The St. Louis Republic., 1904-09-26
Shigc Nagano. Killed by Street
Car Last Week. Buried in
St. Matthew'S Cemetery.
FUNERAL SERVICE UNIQUE.
Priest of the Faith Delivers Ser
mon AT the Gravc-Third
japanese Woman tn Die
in 81. Louis.

With the Buddhist priest chanting IN.
strange and monotonous burial hymn "f
his religion Shiee Nagano. the Japares@
Ssisrs girl who was killed BY a Page
avenue street ear a, Clara and EtzsI ave
nues last Monday night was buried I'm ST
Matthews Cemetery. at Gravois and Bates
street. Yesterday afternoon. by the side
of two others Of thu geisha girls who have
died in this country since coming To the
Worlds Fair
X. Akita. the young Buddhist priest
who of'icisied at the two previous cere-
monies. delivered the funeral sermon.
which dealt wholly with the Buddhist be
liefs regarding the salvation Of the soul
of woman.
The first services we're held in the par
lors OF the Alexander Undertaking shop.
No. ISIS Olive street. where many Amer
leans had gathered out of curiosity At
the head Of the coffin stood the priest. az
rayed in his funeral robes. which. contrary
to all Occidental customs. were OF the
brightest colors
A robe or "kcroma' Of flaming jscarlet.
trimmed in gold braid: a deep purple
prayer cloth. bordered with white: sandals
Of white. and a hat or ''boshi'' Of bright
green. decorated with fantastic figures in
gold. constituted the regalia Of the priest.
Across tn. front OF his robe. hanging from
his shoulders was the '-kesa'' or yoke.
made Of gold cloth and having a symbolic
meaning that has been lost through the
ages.
Fourteen Of the ceisha girls. dressed in
dark clothes. stood on each side of the
he -. n
coffin for tn. peaceful journey of the
geisha girls soul to -Goku-raku-' Can
dies were placed upon the cssket. and
then each of the geisha girls in turn
waved stick Of incense over the coffin.
nurnuring some word Of consolation for
the soul OF their companion.
Prayer ny tho priest followed and a
reading from the Buddhist bible completed
the ceremony a; AleSanter's. The coffin
was placed in a funeral car. and the party
10 the cemetery.
SERMON AT THE GRAVE
At the grave the prizes, delivered the
sermon designated by The rigid rituaIisn
Of the Buddhisr faith II begins with a
long descant on the inferiority Of woman
and the tendency TO sinfulnsss which ac-
cording TO Buddhist belief. Is stronger in
woman than in man. But parental love.
said 10 be the basic principle Of all cri-
tn'ai religions. iIteryenes FOR the woman.
and Buddka. the ali-wise and ali-loving
Dne. saves the woman by unsexinz her.
To the Buddhist there is no sex after
5eath- and all souls are male
As the father loves that child OF his
= hich is crippled or deformed. more than
he loves the one favored OF nature and
as the deformed one IL nearer and dsaTer
10 his heart thar all his other children.
so 8, is with Buddha. and the woman IL
received into Goku-raku Uhe Buddhist
paradisel. with more rejoicing than Is the
man This was part OF the sermon de
ivered by the Buddhist priest. as trans
ated by him into English
Following the sermon came the second
for the soul Of the geisha
siri from her companions. A brief prayer
ras said and the body was lowered In the
rrave as the priest said his chant. At the
aeao OF the grave was placed a thin
wooden slab bearing shise Naganos name |
n the japanese characters and other |
words designated by the ritual to be used |
It all funerals. The sticks of incense |
which each Geisha girl had used in the |
CEREMONY. were placed in a saucer which /
vas laid on the grave. Many flowers. the |
lifts OF friends. were also placed on the |
,reve.
The Japanes. party returned to their |
,ome al No. $50 Etzel avenue. where |
,hise Nasano also lived. in the funeral |
ar queer custom. which SAYS that /
rsercs and relatives shall not return 10 /
he home Of the deceased after the fu- |
'eral without drst having stopped on the |
ioneward trip and retra ced a number of /
he car. after stopping in front OF the /
esfdence on Etzel avenue. was asked 70
efurn TO Belt avenue. The car then re-
urned to the residence