When I use it of these
savages it simply means libations of sake, waving bowls and waving
hands, without any spiritual act of deprecation or supplication.
In such a sense and such alone they worship the sun and moon (but
not the stars), the forest, and the sea.
The wolf, the black
snake, the owl, and several other beasts and birds have the word
kamoi, god, attached to them, as the wolf is the "howling god," the
owl "the bird of the gods," a black snake the "raven god;" but none
of these things are now "worshipped," wolf-worship having quite
lately died out. Thunder, "the voice of the gods," inspires some
fear. The sun, they say, is their best god, and the fire their
next best, obviously the divinities from whom their greatest
benefits are received. Some idea of gratitude pervades their rude
notions, as in the case of the "worship" paid to Yoshitsune, and it
appears in one of the rude recitations chanted at the Saturnalia
which in several places conclude the hunting and fishing seasons:-
"To the sea which nourishes us, to the forest which protects us, we
present our grateful thanks. You are two mothers that nourish the
same child; do not be angry if we leave one to go to the other.
"The Ainos will always be the pride of the forest and of the sea."
The solitary act of sacrifice which they perform is the placing of
a worthless, dead bird, something like a sparrow, near one of their
peeled wands, where it is left till it reaches an advanced stage of
putrefaction. "To drink for the god" is the chief act of
"worship," and thus drunkenness and religion are inseparably
connected, as the more sake the Ainos drink the more devout they
are, and the better pleased are the gods. It does not appear that
anything but sake is of sufficient value to please the gods. The
libations to the fire and the peeled post are never omitted, and
are always accompanied by the inward waving of the sake bowls.
The peculiarity which distinguishes this rude mythology is the
"worship" of the bear, the Yezo bear being one of the finest of his
species; but it is impossible to understand the feelings by which
it is prompted, for they worship it after their fashion, and set up
its head in their villages, yet they trap it, kill it, eat it, and
sell its skin. There is no doubt that this wild beast inspires
more of the feeling which prompts worship than the inanimate forces
of nature, and the Ainos may be distinguished as bear-worshippers,
and their greatest religious festival or Saturnalia as the Festival
of the Bear. Gentle and peaceable as they are, they have a great
admiration for fierceness and courage; and the bear, which is the
strongest, fiercest, and most courageous animal known to them, has
probably in all ages inspired them with veneration. Some of their
rude chants are in praise of the bear, and their highest eulogy on
a man is to compare him to a bear. Thus Shinondi said of Benri,
the chief, "He is as strong as a bear," and the old Fate praising
Pipichari called him "The young bear."
In all Aino villages, specially near the chief's house, there are
several tall poles with the fleshless skull of a bear on the top of
each, and in most there is also a large cage, made grid-iron
fashion, of stout timbers, and raised two or three feet from the
ground. At the present time such cages contain young but well-
grown bears, captured when quite small in the early spring. After
the capture the bear cub is introduced into a dwelling-house,
generally that of the chief, or sub-chief, where it is suckled by a
woman, and played with by the children, till it grows too big and
rough for domestic ways, and is placed in a strong cage, in which
it is fed and cared for, as I understand, till the autumn of the
following year, when, being strong and well-grown, the Festival of
the Bear is celebrated. The customs of this festival vary
considerably, and the manner of the bear's death differs among the
mountain and coast Ainos, but everywhere there is a general
gathering of the people, and it is the occasion of a great feast,
accompanied with much sake and a curious dance, in which men alone
take part.
Yells and shouts are used to excite the bear, and when he becomes
much agitated a chief shoots him with an arrow, inflicting a slight
wound which maddens him, on which the bars of the cage are raised,
and he springs forth, very furious. At this stage the Ainos run
upon him with various weapons, each one striving to inflict a
wound, as it brings good luck to draw his blood. As soon as he
falls down exhausted, his head is cut off, and the weapons with
which he has been wounded are offered to it, and he is asked to
avenge himself upon them. Afterwards the carcass, amidst a
frenzied uproar, is distributed among the people, and amidst
feasting and riot the head, placed upon a pole, is worshipped, i.e.
it receives libations of sake, and the festival closes with general
intoxication. In some villages it is customary for the foster-
mother of the bear to utter piercing wails while he is delivered to
his murderers, and after he is slain to beat each one of them with
a branch of a tree. [Afterwards at Usu, on Volcano Bay, the old
men told me that at their festival they despatch the bear after a
different manner. On letting it loose from the cage two men seize
it by the ears, and others simultaneously place a long, stout pole
across the nape of its neck, upon which a number of Ainos mount,
and after a prolonged struggle the neck is broken.
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