The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1857-07-02
DEATH OF HIGH PRIEST orJApAN.
T~ran.l.ted BY The TriDune from the Moni.ea- dc ]. rlo..e.

The Dairi, OF High Priest of Japan, inhabits a
splendid palace in the city of Mako, on the Island OF
Nippon. His court IS composed of 2 10000 priests, who
are entrusted with the charge of the 1000 temples of
this immense city. His costume is a long tunic, over
which he wears q large red dress; a white, transpa-
rent veil, ornamented with golden fringe, is worn
upon his head, falling about half way down the body.
His countenance remains always invisible.
On the 1st of July, 1856, the Dairi was taken i'll.
Immediately the chief priest, with his ghostly col
leagues, 200 priests of the first rank, who are endor ed
with the RELIGIOUS power of the empire, were sum-
moned to the palace. By the next day the invalid's
situation becnme more critical, and on the ID his
death was pronounced to be inevitable and close at
hand The priests repaired at once to the temple.
and Informed the populace that the Dairi had entered
into q compact with the Seven Gods of Heaven, and
was upon the eve Of rejuyenating his mind in the
embrace of Ten-syo-dai-sin, the principal Of these
deities, who tue Japanese believe to have created the
world. She has been at the head of affairs for about
$4,000 years, and from her spring all tho royal
families of Japan. To her the inhabitants OF the en-
tire empire address their invocations as the protec-
tress of the land.
At the conclusion of the first prayers, the priests
declared that the inhabitants could Immediately enter
the palace and regale their eyes with the sight of their
highly-venerated High Priest. AT once the crowd
streamed to the palace, where they beheld the Dairi
lying stretched upon a bed of state. He was dressed
in a white tunic, and his features, covered with q
very thin mask, were dimly perceptible through a
veil spread over them. The priests prayed loudly,
aba 1AtO4 AhV OWN
around the dying man. At 9 O'Clock IN the morning
of the 9Th of July he breathed his last. As the last
breath passed through his lips, the chief priest,
raising his arm as a token of the departing 81.
assured the bystanders that the soul of the High
Priest had assembled to the abodes of the gods, but
that it would shortly return and resume its earthly
habitation. Upon this announcement o solemn silence
pervaded the audience. After the lapse of ten min
utes the chief priest, surrounded by a crowd of his
religious companions, threw over the still warm
corpse of the Dairi q large white cloth, which he
instantly withdrew, and in the place just before
occupied by the body there appeared another, similar
ly attired, but alive and strong, who, raising himself
from his recumbent position, went to an altar stard-
ing near the bedside, and bestowed upon the people
present his blessing. The crowd instantly broke out
into exclamations of gladiess and rejoicing.
By a well concerted stratagem the priests had
distracted the body of the Dairi, supplying its place
with his son who inherits his fathers station. The
state bed being hung around with drapery rendered
it all the easier to perform the trick without arousing
the suspicious OF the credulous inhabitants. The
-c2rpse of the Daiii was carried in the night time to
the Ycfe temple by the priests, where it was laid upon
a pyre and burned to ashes. This being done, the
temple is closed and all persons are forbidden to enter
it. a violation of this law is punished by burning to
death.
The Ycie temple, the handsomest one in tn city,
contains several rows of earthen statues of the deity
Teu-syo-dai-sin. These statues are about one yard
high, are hollow, and have each q large opening in
the back of the head. The ashes of each Dairi are
preserved in one of these statues the same as in an
urn. The inhabitants are not permitted to enter the
portion of the temple where these figures stand. On
the day after the death occurred, ceremonies of Il
very different character take place-the Inauguration
of the new High Priest, who, as the people suppose
has had his soul renewed in the residence of the great
gods.