The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-03-23
BLIND FOLK IN JAPAN

From very ancient times the blind
folk of Japan have received much
attention, though they were mover
made the wards of the nation to tho
extent that obtained in the west I'm
der later Christian hnfinence The
fact that blindness entitled n man to
be raised to especial rank may be taxi
en- as evidence Of this care. 1t is
recorded that about the year sSs A. ID.
when the Emperor koko paid visit
to a certain place he was received by
a company OF blind men, whose con-
dition much moved the compassion OF
his majesty. Not long after this the
emperor gave orders that n row OF
tenements should be constructed in
Kyoto, whera the homeless blind might
find shelter. and the blind were thence
ranked as a separate class. entitled to
special privilege.
Upon the death OF tho Emperor
koko hundreds Of blind men and We
men fiocked into the capital to ex-
press their sorrow and to pay last
tribute OF respect to the great mon.
arch who SO earnestly befriended
them. Ii was not unnatural tina. the
anniversary of the emperor's death
should have become the blind mans
holiday, and even yet on July 10th.
the blind are accustomed to visit the
old capital TO celebrate tt. offering
prayers before the imperial shrine.
Since that time II has been the Gus
tom of the Kuga family. who are the
descendants of the Emperor kcko.
and represented by the present Mar
quis kuga, to confer on all blind
person who have visited the Kyoto
shrine four times the rank known as
shibu. When one holding this rank
had attended the annual servics four
times he was raised to a still higher
rank known as yodo. A blind man
of this rank attending four times
reached the rank OF sokoto. and =
sokoto on the same conditions be-
came a kengyo. the latter being Of
the same rank as Buddhist bishop
or the abbot OF a monastery. More-
over there were three ranks under
each OF the above mentioned grades.
or sixteen In all.
In the reign OF the Emperor Suka
$3.50 A. d. there Is mention OF q
blind man named Akashi who was
skilled lutte player, and was invited
to play before the emperor. when his
majesty was SO pleased that he Fats-
ed the musician to the rankk OF So
kengyo, which means archbishop.
This famous blind musician was also
made much of by the Ashikaga fam
lily. In the time OF the Emperor Go
komatsu I3S31412 A. ID, there
was another blind musician named
Takenaga, upon whom the emperor
bestowed the purple robe OF a Budd-
hist priest of the highest rank. In
the Tokugawa period. between the
years 1858 to 1908. there lived in
Hitotsume tone-eye) in Yedo a noted
blind man named Sugiyama. who won
his estate and its name by asking Q
Shotgun to give him one of his eyes
when pressed to make any request
he desired and 1t would be granted
This was the first blind man raised
to high rank by the Shotgun, such
honor up to that time having been
the prerogativc Of the imperial house
alone. After that 1t was arranged
that the ranking Of tho blind was to
be divided between the emperor and
the shotgun, the former attending to
the blind In the thirty-three provinces
OF the south and the shotgun those in
the thirty-three provinces Of the
north. The Tokugawa Bakufu in
creased the number OF ranks to which .
the blind could be raised to thirty
three, including all those already
Neutrality-suspicious. Magazine.