奈良とその周辺

ROUTE 45. NARA AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. Nara is now best reached by train from Ōsaka. One of the intermediate stations, Hōryūji, possesses considerable interest. ŌSAKA-NARA RAILWAY. Distance from Ōsaka: Ōsaka (Minato-machi); Tennōji, 2 1/2 m.; Hirano, 4 3/4 m.; Yao, 7 1/4 m. (alight for temple of Shigi-sen); Kashiwabara, 10 m.; Ōji, 15 3/4 m. (change for Takada and Sakurai); Hōryūji, 18 m.; Kōriyama, 22 1/2 m.; Nara, 25 1/2 m. The line, leaving the S.E. end of Ōsaka, passes along a wide, cultivated plain encircled at a considerable distance by mountains, those ahead and to the r. being the mountains of Yamato, the province in which Nara stands.

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The scenery is picturesque between Kashiwabara and Ōji, after which latter place on to Nara it becomes flat. From Yao it is 50 chō to Shigi-sen, the scene of a famous victory by Shōtoku Taishi over the rebel Mononobe-no-Moriya. The temple is dedicated to Bishamon, who is supposed to have lent his assistance to the victor. It is adorned with the crest of centipedes peculiar to that divinity. There is rather a good view. At Kashiwabara is a temple called Dōmyōji to which yearly pilgrimages are made. The vill. of Hōryūji (Inns, Daikoku-ya, Kase-ya) takes its name from a very ancient monastery, which, though somewhat battered by time, well merits a visit from all lovers of art and antiquity.

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The monastery of Hōryūji is the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, having been founded by Shōtoku Taishi and completed in A.D. 607. Owing to its unusually important collection of art treasures, it has attracted the attention of art critics and of the Imperial Government, the latter having in 1887 given a sum of $10,000 towards its support. There is also a local Hozon-kwai, or Society for the Preservation of the Temple. The temple is always open, excepting on certain special occasions. A fee of $1 should be given to the custodian, who will show the visitor the various objects of art (reihō-mono).

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Instead of entering by the main gate, called Akezu-no-mon, it is usual to take a short cut through the Hachiman gate close to the inns. In this way the Yume-dono is first visited, and the principal part of the monastery is taken afterwards. The Yume-dono, or Hall of Dreams, an octagonal building in the centre of an enclosure surrounded by a closed gallery, is dedicated to Kwannon. On the E. of the image of this goddess is that of the Eleven-faced Kwannon (600 years old), and on the W., Shōtoku Taishi, 1,100 years old. The Yume-dono is now generally kept closed. Behind it is a long building, in the r. part of which, called the Shari-den, the pupil of the left eye of Buddha is kept.

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It is shown every day at noon. The walls are covered with paintings by a Chinese artist named Shun-in. In the l. part of the building, called Go Eiden, are wall-pictures representing the events of the prince's life, attributed to Hada no Chishin, A.D. 1069. In this room is the ancient bronze image called the Yume-tagai no Kwannon, which is invoked to counteract the effects of bad dreams. Other buildings near by are the Dembō-dō connected by a small bridge, and Sōgenji. Leaving this part of the monastery, we pass through a gateway and come to a building which contains a small equestrian statue of Shōtoku Taishi subduing Moriya-no-Daijin; the incident is depicted in greater detail upon the ex-voto painting outside.

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In the corresponding building, called Taishi-dō or Shōryō-in, which is said to be in the same style as the Shishin-den or Chief Reception Hall of the ancient palace of Nara, is an image of the prince at the age of 35, attributed to himself, and a Nyo-i-rin Kwannon and Jizō by a Korean sculptor of the 6th century. We now approach the chief temples, which are contained in an oblong enclosure surrounded by a large closed gallery or kwairō.

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The Ni-ō in the two-storied gateway are remarkable statues; the black one is carved out of a single cryptomeria trunk, and the red one opposite is of wood covered with clay. The Kondō, which stands a little on the l. of the entrance, and the pagoda, are all that are left of the original buildings, and are the oldest wooden structures in Japan, their age being more than twelve centuries and a half. The Kondō contains, on the S. side, a bronze image of Buddha, formerly gilt, attributed to Tori Busshi, flanked by Yakuō Bosatsu and Yakujō Bosatsu. On the E. side is Yakushi Nyorai, also by Tori Busshi, with Nikkō Bosatsu and Gwakkō Bosatsu r. and l. The W. side is occupied by Amida, accompanied by Kwannon and Seishi.

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These three images were cast in 1231 to replace the original ones, which had been stolen. The wooden figures of Tamon-Ten and Kichijō-Ten date also from the middle of the 13th century. The Shi-Tennō are by two Chinese sculptors, and belong to the middle of the 7th century. The bronze image of Yakushi and the wooden figure of Fugen are said to have been brought to Japan by the Indian priest whose name is translated Zemui. On the N. side is another bronze Amida, flanked by Kwannon and Seishi, said to have belonged to Kōmyō Tennō (A.D. 1336 to 1348). The lanky wooden figure of Kokuzō Bosatsu, 8 ft. high, and the wooden Kwannon are said to be Indian.

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The walls are covered with paintings of Buddhist subjects, executed in a noble manner, attributed to the sculptor Tori Busshi and a Korean priest of the same early period. These are of extreme interest and value for the history of art in Japan. Of their great antiquity there can be little doubt, and the excellence of the style in itself confirms the opinion that they are the work of Korean artists, for they are superior to anything known to have been produced by Japanese painters.

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The ground-floor of the pagoda contains some very curious tinted terra-cotta groups ascribed to Tori Busshi; on the S., Amida with Kwannon and Daiseishi; on the E., Monju and Jōmyō Kōji or Yuima; on the N., the entry of Shaka into Nirvāna; and on the W. his cremation. The expression on the countenances of some of the weeping disciples is excellent; their costume represents what was supposed by the sculptor to be Indian dress. The Dai-Kōdō, or great Lecture Hall, on the N. side of the closed gallery, is dedicated to Yakushi and a host of other deities.

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On a mound behind is the Mine no Yakushi, an octagonal building dedicated to Yakushi. This image and the twelve smaller images representing the Signs of the Zodiac are attributed to Gyōgi Bosatsu. This temple is a unique sight, being literally hidden under the enormous number of short swords and metal mirrors placed there as offerings by men and women respectively, whose prayers for restoration to health have proved efficacious. Drills, presented by persons who have been cured of deafness, also line the walls in great numbers.

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The Kami no dō, a building on the r., contains colossal images of Shaka, Monju, Fugen, the Shi-Tennō, a group representing the death of Buddha, and paintings depicting the eight scenes of his existence, viz. his birth in the Tushita heaven, his conception by Maya Bunin, his birth on earth, admission into the priesthood, temptations, perfection, preaching, and entry into Nirvāna. In the building called Sankyō-in, on the W. side of the closed gallery, is an image of Shōtoku Taishi at the age of 42, besides an Amida by Gyōgi, a Monju, a Miroku, and the Shi-Tennō.

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The principal annual festival at Hōryūji is celebrated on the 22nd day of the 9th moon, according to the old Japanese calendar. Some 12 chō from Hōryūji stands Tatta, formerly pronounced Tatsuta, which is famous in Japanese poetry for the maples lining the banks of the river that passes by it. Near Hōryūji too is the misasagi, or tumulus, of Suinin Tennō, a prehistoric Mikado supposed to have reigned at the beginning of the Christian era. It is a large and striking gourd-shaped mound, planted with trees and having a broad new moat round it, and at one end a small torii forming the approach to a neat gravel walk. Kōriyama (Inn, Kiku-ya).

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The walls of Nara, when that city was the capital, extended almost to what is now the E. limit of this town. NARA. Nara, sometimes called Nantō by the learned (Inns, Musashino, prettily situated in the park at the foot of Mikasa-yama; Kado-ya, convenient central situation; both semi-foreign. Also Kiku-ya, Japanese; Jap. restaurant, Sawano-ya, near Kōbukuji).

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The chief products of Nara are Indian ink, fans, and little wooden toy figures of the Nō performances, called Nara ningyō. Nara was the capital of Japan during seven reigns, from A.D. 709 to 784, when the Emperor Kwammu removed the seat of government to the province of Yamashiro. The town has at the present day probably but a tenth of its former dimensions. It is situated in the North of Yamato, close to the boundary of Yamashiro, and at the foot of a range of mountains which runs N. and S., roughly dividing the upper part of Yamato into two halves. The site where the palace stood is about three miles W. of the town on the Hokkeji road.

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From the Musashino inn, the chief sights of Nara may be conveniently taken in the following order on the way back to the railway station. Kasuga no Miya. This temple is dedicated to the ancestor of the Fujiwara family, the Shintō god Ama-no-Koyane, to his wife, and to the gods or mythical heroes Take-mikazuchi and Futsu-nushi. It is said to have been founded in the year 767, at the desire of Take-mikazuchi, who rode up to Nara on a white deer in search of a new residence, and then summoned the other three gods to come and dwell with him there.

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The great yearly festival is held on the 17th December. From the inn the path descends the steps past the shops where the Nara ningyō and articles made out of deer's horns are sold, crosses a bridge over a tiny stream called the Izagawa, and turns up to the l. through a red painted temple dedicated to Gozu Tennō, under which name Susa-no-o is frequently worshipped.

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It then continues through the wood to a clearing at the back of the temple, where tame deer usually congregate in the expectation of being fed, and, passing through rows of stone lanterns of which it is said that no one knows the number, enters the Main Temple through a side gate in the Sujikai-no-Ma, a gallery attributed to the famous carver Hidari Jingorō. The bright red of the temple edifices and the countless brass lanterns with which they are hung, contrast strikingly with the reposeful green of the magnificent cryptomerias all around and between the buildings.

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The open shed called the Haiya, or Oratory, where in ancient times the Daimyōs used to come to worship, is now used by the townspeople on the evening of the Setsubun (3rd February) for the performance of the ceremony of scattering beans to expel evil spirits. In the S.W. corner of the outer gallery is a small shrine to Saruta-hiko, the god who is supposed to be lord of the soil.

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According to the myth, this god made an agreement with the god of Kashima to lease 3 ft. of earth to him; but the latter cunningly enclosed 3 ri square of ground during the night, pretending that the "three feet" in the contract referred only to the depth of soil. It is the popular belief that, in consequence of this trick of Take-mikazuchi, no tree on Kasuga-yama sends its roots more than 3 ft. below the surface. At the end of a long avenue of standing lanterns to the r. of the Main Temple stands the Wakamiya, a temple dedicated to Ama-no-oshikumo, son of Ama-no-koyane. Many of the lanterns which line the approach are lighted every night.

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Formerly, when the annual subscriptions for that purpose were liberal, all were lighted, and the effect produced among the dark evergreens of the grove was highly picturesque. In front are an open shed where pilgrims bow down, and a long low building occupied by the priests. A few young girls are in attendance to perform the ancient dance called kagura. Their dress consists of a pair of wide red trousers, a white under-garment, and a long gauzy mantle adorned with the Kasuga crest of wistaria.

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Their hair is gathered into a long tress which hangs down behind; a chaplet of artificial flowers-the wistaria and scarlet single camellia-is worn on the forehead, and the face is plastered thickly with white-lead powder. The girls hold in their hands, as the dance proceeds, now a fan, and now a bunch of small bells. The orchestra consists of three priests who perform on the drum and flute, and sing a hymn. The payment demanded is from 50 sen up to $10, according to the length of the performance. The Oku-no-in, a temple beyond the Wakamiya, is uninteresting.

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Returning to the Musashino inn the way he came, the traveller can go for a short way by jinrikisha through the wood to the Tamuke-yama no Hachiman, another red and white Shintō temple, now somewhat decayed, but celebrated in Japanese poetry as the scene of an ode by Sugawara-no-Michizane, included in the famous "Century of Poets" (Hyaku-nin Isshu), which all Japanese have by heart.

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It says: Kono tabi wa Nusa mo tori-aezu Tamuke-yama Momiji no nishiki Kami no mani-mani, which may be roughly rendered thus: "This time I bring with me no offerings; the gods may take to their hearts' content of the damask of the maple-leaves on Mount Tamuke"-the allusion being to the maple-trees which grow in plenty on this spot. The brightly coloured mural picture in the building l. on entering represents the encounter at the Rashō-mon in Kyōto between Watanabe-no-Tsuna and the ogre.

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Leaving Tamuke-yama, and passing the temples of San-gwatsu-dō and Shi-gwatsu-dō, now too much decayed to deserve more than a parenthetical reference to the great gaunt images contained in them, we reach the Ni-gwatsu-dō, a fine Buddhist temple of original aspect. It seems to cling to the side of the hill against which it is built out on piles.

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It is led up to by a steep flight of stone steps, while a perfect cloud of metal lanterns hung all along the front lend their quota of peculiarity to the general appearance. Parallel to the flight of steps on the other side is a gallery called Taimatsu no Rōka, or Torch Gallery, because torch-light processions wend their way up it on the great festival night, the 3rd February. It is believed to be miraculously preserved against danger from fire. The view over the town from the front is fine, magnificent timber and the tiled roof of the Hall of the Daibutsu being the most noticeable features. The Ni-gwatsu-dō, which is dedicated to Kwannon, was founded in A.D. 752, though the present building is only about two centuries old.

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According to the legend, a tiny copper image of Kwannon had been picked up, which possessed the miraculous quality of being warm like living flesh. Ever since it was enshrined in this temple, the custom has been to hold a special series of services called Dattan no Okonai during the first half of the second month of the year, whence the name Ni-gwatsu-dō (Hall of the Second Moon). The image is exposed for adoration on the 18th of each month. Descending the Torch Gallery, we reach a well called Wakasa no I, contained in a small building which is opened only on the 1st February of each year.

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The legend says that when the founder dedicated the temple, the god of Onyū in the province of Wakasa begged leave to provide the holy water, whereupon a white and a black cormorant flew out of the rock and disappeared, while water gushed forth from the hole. From that time the stream which had flowed past the chapel of Onyū dried up, its waters having been transferred to the Ni-gwatsu-dō. Local report tells of unbelievers having become convinced of the truth of the miracle by throwing rice-husks into the original spring in Wakasa, which turned up after a due interval in the spring here at Nara. We next reach the enclosure of Tōdaiji, first passing the famous bell which hangs in a substantial belfry.

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This great bell was cast in A.D. 732. Its measurements are height 13 ft. 6 in., greatest diameter 9 ft. 1.3 in., and greatest thickness at the edge 8.4 in. (Japanese measure). Nearly 36 tons of copper and 1 ton of tin were used in the casting.

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Then proceeding downhill through the wood to the huge, ungainly building which contains the Daibutsu, or Gigantic Image of Buddha, larger than the one at Kamakura, though much less admirable as a work of art. Founded by Shōmu Tennō, the temple of Tōdaiji was completed about the year 750, but on a much grander scale than it now presents. The actual building containing the Daibutsu, though it dates only from the beginning of the 18th century, is already much weather-worn and out of the perpendicular.

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Its dimensions are stated as follows: height 156 ft., length of front 260 ft., depth 170 ft. The Hall has recently been so arranged that one may enter without taking one's boots off. Indeed the whole place has lost its religious character, the side and back part of the building having been turned into an exhibition, thus producing an impression of desecration which is extremely painful. The height of the image is said to be 53 ft., or 7 ft. higher than the Daibutsu at Kamakura.

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It is in a sitting posture, with the legs crossed, the right hand uplifted, with the palm outwards and the tips of the fingers about on a level with the shoulder, and the left hand resting on the knee with the back of the fingers towards the spectator. The body of the image and all the most ancient part of the lotus-flowers on which it is seated are apparently formed of plates of bronze 10 in. by 12 in., soldered together, except the modern parts, which are much larger castings.

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The petals of the reversed lotus seem to be single castings, and the head, which is much darker in colour, also looks like a single piece. A peculiar method of construction is said to have been adopted-namely, of gradually building up the walls of the mould as the lower part of the casting cooled, instead of constructing the whole mould first, and then making the casting in a single piece.

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The thickness of the casting varies from 6 in. to 10 in. The original parts of the upturned lotus forming the image's seat are engraved with representations of Buddhist gods and of Shumisen (Sanskrit, Sumēru), the central axis of the universe, surrounded by various tiers of heavens. Here and there traces of substantial gilding are visible, which lead to the conjecture that the whole image was probably gilt when first made. The modern head is ugly, owing to its black colour, and to its broad nostrils and swollen cheeks. Behind it rises up a brightly gilt wooden glory containing large images of Bosatsu.

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Visitors are allowed to walk up a scaffolding to inspect the upper and back parts of the image. On the Daibutsu's r. hand is a gilt image of Kokuzō Bosatsu, which, though 18 ft. high, looks as nothing in comparison. To the l. is a Nyo-i-rin Kwannon of the same size. Both these subordinate images date from the beginning of the 18th century. The history of the Nara Daibutsu is as follows. In the year 736 the Emperor Shōmu conceived the idea of constructing a colossal Buddhist image, but fearing to offend the native gods, sent the priest Gyōgi to the Sun-Goddess's temple in Ise to present her with a relic of Buddha, and find out how she would regard his project.

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Gyōgi passed seven days and nights at the foot of a tree close to her gate, at the end of which time the chapel doors flew open, and a loud voice pronounced an oracular sentence which was interpreted in a favourable sense. On the night after the priest's return, the Mikado dreamt that the Sun-Goddess appeared to him, and announced her approval of his plan of erecting a Buddhist temple, and he in consequence determined to have an image 160 ft. high made of gold and copper. A proclamation was issued in 743, calling upon the people to contribute, and in 744 the Mikado himself directed the construction of the model.

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The image was to be cast at Shigaraki in Ōmi, the then capital; but two years later the Court removed to Nara, and the image was not completed. In 747 Shōmu began the casting of another image, and with his own hands carried earth to form the platform. Eight attempts in all were made, which were finally crowned with success in 749. As Japan had not up to that time produced any gold, the Mikado was in despair lest he should not be able to procure enough of that metal to gild it all over; but the discovery of gold in Ōshū in the same year came opportunely to supply the want. In 859 the head of the image fell off, but was replaced.

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In 1180 the whole building was destroyed by fire in a civil war, and the head of the image was melted by the flames, but both temple and image were restored fifteen years later. The temple was burnt again in 1567, and once more the head of the image fell off. It was replaced not long after at the expense of a private individual. From this time the image remained exposed to the elements in the condition of a nure-botoke (wet-god), as the Japanese familiarly say, until the reconstruction of the temple some 130 years later. The deity represented is Roshana, or Birushana, an impersonation of light-a Buddhist personage easily identified by priestly ingenuity with the Shintō Sun-Goddess.

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Immediately behind the great image are shown some eighth century masks, tiles of the original temple, a coloured statuette of the abbot Kōkei Shōnin who built the present edifice, etc., etc. The Exhibition proper-the exhibits being set out in cases all round the inner walls of the Daibutsu-dō-is extremely interesting, for the antique objects shown are very numerous and undoubtedly genuine. To begin with, there is a large number of ancient wooden statues, chiefly Buddhistic, brought together from various smaller temples in Nara and elsewhere. Some of them retain traces of rich colouring.

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Then there are carvings in high-relief of the 12 followers of Yakushi, attributed to Kōbō Daishi and evidently very old-a grotesque but spirited set. Next we come to some curious old reliquaries, models, musical instruments, swords, ancient boxes, articles in lacquer, pottery and porcelain, woven stuffs, masks used in the pantomimic dances of early days, and horse-trappings. At the end are some absurd peep-shows. In the spacious courtyard in front of the Daibutsu-dō is a remarkable ancient octagonal bronze lantern, with Buddhist images and conventional animals.

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It is ascribed to a Chinese artist of the 8th century, and is one of the earliest specimens of such work. Behind the Daibutsu-dō, in the wood, is a celebrated store-house in which, over 1,000 years ago, specimens of all the articles then in daily use were put away, thus forming an invaluable archaeological museum, which, however, is unfortunately not open to the public. The visitor leaves the grounds of Tōdaiji and its Daibutsu by two large gates, called respectively Niten-mon and Ni-ō-mon.

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The latter has in the exterior niches a colossal pair of Ni-ō, which are considered admirable specimens of that class of sculpture. They are attributed to Kwaikei, about the year 1095. The interior niches contain a remarkable pair of stone lions of unknown date. Joining the great avenue which leads up to the temple of Kasuga, but walking down instead of up it and passing through the large torii, we come to the Kiku-ya Hotel, beyond which, to the r., is the Buddhist temple of Kōbukuji, conspicuous by its two pagodas. This once grand temple, founded in A.D. 710, was burnt in 1717 and retains little of its ancient splendour.

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The following buildings may be mentioned: the Tōkondō, dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai. The enormous pine-tree with spreading branches supported on poles in front of the Tōkondō is said to have been planted by Kōbō Daishi as a perpetual offering to the god Yakushi, instead of flowers. The Kondō, which is full of excellent ancient wooden statues, amidst a crowd of which will be distinguished a pair of Ni-ō, remarkable for their correct anatomy, and considered by some connoisseurs to be the best examples of wood-carving to be found in Japan; and the Nan-endō, an octagonal building containing two colossal images of Kwannon.

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The octagonal shape of the building is taken from the fabulous Buddhist mountain Fudaraku-sen (Sanskrit, Potala), which is supposed to be Kwannon's favourite retreat. The two-storied European building close by is the Prefecture. South of Kōbukuji, under a hill, lies a pond called Sarusawa no Ike. The local legend tells of a beautiful maiden at the Mikado's court, who was wooed by all the courtiers, but rejected their offers of marriage, because she was in love with the Mikado.

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The latter had pity on her for a while; but when he afterwards began to neglect her, she went secretly away by night and drowned herself in this pond. The small platform at the side of the road to the r. of the pond is for the use of pilgrims desirous of performing from a distance their obeisances to the Mausoleum of Jimmu Tennō (see p. 332). Near the outskirts of the town in this direction are the tumuli of the Emperors Kaikwa and Shōmu-mere mounds interesting only to the professed antiquarian. This ends the sights of Nara. Those with a little time to spare might devote it to walking up Mikasa-yama close behind the Musashino Hotel.

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From the stone at the summit (600 ft. above the base), a fine view N.W. is obtained of the Kizugawa valley, and W., of the plain of Nara stretching away to the mountains which divide it from the province of Kawachi. The town of Kōriyama lies S.W. Seven ri to the N.E. of Nara, up the course of the Kizugawa, is the village of Tsukigase, famous for its plum-tree orchards, which line the stream for upwards of 2 m., and diffuse a delicious scent in March when they are in blossom. No other place in Japan can boast such a show of the pink and white flowers of this fragrant tree.

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Some rapids, which occur a little lower down the course of the river, afford a pleasant change for a portion of the return journey to Nara; or else the traveller may join the Kwansei Railway at Tsuge and proceed either W. to Kusatsu and Kyōto, or E. to Yokkaichi and Tōkyō. A pleasant short day's excursion for travellers staying at Nara is to take the train to Hōryūji, and, after visiting the temple there, to proceed by jinrikisha to Yakushi-ji, a run of about 3/4 hr. This ancient temple, also known as Nishi-no-Kyō, is now indeed sadly decayed; but the bronze image of Kwannon (Shō-Kwannon) enshrined in it is one of the most precious legacies of Japanese-or more strictly speaking, Korean-art.

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The temple possesses numerous other images, as do those of Shōdaiji and Saidaiji in the vicinity, all formerly famous, but now on the verge of ruin owing to neglect. The jinrikisha ride back from Yakushi-ji to Nara will occupy about 2 hrs.

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