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THE RELIGION OF THE JAPANESE AINU

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 11, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 6.

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THE RELIGION OF THE JAPANESE AINU.

By Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D.

THE religion of the Ainu has traces of that widespread sun worship which was known in Egypt, Babylon, India, Persia, Mexico, Peru, and many other nations. The Shintoo faith of Japan is of the same general character, the sun goddess having been regarded as the ancestor of the Mikados; but the Ainu treat this goddess as only one of the deputies, though she is preëminent among them. She has a variety of functions, and is a sort of general care taker and friend, like the Vishnu of the Hindus and the Apollo of the Greeks.
The Ainu have no priesthood, no altars for sacrifices or offerings, no temples, no stated days for worship. The nearest approach to altars and temples are the inao, mere pieces of wood whittled into shavings, which are left still attached at one end. These are set up as tufted stakes near the house or the fishing place, or wherever they wish the favor of the respective gods to be shown. They are merely tokens or reminders; they are scarcely fetishes.
According to Mr. Bachelor, if an Ainu were to formulate his creed of religious beliefs and superstitions, it would be something like this. At any rate, almost every Ainu would assent to the following items as a concise summary of his belief:—
  1. I believe in one supreme God, the Creator of all worlds and places, made by “God, the maker of places and worlds and possessor of heaven.”
  2. I believe in the existence of a multitude of lesser deities, all subject to this one Creator. They receive their life and power from him, and they govern the world under him.
  3. I believe there are also many evil gods, who are ever ready to inflict punishment for wicked deeds.
  4. I believe in Aioina Kamui as our ancestor, a man become divine, and who has now the superintendence of the Ainu race; in a goddess of the sun; in a goddess of fire; in goddesses of rivers; in gods of mountains and forests; in the gods of animals; in the gods of the sea and of the skies and all things contained therein.
  5. I believe in demons, of whom the devil is chief, and also that there are demons who preside over accidents and all evil influences.
  6. I believe that the souls both of human beings and animals are immortal; that separated husbands and wives will be rejoined hereafter; that all people will be judged, and the good rewarded and the evil punished.
  7. I believe that the souls of departed animals act as guardians to human beings.
  8. I believe in ghosts; that the departed spirits of old women have a mighty power for harm, and that they appear as very demons in nature.
  9. I believe that there are three heavens, called respectively “the high vaulty skies,” the “star-bearing skies,” and “the foggy heavens.” I also believe that there are six worlds below us.
The religion of the Ainu differs from most other systems of the East in these particulars:—
  1. It is free from pantheism.
  2. It holds to a real creation instead of any form of evolution.
  3. There is no trace of asceticism.
  4. There is no jugglery, hypocrisy, or priestly imposture.
  5. There is no organic form of religion in the tribe or even in the family, and there are no records.
  6. The system is greatly lacking in moral earnestness. The idea of future rewards is vague, and heaven has little attraction.
A gospel of light and hope ought to be readily received.—Rev. F. F. Ellinwood, D.D.