伊勢の神宮

ROUTE 37. THE SHINTO TEMPLES OF ISE. 1. PRELIMINARY INFORMATION. 2. VOYAGE FROM YOKOHAMA TO YOKKAICHI AND KAMI YASHIRO. 3. YAMADA AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. THE TEMPLES OF ISE. 4. FROM YAMADA TO KYOTO BY ROAD AND KWANSEI RAILWAY. 1. Preliminary Information. Ise is the name, not of a town, but of a province lying to the E. and S.E. of Kyoto on the W. shore of Owari Bay. The temples, which rank chief among the holy places of the Shinto cult, stand on the outskirts of the town of Yamada near the S.E. frontier of the province. The ways of reaching Yamada are as follows: I.

原資料 p. 276

From Tokyo to Atsuta (formerly called Miya) on the Tokaido Railway, 1st day; thence by small steamer via Yokkaichi and Tsu to Kami Yashiro, the port of Yamada, from which it is 1 ri 16 cho (3 1/2 miles) by jinrikisha, 2nd day. Atsuta being the next station to Nagoya, some may feel disposed to spend the night at the European hotel at the latter place rather than at one of the Japanese inns at Atsuta. It would still generally be possible to catch the steamer leaving Atsuta next morning. II. Instead of the railway, take the steamer direct from Yokohama to Yokkaichi, where tranship as above for Kami Yashiro. This shortens the time by half a day in fine weather. III.

原資料 p. 276

From Kyoto by the Tokaido Railway as far as Kusatsu Junction, and thence by Kwansei Railway to Seki, 4 hrs., whence jinrikisha to Yamada via Tsu and Matsuzaka in 1 day. When the line is opened from Seki on to Tsu, the journey will be considerably abridged.

原資料 p. 276

At present the schedule is as follows: Kwansei Railway. Distance from Kusatsu; Names of Stations; Remarks. KUSATSU Junction; Ishibe, 5 1/2 m.; Mikumo, 10 m.; Fukawa, 15 m.; Tsuge, 22 1/2 m.; Seki, 31 1/2 m., alight for Ise; Kameyama, 35 m.; Kawarada, 45 m.; Yokkaichi, 49 1/4 m. IV. There is a cross-country road from Nara to the Temples of Ise, practicable for jinrikishas and occasionally affording pretty views. It is much frequented by pilgrims. The trip takes 2 1/2 days, the itinerary being as follows.

原資料 p. 277

NARA to: Sakurai, 2 ri 20 cho, 6 1/4 m.; Hase, 1 ri 23 cho, 4 m.; Haibara, 1 ri 15 cho, 3 1/2 m.; Sambon-matsu, 2 ri 17 cho, 6 m.; Nabari, 2 ri 1 cho, 5 m.; Ao, 3 ri 4 cho, 7 1/2 m.; Iseji, 35 cho, 2 1/4 m.; Kaito, 2 ri 18 cho, 6 m.; Onoki, 2 ri 13 cho, 5 3/4 m.; Rokken, 3 ri, 7 1/4 m.; Matsuzaka, 1 ri 27 cho, 4 1/4 m.; Yamada, 5 ri 1 cho, 12 1/4 m. Total, 28 ri 30 cho, 70 m. The main Ise road is joined at Rokken.

原資料 p. 277

The best inns at the various places mentioned in the above ways to Ise are as follows: At Atsuta, Okada-ya, Ise-kyu; Hase, Idani-ya, Yoshino-ya; Iseji, Momiji-ya; Kaito, Momiji-ya; Kami-Yashiro, Ozaki-ya; Matsuzaka, Tai-ya; Nabari, Tawara-ya; Nagoya, Shina-chu (Hotel du Progres), Shukin-ro; Onoki, Fuji-ya; Rokken, Hotei-ya; Sakurai, Taba-ichi; Sambon-matsu, Mushi-ya; Seki, Uo-ya; Tsu, Waka-roku; Yamada, Abura-ya; Yokkaichi, Hamada-ya. It should be premised that the interest of the trip to Ise is chiefly antiquarian.

原資料 p. 277

Without going so far as to say, with a disappointed tourist, that "there is nothing to see, and they won't let you see it," we may remind intending travellers of the remarkable plainness of all Shinto architecture, and add that the veneration in which the shrines of Ise are held is such that none but the priests and Imperial personages are allowed to penetrate into the interior. The rest of the world may only peep through the outer gate. 2. The Voyage to Yokkaichi and Kami Yashiro.

原資料 p. 277

The Tokaido Railway journey being fully described in Route 38, we shall suppose that the traveller has elected to go by sea, and advise him to begin by enquiring whether there is any European food to be had on board, and if not, then to take provisions with him for the 18 or 20 hrs. voyage from Yokohama to Yokkaichi, as well as for the further voyage next day on to Kami Yashiro. The voyage is the same as that described in Route 40 as far as the entrance of Owari Bay, where the track diverges, the steamer turning to the r. up the bay near the head of which Yokkaichi is situated. The scenery at the entrance is very pretty. The ship passes between r.

原資料 p. 277

Irako-zaki, the hilly promontory that forms the S.W. extremity of the province of Mikawa, and l. the islet of Kamishima, behind whose white and red cliffs lie other larger islands and the mainland of the diminutive province of Shima.

原資料 p. 277

Ahead and to the r., as the ship glides into the still waters of the landlocked bay, are seen portions of the provinces of Mikawa and Owari, notably Cape Morozaki, the tip of the peninsula on which stand the commercial towns of Handa and Taketoyo, connected with the Tokaido by a branch line of Railway. At Yokkaichi it is necessary to land in a small boat. Indeed the extreme shallowness of Owari Bay prevents any but quite small craft from approaching the shore at any point. The Hamada-ya inn is at the landing-place. Tall chimneys rise above the roofs of the houses, giving the town an appearance which, at least for Japan, is peculiar.

原資料 p. 278

The situation is a good one, there being fresh breezes from the bay in summer, and a fine prospect of the mountains on the borders of Omi and Iga. Among the principal products of Yokkaichi may be mentioned oil, rice, paper, silk, and Banko faience, a ware, for the most part, exceedingly light and having hand-modelled decoration in relief. The best Banko shop is that kept by Kawamura Matasuke in Minami-machi; but as every variety of this cheap and fascinating ware is easily procurable in Yokohama and Kobe, there is no call to stop over a steamer on its account. At Yokkaichi the excellent Nippon Yusen Kwaisha steamer is exchanged for a small coasting one.

原資料 p. 278

Leaving Yokkaichi, the views are delightful as one skirts the W. shore of Owari Bay. In the distance are the mountains of Omi, Iga, and Ise, and in the foreground a pine-clad beach, forming a delicious symphony of yellow, green, and greyish blue, especially when seen through the opal haze of spring or autumn. The steamer calls in at Tsu, the capital of the prefecture of Mie, at a little more than half-way to Kami Yashiro; total time of voyage, about 5 hrs. (If one embarked at Atsuta, then from 7 to 8 hrs.) [It is possible to travel on in the same steamer right round the coast of the province of Kishu, calling in at some twenty small ports, and ending up at Kobe and Osaka.

原資料 p. 278

The coast scenery is charming, but the means of transit too uncomfortable to be recommended unless fine weather were a certainty.] The Ozaki-ya inn at Kami Yashiro is at the landing-place. The road on to Yamada is excellent. Indeed throughout the province of Ise the excellence of the roads, of the jinrikishas, and the jinrikisha-men adds considerably to the traveller's enjoyment. It is also possible to travel in carriages which resemble small prison-vans. Pilgrims avail themselves largely of this method of progression, which is cheaper than jinrikishas, but also slower. 3. Yamada and Neighbourhood; The Temples of Ise.

原資料 p. 278

Yamada (Inns, Abura-ya, and no less than 269 others, great and small) is a large town formed by the amalgamation of several smaller ones - Yamada proper, Uji, Furuichi, etc. It lives by and for the Ise pilgrims, as do all the towns on the road leading to it from the North. So openly is this fact acknowledged that the construction of the projected Sangu Tetsudo, or Pilgrim Railway, from Tsu to Yamada, has been temporarily abandoned in order not to ruin the country-side. The inns and tea-houses of Yamada are peculiarly lively, especially at night. At some of them a celebrated dance is performed, called the Ise Ondo.

原資料 p. 278

This dance possesses much grace, added to the interest of a considerable antiquity. Unfortunately, however, the character of the houses at which alone it is generally to be witnessed precludes us from recommending a visit thither. A religious dance called Kagura is executed at the temples before those pilgrims who choose to pay for it. It is divided into three grades, called "Small," "Great," and "Extra Great" (Sho, Dai, Dai-dai). The charges for these dances were in 1891 as follows: Ise Ondo, $2; Sho Kagura, $5; Dai Kagura, $10; Dai-dai Kagura, $20. Among the peep-shows and booths in which the main street of Yamada abounds, are some devoted to yet another kind of dance which may be seen for a cent or two.

原資料 p. 279

It is called O Sugi O Tama. The fun consists in the spectators flinging coppers at the faces of the girls who form the little orchestra, and who are trained to such skill in "ducking" that it is said they are never hit. The chief objects for sale at Yamada, besides holy pictures and other articles of Shinto devotion, are ornamental tobacco-pouches made of a peculiar sort of oil-paper. The best way to see the sights of Yamada and neighbourhood is to go the following round which takes a day by jinrikisha to do comfortably: from the inn to the Geku Temple, Futami, Asama-yama, the Naiku Temple, and back to the inn.

原資料 p. 279

The road is flat and good, excepting up Asama-yama, where there is an ascent of 22 cho on foot, the jinrikishas being meanwhile sent round the base to await the traveller on the other side. One may conveniently picnic either at the inn at Futami or on the top of Asama-yama. It may be mentioned that local Japanese parlance indicates respect for the great temples by suffixing the word San, "Mr.," to their names - thus Naiku San, Geku San, pronounced Naixan, Gexan. Thousands of pilgrims resort annually to the temples of Ise, chiefly in spring, when the country-folk have more leisure than at other seasons.

原資料 p. 279

The rationalistic educated classes of course take little part in such doings; but even at the present day the majority of artisans in Tokyo, and still more in Kyoto and Osaka, believe that they may find difficulty in gaining a livelihood unless they invoke the protection of the tutelary goddesses of Ise by performing the pilgrimage at least once in their lives, and the peasants are even more devout believers.

原資料 p. 279

In former times it was not uncommon for the little shop-boys of Yedo to abscond for a while from their employers, and to wander along the Tokaido as far as Ise, subsisting on the alms which they begged from travellers; and having obtained the bundle of charms, consisting of bits of the wood of which the temples are built, they made their way home in the same manner. This surreptitious method of performing the pilgrimage was called nuke-mairi, and custom forbade even the sternest parent or master from finding any fault with the young devotee who had been so far for so holy a purpose. Stories are even told of dogs having performed the pilgrimage by themselves.

原資料 p. 279

Those whose home is Kyoto are met by their friends at the suburb of Keage on their return home. The custom is for these friends - mostly females - to ride out singing the tune of the Ise Ondo dance, three persons being seated on each horse, one in the middle, and one on either side in a sort of wooden hod or basket. High revel is held at the tea-houses with which Keage abounds. This custom is termed saka-mukai. The Ise pilgrims may be distinguished by their gala clothes and by the large bundles of charms wrapped in oil-paper or placed in an oblong varnished box, which they carry suspended from their necks by a string.

原資料 p. 279

The special character of sanctity attaching to the Ise temples arises partly from their extreme antiquity, partly from the pre-eminence of the goddesses to whom they are dedicated. The Naiku, lit. "Inner Temple," is believed by the Japanese to date from the year 4 B.C., and is sacred to the Sun-Goddess Ama-terasu, ancestress of the Mikados. Down to the 14th century, some virgin Princess of the Imperial family was always entrusted with the care of the mirror which is the Sun-Goddess's emblem, and of which some Japanese writers speak as if it were itself a deity, while others take it to be merely the image of the goddess.

原資料 p. 279

It is kept in a box of chamaecyparis wood, which rests on a low stand covered with a piece of white silk.

原資料 p. 279

The mirror itself is wrapped in a bag of brocade, which is never opened or renewed; but when it begins to fall to pieces from age, another bag is put on, so that the actual covering consists of many layers. Over the whole is placed a sort of wooden cage with ornaments said to be of pure gold, over which again is thrown a cloth of coarse silk, falling to the floor on all sides. The coverings of the box are all that can be seen when the doors are opened at the various festivals.

原資料 p. 280

The Geku, or "Outer Temple," so-called because of its slightly inferior sanctity, is now dedicated to the Goddess of Food, Toyo-uke-bime-no-Kami, also called Ukemochi-no-Kami, but was in earlier times under the patronage of Kuni-toko-tachi-no-Mikoto, a god whose name signifies literally "His Augustness the Earthly Eternally Standing One." In either case this temple may be considered as sacred to the worship of a deification of the earth, while the Naiku is dedicated to a deification of the sun, the great ruler of heaven. The native authorities do not inform us of the character of the emblem by which the Earth-Goddess is represented.

原資料 p. 280

As in the case of other Shinto temples, so here also at Ise many secondary deities (ai-dono) are invoked. Those of the Naiku are Tajikara-o-no-Kami, lit. "the Strong-Handed-Male-Deity," who pulled the Sun-Goddess out of the cave to which she had retired to avoid her brother's ill-usage, and a goddess who was one of the ancestresses of the Imperial line. The secondary deities of the Geku are Ninigi-no-Mikoto, grandson to the Sun-Goddess and ancestor of the Imperial line, and two of the gods who attended him on the occasion of his descent from heaven to earth.

原資料 p. 280

A very ancient rule prescribes that the two great Ise temples, as also every minor edifice connected with them, shall be razed to the ground and reconstructed every twenty years in exactly the same style down to the minutest detail. For this purpose there are, both at the Naiku and at the Geku, two closely adjacent sites. The construction of the new temples is commenced on the vacant sites towards the end of the period of twenty years; and when they are finished, the ceremony of Sengyo, or "Transference," takes place, the sacred emblems being then solemnly and amidst a great concourse of pilgrims removed to the new buildings from the old.

原資料 p. 280

These are forthwith pulled down and cut up into myriads of charms (o harai), which are sold to pilgrims. The renovation last took place in October, 1889. The immemorial antiquity of the Ise temples is therefore only the antiquity of a continuous tradition, not that of the actual edifices.

原資料 p. 280

It is probable, however, that at no time for many centuries past could Ise have been seen to such advantage as at present, when the minute and enthusiastic researches of four generations of scholars of the "Shinto Revival" school into the religious archaeology of their nation have at last met with official encouragement, and the priests have been endowed with the pecuniary means to realise their dream of restoring the Japan of to-day to the religious practices, architecture, and ritual of pristine ages untouched by the foreign influence of Buddhism.

原資料 p. 280

Leaving the Abura-ya inn and wending through the town, we pass r., in Okamoto-cho, the Shimpu Kosha, where are sold small gold and silver medals called shimpu inscribed with the name of the Geku temple, together with other charms. The Geku Temple. The approach is pretty. A Shin-en, lit. "divine park," containing a circular lake, has replaced the houses and fields that covered the place previous to 1889, and beyond rises a hill finely timbered with cryptomerias, huge camphor-trees, maples, keyaki, and the sacred though not imposing masakaki (Cleyera japonica).

原資料 p. 280

The main entrance is by the Ichi no Torii, or "First Archway," to whose r. is the Sanshusho, lit. "Place of Assembly," where members of the Imperial family change their garments previous to worshipping in the temple. A broad road leads hence through the trees to the temple. A short way up it is the Ni no Torii, or "Second Archway," near which is a shop for the sale of pieces of the wood used in the construction of the temple, packets of rice that have been offered to the gods, and o fuda, or paper charms inscribed with the name of the Goddess of Food. Next door is a building where the kagura dances are performed at the request of pious pilgrims, and where the food offerings are sold for a few sen a meal.

原資料 p. 280

Beyond these buildings we soon reach the enclosure containing the Geku, or actual temple, concealed for the most part behind a succession of fences. The outer fence, called Ita-gaki, is built of cryptomeria wood, neatly planed and unpainted.

原資料 p. 280

It is 339 ft. in width at the front, and 335 ft. in the rear; the E. side is 247 ft., the W. side 235 ft. long, so that the shape is that of an irregular oblong, the formation of the ground rather than any necessary relation of numbers having determined the proportions. The temple on the alternative site, which was hewn down in 1889, had its long side E. and W., and the short N. and S. A little to one side of the middle of the front face is the principal entrance, formed of a torii similar to those already passed, but of smaller dimensions. The screen opposite is called a bampei.

原資料 p. 281

There are four other entrances in the Ita-gaki formed each by a torii, one on each side and two at the back, one of which belongs to the Mike-den, where the food offerings are set out twice daily. The S. torii gives access to a small court, the further side of which is formed by a thatched gateway ordinarily closed by a white curtain, while the ends are formed by the Ita-gaki. On the l. hand is a gate-keeper's lodge. Unless the pilgrim be an Imperial personage, he is prevented by the curtain from seeing much further into the interior; but by ascending a bank on the W. side of the enclosure, some idea of the general arrangement of the temple buildings can be gained.

原資料 p. 281

The curtain here mentioned has a melancholy historical interest. Viscount Mori, Japanese Representative first at Washington and then at the Court of St. James, afterwards Minister of Education and one of the foremost leaders of modern Japanese progress, was assassinated by a Shinto fanatic for having, when on a visit to Ise, lifted this curtain with his walking-stick in order to obtain a better view of the interior of the temple court. The murder did not take place at once, but some months later, on the 11th February, 1889, as Mori was donning his gala uniform for the ceremony of the promulgation of the Japanese Constitution.

原資料 p. 281

The assassin, one Nishino Buntaro, was immediately cut down by the Minister's attendants; but by an obliquity of judgment not uncommon in Japan, popular sympathy ranged itself so markedly on his side as against his unfortunate victim, that pilgrimages were made to his grave in the Yanaka cemetery at Tokyo, hundreds of wreaths and sticks of incense were placed upon it, and odes composed in the assassin's honour. The popular infatuation even went so far that it was, and perhaps still is, believed by many that Nishino Buntaro's intercession with heaven will ensure the fulfilment of any desire offered up to the gods through him.

原資料 p. 281

The thatched gate-way above-mentioned is the principal opening in a second fence called the Ara-gaki, composed of cryptomeria trunks alternately long and short, placed at intervals of about 2 1/2 ft., with two horizontal railings, one running along the top, the other along the centre. The distance of this fence from the outer enclosure varies from 10 ft. to 36 ft. on different sides of the square. Besides the torii on the S., there are three others, one on each side, corresponding to the other three main entrances of the boarded enclosure. These are unusual in style, being closed with solid gates, an arrangement rarely seen in Shinto temples.

原資料 p. 281

Inside the thatched gate-way is a shed 40 ft. by 20 ft. called the Shijo-den, a restoration of one of three buildings anciently called Naorai-dono, which were set apart for the entertainment of the envoys sent by the Mikado, after the celebration of the Kan-name no Matsuri, or "Festival of Divine Tasting." Just inside a small torii are the ishi-tsubo - spaces marked out by larger stones, r. for the Mikado's envoy, l. for the priests of the temple. At a distance of 33 yds. from the first thatched gate-way is a second, which gives access to a third court, surrounded by a palisade called the Tama-gaki, formed of planks about 8 ft. high, placed close together.

原資料 p. 281

Just within this court is a small wooden gate-way, immediately beyond which is a thatched gate-way, forming the entrance into the central enclosure. This enclosure is surrounded by a wooden palisade called Mizu-gaki.

原資料 p. 281

It is almost a perfect square, being 134 ft. by 131 ft. At the back of it is the Shoden or chapel, on the r. and l. of the entrance to which are the treasuries (hoden). The chapel is 34 ft. in length by 19 ft. in width. Its floor, raised about 6 ft. from the ground, is supported on wooden posts planted in the earth.

原資料 p. 282

A balcony 3 ft. wide, which is approached by a flight of nine steps 15 ft. in width, runs right round the building, and carries a low balustrade, the tops of whose posts are cut into the shape called hoshu no tama, which, strangely enough, is a Buddhist ornament, the so-called "Precious Jewel of Omnipotence." The steps, balustrade, and doors are profusely overlaid with brass plates; and the external ridge-pole, cross-trees, and projecting rafters are also adorned with the same metal. A covered way leads from the inner gate up to the steps of the chapel. The two treasuries are raised on short legs or stands, after the fashion of the store-houses of the Loochooans.

原資料 p. 282

They are said to contain precious silken stuffs, raw silk presented by the province of Mikawa, and trappings for the sacred horses. Between the Ita-gaki and the Ara-gaki stands the Heihaku-den, intended to contain the offerings called gohei. Another building in the enclosure is the Mike-den, where the water and food offered up to the gods of both the Geku and Naiku are daily set forth, in winter at 9 A.M. and 4 P.M., in summer at 8 A.M. and 3 P.M. Up to A.D. 729, the food offerings for the Naiku, having first been prepared at the Geku, were conveyed to the former temple, there to be set out.

原資料 p. 282

In that year, as this ceremony was being performed, the offerings were unwittingly carried past some polluting object which happened to be in the road. The consequence was that the Mikado fell sick, and the diviners attributed his sickness to the anger of the Sun-Goddess. Since that time the offerings for both temples have been set out only at the Geku. The offerings made to each of the principal deities consist of four cups of water, sixteen saucers of rice, four of salt, besides fish, birds, fruits, seaweed, and vegetables. The offerings to each lesser deity are the same, except that only half the quantity of fruit is provided.

原資料 p. 282

The architecture of the temples of Ise is believed to represent the purest and most ancient native Japanese style. The chief festivals are the "Praying for Harvest" (Kinen-sai), 4th February; "Presentation of Clothing" (Onzo-sai), 17th April; "Monthly festival" (Tsuki-nami no matsuri), 15th June; "Divine Tasting" (Kan-name), 15th and 16th September; "Harvest festival" (Shinzo-sai), 23rd November. Besides these a "Great Purification" (O-barai), is performed once every month, and also before each of the above-named grand festivals. On the side of a low hill to the S. of the chief temple buildings, stand two much smaller shrines. That to the l. is known as Ara-matsuri, that to the r. as Ame-no-miya.

原資料 p. 282

Higher up the same hill is the Taka-no-miya. After thus seeing as much as is permitted to be seen of the Geku, we re-enter our jinrikishas and speed along an excellent level road to Futami, a distance of 2 ri 10 cho. Several villages are passed, of which Kawasaki and Kurose are the largest, and an unusually long bridge called the Shio-ai no hashi, spanning the estuary of the Isuzu-gawa. There are constant delightful views of a mountain range to the r.

原資料 p. 282

Futami (Inn, Onsen, with sea-bathing) is considered by the Japanese to be one of the finest points of view on their coast, and few art motives are more popular than the Myoto-seki, or "Wife and Husband Rocks" - two rocks close to the shore, tied together by a straw rope. In this case the straw rope (shime) probably symbolises conjugal union. There is, however, a legend to the effect that the god Susa-no-o, in return for hospitality received, instructed a poor villager of this place how to protect his house from future visitations of the Plague-God by fastening such a rope across the entrance. A tiny shrine called Somin Shozai no Yashiro commemorates the legend.

原資料 p. 282

The view of islets and bays stretching away eastwards is indeed very pretty, and the rocks at Futami are of a peculiar character, being chlorite schist, a metamorphic slate. It may nevertheless be doubted whether Europeans would single out Futami for special praise from among the countless lovely scenes in Japan. [At a distance of 2 ri 10 cho beyond Futami lies the beautiful harbour of Toba (Inn, Osaka-ya) in the province of Shima, which may be reached by jinrikisha. The private dockyard there, called Tekkosho, will interest some travellers. A road leads hence to the celebrated waterfall of Nachi in Kishu, and right round the coast of that province to Wakayama and on to Osaka.

原資料 p. 283

As already mentioned, small coasting steamers also make the round touching at about twenty ports. The roads and accommodation are rough, but the scenery delightful and the winter climate mild.] If the weather be fine, none should miss the view from Asama-yama, which is one of the grandest in Japan. As explained on p. 247, this mountain stands between Futami and the Naiku Temple, and all except some 22 cho can be done in jinrikisha. The highest point where tea-houses are found and whence the celebrated view is obtained, lies 1,300 ft. above the sea.

原資料 p. 283

Below in the foreground is Owari Bay, while on the horizon stretches a long series of mountains - Futago-yama on the Hakone pass, Fuji, Yatsu-ga-take, Akiha-san, the volcano of Asama, Koma-ga-take, Tateyama in Etchu, Ontake, Norikura in Hida, Haku-san, Aburazaka in Echizen, Ibuki-yama in Omi, Tado-san, Mitsugo-yama, Suzuka-yama, and Nunobiki-yama on the W. frontier of Ise. The most conspicuous are Haku-san and Ontake. About 10 cho along the path over to the province of Shima is the Oku-no-in, or upper temple, dedicated to the Buddhist saint Kokuzo Bosatsu (Sanskrit, Akashagarbha). It is a very pretty little shrine.

原資料 p. 283

Rejoining the jinrikishas, a drive among rice-fields brings us to the outskirts of Yamada, where behind its new Shin-en, or "Divine Park," and embosomed in an antique grove, stands the Naiku Temple dedicated to the Sun-Goddess Ama-terasu. The arrangement of the temple grounds and enclosure is similar to that at the Geku; but the Naiku, as the more sacred of the two, is on a somewhat larger scale. The outer enclosure is 195 ft. in front, 202 ft. at the back, and 369 ft. at the sides. The innermost enclosure (Mizu-gaki) measures 149 ft. in front, 150 ft. at the back, and 144 ft. on each side.

原資料 p. 283

The bare open space adjoining the temple is the alternative site, which will be used to build on in the year 1909, when the present buildings are pulled down. 4. From Yamada to Kyoto by Road and Kwansei Railway. This is the Kyoto-Ise route sketched out on pp. 244-5, but traversed in the opposite direction. The road is excellent the whole way from Yamada to Seki, where the Kwansei Railway is joined, and perfectly flat except just at the end. Numerous towns and villages are passed through, constant bands of pilgrims are met, arrayed in holiday attire, and an air of bustle and prosperity pervades the whole country-side. To the l. are pleasant views of the Ise-Iga-Omi range.

原資料 p. 283

The well-cultivated plain to the r. mostly appears boundless, as it is too level to allow of many glimpses being caught of Owari Bay which lies beyond. The following are the most important places on the way: Matsuzaka (Inn, Tai-ya). The name of this town should be familiar to all Japanese scholars, as the birth-place of Motoori. Motoori Norinaga, the prince of Japanese literati, was born in 1730 and died in 1801.

原資料 p. 284

A pupil of the scarcely less distinguished scholar Mabuchi, he continued Mabuchi's work of investigating Japanese antiquity, bringing back into literary use the pure ancient Japanese language, restoring the Shinto religion to the supremacy of which Buddhism had robbed it, in a word, emphasising and glorifying everything native as against that part of Japanese civilisation which was new and of foreign origin.

原資料 p. 284

The restoration of the Mikado to the absolute authority which centuries before had been usurped by the Shoguns, was naturally a prime object of the endeavours of a man to whom antiquity and perfection were convertible terms, and in whose belief the Mikado was really and truly a descendant of the Goddess of the Sun. Motoori and his school thus became to some extent the authors of the revolution which, half a century later, overturned the Shogunate and brought the Mikado forth from seclusion to govern as well as reign. Motoori's works were very numerous.

原資料 p. 284

The greatest is his elaborate commentary on the Kojiki, called Kojiki Den, which is practically an encyclopedia of Japanese ancient lore, written in a style as clear as it is elegant. The printing of the 44 volumes of which it consists was not concluded till 1822, long after the author's death. Motoori was first buried at Myorakuji, some miles from Matsuzaka. The town is dominated by a hill called Yoio-no-Mori, on which stand the remains of the castle founded in 1584 by Kamau Hidano-Kami Ujisato. Below, at the entrance to the grounds, is the little Shinto temple of Yamamuro Jinja, dedicated to Motoori who has been apotheosised during the present reign. Tsu (Inn, Waka-roku).

原資料 p. 284

At the entrance to the town, on coming from the direction of Yamada and Matsuzaka, stands r. a temple dedicated to Yuki Kotsuke no Suke, a celebrated retainer of Kusunoki Masashige. It dates from 1884, and offers an elegant example of modern Shinto architecture. The same grounds contain a gaudily painted little shrine of Hachiman. In the middle of the town are two noted Buddhist temples, known as Kwannonji and Ko no Amida. The former is rather tawdry, the latter exquisite though on a small scale. The legend on which the sanctity of this temple rests, is a good example of the fusion that took place between Buddhism and Shinto in early times.

原資料 p. 284

A Buddhist priest named Kakujo made a pilgrimage of one hundred days to the shrine of the Sun-Goddess at Ise to entreat her to reveal to him her original shape - the idea in those days being, that the Shinto deities were avatars, or temporary manifestations (Gongen), of which Buddhist saints were the originals (Honchi Butsu). On the hundredth night the Sun-Goddess appeared to Kakujo in a dream, commanding him to go out next morning on the seashore of Futami, where she promised to show herself to him as she really was. He did so, and there appeared floating on the surface of the waves a gold-coloured serpent over ten feet long.

原資料 p. 284

But the priest was not yet satisfied. "This," cried he, "is but a pious fraud on the part of the divinity, whose real shape that monster can never be," and so saying, he took off him his priestly scarf and flung it at the serpent, which vanished with it into the sea. Three nights later the Goddess appeared to Kakujo in a second dream, and said: "The serpent indeed was but another temporary manifestation. My real shape is preserved in the temple of Muryojuji at Ko in the district of Suzuka in this same land of Ise. Go thither and thou shalt see it." He went accordingly, and found that Amida was the Buddhist deity there worshipped.

原資料 p. 284

The image was considered so holy that the priests of the temple at first refused to show it; but what was not the astonishment of all present when, on Kakujo's request being at last granted, the scarf which he had thrown at the sea-serpent was found twined round the image's neck! All this happened at a very early period. The removal of the temple to Tsu took place about A.D. 1680, when the original shrine at Ko had fallen into decay, and the image had been found one day thrown down on the place where the temple now holding it has been raised in its honour.

原資料 p. 284

The holy image is enclosed in a shrine on the altar, and is only exhibited on payment of a fee, when a short service in its honour is performed and the legend recited by the attendant priest. R. and l. are images of the "Kwannon of the Thirty-three Places," with the Shi Tenno in front.

原資料 p. 284

The "Thirty-three Places" are thirty-three shrines sacred to Kwannon in the provinces surrounding Kyoto. They are all carefully numbered, the first being Fudarakuji at Nachi in Kishu, and the last Tanigumi-dera in Mino. The pilgrimage to these places was instituted by the Emperor Kwazan, in obedience to a vision. This monarch, after losing his tenderly loved consort, abdicated in the year 986, and becoming a monk, devoted himself thenceforward to devout practices. In imitation of the original Thirty-three Places, thirty-three other places have been established in Eastern Japan, and also in the district of Chichibu.

原資料 p. 285

Behind, and continuing all round the walls of the building, are diminutive images of all the Buddhas and Bosatsu, called Sen-oku Butsu, lit., a thousand hundreds of thousands of Buddhas. Among other objects of interest, note the very large wooden figure representing Buddha dead. It is laid on real quilts. Gilt and painted carvings of Buddhas and angels fill the ramma of the chapel. The green coffered ceiling is covered with gilt Sanskrit characters in relief. A mirror in front of the altar attests that the temple belongs to the Shingon sect. A small octagonal structure to the l. contains gilt images of the Thirty-three Kwannon.

原資料 p. 285

If possible, this temple should be visited in the evening, when there are almost always crowds of pilgrims, who - though Ise is their chief objective point - also think it well to pay their respects at all the lesser shrines on the way thither. Shortly after leaving Tsu, those who can appreciate Buddhist ecclesiastical architecture should instruct their jinrikisha-men to turn a few yards out of the way to visit the immense temple of Senshuji more commonly called Takata no Gobo, at Isshinden. This, the chief monastery of the Takata sub-sect, was founded at Takata in Shimotsuke by the celebrated abbot Shinran Shonin in 1226, and removed here in 1465 by the priest Shin-e.

原資料 p. 285

The building is closely similar in style and scale to the vast Hongwanji temples described under Tokyo and Kyoto, which is as much as to say that it is majestically spacious and chastely rich. The architectural similarity is accounted for by the fact that the Takata and Hongwanji are sister sects, both being subdivisions of the great Shin sect. At the hamlet of Toyokuno is a sacred tree, called Zeni-kake-matsu, because the faithful are in the habit of tying coppers to it by wisps of paper. This custom is founded on the following legend: In the year 838 a nobleman named Ono-no-Takamura had been banished to the Oki Islands for having refused to go as ambassador to China.

原資料 p. 285

So his wife, disconsolate, resolved to make a pilgrimage to Ise in order to intercede with the Sun-Goddess on his behalf. On reaching this hamlet, she enquired the way of some grass-cutters, who, perceiving her to be a gentle lady unused to travel and danger, told her as a sorry jest that the shrine she sought was still twenty days distant. She was already wearied out, and had but a few coppers left. So believing that the Sun-Goddess would condescend to listen to the prayers of the faithful wherever offered up, she flung herself down before the pine-tree as the goddess's emblem, and then tied to one of its branches all the copper coins that she still possessed.

原資料 p. 285

The grass-cutters, avaricious as well as cruel, attempted to steal the money; but forthwith it changed into a two-headed serpent which darted out upon them. Thereupon they were converted from their evil ways, and the story ends by their escorting the lady on the short journey thence to Ise, and by every one living happily ever after. Ono-no-Takamura is celebrated as the author of a set of verses intended as a memoria technica for students of the Chinese ideographs, which is still in common use. The following is an example: Haru tsubaki, Natsu wa enoki ni, Aki hisagi, Fuyu wa hiiragi, Onajiku wa kiri. 春椿 夏榎 秋楸 冬柊 同桐.

原資料 p. 285

The meaning is that if to the radical for "tree" be added the character for "spring," the resulting compound is "camellia"; that the same radical and "summer" combine to form the enoki tree, and so on. On climbing the hill that leads into the valley where Seki lies, the long serrated peak seen l. is Shakujo-ga-take, while Suzuka-toge rises straight ahead. At Seki (Inn, Uo-ya), we join the Kwansei Railway, built alongside a portion of the old Tokaido road which is crossed and recrossed. The road climbs the Suzuka-toge, but the railway line cuts through it by two tunnels. The gradient is nevertheless steep enough to make the assistance of an extra engine necessary.

原資料 p. 286

The scenery is very pretty all the way to the first station, Tsuge. The valley then opens out on both sides. Before reaching Mikumo, the mountains about Lake Biwa come in view to the r. At Kusatsu Junction, where the Kwansei line terminates, the traveller changes carriages for Kyoto, the journey of a little over 1 hr. to which place is made by Tokaido Railway.

原資料 p. 286