Japan and her people . stop suddenly, as if cut off, on the edgeof the rice fields. Once these ridges must have beencliffs washed by the waves, in the pre-historic timewhen the sea came up here and extended for miles tothe north and east, over the great level which is nowknown as the IMusashi plain. When the coast roseand the sea retreated, there was left a vast reedymorass, where the wild Emishi (Ainu) used to hide;for which reason the Japanese called them Reed-men. It may have been somewhere hereabouts that Yo-shiiye of Miuamoto, grandfather of Yoritomo, hadhis famous encounter with the Emis
Japan and her people . stop suddenly, as if cut off, on the edgeof the rice fields. Once these ridges must have beencliffs washed by the waves, in the pre-historic timewhen the sea came up here and extended for miles tothe north and east, over the great level which is nowknown as the IMusashi plain. When the coast roseand the sea retreated, there was left a vast reedymorass, where the wild Emishi (Ainu) used to hide;for which reason the Japanese called them Reed-men. It may have been somewhere hereabouts that Yo-shiiye of Miuamoto, grandfather of Yoritomo, hadhis famous encounter with the Emishi. I once sawthe scene represented on a double folding screen; afew sweeps of the brush had transformed the smooth,brownish surface of the paper into a vast plainshrouded in mist, through which a tall plume ofsiizuki grass showed here and there, just as you may seeit any day if you take the early train from Uyenostation, only now it will be rice-stalks instead ofrushes that rise through the mist. On one panel two 208. OJI MAPLES. 209 or three knights reined in their horses on the edge ofthe plain; on the other, a flock of wild fowl flew rest-lessly hither and thither. That was all; but to aJapanese eye it told the whole story; how the greatgeneral Yoshiiye led an expedition against the rebel-lious Ernishi, and how the land seemed all open andsafe, so that the knights were riding gaily down fromthe hills in the morning sun. But Yoshiiye markedthe troubled flight of the birds, and bade his men waitwhile he sent scouts forward to see what had disturbedthe wild things from their feeding grounds ; and theysearched and found an army of barbarians, withshort bows bent, hidden in the low mist. So Yo-shiiye fought and slew them, and subdued all the re-gion for his lord. Oji, a few stations out from Uyeno, has pleasanterand less warlike associations. The station lies undera great hill, called Akusa, which for two or three cen-turies has been a favorite resort of flower th
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