Nakatomi.--For many centuries most of the Mikado's sacerdotal functions have been delegated. In the Jimmu legend there is mention of the appointment of a Michi no Omi (minister of the way) as ruler of a festival in honour of Taka-musubi. At the dawn of history we find the Nakatomi hereditary corporation the recognized vicars of the Mikado. Tradition traces their descent from the God Koyane. The most probable etymology of Nakatomi explains it as put for Naka-tsu-omi, that is to say, the minister of the middle. Hirata understands by this that the Nakatomi were mediators between the Gods and the Mikado, reciting the Mikado's norito to the Gods, and communicating to him their instructions received by divination. In Shinto, however, there was no indispensable sacerdotal mediator. There was nothing to prevent the Mikado, or any one, from holding direct communication with the deities.
A branch of the Nakatomi House, which in the seventh century took the name of Fujihara, was famous in later history. Up to 1868 the nominal Prime Ministers and Regents were invariably taken from it. The officials of the Jingikwan, or Department of Religion, were largely Nakatomi, as were also the Chokushi, or Imperial envoys to the local shrines. Yet the Nakatomi were hardly what we should call a priestly caste, like the Levites or Brahmins. The local priesthood were not ordinarily Nakatomi, and many of this House held purely civil appointments.
The Jingikwan took precedence even of the Dajōkwan, or Grand Council of State. It was presided over by an official called Haku. He had the supreme control of all the Shinto State ceremonies, and authority over the local priesthood. He was assisted by a vice-president, and had a staff of Imbe, Urabe, and clerks. The Haku took the place of the Mikado when the latter was prevented by illness from offering his daily prayers. From the eleventh century up till quite recently the Haku was one of the Shirakaha family, who trace their descent from the Mikado Kwazan (985-6), and enjoyed the title of Ô, or prince. As explained above, the Nakatomi were practically the Imperial family.
Imbe.--The Imbe were another hereditary corporation, descended, it was said, from the God Futodama (great-gift). Their chief business was to prepare the offerings, and their name Imi-be (imi means avoidance, or religious abstinence) has reference to the care with which they avoided all sources of impurity in doing so. The Imbe, after praying to the Mountain-God, cut down with a sacred (imi) axe the trees required for shrines, or at least began the work, leaving it to be completed by ordinary workmen. They also dug the foundations with a sacred (imi) mattock. Two of the norito, namely, the Ohotono and the Mikado, were read by them. It was also their duty, at least at one period, to deliver the regalia to the Mikado at his coronation.
A Chinese description of Japan, written long before the Kojiki or Nihongi, gives the following account of what were in all probability the predecessors of the Imbe:--
"They (the Japanese) appoint a man whom they call an 'abstainer.' He is not allowed to comb his hair, to wash, to eat flesh, or to approach women. When they are fortunate, they make him presents, but if they are ill, or meet with disaster, they set it down to the abstainer's failure to keep his vows, and unite to put him to death."[174]
This is a description of a typical ascetic. In the Imbe of historical times we have the closely allied idea of scrupulous attention to religious purity. But they were not celibates or vegetarians except ad hoc when a festival was impending, and so far from neglecting the care of their persons, strict cleanliness was incumbent upon them.
Urabe.--A third hereditary religious corporation in ancient Japan was that of the diviners or Urabe. They are mentioned in the Nihongi under the date a.d. 585. They were divided at a later period into four branches, belonging respectively to the provinces of Iki, Tsushima, Idzu, and Hitachi. Twenty of these diviners were attached to the Jingikwan. It was their duty to decide by the deer's shoulder-blade or tortoise-shell divination such matters as were referred to them by the superior officials of the department. Urabe were despatched to the provinces to fetch the rice which was used in the Ohonihe ceremony. It was also their duty to take away and throw into a river the harahe-tsu-mono, or offerings of purification. For many centuries this office has been in the hands of the Yoshida family, whose exorbitant pretensions fill Hirata with indignation.
The Nakatomi, Imbe, Urabe, and Ô (princes of the Shirakaha House), constitute what are called the Shi-sei, or four surnames of the Jingikwan.
Saishu.--The high-priest at Ise was called Saishu, or worship-master. This office was hereditary in the Fujinami family, a branch of the Nakatomi.