Why Nik-ko is Beautiful 



301 



THIS MONSEKI OF RINNO TEMPLE, ABBOT HIKOSAKA 



used to our glacial beauty is at first sight 

 surprised and captivated by Japan's vol- 

 canic beauty. 



Now Nik-ko seems to have gathered 

 into its own region all the beauty pos- 

 sible under volcanic conditions. The 

 long egg-shaped Lake Chuzenji was once 

 the crater of a horrible volcano. It blew 

 high in air from its huge mouth the froth 

 of its lavas and buried deep the whole 



region around with its so-called ashes. 

 Then its lavas rising in the crater broke 

 through the weak tufa walls and flowed 

 in red-hot streams over the coarse ashes 

 in every possible direction, baking them 

 into tough, porous rocks. Later on 

 another prolonged blast of coarse ashes 

 and rocks would bury the lavas scores of 

 feet deep, only to be again overflowed by 

 boiling streams of lava, until the whole 



