THE ANCIENT BURIAL MOUNDS OF JAPAN. 523 



diaper, ( >r any kind of variegated thing." From this it might be inferred 

 that the oM cnstoiii of living bnrial was liept np to some extent even 

 to the seventh centniy. Tlie edict reads, " Let there be complete cessa- 

 tion of all snch ancient practices as strangling oneself to follow the dead, 

 or strangling others to make them follow the dead, or of killing the 

 dead man's horse, or burying treasures in the tomb for the dead man's 

 sake, or cutting the hair, or stabbiug the thigh, or wailing for the dead 

 man's sake." 



Tlie ligures of clay thus introduced as substitutes for human sacri- 

 fices, and also to take the place of horses, are known as tsuchl nimjio. 

 Specimens of rhem are now very rare, and this fact leads to the suppo- 

 sition that the figures were not buried, but left exposed on or near the 

 surface of the ground. 



Von Siebold has figured three of these found in the Province of 

 Musashi. He believes they were introduced about the year li b, 0., 

 and used until about 700 A. d. Some of tliesc figures show beads 

 around the neck and one of them has earrings. 



I have brought together several illustrations from different sources, 

 showing the characterof these curious figures. PI. lvi, from a Japanese 

 drawing, represents two figures found in Musashi. The height of 

 these images is about 20 inches. 



Mr. Satow has described two specimens of isucM nhigio from Kod- 

 zuke. PI. LXi, copied from Mr. Satow's drawing, represents, on the 

 left, two views of a portion of what was originally a sitting figure, com- 

 idete to the knees. Tlie hat is rather curious. Around the neck are 

 bead-like ornaments. PI. lxii is a photograph taken from Mr. Gow- 

 land's specimeu, now in the British Museum. PI. lxiii is copied from 

 von Siebold. The physiognomy of these figures is remarkable. 



It seems probable that the figures were sometimes set on pedestals, 

 and I am disposed to believe that the cylinders with constricted tops, 

 already referred to (PI. XLiii), were made to serve as supports for figures. 

 The base of the last-mentioned image was evidently made to tit into a 

 support of some kind. There is a circular aperture at the bottom corre- 

 sponding to those perforations which we have observed in the cylinders. 

 Figures of horses are sometimes found. One of the Japanese 

 sketches in the :\Iuseum represents a. horse and his trappings as crudely 

 molded as the human figures. It measures 2 shakn, 8 sun in length. 



(PI. LVI.) 



In closing this imperfect account of the Japanese graves, I would 

 again allude to the much more extended observations of my valued 

 iHend and companion in Japanese travel, Mr. W. Gowland, and express 

 the sincere ho])e that the results of his painstaking work in this field 

 will soon be given to tlie W(nld. The illustrations iu this report are all 

 from original photographs, except when otherwise stated. 



