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known tongue—unknown not only to us but to the crowd of worshippers around. The great similarity between the Catholic and Buddhist form of worship prompts the suggestion that one must have been borrowed from the other—I will not say which—but to the devout Catholic the one is of apostolic or heaven-inspired origin, while the other is the “devil’s counterfeit.”
Outside the temple, and near by, is a belfry, open on all four rides and ornamented in the same style as the larger buildings. In it hangs an enormous dell, covered with Japanese inscriptions, shaped like a minnie bullet. It is eight or nine inches in thickness, and as I touch it with my cane it gives forth a very sweet and melodious sound. It has no tongue, but is struck by a wooden beam suspended by iron chains. Some of these bells are very large, and one is mentioned by an old writer on Japan, at Miako, said to be five times larger then the great bell at Moscow.
In the court yards surrounding the temples are long rows of carved stone pillars, six to ten feet in height. These are lanterns and are the votive offerings of rich devotees. Every year in the month of August the spirits of the dead are supposed to visit these sacred shrines. They come from somewhere over the sea, and are welcomed with a grand illumination, music and curious ceremonies. After spending the night in the sacred precincts of the temples, they are escorted at early dawn by loud processions of priests and people to the water’s edge, and launched in miniature paper boats to float off to the great unknown regions beyond the sea.
Besides the temples of Shiva, which are, perhaps, the finest in Japan, we visited several others in the neighborhood, all located in large parks and surrounded by magnificent trees. Some of these grounds comprise hundreds of acres, and are great places of resort for pleasure-seekers and picnic parties, of which the Japanese are very fond; and it would certainly be difficult to find spots more lovely for a day’s pleasure and recreation.
Other interesting features of our excursions about Yeddo—our visits to the theatres, shops and bazaars, bath-houses and market places, would occupy too much time and space to describe here.
