Chapter 2

SHINTO: MYTHS AND RITUAL, PAGE 35

Japan is young beside China and Korea.--Japanese history is comparatively modern.--The oldest documents date from A.D. 712.--The Japanese archipelago inhabited before the Christian era.--Faith, worship and ritual are previous to written espression.--The Kojiki, Manyōshu and Norito.--Tendency of the pupil nations surrounding China to antedate their civilization.--Origin of the Japanese people and their religion.--Three distinct lines of tradition from Tsukushi, Idzumo and Yamato.--War of the invaders against the aborigines--Mikadoism is the heart of Shintō.--Illustrations from the liturgies.--Phallicism among the aborigines and common people.--The mind or mental climate of the primæval man.--Representation of male gods by emblems.--Objects of worship and _ex-voto_.--Ideas of creation.--The fire-myth, Prometheus.--Comparison of Greek and Japanese mythology.--Ritual for the quieting of the fire-god.--The fire-drill.