When a princess was dedicated to the service of the shrines, the following formula (No. 23) was added:--
"More especially do I humbly declare: 'The offering of a Sacred Princess of the Blood Imperial to serve as the Deities' staff, having first, according to custom, observed the rules of religious purity for three years, is to the end that thou mayst cause the Sovran Grandchild to live peacefully and firmly as long as Heaven and Earth, the Sun and Moon, may last. I, the Great Nakatomi, holding the dread spear by the middle,[233] with deepest awe pronounce this dedication of her by the Mikado to the end that she may serve as an august staff.'"
Kamu-ima-ge or Shingonjiki.--This festival was celebrated in the palace at night after the Tsukinami. The name means literally God-new-food. It consisted in the Mikado in person or by deputy making an offering of food to the Sun-Goddess. The forms resembled those in use for the Ohonihe or Nihi-name, and included laying down a cushion (saka-makura) to represent the Deity, the use of a firedrill, &c.
Hirano no Matsuri.--Festival of Hirano, a village in the province of Settsu. There is much doubt as to the deities in whose honour this service (No. 5 of the Yengishiki) was first instituted. It is believed that it was originally celebrated in honour of Image no Kami (the God of New Food) and of Kudo no Kami and Kobe no Kami, the Gods of the kitchen-boiler and of the cooking-pan. The Image was probably, as explained by Sir E. Satow, freshly hulled rice offered monthly to the Gods.
After the Mikado Kwammu founded the shrine of Hirano, about the end of the eighth century, it became the custom for all the branches of the Imperial family to be represented at the two annual celebrations. It was Kitabatake Chika-fusa (1293-1359) who first invented the popular account of the Gods worshipped here. Knowing that they were in some manner family deities, he proceeded to allot as uji-gami to the Tahira, Minamoto, Ohoye and Takashina families, ancient members of the Imperial line taken here and there at random, and comprising the Sun-Goddess, Yamato-dake, and the Mikados Chiuai and Nintoku. This is an instructive example of the intrusion of ancestor-worship so-called into the older Shinto.
The norito read at this festival affords no clue to the identity of the Gods worshipped. It mentions the founding of the shrine at the behest of the Sovran Great God (or Gods) and makes offerings in acknowledgment of his (or their) preserving the Mikado's life and prospering his reign.[234]
Kudo and Kobe no Matsuri.--This service (No. 6 of the Yengishiki) is practically identical with the last, which is natural, if, as is probable, the Gods worshipped are really the same.
Toshigohi no Matsuri (harvest-praying service).--This festival (No. 1 of the Yengishiki) was in honour of the deities of the 3,132 official shrines, in other words, the entire Shinto Pantheon. It was celebrated on the 4th day of the 2nd month (when the seed rice is sown) in the Sai-in, or sacred precinct, a courtyard in the Palace measuring 230 feet by 370 feet, with offices opening on to it on all sides. On the west were the shrines of the eight deities[235] in a row, surrounded by a fence to the interior of which three sacred archways gave access. In the centre of the court a temporary shed was erected in which the altars were placed. Early on the morning of the festival day, the offerings, prepared by the Imbe, were set out here. They are minutely described in the Yengishiki, and consisted of silk and cloth of various kinds, some of the raw materials for the same, models of swords, shields, spear-heads, bows, quivers, stags' horns, mattocks, sake, fish of various kinds, edible seaweed, salt, and matting. In the case of the Ise temples, a horse was added. A white horse, cock, and boar were sent to Mitoshi no Kami, the special deity of Harvest, and a horse to each of nineteen others, including the God of Growth and the water-deities of Yamato.
When everything was ready, the officials of the Jingikwan, accompanied by the miko, or virgin priestesses, entered by the middle gate and took their places in the western offices with their faces to the east, the north being the upper (or more honourable) end. The Ministers of State and their subordinates entered by the north gate and took their places in the north office, the Ministers facing the south, the others east or west. The priestesses occupied seats below the office. The other officials entered by the south gate and sat facing the north. The subordinate Shinto functionaries and hafuri stood in the courtyard south of the west office.
Then the Jingikwan officials came down and took their places in front of their office. They were followed by the Ministers of State. A Nakatomi read the norito, the hafuri responding with Ô ("Yes" or "Amen") at the end of every paragraph. It is as follows:--