The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-12-12
Scene of the offering of first
fruits to spirits of Emperor's
ancestors,

ancestors and informs them that he
IL about to ascend the throne; sec-
ond. he appears in public before his
people and by the act declares that
he has. ascended the throne: third,
he offers to his ancestors, who are
gods. the first fruits Of his reign In
the form Of offerings Of rice and rice
wine and other fruits OF the land and
sea
The first Of the ceremonies began
at 2 in the morning Of coronation day.
November 10. This took place In q
setting 50 plain. so temporary. that
1t Is difficult to convey Il description
In words, and 1t was impossible to
photograph it in any effective way.
In substance all the ceremonies are
open air functions. The Emperor Is
always under in temple or cere-
Gals are outside.
The courtyard is the unit. Imagine
a large courtyard l which "a couple
OF long wooden pavilions have been
erected. They are new and white and
bare--nothing but n roof n a floor
and a few supporting posts. They are
seated with benches. unbacked, and
covered with white cushions. In the
front % Of one Of those pavilions
the ENJOYS Of the Powers were placed.
! propose to describ, what they saw
as II was afterward described to me-.
Across the street." Of course. they
saw the other pavilion. identical down
TO the last knot In the pine. but filled
with Japanese d~ignitartcs in cooked
hats and black gold lnced coats. In
front Of the pavilions and between
them was a smaller edition of the
same-another plain roof covering n
sandy floor. This was empty. but on
the day after 1t was the stage Of tho
solemn the adjective In the official
selection, not mine-Mikagura dance
to solace the spirits o. the departed
Emperors.
Beyond this roof and uncomfortahly
hidden by II was a beautiful little gem
OF a Japanese temple, brand new'and
spotless. Within this little temple or
shrine the Emperor worshipped his
ancestors and read the Imperial Rc-
port announcing his accession. But
the door Of the temple was shut and
| the ENJOYS saw nothing and heard
| nothing. They stood in their places
| and watched the shadows become more
vertical On the sandy courtyard as two
! hours passed without visible incident.
Later 1t was officially announced
that all took place exactly as arranged.
At the appointed ''.ment h En-
peror, dressed in a kimono Of pure
white, entered the shrine and dipped
~. l.rA. O., ,hIpttopory yy-tor nro-
scented by priests. Six trays Of food
were offered to the spirits amid the
beating of gongs and tho shrill wall
Ing Of reed Instruments. An address
was read I o the shrine by the Grand
Master OF the Rituals.
His Majesty rose, bowed low before
the shrine. and withdrew from the
.nnermost chamber. in which he had
been seated alone. All present wor-
shipped before the shrine, the offerings
were removed, the doors OF the sane
tuary were closed and tho first part
of the great ceremony Was over.
His Majesty returned 10 the resl-
Dental part of the palace. The for
eign ambassadors drove back to their
hotels. and the 1000 Japanese OH
cials who were present were ushercd
nto one OF those immense secret dining
halls where n lordly luncheon was
served.
The afternoon ceremony--thc ap-
pearance before tho representatives of
the nation and the foreign Powers--
constitutes the coronation proper. 1t
also IL essentially an open air func-
ton. This custom probably Ia evil
dence Of the antiquity Of the rites
1t also seems as though 1t might rea-
sonably explain the absence OF aTchi-
tectural effect.
Every ceremony Is held in a court
yard, which when you look at the
tanglc of trees around, you realize Is
Just a fenced and cleared space. Ths
Emperor with . very few attendnnta