First Published in 2005. The present volume is based upon an address delivered by me at the International Congress of Orientalists held at Rome in October 1899. The object of the original lecture vias to show the close relation which exists between Ancestor-worship and Japanese Law, and the vast influence which the former exercised upon different branches of the latter.

Eschewing the path of religious pamphleteering in favor of a broad juridical and sociological approach, Hozumi describes the practice of Japanese ancestor-worship, its origins, manifestations, peculiarities and social and legal implications. The author lays aside many misconceptions regarding ancestor-worship, permitting us to see Japanese cultures and religions in an entirely new light. Among the fascinating topics covered are ancestor-worship in Europe and America, the theory of the dread of ghosts, sacred places in the Japanese house, and the relation of ancestor-worship to loyalty and patriotism.