r lover. On the wedding day it was
customary for the bride to present "table-articles" (tsukue-shiro) to
the bridegroom in the form of food and drink. There were places
specially associated in the public mind with uta-gaki--Tsukuba
Mountain in Hitachi, Kijima-yama in Hizen, and Utagaki-yama in
Settsu. Sometimes men of noble birth took part in this pastime, but
it was usually confined to the lower middle classes. The great
festival of bon-odori, which will be spoken of by and by, is said to
be an outgrowth of the uta-gaki.

SUPERSTITIONS

No influences of alien character affected the religious beliefs of
the Japanese during the period we are now considering (fourth, fifth,
and sixth centuries). The most characteristic feature of the time was
a belief in the supernatural power of reptiles and animals. This
credulity was not limited to the uneducated masses. The Throne itself
shared it. Yuryaku, having expressed a desire to see the incarnated
form of the Kami of Mimoro Mountain, was shown a serpent seventy feet
long. In the same year a group of snakes harrassed a man who was
reclaiming a marsh, so that he had to take arms against them and
enter into a compact of limitations and of shrine building. Other
records of maleficent deities in serpent shape were current, and
monkeys and dragons inspired similar terror. Of this superstition
there was born an evil custom, the sacrifice of human beings to
appease the hostile spirits. The Kami of Chusan in Mimasaka province
was believed to be a giant ape, and the Kami of Koya, a big reptile.
The people of these two districts took it in turn to offer a girl at
the shrines of those Kami, and in the province of Hida another
colossal monkey was similarly appeased. There were further cases of
extravagant superstition.

ARTS AND CRAFTS

Of the development of sericulture and of the arts of weaving and
ceramics in this era enough has already been written; but, as showing
the growth of refinement, it may be noted that among the articles
ordered by the Emperor Yuryaku were a silk hat and a sashiha, or
round fan with a long handle. The colour of the fan was purple, and
it is said to have been hung up as an ornament in the palace.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT

The original form of government under the Yamato seems to have been
feudal. The heads of uji were practically feudal chiefs. Even orders
from the Throne had to pass through the uji no Kami in order to reach
the people. But from the time of