The voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe; with a historical review of previous journeys along the north coast of the Old World . -story woodenhouses, intended for the Em-peror, the imperial family, andtheir suite. The buildingsare, like all Japanese houses,divided by movable panels intoa number of rooms, richlyprovided with paintings andgilded ornamentation, butotherwise without a trace offurniture. For the palace nowstands uninhabited since the noble in antique dre&s. Mikado overthrew the Shogun dynasty and removed to Tokio. It already gives a strikingpicture of the change which has taken
The voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe; with a historical review of previous journeys along the north coast of the Old World . -story woodenhouses, intended for the Em-peror, the imperial family, andtheir suite. The buildingsare, like all Japanese houses,divided by movable panels intoa number of rooms, richlyprovided with paintings andgilded ornamentation, butotherwise without a trace offurniture. For the palace nowstands uninhabited since the noble in antique dre&s. Mikado overthrew the Shogun dynasty and removed to Tokio. It already gives a strikingpicture of the change which has taken place in the land. Only theimperial family and the great men of the country were formerlypermitted to enter the sacred precincts of Gosho* Now itstands open to every curious native or foreigner, and it haseven as an exhibition building been already pressed into theservice of industry. Alongside the large buildings there areseveral small ones, of which one was intended to protectthe Emperor-deity during earthquakes; the others formedplay-places for the company of grown children who were thenpermitted to govern the 678 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [cHAr. Much more remarkable and instructive than the now de-serted imjjerial palace are the numerous temples at Kioto, ofwhich we visited several. We were generally received by thepriests in a large vestibule, whose lioor was covered with afine woollen carpet and was provided with tables and chairs ofEuropean patterns. The priests first offered us Japanese tea,cigars, and sweetmeats; then we examined some valuablearticles exhibited in the room, consisting of bronzes, works inthe noble metals, splendid old lacquer work, and a number of famous swords dedicated to thetemple. These were the onlythings that our freethinkingGovernor treated with rever-ence ; for the rest neither the23riests nor their reliques seemedto inspire him with any par-ticular respect. When a valuable Japanesesword is exhibited one touchesneither the hilt nor the
Size: 1127px × 2216px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookidvoyageofvega, bookyear1882
