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and the direction of the crack which the heat produced in the blade of the bone was considered a satisfactory omen.
Hereupon Amé-no-koya-né no mikoto pulled up a Sakaki by the roots. On its upper branches he hung the string of maga-tama, to the middle he attached the mirror, and to the lower branches he fastened the coarse and fine cloth. This formed a large mitegura (or gohei), which was held by Ama-no-futo-dama no mikoto, while he pronounced an address in honour of the goddess. [In most of the pictures which represent this scene in the mythology, the mitegura is drawn stuck in the ground, the artists having probably omitted to consult the books which contain the legend.]
Next they collected a number of cocks and set them to crow in concert. Ta-jikara-o no mikoto, whose name signifies that he possessed great strength in his hands, was placed in concealment by the door of the cavern. Amé-no Uzu-mé no mikoto was appointed superintendent of the dance. She blew a bamboo with holes pierced in it between the joints, while other deities kept time to the music with two pieces of wood, which they struck together. [Every one who has been in a modern Japanese theatre has seen and heard this part of the performances. Uzu-mé no mikoto is the goddess whose mask with swollen cheeks and diminutive forehead is often to be seen on the wall in Japanese houses. She is vulgarly called Okamé.] Amé-no-kamato no mikoto made a sort of harp by placing six bows close together with the strings upwards. [This was the origin of the Japanese musical instrument called koto, and it is said that specimens are still extant which preserve distinct marks of this form.] The strings were made of the Saru no ogasé, a kind of moss found hanging to the branches of the pine-tree (matsu) high up on the hills. His son Naga-shiraha no mikoto produced music from this harp by drawing across the strings grass and rushes (the chi[1] and sugé) which he held in his two hands. Uzumé no mikoto also made herself a headdress
- ↑ Eulalia japonica.
