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THE SHINTÔ TEMPLES OF ISÉ.
BY
E. SATOW, Esqr.
Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan,
on the 18th February, 1874..
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The Temples of Isé called by the Japanese ‘Fiô-dai-jin-gû,’ or literally the ‘Two great divine palaces,’ are situated in the department of Watarai, at a short distance from each other. They rank first among all the Shintô temples in Japan in point of sanctity, though not the most ancient, and have in the eyes of Japanese the same importance as the Holy Places of Palestine in the eves of the Greeks and Armenians, or Mecca in those of the Mahometans. Thousands of pilgrims resort thither annually, chiefly during the spring months, when the weather is most suited for travelling. In Yedo no artizan considers it possible to gain a livelihood unless he has invoked the protection of Daijingû Sama, as the common people are accustomed to call the gods of Isé, by performing the journey thither once at least, and the peasants are even more devout believers. In former years it was a common thing for the little shop-boys of Yedo to abscond for a while from their masters’ houses, and to wander along the Tôkaidô as far as Isé, subsisting on the alms which they begged from travellers; and having obtained the bundle of charms, consisting of pieces of the wood of which the temples are built, they made their way back home in the same manner. The Isé pilgrims are distinguished on their return by large bundles of charms, wrapped in oil-paper, which they carry suspended from their necks by a
