Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-01-01
LIGHT OF THE EAST.
DR.. EDwORDS WRITES OF NIKKO AND
THE FESTIVAL OF IOYASU.
Interesting Description Of Sacred Japanese
Buddhist Temple and Surroundings.
One OF Dr. Edwords' Best Letters.

Yokohama to NikkO it Is one hundred
and eight miles by rail- and | made
the trip yesterday to see the festival
year, and which l was told should
be seen at any sacrifice. Nikko is
known as the City of Temples, and is
full of interest. But the most inter
esting part of it was the trip by rail
through fertile section of Japan.
This is land of small things. Not
an inch of ground runs to waste,
and not weed is to be seen on any
of the patches which, by courtesy. |
call farms Those farms are of all
sizes from patch of twenty foot
square to an acre or more in extent,
and instead of fences between they
are separated by bitches in which
the lotus is grown for food. Not
only are the farms small but also the
people, the animals. houses, gardens,
carriages and all articles used in
daily life are ridiculously small.
Grape vines rest on horizontal frames
and even pear trees are trained on
trelisses.
Nikko lies in lovely valley two
thousand feet above the ocean on the
Nikko-san mountains, and is the site
of the most gorgeous temples in the
land. This spot attained its greatest
sanctity in 1917. when it became the
resting place of Ioyasu who was
deified by the Mikado as "Light of
the East. Great incarnation of Bud
dha." When he died he was buried
here and given the most gorgeous
Japanese burial A vast number of
priests in gorgeous robes, the Imperial
envoy, the living Shotgun. and a
long train of noblemen with two
sword retainers followed the remains
of the dead warrior up the long and
on the lonely hillside, where they
were deposited with all the impress
siveness of Buddhist ritual
At the summit is the temple to
which | gained access through court
esy of officialo, and provided with
queer scraps of paper as passports. A
five storied pagoda rises gracefully,
tier ON tier. with Iessening stories to
the height of l04 feet The caves of
the lower story are decorated with
painted carvings of the twelve signs
of the zodiac: rat, OK, tiger, hare,
dragon, serpent. horse, goat, ape,
cock, dog and pig. We walked on
through rows of lanterns to the en-
trance of the grounds and passed
through the "Gate of Two Kings"
which still retains its name although
the original figures of che kings have
been replaced by images of hideous
monsters, supposed to have power
through their ugliness to brighten
away demons. In the co~rt yard stand
three large buildings with handsome
tiled roofs. Under the caves of the
largest are painted carvings of ele-
plants represented with hind legs
turned the wrong way. Arranged
about the court are ll8 magnificent
bronze lanterns with massive stone
bases, which are lighted on festive oc.
casions.
The stable in which the sacred
white pony is kept for use of the god
is decorated with life like carvings of
monkeys, covering their eyes, ears
and mouths with their hands. Stone
slabs with the 'blind monkey" the
deaf monkey" and the "damb mon
key, are TO be noticed by the roaC
side in the rural districts throughout !
Japan. the idea being that this unique
trinity neither sees, hears nor speaks |
evil pretty feature in the court of
the temple is the constant tinkling of
the wind bells hung over all the door
ways These bells serve to keep de-
mons away. In the center of the
court is the sacred enclosure or Holy
of Holes, which is entered by the !
Karamon gate. 1t is magnificent
structure Of precious woods. imported |
birds and flowers in relief, each fin
isbed with greatest attention TO de !
tail. TIE interior of the ante room
was most wonderfully decorated with
frescoes, bronzes. carvings and gold !
and black lacquer. The cool dimness
of this interior. and the evidences of
extreme antiquity remais indelibly |
fixed in my mind. After exhausting
all my vocabulary of expressions of
praise | was left with nothing further
60 say when l visited the tomb itself |
1t is reached by returning to.the court
yard, passing through an old door
way. over which is the famous figure
of sleeping cat, said to be the great |
est work of the left handed artist, |
Hidari. Jingoro, and ascending 221
moss-grown steps to the mausoleum
where rest the ashes of Japan's great |