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 GEOGRAPHIC NEWS BULLETIN 
 
 ON 
 
 THE RELIGION OF JAPAN AND ITS EIIEEROR 
 
 PREPARED AND IS9UED BY 
 
 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 
 
 (Founded in 1888, for the Increase and Diffusion of Geographic Knowledge) 
 
 General Headquarters, Washington, D. C. 
 
 No. 20 C.P.3. 
 
 APR 3 19 
 
 Release Immediately, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 The West, long in the van of the material as well as the 
 moral progress of the world, has grown to think of Christendom as 
 synonymous with the great world powers. The recent news that the new 
 ruler of what is now the third greatest world power has taken office 
 with solemn rites of a non-Christ ian religion has come to some, there- 
 fore, as a somewhat startling fact. ’ Something of the part that 
 Shintoism, this old imperial religion, plays in the life of the 
 Japanese is brought out in the following bulletin issued from the Wash- 
 ington, D. C., headquarters of the National Geographic Society. 
 
 "Shintoism has had its ups and downs in Japan, but it has 
 been kept alive from the dawn of the empire, and in spite of its 
 obvious deficiencies to the mind of the Westerner, it has a very deep 
 hold on the people of the islands, figuring everywhere in their daily 
 lives. It has always been a simple cult, but since Japan has taken 
 her place actively in the affairs of the world, the faith, in so far as 
 the heads of the government are concerned, has been invested with an 
 even more marked simplicity and dignity. It would even seem that 
 modern conceptions of practical psychology have been called upon to 
 anchor this faith more firmly as a Japanese institution. 
 

 
 
 
JAPAN ( Page 2 ) 
 
 Inculcates Patr.i ot ism (Subhead) 
 
 « In a way th . officialdom of Japan probably sees a stronger 
 reason today for clinging to its old faith than at any time in the past 
 for it is essentially a religion of patriotism, and patriotism is the 
 corner-stone of the empire. Furthermore it inculcates a patriotism 
 which pivots around the imperial family and especially around the 
 person of the Emperor, Nothing approaching the reverence or even 
 worship of the Japanese masses toward their emperor has been possible 
 under Christianity 'even where loyalty and love of kings has been 
 carried to the farthest extreme. Western monarchs have stepped at the 
 claim of their 1 divine right ? to kingship — the idea that they are 
 chosen of God, But the Japanese emperors have gone much farther and 
 claim that they are actually descended directly from the chief Shinto 
 deity, 
 
 "Fairly rccektiy history has emphasized the seemingly practical 
 advantage to the government of this belief. When the Japanese turned 
 to a certain extent away from Shintoism and to Buddhism during the 
 Middle Ages, reverence for the emperors declined, and they became mere 
 figure-heads with Shoguns actually ruling. The swing back to Shintoism 
 led without question to the restoration of the Imperial family to its 
 old powers in 1867, Since that time the rulers have been careful to 
 show at every opportunity their adhesion to the old faith of their 
 fathers, 
 
 Seems Queer Jumble (Subhead) 
 
 "Shintoism seems a queer and incomplete jumble of beliefs and 
 
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JAPAN (Page 3) 
 
 superstitions to the Westerner, but the masses of the Japanese who are 
 born in its atmosphere do not seem to question its adequacy, especially 
 when, as is usually the case, it is combined with a modified Buddhism 
 and a modified Confucianism. This blending and modification of 
 religions shows a trait of the Japanese that has been demonstrated more 
 familiarly in their absorption of parts of the material civilization 
 and culture of the West. Buddhist casuists in the eighth century 
 explained that the god-ancestors of the Japanese emperors were simply 
 incarnations of the Buddha and that the religions were therefore one. 
 This view became the generally accepted one and was further amplified 
 to include the teachings of Confucius on the theory that Shintoism 
 teaches of the past, Confucianism of the present, and Buddhism of the 
 future. 
 
 "Taken alone Shintoism is more nearly like the mythology of 
 the Greeks and the Teutons than like a real religion. Its chief deity 
 is -the sun goddess, and there are supposed to be in addition 'eighty 
 myriads' of lesser deities. One's ancestors are worshipped too, and 
 especially are the deceased emperors deified. Among the common people 
 there are gods or spirits for everything from the sewing needle and the 
 rice pot td> trees, mountains, clouds and the sun. Shrines are set up 
 along the roads and even in out-of-the-way places to the more important 
 of the gods and to the spirits of deceased men of prominence. Shrines 
 are even improvised to, the 'spirits' of certain trees and rocks. 
 
 Religion of Rulers Simpler (Subhead) 
 
 "But in the Shintoism practiced by the rulers these petty 
 gods have in effect been brushed aside. In the palace of the emperor 
 

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JAPAN (Page 4) 
 
 is a ’Hall of Reverence, 1 a sort of holy of holies of Shintoism, where 
 on occasion the emperor and his family worship and where solemn state 
 religious ceremonies are conducted with high officials in attendance. 
 The architectural ideal of Shintqasm is simplicity, and in the Hall of 
 Reverence this has been carried to it3 highest development. The room 
 is large and lofty, and its walls, ceiling and floor are all con- 
 structed of smooth, knctless boards of snowy whiteness* Near cne end 
 are three shrines in the form of altars or cabinets, also of pure white 
 wood. The large central altar is that of the sun goddess, from whom 
 the royal family claims descent. On one side is a smaller shrine to 
 the spirits of the human ancestors of the emperor, and bn the other 
 side is an altar which demonstrates the simplifying influences in 
 modern Shintoism: it is dedicated to the remainder of the ’eighty 
 myriads of gods. 1 Beside each altar is placed a green bough and in 
 front of each a censer containing unlighted incense. On the floor are 
 mats of rice straw. 
 
 "When the emperor is to worship, officials of the government 
 Bureau of Rites enter and seat themselves on mats. The doers of the 
 altars are opened and the officiating priests, to the sound of ancient 
 music, place within offerings of rice, fish, vegetables, cloth, etc. 
 While the officials stand the princes and high nobles file in. Finally 
 the emperor enters alone, walks slowly to the altars, bows his head, 
 takes a green branch and waves it in token of purification* He then 
 ignites a stick of incense on each censer, repeats a prayer, and 
 
 retires. 
 

 
 
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JAPAN (Page 5) 
 
 Holiday When Emperor Worshi ps ( Subhead ) 
 
 "The stated ccasions on which the emperor worships in the 
 Hall of Reverence are national holidays in Japan, a fact which impresses 
 the imperial sanction of the cult on the minds of the people. In 
 another important way it plays its part in the public life of the 
 nation. Whenever an ambassador, envoy or other official is to go 
 abroad in the interest of the government, he must go to the Hail of 
 Reverence before his departure to worship the national gods and to ask 
 
 their blessings on his work for the nation* 
 
 ’’The Hall of Reverence is the somewhat austere place of wor- 
 ship of the rulers and leaders of Japan. The temple of the sun god- 
 dess at Ise, on the other hand, is the Japanese Mecca. Emperors and 
 potentates worship there too, but to it also flock tens of thousands of 
 the common people. Those who can afford to do so feel that they should 
 make at least one visit a year to that temple as a sort of annual cere- 
 mony of purification. One or two other spots in the empire are simi- 
 larly religious magnets to the Japanese masses. 
 
 li lgrimage and Va nation in On e (Subhead) 
 
 ”The pilgrimage to one of Japan’s important shrines usually 
 Ise, the sacred Mount THji, or Miyajima in the Inland Sea— is a 
 Japanese institution which strengthens both patriotism and the hold of 
 Shintoism. Not many of the more humble subjects of the emperor can 
 afford to make a long pilgrimage at their own expense, but the problem 
 has been solved by the maintenance of innumerable associations that 
 might be called ’cooperative pilgrimage societies*’ Members of a 
 
 contribute a few cents apiece weekly to a pilgrimage fund. At 
 
 group 
 
i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
jhPAI! (rage 6) 
 
 , tne successful member has his 
 
 expenses paid from the fun. acts nf religious merit. They 
 
 "Such expeditions are During the pil S rima g e 
 
 serve the Japanese as well as vacation^ ^ ^ ^ devoti onal 
 season crowds will ^ sights eein S . participation in 
 
 exercises will engage who tles3 tooths furnishing refresh 
 
 festivals, or in patronizing h ^ ^ outside ^ Torii , or 
 ments knick-knacks and amusemen „ ear iy every temple. 
 
 Cleanliness a Central Th^ght (Subhead) 
 
 f the Japanese toward their religions has 
 „ Ihe psychology introduction of Buddhism 
 
 teen a puzzle to many Westerners. . ^ life . They seem to 
 
 they seemingly gave little thought to a . ^ ^ th en t# ha ve 
 
 a. j fha 4, there was su^-i 
 
 ^ve taken it for gran^. a some what pessimistic view 
 
 dropped the matter. Budanism g v ^ ^ colo red Serially 
 
 „f the hereafter, but even that seems - t00 in Shinto- 
 
 by the old Shinto indifference. _ nt . The 
 
 i« of a belief that oinfulness^i - m^ ^ ^ reUgio us ceremonies 
 
 conception seems rather that sm e in Shintoism. 
 
 Cleanse. The idea of purification is a centr^ ^ & ^ „ 
 
 The body must be kept clean and before eao pefore 
 
 foun tain in which worshippers must carefully wash 
 
 they enter." 
 
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