410 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



the deified hero to whom the temple is dedicated. Standing in a niche, on either side, is the 

 figure of an attendant dressed in ancient Japanese ofiicial costume, armed with a bow, as if 

 awaiting the orders, as in life, of their superior. Before the god-like Hachiman there is the 

 usual variety of devotional ofierings. A large number of paintings of no great artistic skill, a 

 frame containing the representation of a pagoda constructed of copper cash, a sword, bow and 

 arrows, and a subscription list of at least thirty feet in length, hung from the walls of the 

 shrine. This gigantic subscription list contains the names and donation of the contributors 

 towards the expenses of the temple services. The Japanese priests find, we suppose, as we fear 

 it is sometimes found elsewhere, that an imposing display of the munificence of their benefactors 

 is a useful reminder of duty to the benevolent, and a great encouragement of generosity. The 

 idol of Hachiman is honored annually with a festival, termed matzouri, which occurs on the 

 fifteenth day of the eighth month, when the subscribers are expected to pay up the amount of 

 tlieir contributions, for which their names are down iipon tlic enormous list. Before the image 

 there is a box provided for the alms of those who are too modest to publish their names, or 

 whose donations are too sinall to make much of a figure on pajier. 



As the Japanese structures are unpainted, the wood work soon turns brown and decaj's, 

 requiring frequent repair and removal. There is always a sort of guardian or superintendent 

 living on the premises, whose duty it is to keep in order the tem})le and grounds, and most of 

 them are creditable evidences of the care of the overseers. There are, however, some of these 

 establishments which show either a careless superintendence or a low state of the exchequer, for 

 several show signs of ruin and neglect. 



In addition to the one great Sintoo temple, there are various smaller shrines of the same faith 

 dedicated to certain deified heroes, whose services are called into requisition by those of some 

 particular occupation, or on the occasion of a special emergency. The sites of these humbler 

 places of worship have been picturesquelj^ selected on the acclivities, or the summits of the 

 wooded hills which bound the town of Simoda landward. The pathways which lead to them 

 are handsomely constructed, often with causeways, bridges of a single Roman arch, and 

 flights of steps, all of stone, carefully sculptured and substantially built. Various, gateways, 

 guarded by stone statues of lions, or sometimes merely by pillars, vrpon which an inscription 

 warns oft' intruders, divide at intervals the approach, while the sides of the avenues are shaded 

 with fine trees of vigorous growth and abundant foliage. Some of the temples are so embosomed 

 in groves, that they are completely hidden from the sight, until their shaded thresholds are 

 reached unexpectedly by the stranger. One of these was especially noticed for the beauty of its 

 position and the perfection of its structure. It was particularly devoted to a patron saint of the 

 sailors, and was called by the Americans "the mariners' temple," and those engaged in 

 occupations connected with the sea constantly resort there, to invoke the aid of, or to return 

 thanks to the enshrined deity. Groups of fishermen, with their baskets laden with the 

 successful hauls of the day, gathered within the precincts of the sacred place, and gratefully 

 symbolized, according to prescribed form, the gratitude of their hearts. Shipwrecked mariners 

 prostrated themselves before the idol, and fulfilled their vows by the sacrifice of their queues, 

 and other exercises of self-imposed penance, which they had pledged for their lives in the agony 

 of impending danger. Within the shade of the grove boatmen and fishermen were busy 

 repairing their nets, and surrounded with their long oars, their baskets, and all the paraphernalia 

 of their business, seemed to be invoking a blessing upon their labors, and propitiating the deity 



