The Press., 1894-11-15
RELIGION OF JAPAN.
SHiNTOISM RESPONSIBLE FOR JAPA-
 NESE LlBERALlTY.

ofToleration-Not Regularly Established
 Until 1868.
 A Japanese gentleman not long ago visited drug store on tho Third avenue, i'll this city, and asked for a postage stamp. The stamp was duly supplied by the head of the drug store, who wish ing to be pleasant and agreeable to the foreigner, said, "Well, sir, which do you like better, America or China?"
 The Japanese gentleman indignantly replied: May l suggest, sir, that it is your business to sell drugs and stamps, and that you should confine yourself to these duties? am not d Chinaman, but your ignorance of geography that you do not know the difference.
 Without apologizing for the rudeness of the gentleman of Japan, we venture to remark that western peoples, even the most educated among us, do not seem to carefully distinguish between Japan and China.
 The Japanese have always regarded themselves as far in advance in civiliza- tion, and there is nothing which offends the native of the island of Japan moro than to be taken for Chinaman.
 Very much of the liberal attitude of the people of Japan toward western thought and custom arises from the fact that its national religion is Shintoism.
 Most people imagine that Buddhism is the religion of Japan, and conse quently the national cult of Shintoism is a religious belief which until the last 30 years had never been heard of i'll the western world.
 For centuries Japan was a terra in- cognita to the rest of humanity, although its history dates from eco B. C., when thinner Tenno was king, and Shintoism was his creed. Buddhism was not in troduced into Japan until 550 of the Christian era, when it came from India by way of Korea.
 The term Shinto is of Chinese origin and is expressed by the almost unpro- nounceable Japanese word of Kami-n michi, the meaning of both words being ''the way of the spirits ' The essential principle of Shintoism is combination of ancestor worship and nature worship, and it would seem that the latter of these elements is largely due to the con- tact of Japan with the Taoism of China. Shinotism is therefore the veneration of the country's heroes and benefactors of every age, legendary, historical, an- cient and modern.
 The essential feature of Shintoism is its liberal attitude toward other reli- gious beliefs, and when Buddhism was brought into the country the priests of the ancient belief extended the right hand of fellowship toward its missiona- ries. But the same liberality has not always been returned by the clergy of Buddhism, and not very long ago one of the great temples at Tokyo was burned by the Buddhists to prevent it's falling into the hands of the Shinto priests
 Shintoism has been equally liberal to- ward modern Protestant missionaries, for before the Church of England edifice at Tokyo, now known as St. Andrew s church, was built the present Shinto government lent one of the Shinto tenn pies for Church of England services. Whenever opposition to Christianity has arisen it has come from the old nobili- ty, who are opposed to all change and are jealous supporters of Buddhism.
 Although Shintoism has been the an- cient religion of Japan for more than 24 centuries, it had never been declared the established religion" of Japan un- til the year 1868, when for reasons wholly political it became the establish ed religion of the country. A grant of $500, OO0 year was made for the main tenance of the Shinto temples and shrines, which are said to be somewhere about 100, 900 in number.
 The Buddhism of Japan had been ex- ceedingly aggressive and had almost sub verted the ancient system of Shintoism, but now when child is born it is taken by its parents either to Shinto or a Buddhist temple for dedication. Tuner als are now conducted by either Shinto or Buddhist priests, as the relatives may prefer.
 The first great god of the Shintos is Mingo no Mikoto, the remote ancestor of the priest mikado, who is said to have been descended from the god and god dess of the sun. The mikado is known among the Japanese as Teushi, or the son of heaven, on account of his celes- tial descent, the title of mikado mean ing very much the same as the sublime porte of the Ottomans-namely, "the presence" an expression so common in oriental lands for exalted personages. It is said that when the goddess of the sun made the mikado's remote an oestor (Mingo) sovereign of Japan she delivered to him 'the way of the gods" and decreed that his dynasty should be as lmmovable as the sun and the moon; hence the need for making Shintoism the established religion. She also gave him mirror as sacred emblem, say ing, Look upon this mirror as my spir- it, keep it ill the same house and upon the same floor with yourself, and wor- ship it as if you were worshiping my actual presence. The story is that this sacred mirror is still in the Shinto tenn pie of Naiku, at Yamada, although it has never been seen by a western trav- eler.
 The rites of Shintoism for many years occupied conspicuous place ill the rules of the court of Japan, and there are ten sections of the sacred book known as the "Yengi Shiki" devoted to court cere- monies. It must be understood that. ac- cording to Shinto belief, the great incar- nate god is the mikado himself, but the gods of Shintoism are numbered by thou sands. - Thomas P. Hughes in New York Sun.
 The earliest reference to shaving is found in the fourteenth verse of the forty first chapter of Genesis.
 w. A. Mcclure, a well-known citizen of Mckay, Ohio, is of the opinion that