Omaha daily bee., 1915-11-15

chamberlain entrusted with the sword
and jewels mounted the step and placed
the sacred objects on a table.
The emperor then ascended the veranda,
and entering the hall, took his seat on a
throne provided in the room outside the
inner shrine. The lord chamberlain and
chief ritualist followed and sat on the
mattings on the southern veranda around
the hall. The crown prince, The princes
OF the blood, the ministers OF state and
other members OF the retinue entered the
pavilion provided in the southern yard
of the shrine and took their seats. Next
entered the high officials Of the corona
ton board. attired In ancient ceremonial
dress and wearing gold swords at their
sides, followed by a band Of court mu-
sicianA
Flute Breaks silence.
Suddenly the silence Of the night was
broken by the notes OF flute. Then were
played popular songs of the Yuki dis
trict by the court musicians-ancient
songs Of felicitation and Joy. When the
music was ended the crown prince
princes and pzincesses OF the blood and
other members of the imperial family Of
fered worship 10 the deities Of heaven en-
shrined at the Yuh shrine and subse-
quently the members of the imperial
retinue and all dignitaries and other par
Elephants offered obeisance.
When the crown prince, princes OF the
blood and other male members of the i'm
perial family had entered the Yuk hall
there came a procession of ritualists and
maids-of-honor carrying the sacred food
offerings which had been prepared in the
cooking hall. The maids were attired in
beautiful ceremonial court robes of bright
and varied colors and each carried a
wicker basket containing food offerings
and utensils Five eight-legged tables
bearing sake-cups, sacred sake wine, soup,
boiled rice and all the food to be tasted
by the emperor were then brought in
by ritualists These preparations COM
pleted. a ritualist beat wooden cappers
TO announce the commencement of the
holy ceremony Of the emperor offering
food to the deitles. To the strains OF the
kagura music the emperor left his seat
in the outer room. and proceeding to the
inner room, seated himself on the throne,
facing the seat OF the deities In the
center.
Emperor wOrshlps Alone.
Again purifying himself by washing
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offered the sacred rice meal, sacred sake
wine and other food to the spirits of the
deities. No other person was permitted
70 enter the precincts of this holy Of
holles." Later the emperor worshiped
before the altar, bowling in profound rev.
erence and then read a prayer. Then
he himself partook OF the sacred feast.
What else took place In the forbidden
precinct Is not exactly known. Eventually
the sacred offerings were taken away
by a maid-of-honor and escorted back
TO the cooking hall by the ritualists and
maids-of-honor In procession as before.
The emperor, again washing his hands
with the help OF a maid-of-honor retired
from the shrine and left the hall. fol-
lowed by the retinue. The ceremony be-
gan at dusk and lasted until just before
midnight.
About one hour after the ceremony at
the Yuki shrine similar ceremony was
performed at the Suki shrine when the
emperor personally offered the sacred
rice. sake wine and other food offerings
before the spirits of the deitias of earth,
The sacred food which came from the
Suki district was prepared and cooked
at a separate cooking hall erected in the
western garden of the Yuki shrine. The
ceremony lasted until early morning. It's
successful termination was held to fore
bode the prosperity and everlasting tran
guilty OF the reign and the new SOW
ereign. the emperor OF Taisho.
Offerings Through Empire.
To celebrate the occasion offerings were
made to all shinto shrines throughout the
empire and dependencies where the occa-
sion was observed with festivities.
The Daijo halls which consisted OF two
principal halls and several annexes, re-
sembled huts In their rustic simplicity
The chief halls. containing two shrines
were built in the southern garden of the
Shishiiden hall. on space about 96x6(
feet square. and were enclosed by q
brushwood fence, the Yuki shrine stand.
ing to the east and the Suki shrine facinI
the west Outside this brushwood fence
stood four ''torir or shrine gates. Un-
like common tori" seem in front of al
Shinto shrines, these gates had doors OF
brushwood. hemmed with cut bamboo
Within the enclosure stood another
''torii'' of the same material. which
formed the gateway between the eastern
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From this gate ran succession of brush
wood fences which divided up the ground
to meet the necessities of the various
rites
The Yuki and Suki shrines were divided
into inner and outer compartments with
doors made OF straw mattings. The halls
had no floors, the ground being covered
with green grass. Instead OF walls wert
sheets OF green mattings bound to pine
trees in natural state. The pillars sup
! porting the roof were pine trees Around
the halls ran a versnda with small steps
4 No nails were used In the building; In.
stead wisteria vines were utilized to bind
its parts together, The ceilings were OF
green mattings. and the roofs werS
{ matched with straw. The ridge OF the
Z roof was a pine tree In its natural state
/ The style OF the building was In strict
! conformity with shinto formalities, witt
purity, cleanliness and natural simplicity
1 the salient feature.
CUTS BROTHERS SKULL
OPEN WITH AXE IN FIGHT