Before the altar were seated a row of worshippers repeating the name of Buddha at the rate of sixty times a minute, and marking off the tallies with beads on a string. One man, a skilled practitioner, must have repeated the word a thousand times whilst we looked on, working his hands about the while. With equal expenditure of energy he might in the same time have knit the foot of a pair of stockings, or mended his clothes, or done some other useful work. To one of the pillars before the altar was attached a wooden box in which were copies of Buddhist Scriptures. Worshippers coming in unprovided, took up one of these little books, said their prayers, returned the book to the box, and went their way.

At the other side of the altar was a large open trunk, with innumerable bits of bamboo in it having writing upon them. I saw people as they passed throw in a bit of stick. Ito explained that this is one of the most honourable customs of the Church. If a man has at heart any special desire, he will go to the temple, carrying with him as many bits of bamboo as he numbers years.

On each he object of his

writes his name, age, and the desire. Then he makes the circuit of the temple as many times as he has lived years, praying before every shrine, and as he passes

the wooden trunk he throws in one of the pieces of bamboo.

"For instance," Ito says, "if I wanted to get back my watch, which I lost when the boat upset in Yokkaichi Bay the other day, I would get twenty-one pieces of bamboo, and go round twenty-one times. But I wouldn't do it," he added with stern resolve.

Ito is Shinto, and looks with contempt upon the superstitions of the Buddhists. Yet he is full of charity. His "mudder," leaning towards the ancient faith, Ito makes no effort to proselytize. He even allows the old lady fixed sum of money per week, so that, relieved from domestic cares, she may spend the whole of her days in worship.

a

"And she does," Ito says in a tone of resignation: "goes out early in the morning, comes home when the temple is shut up, praying all the day."

This is a common custom among the old people of the Buddhist faith. Having closed their account with life, they devote their remaining days, be they few or many, to propitiating Buddha, wearying him with incessant prayer for admittance into the heavenly state. We saw many of these people in the temple. Two, a neat old lady and a still vigorous old man, were noticeable for the business-like way

in which they set about their task. They had taken possession of one of the little chapels that abound in the temple, a small alcove with a shrine crowded with gods, and filled up with little trays bearing food, each labelled with the name of the donor. Both man and woman were on their knees, and each had a tiny wooden hammer with which they incessantly struck a small gong. The old man, with the selfishness of his sex, had in addition possessed himself of a large bronze bell. From time to time he struck this, its sonorous notes drowning the sound of the woman's gong and fixing the attention of Buddha exclusively upon him. All the while both man and woman rapidly prayed, the old gentleman occasionally breaking forth in song, with most comical effect. Like Ito's mother, they had come here in the early morning, and evidently meant to stay till the place was closed. On a cloth before the shrine was a handful of copper coins, doubtless the joint offering of the worthy couple. Judiciously distributed, a threepenny bit will go a long way in this kind of expenditure, and a day so spent need not be costly.

In one of the booths on the way up we saw a string of legal currency which was change for a halfpenny. There were probably fifty metal coins on the string, which are thus prepared

for the use of the charitable, and ultimately find their way to the pockets of the beggars who in this part of the island swarm about the temples. A few paces farther on, right opposite a large shrine, was a pleasant teahouse, overlooking the valley. Here women were sitting on the matted floor, gossiping over thimblefuls of tea. From this place we got a striking view of the structure of the temple, which is built into the side of the hill, the outer walls being supported on large wooden piles. Between the tea-house and the alcove, where the old people prayed and hammered away at the gong, a panel drawn back disclosed three women sitting over a hibaichi smoking pipes. Next door was another little chapel with two old women and one young one beating gongs and saying their prayers.

Situated at the southern side of the city is Nishi Hou-Gwan-ji, the chief temple of the western branch of this sect of Buddhism. The present building is nearly three hundred years old, and is a splendid specimen of the architecture of the time. Unlike the gaudy temples at Nikko, the wood and stone work are left in their natural colour, which centuries have toned down to a soft grey. A feature peculiar to the temple is the extensive suite of state apartments. In these the priests receive

distinguished guests, from the Mikado downwards. The largest room has its panels decorated with paintings of storks by famous artists. There are also some wonderful specimens of carved storks about the woodwork. The various rooms which, in addition to being connected by a long corridor, open into each other by sliding panels, are each decorated with a special design: one chrysanthemums, another peacocks and cherry trees, a third with marvellous Chinese landscapes on a dead-gold ground.

Outside the temple is a gateway, which formerly belonged to a Shinto temple, but, as frequently happens with sections of temple buildings in Japan, it was transported hither. There is much carving on this gateway, the figure on one of the panels telling a pretty story. Kiyo-yo, having had a proposal modestly made to him that he should resign the throne, is here figured in the act of washing the ear that has suffered the indignity of receiving the proposal. So great is the insult that nothing less than a waterfall will serve the cleansing purpose. The artist accordingly puts in the waterfall pretty thick; but Eastern fancy does not stop here. A little farther on are the figures of a man and a cow, the latter drinking from a pool below the waterfall. The

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