The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-12-06


seot Of the hfsl Just below the temple.
there IS a gyoba. penazc- ground. where
ys~nI.erts ana those who pray for Fudo'S
mercy pour upon themselves tens or hun
dresse of bucketfuIs Of water even in the
coolest winter. and go 70 ard fro hum
s5red times between the temple ana the
rarzuce ground They may be seen
wglking up ard down. nurmursng prayers,
with a bundle OF one hundred strings OF
twisted paper in the hand by which they
ecnnt the number Of tines OF ascent and
descent TIE pictures and tablets hung n
the temple have been offered BY men and
women whose prayers have been heard.
Al the right side OF the temple red
snonklsh idol OF Bsndzuru sits calmly. a
person who has any bodily infirmtty rubs
his affected part and the corresponding
part OF the idol alternately. the Idol IS
believed 20 take the disease from the body
to itself, and consequently the person is
healed An idol OF F'u1o Is placed In tina
gyoba penance ground also. festival Is
observed on the sstn OF every month.
Bsnfen-saEna. or properly speaking, IssI1-
kush.na5-nja IS shrine dedicated TO the
sOdGesses Ichikine-sA- ma hirne-no-u Zkolo,
Tag1ri-hime-no-m-k and T2gltsa-h.ms-
ro-nszoto. who are the SPECIAL guardians
OF mariners and voyagers. Their przaci-
pal shrine IS IL Itsukashima on the coast
. Of the province Of Sa1Ek1. What interests
Us concerning the shrine at Yokohama Is
that an annual festival is kept on the I'd
OF June, in commSmoraS.on OF the day on
which Yokohama was actually opened 10
foreign trade. At the time when the first
festival was celebrated By the command OF
the project. IL was according TO the old cali
eadar. and eorrespoaded 10 the ist OF July.
lass; but when the new calendar was intro
duce-, the festival was ftxsd upon thu I'd
OF June, accordingly. Before lass the an
aual festival was on the Attn OF October.
Zotokuin temple is the oldest shrine Ia
Yokohama. The man structure was re-
built In 1873. On the same ground there
are two other temples. under the chief
priest or the main temple. One OF them IL
dedicated to YakuShi Nyorai SSkt. Bha.-
snalara1a Tathasata) ana the other 20
Benza.ten-ayo, q female oeva- The prin-
cipal idol in the main temple Is that OF Flu
domyoo. The IDOL OF Yakushi Nyorsi was
carved by the Prince Imperial Shotoka
(d.ed 81 A d. to avert the dangers of the
forty year OF his age. The Japan
csc have the superstition that TO 6 male
person the twenty-nfIh and forty-second
years OF his age portsnd great dangers or
sorrow, and 10 q female her nineteenth
and th.rty-lhird years, they beng al that
time under the influence Of evil stars. The
Prince Shotoku carved this idol of faku-
shi Nyora., and. when It was finished.
prayed to the Nyora. to protect him
through the year, and protect every human
being in future. according 10 the NyoraIs
twelve vows to take care OF those who ara
sick, in danger. on sea, etc Inen oeno4d.
the heavens were opened and there de-
scended glorious clouds OF purple hue. The
idol mlraculousIy lifted itself up, and rid
ing on the clouds. and shining with daz-
zi.ng rays of light, Ike the coiors OF thou
sands OF precious stones, betook itself 10
the southern sea. There IL went down
from the Clouds into the Dragons palace
under the unfathomable deep. About al
years after this, IN Sue A D., there Went
UP nightly a pillar OF light from the sea,
on the northern SIDE of the port OF Shukan
d. e., the present Yokohama near the
Noge hill which was a little promontory
m those times. The village people Won
dered greatly, but no one dared 10 investi-
gate its cause. On a certain night, wlile
the distant temple bells were ringing the
midnight hour. a man named Ok.noshin
awoke. and going out of doors, saw the
mysterious shining pillar yieing for the
ethereal domain with the moon. The air
id not stir and the sea was calm. Okino-
shin took a boat, and rowing to the spot
or light. Owed into the water and found
an idol He took Il home and 10! 1t was
the celebrated Idol OF Yakushi Nyoraa
carved BY the Prince Shotoku. Ok.noshin
was full Of Joy unspeakable. He erected
a temple IN the ground OF Zotokuin and
put IL there. The temple was on the hill
SIDE but afterwards was removed to the
place where il now stands. Abou; 30 years
ago. there was kascho Opening OF doors)
of the idol, which all the people saw COW
cred with oyster Shells. During the time
the ka.cho lasted there Went up from the
sea, at night, ryuto dragon lantern) or
the shape OF huge sphere OF light. ana
coming TO the temple. stopped on she Old
tree that stands now at the right side OF
the well IN the yard. The tree was burnt
4 fskSt V1a Ct
by thunder bolts. The tablets hung on the
doors and sides OF the temple, bearing two
Japanese characters. me (eye), have been
offered by those who have been cured or
sore eyes. On the 9Th and 18th OF every
month festivals are observed for the N.Y.
oral. when the street OF Motomacai IL
lighted, and the vendors OF plants, toys,
sweetmeats. household utensils, etc.
gather in large numbers. People throng
before the temple. and small CONS are
thrown into IL Ike a shower. The temple
OF Benzaiten-nyo. The idol was carved by
the priest Kobe. the founder OF the Shin
gon sect OF Buddhism in Japan. about 1,0D
years ago. II was formerly in the temple
on Sugiyama (Sugi mounta.n) in the prov
ince OF Idzu. In iiSo, when Yorttome, the
first. Shotgun. raised .s.s army in Idzu 10
avenge his father upon the Tara family,
ne prayed TO Benzasten on Sug.yama for
victory. After he became Shotgun. he
erected
brought to II the idol of BenZaiten from
sugiyama- All the succeeding Shotgun fol-
lowed his example in revering the deva-
The temple Of Yokohama was on an island
where the railway station now stands. In
1869 81 was removed 20 the grounds Of Zoe
fokIl.u IL IS called Sugiyama-Benzslten.
u.un bell Of Zotokuin IS very interesting as
h was made from metallic mirrors. When
a Japanese maiden marTtes. she brings
with her 10 the hrtdsgroom's house met
allie mirror. which, when she DIES is pre-
xcntea 10 the temple in which the funeral
service is celebrated. The temple after
having collected a sufficient number of
mirrors POUNDS a bell. The bell, when
rung. or rather struck, announces at ths
first stroke. "An things are changeahle:"
Al the second stroke, This Is the law OF
births and Deaths a. the third stroke.
There = a state atta.nabie, IN which
births and deaths arc al an end" and az
the fourth stroke, "In this state above the
changes YOU shall fnd ahe true be&ttsude."
The Ispanese syliabary. commonly called
I-Ro-Ha. the present form OF which was
eonposed by the priest Kobe Is really a
rsesn expressing the same idea IN the fol-
lowing terms: fro wo nloe1o ehsrinuru
wo. enough the flowers bloom beautifully.
they shall al fade ard be DISPERSED
Y1axR yso tarezo tsunenarang (In this world
- ours. who can believe himself perrna-
uent7) u no oku vaEna kyo koete. To-day
cross over the rsmotest mountain range
Of human stgTfe.l AsaE yunIi nl4shi I'd mo
sezu. (And on tae morrow I shall find IN
myself 20 trace Of lntoxics don Of vain
dreausa When the bell sounds forth these
halv ideas, i "a heard by tie spirfts IN
Haaes. wao. being reminded Q; the IDEAS
ara = ysssz.zha NAV tgsrr thar shrsswAsa -.