Blue waters and green and the Far East today . robes and coats, every kind of the most beauti-ful fur that the frozen north can produce, are shownhere,—and shamefully cheap. I was glad F. was notalong, for even to me the prices were just resistible,no more. Nikko is the Rome, the Holy City of Japan. Whatstarted it I dont know, but it has more temples thanany other city in Japan, ten times over. The pietyand wealth of succeeding shoguns and emperors havelavished here the art and skill of each age for fivehundred years. I thought by stopping at the Nikko Hotel, whichlies on the same side as the
Blue waters and green and the Far East today . robes and coats, every kind of the most beauti-ful fur that the frozen north can produce, are shownhere,—and shamefully cheap. I was glad F. was notalong, for even to me the prices were just resistible,no more. Nikko is the Rome, the Holy City of Japan. Whatstarted it I dont know, but it has more temples thanany other city in Japan, ten times over. The pietyand wealth of succeeding shoguns and emperors havelavished here the art and skill of each age for fivehundred years. I thought by stopping at the Nikko Hotel, whichlies on the same side as the temples, I should havean easy time sight-seeing. I had no reason to re-gret my choice, for the Nikko is charming, but thereis no royal road for sight-seers. When I started outin the morning the hotel sent a guide with me whoseEnglish was fully as picturesque as the found afterwards he was a student and was justpracticing on me. Trying his English on a dog, asit were. There are over a hundred temples, Bud- [276] tn•0 p> zoz. JAPAN. dhist and Shinto both, indiscriminately placed, forthese religions have lived tolerantly side by side forthree hundred years, ever since Ieyasu taught theBuddhists that bloody lesson; but the Buddhist faithhas declined and Shinto is now the national religion. But the Buddhist temples here are beautifullykept up, as many of them were selected as tombs bythe Shoguns, since Ieyasus time, and are abun-dantly endowed. Constant repairs are going on. Theexteriors are regilt and furbished up, and there is nodecay, no ruins. The temples are all of wood, of the same generalpattern, rectangular, one-story, with steep roofs andprojecting eaves, laid on heavy beams, elaboratelycarved and gilded, and the facades adorned with woodcarvings, colored and plain. It is here one sees the famous three monkeys, see no evil, hear none, speak none, with their handsrespectively on eyes, ears, and lips. The wood carvings are mainly of great merit. Onetemple-
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