to and preserved by the
Tame family, in ancient times, the local governors used to
send a certain number of human scapegoats as tribute to the
Imperial Court, for use on behalf of the Emperor (Kato,
154-5).
However, the court prohibited the sacrificial offering
(Nie) in 768, and 800 (Kuroita 1935, 310), due to the
demilitarization of the ruling class and the Buddhist idea
of ahimsa (not killing any sentient beings). Instead of
actual animal and human sacrifice, the court introduced
substitutional potteries (Haniwa), pictures (euma) and
effigies (hito gata). In the late 5th century, Emperor
Yuryaku established the office of the substitution makers
of the sacrificial offering (Nie no haji be) at the Ise
Shrine (Aston I, 365). By the 9th century, the court and
the Ise Shrine substituted human sacrifice with Hito gata
(iron, or gold effigies), and horse sacrifice with wooden
horse (Block, II, 133-5). Thus, as the pacification of
Japan completed, and the military commitment to Korean
Peninsula was abandoned, the Rite of Great Sacrifice was
transformed its military sacrificial offerings into the
peaceful and vegetational ones.
ORIGINS OF THE VIRGIN PRINCESS
In addition to the Rite of Great Sacrifice, the deity
of the Ise Shrine manifested its military nature in the
institution of the abstained virgin princess. There were
many cases in the ancient world including China and Rome
that a emperor served directly to the highest deity of the
state. But, there was little corresponding institution
over the world that a virgin princess served the supreme
deity of the state. What was the motivation to establish
such a peculiar institution? The decisive events were
that Queen Himiko and Empress Jingu made ecstatic
prophecies at the crisis of the Yamato state, and
demonstrated the efficacies. Since then, an Imperial
female became the charge of ecstatic prophecy and oracle.
In Yuryaku's reign, the court and the priest of the Ise
Shrine carefully watched the ecstatic oracle of the virgin
princess (Varley, 108).
In ancient times, every introduction of new law,
institution, procedure, contract and the like, required
the divine oracle. The Mosaic law, Muhammad's
constitution of Medina, and the Delphic oracle in Greek
city-state are typical examples. In the early Yamato
period too, the oracles especially of a Queen and of a
female abstainer (mono imi) of the major shrine were
powerful enough to direct religious-political decisions at
the critical time. By the ecstatic prophecy, Queen
Himiko (Yamato momoso toto), could specify the cause of
the epidemic, and separated the dwelling place of the
divine regalia of the Heavenly one from the Earthly one.
Himiko's oracle perceived Takehani's rebellion, and made
Emperor Sujin the victory. By the possession of the
deity, Empress Jingu ordered the expedition to Silla, and
won the successful result. By the command of the deity in
dream, Jingu could identified the cause of the defeat at
Naniwa Bay. By the ecstatic oracle of the virgin princess
of Ise, Emperor Yuryaku transferred the deity of Toyouke
from Tamba to the Outer shrine of Ise at the Korean crisis
(Varley, 113-4; Aston II, 76-7).
From a sociological analogy of ancient Israel and
Greece, such a female medium originated possibly in the
ecstatic war prophecy. In ancient Israel, ecstatic war
prophetesses appeared in the time of the wars of
liberation. The task of the ecstatic war prophetess was
"the incitement to crusade, promise of victory, and
ecstatic victory magic" (Weber 1952: 97). Prophetess
Miriam with Moses and Aaron led the people out of the
Egypt, and danced and sang of the victory of the Red Sea
(Exodus 15: 20-1). When Miriam became ill, the people of
Israel stopped the journey for seven days; when she died,
they buried her and kept the mourning for her (Numbers 12:
15; 20:1). Prophetess Deborah, the mother of the Israel,
gathered the army of Israel and spoke the oracle of
Yahweh, and sang of the victory of Israel (Judges 4:1 -
5:15). Greek Prophetesses at Dodona, the oldest sanctuary
of the warrior god, Zeus, too, provided the ecstatic
oracles to the warrior kings (Odyssey XIV: 327).
Like Deborah in the time of crisis, Queen Yamato
momoso toto (Himiko) pronounced the demand of gods and
dictated the war against the enemy, and brought the
victory (Aston I, 152-9). Like the case of Miriam, when
Queen Himiko died, the people made the epoch-making huge
tomb for her (Aston I, 159). Like Miriam, Empress Jingu
performed ecstatic war dance (Aston I, 227). Like
Deborah, in the state of ecstatic possession, Empress
Jingu called the army and promise the victory against
Silla (Aston I, 225-30). A Princess Yamato in the reign
of Yuryaku, too, made ecstatic war prophecy at the Korean
military crisis (Varley, 108). In sum, these three
predecessors of the virgin princess made the Imperial
female prophetesses decisive at the military crisis. They
were an ecstatic war prophetess.
In order to induce the state of ecstasy, the virgin
princess was required an abstained life (mono imi).
Before receiving a oracle, Empress Jingu kept the
abstention for seven days (Aston I, 225). Abstention or
asceticism is an old custom of Japan. According to a
Chinese history, in order to bring fortune, the people of
Yamato selected the consecrated ascetic (Jisui) when a
voyage was carried (Tsunoda and Goodrich, 11). The Jisui
was separated from the common people, and subjected to
ascetic conducts of life such as not eating meat, not
having sex, not arranging one's hair, not washing the
body, and so forth. [6] If the efficacy of such ascetic
took place in the victory of naval expedition as well as
in protection of the ship from violent storms, the
ascetics were rewarded by gifts of slaves and other
treasures. [7]
Such ascetic conduct of the Jisui corresponds to that
of the Nazirite of the Israel, who abstained from eating
meat, drinking alcohol, having sex, and arranging hair
(Judges 13:7; 16:17). The Nazirite, "the separated one"
(Numbers 6:2), originated from the war ascetic, and later
transformed the exemplar of the ritualistic life who
abstained from all uncleanness. From a sociological
analogy of the Nazirite, one can assume that the Jisui
could originated from the ascetic magician whose task was
to guarantee the victory of the battle and the venture
through magical ascetic life. These characteristics of
the war ascetics are similar to the life of the abstained
virgin princess who consecrated from all uncleanness
including having sex and eating meat.
Another similarity between the Virgin Princess and the
Nazirite is human sacrifice. The Nazirite was "the old
demand of Yahweh for the sacrifice of all human first-born
in the old law books" (Weber 1952, 95) in order to
preserve the physical power of Yahweh's army. Like the
Nazirite, the virgin Princess was the possession of god.
The Virgin Princess was a sacrificial offering to the
deity (Saigo, 164). But, unlike the Nazirite as a soldier
of Yahweh, the Virgin Princess was a wife of the deity in
the enclosed residence. For the Emperor's side, she could
be a hostage to express the court's obedience to the
deity, or a political gift to win their god's favor. A
King often offered his children as sacrifice to a deity at
the time of crisis. Jephthah, a military leader of
ancient Israel, made his daughter sacrificial offering to
the god as he vowed it before the battle. Agamemnon, a
Greek king, offered his daughter Iphigenia to the war god
in order to win the battle. Demophon, a Greece king,
sacrificed "a maiden of noble birth" to Persephone to
protect from Argive invasion; Creon sacrificed his son
Menoeceus in order to placate the hostility of Ares
(Hastings 1921). In these comparisons, one can interpret
that, at the time of crisis in the reign of Emperor Sujin,
a virgin princess Toyosuki-iri was sacrificed to "Goddess
Amaterasu," and a virgin princess Nunaki-iri was to be
sacrificed to local god Yamato-Oho-kuni-dama, but by shock
she became "bald and lean, and therefore unfit" for the
sacrificial offering (Aston I, 152). [8] Quoting many
cases of human sacrifice in Japan, Kato unveils the
meaning behind the practices of human sacrifice:
The cases quoted illustrate the same principle that without
such offerings of high value in a great crisis of a state or
community the deities cannot be propitiated (Kato 1971,
106-7).
Thus, from above arguments, the virgin princess (Saio)
originated from the ecstatic war prophecy and its
asceticism, and its institution was a kind of human
sacrifice.
CONCLUSION
In the early Yamato period, there was no concept of
god and worship, but the concrete object of the
extraordinary power and magical manipulation. In those
days, the Japanese ruling class regarded the Imperial
regalia the magical object of extraordinary power, and
sanctioned the regalia to the storage, which later became
the shrine. The Ise Shrine was first build as the
sanctuary of the regalia and other weapons at the navy
port. Originally, the deity-body came from Korea to
Kyushu by Ninigi, and brought to Yamato by Jimmu, and
finally came to Ise by a princess, Yamato-hime. The
travels of the deity-body were the military campaigns
against local chieftains, for guidance and victory of
their adventure of conquest. The reason why the mirror
resided at Ise is the strategical importance of the land
of Ise as the naval port to expedition to the further
east. After the 6th century, the deity-body of the Ise
Shrine was identified with the Sun deity, Amaterasu. The
Heavenly deities of Japan including Amaterasu were an
ubiquitous deity, not a local deity. The Amaterasu Shrine
is spread over Japan, not a specific shrine of local Ise.
As for the original character, the deity-body was the
protector of the Imperial navy and the guarantor of the
successful campaign from the beginning of the Yamato
state. Around the Common Era, King Ninigi depended his
conquest of northern Kyushu on the extraordinary power of
the deity-body, which the ancestor of the Imperial clan
handed to him in Korean Peninsula. In the 2nd century,
the First Emperor Jimmu could achieved the conquest of the
land of Yamato only by the help of miraculous power of the
deity-body. He lived and slept with the deity-body in the
enemy's land. In the early 3rd century, at a military
crisis, Queen Himiko was possessed by the deity, and made
a ascetic war prophecies, which unified the fighting
factions, and directed them to the conquest of entire
Japan and Korea. She was called the (second) founder of
Japan. In this process of the pacification of Japan, a
sanctuary of the deity was build at the mouth of Ise Bay.
In the late 3rd century, a virgin Princess Yamato became
resided the sanctuary, and provided ecstatic war prophecy
for the further expedition of the east. In the early 4th
century, with the help of the deity-bodies of Ise, Prince
Yamato Takeru succeed an expedition of the east, and
offered the gift of slaves to the sanctuary of Ise. In
the late 4th century, in order to succeed the expedition
to Silla, Empress Jingu made an ecstatic war prophecy, and
named a deity of Korea the deity of Ise. In the 5th
century, at the military crisis in Korean Peninsula,
Emperor Yuryaku asked a war prophecy to a virgin
prophetess, Princess Yamato, at the Ise sanctuary. By the
oracle of the deity, he introduced the Outer Shrine of Ise
from Tajima. In the 7th century, in order to win the
Jinshin War of Succession, Emperor Temmu prayed the deity
of the Ise Shrine for the help. After the victory, he
instituted the Ise Shrine as the supreme State Shrine.
Even as late as the 8th century, the Nara court often
dispatched military officers to the Ise Shrine, and made
the offerings at the military crises (Naoki 1964,
283-309). Thus, the military efficacy of the Ise Shrine
is consistent from the beginning of the Yamato state to
the 8th century.
Corresponding to the military character of the deity,
the offerings in the original Rite of Great Sacrifice (Oho
Nie) were mainly weapons, treasures, animals and human
beings, not fruits of grains and vegetables. In the
ancient time of war, females had taken the role of
ecstatic war prophecy. As the military nature of the
early Yamato state, Queen and Empress often became an
ecstatic war prophetess, and directed the course of the
state. In this military efficacy of ecstatic war
prophecy, the abstained Virgin Princess was instituted at
the Ise Shrine.
Endnote
[1] For the chronological times, I take the Yamato
hypothesis of the state Yamatai (Naito 1981; Kasahara
1981; Higo 1974) and the death date of the emperors
according to the Shimpuku-ji manuscript of the Kojiki
(Philippi 1969,18-9). Queen Himiko is Yamato toto momoso
hime or Yamato hime, and she died in 248 AD. Her brother
Sujin died in 258 AD. The first king was Emperor Jimmu in
the mid 2nd century AD. Emperor Chuai died in 362;
Emperor Ojin died in 394; Emperor Yuryaku died in 489.
The treasure house or the weapon storage of the Ise
sanctuary was already existed in the mid 3rd century A.D.
The Yamato hypothesis makes it possible to investigate the
early history of Japan up to the 2nd century AD.
[2] In the Nihongi, Jimmu speaks: "'There are many
other children of the Heavenly Deity. If he whom thou has
taken as thy Lord were truly a child of the Heavenly
Deity, there would be surely some object which thou
couldst show to us by way of proof.' Naga-sune-hiko
accordingly brought a single Heavenly feathered-arrow of
Nigihayahi no Mikoto, and a foot-quiver" (Aston 1972, I,
128). In addition to the arrow and the foot-quiver,
according to the Kuji hongi and the Jinno Shotoki,
Nigihayahi brought the mirrors, the swords, and the jewels
from the Heaven (Kuroita, 7, 25-6).
[3] I would like to say that he is Copernicus of
early Japanese history, who made up-side-down the position
of the centering, i.e., from the Japan-center to the
world-center.
[4] Such claim of the same origin may explain the
close relationship between Paekche and Japan. Paekche
sent many cultural materials and technicians including
Buddhist monks and sculptors to Japan, while Japan sent
the troops several times to support the Paekche from the
threat of Koguryo and Silla until the end of Paekche
kingdom. Egami argues that Japan, Kaya (Japanese,
Mimana), and Paekche came from the same origin, that is,
the Chin Kingdom, a clan of north-east China (p. 191-98,
351-6).
[5] The Amateru Shrine of Tsushima enshrines
Ame-no-hi mi-tama (Heavenly Sun Spirit), a descendant of
Takami-musuhi, who came from the Heavenly Highland with
Nigihayahi (Kuroita 1926 a, 25-6; Matsumae, 344-6).
[6] Greek prophetesses at Dodona were "of unwashed
feet, sleeping on the ground" (Iliad XVI, 234).
[7] Like the Jisui, a Virgin Princess Yamato
received the salves, the land and other valuables in
return to the victory (Aston I, 209; Kuroita 1926 b,
46-8).
[8] Unlike above case of daughter's sacrifice,
however, the Virgin Princess at the Ise Shrine was not
killed, but kept alive because of the oracle function.
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