The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-01-13

whereas his imperial kinsman has only
sixteen.
Wrestlers in the Temple Courts,
Many things are associated with tenn
pies TINT seem incongruous to the occl-
dental mind, AT Kioto during my So
journ there, a national wrestling tour
nament was on. and rare exhibition
il was The ring was pitched on a tenn
pie enclosure, the management was in
the hands of the temple, which handled
the gate receipts; a fat and shaven
priest was one OF the referees, and di-
rectly in front of where ] sat. on the
temple balcony, where were the re-
served seats for foreigners, squatted the
staff of temple priests, enjoying the
bouts hugely, and feasting, smoking and
qualfing sake between whiles. u
was far removed from the asceticism
which one associates with Buddhism
and priesthood Which leads to final
word about Buddhism as ] have found
it in city. village and country.
Kipling Corrected.
oh. ye who tread the Narrow Way
BY 1ophctnare 10 Judgment Day.
Be gentle when the "heauhen" pray
To Buddha at kamakura:
And whose will. from Pride released
Condemning neither creed nor priest
NAV feel the soul of all the East
About him al kamakura
So wrote Klpling. But he is mistak.
en-, Kamakura. with its colossal bronze
Daibutsu, is too near to Yokohama to
represent the East. And the great
image, which has stood earthquake
shocks that wrecked the surrounding
temples, would languish in neglect were
it not for the open-handed tourist, who
responds To the plea made by the abbot
for contributions toward the maintc.
nance of this Buddha, There are few
worshipcrs at the image, but the hands
in his lap are worn by the tourists who
have their photographs taken while sit
ting in the lap of the god.
The idol is well worth seeing, as are
also the shrines inside of him, which
may be visited. It stands forty-nine
feet high, Is nlnety-seven feet in cir
pure gold, while the silver boss on
the forehead weighs thirty pounds. But
as n type of Buddhism IN Japan 1t
represents neglect and indifference
Few of the faithful approach II to
make the offerings which are lnsepara-
BILE from worship. The "heathen are
ahead of Christians in the relation of
living to devotion; they are also ahead
IN having smaller coins than the Ameri-
can copper for the contribution box. AT
many shrines one finds "temple
money! on sale, twenty pieces for a
penny: and now the rim is seldom used
in Japan except for this purpose, |
have visited scores of temples, but only
thrice have | seen white metal offer
ings. and of these the largest amounted
to only ~ cents
Buddhism is undoubtedly declining
in japan. Not only has it lost its grip
upon the people, but the Government
has recently ordered the consolidation
Of many smaller temples Some of the
larger ones have had difficulty in main
tanning themselves, Notwithstanding the
fact that practically every Japanese
family "belongs'' to some temple.
Tourists, as I have indicated, are a
source of revenue TO the more famous
ones. At the Shiba temple, in Toxic,
the priest informed me that the aver
age attendance of Japanese is only ff-
teen day Many Christian methods,
as preaching, Suuday-schools Young
Mems Buddhist associations. the send
ing Of students TO Europe, etc, are
adopted TO stem the ebbing tide, but
in vain,
More Shrines Than Religion,
Outward evidences of religion are
not lacking. however. Every home has
ats household shrine. or god shelf, and
in the garden is likely to be found
small tori, or Shinto gate, and n shrine
know q missionary at Tsu who lives