奈良から山田・伊勢神宮へ

35. From Nara to Yamada and the Shrines of Ise.

Kansai and Sangu Lines of the Imperial Government Railways.

79 M. Several trains daily in about 5 hrs.; for fare see the Rly. Time Table. Unless one boards a car marked Toba (the station at the end of the line), a change may be necessary (in same station) at Kameyama. When pilgrims to the shrines are on the move (usually in springtime), the 2d. cl. cars are apt to be uncomfortably crowded. From Yamato Province the train goes through the lower end of Yamashiro, then crosses Iga before entering Ise (Chinese, Seishu) — whence the shrines derive their name. The two first provinces belong to the Five-Home group; the others to the 15 provinces or states comprising the Eastern Sea Road. Because the shrines are at the town of Yamada, in the province of Ise (E'say), the place is often referred to as Yamada-Ise. Southbound travelers who find themselves at Nagoya can reverse Rte. 26, visit Yamada, and travel thence to Nara. There is a platform restaurant at Kameyama and warm bento is offered for sale.

From Nara the train runs back toward Kyoto to 4 M. Kizu, then branches to the right (E.) and enters a hilly region drained by the flanking Kizu-gawa. [If one's motor-car is not too heavy to negotiate the rather flimsy bridges, the auto road seen from the train will afford a pleasant highway between Nara and Yamada.] The region roundabout is carefully cultivated, and in Nov. it flames with turning maples. 8 M. Kamo, in a hilly district through which winds the Kizu River, is a shipping-point for the tea which grows in the neighborhood. The rly.

compasses the hills on terraces cut from them and held in place by huge and costly stone embankments. 12 M. Kasagi, a poor but picturesque town on the banks of the Shinono-gawa, sprawls up the flank of Kasagi-yama, and is the place where the Emperor Go-Daigo took refuge to escape Hojo Takatoki (in 1331). Soon afterward he was besieged on the mt., made prisoner, and banished to Oki Island. — Immense rocks fleck the mt. side and seem ready to fall upon the train as it edges gingerly along below. Many bamboo articles are made from this arborescent grass, which grows in groves on the slopes hereabout. As the train enters a wild gorge, great rocks are descried in the bed of the dashing river, to which the steel flumes that come down the hillsides add their quota of spume. The line follows the sinuosities of the stream, then crosses it and runs over a steadily ascending grade to Okawara, beyond which a big tunnel (1266 ft. long), then a smaller one, both of the same name, are threaded before the rly. descends through the Shimagawara Tunnel to the nondescript Shimagawara Station. Fine gray granite is quarried hereabout, and a yellow clay employed in the manufacture of earthenware is shipped hence to the Kyoto potteries. Tsukigase, a small town 6 M. to the S.W. in Yamato Province, is a popular resort for Nara folks who come hither in March to see the display of flamboyant plum blossoms on the trees which flank the Kisu River. 25 M. Ueno. 30 M. Tsuge Jct., in Iga Province. A branch line of the Kansai Line runs hence (several trains daily) to (22 M.) Kusatsu, a station near the Lake of Omi, on the Tokaido (Rte. 26). Between Tsuge and (39 M.) Seki the rly. ascends over a gradient of 1 in 40 to the Kabuto Tunnel (3044 ft. long and 1062 ft. above the sea), then descends through two more tunnels and across three bridges to (43 M.) Kameyama (273 ft.), where it turns and runs toward the S.E. along the W. shore of Ise Bay.

From Kameyama to Nagoya, over the Kansai Main Line, is 37 M., and the several daily trains compass the trip in about 2 hrs. For fares see the Rly. Time Table. The first part is over a broken country marked by dense pine groves and tea plantations. Beyond 10 M. Kawarada the country flattens out and the rly. crosses a wide prairie-like region drained by the Uchibe River. It is subject to overflows in spring, and the numerous transversal dikes are aimed to keep the water where it belongs. 14 M. Yokkaichi, an important port on Ise Bay, in Ise Province, with 31,000 inhabs., is known locally for its manufactures of paper and for the Banko faience sold at Ise. In ancient times it was a well-known point on the Tokaido, which still runs through it; at present its many factory chimneys cause it to look like a miniature Osaka. For some distance the rly. flanks the Tokaido, which is still bordered by ancient pine trees. The bulky mt. range at the left is the dividing line between the provinces of Ise and Omi. The country is thickly settled and intensively cultivated; dogs help the farmers in their work, and immense quantities of vegetables are produced on the level, rich land. 23 M. Kuwana, with 22,000 inhabs. (Inn: Funatsu-ya) is an old castle town which during the 16th cent. was the home of the Ise family. Its several temples are of no interest to the casual traveler. Traversing a level country and then sweeping broadly to the right, the rly. crosses the Horima-gawa, then the wide Ebi-gawa, spanned by a 16-arch steel bridge 3255 ft. long. The country between this point and Nagoya is flat and is furrowed by ... [remainder on damaged p. 600 unrecoverable].

[Editorial note: The available source scan for page 600 is severely damaged, and its text cannot be reliably recovered.]

per 1/2 day, and ¥5.00 an hr. A cursory view of the two shrines and Futami (including Toba) can be had in about 3 hrs., but the traveler with time to spare should devote more to them. The views from the hilltops behind Toba are superb, and the walk back through Futami is delightful. By boarding a rly. train at Yamada, for Toba, climbing the hill behind it, then walking back to Futami and boarding a tram-car there for Naiku, one can get a comprehensive view of the surrounding country. Asama-yama may be ascended from Naiku, but the trip should be undertaken early in the morning. The Museum and the old Furuichi quarter lie between Naiku and the hotel, and may conveniently be inspected on the way back.

The Yamada Shops contain but little of real worth. The chief specialties are pills, chop-sticks made from the wood of demolished shrines, and the rather coarse earthenware called Banko-yaki.

The Shrines of Ise, or Ise Daijingu, the 'Two Great Divine Palaces' of the primitive Shinto cult (comp. p. ccxiv); archaic and greatly venerated structures erected on the site of originals dating from the 5th cent. are consecrated to the Sun-Goddess Amaterasu and other tutelar saints, and while not as ancient as those of Kizuki, in Izumo (p. 543), in point of sanctity they rank highest of all the Shinto temples in Japan. Here the ancient ceremonials are conducted in their pristine simplicity, without innovations of any kind, and here also what is claimed to be the pure Shinto style of architecture can be studied to the best advantage. So unwavering is the belief of the proletariat that they are the specially chosen terrestrial abode of the Kami or gods which watch over the Japanese, that a horde of pilgrims, devout and otherwise, foregather here during each year and worship in their own behalf, or that of the scores of hamlets and villages, individuals and associations, that deputize them to make the holy pilgrimage in their names. To countless millions of the Nipponese the sanctified spot is what Mecca is to the Mahometans, Jerusalem to the Christians, and Guadalupe to the Mexicans. According to an accepted authority (Sir Ernest Satow), no artisan in Tokyo who is a devotee of the creed 'considers it possible to gain a livelihood unless he has invoked the protection of Daijingu Sama, as the common people are accustomed to call the gods of Ise, by performing the journey thither once at least, and the peasants are even more devout believers. In former years it was a common thing for the little shop-boys of Yedo to abscond for a while from their master's houses and to wander along the Tokaido as far as Ise, subsisting on the alms which they begged from travelers; and having obtained the bundle of charms, consisting of pieces of the wood of which the temple is built, they made their way back home in the same manner. The Ise pilgrims are distinguished on their return by large bundles of charms, wrapped in oiled paper, which they carry suspended from their necks by a string.'

Photographing or sketching, and smoking, are forbidden in the grounds, and the relic-maniac should refrain from detaching souvenirs of his visit. So sacred are the structures in the eyes of the Japanese that the carpenters who work on them must not only bathe frequently, but are required also to wear spotless white clothes and to discard them at the first appearance of any stain. If a workman cuts his finger and permits a drop of the blood to fall on a piece of wood, this is instantly rejected. The wood itself is specially selected hinoki and cryptomeria of the finest grain, cut from the Imperial Forests on the Kiso Mts., on the border-line between Mino and Shinano Provinces. Ceremonies almost as elaborate as when a new shrine is built mark the felling of the trees — properly to consecrate them. Branches of the Ise Shrines are located at various points in the Empire, and all the island roads are supposed to center at Ise.

The Geku, or Outer Shrine (or Palace), dedicated to Toyo-uke Daijin (or Toyo-uke-bime no kami), Goddess of Cereals and daughter of Izanagi and Izanami, is said to have been founded in A.D. 478. It stands in the midst of a magnificent grove of aged and lofty cryptomerias near the rly. station, at the S. side of the town, about 4 M. from its companion, the Naiku, or Inner Shrine, which is similarly situated near Uji village, at the E. A splendid boulevard, the Miyuki-dori, constructed, as its name implies, specially for the use of the Imperial Family, lays its length through the continuous villages of Mioken-machi, Furuichi, Ushidani, and Uji, and is now used by all. Electric tram-cars (10 sen, in 25 min.) and automobiles (12 sen) ply continuously between the two shrines, which are so much alike architecturally that

seeing one is almost equivalent to seeing both. The Naiku is the larger and holier of the two, and has the most pleasing environment.

The pretty lotus-pond just within the entrance of the park enshrining the Geku is called Magatama-ike, from its fancied resemblance to one of these ancient ornaments. An arched wood bridge with 8 metal giboshu gives access to the inclosure, where the first objects to attract the attention are numerous war-trophies in the form of cannon and what-not captured in the Chinese and Russian wars. The same number of torii, gateways, fences, and edifices to be found in the Naiku Shrine are grouped beside the superb avenue of giant trees which leads up to them. The splendid old camphor tree which stands at the right of this, upheld by many supporting beams, and called Kiyomori no kusunoki, is said to have been planted by the valiant warrior, Taira Kiyomori, in the 12th cent. Passing beneath the noble ichi no torii, which has fresh sakaki twigs and wisps of white paper nailed to the uprights, one continues beneath the lofty trees to a fenced inclosure (right) containing the building where royalty changes its costume before praying in the temple. The Kagura-den is beyond, and following this, on the far side of the 2d torii, is the Juyosho, where offerings, etc., are sold. The next structure at the right is the Gojo-den where certain of the numerous festivals are held. The little pond at the left here, with its hungry carp, is the Mi-ike, and the stone laver is used by the pilgrims before they approach the shrine. The Geku itself stands within the compound at the left and is unapproachable by the casual visitor. The open space awaits the next new temple to be erected. Many of the great trees have sections of their trunks wrapped in matting or are fenced in to prevent the bark being stripped from them by zealous devotees. The small inclosure at the left, piled with pebbles and fenced with stakes tied with shimenawa, or straw ropes flecked with wisps of white paper (representing purity), is where many pray rather than mount the adjacent hill to the shrines there. A better and closer view of the inner shrine can be had from the rear. Scattered amidst the immense camphor and cryptomeria trees in the park are maples, cherry trees, cedars, and several varieties of conifers.

The Naiku Shrine stands within a beautiful 164-acre park at the foot of the tall Asama-yama, and is dedicated to all the divine ancestors of the Mikado. A handsome, picturesque, and so-called sacred bridge adorned with 16 big bronze giboshu, arches above the brawling Isuzu-gawa, gives ingress to the inclosure, and is flanked at both ends by huge wood torii. In the outer park are several shut-in spaces holding grim relics of Japan's titanic struggles with the Muscovites and Chinese. The tall gray shaft in the form of a shattered gun rising from a circular granite base at the left of the bridge commemorates the unforgettable Battle of the Japan Sea; the smaller one hard by was a gift from Admiral Togo. Conspicuous among the groups at the right is a big Krupp gun captured from the Russians at Port Arthur; and a huge black one (made at the Osaka Arsenal) which played a prominent part in the bombardment and capture of that stoutly defended fortress. Crossing a smaller bridge with 10 giboshu, one enters the second of the fourfold inclosure. At the end of the graveled and beautifully shaded avenue overhung with lofty trees — the home of many cawing rooks — is the ichi no (or first) torii, the silent symbol of all Shinto shrines. At the right glisten the limpid waters of the Isuzu River, where pilgrims go to purify themselves before penetrating farther into the sacred precinct. The edifice at the left of the second, or ni no torii, is the stable for the sacred horse. The adjacent structure with the lovely brown, time-stained roof, is where the Kannushi, or attendants of the temple (who are to Shinto what the bonzes are to Buddhism), sell wrapped bits of the wood used in the construction of the temple; packets of the rice which has been offered to the gods; paper charms, and other offerings. Following it is the Kagura-den, where the sacred dances are performed, a graceful structure with many brass enrichments incised with the Imperial 16-petal chrysanthemum, and other symbols. Splendidly straight and lofty cryptomerias centuries old rise by the side of the avenue here, and but for the protecting fences, the common folk, who regard them as quasi-divine, would strip all the bark from them as talismans against evil.

The shrines proper, with their accompanying buildings, all unpainted, in the natural (hinoki) wood stand within double inclosures, the outer fence

(Itagake) of cryptomeria measuring 195 ft. long in front, 369 at the side, and 202 at the rear; the innermost one (Midzugaki), 149 ft. in front, 150 back, and 144 at each side. The principal deity worshiped in the veiled sacrosanct interior is Amaterasu, who is believed to be represented by the sacred mirror bequeathed to the progenitors of the race. It is kept in a special casket of flawless hinoki, wrapped in silk, and never shown. As all save the priests and notables are excluded from the sacred compound, travelers must view the buildings from without. These are constructed of white hinoki, roofed over with hinoki bark, and are supposed to represent the purest style of Shinto architecture — notwithstanding the primitive structures admitted of no ornamentation. The glittering brass enrichments incised with crests and mystic symbols replace the elaborate wood carvings of Buddhist fanes. White silken curtains that sway in the breeze, and new branches of Cleyera japonica attached to the posts and doors complete the outer adornments. The Shoden, or shrine of the gods, contains the usual Shinto equipment. In the Hoden, or treasury, are preserved silken stuffs, saddlery for the sacred horses, and what-not. The numerous barnyard fowls about the premises are gifts of devotees, and they symbolize the supposed origin of the torii. Custom requires that all the buildings be razed every 20 yrs. and new ones erected on the adjacent plots reserved for the purpose. Elaborate and costly ceremonies attend the dedication of new shrines. The present buildings date from 1909. The Jewel Pond in the park at the left is called Magatama-ike.

Most of the things for sale in the Uji shops have a bearing on the shrines or the Shinto cult. The microscopic rice-grains carved to imitate one of the 7 Gods of Good Luck are curious. More sensible remembrances are the bits of gray, brown, and green Banko-ware, with raised enamel decorations (a product of Ise Province).

About midway of the fine boulevard which stretches from the bridge at Uji to the Geku Shrine, on a hill commanding a broad prospect, is the museum described below. Automobile in 10 min., 8 sen. The walk is attractive and takes but little longer.

The Choko-kwan, or Museum of Ancient Things (open daily from 9 to 4; admission, 6 sen, which also includes the entrance fee to the Agricultural Hall; English spoken) is housed in a handsome new structure built specially for it in 1909 at a cost of 200,000 yen. The exhibits, though differing but little from those of other high-class museums, are of considerable interest. A number of the paintings are duplicates of originals in the Kyoto, Tokyo, and Nara Museums; as are also some of the coins in the extensive collection. The life-size wax figures of ancient men and women clad in the strikingly rich and voluminous costumes of the Nara, Fujiwara, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa periods, are startlingly lifelike; the beautiful long hair of certain of the women is characteristic of the remote Fujiwara epoch. Noteworthy among the many curious old weapons are the Mogari employed anciently by the police to hook into the clothing of fleeing criminals. The daimyo procession relates to the Tokugawa regime and contains scores of elaborately dressed figurines fashioned with exquisite care and wonderful fidelity to details. The two old Portuguese maps are very odd, and are thought to have been brought hither by the first Portingalls (maybe Mendes Pinto himself) who came jauntily a-trading in 1542. The several specimens of prehistoric pottery from Kyushu are interesting solely for their decorations, which are the prototypes of those employed by present-day artists. Equally significant are the several originally gilded bronze objects of native manufacture, but displaying unmistakable Grecian influence. The vermiculated camphorwood dragon which formed the figure head of the Nihon Maru, built to convey the fighting Hideyoshi to Korea in 1592, is a genuine curio, and for centuries was preserved as an heirloom in the Toba Castle, by the descendants of Admiral Kuki Yoshitaka (who built the Toba Castle; was commander of Hideyoshi's fleet; governor of Shima Province, and was killed, in 1600, when he sided against Ieyasu). The old palanquin near by belonged to one of the officers of the Ise Shrines in the 17th cent. The numerous relics of the Stone Age in Japan are not devoid of interest to antiquarians. — In the museum yard are several omnipresent relics of the Russian and Chinese wars — cannon, battered funnels from war-ships, submarine mines, torpedoes, and what-not. In a smaller edifice hard by are collections of relics from Yezo, the Loochoo Islands, Formosa, and Korea. — Across the road is

The Nogyo-kwan, or Agricultural Hall, with a number of exhibits well worth looking at. With the infinite patience and care which are characteristics of the Japanese, there have been assembled here, and arranged in highly interesting groups, many of the products for which Japan is specially noted. The processes of growing and preparing tea, seaweed, rice, camphor, peppermint, silk, and a host of native products, are portrayed in wax and the like, the silk process being extremely interesting, as every stage from the silk cocoon to the woven habutae is ingeniously demonstrated. There is a large collection of marine and land products, fish-traps, models of boats, a life-history of the oyster, with specimens of this bivalve in various stages of development, cases of stuffed birds, butterflies, and what-not. The department for the instruction of farmers and fishermen is the best equipped in Japan and corresponds in a smaller way to the Bureau of Agriculture at Washington, D.C. Housewives will be interested in the process of converting seaweed into gelatine, while Western farmers may learn here of a score of uses to which the straw, regarded in the United States as of little economical importance, can be put. Not the least interesting in this regard are the beautifully soft mats (tatami) which serve in Japan as carpets and are made of the reed known as Juncus communis (Jap. I). Included in the exhibit of native woods are many from the fertile and productive forests of Formosa.

The traveler with time to spare should, on leaving the museum grounds, stroll back toward Yamada through the older settlement of Furuichi, there to note the peculiar style of architecture of the more ancient of the houses, many of which have gables, and stand with the wrong end to the street. Under certain of the bizarre tiled roofs with a pronounced overhang are quaint windows opening on to tiny balconies that suggest Venice rather than Japan. The principal street, formerly the chief thoroughfare between the two great Ise Shrines, lacks the odor of sanctity which these hallowed structures might be supposed to impart, but it makes up for this, in a measure, by its picturesqueness. Not a few of the more sumptuous houses which face it are of questionable repute, and are known far and wide for a nationally (in) famous dance, the Ise Ondo, which has obtained here since time immemorial. With that singular inconsistency which sometimes permits certain Japanese to mix spiritual with material affairs, pilgrims deputized by distant communities to represent them at the Ise Shrines have been known first to purify themselves at those superlatively sacred institutions, then repair hither to engage in a little debauchery as an indulgence for too much praying. Those uninitiated foreigners who with one or more friends have chipped in ¥3.50 in order to witness an Ise Ondo arranged for their special entertainment, and who perchance have been puzzled at the decorum and brevity of the exhibition (which consists of not ungraceful posturing set to music, and which lasts for about 5 min.), may be interested in the following: The room is provided with a miniature stage with flanking wings on the order of the hanamichi, or 'flowery path,' leading to the stage of ordinary native theaters. A number of women samisen-players seat themselves on mats below these passageways, and the several spectators squat on the floor directly facing the proscenium. At a given moment the floor of this rises to the stage level and brings up with it perhaps a dozen gayly but modestly clad women, with statuesque figures, crimson lips, flashing eyes, and bepowdered, smiling faces. They present a curious spectacle as they blink at the sudden light and sweep the room with inquiring glances. Their costumes are more significant to Japanese than to the unknowing stranger. The music strikes up, each woman executes a brief pas seul, the floor sinks with its glittering, musky burden, and closes with a snap, and the exhibition is over — for the foreigner! But the industrious Japanese, if there be any present, has been more interested in the women than in the celebrated dance, and he now proceeds forthwith to the proprietor of the establishment, demands the courtezan whose salient characteristics he has made a mental note of, and receives her to work his will with her!

At similar questionable places in this district other trashy dances are performed before those willing to pay for them. One not without a certain frivolous interest is the sprightly O Sugi O Tama, conducted by aged girls who are such artful dodgers that they are rarely if ever struck by the coins which the men among the spectators fling at their faces. One of the shops on the main street is noted among Japanese as the headquarters of a nationally

known medicine called Mankin-tan — small anodyne pills made on Asama-yama and sold as cure-alls to ailing pilgrims.

Excursions from Yamada.

To Toba and Futami. Trains leave the Yamada Station at frequent intervals, cross the wide estuary of the Isuzu River and parallel the tramway to 4 M. (fare, 18 sen) Futami-no-ura. Here, if the traveler so wishes, he may (in spring or summer) board a small steamer which plies hence to Toba and crosses an island-studded sea similar to that about Matsushima. The sheltered bay, seen from the left of the train, is charmingly tranquil, and the sinuous coast is one of great natural beauty. The train soon crosses a long bridge over an arm of the bay that makes in between pine-clad promontories and comes to 8 M. (fare, 35 sen) Toba (in Shima Province), at the foot of a high hill surmounted by a steel lighthouse. Behind it, a public garden called Koraku-en spreads over the summits of several hills, whence magnificent views are had of land and sea. Proceeding past the boat-landing (for the Pearl Fisheries mentioned hereinafter) to midway of the village, one descries a zigzag path leading up the hill at the right. The small island at the left, now given over to a little shipyard, was once the garden surrounding the castle of a daimyo. From the summit of Fujino-dai, which we now climb, one gets a far-reaching view, but a more extensive and satisfying one is had from the higher crest of Hiyori-yama, or Weather-Hill, surmounted by a picturesque tea-house and belted with fantastic pine trees. The panorama which spreads before one here easily takes rank among the finest in the Empire, as it is marked by ravishing beauty and a penetrating charm. Far below, stretching to indefinite pine-clad shores or merging into the ghostly mist which enshrouds them, lie a thousand square miles of placid, junk-flecked, island-dotted sea as tenderly blue as the wonderful sky arching like an inverted porcelain bowl above it. Far to the N.E., in the distant province of Kai, with a portion of its bulk hidden by the sky-line, the lordly Fuji rises in faultless grandeur, — an adorable, dreamy shape, glistening with snow and blending into the haze like some colossal pearl, or the embodied spirit of the countless thousands of these which lie yet undisturbed in their nacreous beds beneath the sea off Sugeshima Island. In the foreground are the mts. of Owari and Mino, while still nearer, at the left, stands the lofty Asama-yama, namesake of, but no kin to, the restless giant of the Karuizawa Plain. The W. shore of Ise Bay stretches away at the left, and with a single sweep of the vision one may count a hundred flashing sails, of junk and fishing-craft, bending before, or beating against, the wind, and forming a picture which one may see in no waters of the world save those of Nippon. Because of its proximity to the sea, the vista here is finer and sharper than that from the summit of Asama, despite the fact that from that vantage-point one can see more and farther.

Following the shaded woods-road leading down at the rear of Hiyori-yama, and passing the small Shinto shrine tucked away in a ferny dell, we proceed through Toba town (tri-weekly steamers to Gamagori, on the Tokaido; 3 hrs.; ¥2) and continue (right) along the excellent road which winds between verdure-covered hills. The cherry blooms in spring and the turning maple leaves in autumn attract many pedestrians hither, among them scores of women who with skirts tucked under their girdles stroll quietly along and drink in the tranquil beauty of the scene. The highway soon emerges on a level stretch and affords fascinating glimpses of the sea where it swishes in and out between woodsy promontories. Many varieties of flowers and ferns grow hereabout, and where the fine pines spring up in dense groves a balsamic fragrance broods above the countryside. A leisurely tramp of 1 1/2 hrs. brings one to the outskirts of Yemura village, where a long foot-bridge spans an arm of the sea. Continuing over the crest of the hill, along a shaded road, one comes in 20 min. to the wide ocean and a local curiosity (as well as a favorite theme with poets) in the form of twin rocks (called Myoto-iwa, or 'Wife and Husband Rock') near the shore. A straw rope (shimenawa) 18 ft. long, of the kind hung before Shinto shrines, is looped over the stones (one of which is 12, the other 30, ft. high, and both of which are often pictured in the native art), and because the sentiment pleases the Japanese, and the sunset effect is particularly fine, many come

hither to pray in the little Somin shazai no yashiro on a ledge of rock at the shore. The broad shingly beach of Futami begins just beyond here, and pedestrians will find it worth while to leave the highroad and follow the sea to the town. The beach is deservedly popular with Yamada folks, and there is good fishing. The conspicuous stone slab overlooking the water commemorates a visit of the present Emperor when he was Crown Prince. The clean little shops which flank the shore sell awabi shells and other marine products, along with a host of tinselly kickshaws attractive to country people. The breezy little Taiyo-kwan Inn makes a specialty of buckwheat macaroni (soba). The tram-cars which leave from the upper end of the village go to (25 min., 15 sen) Uji village and stop near the Naiku Shrine.

Asama-yama (1700 ft.) is a popular resort with the townspeople, since from the tea-house and the temple near the summit (much cooler than at Yamada) magnificent views are obtainable over land and sea. The climb to the top (about 5 M. from the entrance to the Naiku Shrine) presents no difficulties. Coolie to act as guide and carry the lunch-basket, ¥2.

The Mikimoto Pearl Fisheries of Shimei-ura (referred to in detail at p. cxix), may be reached (about 16 M. in 2 1/2 hrs.) by sailboat from Toba, but unless the day is fine and the sea fairly smooth the trip had better be postponed. The prices demanded by the boatmen (who accost all strangers passing the boat-landing) are flexible, and a bargain should be struck before embarking; ¥5 for one person, for the round trip (in about 6 hrs.) is ample, and 50 sen for each additional person in a small party is enough. — The Women Divers (ama) of Toba can be seen at work in the summer in the sea off Sugeshima, near Sakate, visible from Toba and about one hour's ride in a sailboat. Several score women are employed here to dive for shell-fish and other marine products, chiefly sea-ears (awabi) and agar-agar, a seaweed of which a gelatinous substance called kanten is made (and exported). Their costumes are scantier even than those of ballet-dancers; the saline water soon turns their hair a repulsive reddish-brown (like that of the Somali boys who dive at Aden) and their skins coarse and raspy. Like the Burmese women, they work while their men-folks loaf. They balk at cold water, and prefer not to work in winter, but the traveler intent upon seeing the operation can arrange (in Toba) for it at a cost of about five yen.