Morris tribune., 1906-07-21

and sobriety. I say, sto an outsider, Z"
great deal of Japanese custom and
ceremony is meaningless or foolish,
though that custom to the native is full
OF deep significance. Perhaps nowhere
is there country where objects,
actions and customs are so closely in
tertwined with legend and story and
! fanciful meaning. So this tea cere-
mony which to me represented stiff
ness rather than poise and would seem
to discourage rather than impel social
pleasure, is full of meaning to the
initiated. 1t would be a good thing
for the great commercial class of
America to be compelled to sit through
(and sit Japanese style too) tea
ceremony at least once each week.
Haste is here unseemly, time is no.
thing. So might speak of the cere-
mony of flower arrangement. In this
custom every different arrangement
tells it's own story and some of the
suggestions are beautiful.
From Kyoto we paid visit to the
beautiful shrines of Nara. These
temples are situated in a most beauti-
full natural park where wild deer are
common and very tame. Long ave-
nues of pine and camphor and cryptic
meria trees lead up to the entrance
to the Shrines and the pathways are
lined with hundreds of stone lanterns.
The Shinto Shrines are simple and I'M
decorated while the Buddhist temples
are highly colored and ornate. This [
might say is generally true of all the
shrines of the two leading cults of
Japan. When say ''two cults" [
speak of them as they once were.
Now Buddhism has almost completely
absorbed the externals of Shintoism.
While visiting places like Nara and
Lake Biwa we have had glimpses of
Japanese rural life and customs. There
the people as yet are little touched
with foreign influence. Some writer's
OH Japan would have you understand
that in rural Japan there is a beauty
and simplicity of life which does not
need an uplifting influence. To read
some writer's you would think that
rural Japan is a paradise and that
everything is ideal. Perhaps it is, but
if that is ideal, I am very glad we do
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hear much too about the "paradise of
children" in Japan. 1t is quite true
that one rarely hears harsh word
spoken to child but to see how little
of intelligence is used in their care
and training and especially in the
matter of cleanliness, makesyou doubt
the character of the paradise. You
are led to expect "spotless town"
effect whenever you go in Japan and
you are rather disappointed when you
see the lack of genuine cleanliness all
about. If you were to judge by the
number of baths taken daily or by the
condition of the little square of matt
ing in the center of the house, you
must surely say they are clean. But
that cleanliness is more Or less COM
pulsory, owing to the peculiar manner
of living. But you can scarcely be-
lieve in the inherent cleanliness of the
race, as you go about the village
streets and as you see the surround
ings of those self same squares of
mating. In the city of Kyoto, which
as [ have said is the NEST distinctly
native city, the conditions are some
times filthy and it is a suggestive fact
that the semi annual house cleaning
goes on under police inspection. AS
for railway stations and cars and
hotels, which are cared for by these
same tidy people, you must go a
long way to find more dirt and an
evidence of less care. It's all very
we'll for the poetic fancy and the ar
tistic imagination to paint pictures of
ideal Japan, but it is very certain
that the whole truth has not been
written by some of the well-known
writer's.
From Kyoto we went to Nagoya
where were more temples and the
old palace of the Mikado. We went |
through the military barracks and |
could see how westernized the army
system really is. Everywhere we
saw reflections of Japan's triumph, i
for arches are erected in every village
and hamlet and remains of triumphal
decoration are to be seen on every
side. Leaving Nagoya next morning
we went to Shiozuoka-more temples.
Our visit to this place was signalized
by our first view of Fugi, the peerless
of Japan. Little wonder
that they revere and worship this
mountain for it's aspect is far more
divine than that of most of the gods
IN the national pantheon. It is the
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