Evening star., 1915-11-13
|DAUOSA| FESTIVAL
| IS HELD At K|OT0
Grand Thanksgiving Fete Of
Japan Is Begun at the i
Imperial Palace. I

KIoTO. November 13.-The DaIjosai
festival, or grand Thanksgiving festi-
val, the ceremony of offering sacred
rice to the imperial ancestors and the
gods and goddesses of heaven and
earth, began today at the imperial pal
ace. This ceremony is one OF the
three great rites of the coronation and
Is of very ancient origin
When Ninigino- mikoto. the grandson
OF the sun goddess. Amaterasu Omi-
kami founder of the japanese imperial
dynasty, descended from the heavenly
domain, as 1t is traditionally told, to
Mount Takachiho, in Kyushu, and es-
tablished imperial headquarters there.
he sowed the seeds of rice plants and
presented the first crop to the sun god
dess before himself tasting the food
Daijosai festival.
Rice constitutes the most important
daily food of the Japanese people, and
the land was. in the NEUROLOGICAL
period, called the Land of Sacred Rice.
Since that time the ceremony is oh
served as an essential function hv
every ruler who succeeds to the throne.
me rite was ordained by an imperial
edlct issued by Emperor Mutsuhito in
ieil. three years after his late mai
Offers First Crop of Reign.
The central idea is that the new en-.
peror, invested with the suzerainty Of
the Land of Sacred Rice. offers to the
imperial ancestors and the gods and
goddesses of heaven and earth the
hrst crop of the first harvest in his
reign. 1t is. therefore, observed "a
ceremony nd
mony.
related to 1T Is ceremony of minor
Importance. which is annually held IN
tne imperial court November 20 and
1sa s.iuiIIaneously =. at the grand shrines at
Use. IL is called the harvest festival
AS the rice on which sixty millions of
tne subjects of the imperial house sus-
tam their lives had been granted by the
imperial ancestor. as related above, ev-
cry sovereign of the land expresses his
thanks for the benevolence of the i'm
per1al ancestor in behalf of his mil
lions of subjects.
To pray for the plentitude of harvest
the emperor holds ceremony
February II every year before the i'm
perfal sanctuary and the grand ances-
tral shrines. beseching an abundance
during the coming harvest. The cere-
mony and the harvest festival are wide
ly observed in every Shinto shrine
through the length and breadth of the
empire on the same day. which Is pres.
served as national holiday
Preparatory to Harvest Festival. :
Today's ceremony was preparatory to.
the grand harvest festival, which takeS.
place tomorrow. =
1t is called the "Chinkon on-sai" It's
purport is a prayer for the longevity
of the emperor, the empress and crown
prince. and especially for the pacifica-- =
tion Of their volatile" spirit This is
one Of the most mysterious of all thu
coronation ceremonies. Historians havA'
had extreme difficulty in tracing ita'
origin, but the underlying idea is that,
the spirit or soul of the emperor is to-.
be calmed and made to enter a state.
of perfect peace and tranquility, far.
removed from all earthly things, that,
he may more flttingly commune with
his ancestral gods. offer them food and
himself partake thereof, both in his
own name and in the name Of his SUBJ
jects.
The ceremony was held at the Yuki-
den and Suki-den halls, newly erected
in the compound of the palace. 1t was
purely a religious function and was,
off1ciated by the court ritualists and,
attended by chief officials of the coro-
nation committee. The emperor and
crown prince did not participate.