A glimpse of the isles of the Pacific . little above sea level and about amile from the sea; it is the greatest of the idols in Japan,and the photograph of it is well known to all readers ofJapanese history—A statue solid set and moulded incolossal calm, no other gives such an impression ofmajesty, or so truly symbolizes the central idea ofBuddhism. It is, indeed, a remarkable statue, being forty-nine feet seven inches high; made of bronze plates twoinches thick and solidly welded together, it has withstoodthe waves, wind, and weather for six hundred and fifty-fiveyears, and looks like it woul
A glimpse of the isles of the Pacific . little above sea level and about amile from the sea; it is the greatest of the idols in Japan,and the photograph of it is well known to all readers ofJapanese history—A statue solid set and moulded incolossal calm, no other gives such an impression ofmajesty, or so truly symbolizes the central idea ofBuddhism. It is, indeed, a remarkable statue, being forty-nine feet seven inches high; made of bronze plates twoinches thick and solidly welded together, it has withstoodthe waves, wind, and weather for six hundred and fifty-fiveyears, and looks like it would stand the wear of a thousandyears to come. The exclusive privilege to take photographsof these statues and temples has been sold to the Japaneseattendants; therefore, we could not use our kodak here, butgot the attendant, or priest, to take a photograph for us;he is prepared with a good camera for that purpose. Wewent inside the statue and climbed a small stairway to thetop, where they keep candles burning, at least during the 197. hours when visitors are expectecL These attendants haveno more respect for this god than we have, and that is noneat all, and really, from my short observations, I do notthink the Japanese people have much, if any, respect for anyof these so-called gods, or idols. They keep an attendant,called a priest (I call him a care-taker) at the temples,but they are more to protect the temples and idols frombeing marred or damaged by visitors than for any purposeof worship, and at the same time collect a small fee fromsight-seers. Many names are written on the inside ofDaibutsu by enterprising tourists who like to see theirnames written in high places. The Temple of Ewanon is located on a small hill ashort distance from Daibutsu. It contains the great imageof the Goddess of Mercy, which is kept behind folding-doors. By paying the attendant a small fee, he opened thedoors and lit up tallow candles for us to see the is thirty feet, five and one-ha
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidglimpseofisl, bookyear1907
