The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-03-15
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
When you go to Toxic and can find a
few minutes to spare, pay few hits ia
"'ricksha' boy and pronounce the magic
name "Hi-Wattarai," and IL you are OF
that incredulous disposition which laughs
with scorn at so-called Eastern mysticism
you will doubtless come away. as has many
q visitor before you, with an impression
sufficient to last through an ordinary life
time and ready to believe that the moon
is made of green cheese or anything else
known to earth. sea or sky. IL one of these
smart little Japs would have YOU so be-
lieve. for the rite of HiWattarai" fire
walking, and that is actually what takes
place-is n mahatma convention, spirit
ualistic seance and Hermann perform
ance embodied in one thrilling, awc-nspir-
ing, hair-rasing function.
And IL you do not come away convinced
that you have been witness of spectacle
which makes you disbelieve the evidence OF
your own eyes and your most obtuse mat
ter-of-fact judgment, then you are man
OF stone. But IL is well worth the two
bits" whatever the degree of your belief
At a little Shinto shrine in kanda. one
\ of the poorest districts of Toxic. known TO
every "'ricksha" boy or street lounger, but
cover yourself, this curious function is car
ried on.
Formerly 1t was only performed every
spring and fall. and until recently the oc-
currence was known only to theta panese.
But alert globe trotters and foreign visit
ors In the quaint japanese metropolis. ever
on the search for novelty. soon ferreted IT
out, and as thep RESTS who perform the
rite are not averse 10 lining their pockets
with the gratuities of inquisitive foreigners.
they have now what might be called a
continuous performance.
For days beforehand the priests connect
ed with the temple devote themselves to
fasting and prayer to prepare for the Or
deal. The performance itself usually takes
place between and o'clock in the after
noon in the temple court The preceding
three hours spent by the priests in final
outbursts of prayer before the unveiled all
tar in the inner sanctuary of the little mat
ted temple, and during these invocations
no visitors are allowed to enter the sacred
precincts
The knowledge that "Hi-wattarar' was
TO take place had drawn crowds of people
into the courtyard and adjacent stieets. the
flying of banners and the beating of drums
giving audible evidence, IL other was lack
Ing, that a matsuri, or festival. was soon
TO begin. small 'douceur' satisfied the
Vigilant gatekeeper, and. following his
shuffiing footsteps, We were soon ushered
into the main temple, where the curious
ceremony was to take place.
shortly before o'clock the priests filed
from before the altar into some interior
apartments, where they were to change
their beautiful robes for the coarser dress
worn during the fire walking. In the mean
time coolies had been set to work in the
courtyard to ignite the great bed OF char
ccal, which had already been laid The
dimensions of this bed were about 70 feet
{ by Feet and perhaps 1 foot deep. On the
top was quantity of straw and kIndling
wood, which was lighted and soon burst
into roaring blaze. The charcoal became
more and more thoroughly ignited until the
whole mass glowed in the uncertain gloom
like some gigantic and demoniacal eve of a
modern Polyphemus. As soon as the mass
OF charcoal was thoroughly ignited frcm
Top TO bottom small gong striking in the
Temple gave notice that the wonderful SPEC
tacle of "Hi-Wattarai' was about to begin
The whole bed glowing mass and
the heat which rose from it was so intense
that We found IL uncomfortable TO sit fifteen
feet away from 1t without screening our
faces with fans. Then they began to pound
II down more solidly along the middle so
far as possible inequalities in it's surface
were beaten down. and Goals which pro-
truded were brushed aside.
The long and tedious service of invocation
now began. during which time the priests
mumhled forth numerous prayers OF inordI-
nate length to their god TO cast out the
soul of the fire, and thus make manifest
his power to them. This continued for some
little time, when the head priest addressed
the closely packed group of native specta-
tors, and invited those who wished to make
presents to the god to bring forward their
gifts 10 be laid On the altar.
"A N m
temple in order to prepare himself for this
most important ceremony; meanwhile the
native spectators remained PROSTATE on the
ground In awe and silence until he reap
peared. The altar upon which the gift offer
ings were TO be laid occupied a Conspicuous
part of the temple in sight of all, reached
by flight of steps so narrow that only the
very edge OF the toes could rest on the
lodges in making the ascent.
The head priest took UP his position he
fore the altar. while the minor priests re-
manned at the foot of the narrow stairway
and received the gifts of the worshipers
as they were brought forward and passed
them up to he placed on the shrine.
These gifts consisted of wine and large
trays of fish. fruit, rice cakes, leaves, rege
tables and candies, and were handed to the
minor priests at the foot of the shrine, who
in turn passed them from hand to hand,
meanwhile chanting In a barely audible
monotone prayers of Invocation, until at last
lHeN reached the nanuS OF the nedu pTleSt.
Dressed in his green brocade robe OF Office
he deposited the offerings ON the shrine and
taking the kanagi or wand of cleansing
power he waved 1t backward and forward,
whrling it first over the heads of the minor
priests and ending by coming down into
the main space of the temple. fiourishing the
kanagi from time to time over the bowed
forms.
All this had occupied some time, and we
were momentarily growing more impatient.
but in a furtive whisper our guide babe US
restrain ourselves, as the wonders of which
he had informed us were about to COM
mence The priests for a short time re-
manned In one of the inner temples. where
as We subsequently learned, they passed
the time in enld-water ablutions to render
them clean of body and holy: otherwise
they would not be able to walk through
the fire unscathed.
This practically ended the preliminary de-
yotional exercises. Soon two of the priests
came out. and with the assistance of the
coolies again encouraged the fire TO glow
\ ing heat by heaping on fresh charcoal and
removing the projecting distractions In
turn they were followed by the other priests
who were to take part in the curious cere-
mony. =
der on a small wooden stand. This was
said to be salt, which in Japan is credited
with great cleansing properties. but so far
) as could be ascertained by superficial OK
animation it was mixture Of alum and