682 THE VOYAGE OF THE VEGA. [chap. 



stamp of benevolence, calm, and majesty, which has probably never 

 been surpassed by the productions of western art. Daibutsu 

 images evidently stand in the same relation to the works of 

 private sculptors as folk-poetry to that of individual bards. 



As I have before pointed out, the Western taste for the 

 gigantic was not prevalent in Old Japan. It was evidently 

 elegance and neatness, not grandeur, that formed the object 

 towards which the efforts of the artist, the architect, and 

 the gardener were directed. Only the Daibtitsu images, some 

 bells, and other instruments of worship form excej^tions to 

 this. During our excursion at Kioto we passed an inclosure 

 where the walls were built of blocks of stone so colossal, that 

 it was difficult to comprehend how it had been possible to 

 lift and move them with the means that were at the dis- 

 posal of the Japanese in former times. In the neighbourhood 

 of that j)lace there was a grave, probably the only one of its 

 kind. It is described in the following way in an account of 

 the curiosities of Kioto written by a native : — 



" Mimisuka, or the grave of the noses and the ears, was 

 erected by Hideyoshi Taiko, who lived about A.D. 1590. When 

 the military chiefs of this famous man attacked Corea with 

 a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, he gave orders that they 

 should bring home and show him all the ears and noses of the 

 enemies who were killed in the contest, for it was an old 

 practice in Japan to cut off the enemies' heads to show them 

 to the king or the commander of the army. But it was now 

 impossible to bring the heads of the dead Corean warriors to 

 Japan, because the distance was too great. Hideyoshi therefore 

 gave the above order, and the ears and noses, which were brought 

 to Japan, were buried together at that place. The grave is 

 730 feet in circumference, and is 30 feet high." 



Kioto is one of the principal places for the manufacture of 

 faience, porcelain, and cloisonne. The productions of the ceramic 

 art are, as is well-known, distinguished by their tasteful forms 

 and beautiful colours, and are highly valued by connoisseurs, 

 on which account they are exported on a large scale to Europe 

 and America. The works are numerous and small, and are 

 owned for the most part by families that for a long succession 

 of generations have devoted themselves to the same occupation. 

 The articles are burned in very small furnaces, and are commonly 

 sold in a shop which is close to the place where they are made. 

 The making of porcelain in Japan, therefore, bears the stamp 

 rather of handicraft than of manufacturing industry. The wares 

 gain thereby in respect of art to an almost incredible degree. 

 They have the same relation to the productions of the great 



