The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-18
ROUNDABOUT IN JAPAN
nv BISHOP E. E. Hoss

It had been my intention to spend the secona Sunday in August at the mountain resort of Karuizawa, about l0O miies lroni Tokio. This is the greatest summer gath ering place for foreigners in all the east Diplomats, merchants. missionaries, and many others sometimes to the number of a thousand come thither to spend a few weeks or months during the heated term. If one wishes to get accurate information concerning conditions in Japan Corea and China, this is the place to go for it. had gladly accepted an in vitation to preach before the assembly, But the day before I was to leave Kobe the whole of Eastern Japan was visited by torrential floods that put the railroads out of commission for nearly two weeks, dsd immense damage to the crops and swept away thousands of people. Even III this land of natural disasters nothing ike it had been known for many years. So, oi course, 1t became necessary TOT me 10 change my plans. and concluded to put in the time visiting the cities of Nara, Kyoto and Osaka, and the districts lying between them. As the distances are no, great 1t is easy to make the whole cir cult in that time, and to see the sights of greatest importance, provided one has, as I had, competent guides, and some ac- curate conception in advance of what he desires to inspect.
 Three hours from Kobe brought us through a densely peopled section to Nara. It is now a city of only about 30 GOO inhabitants. But in the eighth cen tury it was the imperial capital, and was ten times as large as at the present time. The historical associations of the city, the fact that 1t is reckoned one of the chief holy places of Japan, and the beau tiful scenery make 1t a center of attrac- ton for nearly all tourists. An immense new hotel, elegantly but simply built and furnished, and conducted on the Amer ican plan at reasonable rates, is another inducement to the travelling public The guide books here are as largely taken up with the temples as they are in Flu rope with cathedrals and picture galler- ies. For once my friend, the Rev. c. B. Mosely, 25 years a resident of the coun- try and I, concluded to follow the con- ventional route, and as soon as we were settled in our rooms and had eaten our lunch we accordingly took jinrikishas-- blessings on the men-and went to the park in which the chief religions struc- lures are situated. This park, hundreds of acres in dimensions, is the most beauti- full one that I have seen in the country. All travelled visitors are sure to note its English aspects. The velvety lawns, the well-kept walks, the immense wisteria vines, and the clumps and avenues of giant trees, are all a feast to the eye. The major part of these trees are hun dreds of years old and one of them, a camphor, was pointed out to us by a courteous and venerable gentleman as having a history of thousand years. Back behind the line of the chief temple the park slopes upwards to great height ic solemn shadows of these woods add much to the religious associations, being we'll adapted to produce a sense of awe All the sur roundings, in fact, show that the early Buddhist priests had as keen an eye fol advantageous sites as was possessed by the medieval monks of old England They picked the most delightful hooks in all the land for their temples and monaster- ieroes
 A pleasing additions to the landscape Is the presence of at least thousand of the small spotted deer. As Buddhism forbds the taking of life, they are never killed. and consequently have grown as gentle as sheep. Here and there on the grounds are stalls kept by old crones, at which little strings of barley cakes are sold to visitors for cent each with which to feed the pets. While I was engaged in this benevolent enterprise, and old buck who was not getting his share caught me by the shoulder with his teeth, and shook me into recognition of his rights. The male animal in all species is a self-as-