ASIA 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WASON 
 
 CHINESE 
 COLLECTION 
 

 Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <g23> 
 
 
 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 DS 508.W15 
 
 Letters from the Far EasJ 1 ,; n l ? l '? 1 S |1 °'a. li yi l 
 
 3 1924 023 523 693 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023523693 
 
LETTERS FROM THE FAR EAST 
 
AT THE IYEYASU TEMPLE, NIKKO 
 
LETTERS FROM THE FAR EAST 
 
 NOTES OF A VISIT TO CHINA, KOREA 
 
 AND JAPAN 
 
 1915-1916 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICA A. WALCOTT 
 
 ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 THE ELM TREE PRESS : WOODSTOCK VERMONT 
 
 1917 
 
 1 '< ; A7ii { y 
 
One hundred copies printed from type, of 
 which this is 
 
 No ^ 
 
 ~U0 Cu-Cue-vn 
 
 vssor 
 
To 
 
 S -San, the best fellow traveller and 
 
 playmate ever 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I From New York to Shanghai. The 
 
 Voyage Out . 9 
 
 II In Shanghai 17 
 
 III A Week-End on a House-Boat. Last 
 
 Days in Shanghai 23 
 
 IV A Little Visit to Seoul, Korea 
 
 Back to Japan 35 
 
 V Coronation Days in Kyoto 47 
 
 VI Kyoto Sight-Seeing 59 
 
 VII Reviews and other Functions at 
 
 Tokyo and Yokohama 69 
 
 VIII The Holiday Season 76 
 
 IX Winter Days at Yokohama 87 
 
 X At Nara, the Ancient Capital 98 
 
 XI A Visit to the Ise Shrines 109 
 
 XII Last Glimpses of Nara and Kyoto 117 
 
 XIII Tokyo Sights. Changed Plans 123 
 
 XIV Spring Days in Yokohama 129 
 
 XV Nikko Revisited 138 
 
 XVI Last Days in Japan. The Journey 
 
 Home 143 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tea Houses, Kyoto cover 
 
 At the Iyeyasu Temple, Nikko frontispiece 
 
 Bridge Near Soochow facing page 16 
 
 Chinese Orphans, Shanghai facing page 24 
 
 Outside the Exposition Grounds, Seoul, 
 
 Korea facing page 64 
 
 Outside the Nishi Hongwanji Temple, 
 
 Kyoto facing page 72 
 
 Procession of Priests, Chionin Temple. 
 
 Kyoto facing page 104 
 
 Pack-Horses, Chiuzenji Road, Nikko 
 
 facing page 112 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 FROM NEW YORK TO SHANGHAI 
 
 THE VOYAGE OUT 
 
 5. S. "Mongolia" Off the Japanese coast 
 Saturday, September 11th, 1915 
 
 Another twenty-four hours and we shall be once 
 more in the fair Land of the Rising Sun, just one 
 month after leaving New York, a month devoted 
 to the journey across the continent and the seven- 
 teen days' voyage on the placid Pacific, varied by 
 one short week in San Francisco. Except for the 
 fact that after our departure from Chicago on a 
 Friday the thirteenth we had the Pullman almost 
 entirely to ourselves, the long railway journey was 
 in no wise unusual. Once in San Francisco, we 
 found plenty to amuse us in the Panama-Pacific 
 Exposition, a meeting of the Associated Harvard 
 Clubs and a renewal of our fleeting acquaintance 
 with the streets and shops of the city ; the day of 
 sailing came all too soon. 
 
 We thoroughly enjoyed the Exposition, and found 
 the buildings far more agreeable to the eye than we 
 had expected; probably the colors had toned down 
 considerably since the opening days, when they 
 were criticized by some as garish and overdone. 
 Of the foreign exhibits, the Japanese seemed to me 
 the most complete and artistic ; of the buildings, the 
 French and Italian and one or two State headquar- 
 ters the most tasteful. The wretched war had, of 
 course, much to do with the paucity of the displays 
 from the European countries, which indeed, under 
 
 9 
 
the circumstances, were most creditable. To be 
 quite frank, I found the interiors of the great exhib- 
 ition halls far less to my liking than the architectural 
 beauties of some of the towers, colonnades and 
 courts and the loveliness of the gardens with their 
 masses of bright blooms. We found one never-fail- 
 ing source of joy in the little wheeled chairs re- 
 sembling those at Atlantic City but dependent on 
 electric motive power instead of mere man. In these 
 we slowly perambulated ourselves all over the 
 grounds and especially up every incline, for from 
 the tops of the miniature hills we could coast down 
 at a speed never to be attained on the levels. The 
 "Zone" was given over to amusements of every 
 description. Of all its numerous side shows the best 
 was a fine working model of the Panama Canal. At 
 night the illuminations of the grounds and buildings 
 were really wonderful and at that time the Tower of 
 Jewels well merited its name, but the cold, damp 
 fogs of the evenings somewhat dampened our ardor 
 and detracted very considerably from a full enjoy- 
 ment of the sights. 
 
 For two or three days Arthur found most of his 
 time taken up with the festivities attendant on the 
 Associated Harvard Clubs Reunion — a trip on the 
 scenic Mt. Tamalpais Railway, a barbecue in the 
 Muir Woods, dinners at the Palace Hotel and the 
 Norwegian Government building and an evening 
 of music, processionings, fireworks and the " Zone." 
 Several other things that had been planned had to 
 be given up on account of the late arrival of the 
 " Finland " and her Harvard passengers, owing to 
 bad slides in the Culebra Cut which held her up for 
 over four days. 
 
 One evening we had quite an unexpected glimpse 
 10 
 
of the Far East in the form of a fete in Chinatown. 
 The streets of the quarter, crowded with Orientals, 
 were brightly lighted and hung with gay flags and 
 banners. The little Chinese girls were adorable 
 with their shiny braids and daintily colored coats 
 and trousers. The kiddies of about eight or nine 
 were evidently supposed to be selling confetti to 
 visitors but as a matter of fact they were spending 
 most of their time, boylike, in hurling their wares 
 at the passers-by, though this entailed much ardu- 
 ous labor in picking up the scattered bits of paper 
 and replacing them in the bags in which they were 
 offered for sale. Keen enjoyment was none the less 
 apparent. 
 
 We sailed for Honolulu and Yokohama on the 
 morning of the twenty-fifth of August, our ship be- 
 ing our old friend the ' Mongolia ' on which over 
 four years ago we made our wedding voyage to 
 Japan. Our send-off was somewhat unusual, as may 
 be seen from the following extracts from the steam- 
 er's news bulletin : 
 
 " The greatest crowd that has ever made its way 
 to the Pacific Mail docks was on Pier 42 yesterday 
 to see the ' Mongolia ' leave San Francisco for the 
 last time, and when the ' Pride of the Pacific ' pulled 
 out from the dock and headed for the Golden Gate 
 the air was ringing with the cries of farewell. The 
 ' Mongolia ' carried out the record list of passen- 
 gers for the Pacific Mail Company. An unusually 
 large number of Chinese were aboard the liner. 
 China has declared a boycott against the rival Jap- 
 anese ships and many of the natives of the ' Flow- 
 ery Kingdom ' took advantage of the sailing of the 
 'Mongolia ' to return to China on the last American 
 vessel. The ' Mongolia ' also upset all trans-Pacific 
 
 11 
 
tradition by leaving on Wednesday. This is the 
 first time that a big ship of the Orient lines has 
 ever sailed from this port on any other day than 
 Saturday. Captain Emery Rice was in command of 
 the ' Mongolia ' and every officer aboard was an 
 American. All regretted that the oldest steamship 
 line in the world and the company which first ven- 
 tured into the trans-Pacific trade had been forced to 
 retire from service because of destructive legisla- 
 tion The God of Bad Luck did not accompany 
 
 the sailing of the . . . (ship) . . . when it left this 
 port . . . Through the activities of the Chinese crew 
 aboard evil spirits were most effectively frightened 
 away and the liner given a grand send-off from San 
 Francisco. The ceremonies accompanying the de- 
 parture of the liner were prepared by the Chinese 
 without the knowledge of Captain Emery Rice and 
 the other officers aboard. Charlie Whan, the head 
 Chinese boy, acted as high priest, and just as the 
 ' Mongolia ' pulled away from the pier, long poles 
 bearing fifteen foot strings of fire-crackers were 
 run out over the sides near the after railing and set 
 off. The result greatly resembled a battle in Europe. 
 If the God of Bad Luck happened to be perched on 
 the trucks of the steamer, he must have vacated 
 mighty rapidly before the bombardment ceased. 
 At least twenty strings of crackers were set off and 
 the firing continued until the ' Mongolia ' was far 
 down the bay on its way to the Far East." 
 
 Besides a full cargo and enormous quantities of 
 mail — seventeen hundred bags in all, we hear — 
 the steerage is crowded and there is a full list of 
 first cabin passengers, among them over a hundred 
 and fifty missionaries, a handful of diplomats, in- 
 cluding Mr. Guthrie, our Ambassador to Japan ; a 
 
 12 
 
baseball team, and the usual number of commercial 
 travellers, tourists, school teachers and officials, 
 many of them en route to the Philippines. 
 
 The first few days of the voyage passed quickly 
 in the usual lazy, comfortable way and on the last 
 day of August we awoke to find land clearly in 
 sight — the first large island of the Hawaiian group ; 
 the sky and water were the bluest ever and flying 
 fish were playing all about us. We landed at the 
 pier in Honolulu soon after lunch and after looking 
 about the streets a little took a couple of trolley 
 rides to the country, instead of the usual motor trips 
 to the Pali and the Punch Bowl with which we were 
 already both of us familiar from past experiences. 
 We ended up at the Moana Hotel at Waikiki Beach, 
 where we watched the surf-riding for awhile and 
 then enjoyed a luscious dinner with artichokes and 
 alligator pears and other things fit for the gods. I 
 don't believe I ever have seen anything more lovely 
 than the trees and flowers at this time, all in full 
 bloom ; the riot of color was simply gorgeous. 
 
 Late in the evening we returned to the ship for 
 the night and next morning promptly at ten steamed 
 out of the bay, having from the deck a passing 
 glimpse at our ill-fated submarine just recovered 
 from the depths of the harbor and being searched 
 for the remains of her unfortunate crew. By the 
 way, quite close beside us as we lay at the pier at 
 Honolulu was the German gunboat " Geier, " driven 
 into this port of refuge by allied war ships in the 
 early days of the war and now disarmed and in- 
 terned but proudly flying the Imperial emblem. 
 
 We crossed the one hundred eightieth meridian 
 on a Sunday, thereby causing considerable excite- 
 ment among the missionaries, for that day had to 
 
 13 
 
be dropped from the calendar. As a compromise, 
 services were held in the saloon in the morning 
 and sports on the deck in the afternoon. Another 
 bit of excitement was afforded one afternoon by 
 our overhauling and passing within a few dozen 
 yards a sailing ship bound from Australia to Seattle. 
 Her skipper, his wife and four children were plainly 
 visible to the naked eye as they waved madly to 
 us. 
 
 The most novel feature of the voyage, however, 
 has been the transfer of mail and stowaways to us 
 from the " Siberia " in mid-ocean. First came a 
 wireless a day ahead saying that the " Siberia " had 
 stowaways and that as our ship was the last Pacif- 
 ic liner scheduled to go to the Far East we must if 
 possible return the fugitives to their home lands. 
 Fortunately the hour of transfer happened to come 
 on a beautiful starlight night and the sea was abso- 
 lutely calm. We sighted the " Siberia " at about ten 
 P. M., and when the ships were within perhaps a 
 short mile of each other both stopped and the " Si- 
 beria " sent over one of her life-boats, which bobbed 
 about on the ocean swell like a nut-shell and must 
 have been rather uncomfortable for its officer, crew 
 of six and five unwilling passengers. In the mean- 
 while our search-lights were turned on and a rope 
 ladder lowered over the steamer's side, up which 
 in a few minutes the precious stowaways were 
 scrambling for dear life— three Chinese and two 
 Japanese. We exchanged mail and then moved 
 slowly forward towing the " Siberia's " boat almost 
 to her home ship. As the two great ships passed 
 each other at close range there was tremendous 
 cheering and blowing of whistles and the officers 
 interchanged greetings through megaphones. We 
 
 14 
 
were actually near enough to distinguish the passen- 
 gers on the decks, and the big liner with all her 
 brilliant lights was a great spectacle. 
 
 Besides these special sources of entertainment 
 there has been aboard, ever since we cleared the 
 Golden Gate, a never-ending programme of tourr 
 naments — shuffle-board, deck tennis, quoits, ping; 
 pong and bridge, races, diving and swimming con- 
 tests in the improvised tank and any number of 
 concerts and dances, and one vaudeville show in 
 which the graduates of over forty-five colleges and 
 universities took part. These affairs come to a close 
 with the captain's dinner and a final concert to- 
 night. 
 
 S. S. "Mongolia" Off Nagasaki 
 Friday, September 17th 
 The last five days have been very busy ones, for 
 we have been ashore in three different places. Sun- 
 day we spent in Yokohama, rickshawing on our 
 arrival to the Grand Hotel to secure a, room for the 
 night, then proceeding to Cook's for mail and in- 
 quiries as to reservations of rooms at Kyoto for the 
 coronation month of November. Were delighted to 
 be able to get a comfortable room at the Miyako, 
 our favorite hotel, though at rates far above the 
 usual ones. We made no attempt to go to the Jap- 
 anese parts of the town as we shall have ample op- 
 portunity later on, but after business had been done 
 went for a walk in the foreign residence section, 
 known as the " Bluff." Found few changes there or 
 in the foreign business section except that many 
 German residences and offices seemed to be vacant 
 
 15 
 
and the eagles had disappeared from the German 
 Consulate. These parts of the city are almost de- 
 serted on Sundays and we saw hardly any Japanese 
 after once leaving the customs at the pier. 
 
 Early Monday we started on again and Tuesday 
 we rose to find the hills back of Kobe quite near at 
 hand. At about noon we landed and lunched at the 
 Oriental Hotel. Had expected to sail again before 
 night, but there proved to be so much cargo to be un- 
 loaded and loaded that we had nearly a full day more 
 for renewing our acquaintance with Kobe shops 
 and sights. One short walk on the Motomachi and 
 we felt once more the old charm of Japan, for there 
 is a strong fascination in the street signs and the 
 little open air shops and more than all in the polite, 
 smiling people, their distinctive dress and their ways 
 of doing things, all so different from those to which 
 we are accustomed at home. But I am going to say 
 nothing more of the Japanese till we return later 
 and settle down for a long stay in their charming 
 country. Suffice it at this time to add merely that 
 we spent another day ashore yesterday, at Naga- 
 saki ; a warm, muggy day, but comfortable enough 
 for a lazy rickshaw ride and a visit to the three fine 
 temples on the hills, where we had the luck to find 
 services going on with all the pomp and circum- 
 stance of the elaborate Buddhist ritual. To-morrow 
 night we should reach Shanghai and our long voy- 
 age of twenty-four days will be at an end. We have 
 had ideal weather, smooth water and good com- 
 pany throughout and we shall really be sorry in 
 many ways to leave the good old ship " Mongolia." 
 Our remembrances of her will be among our pleas- 
 antest. 
 
 16 
 
BRIDGE NEAR SOOCHOW 
 
CHAPTER II 
 IN SHANGHAI 
 
 Astor House Hotel, Shanghai, China 
 Sunday, September 19th 
 
 Here we are, safe and sound in Shanghai. We 
 crossed the bar at the mouth of the Yangtse at 
 about six P. M. yesterday, but did not disembark 
 off Woosung till after eleven. None of the large 
 ships go up to Shanghai City ; they drop anchor fif- 
 teen miles below, where the Woosung River emp- 
 ties into the greater Yangtse, and passengers 
 bound for Shanghai continue their way on a small 
 tender or tug boat which tows behind it a lighter 
 containing the mail and baggage. It was a fiendish 
 night, rain coming down in torrents and the wind 
 blowing a gale, making it no easy matter to climb 
 down the companion ladder to the lighter across 
 which we had to slip and slide to our tender be- 
 yond. The tender was crowded to a degree and its 
 small cabin soon became uncomfortably hot and 
 stuffy, but the storm was so severe that there was 
 no choice but to remain inside. 
 
 It was nearly two A. M. when we finally made 
 fast to the Customs landing at the city, and then 
 we learned that none of the baggage could be taken 
 away till morning; also the not altogether cheerful 
 news that the Palace Hotel to which we had intend- 
 ed going was full and the other big hotel, the Astor 
 House, had just failed and had no manager though 
 it was still open. Setting foot on the Bund we were 
 at once set upon and almost mobbed by a lot of 
 hungry rickshaw coolies, made even more persis- 
 tent and obnoxious than usual by a year of bad 
 
 17 
 
business, for tourists have been scarce lately, resi- 
 dents are saving their pennies and a recent unsuc- 
 cessful strike has made matters still worse. 
 
 Going to the Astor we found that hostelry also 
 crowded, but at last managed to get for the night 
 a couple of utterly hopeless little rooms in the old 
 part of the house nearly over the sailors' bar, dirty 
 and noisy. Here we passed an almost sleepless 
 night. Next morning after a breakfast consisting 
 of a mixture of mud-colored hot water called eu- 
 phemistically coffee and a slice of cold, soggy toast, 
 I was left alone while Arthur went off in the pour- 
 ing rain to the wharf to rescue our baggage ; my 
 spirits reached so low an ebb that I was just about 
 ready to take the first ship for home. Things did 
 not improve at once, for after dressing and going 
 downstairs I had two long weary hours to spend in 
 the dingy reading room looking over Home Journals 
 of the vintage of 1900, my sole companion or visi- 
 tor being an undesirably large rat that ran across 
 the floor occasionally. When Arthur at last returned 
 with the trunks he reported that an outward bound 
 steamer had taken off a number of the hotel guests, 
 leaving vacant several good rooms. By noon we 
 were able to shift to a large sunny room on the 
 front of the house, with— joy of joys — a bath with 
 modern plumbing. I soon began to feel again that 
 life was after all worth living. The rain had stopped 
 and under the strong sun everything had dried up 
 like magic, the air becoming so hot that we decided 
 to take our time about unpacking and getting set- 
 tled and not even to take our usual " look see " walk 
 till late afternoon. 
 
 18 
 
Astor House Hotel, Shanghai, China 
 Monday, September 27th 
 
 It only seems possible that our second week in 
 Shanghai is well on its way when we think over all 
 that we have done and seen. The first few days we 
 spent in leisurely wandering about wherever the 
 spirit moved us— up the " Maloo " or Nanking Road, 
 the principal foreign shopping street, beyond the 
 race track along the Bubbling Well Road (which 
 takes its name from an old well concerning which 
 there is a tradition that to see one's reflection in its 
 waters means that one will surely return to Shang- 
 hai ) or through the Chinese shopping streets, with 
 regular stops at Laou Kai Fook's (the famous silk 
 merchant) where the materials are simply marvel- 
 ous, all in rolls which are separately unwrapped 
 for us to admire. The designs and colors are lovely 
 and the fabrics are all hand woven and very heavy. 
 
 One day we braved the dirt, smells and noise and 
 paid a visit to the native city, poking about its nar- 
 row, fascinating alleys, some of them made quite 
 dark by the multitude of hanging signs and the 
 cloths stretched across overhead. In this part of 
 Shanghai, which was shut in by a high wall when I 
 saw it last in 1910, one must walk everywhere, for 
 the streets are too narrow for vehicles and too full 
 of pedestrians. Most of the shops are only a few 
 feet square and many of the interesting wares are 
 made right on the spot in full view of the prospect- 
 ive purchaser as he passes by. Itinerant mer- 
 chants are especially in evidence and vendors of all 
 things imaginable and even unthinkable continu- 
 ally crowd one to the side as they amble by with 
 their stock in trade at the ends of their shoulder 
 
 19 
 
bamboos. We went a little out of the way for a 
 look at the famous old "Willow Pattern Tea 
 House," a picturesque, ramshackle old frame pav- 
 ilion completely surrounded by filthy water and 
 bad smells and approached over a zigzag bridge, 
 such being reputed to be especially distasteful to 
 evil spirits. This time we did not visit the City 
 Temple, for the revolution has brought to Shang- 
 hai a lot of old-time piratical and outlaw Chinese 
 who loathe foreigners and make of the temple one 
 of their favorite rendezvous. 
 
 Another time we trollied out to Siccawei, where 
 there is a large Roman Catholic settlement with 
 mission schools and all sorts of beneficial institu- 
 tions. Here the fathers teach the Chinese boys 
 wood carving among other things and you can buy 
 genuine camphor-wood chests beautifully carved in 
 both Chinese and European designs. In the girls' 
 department the sisters show their pupils the art of 
 embroidering in European style and how to make 
 lace. We found a hundred or more girls working 
 in a large well-lighted room under the supervision 
 of several nuns, while yet another sitting in the 
 center chanted aloud prayers which were repeated 
 by the girls sentence by sentence. 
 
 This morning we went to a small park at the 
 mouth of the Soochow Creek and amused ourselves 
 for a couple of hours kodaking and watching the 
 water life— junks, barges, sampans, warships and 
 other craft. The most striking of all was one of the 
 old Ningpo junks with high curving bow and poop, 
 many ragged sails' spread to the breeze and on 
 either side of the bow a huge, glaring, painted eye, 
 for according to Chinese logic, " If boat no have 
 eye how can see ; if no can see how can go." 
 
 20 
 
When the weather is unfavorable to outdoor 
 amusements we have plenty to watch from our 
 windows — high-power motor cars and modern car- 
 riages contesting the way with rickshaws and 
 wheelbarrows pushed by coolies and loaded down 
 with passengers or freight or both, while other 
 coolies with enormous bundles, buckets or boxes 
 on the ends of bamboos slung across the shoulders 
 dodge anxiously the trolley cars and motor cycles 
 that now and again whiz by. Directly opposite the 
 new Russian Consulate building is going up, its 
 fine stone exterior just now nearly hid by an ex- 
 tensive scaffolding of bamboo poles and wooden 
 planks tied together with cord or rope. On this in- 
 secure-looking framework, several stories above the 
 street, dozens of Chinese laborers work and chatter 
 behind high fencings covered with English cigar- 
 ette advertisements. The East and West are cer- 
 tainly strangely intermingled in this cosmopolitan 
 city of Shanghai. 
 
 Our odd minutes indoors are given up to the na- 
 tive tailors, a persistent breed who fairly haunt 
 one's presence and camp contentedly for hours out- 
 side one's door waiting for one to return. We have, 
 partially in self defence, yielded to their seductions 
 and ordered suits from one of them, Ah Shang, 
 who, I fear, has no very high opinion of my ideas, 
 for the other day I asked him if he could smock 
 and received the scornful answer " Can do. Lady 
 no wantchee this time. Smlock velly old style. No 
 good. Me number one smlock man twenty year 
 ago." 
 
 Arthur has looked up some of his old friends 
 here and they have all been so hospitable that we 
 have come to feel quite at home in Shanghai, and 
 
 21 
 
now through the kindness of the Ts we are going 
 to be able to do something that I have longed to 
 do— take a house-boat trip to the hills. Two of the 
 best boats here, one a motor boat, the other a tow 
 boat, have been loaned them. Such is the magic of 
 the East. A week ago we would have thought such 
 a trip utterly out of the question. 
 
 22 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A WEEK-END ON A HOUSEBOAT 
 LAST DAYS IN SHANGHAI 
 
 Astor House Hotel, Shanghai 
 Tuesday, October 5 th 
 We got back yesterday from our week-end on a 
 house-boat. Let me tell you all about it, for it prov- 
 ed to be one of the most enjoyable experiences that 
 we have yet had. Leaving the hotel on Friday after 
 an early " tiffin " we motored to Jessfield, an up- 
 stream suburb of Shanghai, where we found the 
 two boats alongside the landing awaiting our ar- 
 rival, our baggage already aboard and delicious tea 
 prepared. The moment I stepped aboard I felt 
 quite at home and ready to enjoy to the full the 
 lazy, luxurious life. Arthur and I were quartered 
 on the motor boat, a trig craft some sixty feet long, 
 containing, besides the engine room and galley, a 
 comfortable sleeping room, small bath, and attract- 
 ively furnished living room, not to speak of an awn- 
 ing-covered deck at the stern fitted out with easy 
 chairs. The other boat was slightly larger, having 
 no engines to accommodate, and her living room 
 was arranged for use as a dining room, the galley 
 being larger and the cook's quarters close by. She 
 too had ample sleeping room. On her, besides the 
 Ts, lived the house boys and most of the crew. Each 
 boat had a " lowdah " or native captain and several 
 ordinary seamen sworn on for the trip at an absurd- 
 ly small stipend, and in addition we had the T's cook 
 
 23 
 
and " number one boy " and an assistant. The ex- 
 temporary crew received about sixteen cents a day 
 apiece. 
 
 All Friday afternoon and evening we puffed up 
 the Soochow Creek, finding the scenery not partic- 
 ularly entertaining, as the country of this region is 
 very flat and the only variety is afforded by the 
 fine old hump-backed bridges; the water life is al- 
 ways full of interest, for one is continually passing 
 junks and sampans, some with spick and span white 
 sails, more with mere apologies for sails in the form 
 of tattered brown rags or patched meal-bag cloth. 
 Most of the smaller boats are rowed or "yuloed" 
 ( like gondolas ) by bare-legged coolies in the ubiqui- 
 tous blue cotton jackets ; some are poled along by 
 women, some of them with bound feet. Occasionally 
 there passed one of the express boats (local mail 
 boats) of row-boat size and propelled by the feet of 
 the one-man crew, who lies back in the stern and 
 presses against the treads of a wheel in front of him, 
 thus leaving his hands free for defensive purposes 
 if necessary. All through the night we pushed 
 ahead, but sleep was not easy, for we were contin- 
 ually bumping into walls, bridges and other boats, 
 and in each instance a noise resulted which was 
 enough to give one all sorts of unpleasant thoughts 
 of pirates. I am sure that no other people in the 
 world can make as much noise of an unagreeable 
 character as the Chinese, especially when they are 
 irritated or angry, and of all Chinese I think the 
 boatmen are unbeaten in this respect. 
 
 At about five o'clock next morning we sighted 
 the old walled city of Soochow, which in the sixth 
 century B. C. was the capital- city of the Han dy- 
 nasty. Despite its more than two thousand years 
 
 24 
 
CHINESE ORPHANS, SHANGHAI 
 
Soochow is still considered by the Chinese as one 
 of their most beautiful cities — "Beautiful Soo" they 
 call it. As we drew nearer the walls we stopped at 
 a customs "yamen" (office) to give our names, 
 destination and other facts, including a guarantee 
 that we were carrying no salt ; for salt smuggling 
 is a favorite occupation hereabouts, it seems. Al- 
 though we were not yet dressed for the day the 
 sights of the early morning proved too much for 
 our curiosity and we went on deck, pyjamas, kim- 
 ono and pig-tails, for tea or coffee and rolls, and it 
 was not until three hours later that we retired to 
 complete our toilets, satiated for the time with Chi- 
 nese water and shore life. As we moved slowly along 
 the crowded canal or moat surrounding the city 
 walls we had a wonderful view of China preparing 
 for the day's work. Coolies were loading their 
 boxes and baskets with produce and merchandise, 
 itinerant food vendors were hawking their wares 
 to housewives who at the same time were hauling 
 from the water bucketfuls of filthy liquid in which 
 probably to wash or cook their food ; shop-keepers 
 were arranging their goods for the day's display. 
 Here, in front of a much becarved two-storied tea- 
 house, a coolie was busily engaged in treading eggs 
 in a huge tub, and as we looked he stepped out, 
 crossed the road, gathered more eggs from a bas- 
 ket, threw them, shells and all, into the tub and re- 
 sumed his task. What those eggs were used for I 
 would very much like to know ; we couldn't guess 
 or find out. Near by, women, singly or in little 
 groups, were washing clothes, vegetables, house- 
 hold utensils and babies in the dirty water, and on 
 one side an old man carefully filled a small bowl 
 from the stream and then proceeded to clean his 
 
 25 
 
teeth with the muddy mixture. Mark Twain said 
 of the Ganges that the water was so filthy that no 
 self-respecting microbe would ever consent to live 
 in it. Evidently Chinese microbes must feel the 
 same. It is certainly marvelous that any of these 
 people live to attain old age. 
 
 When we returned to the deck after dressing and 
 breakfasting we had left the city far behind and 
 were out in the country again, fast approaching our 
 objective point on Stone Lake, near the hills. By 
 ten o'clock we were tied up to the bank near a small 
 village, threw out our landing planks and went 
 ashore for a walk to Witches' Hill, a couple of the 
 crew accompanying us with cameras and coats. We 
 had gone but a hundred yards or so when we came 
 upon a glimpse of the real old China in the shape 
 of a dignified, grey-bearded old man who passed by 
 in his chair, shading his eyes with a large fan from 
 the sun perhaps from the " outer barbarians " as 
 well, and followed by several menials with large 
 bundles, evidently his baggage. A little farther on 
 we went through the narrow main street of a dirty 
 little village of mud huts and hovels, crowded with 
 children, pigs, mangy dogs and chickens. In some 
 of the houses we were surprised to find the women 
 doing really beautiful embroidery on satin, the 
 material being stretched on frames. It is difficult 
 to understand how they manage to keep the work 
 clean and also how they can follow the complicat- 
 ed designs in the wretched light from the doors and 
 small windows. 
 
 Passing under a stone " pailow " or memorial 
 arch, one of the many thousands in China erected 
 to the memories of widows who have remained 
 faithful to death to their husbands, we climbed the 
 
 26 
 
fairly steep path leading to the top of the hill. At 
 the summit we found ourselves at the foot of an old 
 brick pagoda said to have been built in 609 A. D. 
 as a part of a temple to the Wu Tung Shun, certain 
 evil spirits supposed to have the power of casting 
 spells over people as well as of bringing good luck 
 to those who propitiate them. These spirits, when 
 they wanted wives, had a way of bewitching beau- 
 tiful women to death that their spirits might be 
 added to the harem of the evil ones, and the belief 
 grew up that when a beautiful woman died she had 
 been chosen by the Wu Tung Shun, who would in 
 return compensate her family with great prosperity. 
 This soon had such a fatal result that the Provin- 
 cial Governor finally ordered the temple razed to 
 the ground and the images destroyed. The pagoda 
 alone stands to recall the ancient superstition. As 
 we looked into the dark, smelly interior with its idol 
 and the usual bowls of rice, joss sticks and other 
 offerings, some Chinese country women arrived 
 with a sick child, entered the apartment, muttered 
 prayers and lighted more joss sticks. Before de- 
 scending the hill by another path we stopped for a 
 minute to gaze over the vast panorama spread be- 
 fore us of fertile fields and waterways, and at the 
 vista of the city of Soochow with its five pagodas 
 dimly visible in the far distance. 
 
 While we were tied up to the bank we were visited 
 by a constant stream of native spectators, principal- 
 ly men and boys, who seemed to spring up from the 
 ground especially at meal times and after gazing 
 at us and discussing us to their heart's content 
 would melt out of sight as mysteriously as they had 
 come. Once a couple of men arrived with two fine 
 donkeys decked out in a profuse paraphernalia of 
 
 27 
 
bead work and other trappings and when we de- 
 clined to avail ourselves of them for a ride the own- 
 ers seemed so crestfallen that we felt something 
 ought to be done; so the men finally went ashore and 
 mounted the donkeys while I kodaked them. This 
 and a small " cumshaw " had the desired effect and 
 owners and donkeys departed, apparently in the 
 best of spirits. Another unexpected feature of our 
 stay here was the use made by the crew of the for- 
 ward deck during our absence ashore. Born gam- 
 blers like all Chinese, these worthies seized the 
 heaven-sent opportunity to start a gambling game, 
 to which they invited the innocent villagers and 
 countrymen to join and, though unmentioned, to 
 be fleeced. As this was not conducive to a continu- 
 ance of good feeling on the part of the local popula- 
 tion it became necessary to interfere and put an 
 end to the enterprise even at the risk of a strike 
 on the part of the crew. 
 
 During tiffin a Chinese house-boat tied up close 
 by ours and a little later two chairs appeared from 
 within it, followed by a Chinese gentleman, two 
 most attractive Chinese ladies and a couple of little 
 children and several servants. The women bore in 
 their hands large gilt and silvered lotus leaves, evi- 
 dently intended to be left at their ancestral shrines, 
 for they started off up hill in the direction of a 
 . graveyard and the lotus is in China the flower of 
 death. Their attendants carried large lunch baskets 
 and, as we did not see them again, I suppose the 
 party probably picknicked in the cemetery the rest 
 of the day. 
 
 After tiffin we went off on the motor boat for a 
 " look see " at the country near by and more partic- 
 ularly for a trip to Soochow to replenish our supply 
 
 28 
 
of gasoline and to send telegrams. We noticed 
 on the way a number of stone bridges of great age, 
 one with nine arches, another with a guardhouse 
 on top which has given this bridge the name among 
 foreigners of " The Hat Bridge ; " on each one was 
 a carving or inscription intended to ward off the 
 influence of bad spirits. Near the city we passed a 
 pottery, where rows and rows of the huge Soochow 
 jars which foreigners use here so much in place of 
 bathtubs were drying in the sun by the waterside. 
 The rich, dark brown glaze of the jars gave quite a 
 touch of color to the landscape, which was further 
 increased by the gay lanterns, flags and other dec- 
 orations of the many Chinese " flower boats " that 
 we passed. These "flower boats" are pleasure boats 
 in which wealthy Chinese go off for holiday excur- 
 sions thoroughly well provided with wine, woman 
 and song. Soochow is often called " the Venice of 
 the East, " and with some reason, for not only is it 
 surrounded by canals and creeks but waterways 
 form its main thoroughfares and it is cut by hun- 
 dreds of these unhealthy-looking watery highways. 
 The dry streets are mostly narrow and dark, but 
 gay with gaudy sign-boards. The buildings are two, 
 or, at the most, three stories in elevation. 
 
 Later in the afternoon we went on a short walk 
 to explore the ruins of a temple near by, which was 
 built years ago to appease the evil spirits of 
 Witches' Hill, but destroyed during the Taiping 
 Rebellion which swept over this entire section of 
 China about the middle of the last century and left 
 behind it a dreary, barren waste of desolation. We 
 found little left but the outer wall, a carved gate- 
 way and the well. When we sat down at seven to 
 a delicious and well-served dinner it seemed to me 
 
 29 
 
that I must be dreaming, so great was the contrast 
 between the modern Western repast and what we 
 had seen all day of the ancient East. The night was 
 most uncomfortable, owing to the earnest efforts 
 of hordes of flies and mosquitoes. 
 
 Next morning we made an early start in the mo- 
 tor-boat for Lake Taihu, passing between well-cul- 
 tivated fields sprinkled with farm-houses and irri- 
 gated by means of rather primitive water-wheels 
 run by blindfolded 'buffaloes that walked patiently 
 round and round under a protective roof of thatch. 
 Occasionally we noticed the burial grounds of well- 
 to-do natives with fine stone arched entrances and 
 avenues lined with stone men and animals in mod- 
 est imitation of those flanking the approach to the 
 Ming Tombs at Nanking or those north of Peking. 
 Once we passed an old watch tower by the bank, 
 deserted and in ruins but thoroughly impressive. 
 In trying to get by one village by a back way in or- 
 der to avoid the congestion of the direct route we 
 got into a sort of blind alley and were forced to 
 back out after running up to a bridge too low to per- 
 mit of our going beneath it. A motor-boat seemed 
 to be a strange sight to the inhabitants here and 
 the banks were filled with an interested crowd 
 who found unquestionable amusement in our pre- 
 dicament. Lake Taihu itself proved less worth 
 while than the approach to it, despite Marco Po- 
 lo's description of it as one of the most beautiful 
 lakes that he saw in all his wanderings. Its clear, 
 blue-green waters, its little tree-covered islets, the 
 distant hills, were all pretty enough, but its vast 
 expanse (eight hundred and thirty-seven square 
 miles) prevents one from getting at a cursory glance 
 much idea of its charms in detail. 
 
 30 
 
On leaving the lake near Mutu village we saw 
 the sight of the day, a large native boat poled 
 by a wee girl clothed in her birthday suit and a 
 small silver chain. Closely bent on her task, her 
 short black hair blown around her head by the 
 breeze, she was apparently unconscious of our ap- 
 proach or of the picture she made. In the bow the 
 grown members of her family were crouched in 
 lazy fashion enjoying their midday meal. Mutu 
 boasts of but one main street, a narrow, wriggly 
 water-way, built up on each side with a solid line 
 of more or less dilapidated houses and shops. You 
 may get some idea of the congestion of Main Street 
 when I tell you that, although the whole street is 
 hardly more than half a dozen New York city blocks 
 in length, it took us fully an hour to work our way 
 through it. To say that we were relieved when we 
 had finally accomplished the feat without any seri- 
 ous mishap is putting it very mildly ; as it was we 
 knocked a lot of hay overboard from one boat and 
 bumped several others rather hard, but as we could 
 not understand the emphatic language that issued 
 forth in reprisal, we found no difficulty in retaining 
 our self-control. Once in the open stream again we 
 discovered that our propeller was entangled in some 
 of the lost hay and promptly one of the crew was 
 sent overboard and with the aid of a murderous look- 
 ing knife quickly freed us, and we steamed serenely 
 on. 
 
 Sunday afternoon we started back to Shanghai, 
 passing once more around the walls of Soochow and 
 then down the creek of that name. At Quinsan we 
 went under the Thirty-Seven Step Bridge, like many 
 others considered most unlucky to pass through 
 when a woman is on top. Later, to starboard, we 
 
 31 
 
were shown Sand Lake, separated from the creek 
 by a stone dyke said to have been erected by a 
 wealthy Chinaman years ago in order that his be- 
 loved son, who had to go to Soochow every year 
 for examinations, might escape the discomforts oc- 
 casioned by the rough waters here where the lake 
 and creek met. The sunset was gorgeous, the night 
 much like that on our way out, noisy and bumpy. 
 On several occasions there was the sound of fierce 
 wrangling and we could hear our polemen rushing 
 over the top deck, though whether to repel invaders 
 or merely to push out of the way the craft of some 
 slumbering Chinese who strongly resented his sud- 
 den awakening we did not undertake to find out. 
 Once or twice the sound of whistles and the chunk 
 of paddle-wheels proclaimed the approach of the 
 Shanghai-Soochow boat-trains made up, each, of a 
 tug-boat and four to five tow boats filled with pas- 
 sengers and bright with lights. Again we would be 
 awakened by wild shrieks of alarm and look out 
 through the window only to find that we had nar- 
 rowly missed running down some phantom craft 
 with ghostly sails and absolutely no light to Warn 
 one that she was floating lazily along in the very 
 middle of the channel. 
 
 At daybreak next morning an unusual commotion 
 followed by a prolonged backing and bumping pro- 
 claimed our safe arrival at the Jessfield landing and 
 we rose and dressed and hurried back to Shanghai 
 and the hotel in the motor waiting for us. So ended 
 an altogether delightful trip, made doubly so by our 
 genial hosts, who had certainly left nothing undone 
 to promote in any way our comfort or pleasure. 
 We shall always remember as among the red-letter 
 days of our travels this novel week-end in China. 
 
 32 
 
Astor House Hotel, Shanghai 
 Thursday, October 14th 
 
 Our sojourn in Shanghai is at last nearing an end 
 and I am beginning to feel as sorry to leave as for 
 the first few days I was disconsolate at the idea of 
 having to remain more than a few hours. We are 
 off for Kobe to-morrow on the " Shinyo Maru " with 
 no definite plans as yet for the rest of this month. 
 The last part of our stay here has been a lively 
 whirl of excitement : tiffins, teas, dinners, drives 
 and shopping expeditions. At one dinner we met 
 Admiral and Mrs. Winterhalter, who are to repre- 
 sent the American Navy at the Japanese Throne 
 Ascension ; at another several officers of the fleet 
 and their wives ; at another we had a jolly time after 
 the meal, playing indoor golf and other amusing 
 games. We have also given three or four small and 
 entirely informal dinners ourselves at the hotel, at 
 which the table has been decorated by the head boy 
 in a most original way with flower and landscape 
 designs executed in powdered rice of various colors, 
 and at which we have had to stand the tortures of 
 finding the sherry served icy cold and the cham- 
 pagne positively tepid. 
 
 I made the trip to Jessfield again one day to take 
 tiffin with a friend of the " Mongolia " who teaches 
 at St. Mary's, the girls' annex to St. John's. After 
 lunch I was shown over the school, met a number 
 of the girls and then went over to the orphanage, 
 where the wee kiddies sang and played kindergar- 
 ten games for us, looking adorable in their pretty 
 Chinese dress. Orphans in China are generally girls, 
 for boys are thought such valuable acquisitions to 
 a family that those left without parents are almost 
 
 33 
 
invariably adopted without delay by some boyless 
 couple who want to be assured that their ancestral 
 shrines will be properly taken care of and their line 
 continued. The girls of the orphanage, we are told, 
 are, by reason of their smatterings of foreign edu- 
 cation, considered especially eligible by Young 
 China and are usually married as soon as they are 
 old enough. From St. Mary's we rickshawed back 
 to town to see yet another " Mongolia " fellow pas- 
 senger, a woman doctor in charge of St. Elizabeth's 
 Hospital. Here too we found a splendid work being 
 done for the Chinese women and girls by those 
 whose hearts and minds seemed thoroughly wrap- 
 ped up in the work. 
 
 Yesterday we visited a private Chinese garden, 
 with miniature landscapes, summer-houses, pago- 
 das, bridges and willow trees, just like the scenes 
 on the Chinese fans: a little too fantastic to my 
 thinking, but all arranged according to rules that 
 have come down from long ago, and in many details 
 quite charming. The rest of the day I spent in the 
 alluring shops from which I have gathered a certain 
 amount of "junk" that will, when we are back on 
 the other side of the world, develop, I am sure, into 
 rich treasures. I suppose it is on account of the 
 fascinating shops as well as the gayety of life that 
 Shanghai has acquired the name of " Paris of the Far 
 East." 
 
 34 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 A LITTLE VISIT TO SEOUL, KOREA 
 BACK TO JAPAN 
 
 Oriental Hotel, Kobe, Japan 
 Wednesday, October 20th 
 
 Friday afternoon last, promptly at four o'clock, 
 the launch for the " Shinyo " left the Customs Land- 
 ing at Shanghai and we had a last glimpse of some 
 of the friends to whom we have owed so many of 
 our good times. It is the one bitterness of travel 
 that one makes new friends continually, only to 
 lose them as quickly. The crossing of the Yellow 
 Sea was rather cold and rough and wet and not at 
 all enjoyable, and we were well satisfied when we 
 ran up the winding channel at Nagasaki on Sunday. 
 A few hours ashore and we were off for Kobe. All 
 day Monday we were in the Inland Sea and its calm 
 blue waters ; the terraced hillsides and islands re- 
 called strongly the Bay of Naples and Salerno. Fish- 
 ing-boats abound and the shores are lined with fish- 
 ing villages. Many of the smaller islands are mere 
 masses of fantastically-formed rock crowned with 
 groups of grotesquely-shaped pine9. 
 
 Our ship anchored off Kobe Bund yesterday morn- 
 ing soon after breakfast, and we disembarked with 
 no further delay than that caused by the strict en- 
 forcement of new port regulations requiring each 
 passenger to show his or her passport at the com- 
 panion ladder. This is the first time that we have 
 ever had to produce our passports anywhere in the 
 Far East and the special occasion seems to have 
 
 35 
 
resulted from the recent escape, by the use of falsi- 
 fied passports, of one of the officers of the defunct 
 German cruiser, " Emden." Since getting our mail 
 at the Consulate and reading the latest news in the 
 papers we have suddenly made up our minds to 
 spend part of the time between now and the fes- 
 tivities at Kyoto in a short trip to Korea. We leave 
 to-morrow by train for Shimonoseki, thence by boat 
 ferry to Fusan and by train again to Seoul, or, as 
 the Japanese have renamed it, Keijo, the capital 
 city. 
 
 Chosen Hotel, Seoul, Korea 
 Tuesday, October 26th 
 We are already on the point of returning to Japan, 
 but so much has been crowded into the last few 
 days that there has been practically no oppor- 
 tunity for writing before this. Our journey here 
 from Kobe turned out to be less formidable than 
 we had feared. The all-day train journey through 
 western Japan is bound to be tiresome, but the 
 country was looking its best and the orange-colored 
 fruit of the persimmon trees and the turning leaves 
 of the maples vied with each other in adding de- 
 lightful bits of color to the landscape. Our ferry 
 boat was one of the newest and best of the line ; an 
 altogether fortunate happening, for the crossing of 
 the Tsushima Straits is always inclined to be rough 
 and under the most favorable circumstances isnone 
 too agreeable. The intensity of the Japanese belief 
 in preparedness was thoroughly exemplified by 
 the care taken by our cabin boy to see that all our 
 ports were tightly shut before our ship left the pro- 
 tection of the first outlying islands. It seems some 
 years ago a sudden squall caught one of these ships 
 
 36 
 
unexpectedly with her ports open and such quanti- 
 ties of water were taken in that very serious damage 
 resulted ; hence the present day rule. As may well 
 be imagined the night was most uncomfortable; 
 we rolled and tossed about in the stuffy cabin, and 
 the arrival of morning and the calm waters of Fusan 
 harbor were more than welcome ; even the bare, 
 dull hills about us were a joy to behold. 
 
 Our ship came alongside the new pier in the Jap- 
 anese quarter of this southernmost port of Korea 
 and we found the express train for Seoul only a few 
 steps away at a new railway station. Transporta- 
 tion methods and means have improved greatly 
 since I was last here in 1910, as well as many other 
 things, among them the attitude of the immigrant 
 Japanese towards the Koreans. If this were my first 
 visit I would probably write reams on the absurd 
 appearance of the Koreans and their primitive ways 
 of doing things ; as it is, I will only say that the wri- 
 ter who compared the male Koreans to penguins saw 
 a resemblance that occurs to nearly every visitor, 
 and the other who saw in Korean women merely a 
 sleek-haired creature attired in a Zouave jacket and 
 meal sack was equally accurate. The children are 
 bright-eyed, happy-looking little things in shapeless 
 clothing fashioned in miniature after that of their 
 elders. These weirdly grotesque people, the great 
 brown bulls that serve as beasts of burden through- 
 out the peninsular and the crumbling thatch-roofed 
 houses kept us with our eyes glued to the windows 
 all day long. In the same car was one Occidental 
 passenger besides ourselves, a most agreeable 
 American, the " taipan " or " number one man " in 
 Yokohama of one of our greatest business enter- 
 prises ; with him we became quite well acquainted 
 
 37 
 
as we puffed along between the dull brown hills, so 
 strongly in contrast with the cultivated greens of 
 Japan. 
 
 When finally late in the evening we drew up at 
 the South Gate Station of Seoul it seemed as if Alad- 
 din and his lamp must have been there since my 
 last visit, for in no other way did it seem possible 
 to account for so many changes as had taken place 
 in the old easy-going capital of my five-year-old rec- 
 ollection. Instead of a dark, gloomy station we 
 found a roomy modern building, where we were 
 met by hotel runners in uniform, who escorted us 
 to an American motor-car in which we drove rap- 
 idly through well paved electrically lighted streets, 
 where formerly had been dark, muddy roads in 
 fearful condition of filth and lack of repair, to a 
 modern hotel. This new Chosen Hotel, which more 
 than replaces for foreigners Miss Sontag's famous 
 boarding house of old, has been built by the Japan- 
 ese-controlled Railway Board with the evident in- 
 tent of drawing tourists to Korea and popularizing 
 the route to Europe by way of Korea and Manchu- 
 ria. It certainly deserves success, for it is most 
 comfortable in all its appointments, the meals are 
 excellent and the manager is most obliging. There 
 have been so many upheaving changes for the good 
 lately in Seoul that enthusiastic residents may per- 
 haps be excused for optimistic prophecies that some 
 day the city is destined to be the capital or at least 
 the centre of the enlarged empire of Dai Nippon. 
 
 Every minute of our short stay here has been put 
 to use in prowling about the streets in quest of fa- 
 miliar sights and novelties. The fine new buildings 
 and sidewalks and other modern improvements, the 
 removal of old city gates and parts of the wall and 
 
 38 
 
in fact the general cleaning up everywhere has 
 taken from the town much of its ancient dilapidated 
 picturesqueness, but has served all the more to en- 
 hance the value of the few historic landmarks still 
 remaining. Among these last I think I like best the 
 old Chongdo bell tower in the very centre of the city. 
 This " tower," really a latticed wooden shed, con- 
 tains a venerable bell about which many traditions 
 cluster. One pathetic tale tells of the several unsuc- 
 cessful attempts to cast the bell and the changing 
 of the bad luck by the throwing into the molten 
 metal of a baby girl by her mother, too poor to con- 
 tribute anything else to aid in the casting. This sac- 
 rifice brought with it success, but the completed 
 bell ever since, even to this day, has never been 
 tolled without the voice of the child being heard 
 sobbing " Oh, my mother ! " 
 
 A day or two ago, armed with passes obtained 
 through our Consulate, we paid a visit to the East 
 Palace, where lives the last of the Emperors of Ko- 
 rea under close Japanese guard. Some of the build- 
 ings are fine structures from without, but practic- 
 ally all are tawdry and offensive to good taste with- 
 in. Linoleum floor coverings, red plush upholstered 
 chairs of foreign make and showy glass chandeliers 
 do not harmonize any too well with ancient Korean 
 architectural forms. The extensive gardens, their 
 numerous pavilions, their wealth of great trees and 
 flowering shrubs, their charming little streams and 
 waterfalls and lotus ponds are truly beautiful, and 
 we can well understand the pleasure to a monarch, 
 or even to an ex-monarch, of casting care aside and 
 wandering imperturbed through these quiet Ori- 
 ental resting places. Here and there are verses and 
 poems carved in the face of the rock, summer 
 
 39 
 
houses planted by the cool, refreshing streamlets, 
 ideal spots for communing undisturbed with na- 
 ture ; in every direction pretty paths lead through 
 the shady forests. Surely the ex-Emperor might 
 easily have met a worse fate than that which has 
 befallen him, humiliated though he may be before 
 the world. At short walking distance to one side of 
 the palace buildings proper we were shown through 
 the newly established museum and its collections 
 of old Korean treasures ; also through the new and 
 rapidly growing " Zoo." 
 
 Sunday morning we took a long walk in the coun- 
 try beyond the walls, going by rickshaw as far as 
 the Independence Arch, erected some years ago in 
 commemoration of the throwing off of the yoke of 
 Chinese suzerainty, and thence on foot through the 
 Peking Pass, by which the envoys to and from China 
 used to proceed, and on through the wild, rough val- 
 ley dedicated to the " White Buddha " and its rock 
 shrine. This Buddha, to be Irish, is not a Buddha 
 in reality. This is the story of it. A man turned his 
 wife out of his house to starve and she finally died 
 and her spirit haunted the husband till at last he 
 asked the ghost what would appease it, and the an- 
 swer was that the wife's body must be reburied be- 
 side a running stream and beneath a rock carved 
 to resemble the dead woman. This was done, and 
 ignorant peasants on their way to town with pro- 
 duce saw the carved image and concluded it must 
 be a new Buddha and reverently deposited beside 
 it offerings of " cash." Soon native priests saw the 
 offerings and rightly concluded that there was a 
 good business opening here, built a shed over the 
 rock to protect it from the elements, then settled 
 down close by and have lived on the offerings ever 
 
 40 
 
since. So the unhappy woman became a Buddha 
 according to the story. On the way back to town 
 we passed a number of men in the strange mourn- 
 ing costume of the country— broad-brimmed straw 
 hat, ash-colored garments and straw sandals. We 
 are told that this dress has to be worn for a year 
 after the death of a parent and that for the same 
 period the afflicted child may not do any manner 
 of work. 
 
 The same day we tiffined with the young Amer- 
 ican in charge of the S. O. here and later went on 
 a fine motor ride over one of the new Japanese roads 
 to the Hanyang River, a considerable distance from 
 the city. Alighted at an old tomb to kodak the ex- 
 ceptionally pretty view of the river and then mo- 
 tored back, taking on the way an amusing picture 
 of a funny old Korean with long white beard and 
 absurd but dignified top hat, astride a diminutive 
 donkey. Donkeys and legs are still the most usual 
 means of getting about the country and motor cars 
 are quite a novelty yet and their use is confined to 
 the official Japanese and a handful of foreigners. 
 Stopped at the Belgian Consulate for tea, where we 
 were received most hospitably by the charming 
 hostess and her husband. Poor Belgium! How one's 
 heart goes out to her unfortunate people so vilely 
 treated by the unspeakable Huns. 
 
 The " Fifth Anniversary of the Present Adminis- 
 tration," as the Japanese quite politely denominate 
 the present period of commemoration of the seiz- 
 ure of Korea, is now being celebrated in Seoul and 
 in its honor there is an exposition in the grounds 
 of the north or Kyombok Palace. We have enjoyed 
 this hugely and squandered a great deal of time 
 there, fascinated by the crowds in particular. The 
 
 41 
 
fine old gate at the entrance is festooned and elec- 
 tric-lighted at night and even the great stone mon- 
 sters close by have been put to festival use, to hold 
 sign-boards warning all visitors to dismount from 
 their vehicles at this point. Of the ancient palace 
 buildings the great Audience Hall is wide open, but 
 quite empty, but the famous Banquet Hall, a fine 
 structure on a lotus pond, is all decked in red and 
 white bunting, a gorgeous chrysanthemum display 
 occupying its lower floor, the upper filled with a 
 gay, merry-making throng of " giessang," the danc- 
 ing girls of the palace. The exhibits are all either 
 Japanese or Korean, with the exception of a Ford 
 car and perhaps one or two other things of less con- 
 sequence. They are most tastefully and sensibly ar- 
 ranged for purposes of both education and exploita- 
 tion, for the Japanese are unsurpassed at every- 
 thing that in any way resembles window-dressing. 
 A large model showing the coronation buildings 
 and ceremonies at Kyoto was at all times the center 
 of an inquiring group of Koreans. 
 
 Among the more popular features is the building 
 of the Korean Railways, a peculiar structure of cir- 
 cular form with an obelisk poking its head through 
 the roof ; within is a small switchback railway, from 
 the car of which, as it nervously jerks its circuitous 
 way from roof to ground, one may pass in review 
 the entire panorama of Korea from north to south. 
 The Koreans gladly climb the three flights of steep 
 steps to the upper gallery over and over again for 
 the joy of a short ride down in the little car packed 
 as full as a sardine box, and even after they leave 
 the place find it impossible to renounce the tempta- 
 tion to enter again for further renewals of their de- 
 lightful experience. 
 
 42 
 
The "Midway" was our greatest source of 
 amusement and we felt too that our presence there 
 was a material benefit to the exhibitors, for wher- 
 ever we went there a crowd of Koreans was sure 
 to follow. Evidently, to many of these people from 
 the country, we were quite as interesting as any- 
 thing else on exhibition, and I am convinced that 
 often they crowded into the side shows quite as 
 much to watch us as to see the show for which 
 they paid out their good money. In this " Midway " 
 we discovered a Japanese circus and menagerie 
 where a Japanese wrestled with a large tiger in a 
 frail cage of bamboo poles lashed together with a 
 cord, and near by, coiled up in a red blanket right 
 in our path, lay a huge constrictor snake quite ig- 
 nored by its keeper, while on one side a fierce wolf 
 was restrained from attacking his spectators by an 
 all too weak line of wooden slats nailed to the open 
 side of his packing-box cage. Within a few steps 
 were a variety of other shows : marionettes whose 
 performance would have done credit even to the 
 Italians, Japanese beer-gardens, merry-go-rounds, 
 booths where you could have original poems writ- 
 ten for you on fans while you waited, restaurants, 
 moving pictures, fortune tellers and story tellers. 
 At some distance was an amusement of higher 
 class, a theatre where Korean giessang and Japan- 
 ese geisha competed for the approval of their audi- 
 ence, who, with singular lack of nationalism, gave 
 most of their applause to the more graceful, more 
 brilliantly attired maidens from Japan. At all these 
 shows the spectators were to us quite as entertain- 
 ing as the performers; the men in their strange 
 head gear and white flowing gowns, holding hands 
 like school girls and fairly giggling with delight; 
 
 43 
 
the bright-eyed women in daintily colored short 
 jackets and full skirts, with sleek hair brushed 
 straight back and knotted at the nape of the neck, 
 where it is held in place by enameled pins; the 
 youngsters in the gayest of clothes and with eyes and 
 mouths gaping in joyful surprise. 
 
 I only wish that we had more time to spare for 
 this unique country and its capital. We have seen 
 all the usual guide-book sights and many others, 
 but a month could easily be spent here without any 
 slackening of interest, for Korean customs and man- 
 ners are all so totally different from those of other 
 peoples that novelties never seem to give out. 
 
 Oriental Hotel, Kobe, Japan 
 Sunday, October 31st 
 
 We reached Kobe again on our return trip from 
 Seoul last Thursday evening after a tiresome train 
 journey and another rough crossing of the straits. 
 On the same steamer crossed General Terauchi, the 
 Governor-General of Chosen (Korea), and his staff 
 en route to the throne ascension ceremonies. This 
 ambitious statesman was accompanied by a strong 
 guard of soldiers, part of the deck was reserved for 
 his exclusive use and to judge from the precautions 
 taken one would imagine that he was in fear of as- 
 sassination. 
 
 Yesterday was an ideal fall day and we seized the 
 opportunity for a walk to the famous waterfalls just 
 out of town. With our usual good luck in happen- 
 ing on the unusual we chanced upon a Shinto priest's 
 funeral procession : first came a coolie with a huge 
 
 44 
 
purple banner on a long bamboo pole, others with 
 great oblong lanterns, more bannermen, some 
 priests in robes, then eighteen small lacquered 
 wagons, each drawn by a coolie and bearing a tree 
 hung with " gohei ", the cut paper emblems used 
 in all Shinto rites, for purification especially ; a doz- 
 en more coolies with bamboo holders filled with 
 flowers, more priests, temple musicians in bright 
 orange-yellow robes, and last of all the high priest 
 in a rickshaw followed by a crowd of children and 
 older mourners. 
 
 Later in the day we rickshawed to Hyogo for a 
 look at our old friend the great Daibutsu or image 
 of Buddha, the third largest in Japan, and at an- 
 other smaller one, also famous and much more be- 
 comingly placed, under a group of trees beside a 
 pond. Returned home by way of "Theatre St.," 
 like all similar streets in every large town of Japan, 
 gayest of the gay, adorned with flaming banners 
 and thrilling posters in gaudiest colors, thronged by 
 pleasure seekers and noisy with "barkers." The 
 " movies " seem to have taken this country quite by 
 storm and since my last visit their show-houses 
 have sprung up by the hundreds. 
 
 Spent last evening in the hall of the hotel watch- 
 ing some men painting chiffon luncheon sets. With- 
 out any design before them they put in all the 
 strokes that require one color, then those for each 
 other color in turn, the whole work consuming but 
 a few minutes for each piece. These people are 
 certainly wonderfully clever with their fingers. 
 They excel in every sort of handicraft without ex- 
 ception. 
 
 To-day is the official birthday of the Emperor 
 ( this being a more convenient time for celebrations 
 
 45 
 
than the actual date) and all the streets and build- 
 ings are decorated with flags and lanterns. Over a 
 hundred ships of the Japanese Navy are in the har- 
 bor and at noon they are to fire a salute of twenty- 
 one guns. Naval hydroplanes have already begun 
 to make flights over the city and to-night there will 
 be great goings on, illuminations and lantern pro- 
 cessions. Arthur is very much pleased, having just 
 received word that he has been admitted to the 
 Coronation Press Association, which will enable 
 him to see much that would otherwise be quite im- 
 possible. We are leaving for Kyoto to-morrow so 
 as to have a few days in which to get acclimated 
 before the period of excitement begins. 
 
 46 
 
CHAPTER V 
 CORONATION DAYS IN KYOTO 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Friday, November 5th 
 We feel lucky to have a room here even if a small 
 one and at what seems a high rate, for now sight- 
 seers are arriving in shoals and even the guides' 
 waiting rooms are being requisitioned as bedrooms 
 for European ladies. We are comfortably located in 
 a little room opening out on a sort of balcony which 
 we use for a sun parlor, screening off our end from 
 the rest. With four windows, a southern exposure 
 and a stove we have much to be thankful for. The 
 stove is perhaps best of all, for the days so far have 
 been quite chilly and decidedly damp. The hotel 
 has changed little in five years, save for the fine 
 new dining room just constructed and dedicated 
 last evening by a dinner for the officers of the visit- 
 ing police force that has been detailed to the city 
 for the season of the ceremonials. Just outside this 
 dining room, which is at the top of a terraced hill- 
 side, the authorities have been laying out a proper 
 Japanese garden ever since we arrived and the pro- 
 cess has been most entertaining to watch. After an 
 elaborate preparation of the soil a consignment of 
 large trees and plants, all with roots carefully tied 
 up, were hauled up the hillside and duly planted, 
 then stones were brought and put in place as paths 
 and lastly loads of sod have been supplied and laid 
 over the spaded soil and well watered. From the 
 final result no one would ever imagine that there 
 
 47 
 
had not been a garden in just this place for many 
 years. 
 
 As a badge of his membership in the Press As- 
 sociation Arthur has just received a small enameled 
 button, in shape resembling the supposed shape of 
 the famous eight-sided mirror, one of the sacred 
 treasures of the Empire ; also a gilt arm band bear- 
 ing the sign manual of the governor of the " ken " 
 or province, which enables him to pass through the 
 police lines at will and to visit many places not open 
 to the general public. He has also been allowed to 
 inspect the buildings which are to be the scene of 
 the various ceremonies, even the " Shishinden," the 
 the " Purple Mysterious Hall," where the Emperor 
 is to ascend the throne and announce publicly his 
 accession to the privileges and rights " handed down 
 from time immemorial." The famous old apartments 
 of the palace have been recently carpeted with thick 
 carpets and a new steam-heating plant has been in- 
 stalled. Radiators and carpets must be rather out 
 of keeping with the splendid lacquer decorations 
 and hand-painted screens by the old masters. In the 
 court in front of the " Shishinden " Arthur saw all 
 the silk and brocade hangings in readiness, the gor- 
 geous banners and the old-time musical instru- 
 ments ; in the building itself were the two thrones, 
 the larger, of course, for the Emperor, the lesser 
 intended for the use of the Empress, but not to be 
 in use as that sovereign lady is obliged to remain 
 in seclusion in Tokyo awaiting the advent of another 
 son. (The Japanese are positive that the child will 
 be a boy.) In the Nijo Palace the wonderful new ban- 
 quet hall was seen, which Arthur thinks a great 
 triumph for the Japanese architect, combining as 
 it does in good taste features of both Occidental and 
 
 48 
 
Japanese architecture. At tea with one of the Cor- 
 onation Commission after everything had been seen 
 the amusing fact came out that the press visit had 
 made necessary a thorough purification of the build- 
 ings according to the Shinto ritual and also with 
 modern imported disinfectants ! 
 
 Kyoto is already en fete. Hordes of people from 
 the country are arriving by every train, there is a 
 huge triumphal arch at the railway station and all 
 the streets, large and small, are decorated to the 
 last inch with lanterns, festoons of artificial flowers, 
 flags and colored bunting. Even the iron poles that 
 support the trolley wires are nearly smothered in 
 wreaths and drapings and several of the cars them- 
 selves have been completely covered with paper 
 flowers and bunting and are run at frequent inter- 
 vals over the most popular streets, " Banzai cars " 
 they call these, and the lanterns are mostly " banzai 
 lanterns " and the banners " banzai banners." " Ban- 
 zai " means literally ten thousand years and con- 
 veys the idea of "Long live the Imperial Dy- 
 nasty ! " There are in addition to these thousands 
 of other lanterns and banners bearing the ideo- 
 grams which signify " respectful congratulations." 
 There would certainly seem to be no possible ques- 
 ion as to the popularity of the new ruler or the 
 thorough loyalty of his subjects. 
 
 Only a few yards from our hotel is an exposition, 
 but, except for a particularly fine model of the cor- 
 onation ceremonies, it is uninteresting to us as com- 
 pared with the one at Seoul. The " Zoo " is directly 
 behind it, a most convenient spot in which to idle 
 away odd minutes, with a collection of animals 
 not very good as yet but constantly improving. 
 Another show near at hand is an Ainu village. The 
 
 49 
 
Ainus, as you know, inhabited Japan before the Jap- 
 anese and to some degree are ancestors of the mod- 
 ern Japanese, but under the rule of their conquer- 
 ors they have degenerated like our Indians into a 
 fast dwindling race of bad habits and no national 
 ambition. They live now in Yezo, the north island, 
 in satisfied squalor, raise bears for sacrifice that 
 their spirits may serve as messengers to heaven, 
 know and care nothing of their great past and spend 
 their last sen in hard liquor. Those that we saw 
 were decidedly Russian in looks, with high fore- 
 heads, and the men long-haired and bearded ; the 
 women tattoo mustaches on their upper lips. 
 
 The Emperor Yoshihito is to arrive in Kyoto the 
 day after to-morrow and is to proceed from the sta- 
 tion to the palace in solemn procession, which will 
 be the nearest approach that we shall have to the 
 coronation parades of the European capitals on sim- 
 ilar occasions. We have received through the Em- 
 bassy cards admitting us to a reserved inclosure 
 in the palace park from which we shall have a fine 
 view of everything, if only the weather clears up. 
 With the card came the following notice, so typically 
 Japanese in its attention to detail that I will give it 
 to you in full : 
 
 NOTICE 
 
 DRESS : Gentlemen to wear frock coats and ladies visiting 
 dresses. 
 
 ALLOTTED SPACE: Eastern side of the route of the Cor- 
 tege from the Sakaimachi Gate to the Kenreimon 
 Gate in the Imperial Gardens. 
 
 TIME OF ENTRANCE : From 9.0 a. m. to 1.0 p. m. Admit- 
 tance after the latter hour is absolutely forbidden. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR ENTRANCE: To show this ticket to 
 the police of the cordon at the Kami-kiridoshi and 
 Shimo-kiridoshi, Shin-karasumaru-dori Marutama- 
 chi Agaru, and to enter by the Teramachi Gate. 
 50 
 
EXIT : By- the Tominokoji exit and Teramachi Gate. 
 
 All persons in the allotted space must strictly ob- 
 serve the following rules : — 
 
 1. Not to carry spirituous liquors, walking sticks, 
 or baggage. 
 
 2. Not to bring children with them. 
 
 3. Not to walk about outside the allotted space. 
 
 4. After the Cortege has passed, to await the di- 
 rections of the officials in charge and to leave 
 the grounds quietly. 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Sunday, November 7th 
 
 The first great event has passed off without a 
 hitch, even the bad weather letting up for a few 
 hours in honor of the affair. We left the hotel this 
 morning at a little before twelve in rickshaws and 
 had a ride of about half an hour to the palace park, 
 where we were admitted through one of the side 
 gates and had quite a walk through the park to the 
 place reserved for foreigners. We could have had 
 no better place from which to see the procession, 
 as we were directly opposite the main gate of the 
 outer palace grounds — the one through which the 
 parade passed on its way to the part of the palace 
 reserved for the use of the Emperor during his stay 
 in Kyoto. 
 
 Everyone had to be in the inclosure before one 
 o'clock and the Imperial train did not arrive at the 
 station, a couple of miles away, until near two, so 
 we rather dreaded the long wait, but the authori- 
 ties had arranged everything for our comfort and 
 we found our allotted space roped off and furnished 
 with low benches covered with matting on which 
 we could rest till the appointed hour of arrival of 
 the procession. About two-thirty o'clock an official 
 
 51 
 
in very dressy frock coat and derby hat appeared 
 and warned us to bow as the shrine passed and 
 again as the Emperor passed, gentlemen removing 
 their hats ; also to keep perfectly quiet while the 
 cortege passed. 
 
 Beside us was another roped-in inclosure in which 
 were several hundred of the military reservists in 
 various shades of khaki uniforms and a number of 
 red and white war flags representing the sun with 
 its rays. Across the road diagonally was a crowd 
 of the old men and women of Kyoto, all over sev- 
 enty years old. They were all given this choice 
 place for watching the parade and also given sake 
 cups and small sums of money by the Emperor. 
 Nearer us were hundreds of Japanese of the better 
 class, men in the formal hakama and women in 
 their best kimono and outer wraps. Outside the 
 gate we could see a solidly packed mass of people 
 seated on the sidewalk and street several rows deep. 
 They had many of them been there since early 
 morning. The road over which the procession was 
 to pass had a broad sanded passage in the middle 
 and countless men and women with brooms and a 
 sort of dustpan were till the last moment busily en- 
 gaged in removing the slightest trace of anything 
 unseemly, such as cigarette ends, matches, bits of 
 paper and shavings. The police management of the 
 whole affair was beyond reproach and showed 
 splendid discipline and attention to the least trifles. 
 In systematic organization the Japanese certainly 
 resemble the Germans. Even after the parade had 
 passed and we started to return to the hotel we had 
 no trouble or delay of any kind. Everything work- 
 ed like clockwork. 
 
 Soon after twelve-thirty the imperial coaches 
 
 52 
 
and a few gayly caparisoned horses passed on the 
 way to the station, and two hours and a half later 
 the head of the procession appeared at the gate. 
 First came a few mounted police officials, then a 
 detachment of mounted household cavalry, followed 
 by several ritualists on horseback, ail dressed in the 
 old-time costumes, robes of yellow and red and red- 
 dish gold, the saddlecloths of the horses being pur- 
 ple. Behind these came court officials in full dress 
 with cocked hats and resplendent uniforms covered 
 with gold lace, more ritualists on foot in yellow 
 robes, then the holy of holies, the shrine of the sa- 
 cred mirror, wherein is supposed to dwell on such 
 occasions the soul, or a soul, of the sun-goddess, di- 
 rect ancestress of the imperial house. The shrine 
 receptacle, with top gabled like a temple roof and 
 sides covered with silk or brocade striped in the 
 five " colors of good omen " — red, blue, purple ( sub- 
 stituted for black on such occasions), yellow and 
 white — was borne litter-like on the shoulders of six- 
 teen young men from the village of Yase, appareled 
 in baggy white trousers and yellow robes. 
 
 Directly behind the shrine followed sixteen sub- 
 stitute bearers who from time to time substituted 
 for their fellows. After these more ritualists on foot 
 and mounted, more cavalrymen, an imperial ban- 
 ner of red with the golden chrysanthemum, more 
 officers and officials, then a line of state carriages, 
 of dark maroon color with the chrysanthemum on 
 the door panels. Each of these was drawn by two 
 horses and driven by a coachman in livery heavy 
 with gold lace. After several of these carriages bear- 
 ing various coronation officials came the great sight 
 of the procession — the imperial coach, a huge 
 affair of maroon and gilt, surmounted by a large 
 
 53 
 
golden phoenix. This was drawn by six horses, one 
 of the leaders being ridden by a postilion, and each 
 horse led by a groom. The coachman was resplen- 
 dent in a heavy, gold embroidered coat, red knick- 
 ers, white stockings and a cocked hat, and was 
 seated on a showy box of maroon velvet with gold 
 fringe. Up behind stood two footmen in similar liv- 
 ery. Through the glass panels of the coach we had 
 a splendid view of the Emperor, whose brilliant 
 uniform of commander-in-chief contrasted advan- 
 tageously with the white lining of the coach. 
 
 The Emperor seemed much interested in the 
 crowds, but made no return to the countless salutes 
 with which he was greeted. He is a particularly 
 good-looking Japanese, somewhat Italian in fea- 
 tures, and of good figure and carriage. His whole 
 appearance is certainly such as to command respect. 
 Opposite him in the coach rode the Grand Chamber- 
 lain, and on horseback close by were various high 
 officers. Other officers, officials and outriders im- 
 mediately preceded the imperial coach, and still 
 others followed it. More cavalry, another imperial 
 banner, more state coaches, in which rode several 
 of the princes, the Prime Minister and other dig- 
 nitaries, a group of grooms, a few more police offi- 
 cials and the procession was past us, in less than a 
 quarter of an hour all told. 
 
 No woman took part in this procession, the 
 court ladies going to their quarters at an earlier or 
 later hour and by other routes. The Empress re- 
 mained in Tokyo. Her place in the Shinto rites will 
 be taken by one of the princesses. 
 
 54 
 
Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Thursday, November 11th 
 
 The Crown Prince arrived in town on Monday, 
 and availing ourselves of Arthur's police pass we 
 went to the railway station and saw the prepara- 
 tions there for his formal reception, ladies and gen- 
 tlemen of the court in full dress, court carriages, 
 an escort of lancers, etc. etc. While he was being 
 regaled with tea and presented with presents we 
 jumped into our rickshaws and drove to a cross 
 street opening into the Kasumigasaki-machi, the line 
 of march, near the palace. Here we alighted and a 
 policeman, taking note of the armlet, escorted us to 
 a place in the front row of spectators, from which 
 we had a fine close view of the boy who, if all goes 
 well, will be the next emperor. He is a nice-looking 
 lad of about fourteen. He drove by in an open car- 
 riage with an aide-de-camp on the seat facing him,; 
 and as he passed through the long lines of school 
 children they all bent far forward in deep respect. 
 
 That evening Arthur went to a banquet at the 
 largest of the Kyoto theatres, given by the Mayor 
 to the press representatives. He had to be on hand 
 before six o'clock in a frock coat, checked his boots 
 at the entrance, ate reed-birds with chopsticks, and 
 had a thoroughly good time. The dinner was served 
 on long, narrow tables in the pit of the theatre, the 
 waitresses being the prettiest geisha in Kyoto and 
 the girls from the geisha school. During the meal 
 a popular comedy was performed on the stage, 
 speeches were made and special coronation dances 
 were given by some of the best dancers in all Japan. 
 According to custom Arthur brought back with him 
 the uneaten parts of the dinner in the immaculate 
 
 55 
 
white boxes in which they had been served ; also a 
 pretty porcelain incense bowl presented as a souve- 
 nir of the occasion. We made glad the heart of our 
 room-boy with some of the delicacies that had 
 proved least possible to a chop-stick novice. 
 
 Yesterday was the day of days, I will not say Cor- 
 onation Day, for neither a crown nor crowning has 
 any part in these ceremonies, which consist in the 
 ascension of the throne and public announcement 
 Of the fact to the god-like imperial ancestors, and 
 then to the subjects, all this followed by feasts of 
 rejoicing, by night with the family spirits and by 
 day with the living representatives of the empire 
 and friendly allied governments. Once more the 
 weather cleared in honor of the descendant of the 
 Sun-Goddess, this time after nearly two days of con- 
 tinuous rain. Arthur was off bright and early to see 
 the foreign envoys leave their quarters in the 
 Kyoto Hotel for the palace. They all drove in state 
 carriages, preceeded and followed by detachments 
 of the Imperial lancers, and all were in full dress 
 despite the hour, ladies in full court dress, men in 
 full uniform or evening dress. The morning cere- 
 mony was a Shinto service of prayer, music and 
 dance before a shrine specially erected in the pal- 
 ace grounds to receive the sacred mirror and other 
 emblems of the divine ancestry, the ritual being 
 supposed to be practically that used on similar oc- 
 casions many centuries ago. It is said to have been 
 singularly solemn and impressive. 
 
 At the afternoon ceremony, which was wholly 
 secular and largely borrowed from ancient Chinese 
 sources, in addition to the Japanese of highest rank 
 and position and the heads of legations and embas- 
 sies present at the earlier services, diplomatic 
 
 56 
 
secretaries and their wives were invited and many 
 Japanese officials. In each case the limited number 
 of guests was due to lack of space merely. Arthur, 
 even with press credentials, was unable to witness 
 these ceremonies, but in the afternoon was near 
 enough to the reserved enclosure to hear the prime 
 minister Count Okuma call for " banzais " and to 
 see the guard at the gate salute. It must have been 
 rather tantalizing. At half past three motor cars 
 dashed madly from the press headquarters close 
 by the coronation hall to announce the conclusion 
 of the ceremony and a little later court messengers 
 were dispatched to convey the news to the spirits 
 of the emperors at their various tombs. In the press 
 rooms constant bulletins were posted to tell just 
 what was going on a few yards away behind the 
 high walls, but no representative of the press had 
 access to the scene of greatest interest to everyone 
 in all Japan. How differently things would be done 
 in the west ! 
 
 Not even being able to get anywhere near the 
 palace myself, I had to content myself by going in 
 the afternoon to the grounds of the great Chionin 
 temple and Maruyama Park close by. Thousands of 
 people were gathered there and at the fateful hour 
 all joined in exuberant " banzais, " the temple bells 
 rang, factory whistles could be heard blowing, en- 
 gines screeched and a general pandemonium of 
 noise ensued, while according to the vernacular pa- 
 pers every vehicle in the empire remained still for a 
 brief interval. At another temple not far off I found 
 hundreds of children singing the national air and 
 frantically waving the effective flag of their country. 
 In the evening at the hotel there was a special din- 
 ner at the hotel in honor of the great event : the 
 
 57 
 
rooms tastefully decorated with maple leaves and 
 branches and the menu printed on pretty little 
 folding fans ; over three hundred sat down to the 
 meal. Later we all bundled into rickshaws and 
 wandered about the city to see the numerous lan- 
 tern processions and illuminations. The splendid 
 lanterns with their designs of flags and ideograms 
 elevated on white posts at intervals of about twenty 
 feet on each side of every street and protected 
 from rain by gay parasols, made Kyoto a veritable 
 fairyland, and when between these twin rows of 
 lights the undulating lines of waving lights borne 
 by the processionists could be seen everywhere we 
 fairly gasped with a satisfaction that far surpassed 
 all our expectations. Over thirty thousand people 
 took part in the parades and the kimonoed forms 
 and the bobbing lights silhouetted against the night 
 seemed the vivification of some old Japanese print. 
 The good nature and good behavior of these holi- 
 day crowds made us experience a certain sense of 
 shame when we compared them with New Year's 
 Eve on Broadway. 
 
 58 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 KYOTO SIGHT-SEEING 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Saturday, November 13th 
 Yesterday was a red-letter day for me and I am 
 glad to have a chance to stay at home and think it 
 over to-day. Through Arthur's press credentials we 
 received invitation to attend a performance of " No " 
 at the Nishi Hongwanji, one of the largest and rich- 
 est Buddhist temples in Kyoto. The " No " is a clas- 
 sic form of amusement much in vogue with the cul- 
 tivated classes and filling the place held by the 
 opera at home, though, being of a semi-religious 
 nature, it is not given regularly and can rarely be 
 seen in a public amusement house, so that foreign- 
 ers seldom have the opportunity of seeing it and 
 hardly ever in all its glory, properly costumed and 
 staged amid appropriate surroundings. We reached 
 the temple at about ten o'clock in the morning and 
 after removing and checking our boots at the en- 
 trance were shown through splendid rooms of the 
 abbot's apartment to one considered to be among 
 the finest in all Japan — the "Stork and Pine 
 Room," so called from the famous screen or panel 
 paintings representing these motives. The whole 
 front of this room was thrown open, looking out 
 over a courtyard to a stage pavilion beyond, which 
 was joined to the robing rooms of the performers 
 by long covered galleries on one side. We were es- 
 corted to foreign-style chairs and the cold air cir- 
 culating around our feet soon drove us to wrap 
 
 59 
 
Arthur's overcoat about those chilly members. We 
 almost wished that we might have sat Japanese 
 style with feet tucked under us. The performance 
 was already in full swing when we came in and in 
 fact it went on all day with practically no inter- 
 mission. 
 
 It is difficult to describe the " No " so that one 
 who has not seen it may get any clear idea of it, but 
 I will try to give a few hints at least. First of all it 
 is neither a dance nor a play, but rather a series of 
 monologues, choruses and posturings, all done ac- 
 cording to rules of classic formalism handed down 
 for centuries. From the " No " came, it is said, most 
 of the court ceremonial and etiquette now in force 
 in Japan. The costumes are of wonderful brocades, 
 and masks and wigs are worn by all the principal 
 performers as in the old Greek plays. A chorus and 
 musicians do their share in producing an effect 
 somewhat weird though pleasing to our Occidental 
 ears. We witnessed two or three of the " No," and 
 then our utter inability to follow the plot, if any 
 there was, and our deplorable lack of understand- 
 ing, which made everything quite unintelligible, 
 caused our cold feet to feel even colder and we de- 
 parted without waiting to partake of the lunch so 
 hospitably provided. We had been able to pick out 
 among the characters a devil with magnificent red 
 hair, a prince, some farm-hands and a ghost, but 
 what they were doing or saying is still a mystery 
 to us. The costume materials were marvelous gold 
 and rich colored brocades which had been the prop- 
 erty of the temple for ages. If only we had had 
 someone along to interpret the meaning of things 
 to us we would, I am sure, have enjoyed it all im- 
 mensely. 
 
 60 
 
At three o'clock, at the other end of the city, we 
 reviewed the " Jidai," an historical procession con- 
 sisting of groups of men dressed to represent vari- 
 ous epochs in the history of Japan from earliest 
 times to those of the last shoguns. One showing the 
 retinue of a representative of the shogun proceed- 
 ing to the imperial court and another depicting 
 high officials of the court during the Nara period at 
 the close of the eighth century were particularly 
 good, but the show, on the whole, was not quite up 
 to our expectations, for the costumes were dingy 
 and in bad repair and the participants mostly aged, 
 dilapidated specimens of their race. 
 
 In the evening we attended a special performance 
 of the cherry dance in the theatre to which the fa- 
 mous geisha school is a most important adjunct. 
 Before the performance we were served with cere- 
 monial tea in an anteroom by small girls of about 
 ten to twelve who looked for all the world like an- 
 imated dolls in their gay kimono and giddy head- 
 dress and immense butterfly obi. With the tea was 
 served a sweet cake made of chestnut paste and 
 white of egg, and the dainty plates were later tied 
 up for us to take away as remembrances. The Jap- 
 anese delight in giving one pretty little gifts on all 
 occasions. The dance which followed in the main 
 theatre was splendidly put on, scenery and per- 
 formers making a succession of lovely pictures. In 
 the first scene was portrayed the planting and gar- 
 nering of the sacred rice used in the ascension cere- 
 monies, another consisted of the regular cherry 
 dance proper, another showed the maples and yet 
 another a winter scene, while the last was a dainty 
 glimpse of the blossoms at the Kiyomidzu Temple. 
 When we left we found the grounds all decorated 
 
 61 
 
with artificial cherry blossoms and lighted by great 
 pitch torches in addition to the usual electric lamps. 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Friday, November 19th 
 
 Since I last wrote we, or rather I, have had a 
 welcome let-up in sight-seeing, for the festivities 
 are mostly over and the later ones were not 
 open to any but the elect. The remarkable cere- 
 mony in the archaic shrine in the woods, in which 
 the Emperor spent a whole night in feasting with 
 his illustrious ancestors the Gods of Heaven and 
 Earth, while the high nobility sat under shed-roofs 
 in the pouring rain outside where they could see 
 nothing, was, probably to their immense relief, not 
 open even to the foreign envoys. Several of the 
 older Japanese statesmen succumbed to the ordeal 
 and have been in bed ever since. Tuesday great 
 banquets were given at the Nijo Palace and we 
 watched the royal and other guests pass through 
 the great entrance gate. We stood by a lot of small 
 school children who had to remain in their appoint- 
 ed places for hours. Two or three of the poor little 
 tots had to be carried off apparently completely ex- 
 hausted. The Emperor is now busy making a tour 
 of the ancestral shrines to pray and make offerings. 
 He is certainly showing that his health and strength 
 are not as delicate as had been generally supposed. 
 Such a test as he has had to pass through would 
 weary many a strong man, but of course he has the 
 backing of the gods, his ancestors. 
 
 We are spending our days just now in revisiting 
 our favorite temples and seeing the more ordinary 
 
 62 
 
sights of the city. One special feature of this sea- 
 son is the Chrysanthemum Show. The exhibits 
 are contained in a number of rambling sheds and 
 courts, a few semi-enclosed rooms in which plat- 
 forms are set to represent historic and legendary 
 scenes, the actors being waxen-faced figures appar- 
 eled entirely in the flowers. In one court were 
 plants trained into every conceivable shape, to re- 
 semble boats, pagodas, persons, and even trolley 
 cars. Besides these somewhat freakish exhibits 
 there was a wonderful display of the plants in their 
 natural condition and of every color. On one gor- 
 geous plant I counted seventy-five perfect blossoms, 
 each about five or six inches in diameter ; on an- 
 other a hundred and thirty snow-white flowers. 
 
 This morning we went to the Chionin Temple to 
 see the great procession of priests to the special 
 services in honor of the throne ascension. Such an 
 elaborate service as this has not been held here for 
 over fifty years ; the temple was specially decorated 
 and an imperial representative was present in the 
 person of Prince Higashi Fushimi, Jr., who wore the 
 uniform of a naval officer and was accompanied by 
 his wife in foreign dress with feathered hat and 
 high heels. The priests' procession as it proceeded 
 through Temple Avenue and up the steep steps to 
 the great hall was very impressive. There were tem- 
 ple attendants with the old-style gongs and drums, 
 monks and nuns in yellow robes and shaven pates, a 
 hundred or more priests in strange boat-shaped hats 
 of green or brown, and robes of blue or green or 
 brown covered in each case by over-vestments of 
 richest gold brocades ; finally, borne upon a covered 
 litter, high above the heads of the faithful, the head 
 priest of Chionin, a feeble old man but of extreme 
 
 63 
 
dignity and imperturbable countenance. Just below 
 the incline leading to the temple hall the litter was 
 lowered and the old man was helped out and contin- 
 ued his way resting on the shoulders of attendants, 
 preceded and followed by lesser temple dignitaries, 
 whose rank could be told by knowledgeable persons 
 from the color of the parasols held over their heads. 
 A few small acolytes that followed, in gay raiment 
 and faces powdered till they looked rather like 
 clowns, struck the only discordant note in this spec- 
 tacle of religious pomp and circumstance. The mass 
 which followed was solemn and impressive and the 
 chantings and intonings reminded us strongly of 
 similar services in Roman Catholic churches. The 
 Buddhist ritual and the Catholic certainly make 
 the same appeal to the emotions through the senses 
 and there is the same predominence of splendor and 
 richness. 
 
 I think I have neglected to mention the one un- 
 toward event of the festival season: the sudden 
 death here of the Chilean envoy. This sad happen- 
 ing took place just before one of the great banquets 
 and of course cast something of a gloom over the 
 function, which could not at so late a moment be 
 postponed. The funeral at Tokyo was not held till 
 the set celebrations had been completed. 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 
 Thursday, November 25th 
 
 During the past week we have been blessed with 
 
 beautiful Autumn weather, cool and clear, and the 
 
 foliage has been exceptionally lovely, perhaps no 
 
 finer than we have at home, but here the beauty of 
 
 64 
 
OUTSIDE THE EXPOSITION GROUNDS, SEOUL, KOREA 
 
nature is enhanced by the works of man, the fine old 
 temples.their great gates and expanses of roof, their 
 pagodas and bell towers. Things have at last resum- 
 ed their normal trend and the visiting throngs have 
 taken their departure. The Emperor is still on his 
 round of the shrines and lantern processions still 
 fill the streets at night, the geisha having struck 
 the other evening and paraded dressed up as peas- 
 ants. 
 
 We take many long walks about the hills and 
 city these days, one of our favorites being that over 
 Shogunsaka Hill and down through the woods to 
 to the rear of Kiyomidzu, a picturesque congerie 
 of shrines clinging to a steep hillside above the city. 
 This temple is one of the popular resorts of the Jap- 
 anese and is always well filled with worshippers 
 and sightseers. It boasts two pagodas and a bell- 
 tower, beside the usual halls of worship and out- 
 houses. The main hall with its dimly-lit altar, bare 
 floor and great rough-hewn pillars is unusual and 
 impressive. From a platform in front built up on 
 scaffolding from the valley below one has a good 
 view of the cherry blossoms and maples at their 
 respective seasons, and, at all times, of the great 
 city far below in the distance. It is said that in the 
 olden times wives suspected of unfaithfulness were 
 tested by being thrown from this platform with 
 open parasols in their hands. If they landed safely 
 they were considered guilty ; if killed or injured, 
 innocent. Near by the main hall we noticed a for- 
 tune-teller serenely plying his profession, and at a 
 stone tank part way down hill to one side, where the 
 icy waters of a small stream pour down in miniature 
 waterfall, pilgrims were ridding themselves of sins 
 and impurities by what seemed an heroic method. 
 
 65 
 
Descending from the front approaches of the tem- 
 ple runs the steep, narrow, winding street or alley, 
 known to all foreigners as " Tea-pot Hill " from the 
 myriad of tea-pots for sale in the little shops that 
 line its sides. Every sort of cheap souvenir is to be 
 found here : picture post-cards, toys, garden orna- 
 ments, gayly-colored earthenware, etc. etc. Near 
 the foot we turn sharp to the right and are soon in 
 the grounds of another popular resort, the Gion 
 Temple, a Shinto sanctuary. From this we return 
 to the hotel by Maruyama Park and Temple Ave- 
 nue, with its stately trees and terraced walls and 
 the many steep flights of stone steps to the shrines 
 above, its curio shops and its great stone torii. 
 
 Our many trips of exploration through the streets 
 are very apt to end with a walk through " Theatre 
 St.," the "Gay White Way" of Kyoto. Here for 
 about half a mile one is in a bewildering whirl of 
 theatres, side shows, restaurants and gay shops. 
 We have several times stopped at a theatre where 
 the lurid bill boards promised plenty of thrills, and 
 squatting on our feet in gallery seats, or more strict- 
 ly squatting places, have seen enacted penny dread- 
 fuls that would make a Bowery boy envious. Alas, 
 the buildings are not noticeably heated and even 
 the excitement of the drama is insufficient to keep 
 one comfortably warm in this late fall weather. 
 
 One day this week we walked some distance out 
 of town to the old shrine of Bishamon on the road 
 to Lake Biwa. The buildings are old ( 1696) and de- 
 serted as they seem to be will, I fear, fall rapidly to 
 ruin. The architecture is particularly good and it 
 seems almost criminal to let such a treasure crumble 
 to bits in this way. For many years a member of 
 the imperial family was priest of Bishamon, and, 
 
 66 
 
although in recent years the temple has been no 
 longer a recipient of state support, the old priest 
 continued to cling to his place in ever-growing pov- 
 erty, till towards the end he could afford but one 
 small boy to assist him in the offices. With this one 
 acolyte the old man continued for several years to 
 perform his duties, always arraying himself in the 
 splendid old temple robes at service and at other 
 times forced to creep around in the sorriest of rags. 
 At last he died at the ripe old age of eighty-odd 
 years, and his sole attendant removed mournfully 
 from the locality. Our walk led us for some distance 
 along the Tokaido, the old-time highway joining 
 Kyoto and Tokyo, but to-day the railway has super- 
 ceded the wagon road and the old life of the Jap- 
 anese prints is no more to be seen there. 
 
 A short visit to Osaka, the busy commercial city 
 an hour distant, has been among our latest relaxa- 
 tions. We found little to interest us apart from the 
 castle and Tennoji Temple. The castle is now in 
 use as a divisional headquarters of the army and a 
 pass is needed if one would see it. Of the original 
 structure nothing remains but the great outer walls 
 and the ruins of the keep. Some of the stones 
 used are prodigiously large and the problem of 
 putting them in place must have almost equalled 
 that of building the Egyptian pyramids. At Tennoji 
 we saw the largest hanging bell in the world ; also 
 a stone tortoise, from the mouth of which a stream 
 of water flows into a large bowl below. The names 
 of people who have recently died are written by 
 their relatives or friends on slips of bamboo and 
 held in the sacred bowl in the vain hope that pray- 
 ers in their behalf will be answered, the water be- 
 ing thought to take the names to the gods, just how 
 
 67 
 
it would be unwise to surmise. Near by, an enter- 
 prising merchant has for sale dozens of small live 
 tortoises which you can buy and free in a pond 
 close at hand, thereby proving that you are a good 
 Buddhist. Doubtless the poor animals are freed and 
 captured many, many times. 
 
 This will be my last letter from Kyoto, for the 
 present at least. We leave for Tokyo in a day or 
 two in order to be there for the military review and 
 at the same time have a few hours before in which 
 to get somewhat settled in Yokohama, where we 
 shall probably spend most, if not all, of the winter. 
 
 68 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 REVIEWS AND OTHER FUNCTIONS 
 
 AT TOKYO AND YOKOHAMA 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, December 5th 
 
 We came here from Kyoto nearly a week ago 
 after an all-day trip in the observation car of the 
 best train in Japan. As fellow passengers we had 
 one of the Princes of the Blood, his wife and suite. 
 They all remained hid in their compartment, but 
 were at least more democratic than General Tera- 
 uchi, who is thoroughly autocratic in his ways and is 
 said by some to be desirous of becoming, in fact if 
 not in name, another shogun. As the train passed 
 around Fuji we had repeated charming vistas of its 
 pyramidal snow-clad cone outlined against the clear 
 winter sky. In the light of the afterglow it was 
 lovely indeed. 
 
 Last Thursday was the day appointed for the mill- 
 itary review to which, through the courtesy of our 
 Embassy and the Japanese War Department, we re- 
 ceived invitations entitling us to places on one of 
 the best of the reserved stands. The review being 
 scheduled for the morning we decided to go to 
 Tokyo the day before so as to avoid the rush and 
 possible delays, and accordingly, Wednesday after- 
 noon, we moved to the Imperial Hotel at the capital, 
 where by chance we met Mrs. Winterhalter, the 
 wife of the Admiral, and at dinner heard from her 
 some of her interesting experiences at Kyoto as 
 guest of the Japanese Household Department. 
 
 Next morning we were called soon after daybreak, 
 
as the Toyama parade ground is miles from the 
 hotel and we were requested to be in our places 
 on the stand by eight o'clock at the latest. The in- 
 vitations also called for a special " bill of dress " — 
 calling gowns and hats for the ladies, full evening 
 dress for the men, and no hats or overcoats while the 
 Emperor was passing down the lines. As a result 
 the dining room at breakfast presented a ludicrous 
 sight, for the men in full dress looked extremely self 
 conscious and very much as if they had been out all 
 night, while those who made an effort to look less 
 absurd by wearing sack coats over dress shirts were 
 even more conspicuously amusing. We rickshawed 
 to the parade grounds and found our proper places 
 without the least difficulty, for the authorities had 
 wisely provided with the invitations outline maps 
 showing by what streets to approach, by what gate 
 to enter, where to leave conveyances, the exact lo- 
 cation of stands and all such useful things. We 
 found the troops already drawn up in the enormous 
 open space before us, over thirty-five thousand of 
 them, and in addition there were perhaps forty 
 thousand reservists in uniform but unarmed lined 
 up about the field, while hundreds of officers crowd- 
 ed the stands. I think I never have seen anywhere 
 at one time so many soldiers or such a remarkable 
 military spectacle as this. Just across the parade- 
 ground stood the palace where the Empress was in 
 temporary seclusion, and in the background rose 
 the great cone of Fujiyama the beautiful, a unique 
 setting for such a scene. 
 
 The review consisted of two parts : first, the Em- 
 peror and his staff, including the foreign military 
 attaches, rode slowly up and down the lines ; then 
 they all took up positions just to our left and the 
 
 70 
 
army marched by them. It was nine o'clock when 
 the Emperor arrived in a state coach and quickly 
 alighted and disappeared within the tented inclo- 
 sure reserved for him and the imperial staff. A few 
 minutes later he emerged, mounted a superb black 
 horse and, followed by his immense staff, proceeded 
 down the long lines. As soon as he was far enough 
 away to permit of anything so informal the drivers 
 of all the state carriages came tearing over on foot 
 to the souvenir post-card booth and special branch 
 post office to send off souvenir cards with pictures 
 of the parade, stamped with the coronation com- 
 memorative stamps and cancelled with special re- 
 view-day cancellations. It was some time later that 
 the troops marched past us, the infantry leading, 
 then the artillery and lastly the cavalry. At the 
 same time an airship and a flock of aeroplanes 
 sailed by, the dirigible slowing down to salute and 
 break out a flag. The only unpleasant feature of 
 the whole affair was the tremendous dust raised by 
 the wind assisted by the thousands of tramping 
 feet. Japan may well be proud of her army. A finer 
 set up or better disciplined lot of khaki-clad war- 
 riors it would be hard to find anywhere. It seems 
 a great pity that they cannot have a chance to show 
 their mettle against the Germans. When the Em- 
 peror left everyone stood up while the national air 
 was played ; then after a short interval came a rush 
 for the gates which reminded us a little of the 
 scenes after the collegiate foot-ball games at home. 
 Here the police arrangements were so perfectly 
 carried out that the huge crowds melted away al- 
 most as by magic, with no confusion and practical- 
 ly no delays. We tiffined at the Imperial and return- 
 ed leisurely to Yokohama in the late afternoon. 
 
 71 
 
Yesterday, Saturday, was another gala day, this 
 time for Yokohama, for the naval review took place 
 in the harbor far beyond the breakwater but in sight 
 from the Bund. Practically the entire Japanese naval 
 fleet participated and in honor of the event the town 
 was gay with triumphal arches, bunting, lanterns 
 and the other usual forms of decoration to which we 
 have become so used in the past month. The holiday 
 crowds from out of town were enormous but, as al- 
 ways in this fortunate land, orderly and polite. Ar- 
 thur had an invitation from the Japanese Navy 
 Department to spend the day on one of their ships, 
 and as she had to be in her place in line before the 
 arrival of the Emperor from Tokyo he had to make 
 an early start. This time his costume, as requested, 
 was silk hat, frock coat, etc. — formal enough but 
 hardly appropriate, it would seem to the unsophis- 
 ticated, for a windy day at sea. I, too, had been in- 
 cluded in the formal invitation, but receiving certain 
 stray hints that my presence was not urgently de- 
 sired I discreetly remained at home and with friends 
 from a roped-off inclosure near the British Consul- 
 ate saw the Emperor pass, then returned to the 
 hotel and from the sun parlor with the aid of marine 
 glasses saw as much as I wanted. Conspicuous by 
 her white color, at the near end of one of the long 
 lines of grey warships, was the representative of 
 the American Navy, the " Saratoga, " formerly the 
 " New York." Near her loomed the giant form of 
 the " Fuso," the latest and largest battleship of the 
 Japanese Navy, a superdreadnought of over 32,000 
 tons displacement. The Emperor on a torpedo-boat 
 destroyer went out to the cruiser " Tsukuba " which 
 had come inside the breakwater to receive him and 
 on this ship went down and back through the miles 
 
 72 
 
OUTSIDE THE NISHI HONGWANJI TEMPLE, KYOTO 
 
of ships, later boarding the " Fuso " for lunch, while 
 hydroplanes manoeuvred over the fleet. Submar- 
 ines were to have given an exhibition of their skill, 
 but soon after noon a sharp blow came up suddenly 
 and put an end to all such possibilities and in addi- 
 tion led to a change of plans, the Emperor deciding 
 to go inside the breakwater on the " Fuso," instead 
 of returning on the " Tsukuba." The great ship 
 successfully negotiated the opening and came to 
 anchor quite near shore, but considerable anxiety 
 was caused by the risky proceeding. Arthur re- 
 turned after seven and reported rather a tiresome 
 day. His ship had not followed the Emperor's re- 
 viewing ship down the line as originally planned 
 and he had seen little more than he could have done 
 from the shore. 
 
 It was quite gay at the hotel all day. The Japan- 
 ese band from the Mitsukoshi dry goods store in 
 Tokyo, twenty-five musicians, all in Scotch caps 
 and kilts, played during the afternoon and in the 
 evening the band from the " Saratoga " played for 
 a dance. The Japanese celebrated as usual with lan- 
 tern processions and fireworks. All the ships of the 
 fleet were outlined in electric lights. By the way, 
 there is great enthusiasm among the Japanese just 
 now over the birth of another prince, between the 
 military and naval reviews and in sight of the par- 
 ade ground, all of which is thought to point towards 
 his being some day a great conqueror. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 
 Sunday, December 19th 
 
 Last Friday evening we attended the Foreign 
 
 Minister's soiree at the Kasumigasaki detached 
 
 73 
 
palace at Tokyo in honor of the coronation, the 
 host and hostess being Baron and Baroness Ishii 
 and the palace actually the entertainment annex of 
 the Foreign Office. I was kept busy for a few days 
 before scurrying about to get a gown which would 
 pass muster, as it was requested that all skirts 
 should touch the floor and short trains should be 
 worn, and our present styles at home prescribe 
 short, trainless garments. Finally had a pretty frock 
 made at Arthur & Bond's, which was in old times 
 a curio shop, but has recently added a dressmaking 
 department to its ever growing business. As usual 
 we had to go to Tokyo early and spend a night at 
 the Imperial. 
 
 At nine o'clock tucked ourselves into a Ford taxi, 
 arriving at our destination in good time to be ready, 
 as requested, to greet the representatives of the 
 imperial family on their arrival. Baron Ishii and 
 and the Baroness, attired in European garb, met all 
 their guests at the foot of the grand stairway, and 
 shook hands with all their foreign guests, who then 
 ascended the stairs and waited in the spacious 
 apartments above till court chamberlains announc- 
 ed the coming of royalty, several of the Princesses 
 of the Blood and their husbands. These ladies were 
 in Parisian frocks, their consorts in full uniform, 
 while all the other Japanese women present wore the 
 charming native costume and their escorts shone 
 in gold lace and decorations covered their chests. 
 Many of the kimono were exquisite and the obi 
 were like spun gold. One young girl in particular 
 wore a soft green kimono with a wonderful design 
 of peonies on the sleeves and the same on the back, 
 with a peacock beautifully worked in ; a rich gold 
 brocaded obi, probably an heirloom, completed the 
 
 74 
 
striking but thoroughly tasteful costume. As the 
 royalties passed the Japanese made respectful 
 genuflections and we foreigners bowed as politely 
 as is our custom, then all adjourned to the vicinity 
 of the supper room doors, where a collation was 
 served in European style, the " waxworks " and for- 
 eign envoys eating in a separate apartment. It seems 
 hard, amid such festivities as these and the ones at 
 Kyoto, to realize that Japan is even technically at 
 war and the fact only becomes apparent when one 
 notices the absence of the German and Austrian 
 representatives at all these functions. 
 
 A few days ago we went to another function, but 
 in honor of a very different sort of thing — the ninety- 
 second birthday anniversary of Mrs. Scidmore, the 
 mother of the American Consul-General. Mrs. S. is 
 much beloved and has a large circle of friends, all 
 of whom turned out to do her honor. Her home 
 was filled with flowers sent by her admirers and 
 the Ambassador came down from Tokyo to cut the 
 birthday cake. Another diversion has been fur- 
 nished by the performances of an English vaude- 
 ville company at the Bluff Theatre. The show, 
 though not really first class, was well received, for 
 such entertainments are few during the war. 
 
 75 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 THE HOLIDAY SEASON 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Friday, December 24th 
 This holiday season has been a busy one despite 
 the fact that we are so many thousand miles from 
 home. We have met a number of the residents and 
 enjoyed their hospitality on numerous occasions and 
 tried in a small way to return their kindnesses. 
 There have been teas and dinners and tiffins and 
 excursions by motor to Kamakura and Dzushi and 
 other pretty points on the coast, and holiday shop- 
 ping has filled in the odd minutes between gayeties 
 and trips to Tokyo. The temptation to shop is even 
 greater this year than usual, for tourists are scarce 
 and many shops that overstocked themselves with 
 goods in anticipation of a greater coronation crowd 
 from abroad than materialized are now forced to 
 sell at reasonable prices in order to clear up their 
 books for the annual settlement. When you do not 
 go to the shops, the shops come to you and every 
 evening when I come in I find a little cluster of 
 tradesmen huddling about the door with brocades 
 and bronzes and curios of every description. One 
 Goto is most persistent and he and a small assistant 
 turn up with regularity, spread temple hangings, 
 brocades and kimono all over the floor, then ask 
 us to make offers. As a result we have increased 
 our "junk" by several items, one an embroidered 
 Kwannon (the Goddess of Mercy) that I particu- 
 larly fancy. Of all the shopping I think I enjoy best 
 
 76 
 
my visits to a little flower shop part way up the 
 Bluff Hill, where for a mere song I can get the pret- 
 tiest of potted plants and cut flowers. The button 
 chrysanthemums are just now at their best and a 
 whole armful of them costs only twenty-five cents 
 of our money. 
 
 The new electric cars have made the trip to To- 
 kyo far more comfortable than it used to be, though 
 no more rapid, and we have made frequent trips to 
 the capital, ostensibly to make calls, but as every- 
 one generally is out these trips end in walks along 
 the Ginza or the adjacent streets for a look at the 
 windows and the street decorations, which have 
 thus far survived the end of the season for which 
 they were installed. The Ginza, the Broadway of 
 Tokyo, is festooned from end to end with greens, 
 strings of electric bulbs, flags and bunting bearing 
 not very artistic representations of popular legend- 
 ary and historical scenes, and here and there is 
 a triumphal arch, of which perhaps the less said 
 the better. The Japanese good taste seems to fail 
 them when the question of such things comes up 
 and the great Babisaki-mon, one of these arches 
 just outside the main entrance to the palace, is a 
 hideous structure quite out of accord with the can- 
 ons of any known form of architecture, and, I am 
 sure, not properly Japanese at all. In front of it 
 stand the two trees, cherry and orange, emblems, 
 the one of courage and strength and the other of 
 fertility. Similar trees flanked the steps to the 
 Shishinden during the coronation at Kyoto. 
 
 77 
 
Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Saturday, December 25th 
 
 Christmas Day. We certainly feel far, far from 
 home, but after reading my letters and opening my 
 home packages I felt more cheerful. We hung up 
 our stockings last night like a couple of youngsters 
 and I, at least, reaped quite a harvest of choice 
 little odds and ends that I had coveted in the shops 
 and of which Arthur had evidently made mental 
 notes and bought and put away with a view to this 
 occasion. I also received a number of larger gifts, 
 including three that please me particularly, a bronze 
 Buddha, a copy of the famous one at Kamakura, a 
 thimble and scissors of gold damascene and a min- 
 iature plum tree which stands about a foot high in 
 an attractive green dish between a spray of pine 
 and a few bamboo shoots. Our Japanese boy says 
 this wishes me a long life and a happy one. When 
 the tree arrived it was a mass of pale green buds, 
 but it has already burst forth with a multitude of 
 delicate pink blossoms and fills the room with fra- 
 grance. 
 
 To-day is a beautiful mild day with brilliant sun- 
 shine everywhere and though this is sometimes, im- 
 properly I think, called a " heathen " land there is 
 none the less an unmistakeable spirit of Christmas 
 in the air, due perhaps in part to the chimes of the 
 foreign churches, in part to the faithfully observed 
 custom of making gifts to the hotel servants, in part 
 to the special Christmas decorations of the windows 
 of the shops where foreigners trade, in part to the 
 holly and flowers in the hotel dining-room. Here, 
 by the way, the holly seems to lack berries, but the 
 defect is made good by the use of berries from other 
 plants, which are tied or wired on the holly stems 
 
 78 
 
so carefully that only one forewarned would notice 
 the subterfuge. This morning we took a walk to 
 Honmoku, a suburb beyond the Bluff where a rich 
 and enterprising Japanese has built a fine house, 
 laid out a pretty public park ornamented with a 
 life-size statue of himself and started a boom in real 
 estate. There is a good view of the sea from a hill- 
 ock adorned with a decorative pagoda and all about 
 the hibiscus trees are still gay with their red blos- 
 soms and we even saw a single rose that had braved 
 the cold of winter. The afternoon we spent in the 
 sun-parlor watching the fishing fleet with their great 
 square sails and the sampans being poled in and 
 out of the canal, the passenger steamers dressed 
 with the flags of a dozen nations and the stodgy 
 freighters coaling off the breakwater. After tea we 
 leave for Tokyo once more, for the Guthries have 
 very thoughtfully invited us to take our Christmas 
 dinner with them at the Embassy. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Monday, December 27th 
 Christmas afternoon when we reached Tokyo we 
 found we had plenty of time before dressing for 
 dinner, so leaving our suit-cases at the Imperial we 
 went for a stroll on the Ginza and were delighted 
 to find that thoroughfare the scene of a regular out- 
 door fair, the sidewalks piled high with wares of 
 every description and lined with booths, reminding 
 us strongly of the Parisian boulevards at this same 
 season. Here in Japan, however, the display is not 
 for the benefit of those wishing to buy Christmas 
 presents but for those in search of gifts for the New 
 
 79 
 
Year. At the hotel the main hall was bright with 
 the lights of a big Christmas tree, from which, as 
 soon as we had registered, a smiling boy brought 
 us each a little present with the compliments of the 
 Japanese management. 
 
 Later, at the Embassy we found the entire staff 
 on hand to welcome their guests, a welcome almost 
 embarrassing, for, wives included, there were over 
 thirty in all. The long table was decorated with 
 pine and holly, a small Christmas tree at each end 
 and at the middle a centre-piece representing the 
 scene at the manger ; scattered about were diminu- 
 tive figures of the shepherds and animals and fes- 
 tooned above on almost invisible wires were doves 
 with American flags in their beaks, while over the 
 centre was a large gold star. Mr. Guthrie told me 
 that all this was the work of the head boy, who has 
 been an employee of the Embassy for a long time 
 and takes great pride in bringing out his Christmas 
 decorations each successive year. The dinner was 
 thoroughly American and delightfully informal. 
 There were no set speeches, but healths were drunk 
 and we all rose while the Star Spangled Banner 
 was played. Pretty favors were distributed— silver 
 pencils and paper-cutters inscribed " American Em- 
 bassy, Xmas, 1915." Later in the evening there was 
 dancing and at midnight or thereabouts the Am- 
 bassador led in an old-fashioned Virginia Reel, 
 after which all joined hands in a circle and sang 
 " Auld Lang Syne " before the party broke up. And 
 so our Christmas Day ended most happily. 
 
 To-day we have had an aftermath of Christmas, 
 for Mr. Manwaring, the manager of the Grand Ho- 
 tel, gave a tea party this afternoon to the families 
 of all the Japanese employees from chief clerk to 
 
 80 
 
garden coolie. The children came in great numbers, 
 all dressed up in their best and with manners that 
 would put to the blush many an American father 
 or mother of far higher social position. The girls 
 were especially quaint and cunning and too dear 
 for anything were the wee kiddies with flowing 
 sleeves nearly touching the floor and serving as 
 receptacles for gifts and other treasures. Each child 
 received a little basket of fruit and cake and each 
 woman a box of sweets. At the end of the feast our 
 table boy, who by the way was once a school teach- 
 er, led in " banzais " for the generous host, and after 
 elaborate ceremonial leave takings all toddled away 
 in the best of spirits. 
 
 Yesterday we bought for the small children of 
 our room boy a few inexpensive little presents — 
 for the girl a doll and for the boys a sword and a 
 toy motor car ; also for the wife a box of candy. To- 
 day the entire family called politely to thank us in 
 person and we felt more than repaid for our slight 
 trouble. The Japanese of no matter what class, ex- 
 cepting of course the toughs and criminals, seem 
 to have inborn in them the most exquisite natural 
 politeness of any people on earth. We could well 
 afford to take lessons in good manners from them. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, January 2,1916 
 The excitement of the New Year celebration is 
 at its height this week and we find the Japanese 
 customs at this time most entertaining. New Year's 
 Day is the holiday par excellence in Dai Nippon and 
 to some laborers the only real day of complete rest 
 
 81 
 
and recreation of the entire year. In its honor every- 
 one, no matter how poor, tries if possible to wear 
 some new garment, all the houses are cleaned and 
 put in repair and the " shoji " or sliding screens are 
 all freshly repapered. Each doorway, whether the 
 entrance to the dwelling or place of business, is dec- 
 orated with pine and bamboo, oranges, and often a 
 lobster and a knotted rope, the "shimenawa" of 
 Shinto shrines which is thought to attract the bless- 
 ings of the gods and to ward off evil. On each side 
 of the doorways of the well-to-do are set a small 
 pine and a bamboo, emblems of fortitude and hap- 
 piness. 
 
 The shops began to close as early as the twenty- 
 eighth of last month that the proprietors might have 
 plenty of time to settle their books for the year and 
 collect and pay all debts so as to start the new year 
 with clean sheets. Every tradesman to whom we 
 owed a cent appeared, each with some little present 
 and a bill already receipted. On the afternoon of the 
 thirty-first we walked to the Japanese districts be- 
 yond the canal and found ourselves in the midst of 
 an open-air bazaar, surrounded by booths of flowers, 
 plants, dwarfed trees and the miniature gardens, 
 other booths filled with straw ropes and lobsters 
 (which last, by the way, carry with them the im- 
 plied wish that the owner or recipient may enjoy life 
 till his back is bent like that of the crustacean with 
 extreme old age), still others with miniature Shin- 
 to shrines for the ancestral name tablets which are 
 kept in all Japanese homes, images of the fat, good- 
 natured God of Prosperity and Wealth, seated amid 
 his full rice bags, and chopsticks done up in white 
 wrappers bearing the greetings of the season. 
 When we returned to the hotel just after tea time 
 
 82 
 
with our accumulation of trophies, we must have 
 made rather an absurd appearance. I bore in one 
 hand a green dish in which lovely yellow crocuses 
 (these are lucky flowers for this season) were bloom- 
 ing between pine and bamboo in a bed of white 
 pebbles meant to represent snow, in the other an 
 unnecessarily large God of Plenty, while tucked 
 under one arm was a shrine. Arthur's pockets fairly 
 bulged with all manner of odds and ends and his 
 hands, too, were filled with ridiculous purchases. 
 
 Late in the evening we rickshawed to Theatre 
 St. and found it swarming with belated shoppers. 
 Always gay the street quite outdid itself, for at the 
 principal corners stood pine trees and along the gut- 
 ters were papier mache stocks, chrysanthemum 
 plants in full bloom fenced in for protection by bam- 
 boo hedges, and other special decorations ; from the 
 play houses issued the strains of weird music, loud 
 and discordant enough to have pleased even the 
 Chinese. As we drove home the bells of the Chris- 
 tian churches were ringing in the New Year. 
 
 Yesterday it unfortunately rained hard all day 
 and we missed the anticipated pleasure of seeing 
 the Japanese grown-ups paying calls all dressed up 
 in their " haori " and " hakama " and the children 
 playing in the streets with battledores and shuttle- 
 cocks, the battledores painted with historic or fan- 
 ciful and grotesque faces or scenes. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Thursday, January 13th 
 Splendid bright winter weather continues, de- 
 spite the gloomy warnings of many friends here that 
 
 83 
 
months of cold, penetrating dampness must be ex- 
 pected. I am sitting as I write in the bright sun- 
 light of my room with both windows wide open and 
 no fire, yet am as comfortable as anyone could 
 wish. Of course when the sun has gone down it is 
 not quite so " summery " and a fire is often accept- 
 able. Coming back along the Bund this morning I 
 noticed roses blooming outdoors— small, pale, pink- 
 ish-yellow ones like those one finds on the Riviera 
 in winter ; a camelia tree in the hotel inclosure is 
 in full bloom. I was wildly extravagant and squan- 
 dered forty cents gold on two large bunches of nar- 
 cissus, a pansy plant and a bunch of primroses, the 
 last of these for our Buddha, before whom they now 
 lie as he reposes peacefully on a small table with 
 his temple brocade behind him and an incense jar 
 in front of him. We certainly are doing all we can 
 to make him feel at home. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Friday, January 28th 
 We have done nothing specially worthy of men- 
 tion since my last letter with the one exception of 
 a trip to Tokyo to see the wrestling. As Arthur 
 had seen this many times before he did not go, but 
 I had as companions friends who are stopping at 
 the hotel. We started about ten o'clock, taking our 
 lunch with us, for like most amusements in Japan 
 the wrestling exhibitions are long drawn out affairs 
 and only native food is to be had on the spot. Our 
 goal was a huge hall built specially for the purpose 
 in the grounds of the Ekoin or Temple of Helpless- 
 ness, a name which comes from the following. It 
 seems, about the middle of the seventeenth century 
 
 84 
 
several thousand people lost their lives in a terrible 
 conflagration and the bodies of all the unidentified 
 dead were by governmental orders buried in one 
 great pit beside which this temple was erected. For 
 some time no priest could be found to take charge 
 of the temple, for it had no funds to support it, but 
 finally a Buddhist reformer, Shinyo Shonin, accept- 
 ed the place and in order to obtain the needed 
 money instituted formal wrestling matches, the ad- 
 mission fees to which were turned over to the tem- 
 ple treasury. These matches proved most popular 
 and have continued to be held to the present day, 
 each year for a period of ten days in spring and ten 
 in fall ; and here the champions meet in contest and 
 make possible the services for the dead in the ad- 
 joining temple. A curious feature of the place is 
 that here one may, for a small sum, obtain prayers 
 for the souls of dead animals and even obtain for 
 them name tablets and burial within the sacred pre- 
 cincts. No doubt the memory of many a tame cat or 
 dog has been kept alive by these means. 
 
 When we entered the hall there must have been 
 over ten thousand spectators in the shed-like struc- 
 ture and many others drifted in from time to time, 
 among them one of the imperial princes with his 
 suite or staff. The wrestling was conducted with 
 elaborate formalities derived from centuries of cus- 
 tom, and the participants were quite different in ap- 
 pearance from the everyday Japanese, being im- 
 mense masses of flesh and muscle with hair partly 
 shaven and the rest drawn to a knot on top accord: 
 ing to the style universally prevalent in the olden 
 times. During the contests these men were naked 
 except for meagre loin cloths and curious embroid- 
 ered aprons. The arrangement and decorations of 
 
 85 
 
the fighting arena were also according to strictly 
 defined regulations : in the centre a circular mound 
 or elevation covered with sand, surrounded by straw 
 ropes and sheltered by a roof supported on four col- 
 umns or pillars bound with bunting ; that to the 
 east in blue emblematic of spring, that to the west 
 with white for autumn, that to the south with red 
 for summer and the northern one with black for 
 winter. Under the eaves of the roof hung a narrow 
 purple curtaip stamped with the design of the clouds 
 of happy omen, and at the foot of the pillars on piles 
 of cushions sat the referees, all ex-champions. At 
 the opening of each bout the contestants entered, 
 rinsed out their mouths with water, scattered pin- 
 ches of salt on the ground, probably for luck, squat- 
 ted down opposite each other, then, after numerous 
 posturings, the judge waved his fan and they sprang 
 at one another, striving, as in our wrestling, to get 
 an under hold. The bout ended when one man was 
 quite down or had been pushed or thrown out of 
 the ring. To any but a devotee of the science of 
 wrestling the bouts seem about the same and soon 
 grow monotonous. We were more than satisfied to 
 see the championship match and one or two others. 
 The bout of the champions aroused tremendous en- 
 thusiasm on the part of the Japanese and the ad- 
 herents of the winner cheered and applauded in a 
 way that would,have done credit to a crowd of base- 
 ball " fans " at home. On our return to the hotel we 
 found some of the boys very jubilant over their win- 
 nings on O-Tori. 
 
 86 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 WINTER DAYS AT YOKOHAMA 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Friday, February 4th 
 
 Life here goes on about the same. There are din- 
 ners and other entertainments so much like similar 
 affairs at home that I will not weary you with de- 
 tailed accounts of them. Nearly every day we have 
 taken long walks out of town and one of our fav- 
 orites is to Nogiyama where now the plum trees 
 are just coming into bloom, and to Mississippi Bay 
 where Perry anchored in 1853. On this last walk 
 most of the way is between paddy fields and past 
 thatch-roofed cottages. We usually return by way 
 of the racetrack and Negishi, a rather squalid ham- 
 let abounding in fish markets and small children 
 who are always playing in the roadway with their 
 sleeves flying in the breeze and generally a smaller 
 brother or sister strapped to their backs. Once we 
 noticed there a wee girl, far too tiny to carry even 
 the most diminutive baby, and what do you think 
 she had on her back as a substitute ? A small black 
 kitten ! Both seemed quite content, the girl with 
 her mud pies, the kitten wrapped in sweet slumbers. 
 
 If we are to believe the newspaper notices and 
 advertisements spring is actually here already. The 
 plum trees are becoming the centre of attraction to 
 the nature loving.people of this land which nature 
 has so singularly blessed with beauty. The first 
 days of February formally usher in the official 
 season of the plum blossoms. This is not their 
 
 87 
 
first appearance, for during January it is always 
 possible to find here and there in some sunny spot, 
 protected from the wintry winds, a few hardy spec- 
 imens of this, the " Elder Brother of the Hundred 
 Flowers ; " but it is the regular advertised spring 
 opening, when whole gardens or orchards burst in- 
 to bloom with the pure white and delicate pink blos- 
 soms which mean to the Japanese the end of winter, 
 no matter how many cold and stormy days may 
 follow. At this season crowds flock to the gardens 
 most celebrated for their flowery displays, and, as 
 on all such occasions of " hana-mi, " or flower gaz- 
 ing, all with one accord make a holiday affair of it 
 and throwing aside cares and worries give them- 
 selves up wholly to their innocent pleasure, wander- 
 ing about among the blooms with many an indrawn 
 breath of delight, repeating the old stories of the 
 plums to wee kiddies in flowery kimono that make 
 the wearers look like blossoms too — blossoms of a 
 gayer, more vivid hue. 
 
 Of all the places near Yokohama, Sugita is per- 
 haps the most widely known for its plum blos- 
 soms ; and to this little fishing village on the shore 
 of the Pacific about ten miles away we made our 
 pilgrimage yesterday afternoon, with considerable 
 hesitancy, be it admitted, for it seemed hard to be- 
 lieve that we were not doomed to disappointment. 
 Spring so early seemed far too good to be true. 
 
 When, after a tramcar ride and a lovely walk 
 along the coast, we reached Sugita, it was to find 
 ourselves in a fairyland. The deep blue sea, with 
 here and there the white sail of a fishing boat, the 
 brown nets set out to dry, the thatched cottages of 
 the fisher folk, gaily decorated little shops, and on 
 every hand branches of snowy blossoms to be had 
 
 88 
 
for the merest trifle: all these satisfied and de- 
 lighted us. 
 
 Along the roadside we noticed the usual itinerant 
 peddlers, some with their customary wares, others 
 with baskets filled instead with holly branches, fish 
 heads, and bags of beans. All these last are used in 
 connection with an old-time custom of this season. 
 For many centuries the peasantry, if not also many 
 others of higher social standing, have devoted part 
 of the first day of Spring ( and according to the old 
 calendar this falls in February) to driving out of 
 their houses all that swarm of evil spirits or influ- 
 ences that have accumulated during the winter 
 months. The head of each house followed by his 
 children goes through the various rooms of his 
 dwelling, scattering beans on every side and calling 
 out: "Evil spirits outside; good fortune inside." 
 This done he hangs over his entrance a sprig of 
 holly and a fish head, for it is a well-known fact 
 that evil spirits fear the thorny prickles of the holly 
 and are particularly averse to the odor of the stale 
 fish head. 
 
 Near the end of the village street, attracted 
 thither by a number of paper flags waving gaily in 
 the breeze, we found a cross-road leading to the 
 temple which was our Mecca. Our goal was evi- 
 dently not far from here, for on either side of the 
 road the tea houses with their straw mats and red 
 blankets were thick, and gatherings of tea houses 
 in Japan almost unfailingly betoken the proximity 
 of a " sight." Our first impression was made more 
 certain when we saw that at all these tea houses 
 were offered for sale pickled plums in great glass 
 jars, sugared plums in dainty baskets or immaculate 
 white boxes, picture post-cards of plum blossoms, 
 
 89 
 
and sprays of the blossoms themselves. Soon we 
 reached our shrine, the old Mioji temple, dilapi- 
 dated and gloomy, a splendid background and foil 
 for the beauteous wealth of fresh bloom with which 
 its gardens were filled. 
 
 The trees here are very old, some of them having 
 an age of over a hundred years. Their trunks and 
 branches are dark grey-brown, their blossoms white 
 or palest pink ; not a bit of green is to be seen on 
 the trees. Many of these trees are famous and have 
 received special names by which they are distin- 
 guished from others less favored. One gnarled old 
 specimen, called the " Crystal Curtain Plum," is but 
 about six feet high and, as if that were too high, 
 its branches have been trained so as to droop to 
 the very ground. Just in front of the temple is per- 
 haps the oldest tree of all — the " Old Age Nourish- 
 ing Plum," which owes its name to the consort of 
 the Meiji Emperor, who frequently came to Sugita 
 to enjoy its flowers. This tree has only the daintiest 
 of white blossoms, in sharp contrast to its knotted, 
 irregular trunk and its crooked branches so decrepit 
 that they are propped up with bamboo poles to 
 which they are tied with straw cord. Another fa- 
 vorite tree with a favorite name is that known as 
 the "Recumbent Dragon Plum" from its rough 
 scaly trunk that creeps along near the ground in a 
 manner that suggests in the minds of the imagina- 
 tive Japanese the creep of the scaly dragon so fam- 
 iliar in their art and folk-lore. 
 
 All these trees and a host of others equally charm- 
 ing though less famous formed the centre of ad- 
 miration of family and friendly groups of all 
 classes. Here in the sacred inclosure, camped out 
 before the tea houses on the table-like benches on 
 
 90 
 
mats and blankets, and waited on by smiling " ne- 
 sans," young and old enjoyed themselves to the 
 full, regaling themselves for the most part on rice 
 cooked with plum petals prepared by the priests, 
 or, if less aesthetic, with rice and pickled plums, 
 washed down in either case by the ubiquitous am- 
 ber-colored tea, and accompanied by the smoking 
 of cigarettes or the absurd little pipes that need a 
 reloading after the second or third puff. Among 
 this throng many were busily engaged in inditing 
 poems to their favorite trees. These sentiments, 
 inscribed on long narrow strips of white paper, 
 were already hanging in hundreds to the low branch- 
 es, where other admirers, handling them with great 
 care lest they be torn or detached, read them aloud 
 with appreciation. This custom of affixing extem- 
 porary verse to the trees on such occasions is said 
 to date from the early part of the eighth century, 
 when flower-viewing festivals first came into vogue 
 among the artistic, pleasure-loving courtiers of the 
 Nara period. 
 
 We saw other blossoms in Sugita besides these 
 of old Mioji, but none so lovely, so carefully tended, 
 or so universally admired. We decided to take our 
 leave of the little village with the picture of the 
 trees of this old temple fresh in our minds, and as 
 we started for home in the cool of the late afternoon 
 we climbed for one last look to the top of the hill 
 that shelters Sugita. Here, standing beneath the 
 branches of a huge and venerable pine, well known 
 to Japanese legend, we gazed down upon this fairy- 
 land of blossoms and watched the red sun sink into 
 the waters of the Pacific : a fitting ending for our 
 first day of spring in the beauteous land of the Sun- 
 Goddess. Where else in the world could one find 
 
 91 
 
such blossoms, come in spite of frost and cold, when 
 all else is bleak and bare. It is this very contrast, 
 it seems to me, that makes the plum blossom so 
 dear to every Japanese heart. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, February 13th 
 
 Last week the " Chiyo Maru " sailed for home 
 under circumstances of some excitement, for at the 
 last minute three Germans were found on board 
 and removed by the police ; they were said to be 
 officers who had come from Shanghai on falsified 
 American passports. The " Chiyo," which is by the 
 by the ship on which we hope to return in April, 
 took away many of our traveling acquaintances 
 and for a few days the hotel was left with only some 
 thirty-five guests ; since then another steamer has 
 brought enough to fill it up fairly well again. 
 
 I have lately taken a few trips to points of interest 
 near by ; notably one to the Ikegami temple. We 
 actually started out this time to see the plum blos- 
 soms at Kamata, but being disappointed on our ar- 
 rival there in the scarcity of the flowers, we got 
 rickshaws after some difficulty in making ourselves 
 understood ( the expedition consisting of a girl from 
 New Zealand and myself unfamiliar with the Japan- 
 ese language and the country people here under- 
 standing nothing else) and rode over narrow, muddy 
 paths to Ikegami. This temple was built centuries 
 ago in honor of the Buddhist saint Nichiren who 
 died here in 1292. On the altar of the Founder's Hall 
 is a life-size image of the saint and on the walls are 
 representations of Buddhist angels playing various 
 
 92 
 
musical instruments ; while at the foot of a hillock 
 close by is a building about twenty feet in diameter 
 shaped like an Indian " stupa " resting on a great 
 stone lotus flower. This contains a gilt shrine, also 
 of stupa form, the repository for a crystal jar which 
 enshrines a supposed tooth of the saint and a hand- 
 ful of ashes from his funeral pyre. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, February 20th 
 
 Last week brought with it snow and rain at last 
 and we spent most of our time indoors. From our 
 windows overlooking the bridge to the Bluff districts 
 we find plenty to entertain us — the closed rick- 
 shaws and their dripping human steeds, the boat- 
 men and coolies looking like animated haymows in 
 their straw hats and cloaks, the women with their 
 outer and sometimes their inner kimono tucked 
 high above their ankles, toddling along on the gro- 
 tesquely high wet weather clogs under oil-paper or 
 ordinary European umbrellas, and the small ur- 
 chins, like boys in every land, making a point of 
 picking out the largest, muddiest puddles to wade 
 through. 
 
 Yesterday we had a treat, looking over Mr. K's 
 fine collection of old Japanese prints. These truly 
 artistic creations were originally meant simply for 
 the common people, but their colors are so soft and 
 daintily pleasing and their lines so graceful and 
 subjects so interesting that they have gradually 
 come into favor among the elite even of the Japan- 
 ese and now bring enormous prices. There were of 
 course some, to admire which an educated taste 
 
 93 
 
would be absolutely necessary, but most of them 
 were by the well-known masters. In the evening we 
 saw pictures of a different sort, going to the theatre 
 to view the official moving pictures of the November 
 festivities. The pictures were badly taken and bad- 
 ly shown and there was so much repetition of state 
 carriages and mounted lancers that we were glad 
 when the show was over. To-day we have had a 
 motor ride with a friend to Hayama, where the Em- 
 peror has a summer palace or villa by the sea. As 
 we returned the full moon over the ocean was won- 
 derful. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Monday, February 28th 
 A week ago we discovered from a guide-book that 
 on the twenty-first of each month a " matsuri " or 
 festival was held at the Kobo Daishi temple at Ka- 
 wasaki and that village being not very far off we 
 decided to go over. Remembering our troubles in 
 getting to Ikegami we had the hotel clerk write out 
 in Japanese all the necessary names and directions 
 so that if we got off the track we could appeal to a 
 policeman with some hope of good results. From 
 the station at Kawasaki we walked a few yards to 
 a tramcar line which took us to the very entrance 
 to the temple, so our misgivings were as usual quite 
 uncalled for. The crowds here were thick and we 
 fell in line and followed them past the usual knick- 
 knack shops and tea houses, stopping for a minute 
 to buy some of the red egg-shaped " Darumas," little 
 wooden images made like our " Susie Damns " with 
 rounded bottoms so as to resume an upright position 
 
 94 
 
after being pushed over. Our Darumas, we discov- 
 ered, had large unpainted spaces where the eyes 
 should be. The idea is this : you buy one and then 
 pray to the saint for the fulfillment of a wish, then 
 if it be granted, you paint in the missing eyes to 
 show your gratitude. Poor Saint Daruma is com- 
 monly reported to have sat in one spot in prayer 
 and meditation for nine years, during which period 
 his legs rotted off, which accounts for the peculiar 
 build of his images. This same gentleman is accred- 
 ited with having introduced the tea plant to Japan 
 and the story of his first acquaintance with the 
 useful herb tells of his being so angry one morning 
 at having overslept that he tore off his eyelids to 
 prevent the possible recurrence of such an enor- 
 mity. From the spot where the eyelids fell on the 
 ground sprang a shrub, the tea plant, the leaves of 
 which, steeped in boiling water, make a beverage 
 which will keep one awake. 
 
 At no other festival in Japan have I seen such a 
 collection of beggars. The lame, halt and blind were 
 all well represented and troops of ragged children 
 followed us about, begging piteously for money, 
 while in the temple yard were all the first cousins 
 of the beggars— peddlers, itinerant showmen with 
 trained animals and acrobats and other catchpenny 
 amusements, and any number of story tellers and 
 fortune tellers. In the main temple hall, which was 
 dirty to an extreme, we lighted candles and made 
 wishes and had our fortunes told by a priest for a 
 ridiculous pittance. The old man was seated on a 
 cushion behind a carved rail with a pile of lacquered 
 boxes beside him. He asked our ages, which we 
 gave as nearly as we could with our limited knowl- 
 edge of Japanese numerals, then he muttered and 
 
 95 
 
waved a stick or wand over the boxes and finally 
 selected one, opened it and took out a roll of paper 
 covered with characters. Later I asked the hotel 
 clerk the meaning of these characters and found 
 that they signified that I must return to the temple 
 and pray for success on a certain inconvenient pil- 
 grimage which must be accomplished before I could 
 hope to have prayers answered. 
 
 Washington's Birthday was a cold, snowy day, 
 noteworthy for the arrival from home of a ship with 
 over two hundred cabin passengers, a dance at the 
 hotel in the evening and special decorations in the 
 dining room, of plum blossoms and bamboos so bent 
 over as to form graceful arches. A picture of Wash- 
 ington and the flags of Japan and the U. S. A. were 
 prominently displayed in the sun parlor. 
 
 Just now the shops are filled with dolls and dolls' 
 accessories of all kinds, for the third day of the third 
 month is Girls' Day and Girls' Day is very properly a 
 dolls' festival. Every Japanese family has at least a 
 few dolls dressed to represent the rulers, members 
 of the court and old-time military retainers ; some 
 have as many as a thousand, we are told, many of 
 them handed down as heirlooms for several genera- 
 tions, the collections being added to each year at 
 this time. Not only single dolls may be bought but 
 entire groups representing the court, historic scenes, 
 social customs, such as weddings, and even state or 
 religious processions. All the dolls, that is of course 
 all the more expensive ones, are perfectly costumed 
 and finished in all the details with a remarkable ob- 
 servance of the niceties, even the hair being care- 
 fully dressed whether exposed or drawn up under 
 a helmet. On the third of March they are taken 
 from their place of safe keeping and exhibited on 
 
 96 
 
shelves in a careful arrangement dictated by eti- 
 quette—the emperor and empress dolls on the top 
 shelf, the rest on lower levels according to rank. 
 Under them are placed costly brocades and behind 
 them pretty gold or gilt screens, while below in 
 front the little musumes set out offerings of white 
 sake and herb cakes. The dolls curiously are not 
 played with, though the small girls invite their 
 friends to come in and see them ; once the day is 
 past, back they go to their boxes for another year of 
 seclusion. 
 
 To-day being our Fifth or Wooden Anniversary 
 Day, we had a quiet little celebration of our own 
 and exchanged carved wooden Amidas and Gods 
 of Prosperity, thereby adding still further to our 
 collection of gods which is assuming alarming pro- 
 portions. When the collection is all on exhibition 
 I fear some of our missionary friends would expe- 
 rience somewhat of a shock. 
 
 Our time in Yokohama is nearly up and although 
 we have had an unexpectedly pleasant time here 
 we are already looking forward to new scenes and 
 sights. It is our plan to leave early in March for a 
 visit to Nagoya, Nara and the great shrines of Ise, 
 which, with a week at our beloved Kyoto and a few 
 day in Tokyo and in the Nikko mountains, will take 
 up our time pretty thoroughly till sailing day in 
 April. 
 
 97 
 
CHAPTER X 
 AT NARA, THE ANCIENT CAPITAL 
 
 Nara Hotel, Nara 
 Saturday, March 11th 
 
 The last week or two in Yokohama simply flew 
 by, for in addition to packing and dressmaking and 
 final shopping we found many gayeties to occupy us. 
 The weather was bad compared with that of the 
 earlier part of the winter, but we have been so for- 
 tunate in that regard that we cannot complain. 
 Even bad days had their compensations and we en- 
 joyed the sight of the waves bursting wildly over 
 the breakwater as we watched them from the com- 
 fortable steam-heated sun parlor. Fortunately it 
 cleared the day before we left for Nayoga and now 
 in the glory of the present sunshine we have no un- 
 pleasant memories of the few dismal days. 
 
 On Thursday last we took the express with some 
 English people that live in Shanghai and know 
 our friends there. The journey was an easy one and 
 the views of Fuji-san, covered with snow almost to 
 the foot, were wonderful. The paddy fields were 
 some of them already green with the freshly trans- 
 planted rice and the peasants were busy everywhere 
 in their blue cotton kimono tied high above the 
 ground and their great mushroom straw hats. At 
 Nagoya we found the hotel more comfortable than 
 we had dared hope and the meals much improved 
 over those of former days. Our bedroom was de- 
 cidedly chilly when we arrived, but a roaring fire in 
 the stove soon remedied that discomfort and we 
 
 98 
 
found the manager most anxious to make us com- 
 fortable. The late afternoon we spent in exploring 
 the main streets of the city on foot, but found noth- 
 ing of great interest, for Nagoya is too much of a 
 modern commercial town to be attractive to those 
 who most enjoy the old unoccidentalized Japan. 
 
 Friday, armed with passes secured through the 
 offices of our embassy, we made an early visit to 
 the old castle, the donjon of which, surmounted by 
 its golden dolphins, is a landmark visible through- 
 out the surrounding country for miles. These fa- 
 mous fish that glisten so brightly from their lofty 
 position six stories above the ground are several 
 centuries old and are valued at over eighty thousand 
 gold dollars each. An attempt was once made to 
 steal them, at least so the story goes, the thief mak- 
 ing use of a huge kite in his efforts to reach them ; 
 the daring deed was without success, however, and 
 the unlucky perpetrator paid the penalty of his 
 criminality by a death in boiling oil. In 1873 one of 
 the dolphins was sent by sea to the international 
 exposition at Vienna and on the return voyage went 
 to the bottom with the ship that bore it, but later 
 was recovered and restored to its original position. 
 The great stone tower itself is a massive structure 
 of truly mediaeval appearance and in the days be- 
 fore gunpowder and great guns it must have been 
 an almost invincible stronghold ; some of its stone 
 blocks must be quite as large as any in the pyramids 
 and its wooden beams and girders are awe-inspir- 
 ing in their strength and solidity. Holes in the pro- 
 jecting portions of the floors of the upper stories 
 were once used for pouring down boiling water and 
 oil on the heads of attacking troops and recalled to 
 us similar conveniences in old palazzos in Italy. In 
 
 99 
 
the living quarters attached to the great keep are 
 a number of fine gold and hand-painted screens, the 
 work of celebrated artists of old Japan, but unfor- 
 tunately some of these were torn and otherwise 
 badly damaged at the time of the Restoration when 
 for a time the buildings were in use as barracks. 
 To-day the castle is still in military use, as a divi- 
 sional headquarters, but the soldiers are housed in 
 modern barracks between the inner and outer 
 moats and at a safe distance from the more ancient, 
 historical structures. From the top of the donjon, 
 after a stiff climb, we refreshed ourselves with a 
 widespread view over the surrounding plains for 
 miles in every direction. 
 
 Immediately after lunch we started on to Nara, 
 one of my favorite spots in all Japan. The hotel 
 here is run under government auspices and is up-to- 
 date in all respects ; the town is full of historic in- 
 terest, having been the imperial capital as far back 
 as the eighth century, before Charlemagne was 
 seated on the throne of France ; the country round 
 about is charming, especially just now when the 
 mountain tops in the distance are still snow capped 
 and the plum and peach trees are in full blossom ; 
 all of which go to make a most attractive whole. 
 Nara itself has shrunk sadly from the wide limits 
 of its former grandeur and many of the ancient 
 tombs and temples once inside the city bounds are 
 now found only after long walks past great stretches 
 of market gardens and rice fields. The old palaces 
 and strongholds and villas, too, have long since dis- 
 appeared and we have to content ourselves with a 
 few relics of the old days of over a thousand years 
 ago, practically all of them temple buildings. Hun- 
 dreds of magnificent old trees still remain, however, 
 
 100 
 
to offer their grateful shade and in a wide park area 
 within the temple district there are delightful road- 
 ways lined with ancient moss-covered stone lanterns 
 and prayer-burners where one has to stop but an 
 instant to be surrounded by dozens of pretty brown 
 deer as tame as household pets. 
 
 These deer are held semi-sacred, wander at will 
 all over the streets of the town looking for food, 
 and are doubtless made doubly happy by a town 
 regulation which prohibits dogs running free and 
 others which enforce severe penalties for the injury 
 or destruction of any one of these wards of the mu- 
 nicipality. This exceptional treatment has, of course, 
 its good reason : there is a story to explain every- 
 thing in Japan ! In this case we are told that the god 
 who was one of the first settlers, if not indeed the 
 first, of this Nara district, became weary as he walked 
 through the mountains and as he was resting by the 
 road-side a deer presented itself to him and offered 
 to carry the tired god the remainder of his way. 
 The god gratefully accepted and the deer carried 
 him as far as the site of the present Kasuga shrine, 
 where the god dismounted and established him- 
 self permanently. From that time deer have been, 
 through all the centuries, accorded a certain degree 
 of reverence and not only fed by the official keeper 
 of the deerf old but also by everyone of the thousands 
 of pilgrims that visit Nara and its shrines every 
 year. We found that it was never more than a min- 
 ute or two after the deer appeared and began pok- 
 ing their soft noses about our pockets in search of 
 food before there also appeared enterprising old 
 peasant women with cakes or cookies for sale, a 
 handful for half a cent, with which to appease the 
 appetites of these their proteges and business aids. 
 
 101 
 
Nara Hotel Hotel, Nara 
 Thursday, March 16th 
 
 We have had the good fortune to meet here a 
 congenial young married couple from New York 
 with whom we are now having a doubly good time 
 seeing the sights. Sunday last at their invitation 
 we motored with them to Kyoto and back, making 
 an early start and being back in good time for din- 
 ner. Leaving the hotel we skirted the shore of the 
 pond where a beautiful maiden is said to have 
 drowned herself in the despair of her unrequited 
 love for a hard-hearted emperor, then passed the 
 pagodas and honked through the shopping streets 
 to the country highway that leads to Uji and on to 
 Kyoto. Uji is the centre of a famous tea district, re- 
 puted to furnish the choicest product anywhere to 
 be had in Japan. From the village to the terraced 
 hills in every direction the country is given up to 
 the cultivation of the herb and is in effect one gigan- 
 tic tea plantation. Some of the tea bushes here are 
 said to be over a hundred years old and still yield 
 their share of leaves to the rich harvest every sea- 
 son. 
 
 Near Uji village we left the main road and cross- 
 ing a bridge over the winding river drew up shortly 
 to inspect Uji's other claim to fame — the ancient 
 Buddhist fane Byodo-in. In the midst of charming 
 gardens we found the aged and somewhat dilapi- 
 dated eleventh century buildings, copies of which, 
 a few years ago, housed the Japanese exhibits at 
 one of our many world's fairs at home. The main 
 hall stands on a lotus pond and is named after the 
 legendary bird, the phoenix; its outlines from a 
 bird's-eye point of view have the general configura- 
 tion of a large bird with spread wings, and on the 
 
 102 
 
roof, doing duty as weathercocks, stand two large 
 phoenixes. The interior proved disappointing, for 
 although there was a wonderful ceiling inlaid with 
 mother-of-pearl, a painted frieze of Buddhist angels 
 about the walls and an altar said to be of solid 
 gold lacquer, neglect, time and the elements have 
 wrought so much damage that one gets rather the 
 idea of worn dinginess than of ancient splendor. It 
 is a pity that the government has not thought it 
 worth its while to restore to its pristine loveliness 
 this particularly fine example of early Japanese tem- 
 ple architecture and decoration. 
 
 A short drive through hilly country, green with 
 bamboo and pine and cut here and there by pretty 
 streams with white, sandy banks, brought us to 
 Momoyama, the site of a long vanished palace of 
 that great military ruler, Hideyoshi, often called 
 the Napoleon of Japan, a locality recently sprung 
 to new fame as the final resting place of the much 
 revered and beloved Meiji Emperor who died in 
 1912. Here we were obliged to leave the car and 
 walk for some distance up hill through a newly- 
 laid-out park before we arrived in view of the tomb 
 and adjoining shrine. The grounds in the vicinity 
 of the memorial are carefully guarded by special 
 police and strict rules of decorum are rigorously 
 enforced ; before approaching the front gate of the 
 tomb enclosure we had to remove our coats and 
 the men their hats as well, even as at the shrines 
 of the most holy gods. The tomb is a great circular 
 mound of stone faced terraces, very simple but 
 deeply impressive, as is also the attitude of the Jap- 
 anese visitors, who prostrate themselves outside 
 the stone fence in front of the entrance torii and 
 pray with evident emotion and before departing 
 
 103 
 
place before the gate offerings of money or any- 
 thing else that they can afford. Deceased emperors 
 are gods according to the teachings of Shinto, that 
 strange cult which is officially declared not to be a 
 religion, but which bears every outward semblance 
 of one, and is in addition unquestionably the strong- 
 est influence in Japan today, pervading the life of 
 the people from highest official to poorest peasant 
 and forming the foundation of the imperial rule. 
 Near the tomb of the Meiji Emperor is that of his 
 faithful general, Nogi, of Port Arthur fame, that 
 great Japanese warrior who with his wife commit- 
 ted suicide on the day of his master's funeral that 
 his spirit might continue to serve him in the land 
 of spirits. 
 
 From Momoyama to Kyoto the road lies through 
 flat lands and there was nothing especial to see till 
 we came on the outskirts of the city to the innum- 
 erable red torii of the temple of Inari, that marvel- 
 ous combination of harvest and fox god so popular 
 with the farming population. We had no time to 
 stop and drove on to the Miyako Hotel, where we 
 had a good tiffin and a short rest before starting on 
 the return trip. As we wanted to be sure to be home 
 in time for the fire festival of the evening we took 
 the shortest way back, arriving without incident of 
 any kind. 
 
 After dinner the same evening we wended our 
 way through the quiet paths of the park to the 
 grounds of the Nigwatsudo, a Buddhist temple on 
 the hillside, built on a lofty platform supported by 
 scaffolding or piles and reached by steep avenues 
 of steps. It was the twelfth of March, one of the 
 ceremonial occasions on which great torchlight 
 processions wind through the wooded lanes and up 
 
 104 
 
PROCESSION OF PRIESTS, CHIONIN TEMPLE, KYOTO 
 
the hundreds of steps to take part in the services 
 of fire purification. We found the outside galleries 
 of the temple all alight with the glow of hundreds 
 of metal lanterns swaying and creaking in the wind, 
 while below the stone steps were illumined by the 
 flare of hundreds of torches borne by the procession 
 of devotees as they slowly ascended to the place of 
 worship. The sinuous flickering line made its way 
 through a thick, almost impenetrable mass of on- 
 lookers that had been collecting for hours and for 
 hours standing patiently in a wretched rain. At last 
 it reached the lower gallery and a short pause en- 
 sued; then suddenly Bedlam seemed to have been let 
 loose. Priests or temple attendants rushed frantic- 
 ally back and forth along the gallery waving their 
 huge torches aloft, then shaking them over the rails 
 till the crowd below was covered with a shower of 
 descending sparks and bits of burning wood. The 
 enthusiastic people instead of trying to dodge the 
 dangerous looking shower deliberately rushed for- 
 ward into it and seized the burning embers, as we 
 found later, to take them home, thinking them of 
 magic worth in warding off fire from their houses. 
 All this fire play seemed decidedly dangerous, not 
 only to the people who were so constantly exposing 
 themselves to bad burns, but to the dry wood of the 
 temple walls. We were told, however, that there 
 was no possible chance of harm resulting, for the 
 gallery was charmed and the torches sacred. At 
 midnight there was to be a further ceremony, the 
 drawing of water from the sacred well, a ceremony 
 that might well have been necessitated, it seemed 
 to us, by the earlier services. We were anxious to 
 see it, but the sopping rain had dampened our spirits 
 and clothes to such a degree that we came to the 
 
 105 
 
conclusion that it would be the part of wisdom to 
 rest content with what we had already seen and 
 seek our beds in peace. 
 
 Next morning, despite a continuance of the irri- 
 tating rain, we went to see another procession, 
 this one in honor of the arrival of an imperial envoy 
 with offerings for the Kasuga shrine, the great 
 shrine of the ancestors of the Fujiwara family that 
 has given Japan its empresses for centuries. From 
 beneath our dripping umbrellas we watched a lot 
 of wet mounted priests escort a sadly moist and dis- 
 consolate-looking functionary and his attendants 
 through the muddy streets. The splendid forest 
 trees and stone lanterns formed a wonderful back- 
 ground and the sacred deer as they wandered about 
 unconcerned and had even to be booed and shooed 
 out of the way added an amusing touch to the scene. 
 To me the most interesting members of the body 
 processional were the cunning little priestesses or 
 temple attendants with their long raven-black hair 
 and fantastic hair ornaments, white robes and scar- 
 let skirts. We fell in behind the procession and fol- 
 lowed it to the temple where we had the luck to 
 witness a performance of one of the old-time dances 
 by these small red and white garbed priestesses. 
 Later we wandered further on to the garden of 
 another shrine where we saw a strange sevenfold 
 tree, apparently the successful result of successive 
 graftings on an original trunk of cherry, camelia, 
 wisteria and other dissimilar growths. The branch- 
 es of this tree are covered with paper prayers and 
 vows presented by the lovelorn, the reason being 
 somewhat obscure. 
 
 One of the chief sights of Nara is the museum. 
 
 106 
 
The collections include some of the earliest speci- 
 mens of art in Japan and are especially rich in carv- 
 ed wooden statues dating back over a thousand 
 years. Another sight, the exterior of which alone 
 we were able to see, is the Shosho-in, a well-preserv- 
 ed wooden building of the eighth century serving 
 as a store house and like all such structures raised 
 several feet above the ground on piles. In it are 
 treasured specimens of every sort of thing in use 
 by the imperial household of the time when it was 
 built and a number of presents made by foreign po- 
 tentates to the recently departed spouse of the then 
 empress. The collection was presented to a mon- 
 astery by the empress as a memorial of her hus- 
 band and has remained in the possession of the mon- 
 astery. Now it is listed among the national treas- 
 ures and is jealously guarded, only those armed 
 with the strongest recommendations being permit- 
 ted to view it and then only at the time of the an- 
 nual fall housecleaning. Fortunately for those inter- 
 ested the best things have been photographed and 
 the photographs and a few copies of the originals 
 may be seen in the Tokyo Museum. 
 
 Day before yesterday it finally cleared and we 
 have availed ourselves of the fine weather to take 
 several long walks about the country, visiting the 
 tomb mounds of the early emperors. These funeral 
 mounds are all so nearly alike and so much like 
 any mound natural or artificial that one soon loses 
 interest in them. A far more interesting sight is the 
 extraordinary bronze Daibutsu, the largest image 
 in the world, ugly and worse than ugly, but in its 
 ugliness impressive and thought-compelling. We 
 have decided to take advantage of the favorable 
 weather conditions to make our pilgrimage to Ise 
 
 107 
 
at once, leaving what we have not yet seen at Nara 
 till our return later. 
 
 108 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 A VISIT TO THE ISE SHRINES 
 
 Gonikwai Hotel, Yamada-Ise 
 Sunday, March 19 th 
 
 We have at last accomplished one more of the 
 many things we have so long wanted to do : we have 
 seen the Holy of Holies, the Mecca of Japan, the one 
 place to which every good Japanese who can possi- 
 bly afford it, and many who cannot, make a point 
 of making at least one pilgrimage in a lifetime 
 and in some cases one every year. None who has 
 not seen Ise can properly sense the soul of Japan 
 and the real meaning of Shinto to its people. I do 
 not mean for a minute to claim that we can do so, 
 but at least we have had a chance to glimpse these 
 things as we have never before been able to do. 
 
 We left Nara with our new found friends from 
 New York yesterday morning, reaching here after 
 a five hours' railway journey, the first part of the 
 way through lovely mountain country, the latter 
 half through the flat lands that skirt the western 
 shores of the great Owari Bay. At one point we 
 passed within sight of one of the " sacred " fields 
 where the rice was grown that was used at the Nov- 
 ember ceremonies at Kyoto, fields still enclosed 
 with the Shinto straw rope hung with " gohei " of 
 which I have already written. After a long stop at 
 a half-way junction we proceeded by what is fam- 
 iliarly known as the " Pilgrim Railway," a branch 
 line constructed solely for the purpose of facilitat- 
 ing the pilgrimages to Ise, but incidentally a good 
 
 109 
 
paying proposition, if one may be permitted to judge 
 by the number of passengers at this time of year. 
 Our train was a long one and crowded to the last 
 inch with hundreds of people, mostly, I think, from 
 the countryside, all bent on the same object, but 
 some intent and devout, others taking the affair 
 more as a holiday excursion and inclined to get as 
 much joy out of it as possible. These peasants that 
 formed the bulk of the human freight all carried 
 with them in various sized and shaped cotton-wrap- 
 ped bundles their changes of clothing, food and 
 other necessaries for the journey. At the station at 
 Yamada where we alighted these poor people were 
 at once almost mobbed by a horde of noisy, banner- 
 bearing runners from the native inns, and often in 
 utter and helpless bewilderment were literally car- 
 ried off by force to some hostelry on which, I doubt 
 not, they had previously had no intention of bestow- 
 ing their patronage. The courteous manager of the 
 Gonikwai was on hand in person to greet us and in 
 person he showed us the way to his establishment, 
 an inn probably meant originally for the Japanese 
 alone but containing several rooms furnished in 
 foreign style and supplying foreign-style meals in 
 a foreign-style dining room. The bed-rooms seemed 
 cold at first, but a good grate fire soon warmed them 
 to our satisfaction and at dinner we secured seats 
 at a table close to the central stove, and so doing 
 and wearing plenty of clothing managed to keep 
 fairly comfortable. 
 
 And now for what we have seen and done here. 
 First of all with the amiable manager as a volun- 
 teer guide we rickshawed to the Geku shrine, the 
 less sacred of the two that make up the " Daijingu," 
 as the great shrines are popularly called, the shrine 
 
 no 
 
of the Goddess of Food and incidentally of numer- 
 ous gods of less prominence. This shrine is quite 
 near the railway station and always seen first, but 
 as the two shrines are nearly alike and the other is 
 more important I will not describe this separately. 
 From the Geku we drove through village streets 
 and along a fine macadamized highway equipped 
 with expensive electric lamps to the Naiku, the 
 shrine primarily of the great Sun-Goddess, reputed 
 ancestress of Japanese emperors and patron god- 
 dess of the race and nation. Here reposes in a Holy 
 of Holies a successor and probably facsimile of that 
 famous mirror which was given by Amaterasu-no- 
 kami, Light of Heaven, to her divine grandchild 
 (by adoption) when he left the Heavenly Plains to 
 rule over the benighted earth (which was Japan) 
 in compliance with the decision of the council of 
 the gods ; successor and representative of that mir- 
 ror which, in the age of the gods, was made use of 
 to lure the Sun-Goddess from her divine rock dwell- 
 ing, in which she had shut herself to escape the 
 annoyances of her rude brother and had thereby 
 wrapped the earth in gloom and sorrow. The orig- 
 inal mirror, or at least the oldest known and one 
 far older than the present one, was lost at sea many 
 centuries ago, which may in part account for the 
 remarkable care taken of the later one, which is 
 wrapped in many superimposed covers of rich silk 
 and never exposed to the gaze of man. Naturally 
 little is known of the treasure within and age and 
 mystery have doubtless greatly added to its sanctity. 
 There has been some mirror enshrined here for at 
 least the period of the Christian era ; that is cer- 
 tainly something in itself to call for respect if not 
 veneration. 
 
 111 
 
The shrine buildings are in a splendid wood of 
 camphor trees and cryptomerias and close by runs 
 a sparkling stream a great convenience where pu- 
 rification by water, is held of such primary import- 
 ance. The approach is through a great granite to- 
 rii, then over a fine stone bridge, both of them built 
 to last an eternity, then by a broad path open to foot 
 passengers only which leads one through a forest 
 of great trees which extends to the very portals of 
 the shrine. There is nothing of the toy Japanese 
 garden of mere men about this abode of the divine 
 spirits : the garden of the gods is in strongest possi- 
 ble contrast to that of men. Here all is on an unar- 
 tificial, grand scale, with nature far above the com- 
 petition of man and all the solemnity and dignity 
 natural, not forced. It brought time and time again 
 to our minds thoughts of the Druids and their for- 
 est sanctuaries in the early days of civilization's 
 dawn in Europe. Never in my life have I seen any- 
 where a more impressive approach to a god-house 
 nor one that could be compared to this in its sug- 
 gestion of reverence and inspiration of awe. 
 
 Alas, one soon comes upon the first buildings, 
 halls for sacred dances and booths for the sale of 
 charms and relics, and away flies all the charm, 
 driven off by an atmosphere of superstition and the 
 mercenary utterly out of sympathy with the fresh, 
 pure air of our first impressions. At the main en- 
 trance to the actual shrine inclosure one recovers 
 some small part of the original feeling of awe and 
 reverence, but never all, I think. Here we face a 
 torii gate with a drawn curtain behind it which 
 shuts out all direct view of the innermost courts 
 and Holy of Holies ; by going a little to one side, 
 however, we may get a sidewise look through the 
 
 112 
 
PACK-HORSES, CHIUZBNJI ROAD, NIKKO 
 
uprights of the wooden fence. Within we see solid 
 wooden fences surrounding a simple archaic struc- 
 ture that in many respects resembles the houses of 
 Malays in the East Indies— a wooden building with 
 gabled roof and strangely crossed rafters which 
 project at the ends and between them the peculiar 
 cigar-shaped logs that in the Malay huts serve the 
 purpose of holding the thatched roofs in place in 
 time of high wind. All the wood used in the con- 
 struction is flawless, unpainted and unpolished. The 
 slightest imperfection in a log causes its rejection 
 and, to carry out fully the idea of ritual purity and 
 perfection, should a carpenter for example happen 
 to scratch his finger and inadvertently let a drop of 
 blood fall on a rafter that rafter would have to be 
 discarded and thrown aside. So too the workmen 
 during the construction and for a certain time be- 
 fore are obliged to undergo elaborate ritual puri- 
 fications and while at work must wear only gar- 
 ments of pure white. It is this atmosphere of sanc- 
 tity and antiquity and simplicity that gives one a 
 feeling of respect again, even after experiencing a 
 certain revulsion at the evidences of ignorant super- 
 stition shown in the charm booths and dance halls. 
 At all events these shrines represent the survival, 
 through ages of enlightenment and progress, of the 
 early elemental faith of a simple people, a worship 
 of the essentials to life and comfort, the sun and the 
 crops and other foods supplied by nature, a religion 
 for which in its primitive unspoiled condition there 
 is certainly much to be said, but one which like all 
 others has been so smothered by extraneous growth 
 as to be almost unrecognizable to-day. 
 
 The original temples on the present sites were 
 erected according to tradition shortly before our 
 
 113 
 
Christian era ; since that time they have been re- 
 built every twenty years, the new buildings being 
 exact copies put up close beside the old and the 
 latter torn down on the completion of their success- 
 ors. For centuries a princess of the imperial family 
 always had charge of the shrines and they are still 
 deeply venerated by the rulers, subsidized by the 
 nation and presided over by a functionary chosen 
 from an outlying branch of royalty. To-day the ten- 
 dency for political reasons is to worship the Sun- 
 Goddess less and less as representing the sun and 
 more and more as the ancestress of the imperial 
 line ; the old nature worship is gradually fading 
 away and being replaced by a cult of patriotism and 
 loyalty to sovereign, little resembling the ancient 
 faith of the ages. 
 
 In the evening we had an experience in sharp 
 contrast to our visit to the shrines. Forming part 
 of the highway that connects the Daijingu shrines 
 is a long village street lined with tea houses and 
 other resorts far less reputable but famous for a 
 local dance of great antiquity known as the " Ise 
 Ondo." This we went to see. Some twenty or more 
 girls took part, accompanied by a few musicians. 
 We were seated in the middle of a large room 
 directly in front of the orchestra and around the 
 three sides of the room in front and to our sides, on 
 a runway close to the walls which magically rose 
 from below and again disappeared from sight at 
 the close of the performance, the dancers posed and 
 postured. To our unsophisticated eyes there was 
 nothing objectionable in the dance but we were told 
 that even the designs on the costumes were sugges- 
 tive to the Japanese and the poses even more so. 
 The aftermath of the performance was hardly in 
 
 114 
 
accord with our ideas of decency and as the house 
 was too full of half -tipsy enthusiasts for our thor- 
 ough enjoyment we were quite willing to leave af- 
 ter a short session. 
 
 To-day we have had a delightful excursion by 
 trolley-car, rickshaw and on foot to Futami and 
 Toba, two coastal villages farther down the penin- 
 sular. The first of these, Futami, is celebrated 
 chiefly for its "Husband and Wife Rock," rocky 
 islets close to the shore and each other, tied to- 
 gether with many ropes. About here there are in- 
 teresting hints of the early worship of the people 
 and in a little shrine near the rocks we noticed 
 many offerings to the sun in the form of the sun 
 with its rays and were told that hundreds of country 
 folk still come here to worship the orb of heat and 
 light. From Futami we drove to Toba through pretty 
 rolling country, passing on the way a weird looking 
 man in ragged attire and with hair done up in the 
 old-style manner on top of the head. His actions 
 were so peculiar that we asked the manager about 
 him and were told that he was a former samurai 
 who had fought on the side of the shogun in the res- 
 toration conflicts of 1868 and thereabouts, lost all 
 his means in the eventful days that followed the 
 return of the emperor to temporal power and finally 
 lost his reason in consequence. 
 
 Toba's specialty is its diving women and even 
 the chill of the sea in early March does not deter 
 these hardy creatures from earning their livelihood 
 in the water. Having located one of these women 
 we secured a small motor-launch and towed a sam- 
 pan containing her and her lord and master across 
 the bay to a favorable spot for the exploitation of 
 of her prowess. Here we anchored and shivered for 
 
 115 
 
a half hour or so watching this unique fisherwoman 
 bring up from the depths various specimens of shell- 
 fish and shells and seaweed. We were much reliev- 
 ed when the show was over and we started back, 
 but our husky husband-supporter seemed none the 
 worse for her efforts and laughed rather scornfully 
 at our manifestations of cold discomfort. 
 
 To-night at the hotel we have just finished a real 
 Japanese meal, quite delicious. The best dish of all 
 was Toba lobster, the very same crustaceans that 
 we had seen pulled by hand from the sea this after- 
 noon. 
 
 116 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 LAST GLIMPSES OF NARA AND KYOTO 
 
 Miyako Hotel, Kyoto 
 Sunday, March 26th 
 From Ise we returned last week to Nara and 
 stopped off at that delightful spot for a few days 
 to make a couple of excursions in the neighboring 
 country, notably to the tomb of Jimmu Tenno ( by 
 official decree declared first emperor of Japan ) and 
 to an ancient Buddhist temple, by name Horiuji. 
 I myself found the huge burial mound and adjacent 
 shrine at Kashiwabara on the site of Jimmu's pal- 
 ace very disappointing but Arthur found much to 
 interest him in the historic sites so numerous in this 
 vicinity. Horiuji, on the contrary, I simply loved. 
 One or two of its buildings are among the very old- 
 est wooden buildings in Japan, if not in fact in the 
 whole world, for they were completed in 607 A. D. 
 The faded frescoes on the walls of the Hondo, 
 painted there by a Korean artist at the time of 
 the erection of the building^ are perhaps the equal 
 of any similar work of the same period or of the 
 next succeeding centuries anywhere in Europe, 
 though of course in earlier days art had risen to a 
 higher level in both Greece and Rome than it Occu- 
 pied in the sad days immediately preceding the 
 Renaissance. In a storehouse of treasures resting 
 on the usual piles we were shown numbers of an- 
 cient wooden and stone statues and countless other 
 relics of over a thousand years ago. We learned of; 
 but were not permitted to visit, secret chambers in 
 
 117 
 
the temple where for centuries gold offerings are 
 said to have been accumulated to serve as a fund for 
 rebuilding the temple in case of its destruction by 
 fire or otherwise. Even art connoisseurs from To- 
 kyo have been refused permission to examine the 
 coins thus hoarded, possibly lest the whole story 
 should prove to be a myth. In a nearby shrine to 
 the God of Medicine we saw great stores of gift 
 offerings such as swords, armor, mirrors and combs, 
 presented by men and women who had been cured 
 of their afflictions in response to prayer. An old 
 priest showed us about and told us many stories of 
 the old times. 
 
 Since our return to Kyoto we have been enjoying 
 ourselves especially in showing our new friends and 
 traveling companions the E's our favorite haunts 
 and walks and pet temples. The city seems dull and 
 drear compared to its unwonted gayety of Novem- 
 ber last and we miss sadly the decorations and the 
 autumn colors and the processions and the crowds 
 of wondering country people. This time I have 
 spent much more time than before in the shops. In 
 one, Matsubaya's, a secondhand place where one 
 can pick up the most wonderful brocades, temple 
 hangings and even full costumes, both Mrs. E and 
 myself have bought complete Japanese ladies' out- 
 fits—kimono, obi and all the less important and less 
 visible articles of attire. We have also become the 
 proud possessors of several of the dolls that I have 
 already described in connection with Girls' Day, 
 March third. 
 
 We found the shop of the doll-maker on a narow 
 back street far from the hotel, a wee place where 
 an old man and his wife were busily engaged in 
 
 118 
 
dressing and arranging the hair of their toys when 
 we called. They seemed truly fond of the dainty 
 little figures and particularly pleased at our admi- 
 ration of them. From box after box they brought 
 forth emperors and empresses, courtiers and war- 
 riors, all finished to the last detail but all headless ; 
 then from other boxes were brought the missing 
 heads, all of them mounted on long sticks that fit- 
 ted into the bodies, each one with its face and hair 
 carefully protected from dust by coverings of soft 
 rice-paper. As a last touch the lady dolls were fur- 
 nished with cute little folding fans, the warriors 
 with swords and bows and quivers of arrows, all of 
 which were taken from separate drawers in a cabi- 
 net devoted to the safe-keeping of these odds and 
 ends. My first purchase was a court lady, and, as 
 the old grey-haired man threaded her fan with the 
 silks of the five lucky colors, carefully placed it 
 open in her delicate hands, then set her down fac- 
 ing us on her pedestal and leaned back with folded 
 hands to contemplate his work, his expression was 
 almost beatific in its happy, child-like serenity and 
 content. The boxes in which the dolls are packed 
 after sale are as perfect works of art in their way 
 as the dolls in theirs : made of immaculate unpaint- 
 ed wood and fastened together by wooden pegs in- 
 stead of nails, the covers sliding in grooves. The 
 costumes of all these dolls are made from fabrics 
 specially woven for the purpose in designs that are 
 miniature reproductions of the full-size originals 
 worn in real life ; one can select the material one 
 prefers from a variety of cute miniature bolts of the 
 cloth. From the toy dolls to the living ones of the 
 geisha school is but a short step and the flower- 
 like musumes proved even more attractive than 
 
 119 
 
the dolls they so much resemble. In November 
 we had seen them perform the cherry dance and 
 others ; this time we attended an undress rehearsal 
 of the new spring dances and were taken back of 
 the scenes through a number of rooms where les- 
 sons were being given in the tea-ceremonial, in 
 samisen playing and in fact in all the many accom- 
 plishments of the full-fledged geisha, that paragon 
 of private entertainers, or at least, so all men seem 
 to think them. 
 
 In one respect Kyoto is now more interesting to 
 the traveler than it was last fall : the palaces have 
 been thrown open to the public and it is possible 
 for everyone without special passes to see all the 
 actual scenes of the coronation ceremonies except 
 those buildings which were specially erected for the 
 purely religious functions. In the Gosho we saw 
 thoroughly the Shishenden and found most of the 
 banners, hangings and trappings still there as well 
 as the two gorgeous thrones ; then after getting an 
 outside glimpse of the archaic structures where the 
 Emperor feasted with his ancestral spirits, we drove 
 over to the Nijo and were taken through the ornate 
 dining hall and admired its brocade hangings and 
 painted screens and the great lacquered stage in 
 its centre. The scene when all the guests were 
 present and the historic dances were being per- 
 formed must have been like a page from the Arab- 
 ian Nights. 
 
 Above all, Kyoto is a city of marvelous temples. 
 There are so many of these and I have found so 
 much to enjoy in them all that I am afraid you are al- 
 ready weary of hearing about them, but I must give 
 a passing word to one or two more, or I would feel 
 that I had left unmentioned some of the finest of 
 
 120 
 
the Kyoto sights. We are especially fond of the Sil- 
 ver and Gold Pavilions, both somewhat out of town, 
 both built by shoguns who tired of the worldly life 
 of their courts and, shaving their heads, retired to 
 these retreats to rest, meditate and study. The 
 buildings are quite similar in appearance and both 
 have become officially supported shrines. The Sil- 
 ver Pavilion is about five hundred years old, the 
 Golden perhaps fifty years older. In the garden of 
 the latter ( both have gardens which are perfect 
 dreams) only the small summer-house with a dim- 
 ly-gilded roof remains to echo faintly the splendors 
 of the palace which formerly stood close by. From 
 its upper balcony may be seen a hill that was once 
 on a hot day of these bygone centuries actually 
 spread over with white silk that the shogun might 
 be refreshed and cooled by its fancied resemblance 
 to snow. The Silver Pavilion, like the Gold one, got 
 its name from its roof ornamentation, but in the 
 case of the former the roof never received its rich 
 covering, its builder dying before the completion 
 of his work. Its chief claim to fame comes from its 
 having been here that the tea ceremony, the art of 
 flower arrangement and the art of landscape gar- 
 dening first flourished and were first studied in Jap- 
 an. In the garden are two mounds of white sand curi- 
 ously moulded. On the top of the larger it is said 
 the shogun used to sit and hold aesthetic revels, 
 while on the smaller he sat alone and meditated 
 and gazed at the moon. 
 
 I will speak of but one other temple or shrine — 
 the Sanjusangendo, the sacred abode of the thirty- 
 three thousand Kwannons, one thousand of them 
 life size. The story has it that an emperor who suf- 
 fered from severe headaches prayed to Kwannon 
 
 121 
 
for relief and a spirit messenger was sent to him in 
 a dream and told him that at the bottom of a stream 
 lay a skull with a willow tree growing out of it, a 
 skull that had been the emperor's in a previous state 
 of existence; that whenever the wind shook the 
 tree it moved the skull and for this reason his head 
 ached ; wherefore the tree should be sought out and 
 cut down. The advice was followed and the pains 
 ceased and in gratitude the emperor erected this 
 temple as a thank offering and in the head of the 
 principal image placed the troubled skull. On the 
 occasion of our visit we found behind the images a 
 group of men and boys engaged in repairing Kwan- 
 nons of all sizes and degrees of dilapidation. The 
 immense collection of images is extraordinary, but 
 not at all impressive in the religious sense, and is 
 more apt to rouse one's sense of the ludicrous than 
 of the solemn. 
 
 122 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 TOKYO SIGHTS. CHANGED PLANS 
 
 Imperial Hotel, Tokyo 
 Friday, March 31st 
 
 We are at last in the modern capital of Japan, the 
 business office of the Emperor as the Kyoto people 
 will have it in their fond imaginings, prefering still 
 to cling to the old idea that Kyoto alone is his home. 
 We were reminded of the vicinity of royalty on the 
 very first morning of our stay for before we had 
 risen the room boy came to announce deferentially, 
 not however I surmise by reason of deference for 
 us, that we must have our window shades down 
 and must not look out after a certain time for some 
 fifteen minutes as the Empress would pass by in an 
 imperial train within a few yards of the windows. 
 Of course we couldn't restrain the very natural im- 
 pulse to peek out and see what we could without 
 attracting undesirable attention. The great happen- 
 ing was soon over : a special train of rich maroon 
 cars decorated on the sides with the emblem of the 
 imperial family whirled by and in one car sat the 
 Empress in the very middle in European dress, 
 ladies in waiting sitting at either end and officers of 
 the Imperial Guard in separate compartments at the 
 front and rear. The streets had been cleared with- 
 in a block of the tracks and as the train passed the 
 police, the only Japanese in sight, became frozen 
 into blocks of stone at the position of salute. 
 
 Thanks to this bit of excitement which was re- 
 sponsible for getting us up early, we had a good 
 
 123 
 
long morning for the Museum and a visit to the Sho- 
 guns' Tombs in Uyeno Park, of which I shall say 
 nothing more as the collections are too extended to 
 attempt to describe and the tombs are less interest- 
 ing and elaborate than similar ones at Nikko. Dis- 
 tances are so tremendous and streets generally so 
 dusty in Tokyo that, as we had gone so far from 
 our base of supplies, we decided to lunch at a Jap- 
 anese hotel in the park and then take a look at the 
 most amusing temple in the capital,. the great Kwan- 
 non temple of Asakusa, before returning to the hotel. 
 At this remarkable shrine religion and amusement 
 go hand in hand as I think nowhere else in the wide 
 world. Its grounds form one great play ground ; its 
 main hall shows to what lengths decadent Buddhism 
 has fallen. One should not visit this temple if one 
 wants to gratify theories of Japanese cleanliness, 
 progressiveness or even intelligence. The whole as- 
 pect here is of uncleanliness, poverty and benighted 
 superstition. In the great hall pigeons are as thick 
 as flies and as greedy as the beggars that frequent 
 the grounds ; on one side we see prayer wheels for 
 the illiterate, revolving libraries of sacred literature 
 where books are " read " by being turned round and 
 round, tables where priests catch pennies by fortune 
 telling ; on another we find shrines devoted to the 
 patron saint of fishermen, to the bib-wearing Jizo, 
 friend of small children, to countless lesser gods, 
 special patrons of the lower classes and the disrep- 
 utables. The whole place reeks of dirt and utter ig- 
 norance to a degree that is quite upsetting to our 
 previously acquired views of the Japanese civiliza- 
 tion. The most attractive of the religious features 
 is the great bell in the tower, said to owe its sweet 
 tone to the two hundred gold pieces thrown into the 
 
 124 
 
crucible by a shogun at the casting. Close by we 
 visited quite a good Zoo, waxworks shows, jugglers; 
 acrobats and moving pictures — in fact every device 
 to catch the pennies of the poor. I imagine the tern* 
 pie gets its share of the receipts or would find such 
 competition too much for it. 
 
 In the evening we saw yet another side of the Jap* 
 anese likewise unprepossessing — the Yoshiwara, 
 the extraordinary " licensed quarter " of the city; 
 It is a long rickshaw ride from the hotel district to 
 the gate of the " Nightless City," first along the pal* 
 ace moat and then for miles through quiet, unfre- 
 quented streets and out past the Uyeno railway sta- 
 tion. At the great gate we left our conveyances 
 and walked up a main street lined with tea-houses, 
 cherry trees and lanterns to other narrower streets 
 flanked by the immense " kashi-zashiki," great cara- 
 vanseries of vice. Here the windows on the ground 
 level were replaced by cages with wooden or brass 
 bars and behind the bars, with screens as back- 
 grounds, sat groups of " joro " as the " filles de joie " 
 are known here. These groups of gorgeously kim- 
 onoed and highly painted girls huddled together 
 about their " hibachi " or charcoal boxes in these 
 open air cages looking for all the world like a lot 
 of dolls arranged for exhibition. Occasionally a 
 man would stop before a cage, exchange a few 
 words with the girls, then step to one side and buy 
 a ticket or something similar from a villainous-look- 
 ing Japanese and disappear within, followed in a 
 minute by a girl from the window cage. These 
 houses, some of them several stories high and all 
 of them, it is said, extravagantly decorated and fur- 
 nished, represent the Japanese solution of the prob- 
 lem eternal, the insoluble question of the social 
 
 125 
 
evil. There is doubtless something to be said in its 
 favor from the point of view of hygiene at least, and 
 it is also true that this sequestering and legitimiz- 
 ing of vice may to some extent confine it within 
 limits. None the less, when one looks at the caged 
 girls and hears the house " barkers " crying their 
 wares, one cannot but feel a sense of disgust for the 
 system, and when one hears the sad stories of ig- 
 norance and poverty imposed upon and the hard- 
 ships sometimes undergone by these slaves in gild- 
 ed cages one begins to challenge the theories that 
 have given rise to such grievances. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, April 9th 
 Fate seems to keep us from spending more than 
 a few hours at a time in Tokyo and we have had to 
 give up our ideas of settling there for a week or so 
 and enjoying ourselves leisurely in seeing the sights. 
 The very morning after our visit to the Yoshiwara 
 we had no more than finished our early tea and 
 toast when we heard our fellow-travellers outside 
 the door asking if we had heard the latest news. As 
 it was April Fools' Day we thought there must be 
 some joke and continued to think so at first when 
 they told us that our ship, the " Chiyo," was on the 
 rocks off Hong Kong. Assured that it was no joke 
 but the solemn truth, we lost no time in changing 
 our plans and leaving for Yokohama on the earliest 
 train that we could get after repacking. To tell the 
 truth we were considerably upset at the prospect, 
 for, since the Pacific Mail steamers were taken off 
 this run last fall, and in the absence of one of the 
 
 126 
 
Canadian Pacific ships " trooping," the demand for 
 passenger accommodations across the Pacific has 
 exceeded the supply and reservations have had to 
 be made far in advance of proposed sailings. The 
 possibility of not being able to return for weeks 
 after the intended date quite shut out for the time 
 our feelings of sadness at the loss of the fine ship 
 on which we had already made one crossing in the 
 summer of 1910 and of relief that no lives had been 
 lost. Fortunately the ship ran so far up on the rocks 
 that in case of need all could have been hauled up 
 the cliffs to safety ; as it was, a British destroyer re- 
 sponded to calls for assistance and took all the pas- 
 sengers to Hong Kong, only a matter of some twenty- 
 five miles away. It so happened that the day we 
 got this word of the catastrophe was not only April 
 Fools' Day but also my birthday and presents and 
 flowers and a cake had already arrived; as we 
 didn't want to leave these behind we had to travel 
 like a lot of immigrants laden down with absurd- 
 looking bundles and packages. 
 
 Immediately on arrival, although it was afternoon 
 and offices are usually closed by then on Saturdays, 
 Arthur tore off to the steamship offices to see what 
 could be done. In a little while he returned with the 
 rather discouraging news that everything was taken 
 till the late June sailings with the exception of a 
 few single berths in cabins holding three or four 
 people. The offices had been closed so as to give 
 the agents a chance to straighten things out a little, 
 but he had been fortunate enough to find a friend 
 at court and had made a temporary reservation 
 on the understanding that it was to be changed 
 if anything earlier or better was given up and 
 available. There was nothing more to be done 
 
 127 
 
but to stay right here near the offices and hope for 
 luck, so we unpacked and settled down in our old 
 rooms for an indefinite stay, resigning ourselves to 
 the inevitable and in the end recovering sufficiently 
 to have a little tea party in the late afternoon at 
 which the cake was eaten. Later we dined with the 
 Es at their hotel, the Oriental Palace, and returned 
 in a much more cheerful state of mind, thanks to 
 them. 
 
 128 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 SPRING DAYS IN YOKOHAMA 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Tuesday, April 18th 
 As you see, we are still in Yokohama and we 
 are fast becoming reconciled to our enforced stay, 
 though it would certainly be pleasanter if we only 
 knew when it was to end. There are no new devel- 
 opments as yet in the matter of cabin accommoda- 
 tions for the good old U. S. A., and there is even 
 the possibility of our returning on a Japanese tank 
 steamer or a British freighter. Time will tell. In 
 the meanwhile the cherry blossom season is now at 
 its height and we are enjoying it to the full. Spring, 
 real spring, is here too. The women have shed their 
 winter coats and are wandering about again in their 
 light-colored kimono and bright obi, the small girls 
 and babies are decked out in clothes that almost 
 defy description for very gayety, the goldfish ped- 
 dler has emerged from his winter hibernation, ready 
 with his wooden pails and glass bowls to make an 
 aquarium for you while you wait, and the town fair- 
 ly rings with the cries of the vegetable man, the toy 
 dealer, the sweetmeat man and the " ichiban bento " 
 or first class lunch man ; while everywhere the itin- 
 erant flower merchants are about making delicious 
 bits of color in the gray streets of the foreign section 
 with their bright burdens. With one of these flower 
 men, an old, old man, I have made great friends 
 and he always keeps a bunch of his choicest blos- 
 soms for me for which I pay usually about ten cents 
 
 129 
 
gold. To-day I got from him a big bunch of bright 
 blue cornflowers and for luck he threw in also a 
 pretty bunch of azalea. 
 
 Speaking of flowers, Mrs. E and I, to help pass 
 the time before sailing, have engaged a Japanese 
 woman teacher who is giving us lessons in " Ike- 
 bana," or formal flower arrangement. The Japan- 
 ese word means " living flowers " and signifies the 
 theory underlying the art — the theory that flowers 
 should be so arranged as to suggest the idea of act- 
 ual life and growth. Japanese girls of the better 
 classes spend several years in studying this art, 
 and we shall have time only to learn some of the 
 most rudimentary essentials, but even that will be 
 worth something, and we enjoy the work immense- 
 ly. During the lessons our teacher sits on the floor 
 in front of us with her flowers and leaves and tools 
 and we watch her carefully as she cuts and trims 
 and bends and curves each individual stem with 
 infinite pains, then with equal care places them 
 iust so in a flat dish or vase and fastens in place 
 with little artificial props, that the proper distance 
 and direction may be maintained. One spray of 
 pine or a single blossom receives more actual labor 
 than a whole basketful would at home, for each 
 curve and position has its meaning and it is of the 
 utmost importance to secure those that conform 
 exactly to the ones that symbolize the idea that 
 one wishes to convey. When the teacher has com- 
 pleted a single step, before she passes on to another, 
 we have to take similar materials and try to copy 
 her results as nearly as we can. This is by no 
 means an easy task and requires considerable pa- 
 tience. Yesterday, for example, I worked for over 
 an hour on one unruly branch of pine which I had 
 
 130 
 
to bend so that it would represent the effect of a 
 bough bent by the winds of March. 
 
 A few days ago Mrs. E and I had a most amusing 
 trip to Tokyo, made amusing especially by Tsu, 
 Mrs. E's little Japanese maid, a new acquisition, 
 whose linguistic accomplishments are somewhat 
 less developed than her amiability. Our destination 
 was the great Mitsukoshi department store, an es- 
 tablishment built and organized after the foreign 
 style, its store copied from the Gallerie Lafayette 
 in Paris. At the entrance were given cloth slip-ons 
 to cover our boots and then we were free to wander 
 over the vast buildings at will. At the foot of the 
 grand stairway a Japanese band in Scotch kilts and 
 caps was discoursing foreign music and on the floors 
 above we found besides the usual sale displays, pho- 
 tographic galleries, restaurants and many other 
 modern features. We were especially in search of 
 various little cords and other fixings that we needed 
 to make our Japanese costumes complete in all the 
 details and we had relied on Tsu as interpreter to 
 make our wishes known. Tsu on normal occasions 
 speaks English fairly well and Japanese with great 
 volubility, but the big store was too much for her. 
 She would begin to tell us of some essential that 
 we must get and suddenly see something unusual 
 and veer off into her native tongue without warn- 
 ing and rattle on unintelligibly for many valuable 
 minutes at a time. When we did discover what we 
 had to get and went to the counter to ask for it 
 Tsu would waste more time still, apparently inquir- 
 ing after the health of the entire family of the clerk 
 before she came down to business, and then often 
 stopping in the midst of an inquiry to look wide 
 eyed and open mouthed at something quite novel 
 
 131 
 
that had come within her range of vision. She 
 seemed to be having such a thoroughly good time 
 that we couldn't lose temper, but it certainly was 
 exasperating for the moment. We accomplished 
 very little and went to the Imperial for lunch, then 
 finished our shopping, giving Tsu particular joy in 
 the sight of Art Smith, the American aviator, fly- 
 ing over the city and the Empress arriving in state 
 from Kyoto. Poor Tsu by the time we were back 
 was almost exhausted by all her marvellous expe- 
 riences. 
 
 Sunday Kin, my little dressmaker, called with her 
 sister to show me how to put on and wear my Jap- 
 anese costume and the following morning, making 
 use of my newly acquired knowledge I donned my 
 robe and hied me with Mrs. E to a near-by photo- 
 grapher's to have my likeness taken a la Japonaise. 
 Kin, Tsu and a hired hairdresser accompanied us 
 to make sure that everything was proper and I think 
 there could have been no bad error, for we were at 
 the photographer's, in dressing room and studio, 
 from ten A. M. till after two P. M. Our kind hus- 
 bands or one of them took pity on us and sent over 
 from the hotel tea and sandwiches. We are still 
 anxiously awaiting the results of our laborious day. 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 
 Thursday, April 27th 
 
 The photographs have just arrived and, though 
 
 not exactly nattering likenesses, give a good idea of 
 
 the costumes, which is the more important. We 
 
 shall certainly never, or never in the near future, 
 
 132 
 
be willing to spend such another day in dressing, 
 prinking and posing. Through the kind services of 
 Mr. G we have at last been able to arrange satisfac^ 
 torily the matter of our trans-Pacific transportation 
 and we now have a fine cabin on the " Tenyo Maru " 
 sailing from here May 16th. The " Tenyo " is a sis- 
 ter ship of the ill-fated " Chiyo " and, by the by, ar- 
 rived here some ten days ago bound South, leaving 
 a great crowd of our fellow-countrymen who fill up 
 every nook and cranny of the hotel at the present 
 minute. 
 
 During the last couple of weeks we have done 
 little out of the ordinary. Arthur has busied him- 
 self with a study of Shinto and early Japanese his- 
 tory and I have shopped and walked with Mrs. E 
 and continued my " ikebana " lessons, but a few 
 evenings ago I did go on one great lark with the Es 
 and small Tsu, taking a real Japanese dinner at a 
 purely Japanese restaurant and then going to a Jap- 
 anese circus. At the dinner we all sat on the floor 
 on cushions behind funny little squat tables, one 
 for each of us, and instead of knives and forks used 
 the native chop sticks. The first course was tea 
 with sweet cakes, then came soup made of fish 
 stock and containing watercress and meat balls, fol- 
 lowed by delicious broiled fish, then chestnuts, lily 
 roots and bamboo shoots, all of these grilled in bean 
 oil, and lastly the piece de resistance, " sukiyaki,"' 
 a dish consisting of beef sliced very thin, braised 
 over charcoal on ridiculously small pans with sugar, 
 soy sauce and fresh greens and served with heaping 
 bowls of rice. I found this last particularly to my 
 fancy. The feast should properly have ended with 
 uncooked green vegetables dipped in soy to make 
 them palatable, but as we had no desire to end our 
 
 133 
 
lives so soon we substituted for this course oranges 
 and more tea. During the entire meal our cups or 
 more correctly bowls were kept filled with luke- 
 warm sake, the favorite native drink, but, as this 
 reminded me unpleasantly of poor sherry warmed, 
 I took but a taste. When we rose from the table or 
 floor we found ourselves quite stiff as a result of 
 sitting so long with our knees bent double. At the 
 circus to which we adjourned there was the usual 
 program of acrobats, jugglers, trained horses and 
 dogs and we got more pleasure in watching the au- 
 dience than in the performance. The little tots, of 
 whom there was a surprising number for such a 
 late hour, fairly squealed with delight at each ex- 
 citing act. 
 
 Last Sunday was Easter, a dismal, forlorn, rainy 
 day out of doors but make bright for us by our 
 flowers. The native florists made a specialty of pot- 
 ted plants in full bloom for this foreign festival day 
 and I am celebrating in consequence with a small 
 lilac in a pretty mauve vase, a lovely azalea in a 
 green pot covered with dragon flies in deeper green 
 and, loveliest of all, a wee wisteria vine with long 
 blossoming tendrils hanging almost to the floor 
 from the table on which it rests in its blue and 
 white pot. I only wish that I could take some of 
 these flowers home. I am afraid I shall sadly miss 
 all this profusion of bloom with which I have been 
 so sadly spoiled in this fairyland of flowers. By the 
 way, just now one of my funny blue clothed florists 
 has called to present me his compliments and a 
 bunch of violets. These people with their nice lit- 
 tle gifts certainly give a great deal of unexpected 
 pleasure to the strangers within their gates. 
 
 For several days the weather has been getting 
 
 134 
 
milder and warmer and it is really quite like sum- 
 mer again. We set aside one day for a trip to Ka- 
 makura, which, in the twelfth century, was the capi- 
 tal of the regents who ruled the country, but has 
 gradually degenerated into a quiet fishing village and 
 summer resort for foreigners and wealthy Japanese. 
 Its former grandeur has almost entirely disappeared 
 but one or two fine temples remain, and the great 
 Daibutsu. This great image was once housed com- 
 fortably beneath a temple roof but on two separate 
 occasions the buildings have been carried off by 
 tidal waves and since the fifteenth century the 
 priests have evidently thought it wiser to leave it 
 in the open air, for now, for over three centuries at 
 least, it has been devoid of cover or sheltering walls. 
 One never grows tired of visiting this " great god 
 Buddh " and there is something in its calm, peace- 
 ful expression that seems to satisfy certain moods 
 in a strange, inexplicable way. Unfortunately the 
 mercenary has crept in here too to destroy the il- 
 lusion and it is hard to dream one's dreams while 
 harsh voices close by invite you to buy picture post- 
 cards and similar trash. 
 
 From the Daibutsu we walked over to the Hachi- 
 man temple, dedicated to the God of War ; then 
 ended our sightseeing with a visit to the Kenchoji, 
 a venerable Buddhist shrine sheltering beneath its 
 thatched roofs many an ancient image of the Bud- 
 dha. Here too we found the popular Jizo, patron of 
 children and travellers, seated in a crumbling shrine 
 in a grove of aged trees, and behind, a path leading 
 to a hill top through an orchard of cherry trees 
 whose sweet-scented petals fairly carpeted the way. 
 Taking our cue from the Japanese we picked up 
 handf uls of the petals and pelted each other with 
 
 135 
 
them as with confetti. On the summit of the hill 
 we came upon a shrine built as recently as 1890, 
 dedicated to a hob-goblin : strange commentary on 
 modern Japan ! Along the path to it were thousands 
 of paper flags on sticks standing upright in the 
 ground as offerings and the slopes about were peo- 
 pled with metal groups of grotesque creatures hav- 
 ing the heads of birds and larger animals and the 
 bodies and limbs of men ; presumably these were 
 the guards of the head goblin who here holds court. 
 We returned to the Kaiin-in, a hotel by the seashore, 
 for tiffin, with very much confused ideas of Japan- 
 ese religious thought or thoughtlessness. 
 
 After lunch we took a train for Enoshima, a fav- 
 orite tourist resort and incidently an island sacred 
 to Benten, Goddess of Mercy. The islet is extremely 
 hilly and covered to the last inch with shrines, tea- 
 houses and vegetation. We reached it from the rail- 
 way station by a long walk over a ramshackle, wind- 
 swept bridge or viaduct, then climbed up and down 
 steep flights of stone steps till we had seen all that 
 we wanted to of the island. The sacred place par 
 excellence is a cave of moderate size accredited by 
 legend with having at one time been the home of a 
 dragon that had the unpleasant habit of making 
 regular trips to the mainland in search of children 
 with which to appease his rapacious appetite. One 
 day the Goddess Benten appeared in the course of 
 a severe earthquake, married him and, as his better 
 half, required him forthwith to abstain from his 
 unseemly conduct. To avoid household scenes he 
 seems to have acquiesced. 
 
 The one real street of Enoshima is merely a pas- 
 sage between a double row of inns, refreshment 
 booths and shops for the sale of souvenirs, including 
 
 136 
 
honey candy and shell work. We noticed, fastened 
 to the wall of one shop, a giant crab that must have 
 measured fully eight feet from claw to claw. Take 
 it all in all I was disappointed in Enoshima. It has 
 been vastly overpraised, and instead of the gentle 
 beauty of many of the holy places of the land here 
 we found naught but noise and bustle and the cheap 
 atmosphere of a Coney Island. 
 
 137 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 NIKKO REVISITED 
 
 Kanaya Hotel, Nikko 
 Saturday, May 6th 
 
 As you see, we are back at last at our beloved 
 Nikko, in a little village tucked away in the moun- 
 tains amid the beauties of nature and marvelous 
 works of man. As soon as the matter of our home 
 sailing was settled we decided that we would take 
 a few days for a visit to this lovely place where we 
 first met, and here we are. The trip up is a rather 
 long one and so familiar that it has no longer its 
 first interest ; but of the last part of the way one 
 never wearies, for by leaving the train a couple of 
 stations before Nikko one may enjoy a delightful 
 rickshaw ride for the remainder of the way along 
 an ancient highway bordered with superb crypto- 
 merias planted centuries ago by a daimyo who want- 
 ed to give something toward the beautifying of the 
 newly planned shoguns' tombs and could afford no 
 contribution of money or art treasures. Probably 
 he little realized that in the passage of the ages his 
 simple gift would become famous as one of the most 
 renowned memorials of the district. 
 
 The great avenue of trees leads up through the 
 valley to the very end of the village street, several 
 miles in all ; then comes a complete change of scene 
 for, for perhaps another mile, we pass between na- 
 tive hotels and shops for the sale, principally, of fur, 
 carved wood, peppermint and sweet chestnut candy, 
 curios and the usual odds and ends to which the for- 
 eign tourist is generally so devoted till he learns to 
 know better. This street is always busy, for it forms 
 
 138 
 
the main artery from the station to the hotels and 
 temples as well as part of the old highway from 
 Tokyo : rickshaws, packhorses, tourists, native ped- 
 estrians and pilgrims and the wretched trolley cars 
 of recent introduction commingle here in hopeless 
 confusion, especially at train time. The pilgrims, 
 in white with straw hats and cloaks are seen most 
 in August but at all seasons there are some of them, 
 some on their way to the Shoguns' Tombs, others 
 bound for Nantai-san, the sacred mountain some 
 miles farther on. 
 
 Our hotel is up a steep hillside at the end of the 
 village street, just above the Sacred Red Bridge 
 which figures so prominently in every book on Ja- 
 pan. Though the bridge leads to the district of the 
 shrines and we pass by it every day, we cannot cross: 
 that privilege is reserved for members of the im- 
 perial family and distinguished visitors of great 
 prominence. Tradition has it that the bridge spans 
 the mountain brook at the very point where in the 
 old times a deserving saint found it impossible to 
 cross and an obliging god came to his aid by throw- 
 ing over the stream a bridge of serpents, one blue 
 and one green. This stream at times becomes tur- 
 bulent in the extreme and once or twice at least has 
 carried away the sacred bridge bodily, besides play- 
 ing sad havoc with a dignified row of mossgrown 
 Amida Buddhas farther up, carrying some of these 
 miles down stream and knocking off their heads on 
 its rocky bed. 
 
 As I hinted at the start the interests of Nikko 
 are divided between the lovely scenery and the 
 wonderful temples. There are countless charming 
 waterfalls within easy walking distance, splendid 
 view-points on the hills and paths through the 
 
 139 
 
woods that are simply idyllic. It is indeed difficult 
 to walk in any direction without being agreeably 
 surprised by some new natural beauty. Of the great 
 mausolea, I am at a loss for adequate words to give 
 you my ideas. These shrines are so beautiful and 
 so perfect in their way that one might readily be- 
 lieve them inspired by a god of beauty. Their out- 
 lines, their details and their setting are as satisfying 
 as anything of the kind that one could imagine. The 
 coloring of the buildings is brilliant, yet not in the 
 least unpleasant or inappropriate; the elaborate 
 carvings, the rich lacquers, the bronze lanterns and 
 water basins, the moss-grown stone fences and stair- 
 ways, the splendid avenues of approach with their 
 great trees, the dignified torii and the graceful pa- 
 godas nestling against thehillside all fill their parts 
 in making up a picture that is bound to remain one 
 of the most vivid and lasting of a lifetime. It is small 
 wonder that the Tokugawa family, to the memory 
 of whose ancestors, the shoguns Iyeyasu and Iye- 
 mitsu, these shrines were built, fearing lest the 
 wrath of the gods might be aroused in envy at the 
 sight of such splendors, ordered the design of the 
 carving on one pillar of the Yomei Gate to be in- 
 verted that absolute perfection might be avoided. 
 As one wanders enthralled through court after 
 court, each more beautiful than the preceding and 
 finally leaves all the warm, glowing marvels behind 
 and ascends the simple stone steps that lead to the 
 final resting places of the great military rulers the 
 symbolism of it all sinks deeper and deeper in one's 
 heart. I will not weary you with more ; the guide 
 books give plenty of details, and I feel myself that 
 such works as these cannot properly be described 
 by any but an inspired scribe, which I am not. 
 
 140 
 
The season here is several weeks behindhand this 
 year and the azalea and wisteria that were in full 
 bloom at this time five years ago are still in bud, 
 while some of the cherries have not yet disappeared. 
 The clear, cool days and rainy nights keep every- 
 thing deliriously green and fresh and the country 
 is even more than usually attractive. We spend all 
 our time, when we are not discovering new and 
 hidden beauties in the temples, taking the delight- 
 ful walks along the sparkling mountain brooks, over 
 the moss-grown rocks and through the forests to 
 some one or another of the ancient country shrines 
 or one of the far-famed waterfalls beside<which one 
 may be pretty sure of finding a cute little tea-house 
 where for a pittance one may at once drink in the 
 loveliness of the landscape and sip the refreshing, 
 harmless tea. 
 
 Yesterday we took advantage of an exceptionally 
 fine day to make an excursion to Chiuzenji, a spot 
 on the shores of a pretty lake high up in the moun- 
 tains, where many of the foreign diplomats make 
 their summer homes. We made use of the plebeian 
 but convenient tramcar as far as the end of the 
 line, then climbed the steep hillside path on foot to 
 the vicinity of the great Kegon waterfall, one of the 
 show places, and continued along the level to the 
 hotel. Seldom if ever have I seen anything more 
 lovely than the country as it looked on this walk. 
 The atmosphere was so clear that the distant moun- 
 tain peaks seemed close at hand ; the very leaves 
 of the trees stood out individually in bold relief 
 against the blue, cloudless sky; everywhere the ver- 
 dure was brilliantly green and the hillsides were 
 ablaze with azalea. After a delicious lunch of brook 
 trout and other delicacies, we took a short walk 
 
 141 
 
along the lake shore before starting back. Later, at 
 the village where the tram line has its terminal, 
 during a long wait for the car we again sipped tea 
 by the wayside and, watched the pack ponies being 
 laden for their trip up hill. The hostess combined 
 the business of refreshing the traveler with that of 
 selling sandals and was doing a thriving trade in 
 both departments, dispensing welcome aid alike to 
 souls and stomachs. 
 
 It was Boys' Day, the fifth day of the fifth month, 
 and nearly every house proudly flaunted to the 
 breeze a great hollow paper carp fastened at the 
 head so that the wind would inflate it. The carp is 
 considered the most appropriate symbol for this day 
 of the boys on account of its perseverance and en- 
 ergy in making its way up-stream against the cur- 
 rent, its untiring struggle to accomplish its end be- 
 ing thought to set before the youthful generation 
 an example worthy of emulation. Not only has the 
 latest baby boy in each house his carp, but his elder 
 brothers as well, and one often sees flying in front 
 of the same house as many as half a dozen of these 
 amusing fish. The iris is the special flower of the 
 boys as the peach blossom is that of the girls and 
 the swordlike iris leaf is on this day put in the 
 boys' baths, the whole household also partaking at 
 the principal meal of a special beverage consisting 
 of sake seasoned with iris petals. As on Girls' Day 
 shelves of dolls are put on exhibition, but the boys' 
 dolls are all warriors or great statesmen or famous 
 male characters and their accessories include war 
 horses and their trappings, toy guns and swords 
 and all such things as may best serve to inculcate 
 a martial spirit and patriotic fervor. 
 
 142 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 LAST DAYS IN JAPAN 
 THE JOURNEY HOME 
 
 Grand Hotel, Yokohama 
 Sunday, May 14th 
 
 When we awoke in Nikko last Sunday it was 
 pouring cats and dogs, and our host Mr. Kanaya de- 
 cidedly discouraged us by saying that in all prob- 
 ability we were in for a two or three days' storm, 
 so we made up our minds quickly to return here 
 where we could easily spend the rainy days in pack- 
 ing and all the necessary last preparations for our 
 departure, now so near at hand. We came down 
 from the mountains in a drenching downpour, but 
 from our car seats rather enjoyed the country 
 scenes — the peasants in the fields, splashing about 
 in their straw covers and looking for all the world 
 like animated scare-crows, the women and girls hop- 
 ping about above the puddles on their clogs, all ob- 
 livious of any discomfort or annoyance as far as we 
 could see. Later we drove across Tokyo with the 
 rain beating against the rubber curtains of the rick- 
 shaws and dripping from the bowl-shaped hats of 
 the coolies as the mud splashed on their bare legs, 
 and on the last stage of the trip, after dark, the re- 
 flection from our bobbing lanterns formed shim- 
 mering spots of gold in the water of the streets. 
 
 One day last week Arthur and I went up to Tokyo 
 for a performance at the Imperial Theatre, a splen- 
 did modern foreign-style play-house which presents 
 
 143 
 
on its boards not only the best of Japanese produc- 
 tions but even at times selections from the Shakes- 
 pearean drama. This time the programme was 
 somewhat mixed as you will see. The performance 
 began promptly at four P. M. and was over at a few 
 minutes before eleven, there being two intermis- 
 sions of perhaps a half hour each in which to par- 
 take of refreshments at one of the several restau- 
 rants within the building. We secured good box 
 seats at a moderate charge and relieved our pangs 
 of hunger later at a sort of bar or counter just off 
 the promenoir, where we indulged in coffee, cakes 
 and other things not over heavy. We might have 
 had a course dinner in a European-style dining-room 
 or a truly Japanese meal, but it seemed wiser to take 
 no chances of making ourselves the best part of the 
 show, so we gobbled a few bites standing and hur- 
 ried back to watch the crowds promenading in the 
 foyer. 
 
 The first feature of the programme was an old- 
 style Japanese play, in the performance of which 
 the revolving stage was used and some of the prin- 
 cipal characters made their entrees over the " hana 
 no michi " or " flowery way," a raised pathway re- 
 sembling slightly that in the Winter Garden in New 
 York. This first play was rather tiresome and de- 
 cidedly grewsome, for the heroine, after being stab- 
 bed with sufficient enthusiasm to have ended the 
 earthly career of nearly anyone at once, was later 
 subjected to a gradual killing process which actually 
 consumed over an hour and gave her the opportun- 
 ity for long sobbing monologues and her enemies a 
 chance to show themselves versatile in torture. 
 
 Another play, quite modern, followed. In this the 
 characters were all in the costumes of the cities 
 
 144 
 
today, half Japanese, half foreign, and the plot dwelt 
 with graft and other symptoms of modernity. What 
 was to us the most entertaining number on the pro- 
 gramme was a "review" with jokes and topical 
 songs and hits on prominent people and fads and 
 events of the day. In this the scenery was modern 
 and foreign in design and, wonder of wonders, there 
 were chorus girls dressed in imitation of ours. The 
 principals were two Italians, a man and his wife who 
 took respectively the parts of Chaos and Progress ; 
 all the other parts were filled by Japanese with the 
 one exception of a big negro who represented the 
 United States in a scene showing the launching of 
 a war ship at Yokosuka. There was one scene in 
 the interior of the Tokyo railway station introduc- 
 ing many jokes at the expense of the country folk 
 and the " narikin " or newly rich ; another showed 
 the old-time rural life suddenly ended by Progress, 
 a tall blonde, who produced an earthquake with her 
 magic wand and, behold, wooden bridges were re- 
 placed by steel ones, palanquins by trains, etc., etc. 
 One of the most absurd scenes represented a street 
 in Tokyo and an open-air meeting of the Salvation 
 Army. The lassies and laddies marched in led by 
 a Japanese General Booth and a band ; the general 
 mounted a keg and as if praying sang a topical song 
 and at the end of each verse the chorus or army en- 
 gaged in wild embraces and danced about. At the 
 end of this a number of men in uniform marched 
 in with flags flying and were announced as the " real 
 army of salvation." The most spectacular scene of 
 all staged a military ballet with girls in the uniforms 
 of all the Allies. The average girl looked exceed- 
 ingly stubby and stocky, lacked all the charm and 
 grace of the Japanese in their own dress and had 
 
 145 
 
acquired nothing to compensate for the deficiency. 
 
 We have done little sightseeing lately but have 
 retaken some of our favorite walks so as to carry 
 away impressions as fresh as possible of some of 
 the things that we have most enjoyed here. In the 
 gardens at Honmoku we found the cherries of our 
 last visit already replaced by wisteria, early peonies 
 and iris in bloom ; the swans and goldfish had come 
 back to the ponds for the summer season and the 
 little summer houses had all been freshly thatched 
 and were filled with holiday makers. On the way 
 back we stopped for the last time to watch the sea- 
 weed gatherers, some angling for this wholesome 
 delicacy from boats, others wading in bare-legged 
 and plucking it by hand from the sea bottom. We 
 have also made our last visit to the Motomachi and 
 seen our last festival there. It was evening and the 
 street was filled with vendors of toys, flowers, sweet- 
 meats, goldfish, fighting fish and crickets. The crick- 
 ets are offered for sale in tiny wooden or straw cages 
 and are valued for two qualities — their chirping 
 and the fact that they will fight ferociously if con- 
 fronted with another of their kind and their backs 
 gently scratched. As we passed the alley leading 
 to the " hundred steps " and the well-known tea- 
 house above them, the ruddy glow of the paper lan- 
 terns made a picture typically Japanese and we 
 were delighted to have this among our last mem- 
 ories of this land of the beautiful and picturesque. 
 
 Our evenings since our return from the moun- 
 tains have been largely occupied with farewell din- 
 ners and the like. Nowhere in the world are people 
 more hospitable and delightful in their hospitality 
 than here in the Far East, and it is with a very con- 
 siderable wrench of our feelings that we are tearing 
 
 146 
 
ourselves away from some of our friends here with 
 the unhappy possibility that it may be years before 
 we see some of them again. But " what must be, 
 must be," or as the Mahometans say, Kismet. To- 
 morrow, alas, will be our last day in fair Nippon. 
 
 Aboard the " Tenyo Maru, " at sea 
 Sunday, May 28th 
 This is our second Sunday at sea and in another 
 four days, if all goes well, we shall be in San Fran- 
 cisco. We sailed from Yokohama on Tuesday, the 
 sixteenth, at three P. M., from a pier crowded with 
 the friends of passengers, including many of our 
 own. I found many posies sent to speed the parting 
 guest, by American friends and also by many of 
 the Japanese shop-people with whom we have had 
 dealings. Imagine a New York shop-keeper sending 
 anything free to anyone on any occasion ! Our table 
 boy at the Grand, knowing my fondness for Nikko 
 and the Urami falls, took the trouble to make for 
 me a miniature Japanese garden representing the 
 scenery at the falls : a perfect little gem in every 
 detail, even to a tea house lighted by a taper from 
 within, a boat floating on the water below the falls 
 and other cute little accessories. Kin-san, the dress- 
 maker, came to the ship with her babies, the petti- 
 coat man brought his sister, and of course Tsu, the 
 little maid, was on hand with her entire family to 
 say goodbye to her fairy godparents the Es. We 
 slowly backed away from the pier with a last pic- 
 ture of hundreds of parting smiles and bows and a 
 few sad faces. One cannot help feeling a pang of 
 regret at leaving the land of this polite people. The 
 
 147 
 
charm of the East has certainly taken a strong hold 
 of me and I am already beginning to count the days 
 till it may once more be my privilege to return to 
 this land of hearts' delight. 
 
 Our steamer is filled to the last berth and among 
 the first cabin passengers are a number of Japanese 
 and Chinese gentlemen and ladies, notably a Jap- 
 anese marchioness on her way to join her military 
 husband in London, the Japanese Consul-General at 
 San Francisco ( once a Secretary at Washington ) 
 and his charming newly taken wife, and an inter- 
 esting Chinese doctor and his wife and daughter 
 from Changsha, the headquarters of the Yale edu- 
 cational mission. Our marchioness is accompanied 
 by an imposing suite of retainers who follow her 
 faithfully whenever she moves about the deck, but 
 the lady is quite democratic otherwise, wearing for- 
 eign clothes and playing pingpong and other games. 
 In the second cabin we have a troop of jugglers, ac- 
 robats and other members of a vaudeville company 
 made up of representatives of a score of different 
 nationalities ; as deck passengers we have several 
 elephants, a tiger and a large collection of mon- 
 keys, constrictor snakes and goldfish. One day one 
 of the simians managed to get out of his cage and 
 caused plenty of excitement and amusement before 
 he was recaptured, climbing to the rigging and 
 there for some time chattering defiance at his would- 
 be captors. There have been the usual entertain- 
 ments and pastimes almost without intermission 
 and the time has passed all too quickly, for the 
 weather has been irreproachable and the sea as calm 
 as anyone could ask. The well-nigh inevitable touch 
 of tragedy has been experienced, for one night 
 one of the firemen jumped overboard and was 
 
 148 
 
lost, although the steamer was stopped and every 
 effort made to save him. This happened late and, 
 partly as a result of the recent loss of the " Chiyo " 
 and partly owing to a report just as we were 
 leaving Yokohama that a German ship had left 
 Honolulu and was to be fitted in Mexico to prey on 
 the commerce of the Pacific, there was a lot of ex- 
 citement when the engines were stopped and then 
 reversed. Crew and passengers alike rushed to find 
 out what was wrong but there was no sign of panic. 
 The Japanese sailors are a well disciplined lot of 
 men and give one a great deal of confidence in the 
 ability of their officers to handle things in an 
 emergency. The captain of the "Tenyo"by the 
 way is an Englishman and looks out well for the 
 comfort of his passengers. 
 
 As usual we had a day at Honolulu and as usual 
 we went out to Waikiki for a glimpse of the surf- 
 riding and for a good dinner at the Moana. Here 
 we left the Es behind regretfully. They have been 
 delightful travelling companions and we shall miss 
 them tremendously. 
 
 Hotel Stewart, San Francisco 
 Friday, June 2nd 
 It certainly seems strange to be once more on our 
 native shores after our ten months' absence. We 
 landed yesterday morning and had a hard day for 
 the first in our home land. At six o'clock we were 
 obliged to rise for examination by the port doctors, 
 although we did not reach the dock till nearly five 
 hours later. At the pier we were soon made un- 
 pleasantly aware that we were back in the land of 
 
 149 
 
labor troubles by a strike of dock laborers that 
 made it necessary for all the baggage to be put off 
 by the crews assisted by the clerical force of the 
 company and by the passengers. As we waited for 
 weary hours on the pier while the heavy baggage 
 was being brought ashore by unaccustomed hands 
 I think we were quite excusable if perhaps unpatri- 
 otically we yearned for the smiling, willing coolies 
 of the East, so different from our inferior baggage 
 smashers who think only of getting more pay. For 
 some inexplicable reason the supply of customs in- 
 spectors was far below the demand and Arthur had 
 to stand in line over an hour before an inspector 
 could be assigned to us. Surely the East can give 
 the West many points on efficiency as well as polite- 
 ness. The examination, when it finally came off, 
 was thorough, but thoroughly fair. Under some 
 new regulation every individual piece of baggage 
 had to be opened, which naturally lengthened the 
 operation indefinitely. Our officer had to smile 
 when he found in Arthur's hatbox, instead of a silk 
 hat, a bronze Buddha ; of course we had declared 
 it, so all was well. Another curious feature of our 
 experiences on the pier was the removal of our pass- 
 ports, for the extension of which we had just paid 
 out money at the Embassy in Japan so as to be able 
 to return through Canada if we saw fit. This seemed 
 a good deal like pocket-picking by the government, 
 but we presumed that there must be some good 
 reason for such action and kept judiciously quiet. 
 
 Our holidays in the Far East are over and we 
 shall soon be at home. We have our reservations 
 and start over the Western Pacific the day after to- 
 morrow, continuing by the Denver and Rio Grande 
 so as to see the beauties of the Royal Gorge. If all 
 
 150 
 
goes well we should be in New York on Thursday. 
 This last visit to the Far East has been a succession 
 of red letter days which will never cease to be a 
 source of pleasure as we think and talk and live 
 them over in the years to come. 
 
 151