'- - rrf4'
.yp; ?i
J-
thoro arc higher schools supported by funds
given by formor feudal lords or tlioao states.
The education of girls Is not neglected, al
though an a rulo the girls do not go as far in
tholr sludloB as the boys. There arc a number
of normal schools and seventy-nine nigh schools
for girls, besides tho Peeresses' school and sev
eral in-lvato Institutions. Tho Woman's univcr
Hlty of Tokyo, situated near Wasoda college and
under tho patronage of Count Okuma, has had
'a phenomenal career. Established only five
years ago, it has now an enrollment of somo
'seven hundred, and is putting up several new
buildings. ,
There are also a number of missionary
'schools and colleges. The Presbyterians support
three boarding schools for boys and eloven for
girls, besides (on day schools; the total attend
ance at these schools is nearly twenty-three hun
dred. The Congrcgatlonalists have a number of
schools, tho largest, Doshisha college at Kyoto,
being tho largest and most influential Christian
institution In Japan. I had the pleasure of visit
ing both this college and Kyoto university.
Tho Methodists have eighteen boarding
schools and nineteen day schools with a total at
tendance of nearly live thousand. Their college
at Kobe is a vory promising institution.
Tho Baptists have a theological seminary, an
academy, flvo boarding schools for girls and eight
day schools, with a total attenaance of nearly a
thousand. Tho Episcopal church has also taken
an important part in educational work, while the
Catholics (who were first on the ground) havo
over sixty seminaries, schools and orphanages,
with an attendance of somo six tnousand.
Tho Japanese government supports more than
twenty-five thousand primary schools, attended
by more than five million boys ana girls; it sup
ports more than two hundred and fifty middle
schools with an attendance of nearly one hun
dred thousand. While less than two per cent of
tho primary students enter tho middle schools,
mor than ten per cent of the middle school stu
dents enter tho higher colleges.
Although the figures given above give some
idea of tho interest takon in education, they do
not furnish an adequate conception of the en
thusiasm with which a large number of these
students pursue their studies. Nearly fifty young
men called upon mo or wrote to me asking to
be taken to America that they might continue
their studies. Many of the leading men in Japan
today are graduates of American or European
colleges. Tho physicians have siiown a prefer
ence for German schools, whilo to engineers and
politicians our universities have ueen more at
tractive. A pnrt of the friendliness felt toward
loroigners can be traced to the ravors shown
Japanese boys who left homo in search of knowl
edge. Marquis Ito, one of the lirst of these
owes much to an elder of tho Presoyterian church
w " , ln wh08 llomo llG 1IVG1 a stu
lent, and the marquis has over since been mak-
thms UrnS WlUlneSS l a 5 Chris
Marquis Ito's ca3e is not cxcentionnl nil
over Japan are men who ho d in gmteful re
membrance Americans and Europeans to whom
they are indebted for assistance I met an an
wLthG miblish0 of an influential pape? S
twenty years ago, at the ago ot sixteen went to
sea and in a shipwreck was cast upon one o? the
islands in the south Pimm rr!! i tllG
saw r rra
accomplish what slolmn n women' could
centurv wk L5 , s accomplished in half a
SSheW'wTS thoestTwfi!1 '? the -
and with the odiica t tan? 1 J J lGh she now hus
people now enjoy a advantases which her
lolsmTi berSe So?0?? TSh
As a matter of f.lct wA lho State religion,
hardly be called a roiiBVfSr'ir Sliintolsm can
no priesthood and Si1 Ims no creed,
really ancestor worslUr, l? 5 n,opa,s- xt
time Immemorial it In;lni?C0l,,ef (lown om
mortality, for Jo aice tra , bliof . m ll'
nnd tows are nnld n Vi ' Ilts aro invoked
.shrines that do e countrv tllQ nerless
c countiy, These shrines are
The Commoner.
not usually in temples although sometimes Shin
toism and Buddhism have been mixed together
and ono temple employed for both shrines; as
a rule, however, the Shinto shrine is in somo
secluded spot on the "top of a hill or on a
mountain Bide where a bit of natural scenery
awakens a spirit of reverence. A gate of sim
ple but beautiful design is placed at the point
where the pathway to the shrine departs from the
main road. We had read of these Shinto gates
and had seen pictures of them, but we first saw
one at Honolulu, itself the gateway to the Orient.
No description can convey to the reader the im
pression which this gate makes upon the traveler;
its outlines aro so graceful and yet so strong
that it seems an appropriate portal to a holy,
place.
The moral code of Confucius has also influ
enced the thought of Japan.
About fourteen hundred years ago the Budd
hist religion was introduced into Japan by Chi
nese priests, and it spread rapidly throughout the
islands. Its temples were imposing, its cere
monies impressive and the garb of its priests
costly and elaborate. It did not root out Shin
toism, it simply overwhelmed and absorbed it.
The Buddhist temples, though not as popular as
they once were, are still visited by millions of
faithful believers and aro objects of interest to
tho tourist. Most of them are old, one at Nara
having been built about the year 700. It is in
such an excellent state of preservation that one
can hardly believe that it has stood the storms
of twelve centuries.
In the center of the temple is an image of
Buddha and on either side the flgure of a huge
warrior. There is also in this temple a God of
War to which the Japanese were wont to pay
their vows before going to battle. The devout
Buddhist, approaching the imago or the founder
of his religion, bows and mutters a prayer half
audibly and, throwing his mite in a box or on
the floor before the shrine, departs. There is
usually a bell, or sometimes only a chain, hang
ing above the place where prayers are said and
the suppliant swings a rope against Che bell or
shakes the chain before his prayer and claps his
hands two or three times at its close. We in
quired about the bell and received two answers:
One, that it was to attract the attention of the
god and the other that it was to awaken the con
science of the one about to present his petition.
Near the temple at Nara stands an ugly image
which never fails to attract the attention of the
visitor. It is literally covered with paper wads
which have been thrown against It by worshipers
at the temple in tho belief that their prayers
would bo answered if the wads adhered to the
image. There is also at Nara a huge bell, almost
as old as the temple. This bell is about thirteen
feet high, nine feet in diameter and eight inches
thick. It hangs in a pagoda quite near the
ground and when struck upon the side by a
swinging log gives forth a sound of wonderful
depth and richness. It was rung for us and as
its mellow tones reverberated along the hills we
were awed by the thought that a thousand years
before our Declaration of Independence was writ
ten, eight hundred years before the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth Rock, yes,, even seven hun
dred years before America was discovered this
old bell was calling people to worship.
? Th,e0 is at Nara an immense bronze imago
of Buddha, even larger than the famous one at
Kamokura, though not considered so finely pro
portioned. The smaller one is forty-nine feet in
height and nearly one hundred feet ln circum
ference (both represent Buddha seated tailor
fashion, on a lotus flower) and the larger one
is almost twice as large as the smaller one. The
lantern of stone or bronze seems to be as nee
oBsary an adjunct to a Buddhist temple as the
Shinto gate is to that form of religion. A Nam
there are twenty-nine hundred stone lanterns of
various sizes along tho walks that lead from one
temple to another, and they are found in abun
dance in other cities. The Korean lions are also
aahuBnMMBl,c Wrship' Se animals
wi ought in bronze or carved in stone guarding all
temple doors They are not as ferocious in ai
pearance as the Numidian lion ana they illus-
nn,1,? ? laK' 0ne has his mou open ad the
other has his mouth tightly shut and thev to
"!' y e so gentle St they "vm'come
old ami young, ami eat from the hand '
chosen , n a foXe! rS
VOQTJME i NUMBER 6
mountains and stately trees . .adding to the at
tractiveness of the place. There is a shaded
avenue twenty-five miles long leading from tho
lowlands to the temple and it is said that when
other feudal lords were bringing stone lanterns,
one poor daimio, unable to make so large a gift,
offered to plant little trees along the way; these
now three hundred years old, furnish a grateful
shade for the pilgrims who visit this Mecca, and
the poor tree planter is now known as "The Wise
Daimio who went into partnership with Nature."
The temple at Nikko is only about three
centuries old and its decorations are the rich
est and most costly to be founa in Japan. As
the Buddhists and Shintoists worship together
here, the temple is kept in repair by the govern
ment and one can see the best in architecture
and ornamentation that the temples exhibit. So
famous is this temple and its environment that
the Japanese have a phrase which when trans
lated means, "You can not say beautiful (kekko)
until you have seen Nikko."
The most modern of the large temples is
that at Kyoto. It was erected about thirty years
ago on the site of one which haU burned. It is
not so large as the original, but is a reproduction
in other respects and is one of the thirty-three
temples to which pilgrimages are made. Some
estimate can be formed of the ardor of those
who worship here when it is known that the
immense timbers used in the construction of the
building were dragged through tne streets and
lifted into place by cables made of human hair
contributed by Japanese -women for that purpose.
One of these cables, nearly three inches in diam
eter and several hundred feet long, is still kept
in a room adjacent to the temple, the others
having been destroyed by fire. Japanese women
pride themselves upon their hair and arrange
it with great care what a poem or piety what
a strong sacrifice in these myriad strands of
mingled black and grey!
All of the Buddhist temples stand within
a walled enclosure, entered through a gorgeous
gate which contrasts sharply with the simplicity
of the Shinto gate. The Buddhist gate has a
roof resembling a temple roof and is often orna
mented With animals, birds and fantastic figures
carved in wood. As an illustration of the super
stition to be found among the ignorant, the fol
lowing incident is given: An American, Mr. Fred
erick W. Home, who lives at Yokohama and who
has built up a large importing business in Ame
rican machinery, has a handsome new home
modelled after a Buddhist temple. At one gable
he put a devil's head. The servants of the man
living next door threatened to leave because the
devil looked over into that yard. But they were
quieted when the neighbor put two brass cannon
on his roof and pointed them at the devil's head.
The story seems too absurd to believe, but we
were shown the cannons when we called at Mr.
Home's.
But Buddhism is losing its hold upon the
Japanese; its temples are not crowded as they
once were; its ceremonies do not interest and its
teachings do not satisfy the new generation.
Christianity will appeal more and more to the
educated element of the Japanese population. Al
ready favor is taking the place or toleration, as
toleration thirty years ago supplanted persecu
tion. The Catholics, who have been the pioneers
of the Cross in so many lands, brought Chris
tianity to Japan through Portuguese missionaries
about the middle of the sixteenth century. The
success of the Jesuits was so pronounced that
in thirty years they estimated tneir converts at
one hundred and fifty thousand. In fact, the ad
herents to Christianity became so numerous and
so influential that the Shogun, Hideyoshi, began
to fear for his temporal power and, having abso
lute authority, he expelled the foreigners, closed
the ports and established the policy of non-intercourse
with other nationsa policy which was
nna??dUn n, W WhQU tllG WaS
opened to Christian missionaries it was found
that some ten thousand men and women were
still worshipping according to the forms of the
210C urch, although for two and a half
centuries there had been no communication be
tween them and the church outside. Even after
the opening of the country to foreign commerce
SSe wiS SOm I)ersecutIon of Christians and
several thousand were imprisoned. But in 1873
Sw??nPS rre SQt, at liberfcy and the exiles
SiS? i ? 4return; since that time there has
nvnlnl8?10 i0118 freedom and many men
piominent in official life have been devoted Chris
ia"B,w rho most noted of these native Christians
Sif!!'n Mta0h w,ho :f0' times chosen
speaker of the popular 'branch of the Japanese
congress or diet. He was an elder in the Pres-
u i!n,in, Urch nnw whe,? ,!t Wfls sssested that
it would advance his political chances to resign
H tJU- JV
