^204:1 It is very interesting to trace chronologically the workings of the different Buddhist sects in the early years of Japanese Buddhism. Of the rival Trinities, the first to reach Japan is undoubtedly that which has Amitabha as its central figure. A century later comes the Trinity of Roshana, and still later again that of Vairoc'ana. For a while syncretism prevails, and an attempt is made to treat the three as identical. Geshin is the first to see that this syncretism is impossible. Finally, Honen and Shinran, in the twelfth century, get the courage of their convictions, and proclaim Amida as the True and only Refuge of the Buddhist believer.

^204:2 I would call the attention of the European reader to the very suggestive work "Le Japon," by M. de la Mazeliere, of which, I believe, three volumes have appeared. The author brings out very clearly the points of Japan's indebtedness to China and India for the materials of much of her religious thought.

^205:1 The practice of reckoning time by certain periods of years arbitrarily fixed from time to time, for the purpose of worrying the historian, had been long in vogue in China. Kotoku introduced it in Japan, and there have been over 240 such periods since that time.

^205:2 The Omi and Omuraji were in ancient times the ministers of the Emperor. The offices were hereditary. The new offices were not so in intention, but the Japanese is an oligarch by constitution, and the new offices gradually came to be monopolized by certain families.

^206:1 That is the Buddhist version. It is claimed by Soga's enemies that he, true to family traditions, was aspiring to the crown.

^206:2 To estimate the greatness of this aristocratic family, which has supplied such a long list of imperial consorts, the student is referred to the pages devoted to the subject in Fr. Papinot's "Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Geographie du Japon."

^206:3 For the Taihoryo, see Transactions Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. viii. p. 145.

^206:4 Of the "Kojiki" there is a translation by Chamberlain (Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. x., Supp.); of the "Nihongi," one in English by Aston (Japan Society, London, Supp. I.); and one in German by Florenz (Mitteilungen der deutschen Gesellschaft fur Natur and Volkerkunde Ostasiens. Tokyo).

^207:1 See, e.g., vol. i. of Murdoch's "History of Japan."

^207:2 I specially notice this particular instance, because the mention of venison seems to connect it with the deer Jataka, which reappears in Christian folklore as the legend of St. Eustathius, and afterwards as that of St. Hubert.