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seeking a suitable locality, but having grown old in the search she was replaced in the reign of the following mikado (Suinin Tennô, B. C. 29–A. D. 70) by the princess Yamato-himé no mikoto, who after many changes finally chose the present site, on the bank of the Isuzu river, by the village of Uji in Isé. This happened in the year 4 B. C.
This mirror is spoken of by some Japanese writers as if it were actually a deity by itself, but others take it to be merely the image of the goddess. All the mirrors in Shintô temples, whether exposed to view, as in those which have fallen under Buddist influence, or concealed within the honsha, as at the Gékû, are imitations of this one. It appears that the tamajiro of the principal and and secondary deities of both Naikû and Gékû are mirrors, but strictly speaking Amaterasu ô-mi-kami is the only deity who should be so represented.
Each mirror is contained in a box of hinoki, furnished with eight handles, four on the box itself and four on the lid. The box rests on a low stand and is covered with a piece of cloth said to be white silk. The mirror itself is wrapped in a brocade bag, which is never opened or renewed, but when it begins to fall to pieces from age, another bag is put on, so that the actual covering consists of numerous layers. Over the whole is placed a sort of cage of unpainted wood with ornaments said to be of pure gold, and over this again is thrown a sort of curtain of coarse silk, descending to the floor on all sides. The tamajiro of the aidono are contained in similar boxes, without the outer cage, and of smaller size. The boxes, or rather their coverings, are all that can be seen when the shrines are opened at the various festivals.
The Isé Guidebook, which I have already mentioned by its title, speaks of numerous smaller temples (sessha and massha) within the groves of the Gékû and Naikû, but most of these have been demolished within a few years, and I am unable to state which of them still exist. The temples of Isé were until lately unknown to foreigners. During a voyage of inspection made by the Japanese
