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Chapter 4 The Sangū, or Pilgrimage to Ise 117 A variety of pilgrimages are conducted by this nation. The first, and most important, is to Ise; the second, a visit to the thirty-three most important Kannon temples of this empire; the third is made to some of the most important shin (kami) or hotoke (butsu) temples throughout the country which have performed miracles and given help to their worshippers . The most famous of these are: Nikkō dera, which means “sunlight temple,” in the province of Ōshū,1 Hachiman, and so forth, the temples of the teacher Yakushi, or other ancient and important temples esteemed as places of worship and penance, according to people’s own preference. A true Shinto believer goes only to Shinto temples, such as Dazaifu in Chikuzen, where Tenjin2 died. The last kind of pilgrimage is also performed by the Buddhists; in other words, it is performed by believers from both religions, but each goes to his own gods. The second kind of pilgrimage belongs to neither of the main religions, but the common man believes this to be a good way to obtain prosperity and salvation.3 The first is as follows: sangū means literally “visiting a temple” and is only used for visiting this, the most sacred temple. This temple commemorates their greatest god Tenshō daijin, or Tenshō kōdaijin, which means literally “high god of the heavenly clan of terrestrial emperors.”4 They refer to the temple as Daijingū, which means “the commemorative temple of the great god,” because dai means great; shin or kami, a spirit, god, or immortal soul; and gū in this combination and others means miya or a devotional and commemorative temple. Commoners call it Ise miya in accordance with the name of the province of Ise. They believe that the site was made sacred by the god’s birth, life, and death and that he personally gave it the name of Ise. All those who have visited it say that the temple is situated in flat country, is poorly built of wood and not very high, and is covered with a low roof of hay. It is maintained with great care in the image of the original poor temple of early times, built in their poverty by the first inhabitants and founders of this nation, or, as they call them, the first people. The temple contains nothing but a large, round mirror, made of metal and polished (according to the custom of this country). A few pieces of white paper cut into strips are hung here and there. With the former they wish to symbolize the all-encompassing knowledge and glory of the god, with the latter, the cleanliness of the site. At the same time, it cautions worshippers not to step in front of the god unless their hearts and bodies are clean. The temple has various chapels in honor of lesser gods, numbering nearly one hundred, which, however, are only shaped like a temple and are often so small that nobody could possibly enter. Each has only one kannushi to guard it. Close by live the many negi, or lords of temples, or, as they call themselves, tayū,5 meaning “ambassador” or “evangelist,” who maintain large houses and lodges to accommodate the travelers. Not far away is the city or town, also carrying the name of the sacred site of Ise. It has many inns, print shops, paper makers, book binders, and builders of shrines, all necessary for this holy industry. Every honest shinja,6 or rather, every patriot whatever his belief, should visit this sacred site annually, or, at the very least, once in his life, to show due gratitude to the god and founder of his nation by this act of homage. Also, cleansed by this act of all sins, he may enter a happy state after death, or, in the naive eyes of the uneducated masses, he may be blessed with bodily health, food and drink, money, clothing, children, and a family. To strengthen this belief, every visitor personally receives from the tayū a box with a letter of indulgence, called ōharai, which means “great purification.” People who are unable to obtain this personally because of their occupation, illness, or age can buy one annually. In addition to the above shinshū, one also sees other Buddhists because they wish to claim the right to be called honest patriots and therefore visit this place of their founder once or several times in...

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