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This paper attempts to unveil the origin of the deity

   of the Ise Shrine in the early era of the Yamato state

   (between the 2nd and 6th centuries). [1]  For the original

   image of the deity, this study focuses on the history of

   the deity-body (shintai), or the Imperial Regalia, of the

   Ise Shrine.  As for the original character of the deity,

   this study focuses on the Rites of Great Sacrifice (Oho

   Nie) and the Abstained Virgin Princess (Saio) in their

   relationship to the Imperial House.

      The deity of the Ise Shrine is presently called the

   Great Deity of Amaterasu, the Sun goddess, and is also the

   supreme ancestor of the Imperial house.  The Kojiki and

   the Nihongi, the oldest Japanese half-mythologized

   chronicles, treat the Great Deity of Amaterasu as the

   highest deity of the anthropomorphized Heavenly gods. 

   Between the 2nd and 6th centuries (from the first emperor

   Jimmu to the empress Kogyoku), however, the name of the

   Great Deity of Amaterasu does not appear in the chronicles

   except once (seemingly later-modification) in the reign of

   Sujin.  Some scholars argue that the concept of the

   abstract god and the concept of the anthropomorphized god

   was not developed in the early era of the Yamato state. 

   Kojiro Naoki, for instance, points out that the concept of

   anthropomorphized god could only appeared after the 6th

   century, and that the god as the object of worship at an

   established shrine only appeared in the Nara period (1964,

   244-5).  Mutsuko Mizoguchi too argues that, before the 6th

   century, the name of the Great Deity (Oho kami) of

   Amaterasu did not have actual entity like Oho hiru-me

   muchi (a female of the sun) or even an older idea of the

   spirit like Takami-musuhi (Great spirit of heavenly

   procreation), but was a fabrication after the 6th century

   (1974 b, 82-98).  Between the 5th and 6th centuries, the

   deity of the Ise Shrine was just called the deity of Sun,

   the deity of wind, the deity of Heaven, the violent

   spirit, the peaceful spirit, etc.  Through a complete

   survey of the suffix of god's name in the Kojiki and the

   Nihongi, she concluded that the term "kami" or "kamu" was

   originally used to the "fearful" aspect of the nature and

   of the object such as thunder (kami-nari) and violent

   human beings such as the warrior Jimmu (kamu Iware-hiko). 

   Furthermore, she discovered that the older ideas of the

   extraordinary power (chi) and the anima (tama,) before

   they were anthropomorphized by the name of god (-kami)

   (1973 a, 70-75).  

      Max Weber's sociological principle also tells us that

   there was no concept of god in the beginning of human

   history; only an idea of the extraordinary power was

   conceived, then an animistic idea of the spirit, and

   gradually the abstract concept of god developed in the

   human mind.  When the people conceived a mirror and a

   sword as an extraordinary power as such, they had

   naturalistic and materialistic images of the deity.  For

   them, "the rocks, tree-stems and herbage have still the

   power of speech" (Aston I, 90).  In those days, neither

   Sun Goddess, nor the anthropomorphized deity of Amaterasu

   were conceived, but the sun itself or an extraordinary

   human being, or a tree per se were regarded as the

   extraordinary power that could change the event of nature

   and history.

      Therefore, in order to trace the original image of the

   deity or the extraordinary power, this paper focuses on

   the deity-body (shintai), i.e., the Imperial regalia, of

   the Ise Shrine, instead of the anthropomorphized deity of

   Amaterasu.  The majority of the great shrines have such a

   deity-body, the concrete object of the extraordinary power

   like a magical mirror, a fearful sword, and precious

   stones.  The regalia of the Izumo Shrine of Izumo (present

   Shimane Prefecture), the sun mirror of the Hinokuma Shrine

   in Kii (present Wakayama Prefecture), the Futsu-tama sword

   of the Kashima Shrine of Hitachi (present Ibaraki

   Prefecture), the Kusanagi sword of the Atsuta Shrine of

   Owari (present Aichi Prefecture), and the Yasaka sword of

   the Isonokami Shrine of Yamato (present Nara Prefecture),

   all of them are regarded as the manifestation of the

   deity.

      The present institutionalized cult of the Ise Shrine

   was initiated by Emperor Temmu (672-686 AD), who believed

   that the deity of the Ise Shrine responded to his prayer,

   and brought him the victory in the Jinshin War of

   Succession.  Through the institutionalization of State

   ritual between the 7th and 8th centuries, the old

   occasional rite of Oho Nie was divided into the three

   rites: the ceremony of Emperor's enthronement (Daijo sai),

   the yearly offering of first fruits at the Imperial house

   (Niiname sai) and at the Ise Shrine (Kanname sai).  The

   offering of first fruits centers on new harvested rice and

   sake, although it also includes seafood, weapons, jewels,

   pictures, effigies etc.  In the original rite of Oho Nie,

   however, the offering centered on animals, human beings

   and weapons, not new harvests of rice and sake.  This

   paper tries to uncover the old rite of Oho Nie, focusing

   on sacrificial offerings.

      The appointment of a virgin princess for the Ise

   Shrine was also instituted by Emperor Temmu, and

   thereafter most emperors appointed a virgin princess until

   the early 13th century.  Before Emperor Temmu, the virgin

   princess of the Ise Shrine is an ambiguous figure.  Only,

   in the reign of Yuryaku, the virgin princess played a role

   as the oracle giver.  However, for the institution of the

   virgin princess, Queen Himiko and Empress Jingu seems to

   give a decisive impact.  Their ecstatic oracles decided

   the historical course of the Yamato state.  This paper,

   therefore, focuses on the role of Queen Himiko and Empress

   Jingu for the development of the virgin princess. 

      This paper aims to understand the origin and nature of

   the deity of Ise Shrine from the viewpoint of the

   historical development of the deity.  In order to grasp

   the historical reality clearly, this paper employs the

   ideal typical setting of the concept according to Weber's

   methodology of social science.  This paper examines the

   validity of the ideal typical construction of the

   historical reality through historiographical and

   archaeological evidence, and through sociological and

   genealogical principles.

   History of the Deity-body of the Ise Shrine

          The Significance of the Regalia

      The deity-body (shintai) of the Ise Shrine is the

   Mirror, one of the three Imperial regalia.  In the

   beginning of the Yamato era, the regalia, i.e., mirrors,

   swords, and jewels, were signs of the Heavenly clans

   including the Imperial clan and their followers, and

   sources of the ruling authority.   According to the

   traditions, the Heavenly clans immigrated to the earthly

   land or, the eight islands of Japan, from the Heavenly

   Highland.  The Heavenly clans, then, conquered the land of

   the native Japanese (the earthly clans), and monopolized

   the ruling class.  In so doing, the Heavenly invaders made

   the regalia a sign of their clans because the earthly

   clans did not usually possess these treasures.  Jimmu, the

   first emperor, recognized Nigihayahi, the ancestor of the

   Mononobe House, as an offspring of the Heavenly clans

   because they had the signs of proof. [2]  The Imperial

   army and other Heavenly followers made naval expeditions,

   hung the regalia on the bow of a ship as the sign of their

   belonging.  In the era of Prince Yamato Takeru (the early

   4th c. AD), his naval ship hanged a big mirror on the

   front edge (Aston I, 206).  In the era of Emperor Chuai

   (the mid 4th c. AD), princes of Tsukushi welcomed

   Emperor's navy with the ship hanging the regalia on the

   Sakaki tree in the bow (Aston I, 221).  In the era of

   Queen Jingu (the mid 4th c. AD), a naval ship from Tajima

   hung the mirror on the bow, and followed Jingu's

   expedition to Korea (Mizoguchi 1982, 227).  In addition to

   being the sign of the Heavenly clan, the regalia was a

   source of the ruling authority and the kingship.  In the

   early Yamato era, the people believed in magical power of

   the regalia, which could control the tide, maintain long

   life, resurrect the dead, ward off harmful animals, and

   drive off illnesses (Varley, 73).  The archeological

   evidence from the Great Burials supports that the people

   believed in the magical power of the regalia.  Mirrors,

   weapons, and jewels are main grave goods of the Great

   Burials between the 1st and the 5th centuries AD.  Such

   goods are believed to have a power of enclosing or

   absorbing the anima of the dead.  Keeping in mind the

   above significance of the regalia, let us trace the

   history of the deity-body of the Ise Shrine

          From the Heaven to Kyushu

      To begin with the argument of the move of the Imperial

   Regalia from the home land to Kyushu, let us take Namio

   Egami's epoch-making hypothesis of the continental

   conqueror's foundation of Japan.  In 1967, Egami, a

   prominent scholar of Mongolian history, presented the

   hypothesis that the continental conqueror from the Korean

   peninsula immigrated to Kyushu, and then conquered the

   land of Yamato.  He based his arguments on social

   scientific principles and evidence, and thereby made his

   hypothesis a far-reaching impact on the study of early

   Japanese history both pro and con, directing later

   scholars to tackle with his arguments. [3]   This paper

   follows Egami's direction, although it does not take his

   hypothesis of the horse-rider and the dating of the

   foundation of the Yamato state. 

      The history of the deity-body of the Ise Shrine set

   out from the Heavenly Highland, according to the Nihongi

   and the Kojiki.  At the Heavenly Highland, Takami-musuhi

   and Oho-hiru-me-muchi, the great ancestors of the Imperial

   house, gave Ninigi, their Grandchild, the Imperial regalia

   and the five magical functionaries (the diviners, the

   singers, the dancers, the mirror-makers, and the

   jewel-makers), and ordered him to conquer the land of

   Japan (Aston 1, 76-7; Philippi 1969, 137-40).  Ninigi came

   to the Mt. Kushifuru of Tsukushi in northern Kyushu, and

   subdued the enemy with the sword, and ruled over the land

   of Tsukushi, with the illumination of the mirror and the

   sway of the jewels (Varley, 73; Aston I, 110; Philippi

   1969, 141).  The Nihongi legitimizes Ninigi's invasion to

   northern Kyushu:

         At this time the world was given over to widespread

         desolation.  It was an age of darkness and

         disorder.  In this gloom, therefore, he [Ninigi]

         fostered justice, and so governed this western

         border (Aston I, 110).

      Recent archeological evidence suggests that the

   immigrants established the kingdom among the tribal

   communities in northern Kyushu around the Common Era (the

   middle Yayoi period).  The tomb of personal ruler suddenly

   emerged from northern Kyushu in the middle Yayoi period

   (BC. 1st c. - 1st c. AD).  The king's tomb is different

   from the previous tribal tombs in several aspects.  Before

   that time, the tomb was collective site for the tribal

   community; the members of a community were buried at the

   same tomb collectively.  The ruler's tomb, however, is

   personal.  The king's tombs are not only bigger in area

   and volume than previous communal tombs, but also have 

   more varieties of grave goods.  For example, a King's tomb

   of the Ito state contains 57 Early Han Mirrors, a bronze

   sword, 2 bronze spears, 4 gold jewels, 8 glass jewels, 1

   jade jewel, and the like (Yanagida, 160).  Here the

   personal tomb and the set of grave goods (two digit of

   mirrors, weapons and jewels) first emerged in Japan,

   differentiating the king's culture from the communal Yayoi

   culture.

      If the deity-body and the Heavenly clan first came to

   Kyushu, where is the Heavenly highland, the home of the

   deity-body of the Ise Shrine?  Several sources indicate

   that the Heavenly highland is the Korean peninsula, and

   that the deity of the Ise is a deity of Korea.

      In the era of Emperor Suinin (the late 3rd c. AD),

   Hiboko (namely the Heavenly spear), the ancestor of the

   Tajima clan, came from Korea.  He was a prince of Silla,

   and a Heavenly offspring.  Like the Imperial house, he

   brought the divine regalia-- the mirror, the sword, the

   jewels and the garments (himorogi) (Aston I, 168).  As

   late as the 7th century, Emperor Temmu counted several

   descendants of the Paekche King to the Heavenly Imperial

   clan, and gave them the highest rank of the clan title

   (mahito).  According to the Shinsen Shojiroku, the Shiraki

   clan, a descendants of a Silla King, claimed that they

   were descendants of Inaihi no mikoto, a brother of Emperor

   Jimmu (Saeki, 185).  In the 6th century, Emperor Keitati

   called Mimana (Korean; Kaya) the home country of Japan

   (mototsu kuni), and tried to maintain Mimana under direct

   jurisdiction, even if Silla annexed the land (Aston II,

   19).

      Not only people and clan, but also deities came to

   Japan from Korea.  According to a book of the Nihongi ,

   the deity of the Ise Shrine came from Korea (Mukatsu). 

   When Queen Jingu asked who instructed her, the female

   deity of Ise answered:

           I am the Deity who dwells in the Shrine of split-bell Isuzu

           in the district of hundred-transmit Watarai in the province

           of divine-wind Ise, and my name is Tsuki-Sakaki idzu no

           mi-tama amazakaru Mukatsu hime no Mikoto (Aston I, 225).

   In the same era, Queen Jingu referred to the term Mukatsu

   (the harbor of across) as Korea; she called the land of

   Silla the land of Mukatsu (Aston I, 221).  Here, the deity

   of the Ise Shrine is regarded as a deity of Korea.  In

   addition, according to the oracle collection of the Usa

   Shrine in Kyushu, the god came from the castle of Korea. 

   The Usa Shrine, the second ranked shrine next to the Ise

   Shrine in early Japan, enshrines the deity of Korea with

   Queen Jingu and Emperor Ojin as its chief deities. 

   According to the Nihongi, in the reign of Emperor Yuryaku

   (the late 5th c.), Soga no Omi, a minister of Japan,

   regarded that the founder God of the Land (kuni wo tateshi

   kami) was the same in both Japan and Paekche.  In the

   Nihongi, the minister speaks:

           "Now the God of the originally founded this country is the

           God who descended from Heaven and established this State in

           the period when Heaven and Earth became separated, and when

           trees and herbs had speech.  I have recently been informed

           that your country has ceased to worship him" (Aston II, 77).

   This tradition identifies Tankun, the founder of three

   Hans of ancient Korea, with Takami-musuhi, the ancestor of

   the Japanese Emperor (cf. Sakamoto et al. 1965, 114-5).

   [4]  According to the Seitoki, Emperor Kammu (781-806)

   burnt the book which stated that the founder deity of

   Japan was the same one of the Korean states (Aston II,

   77). 

      Thus, the above pieces of evidence and their arguments

   suggest that the Heavenly clans and the deity-body of the

   Ise Shrine came from Korea, and settled first in northern

   Kyushu.  The next task of this paper is to trace the move

   of the deity-body from Kyushu to Yamato.

          From Kyushu to Yamato

      The move of the deity-body from Kyushu to Yamato

   begins with the first Emperor Jimmu's expedition of the

   east.  Jimmu's conquest of the east is the main theme of

   the old Japanese chronicles and traditions, and was

   remembered as an extraordinary event.  According to the

   Nihongi and the Kojiki, Jimmu, an offspring of Ninigi,

   made the expedition to the east, carrying the Imperial

   regalia.  Just before the expedition, the Nihongi states

   the condition of the land of Yamato, and legitimizes the

   adventure:

           The remote regions do not yet enjoy the blessings of Imperial

           rule.  Every town has always been allowed to have its lord,

           and every village its chief, who, each one for himself, makes

           division of territory and practises mutual aggression and

           conflict. ._  I think that this land will undoubtedly be

           suitable for the extension of the Heavenly task, so that its

           glory should fill the universe (Aston I, 110-1).

   Jimmu started the expedition from Kyushu to Chugoku  and

   Kinki, and finally established the state in Yamato (Aston

   I: 111-132; Philippi 1968, 163-77).  The conquest,

   however, was not an easy adventure; it involved a set of

   defeats and difficulties including the death of Jimmu's

   brothers.  Emperor Jimmu frequently sought miraculous

   guidance and protection of the deity-bodies and other

   magical powers at the critical times.  Jimmu had lived and

   slept with the mirror in the enemy's land, according to

   the Kogoshui and the Kuji hongi (Kato and Hoshino, 46;

   Kuroita 1926 b, 44).

      As for archeological evidence, the previous section

   showed that the peculiar set of the grave regalia

   originated from the king's tomb in northern Kyushu around

   the Common Era.  However, in Kyushu, the king's tomb

   disappeared in the 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD.  This

   custom, then, suddenly appeared in Yamato in the late 3rd

   century, and became the standard grave goods from the

   initial explosion of the Great Burial culture between the

   late 3rd and the 5th centuries (Mori, 268-9).  In

   addition, the oldest type of the key-hole shape mound

   (Zenpo koen fun) simultaneously emerged in northern Kyushu

   and Yamato during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries

   (Yanagida, 168-74).   Another piece of archeological

   evidence is the hilltop fortress which suddenly emerged

   alongside Inner Sea in the late 2nd century, and

   thereafter disappeared.  The time corresponds to the great

   wars of Yamato in the late 2nd century according to

   Chinese histories. In this period, however, northern

   Kyushu had little hilltop fortresses, unlike the seacoast

   of the Inland Sea.  This means that the king's tomb

   disappeared without the war in northern Kyushu. 

   Therefore, it is possible to infer that the king of Kyushu

   immigrated into other places around the 2nd century AD. 

   Moreover, a new styled and large scaled market site (the

   Makimuku) suddenly appeared in the foot hill of Mt. Miwa

   in Yamato in the late 2nd century.  In this site, the

   magico-religious rite seems to be performed up to early

   4th century.  A considerable number of ritual instruments

   such as circled wood with curved lines (komon enban) and

   bird-shape wood (tori-gata mokuseihin) is discovered. 

   There are many holes (38 holes in the Tsuji district),

   which seem to be used to burry the instruments and the

   remains after the rite, as the Ise Shrine has performed

   such custom until now in order to burry the remains of the

   ceremony.  The culture of the Makimuku site has a leap

   from the previous Yayoi culture of the Karako and the Kagi

   sites in the same Yamato area.  Koichi Mori summarizes the

   characteristics of the Makimuku site:

           This [Makimuku] site is a remarkable one in several aspects. 

           First, it has little remains of the Yayoi culture.  Second,

           it suddenly appeared in the beginning of the Great Burial

           culture, having the Makimuku or Shonai style pottery.  Third,

           it contains six Keyhole-shape tombs including Tomb Hashi._ 

           Thus, for the researchers who take the Yamato hypothesis of

           the State Yamatai, the Makimuku site may be the capital of

           State Yamatai, although it is my guessing and secret

           expectation (p. 230-1).

   From above pieces of archeological evidence, one can infer

   that there is a close relationships of culture and

   political system between northern Kyushu and Yamato during

   the 1st century AD to the 3rd century, and that the ruling

   group who conducted a peculiar burial custom moved from

   northern Kyushu to Yamato, conquering the seacoast of the

   Inland Sea, and established the capital of the state in

   Yamato.

      In addition to the archeological research, some

   genealogical studies too suggest that Jimmu moved from

   Kyushu to Yamato, and founded the Yamato state.  Akira

   Ota, a distinguished scholar of Japanese genealogy, argues

   that Jimmu and his followers immigrated into Yamato from

   Kyushu.  From an extensive survey of the geographical

   distribution of clan-name, Ota discovered that the

   descendents of Jimmu and Takami-musuhi, the principal

   figure of the Jimmu's ancestor, spread over mostly in

   northern Kyushu and Yamato (1928, 305-66).  The ancient

   governors of Hita, Usa, Iki, and Tsushima in northern

   Kyushu, were all the descendants of Takami-musuhi.  The

   governors of Hi, Ohoita, and Aso, were the descendants of

   Kamiyai-mimi, a son of Jimmu.  Ota also found that the

   clan name of Jimmu's followers such as Nakatomi, Ohotomo,

   and Mononobe, originated from northern Kyushu (1928,

   227-44).

      A sociological study also shows the probability of the

   outsider origin of the Japanese ruler.  Max Weber, the

   founder of the understanding sociology, characterizes the

   Emperor Jimmu as a charismatic king who immigrated into

   the land of Yamato with his followers (1978, 1136).  Weber

   takes the early Japanese nation as an example of the pure

   type of hereditary charisma state (1978, 250).  The

   outsiders often establish a strict type of political or

   religious ruling system in the conquered land or the

   hostile missionary land such as English feudalism by

   William the Conqueror, the Sparta city-state in the

   conquered land of Peloponnese, the Roman Catholic church

   in pagan Rome, and hierarchal Lamaism in the snow-desert

   land of Tibet.  The strictly stereotyped politics and

   society is reflected on the uninterrupted succession of

   the imperial house for more than 1500 years, and the long

   lasting system of genealogical clan administration.  No

   other clans could challenge the supremacy of the Imperial

   house; the succession of the throne is the monopoly of the

   imperial house, not first among equal clans, even if the

   political power of the imperial house became increasingly

   impotent.   These are far-reaching consequences of the

   first emperor Jimmu's military charisma and his foundation

   of Japan.  From a sociological point of view, therefore,

   it is most probable that the Emperor Jimmu, the immigrated

   charismatic leader, founded a strict system of hereditary

   charisma state in the conquered land. 

      Thus, from historiographical, archeological,

   genealogical and sociological arguments, the deity-body of

   the Ise Shrine or the Imperial regalia most possibly moved

   into Yamato from Kyushu.  Yet the journey of the Imperial

   Regalia did not end at the capital of the Yamato state,

   but further went to the remote seacoast of Ise.  Let us

   next discuss how and why the Imperial regalia became the

   deity-body of the Ise Shrine.

      From Yamato to Ise

      In the reign of Emperor Suinin (the late 3rd c.),

   according to the Nihongi and the Yamato Hime no Mikoto

   Seiki, the deity-bodies, or the Yasaka Mirror and the

   Kusanagi Sword were entrusted to Princess Yamato, and

   moved first to Uda of Yamato, next to Ohmi and to Mino,

   and finally to Ise (Aston I, 176; Kuroita 1926 b, 45-49). 

   Then, by the oracle of the deity, Princess Yamato built

   the sanctuary of the deity-body and other weapons at the

   port of Ise Bay, and resided there.  According to the

   Yamato hime no Mikoto Seiki, Princess Yamato's march can

   be characterized a military campaign or an inspection

   campaign with a military force.  First she was accompanied

   by five distinctive generals such as "Abe no Takenuka wake

   no mikoto, Wani no Hiko Kuni-buku no mikoto, Nakatomi no

   kuni-no kasuri Oho Kashima no mikoto, Mononobe no Tochine

   no mikoto, and Ohotomo no Takehi no mikoto" (Kuroita 1926

   b, 51).  Second, they carried weapons such as "long

   swords, short swords, spears, shields, bows and arrows"

   (Kuroita 1926 b, 51).  Third, they faced a great battle at

   Asakata of Ise which caused them to ask the additional

   weapons to the court at Yamato (Kuroita 1926 b, 46-7). 

      There are some pieces of evidence that support the

   objective possibility of the journey to Ise.  Torajiro

   Naito found that a considerable number of the countries of

   the Yamatai state, which the History of Wei states,

   corresponds to the countries which Princess Yamato went

   though in the Yamato hime no Mikoto Seiki (1981, 3-22). 

   The countries which Princess Yamato journeyed correspond

   to the distribution of the Agata province, the oldest type

   of country, in central Japan (cf. Ueda 1959, 133-6). 

   According to Ota's geographical survey of the distribution

   of clan-name, the descendants of the five generals had

   spread over the countries alongside the journey of

   Princess Yamato, and alongside the routes of the east 

   expedition (1928, 163-94, 405-16). 

      Suppose the journey had actually taken place, the next

   question is why it ended at Ise.  For the early Yamato

   state, the naval ports and ships were "cardinal

   importance" (Aston I, 61).  Ise was a key strategic port

   for the further naval expedition to the east (Torigoe

   1973, 208-24).   The land of Ise had geographical

   important conditions: mighty trade wind, calm bay, rich

   forests, and wide river.  The sacrificial rite at the

   mouth of Ise Bay was performed for the success and

   protection of the military expedition to the east by the

   sea route (Tokai do).  This initial function of the Ise

   Shrine, however, was over when the conquest of Kanto plain

   was completed by Prince Yamato Takeru in the early 4th

   century.  Yet the military efficacy of the Ise Shrine

   remained strong in the Yamato court.

          The Moving, a Characteristic of the Japanese Deity

      Finally we come to the conclusion of the journey. 

   What does the above narrated long journey of the

   deity-body mean?  Although not all of the above stories

   might take place, the journey indicates that the

   deity-body came to Ise from outside; it dose not originate

   in a local deity of native Ise.  This conclusion opposes

   scholars' consensus that the deity of the Ise Shrine may

   originate in a local deity of Ise (Naoki 1964, 257;

   Matsumae, 348-50; Sakamoto et al. 1967, 591 )  The move

   and invitation of the deity from outside is common among

   Japanese deities.  The sword of the Kashima Shrine came to

   Hitachi from the Heavenly Highland via the Isonokami

   Shrine at Yamato.  The deity-body of the Atsuta Shrine

   came from Izumo via Yamato and Ise.  The Suminoe Shrine

   (present Osaka Prefecture) was imported from Munakata of

   Kyushu; Iwashimizu-Hachiman of Kyoto from Usa of Kyushu;

   the Outer Shrine of Ise from Tamba.  All of them were

   instituted by the state because of its political and

   military merits.  In addition, the wide- spread

   distribution of the Amateru or Amaterasu Shrine over the

   counties also indicates that the Amaterasu deity of the

   Ise Shrine is not a particular deity of local Ise, but an

   ubiquitous deity of Japan.  In the late 5th century, the

   court introduced an Amateru Shrine into Yamashiro

   according to the oracle of the Sun deity of Tsushima (not

   of Ise) (Aston I, 391-2).  In the 8th century, according

   to the Engi-shiki, the Amaterasu or Amateru deity was

   enshrined at Tsushima, Tsukushi, Harima, Tajima, Settsu,

   Kawachi, Yamashiro, Yamato and Ise (Block, II, 115-71).

   [5]  The wide-spread distribution of a deity is a common

   phenomenon, especially of the Heavenly deities.  When a

   particular deity manifests its efficacy, such a deity is

   invited to wherever the concerned people live.  The

   Kashima Shrine, the Hachiman Shrine, the Kompira Shrine,

   the Kasuga Shrine, the Suwa Shrine, and the Inari Shrine

   are among the most wide-spread and popular ones.  The

   Japanese deity rides on the Mikoshi, the carriage of the

   god, and moves from place to place.  The Japanese deity

   has such high mobility, and is not restricted by its

   locality.

  The Character of the Deity

      In the above chapter, this paper has traced the

   history and origin of the deity-body (shintai) of the Ise

   Shrine, and argued the outside origination.  In addition,

   the journey of the deity-body also has indicated its

   military nature, the protector of the Imperial army and

   the guarantor of the victorious campaign.  This chapter,

   therefore, discusses the original character and nature of

   the deity, focusing on the Rite of Great Sacrifice (Oho

   Nie) and the abstained Virgin Princess. 

          THE RITE OF GREAT SACRIFICE

      The present three highest rites of the Imperial house

   and the Ise Shrine are the ceremony of Emperor's

   enthronement (Daijo sai), the offering of first fruits at

   the Imperial house (Niname sai) and at the Ise Shrine

   (Kanname sai).  These three rites originate from the same

   rite called Oho Nie  (Naoki 1975, 280-1). In the

   chronicles and the local gazette (Fudoki), the words  "Oho

   Nie" and "Nie" appears as a kind of tribute to the court

   from local countries (Naoki 1975, 282-3).  However, the

   word "Nie" also connotes "sacrifice"; "ike-nie," still

   today, specifically means living human or animal sacrifice

   to a deity (Saigo, 164).  In the Fujiwara and Nara

   periods, according to the recent discovery of the Nie

   tags, main offerings from the countries at the Rite of Oho

   Nie were animals, not grains and vegetables (Naoki 1971,

   97).  In the 9th century, "a white wild boar, a white

   horse, and white domestic fowls" were still offered at the

   court and the Ise Shrine (Philippi 1990, 18; Kato and

   Hoshino, 51).  And human sacrifices are also found in the

   records.  In 681, the court ordered a rite of human

   sacrifice to each province (Aston II, 352).  Genchi Kato

   cites a source in Atsutane Hirata's Koshiden  that living

   human sacrifices were sent to the court as tribute (Nie) :

           According to a tradition handed down to and preserved by the

           Tame family, in ancient times, the local governors used to

           send a certain number of human scapegoats as tribute to the

           Imperial Court, for use on behalf of the Emperor (Kato,

           154-5).

   However, the court prohibited the sacrificial offering

   (Nie) in 768, and 800 (Kuroita 1935, 310), due to the

   demilitarization of the ruling class and the Buddhist idea

   of ahimsa (not killing any sentient beings).  Instead of

   actual animal and human sacrifice, the court introduced

   substitutional potteries (Haniwa), pictures (euma) and

   effigies (hito gata).  In the late 5th century, Emperor

   Yuryaku established the office of the substitution makers

   of the sacrificial offering (Nie no haji be) at the Ise

   Shrine (Aston I, 365).  By the 9th century, the court and

   the Ise Shrine substituted human sacrifice with Hito gata

   (iron, or gold effigies), and horse sacrifice with wooden

   horse (Block, II, 133-5).  Thus, as the pacification of

   Japan completed, and the military commitment to Korean

   Peninsula was abandoned, the Rite of Great Sacrifice was

   transformed its military sacrificial offerings into the

   peaceful and vegetational ones.  

          ORIGINS OF THE VIRGIN PRINCESS

      In addition to the Rite of Great Sacrifice, the deity

   of the Ise Shrine manifested its military nature in the

   institution of the abstained virgin princess.  There were

   many cases in the ancient world including China and Rome

   that a emperor served directly to the highest deity of the

   state.  But, there was little corresponding institution

   over the world that a virgin princess served the supreme

   deity of the state.  What was the motivation to establish

   such a peculiar institution?  The decisive events were

   that Queen Himiko and Empress Jingu made ecstatic

   prophecies at the crisis of the Yamato state, and

   demonstrated the efficacies.  Since then, an Imperial

   female became the charge of ecstatic prophecy and oracle. 

   In Yuryaku's reign, the court and the priest of the Ise

   Shrine carefully watched the ecstatic oracle of the virgin

   princess (Varley, 108). 

      In ancient times, every introduction of new law,

   institution, procedure, contract and the like, required

   the divine oracle.  The Mosaic law, Muhammad's

   constitution of Medina, and the Delphic oracle in Greek

   city-state are typical examples.  In the early Yamato

   period too, the oracles especially of a Queen and of a

   female abstainer (mono imi) of the major shrine  were

   powerful enough to direct religious-political decisions at

   the critical time.   By the ecstatic prophecy, Queen

   Himiko (Yamato momoso toto), could specify the cause of

   the epidemic, and separated the dwelling place of the

   divine regalia of the Heavenly one from the Earthly one. 

   Himiko's oracle perceived Takehani's rebellion, and made

   Emperor Sujin the victory.  By the possession of the

   deity, Empress Jingu ordered the expedition to Silla, and

   won the successful result.  By the command of the deity in

   dream, Jingu could identified the cause of the defeat at

   Naniwa Bay.  By the ecstatic oracle of the virgin princess

   of Ise, Emperor Yuryaku transferred the deity of Toyouke

   from Tamba to the Outer shrine of Ise at the Korean crisis

   (Varley, 113-4; Aston II, 76-7).

      From a sociological analogy of ancient Israel and

   Greece, such a female medium originated possibly in the

   ecstatic war prophecy.  In ancient Israel, ecstatic war

   prophetesses appeared in the time of the wars of

   liberation.   The task of the ecstatic war prophetess was

   "the incitement to crusade, promise of victory, and

   ecstatic victory magic" (Weber 1952: 97).  Prophetess

   - Oracle at a tajima shrine

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