The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1892-1907, 1904-07-30
JAPAN'S HERO WORSHIP
Honors to the Memory of Men
Who Fell In Battle.
EARAPRoUD OF HER GALLANT SONS

at Nara. the capital OF the empire dur.
ing the eighth century and religious
capital before aud since the reigns of
those seven Nara emperors, says Eliza
X. Scldmore, the Chicago Tribune'a
correspondent Ia Japan. Like Kama
kura. IL Is now but shadow OF ITSELF
the city OF a half million inhabitants
shrunk to a country town less than q
tenth OF that population, its one long
street running down from the temple
gates to the railway track, ribbon be-
tween green fields.
Here and there on the green plain
and among the groves at the foot OF the
hills are soaring temple roofs and slen
der spired pagodas that were once sur
rounded by the dwellings and all the
busy life Of great city. The oldest
Buddhist temples ia Japan are at Nara
and It's vicinity, and TO one OF them an
emperor bequeathe,i all his personal
possessions, every article which his
palace contained the most unique treas
ure house In all the world.
The life of the eighth century IL
there complete, ana the furniture and
dOmesIt utensils, the art treasures and
ornaments. the books, the costumes, the
musical instruments and every possible
belonging have been stored there In
tact Tor /. loo years Ia a wooden build
Ing that has merCituiIy escaped de
structlOn by hre-
Nara by no means lives in the past
entirely, and within a few weeks II has
been 10 the forefront in the eyes Of all
Japan The Thirty seventh regiment Of
the osaka division u the Nara regi
menC. and a company 81 that Nara regi
meut was on board the little cUastins
schooner kln-hiu Maru. which was tor
pedOed and sunk by the Vladivostok
squadron on WOnsau. Korea
Those were Nara men who quietly ~
manned below until summoned to sur
render. hen they lined upon deck and
Hired yoilsys al The big. black Russian
cruiser we'll know nE that II would
Ue answered By machine guns and tor
pr,ipes, and then knrit down on tbs
deck aud met the honorable death Of
scppuku oC haraklr! That Vas In
accordance with the best traditions Of
the japanese code 81 honor. OF the
samuruts cult 81 Bushido and to the
Japanese Is que 81 the greatest inci
dents % the war
Al. Nara CLOVIS with pride at mention
u the klnshiu Maru, and they point
out rhe homes Of the relatives Of the
uou who died q samurafs death rath.
or tuan be- lei 70 a Russian prison.
1T was magnificent, maybe, but II
was not modern war. says the Euro
pean
III was magnificent say the Nara
people aud all Japan, aud II Ia Saras
greatest glory that these men cams
from orr midst. walked our streets
worked these fields and made their
rows Il these temples before they went
70 war
Funeral services have been held at
all the Sars temples, and In time there
will be- some hrting monument 10 these
men Ot idDiized memory. which viii be
a shrine 81 chlyairy second only to
TINT one u the Forty seven Ronlus,
The hero lives eternal In Japan. and
AZ M"moyama the other day the cody
stopped the ilnrik,sha and pointed in
under a slender tori or skeleton gate
way By the roadside 'uattori San
Hutto-i san, Full Kan he said and
mnds M lismount and ~ In to the
shrine aud family tomb ~ the hero VI
the great naval Incident OF the Chinese
War Of 1890.
Hatfor san. Hatt0ri san" said a
Japanese In the train another day as
We ran b. the little tori and stopped
at MomoyBma station He rose and
bowed his head. as did the others In
the car, tn honor to Captain HattOrL
who fell in the attack on the Taku
forts and was such another son OF
Hachlmau. the god Of war as the later
Mars, Commander Iiirose
Past the noble old paEDda Of Yakushl
AMI three miles out on the Nara rice
plain IL the village Of koriyama, "a.
nous now because three OF It's men
were on board the Klnshiu Maru and
all died the honorable death" by their
own hands Three miles farther on
the village Of Horlujl boasts that three
Of It's men we're In the Thirty seyenth's
ranks and on board the boat Of fame.
Two committed hnrakiri and one In
missing. but the people will not believe
that he surrendered.
When the news WIS given out the
whole country side hOCked to the great
temple Of Horiuji. which Is the oldest
Buddhist temple In Japan and lacks
only three years Of celebrating the thir-
teenth centenary Of It's founding
There IS a horny little octaRonal tenn
pie on a mound beyond the temple.
which Is only 1886 years old. to be ex.
act. TINT Is dedicated to Yakushi. the
healing Or plying Buddha. which II
the refuge u all distressed souls In
time Of need Outside and inside the
little temple is heaped up and covered
over with votiye offerings and pictures.
as It has been throughout the cen
turtles A prayer aud n vow are made
and upon the fulfillment the grateful
one brings the promised object
Mirrors have been vowed by the ter
thousand until the metal disks plate the
walta and dooFa aud covpr the nftia ~