[Footnote 5: In 1853 an English man-of-war visited this island, and
two of the officers were hoisted up in the basket for the purpose of
taking sights. One of them, who was my informant, describes it as a
walled-in barren island, with no other mode of ingress or egress than
that described.]




CHAPTER IX.

SUPERSTITIONS AND RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES.


The Sintoo faith and Buddhism are the prevalent religions of the
Japanese. The teaching of the other sects is modelled more or less on
the tenets inculcated by these two. Some, however, hold a philosophic
doctrine, which recognises a Supreme Being but denies a future state,
holding that happiness is only to be insured by a virtuous life.

Sintooism may be regarded as the national religion of the country. It
inculcates a high moral standard; and its chief personage is the
Mikado, or spiritual emperor, who is considered to be a mediator
between his subjects and the inhabitants of the other world.

Every Sintoo has the image of a patron 'kami,' or 'saint,' enshrined
in his house, to which he lays open his necessities and confesses his
shortcomings, and by whose intercession with the Supreme Being he
trusts at his death to be translated to the regions of the 'kamis,' as
they designate their heaven.