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KUSATSU HOT SPRINGS, BETWEEN THE VOLCANOES ASAMA AND SHIRANE 



The peak of Shirane appears in the distance, where a crater lake is being made. The 

 exterior of the bath-house whose interior is shown in the next photos. Hundreds of people 

 afflicted with syphilis and leprosy gather at this famous hot spring. 



the summer at Nik-ko used to go every 

 morning to the court of the temple and 

 "worship" the souls of the officers who 

 died in the Russian war. The alcove be- 

 fore which they knelt was filled with the 

 photographs of these brave and loyal 

 men. The distinguished title of the 

 Abbot Hiko-saka is Monseki, which con- 

 veys the meaning of Imperial appoint- 

 ment. It was in this temple court that 

 General and Mrs. Grant were entertained, 

 and as in those early days (about 1878) 

 there was no foreign hotel in Nik-ko, and 

 therefore no such thing as a bedstead, the 

 priest had a bedstead made worthy of a 

 military hero. There is no scrimping of 

 timber in its frame, and, since springs 

 were wholly unknown, they wove the 

 bedstead with bands of plate iron ! A 

 mate to this bedstead was made on the 

 same heroic plan for Her Excellency 

 Mrs. Grant. When this famous couple 

 went to bed, of course they found over 

 the iron network a pile of soft silk futons 

 a foot thick. 



The official chief of the Shogun shrines 

 is Baron Naka-yama, one of the highest 

 in rank among Shintoists. It is well to 

 remember that Shintoism is not now 

 called a religion by the Japanese ; it is a 

 cult. No government has ever handled the 

 perplexing question of church and state 

 so admirably as has that of Japan. See- 

 ing that Shintoism with the "worship" of 

 the Imperial ancestors and national heroes 

 would surely lead to a clash with Chris- 

 tianity, Shintoism was officially changed 

 from the grade of a religion to that of 

 a cult which concerns Japan alone. This 

 step leaves it possible for a Christian to 

 "worship" at the shrines just as we 

 worship when we take off our hats at the 

 tomb of Washington. In the course of 

 a delightful conversation I asked the 

 Baron, "Is there any objection to a Shin- 

 toist becoming a Christian?" He replied 

 with a smile, "None whatever." 



Nik-ko is a great national center of 

 religion and reverence in an environment 

 of marvelous beautv. 



