Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-13
ALL AREIN GOODREPAIR
FEW BEGGARS, HAwKERS OR
TAKERS IN JAPAN
Queer Architecture Abounds Every
where-Tale Of the Man Who Lost
His Fathers Ashes.
By WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special correspondence of The Evening Star ana
Chicago Record Herald

half encircle the city of Kyoto Is a series
of Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines
of great artistic beauty, enhanced by the
parks. groves and gardens by which they
are surrounded. Many of the temples are
imposing in their massive but simple splen-
dor. Others are simple. exquisite little
srines. There are said to be more than a
thousand of these places of pagan worship
in Kyoto of all sizes, dedicated to the wor-
ship of many different gods or heroes of
Japanese history. Between them are the
palaces of the bishops and abbots-some of
them men of noble and even princely rank
monasteries. nunneries. schools, libraries.
pavilions cemeteries, and, whichever way
you look. the eye is sure to catch glimpSes
Of stately monuments. shafts, lanterns OF
stone or bronze and other memorials erected
In honor of persons of distinction.
And what is most gratifying, all CT these
buildings are in perfect repair. striking
contrast to the dilapidation and filth OF
those Of India Burmah, China and other
parts of the east You never see a ruined
or abandoned temple in Japan. and, " lille
| occa sonally you find one that ought to be
repaired and regilded. or Is otherwise out
of repair. they are never dirty, but are
clean as Danish dairy.
All Of them are built of wood. Very little
stone, brick or other masonry is used in
japanese architecture on account of the fire.
| quency of earthquakes, but, notwIthstand
| ing their great age. these Imprinted wooden
buildings appear to be enduring as gran
| lite and are nearly all in excellent condition.
You can detect no rotten timbers or shaky
| floors or dilapidated walls or loose shingles
| No paint is used in Japan. Nearly all
| woodwork, both indoors and out is left in
| the natural state without protection flo
| nalnt Oil or varnish but is beautifully fin
| 1shed And notwithstanding the damp at
mosphere and heavy rainfall. and the fact
! that almost every temple in the country is
nd fs
| reached by the rays of the sun as long as
the tollage lasts, the woodwork seems i'm
pervious to moisture and lasts for several
| hundred years. Few of the temples in
| kyoto were built within the last century
Most of them were erected in the fifteenth
| ana sixteenth centuries. and there is a
wooden temple near Nara. about twenty
| miles east of kyoto. that is over thirteen
! hundred years old. The principal bulIdirg
| material is hanoki timber, a sort of cedar:
| which is full of oil. Cryptomaria, which is
me same as the California redwood, and
pine similar to that of Georgia are also ex-
tensively used for building purposes
Cleaned Every Day.
| The woodwork is washed nearly every
oay. The japanese are the neatest people
IN the world. and are always scrubbing
something, but in washing their wood
work they use no soap and nothing but hot
J water. which. applied day after day. finally
gives the wood a rich mellow color and
| brings out the grain. 1 asked Japanese
! archltect how long a building of hanoki
wood ought to last. He replied that IL it
| were properly constructed and sheltered
| from rain and other moisture 1t ought to
last 800 or 600 years, but If 1t were COM
pletely exposed to the weather it would
| proDaDly require rebuilding or restoration
| within 800 or 400 years.
| very little iron or steel Is used in con-
struction. and few nails or screws. The
| .lmoers are mortised and fastened with
1och
| wisps, which will last for centuries. Some
| OF the houses. thus held together without
nan or screw or bolt or a bit of iron of
| any kind. have stood for centuries. The
Japanese are superb cabinet makers and
| 5oiners They have no superiors in wood
| work Every joint Is perfect: every bit OF
S Wooa% no Is as perfect as II it had been
noors OF houses are laid with mats of close
| ~ woven straw. always Of the same dimen-
sfons. and when speaking OF the size of
MOUSE or room people do not mention feet
ana inches. but say that 1t Is so many mats.
each mat being six feet long by three feet
wide.
Queer Architecture.
There are various tricks as well as art In
woodwork and house building. For ex-
ample. adjoining the Chion-in temple. where
| l go every day to watch the worshipers.
| Is series OF spacious apartments intend
ed to accommodate the emperor or the
shotgun or any other famous or mighty man
who may go there to worship They are
reached from the temple and the residence
Of the abbot by covered bridges, and are
surrounded by balconies. In order that no
one may approach the apartments without
having his presence known. the planks In
the floor are laid SO that they utter a mu-
steal squeak whenever any weight is placed
upon them. 1t is impossible to suppress or
prevent 1t. No matter how lightly a person
may be shod or how softly he may tread,
| those planks will betray his presence They
never sleep. They cannot be brfbed or de-
ceived or frightened. They are the most
be imagined.
The same kind of floors are laid In sew
eral of the corridors Of the palace of the
shotgun and in some of the castles that
were occupied by the mikados in ancient
days. They are called Ug-ui-su (nightin-
gale floors), and were invented by some in
genious carpenter more than four CEN
turtles ago. The effect all depends upon
the way the boards are laid, and it is de-
clared to be a lost art. Housebuilders of
the present day have tried in vain to pro-
duce the same results. but have found it
impossible. They can lay floor so that
the boards will squeak when people walk
over them but 1t will not be a musical
sound like the Ug-ui-su.
Every Thing Artistic.
Everything about a Japanese house or a
temple Is artistic and dainty. The soul of
an artist throbs under the kimona of every
laborer and mechanic. every cooper and
carpenter. every fisherman. every shop
keeper and green grocer. You can detect
1t in the decorative effects they accomplish
In the arrangement of their fish and vege-
tables and other wares. and the farmer
reads a poem In every old stump If he
discovers a rotten log by the roadside he
will plant creeping vine In one of it's
/ crevices to cover the disgrace of decay. In
no other country do they idealize the rag
ged limbs Of dead trees and use worm
eaten boards for decorative purposes; and
the ingenuity with which they are worked
I'D and fitted in Is wonderful. The decora-
lions of the mikado's palace are very chief
ly dead limbs sprawlfng over gilded screens
and doors. Every carpenter has a flower
in a vase beside him. Even the coal and
fire wood is piled up in an artistic manner,
and the tubs in which manure is hauled
from the city to the farms are embellished
with dainty designs. Nobody in Japan Is
too poor to crafty an aesthetic taste to
plant few flowers or a clump of ferns
to keep a bunch of blossoms In Jar or
bring home moss-covered stone picked
up by the roadside. A gnarled tree, a vine
clad stump, naked branch without leaves
or blossoms, an irregular stone, a spear of
grass or a reed have beauties which appeal
to the japanese. nature. and no matter how
uneducated and unsophistocated, or how
simple his life may be. or how poor and
h., yy,5le his soul WOrShiDS nature and de-