The invocation, _Namu Amida Butsu_, is chiefly used by members of the
great Shin sect; but it is also used by other sects, and especially in
praying for the dead. While repeating it, the person praying numbers
the utterances upon his Buddhist rosary; and this custom is suggested
by the use of the word _kazoëté_, "counting."]

Tada ichi no
Kami no o-fuda wa
Sasuga ni mo
Noriké naku to mo
Hégashi kanékéri.

[_Of the august written-charms of the god (which were pasted
upon the walls of the house), not even one could by any effort
be pulled off, though the rice-paste with which they had been
fastened was all gone._]


XIV. FURU-TSUBAKI

The old Japanese, like the old Greeks, had their flower-spirits and
their hamadryads, concerning whom some charming stories are told. They
also believed in trees inhabited by malevolent beings,--goblin trees.
Among other weird trees, the beautiful _tsubaki_ (_Camellia Japonica_)
was said to be an unlucky tree;--this was said, at least, of the
red-flowering variety, the white-flowering kind having a better
reputation and being prized as a rarity. The large fleshy crimson
flowers have this curious habit: they detach themselves bodily from
the stem, when they begin to fade; and they fall with an audible thud.
To old Japanese fancy the falling of these heavy red flowers was like