Evening star., 1928-11-14
EMPEROR OFFERS
ANCIENT SACRIFICE
Great Thanksgiving Rites,
Survival of Prehistoric
Times, Observed.
Rv tl1e Assollate ted Press.


KYOTO, Japan, November 1.-THE
Daijo-sai, or Great Thanksgiving, :"
always celebrated following the formal
enthronement of an Emperor Of Japan,
began in Kyoto late today. Throughout
tonight Hirohito, as the 124th ruler in
the line of the Heavenly Sun dynasty
will engage in observance of the most
solemn rites of the Shinto religion, act
ing as the high priest of the nation
The japanese enthronement consti-
tutes the oldest state ceremonial sur
viving among modern nations, but the
most ancient part of these observances
IS the Great Thanksgiving. Else
where In the enthronement ritual are
borrowings from Chinese and other
cultures, but in the Daijo-sai Is pre-
served intact the Japan Of 1000 years
ago.
None but japanese witness any part,
of this ceremony and none but the
Emperor is witness to its most solemn
moments. In the dead of night, alone,
he offers to the gods of his people the
first fruits of the first untainted harvest
of his reign and intercedes with them
for the prosperity of the ration. Inls
is the first "untainted" harvest, Tor last
years, grown while Hirohito was
actually reigning. was sown ana reapeo
during the year IN when tne haVioll
was still mourning for his tatner;
When he entered the grove OF ever
Greens in which the buildings OF the
Daiio-Sai have been erected the En-
peror plunged into a restoration OF tne
world in which his ancestors OF more
than a hundred generations ago nved.
In these primitive buildings, NUS IKE
those in which early man began 10 snel"
ter himself, there is no metal, the ten
drills of Wistaria being used to olno tne
tiInbers together.
Two Huts Are Center.
THE central place in this restoration
is held by two small sheltefS OF Wo1u o
and -thatoh. They stand side by SIDE
their frames of pine logs with the bark
left on the rooftree an unheWn log, the
roof covering of thatch, The walls ana
ceilings are of rough reed mattlng' tne
doors screens of bamboo. These are
the Yuki-Den and the Suki-Den.
Midnight is the dividing line between
the nhaSes of the Emperor's ordeal To-
NIGHT. The observance on Wnlcn ne
entered with the coming of darSness
moved to It's climax in the inner cnahls
her of the Yuki-Den, to be compleIeo
shortly before midnight Tnen, aiter
rest of two hours, exactly tne SAINT
ritual was to be repeated IN the ouNi-
Den. .ot d, an
inclosure marked by a rough brushWooo
fence six feet high surrounding an area
1O0 bv 60 feet. Around the two Snrlnes
are disposed auxiliary shelters OF tne
same construction, a hall OF anlutioh'
ecokinp sheds for each of the sanctu-
aries and pavilions OF attendRnce.
within this Enclosure may enter only
the sovereigns, members OF the lmperla!
family and the highest dignitarles ana
court officials directly participating III
the ritual. The invited guests are
nlaced in waiting halls outside the m
closure, from which they are unable 10
see any part of what goes on WITHIN.
They merely wait throughout the night
Empress Nagako. followed by her
train of princesses and court ladies', ac-
con1panied her consort, but was permit
ted to share In only q part OF the Htes'
She remained In the haals OF purlhca-
tien. .,,
Scholars do not agree as to the tuii
import of the Great Thanksgiving.
although it is undoubted that IN u
survives many very old elements. IL Is
certainly a harvest teStlval, In WHICH
the Emperor offers the tlrst fruits ana
1t is, in part, a worship OF the sun
goddess
Care Used in Growing Rice.
As the great national harvest festival
the Daiio-Sai has demanded long and
careful agricultural preparation. Its
central rite is the offering OF the sacred
rice of the new harvest to the gods, and
the grain to be used in this observance
has been grown with every precautlon
against contamination from any source
Each of the Sanctuaries has It's own
paddy field to supply the rice used for
making the sake and food used in Its
half Of the oblation, The Yuki field
has always been chosen from the dis
trict north and east of Kioto, the Suki
field must lie south and west of the old
capital. The exact district in each case
was determined last February 5, when
the ancient divination method OF the
heated tortoise shell was invoked In a
ceremony In the imperial palace at
Toxic. In the cracks of the shell
OWNERS read the will of the gods. The
particular fields were chosen by the
Department of Agriculture,
Every step In the growth OF this crop
was hedged about with elaborate pre-
cautions against harm, either from
tangible physical forces or from In
fiuences of the spirit world. In late
September the rice was harvested, and
a month later brought to Kioto in spe-
cial trains, personally escorted by the
governor of the prefecture IN which it
was grown, .-t