Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1917-08-29
TOURISTS PARADISE
AS FOUND IN JAPAN
A. G. Baker Concludes His Articles
This Week About His Trip to
China and Japan.
LETTERS HAVE BEEN
ALL VERY INTERESTING
Have Been Widely Read and Com.
mented on. The Word Pictures
Were Most Real.
CONTINUED from first pageD

k6.l
very common in Japan and in them
are found many curiosities, especi-
ally interesting are the dwarf trees:
these little gnarled specimens are
placed in racks with many hindran-
ces TO their growth and you find
them on al hotel tables as decora-
tions and il business places not over
a foot high with a stalk that indi-
Gates years of growth This dwarf
ing is practiced both in forest and
fruit trees some bearing the larger
fruits, like apples, on a tree not two
feet high but no doubt twenty years
old.
In going to the great temple many
of these nurseries were growing on
the route. The temple is named the
"Toshogu" and is consecrated to the
spirit of Tokugawa Iyeyasu, the
founder Of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
1t was erected in 1916 and in 1899
rebuilt into the architectural wonder
as seen today. The expense was so
great as to nearly bankrupt the Mi
kado.
For centuries this location had
been recognized and the great aven-
ues of Clyptomaria set out and many
of the surroundings improvised.
Among them the red lacquer bridge
which no one ever crosses except the
Emperor once a year. The only in
stance when it was opened to another
was when Grant travelled around the
world the Emperor issued a special
permit that he should cross but he
refused to break the precedent so long
recognized.
The beautiful stone tori as you
enter the grounds impress you with
the granduer of the surroundings.
You first view the pagoda, though it
is not very high, 116 feet in symme.
try, with its five out reaching corni.
ces thing of beauty.
The front gate rooted with copper
tile and finished in black lacquer is
the most beautiful building in Nikko.
At either side as you enter are
two Deva Kings 2 feet in height are
watching the front and at the rear
two Fo-dogs. 1t is a very attractive
piece of carving.
1t would require a book descrip-
tio2 to do justice to the Toshogu
which would tire your patience. viii
just mention a few of its surround
ings and beauties.
The Yomei-mon gate perhaps in
decorations and architecture is the
most pleasing of all the buildings.
This gate cost over 100000 yen. To
this masterpiece of architecture there
can be 40 words of praise that will
over estimate its original beauty.
The beautiful paintings with colors
blending to please the eye. The cary
ing being SO perfect to nature the
gold and colored Jacques strike one
with admiration. This gate deserves
the Japanese name "Higurashi-moI"
or in English, the gate where one
spends the whole day"
! was impressed with one of the
precepts of the Toshogu which here
quote.
Life is like unto a long journey
with a heavy load Let thy steps be
slow and steady that thou stumble
not. Persuade myself that imper-
lection and inconvenience is the nat
nral lot of mortals and there will be
no room for discomfort, neither for
despair, When ambitious desires arise
in thy heart recall the days of extre-
nifty thou hast passed through. For
bearance is the root of quietness and
as thy enemy If thou knowest only
what il is to conquer, and knowest
not what it is to be defeated war un-
TO thee! 1t will fare i'll with thee.
Find fault with myself rather than
with others. Better the less than the
more"
| quote this that you may recog-
niZe that these people have thoughts
along the same lines as our own peo-
pie. From the above quotation one
can get a lesson that is desirable to
remember.
Everything you might study in
these temples we're so true TO life
that they made an impression that
will never fade in my memory and
be an inspiration in life.
To any that may visit Japan do not
fail to see the Toshogu. 1t is to ia
pan what st. Peters is to Rome. The
japanese are sure, during life, to
= NO IN the TOghOpn