New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-02-20
JAPAN
THE MIKADO AT YEDO - TILE STATE
CHURCHES OF JAPAN-JAPAN FOR THE
JAPANESE ..

JAPANESE. q. rI
IRON OUR OWN CORRESPONDENCE ,r....7
YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec. &C. 1s6S.-In my last de-
scribed the procession of the Mikado as it appeared
when passing this place 1t reached its destination
Yedo, the second day after the distance being only
II miles. There His Majesty has entered into his
new palace erected within the old castle walls, and
there he remains invisible to all but favored few
Since his advent the Daimos Of the north have sub
mtted TO his rule, and peace has been declared.
Still rumor says that several ships belonging to the
late Taicun have made descent on HakOdadi, have
captured it, and the captors declare their intention
of holding it and the adjacent region as an independ
ent province. Armed vessels have been dispatched
from this place recently by the English to inquire
into matters in the north We await further lnfor-
nation. This and an effort on the part Of the new
Government to establish q paper currency are the
only political events which have recently called out
the comments of our local press. Some new laws
have been enacted and published, one Of which
win give you as illustrating the legislation Of this
land The frequency with which destructive fires
occur in Yedo is well known. The city mainly con-
ssts of frail wooden buildings and hence is liable to
be the scene Of wasting fires To prevent their
occurrence in the future the new Government has
decreed that the owner of house in which fire
originates shall lose his head IL it is declared to be
the work of an incendiary the must be kept in
jail till the incendiary is arrested. The recorder OF
the district in which the fire occurs is 10 be banished
Some are said to have been dealt with according to
the letter Of this law already. It is only to be
hoped that fire will originate soon in the houses Of
those lawmakers.
AS the disendowment Of State churches appears
TO be the order OF the day in Europe and the peo
pie of the United States may take interest in
this subject though since the days of Jefferson they
have had no churches to dsendow, cannot refrain
from giving you some account OF what
Japan is now doing in this line of things.
Here the Buddhist religion is, or was, the es-
tablshed religion, and the priests have
a monopoly Of burying people and praying for them
aftcrward. The aboriginal Shino religion has fallen
into dsuse poverty and consequent disayOr and dis
grace. This state Of things commenced about three
hundred years ago under Jeyasu the founder of the
Taicun dynasty. In the which he waged he
was often beaten and in his flight and in other times
of calamity he and his adherents found shelter and
sympathy in many, Buddhist monastery. At last
when fortune smiled on his cause, and he reached
the throne he literally rewarded all those priests
who had befriended him in his adversely paying
them fixed sum ont of the public treasury, and
bestOwng grants of land TO be held as temple
grounds the revenue from which was devoted to the
support Of the temple. From that time Buddhism
ilourished in Japan aud Shntosm decayed As IN
the DAYS when Constantine and Theodosius won
their victories, the Patricians and P'el'n"- :,
ancient italy went nvnr :" s'o"uo W 'A0 '
side 50 in the days Of Jeyasi, Wien ms triumph was
manifest the scales suddenly turned, the nation fol-
lowed the example OF the victorious Iaicun believed
as he believed and thus Buddhism became established
and popular STILL as the Tacun did not ignore the
Mikado, but allowed him to be the nominal mead OF
Jonan and even paid some outward respect TO him,
in the same voy buddhism did not ignore or dsplace
.nintoism of which theMikado is Pontifcx Maximus
Where the aboriginal Shnto Gods were wOrshiped
before the Buddhist divinites did not replace
persede them but were added to them, aud thus, in
many places, singular union was effected. Buddhism
and Shinto divinities are worshped together, and
the priests of both divisions often reside in the same
temple. When this is the case, such temples are
called Ryobu, which might be rendered union
temples In Japan we hayo tlrco kinds Of temples,
l. e., pure Buddhist, pure Shinto, and the
mixed or union temples such as we have
Just described. During the recent revolution
q great effort has been made by the adherents OF
the BIkado to revive the ancient faith
and cast off whatever is of foreign origin, whether
derived from China or India. The Japanese begin
to regard their land distinct and separate coun-
try; they are becoming conscious of their national
ty and with this consciousness comes the desire to
magnify whatever is peculiarly their own. Ireland
for Irish, Italy for Italians Germany for Germans.
Japan for Japanese Such appears to be the cry the
world round. As this national spirit is awakened
here efforts are made to eliminate the whole mass of
Chinese characters from the language and literature
of the land and to return to the ancient simple aud
alphabetical manner of writing. The same principle
is at work in the reaction against the established re-
leion which Is of foreign origin introduced from
China and India 800 years ago. Since the Mkados
Government has been established ID has decreed that
where Buddhist and shinto dyinities are worshiped
in the same temple the former are to be set aside and
the latter alone reverenced. The priests of the for
mer religion are urged to embrace the ancestral and
national faith, in which case they may continue to
hold their places AT various points over the empire
there are deserted Shnto temples. The ancient god
holds his place. but not being popular god, his
shrine is forsaken by officiating priest and wor-
shippers. The new Government has made inspec-
ton and found that in many cases these shrines so
sadly neglected are the shrnes Of the true and an
cient gods. These must be reerected and endowed
with Government support. What has been taken
from the disendowed Buddhists will no doubt, most
of it be given to the Shintos Now when one Oh these
old temples is reGrected and endowed the once OF
priest in it becomes desirable. Not only mas u rev
wake up TO a knowledge Of the fact that this same
forgotten god in the olden time worked wonders.
The early history Of the divinity is involved in OBJ
scurty and on the P maSsd wOrshpops bring
a thssfT osrnss new vOtye tablets are set up
the revenue hence laocruing added to what is be-
s;rable one, especially as he is exempt from
all military, service Many. therefore. now
sentinp their petitions at the seat of Government
II ia generally decided that is desirable to have these
nlaces filled by adherents of the Mikado from the
South This fact has led some of the japanese of the
North TO think that the motives of the rulers
not wholly dsinterested Formerly the temple lands