CHAPTER XI. NAGOYA AND THE SHRINE OF THE SACRED SWORD. The town of Tsu-An attack of illness in Yokkaichi-Amateur artistsHabits of the Japanese-Mountain scenery-Sail on a river-The town of Miya-The Atsuta shrine-The sacred sword "Cloud Cluster ”— Yamato-Daké-His expedition against the Ainos-The name of the sword changed to "Grass-mower "—Native history of the sacred sword -Estimation in which swords are held in Japan-Their forms and qualities-Sword-making a profession of honour-Sword inscriptionsEtiquette of the sword-The city of Nagoya-A banquet and an exhibition of porcelain-Amateur drawings and writings-Nagoya Castle -Its towers surmounted with golden fishes-An attempt to steal them -History of the castle-Kato Kiyomasa, its designer-Palace of the Shogun. THE town of Ano, or Tsu, in the province of Isé, in the Miya Ken, at which our first half-day's journey from Fruichi was to end, is one of considerable importance. The number of its houses is 5255, and that of its inhabitants 22,489, about one thousand of whom are Shizoku, most of them holding Roku Keng (pension bonds) from the government, the interests of which they live on. The remainder are merchants and labourers, the former being the greater in number. This province was formerly owned by the Todo-Uji (House of Todos), and here they resided with their retainers. At that time the number of people was great and daily increasing, so that the town was prosperous. But after the change of the government from Han to Ken, the lord of the province removed to Tokio, and made Kwozoku of the Tokio-Fu his seat; the trade of the place then became depressed, in consequence of the scarcity of purchases by the samurai, and of the decrease of the people. By degrees the town was thus made dull, and less inviting than before. Now, however, with the founding of the government offices, judicial departments, and school for teachers (Shi hang Gakko), the place is again populated with officials and students, and the town being on the highway of the Isé Dai-jingo, or pilgrims, is constantly visited by the passers to and from, to the number of more than a hundred thousand people yearly. The people from the provinces of Amooki, Ichisi, and other places also frequently visit this town. to make purchases, and fish of different sorts are brought to market here, so that Tsu is now resuming its former liveliness and prosperity. On our arrival there the mayor of the Ken was good enough to receive us, in a building facing the castle, and on the bank of the castle moat. Here we took luncheon and a brief rest, soon resuming our journey towards Yokkaichi, where we arrived long before sundown, taking up quarters prepared for us at an inn in which the trouble had been taken to build an additional small room or two for the supply of such extra accommodation as was presumed to be essential to Europeans. Our main rooms were, however, essentially Japanese, and unfortunately I had a longer opportunity of studying them than was anticipated or de * erec *During the years of Airoku, Hosono-Ikino-kami-Fugi-Atsi ted this castle. In the eleventh year of Airoku (1568 A.D.) a part of the province was conquered by Ota Nobunaga, Lord of the Gitfu Castle, who took possession of the castle and placed Ota Kamongnosuke Tada Hiro in command of the frontier, and returned to Giffu. In the twelfth year of Airoku (1569 A.D.) Ota Kazukenosuke Nobukane succeeded Kamonguosuke. In the eighth year of Tengshoo (1580 A.D.) Nobukane erected a five-storied pagoda in the castle. In the eleventh year of Tengshoo (1583 A.D.) Tomita Shinano no kami Tomonobu became lord of the castle, and afterwards At removed to Ji-iyo. In the thirteenth sired. At midnight, after writing for three or four hours, I rose to prepare for bed, but found rising no easy matter; whether from the long journeys in the jinriki-shas, or from a violent rheumatic attack, I knew not (and even now can only conjecture), I found myself in extreme pain in the muscles and nerves of the back as soon as I attempted to move. It was impossible to help myself beyond calling for assistance, and with that assistance I was got to bed. On Tuesday, the day of starting from Kioto, we had travelled in these little jolting hand-carriages nearly forty miles; on Wednesday about thirty-five miles; on Thursday, more than twenty; and on this day, Friday, nearly forty miles, the intervals of travelling being, perhaps, too much occupied with sitting at a writing-table. However, after having the best that could be done for me without medical aid during the night, doctors of experience were telegraphed for from Tsu and from the city of Nagoya, the former, a native gentleman, having nearly twenty miles of road to travel, and the latter, a German professor, Dr. Roretz, an almost equal distance. Both were most friendly and attentive, and with their kind personal assistance, extended over three days of pain, I was able to start again, on Tuesday the 11th of March, for Miya by steamer, and thence to Nagoya. During my illness presents of fruit were sent by local persons; most of the attendance was performed by girls, whose cheerful presence, it was supposed, would contribute to the pleasant passing of the idle hours; and when the improvement of my health justified it, visitors dropped in and amused me in various ways. One of the officers of the adjoining county of Aichi, Mr. Hinoki, who had come over from Miya, next Nagoya, to further the arrangements for our stay there, was kind enough to drop in and draw some pretty ink pictures, occasionally executing parts of them, for the amusement of the thing, with a brush held in his mouth, or in his nostril, or tied to his elbow, or between his toes, the results in all cases being good, and sometimes excellent. This illness of a few days in a purely Japanese inn enabled me to see much of the mode of life in such places, one of the oddest features of which was the pulling out of the pipe and tobacco-pouch and the taking of a few whiffs by almost every one who came to your room, from the native doctor who was there to prescribe for you, to the woman who fed your hibachi with charcoal, and the girl who handed you your cup of tea. Of course I very much regretted delaying his excellency Admiral Kawamura for three days on the journey homeward to the seat of government, but his patience and kindness were inexhaustible. We left Yokkaichi at 9 A.M., on a morning of great beauty, judged even from our point of view, viz. that of mere men, whose only paths lie along the surface of the earth and the sea, subject to every variation of cloud and breeze belonging to the mere surface, and often cut off from that splendour "Which o'erspreads All noise and tempest." I say judged from our point of view, because a little way up, of course, just above our low and varying clouds, the splendour of sun-brightness and star-beauty alternately prevail, undimmed by cloud or storm, and of this mountain regions frequently remind one. The streets of Yokkaichi were lined with people, exhibiting unusual interest, it having become known, doubtless, that our party, including a minister and two foreigners, had been staying in the town for several days -an unwonted event. The mayor of the Ken and the physician from Tsu accompanied us to the steamer and saw us off. We were in the centre of an amphitheatre of mountains, with the bay and the level-lands for the arena. And how beautiful were the mountains! the west, all the way up from Isé in the south to the north-west of Yokkaichi, the morning light displayed their jagged outlines and their carved slopes as clearly as if we had held them in our hands like sea-shells, and observed thus closely their grooved and chased surfaces. On the northeast, towering into the very heavens, and more snow-white than any tent, was the mountain of Komagadaké, which we In had seen from Isé on the morning of our quitting the shrines and towns; and more to the east the snowy ranges of Ibouki, with dark peaks and bright peaks, near peaks and distant peaks, rising in such loveliness between and beyond as if the object of their author had been to sketch a picture rather than to build a world. At noon we arrived outside of Miya, which is the port of and continuous with the great city of Nagoya, and in open boats, with sails formed of separate strips of linen, after the fashion of Japan, sailed into and about two miles up the river to the town. The river approach has obviously been preserved (from silting up by the river deposits) by artificial works laboriously carried out and renewed. After a Japanese luncheon in Miya, we drove a few hundred yards to the famous Shinto temple of Atsuta, which is supported by the government, and which is renowned as the depository of the Sacred Sword, Kusanagi-no-mitzurugi (Grass-mowing Sword), one of the three emblems of the Shinto faith. We visited it unexpectedly, but were well received by the simpleminded and modest-mannered priests, who answered such questions as we put, and gave us a written description of the temple. We stood again in an ancient park, of magnificent old trees, with several shrines, and with lanterns or lightpillars innumerable, and before a gateway hung, like those at Isé, with white veils. Here, however, the veils were three in number, side by side, and were looped apart in the middle, to facilitate the viewing of the interior buildings. There were the pilgrims kneeling and sitting as at Isé, first washing the hands and throwing down their coins before uttering their brief prayers, and, let us hope, devising their prophecies of good. This temple of Atsuta is very ancient, having been founded, for the purpose of receiving the sacred sword, in the second century after Christ, by the sister of the heroic Yamato-Daké, after he had made a successful war against the eastern savages by aid of the sword. The account of the sword given to me at the temple was, I must admit, a sufficiently clear one, being to the effect that the sacred weapon had originally belonged to the sun |