[The Significance of Japanese Mirrors]
Old Japanese metal mirrors are circular, the surface convex, and the back adorned with elaborate designs in relief of flowers, birds, and other scenes from Nature. Professor B. H. Chamberlain writes: "An extraordinary peculiarity characterises some of these Japanese mirrors: sunlight reflected from their face displays a luminous image of the design on their back! So strange a phenomenon has naturally attracted the attention of men of science. After much speculation, it has been clearly proved by Professors Ayrton and Perry to arise from the fact that the curvature of the face of the mirror over the plain part of the back is greater than over the design." It is the phenomenon rather than the possible explanation of it that interests us, and no doubt this strange occurrence accounts in some measure for the magical significance of Nipponese mirrors.
The great legendary idea underlying Japanese mirrors is just this, that the mirror, through constant reflection of its owner's face, draws to itself the very soul of its possessor, and, as we shall see later on, something of the same idea is to be traced in regard to old but much-loved Japanese dolls.
Hidari Jingorō
The famous sculptor Hidari Jingorō on one occasion happened to fall in love with a very attractive woman whom he met in the street on his return to his studio. He was so fascinated by her rare beauty that as soon as he had reached his destination he commenced to carve a statue of her. Between the chiselled robes he placed a mirror, the mirror which the lovely woman had dropped, and which her eager lover had at once picked up. Because this mirror had reflected a thousand thousand times that fair face, it had taken to its shining surface the very body and soul of its owner, and because of these strange things the statue came to life, to the extreme happiness of sculptor and maid.
The Divine Mirror
Long before the Japanese mirror was a familiar object in the house it had a very deep religious significance in connection with Shintōism. The Divine Mirror into which the Sun Goddess gazed reposes at Ise. Other mirrors are to be found in Shintō shrines; indeed, these mirrors are the essential part of a shrine remarkable for its simplicity. The mirror "typifies the human heart, which, when perfectly placid and clear, reflects the very image of the deity." In the Kojiki we are told that Izanagi presented his children with a polished silver disc, and bade them kneel before it every morning and evening and examine their reflections. He told them to think of heavenly things, to stifle passion and all evil thought, so that the disc should reveal a pure and lovely soul.
The Soul of a Mirror
The shrine of Ogawachi-Myōjin fell into decay, and the Shintō priest in charge, Matsumura, journeyed to Kyōto in the hope of successfully appealing to the Shōgun for a grant for the restoration of the temple.