Research source

The rite connected with the festival is of so mysterious a kind that the officiating priest can only impart the…

Date of account: Traditional material presented in a work published 1913
Source: Myths & Legends of Japan
Reference: Myths & Legends of Japan · selected passage 131
Rights: public_domain
Language: English retelling of Japanese traditions
Translation: F. Hadland Davis
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

The rite connected with the festival is of so mysterious a kind that the officiating priest can only impart the secret after his death to his son through the medium of the deceased man's spirit

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

The rite connected with the festival is of so mysterious a kind that the officiating priest can only impart the secret after his death to his son through the medium of the deceased man's spirit. The great carved dragon of Kitzuki was supposed at one time to crawl over the roofs of many houses, but when his wooden throat was cut he remained simply a work of art and no longer troubled the inhabitants. Bronze deer of Matsue, a stag and a doe, also had miraculous power and were able to run about the streets at night. These visitations were so frequent and so disturbing that eventually their heads were cut and their escapades came to an end. The gigantic tortoise of the Gesshōji temple, a stone colossus very nearly sixteen feet in height, was on many occasions seen endeavouring to swim across a pond covered with lotus.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a passage from a historical religious or interpretive text. Its genre, manuscript history, translation and place within its own tradition are part of the evidence and must remain visible.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice can compare the passage's descriptive features with later reports, but resemblance does not turn a vision, angel, mythic creature or sacred narrative into a modern incident report.

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