igii] With the Buddhist Priests 



delightful feature of the afternoon was the opportu- 

 nity given my wife to go over practically the whole 

 house, a privilege she greatly appreciated. 



I myself received one day an invitation to dinner At Zojoji 

 with the priests of the Buddhist temple of Zojoji at '""^'' 

 Shiba, Tokyo, where (I was told) no outsider had 

 ever dined before, the compliment being a special 

 recognition of my message of peace. My hosts con- 

 ducted me first to a school for children maintained 

 by them near by. Here for my edification a hundred 

 or more little Japanese sang "America" — 



Land where my fathers died, 

 Land of the pilgrims' pride. 



Present in the audience and dressed apparently as 

 a Buddhist priest was an unusual-looking gentleman 

 who did not seem Japanese and who listened intelli- 

 gently to my remarks before they were translated. 

 He proved to be Professor Frederick Starr of the Frederick 

 University of Chicago, a man of cosmopolitan ex- '^"'"' 

 perience who has made special studies of native 

 peoples the world over. 



The elaborate meal, served by some of the priests 

 themselves, consisted of upwards of fifty different 

 vegetable dishes representing nearly every kind of 

 Japanese leaf, stem, root, or fruit which could be 

 dried, preserved in sugar, or pickled in vinegar. 



Somewhat earlier the aristocratic Doki Club, 

 composed in part of titled men of rank and in part 

 of financial leaders, arranged for a dinner at which I 

 was asked to make a formal address. On this occasion 

 I met Prince Tokugawa, son of the last shogun, a man Prince 

 of dignity and high character, in entire harniony with Tokugawa 

 the movement which fifty years ago abolished the 



C 375 3 



