C O N T EN T S

B Y T HE EN GA K UJ I TE M PLE
THE T EM P LE OF S ILEN C E
A LE GE ND OF T HE BU DDH A ’
S T O OT H
BY A BU D D H A
UN D I SC OV E R ED K A MA K U R A

T HE WO NDE R OF BRO N Z E
B Y T HE D A IB U TS U AT K A MAK U R A

T H E H A C H I MA N

EN O S H I MA
 K A MA K URA

BY T H E E N GA K UJ I T E MPLE
MOO N N I GH T

TH ROU G H the b reat h of perfum e ,

( 0 music of mus ic s
D own creeps th e m oon
T o fi ll my cup of son g
’
With memory s wine .

A cross t he so n g of nig ht an d m oon ,

(O perfume o f pe rfumes ')

M y sou l as a wi nd
,

’
Who s e hea rt s too fu ll to sin g ,

On l y ro ams astray

Down the ti d e of th e s weet nigh t

’
( O the ec s t as y s gent l e ri s e 1)
 K AM A K UR A

Th e birds flowers an d tree s

,

A re g l ad at once to fa ll
'
Into Obl i vion s r u in w h ite
 T H E T E M PLE OF SILEN C E

I S T E P PED in t o the de so la tion of the Tem pl e of

Si l ence ,
En gak uj i of fa mo us K amak ura ,
that
Com p l ete l y A wak ened T emp l e under the b l ess in g
-

of d us k it is at evening tha t the temp l e tragically

soars into the ma gni ficen ce of l onelines s u nder a
chi l l air stirred u p fro m th e mountai ns and g l a d es
b y the ro ll of the evening be ll I st epped in
’

En gak uji at the right hou r . I had jo urneye d

from T o kyo t h e hi ve of noise here to read a
, ,

page o r two of the w h o l e l an guag e of si l ence

whi ch ,
fa r from m oc kin g y ou with al l so rts of

crazy s ha ped in terrogati on ma rks

-

,
s oo thes y o u
with the s o n g of praye r . In tr uth I cam e her e to
,

confes s how littl e i s o ur hum an inte lle c t . I s l ow l y

cli mbe d t he s teps and pass ed by m an y a
,
fa t e/m

temple l i k e S h o rei An ,
Zo ro ku A n —dea r i s th is
—
na me of T ortoise Temp l e and others which
serve as vassal s to great En gak uj i, and final l y
reached the p ries t ha l l to l earn to my no s mall
delight that the O pening ceremony of Dai Set sh in
4 KAMAKU RA

or Great M eetin g with S pirit was going to b e

he l d that night .

The yea r for the pr iests of the Zen sect to ,

which this En gak uj i belongs is divided into fo ur

,

pa rts each called a Ge w hich is three months ; an d

,

the t wo g es r unning from Febr ua ry I st h to M ay

1 t
s ,h and fr om A ugust I st h t o November I st h ,

cal l ed Geka n S ez ba n
'

or meaning E xcused fr om
”
R ule , are the months of freedom fo r the da is/ m

as we cal l p r iests while they have to str ict ly

,

ob serve every asceticism du ring the othe r two g as .

S ez c/z u
'

We cal l these Within the Rule or an d

the m os t important ti me during the sa t /ms is the
week o f D a i S et skz n
'

which falls three times during

the p eriod fro m May to A ugust 1 st h N o w
1 st h .

as this was the 1 4 th o f M ay I was to have an o p

p o r t un it y to be present at the O pening Ce remony
of the Great M eeting with Spi rit which I had
wished to attend for s ome l ong time .

The hall wa s n ot yet lighted as it was a l ittle

before seven o c l ock (that is the time o f cand les
’

lighted ) when I quietly craw l ed into it as a

w andering breeze afte r the soul of Nirvana ; an d
 T H E T EM PLE O F S I LEN CE 5

I wa s at once condu cted by a yo ung priest in to

the As sem b ly Cha mber . I said he was a yo u n g
m an but who k nows whether he were not an o l d
p riest P It s eemed to me t hat I was a l re ady l e d in
a ma gic atm os phere under w h o se wor ld o ld incen se -

—wha t a so ng of exc lamation —I l ost a ll sen se

of time and p l ace . Here t he priests wrapped in
si l ence appea red to m y eyes a s if the y ha d ret u r ned
a l ong ti me ago to the gre y e l ements of na tu re
w h ich sta nd a bove Li fe and D e a th . An d it is th e
very p r ob l em of Life and Death y ou have to s o l ve
with the Zen phi l oso phy if , yo u l i k e to ca ll it
philoso p h y . The cha m ber a l tho ugh it was q uite
,

dark a l ready co ul d be seen to be wider than fifty

,

mats ; and he r e and there I o bse rved th at th e

K oj
’

zs or l aymen were tak ing their o wn pl aces ,

doub t l e ss comm uni ng in s o ul s wi t h the si l en ce

which does not awe y o u ,
b ut to which yo u have
to submit yourse l f without a challenge with a ,

prayer . Silence is not here a weapon as it might

ha p p en to be in so me other place ; it is a gospe l
w ho se unwritten wo rds can be read through the
v irt ue of sel f forgetting
-

. I wa s g racefu l ly enter
6 KAMAKURA

ing into dream which i s the retreat in the wo rl d of

silence whe r e no wi n d o r speech are when the ,

p riest b rought into t he c ha mber the l ighted can

d l es announcing that the cere m ony wo ul d soon
,

be gi n . Right before me a cand l e whose ye ll ow

flame rose in the shape of y our fo l ded hands in
p rayer to the Budd h ist ido l which I co uld ob se rve
behind the l attice doo r of the holy d ais of the
cha mber . What a face of profundity which i s but
myste ry . A nd that m ystery wi ll grow at once
the so ul of sim p lici t y which is that of nature . I
was told that the B uddha was nobody but the
right mind to whom the perfect a ss imilation with
g reat Natu r e is emancipation and that you and ,

I could be the Buddha r ight on the sp ot . It

is the dignity of this Zen Buddhis m to soar
o ut from devotion p ity l ove an d the l i k e ; it i s
, ,

not a religion in your un derstanding p e rha p s b u t ,

the highest state o f m in d befo r e you rself was born ,

b reaking the chord of the wo rl d . You have to

leave you r hu man k now l edge before you may
ente r he re . A nd so I did , to the best of my
ability .
 T H E T EM PLE OF S I LE NCE 7

'

Th e fu mg z or woo d en b l oc k was tapped and

the p ri e s ts fifty in a ll sl ipped into the c hamb er
, ,

from another indepen d ent ho us e ca ll ed the M ed i

t at io n H o u se , shaven hea ded b la ck ro b ed s pec t re s
-

,
-

from the ab y ss of night ; and they m u ttered the

ho l y name then sa t down in a row by the
,
s ka Z
/ .r

A moment later a grey coughing voice was h eard

,

without and then the ste p ping sound

,
of s tra w
slippers on t he pavement ; I l ook ed b ac k and ,

'

o bserved three bo n bo rz s ( paper shaded

-
hand
c an dle stick s) floatin g forw a rd and then the fo u r
-

fi g u res of priests ; the c h ief p rie s t who l ives in a

house on the other side was co m ing led b y hi s ,

attenda nts . T he s il en ce of the cha m ber wa s

intensified when they stepped in and too k their
o wn place s the c h ief prie s t by the name of Sokai
’
M i yaj i sat before the Buddha ido l s lattice door .

He wa s a man of sixty heavily bui lt and sleepy

, ,

in fa c e doub t l ess from hi s saturation in s i l ence

,

he wore rob e of ye ll owish brown co l or and a ,

l arge scarf of o ld b r oca de a cro ss his s houl der .

”
He l oo k ed aroun d and sa id H ai . We with a ll

the prie sts ben t our head s upon the mat and k ept ,
3 K A MAKU R A

t hem so , whi l e the chief priest fin i shed the

of
’
rea ding of S h o gak u K o k u sh i s words warnin g
We have three c l asses of s tudents o ne who
c asts away every a ffinity with fi re and studies ,

his o wn self is the very best

,
. T here is one
w hose pr actice is not so partic ularly p ure but he ,

l oves to lea r n ; he is in the middle class ; whi l e

'

o ne wh o quenches his o wn S pi r itua l l ight and

’
delights in licking the Buddha s sa l iva is of the
’
lowes t . If the r e s one wh o drinks only the
beaut y books and li ve s b y w r iting we cal l
of , ,

—
him a shaven headed layman and he cannot b e ,

ow
in even the lowes t clas s of our students .
( H
’
desp icab l e is one who w rites fo r w r iting s sak e ) .

A nd of cou r se we cannot admit one into our

, ,

Buddhist ci r cle ,
who spends his time disso l utely
eating and s l eepi n g t o o fu l ly the ancient worthie s
u sed to call such a one a clothes — horse and a
rice bag
-

. He is not a pr iest at a l l and cannot ,

be allowed to step into the temp le ground as a

st udent ; indeed even his temporary visit cannot
,

be pe r mitt ed and , of co urse he cannot beg to

,

stay he re with us . T hus I sa y ; b ut yo u must

 T H E T EM PLE OF S I 'E N C E 9

not re gard me as one w h o l ack s sy m pa thy an d

l ove . An d I only wis h o u r s t ude n ts to fi nd o u t
their wrong a nd correc t th eir fau l ts ; so as to
”
b e come a seed and gras s of B uddhism a nd grow .

The n the c hief prie s t to l d a st ory

J un Ub on of th e To dy n as ty of C h ina ‘

,
one

day wa s d ri nki ng under an

, o ak tree wi t h his -

friend w h en h e fe ll as l eep presen tly h e

,
was to l d
by a m an d ressed in b l ac k th a t -

he was sen t to
tak e h i m to the pa la ce of t he Kingdom of Oak
’
T ree u n der the kin g s co mmand . Ub on an d the
me ss e n ge r rode in ca rria ge toget her and
'

a
‘

.
,

rea c hed the ga t e of the k in gdom w he r e th e k ing

in w hi te dre ss an d red crown we l comed Ubon .

An d he was to l d by t he kin g t ha t '

he ha d to
ma r ry his daughter wh o w as l o ve l y as a fai ry ;

one h un d red mus i c ian s pla yed m us ic and ten ,

th o us an d can dl es were l i ghted When Ub o n was

co nduc ted to th e wed din g hall Th ey married
‘ '

.
,

and wer e ha ppy ; an d th ey soon b ecam e fat her

’
an d mother of ma n y c h i ld ren . The r e s noth ing
l i ke da ys which r un so s peedi ly . Ubon was -

a ppointed king of the K ingdo m of Pe ach Blo ss o m

I O K AMAKUR A

whithe r he to o k his wife and a th ousand servants

with him ; and the story says that h e s tay ed
the re some twenty years though UBo n th ough t
it was only yeste r day that he reache d the K ing
do m of Peach Blossom . Then he was summone d
back to the K ingdom of O ak T ree and ask ed to ,

take of the o ffice of his father -

in -
law . A n d about
that time his wife died . With the song of g r ief
and tea rs he b uried her ; and afte r that Ubon ,
.

began to think of his o ld home his lo v e for which

,

he could not fo rget . The o l d ki ng consented to

his r eturn home ; o ne day he sent hi m
, o ut with
the same carriage which he rode in s u ch a l on g
time ago along the same road he t r ave ll ed be fore
whe n fi rst he came to the kingdom . In t r uth hi s ,

d ream was ended . A nd then he thought that t h e

sight of the gate of the k ingdom was behind
a cloud He look ed aro u nd and saw the
.
,

boys swee p ing the g r o und by the oak t r ee . Ub on

explored with his fr iend the big ho l low of the oa k
tree whence a thousand ants s wa r med . A nd
among them was one b i ggest ant ,
red dish
headed with white wings
, ; he l ooked ap pa rently
 T HE T E M P'E OF
‘

S I 'EN CE I I

to be the kin g of the ants ; it. reminded Ubé n of

the old king in h is d r ea m . A nd a l so he obser ved

a littl e heap of clay which was the crud e shape of

the grave of h is dea d wife of

-

h is dream . . He

tho ught it s trang e and h l T hat night

'

even g as t y . .

a ga in
’

it r aine d ha rd whe n he visited the t r ee lt h e

next morning al l th e ants he found we re gone , ,

away somewhere .

Now which was the dream and w hic h

“
rea lity the chief p riest asked . . There is
dream whi ch is not b orn from the bo s o m of
'

no

re ality ; and we have no rea l ity whic h does not

'

si ng of Yo u might cal l our life a dre am

if y o u wi ll and there is no harm either to t hink
of it as a reality But the m ain point is tha t
'

.
yo u
have to soar out from the d ream an d th e real ity ‘
'

of l ife and l et me
, s ay , from l ife itse l f . Yo u mus t
not be fettered by l ife and death is n othing b ut
another phase of nature and we hear another
,

ha r mony of bea uty and mus i c in i t as in life . Let

the p ine tree be green an d the nose s red We
’

.
,

have to ob serve the mys tery of every e xisten ce ,

h uman o r non -

hu ma n whic h , do n ot chal lenge bu t

I 2 KAM A KURA

submit to one another and comp l ete the trut h

,
of

the universe . A nd to connect m y ste r y with o ur

Zen religion does no j ustice the re is no mystery ,

whatever in the world

, ,
and truth which may
a ppear to an unclea r mind to be a se c ret is s im plic
ity itself which is the sou l of nature an d B u d dha .

T o attain t o the state of Bu ddha th r ough the virt u e

of medita tion whose wo r d is si l ence is ou r sa l va
tion . The language of silence cannot b e un der
stood by the way of r eason but throu gh the force
,

of im p u l se which is ab st raction Shak ya mu ni it i s .

,

said p icked a flower which he showed to al l the

,

pr iests who gath ered at R eizan Kaij o a ll of th e m

we re si l ent but Kayo Sonja smi l ed
, . T hat smi l e
i s the t r uth of self possession and de liverance
-
we
”
l ong for it .

Al l the pries ts stood and read the Dharani of

Great Me r c y , and ended with thei r vows of

consecration
We vow to save al l unlimited mank ind .

We vo w to cut down al l th e exha u stl es s

l u sts .

We vo w to learn al l the bo un d l es s l aws .

 T H E T EM P LE OF S I LE NCE 1 3

We vow to co m pl ete a ll the peer less un de r

”
standing .

T hen the tea was po ured in o ur cu ps s ome

,

pa rched rice s l i ght ly sugared was divided on

piec es of paper which we carried .
( It is the
’
tem pl e s ru l e not to trou bl e anoth e r s han d )
’
. We
dran k the tea and bit ,
t he rice w hen the chief
,

p riest ro s e and d eparted in si l ence accompanie d ,

by his three attendant pries ts as befor e . An d

w hen th eir st eps b e ca me inaud i bl e in the si l ence
of m ight , an d thei r 6071 5 0a di sappea red in the
b osom of da rk ness a ll the p riests rose
,
a nd retired
into their Medita tion H ouse , an d I into the gues t
r oo m next to the A ssem bl y C ha mbe r condu cted
by one o f the Fuz u z s o r under secreta ries of this
'

p riest ha l l who l eft with me a piec e

,
of writte n
pape r
R i s in g : t wo o c l ock A M
’
, . .

’
Prayer three o c l ock .

’
B reakfa st z fo ur o cl o ck .

’
O ffering to the B ud d ha eigh t o c l ock .

P raye r: nine o c l oc k ’
.

’
Dinner t en o c l oc k .
I 4 K A MAK UR A

’
Bell stru ck eleven o c l ock .

’
Lectu re : o n e o c l ock P M . .

’
Praye r hal f past two o c l ock
.
.

’
Su p p r : four o c l oc k
e
.

Evening Be ll struck . twenty m in u te s pas t

’
s ix o clock .

’
Praye r : seven o clock .

’ ”
Slee p nine o cloc k .

T he r oom in which I found myse l f ha d a ll th e

desolatio n of the sen ses w hich scorns t he fla m e
of enthusiasm ( the subduin g o f enthu s ias m i s th e
fi rs t p rincipl e here) th at I foun d in the A ss em bly
C hambe r ; the si l ence I fe l t thic k ening w h en I

thought that I ha d nobody not even a priest,

si l ent as a ghost around m e , . N ow a nd then ,

the moa ning voice of an owl search ed my ea r

from the ba c k mounta in and the cand le b urn ed
l onesomely as my own so ul . Indeed I though t
,

i t was the time to hear th e very voice of my own

s oul . Some time ago I heard the ,
H angi struck ,

a nno uncing the time to put th e l ight o ut , an d

go to s l eep . I a m s u re tha t the re is m any a
p r iest who w i l l meditate a ll night sittin g up in
 I 6 KAMAKUR A
'

A ssemb ly Cha mber which wa s a dinin g roo m in

t u rn al l the p r iests were a lr eady seated S i l entl y

,

and even solemnly as on the previous evenin g .

They muttered a short prayer befo re they b ro ught

o ut thei r own bowl s and Chopsticks from under
thei r black r obes (they a r e their only belongi ngs ,

beside one o r two sac red books) I with them h ad

t he severest breakfast ever I ate which consisted ,

only of some g r uel chiefly of ba rley with r ice as

little as an ap ology with a few s l ice s ,

of g r een s
dipped in Sa l t wate r . Howeve r I enj oyed it
,
as

t hey did . I thought that their diet was far

beyond simp l icity wh ile I admit their p ride of

,

high thinking . And I wonde red if it wa s

asceticism to leave every hu man l ust and to give ,

the way fo r s p i r itual e xa l tation ,

to fly in the
air as a bi rd not to wa l k like any othe r animal
, .

It is w r itten I am told in the holy book

, ,
;

,
of the
dignity of p overty which should be protected as a
,

sacred law .
(Oh ,
to think of the luxu ries of the
West ') Those pries t s wil l be sent o ut begging
fa r an d near every month ; begging is rega r ded
a s divine while a gift , the exp re s sion of sac r ifice
 T H E T E M P LE OF S I LENCE I 7

and se l f imm olati on

-

. They l ive o n cha r ity . Th ey

d o not beg fo r the sake of begging b ut ,
fo r the
’
Sp i rit of the Buddha s l aw ; then the re is no
b egging . M eikei of T o ga n o wo , the Bud dhist
teache r of Yas u t o k i H oj o the Hoj o feuda l p r ince
, ,

wa s ask ed to acce p t a g reat p iece o f land of the

Tanba p rovince for his temp le ex penses and he ,

refused with many than k s saying that the r e was ,

no g reater enemy than l uxu ry for the p riests

who unde r its mock e ry might become dissolute
, ,

from not observ ing every ho l y l aw . M ighty

Pove rt y ,
I pray unto thy dignity to pr otect
Buddhism from s p i r itual r uin ,
he exc l ai med .

’
Such is the Zen s l oftine s s I r emembe r somebod y
said that he could p ray better when he w as
”
hung ry . I rea d the list of cha rity recei ving -

In the o ffice of the F usu o r chief secreta r y

Ten y en for the great feast .

Ten y en fo r Pra dj n a -
reading .

E ight y en fo r the general feasting .

F our y en fo r feasting .

Th ree y en and a ha l f for l unc h giving -

.

Three y en for grue l giving -

.
18 K A M A KUR A

Two y en and a ha l f fo r r ice giving as a side

-

Two y en fo r —
g r uel giving as a side food .

Seventy s en fo r cake giving

-
.

Thirty s en fo r bath givi n g

-

No woman is pr ivileged to enter the p riest

hall here the priests themse l ves wash cook and ,

sew . The fou r priests unde r the T en z u Ryo take

’
u pon themselves the cook s r es p onsibility while ,

the D en s u priests attend to cleaning the dais and

i dolsA nd the re a r e the two pr iests at the j ish a
.

Ryo who wi l l se r ve M o n j u B o sa t s u the holy ido l ,

en sh rI n e d in the Meditation House to whom they ,

offe r tea and bowls of rice at the pr o p e r time .

Those who take ca re of the vegetables a r e called

Ye n j u and the re a re th ree attenda nt p riests to
the chief priest . A nd the chief sec r etary with his
two assistants manages the whole business of the
priest hall .

This En gak up which embraces the mountain

o us groun d of some five hundred ac res whe re in ,

the olden days when we had mo re devotion mo re ,

than fo rty smal l tem p les used to sta nd though , to

T O K I M UN E H OJ O
 T H E T EM P'E OF SI LENC E 19

da y only twenty of them su rvive the accidental

destruction of fire natural r uin ( by the wa y
,
or , ,

the priest ha l l belongs to Seiz o k u In one o f the ,

fa t e/m tem p les ) was founded by T o kim un e Hojo ,

the gl o r ious her o of the Hoj o feuda l government

who cut o ff the heads of the envoys of K ub laI

K han at T a t s un o k uchi, and then destroyed the

Mog ul a r mies on the T s uk u sh i seas . He was a
great believer in the Zen Buddhism from whose
powe r h e nou r ished his wonderful s p irit of c o n vic
’
tion and b r ave r y which t r ium phed in j apan s first
battle with the fo reign invasion some S ix hund r ed
yea r s ago and it was to the Chi nese pr iest cal l ed
Sogen Zen j i whom he invited he re to thi s En

j
’

ga k u i tha t he made h is student s o bei sance .

Indeed he r e w he r e I wal k in silence under the

,

rain of the twittering of birds from the temple

eaves through the sentinel straight cedar t r ees is
,
-

the very place . Here he exchanged confidence

a nd faith with mou ntains and sta r s . He must
have bee n sitting too in the M editation H ouse as
those fifty priests whom we s ee to day
-
in truth ,

Z az en o r s itting in abstr action is the way to co n

20 KAMAK UR A

cent rate and intensify you r mind which wil l neve r

be ala r med even facing thunder and mountain s
falling r ight before you r eyes . Yo u have to bend
you r r ight leg and s et it in the c r otch of you r left
leg which too must be p ut on you r r ight leg .

Then the back of your right hand shall be placed

on the left leg and the back
,
of your left hand
within you r right p alm and both of your thumbs
shal l be r aised and joined to fo r m a Ci rc l e . You
must not look u p no r down ; you r ea r s and
shou lde r s shall be balance d st raight in line and ,

also you r nose and navel . Open your eyes as

usual and breathe in and out slowly
, . Above all ,

y u
o must find the p lace of imaginary existence of

y ou r sou l r ight in you r left palm . Then your

mind will g r ow into silence as the Buddha u p on
—
the lotu flowe r what a p ure silence Of the
s

—
flower swimming on the p eace of the Unive rse ,
not encroached by the sense of life and death , y o u

and nature being pe rfectly united . Silence i s the

fo r ce of natu re : it is the t r ue state in which to
pe rfect one s e xistence
’
. It is non action which
-

does not mean i nactivi t y ; it is the ful l swing of

2 2 K A M A KU RA

thatched r oof . A s p e rfect harmony with na t u re ,

not only s p i r itually but also mate r ially is the ,

k eynote of the Zen Buddhism the soft da rk , ,

b r own aged colo r

,
of thatch was prefe rr ed ; the
colo r itself is that of contentment and submission .

The small Sha ri Den is now unde r the gove rn

’
ment s pr otection as a model structu re though it ,

is s m all ,
o f the Zen sect tem p les of the K amaku r a
pe r iod which followed the So style of China .

The second gate of the temp le g round ,

that
eno rmity of str uctu r e of two stories ca rrying all
,

the wea riness and silence of ages in colo r is a ,

giant of su rpr ise which howeve r does not awe

, ,

st rike you unneces sa r ily ; but the magnificent

asp ect of its settled p owe r will make you really
wonde r whethe r there may not be a certain p owe r
o f s p i r it burning unde r its ashen surface by which ,

it is st ill kee p ing immensity of dignity . Not

only the gate many othe r thi ngs of the grounds
,

seem soa ring o ut from the g ras p of r uin ; I da r e

say they will exist indefinitely by the p owe r of
pr aye r an d silence . Indeed this is the g round
,

of myste r y howeve r the Zen Budd hism may deny

,
 T HE T E M PLE OF S I LEN CE 2 3

it . You wil l learn I am su re , ,

that ca r vings ,

gargoyle d ragons and the like are not every thing

even for a Japanese tem ple . A nd what a
grandeu r of simp l icity ' Let us learn he re the
grey simp licity of truth
A somewhat squat building of a similar
cha r acter of st r uctu r e with the gate towe r some ,

fifteen squa r e (one Ken is six feet) wil l r eceive

t en ,

you afte r the gate if you wish to o fft e r you r

,

p rayer ; p r ayer is the Gr eat ,

Shining Clea r
T reas u re of you r mind signified by the tablet
ca rved fr om the autog ra p h of the E mpero r

Go k o gen which yo u see above the doo r s . The

floor is paved with the lichen green squa res of -

tiles which add thei r t ragic emp hasis to the

already tw ilight soul of the edifice the st rangely
gesticulating i ncense is seen r ising fr om the altar
towa r d Shakyamuni colossal black visaged gold ,
-

r obed and with a gold c r own who is accompanied

, ,

by t wo l one l y figu res o f g ua r dian B o sa t sus .

This i s the p lace where ou can by vi rtue of

y ,

yo u r p rayer forget your hu man speech and rise

, ,

u p into the l ight of silence . If one cou l d stay

2 4 K A M A KUR A

he re till t he bles sed day of Miro k u— the expected

Messiah whom Buddha pr omised us to give after
the la p se of five thousand yea r s '
 A L E GEN D OF T H E B U DDH A S
’

*
TOOT H

I N T HE N eh a n ky o ( Nirv ana su tra ) it is w ritten

Th e Buddha said unto th e Lo r d of Heaven
Now wi ll I give thee a rel ic — I wi ll give
t hee a tooth from my right uppe r jaw . A nd
thou shalt bui l d a tower in th e Heavens and
worshi p an d it sh a ll co m e to pass that tho u
,

sh alt attain unto ever la s tin g h appine ss

Then d i d Taishaku ( In dr a t h e sup r eme r u l e r)- n

bring unto th e p l ace o f cremation a p recio u s

jar (shi ppo no k ame : a ja r o f seven treas u res)
and ves se l s o f worshi p A nd b eho l d the fi re
.

was extinguished s p ontaneo u s ly . T hen d id h e

O pen the c o fli n and tak e one tooth and return ing
,

to the Heavens he b ui l ded a tower and made

O ffe rings .

N ow two swift devi l s ,

mak ing them se l ves
invisible wa lked behind Taishaku and did s tea l
,

’
the re l ic of th e Buddha s tooth b ut ,
B ish am o n
”
Fr o m the “ j pa an Ga z ett e, J un e 1 0t h ,
1 8 92 .
2 6 KAMAKURA

Tenno (V a is ram an a— the Go d o f War P) pursue d

’

them and fo r ced them to return the rel ic .

In the peri od of the To (T ang) dynasty the re

'

lived a ce rt ain holy priest named Nanzan Dozen ,

R isshi, who dev outl y be l ieved in and worshi p pe d

B ish a m o n Tenno and a saint ,
called I -

da ten
-

( V é da R aga) ,
and wh o had received such mi
ra c ul o u s answers to his p r ayers fro m both that he
ma rvelled greatly at the benevo l ent results of
worshi pp ing and t r usting to thei r power and mercy .

One day having r ead in the

,
N eh an ky o ab out
’
the Buddha s tooth he prayed to be enlightened ,

as to the meaning of the pas sage and to be all ow

,

ed to s ee the r elic and this being g ranted he

, , ,

found that the tooth was actually the same as

spoken about in the sac red book . I -
da ten further
-

told Na n zan Dosen R isshi tha t the re l ic was now

in his (I da ten s) poss ession and then bestowed
- -
’

it o n the p riest O ve rjoyed at receiving such an

.

inestimable t reasu r e the R is sh i guarded the sac red

relic as one would hold a jewel in the pal m of the
hand whethe r slee p ing
, or waking ke p t it con s tant
ly in safety . A t night he sle pt ho l ding the re l ic
 T HE B U D D H A S T OO T H
’
2 7

in his han ds and in the da y time he concealed it

,
-

in a hole in the g ro un d, and at last he beq ueathed

it to hi s disci pl e Bunk o R iss h i .

’
Du ring the To ( T ang) dynasty the E mpe r or
D aiso des ired to s ee the r e l ic ; and again du ring

the So ( Sung) dynasty the E mperor T a is o and hi s

so n T a iso disbelieving the story and doub t ing ,

that the tooth was a rea l re l ic of the Buddha ,

o rde red it to be t ried by fi re but as the col or , ,

even underwent no change he reverenced it and , , ,

writin g a pr ayer upon it placed the relic into a

,

si lver pagoda and wo r shipped

,
.

La ter on the E mpe r ors Shinso : J in so : Eis o

and K iso worshi pp ed the re l ic in thei r p alaces and ,

p rayed for blessings at its S h r ine and afte r wa r d ,

fi’
it was p laced in the N o n in ( tem p le ) in the
‘

Ca pital of China .

O ne night the Ka m ak u ra Uda ij in

,
Lo r d Sa ne ,

tomo M inamoto had the fo ll owing vision

,
— He

thought that he went to the Kingdom of So ( Sung )

and ente ring a S pl endid temple he sa w a priest ,

who m he thought to be t h e Abb ot s urrounded by ,

a l arge concour se of priests and peo p le who were ,

2 8 KAMAKU R A

so n umero us as to fi l l the entire ground s of the

chu rch . Then San et o m o enquire d fr o m a priest ,

who stood l ooking on who the A b b ot was an d , ,

wha t templ e he was in and the pr iest replied ,

)
“
This is the N o m in j i ( tem p le of the Capital
‘
,

’
a nd that Abbot is Nanzan Dozen Ri ssh i, the
founde r . A gain S an et o m o spoke and said : B ut
the R isshi —
died ages ago l how can he then be
he re in the land of the livin g
It is ha rd to measu re and unders ta n d the path
of sages said the p riest . The refo re althou gh
,

dead they live and although l iving yet t hey are

, ,

with the dead . A cco rding to the time an d place

'

they live and die and die and l ive , . He i s now

S an et o m o of Great Jap an and in life ,
. The p r iest
now stan ding to the left of the A bbot has been
bo rn again —it is the r ule o f Sansara ( m et em p sy
ch o s is) — h e lives in Yuk in o shit a at Kamak u r a
”
and is R y o sh in S o dz u . Shortly afte r wa r d ,

S an et o m o awoke and thinking the d ream very

, ,

st range sent a messenger to call

, R y o sh in S o dz u ;
but in the meanwhile R y o sh in S o dz u had li kewise
had a vision and had sta rted out to visit the
,
 ’
THE BU DD H A S T OO T H 2 9

Udaij in
’
s p a l ace ,
so , meet ing the m essenge r ha l f
S an et o m o
’
way both came into
, s p resence to
gether . O n compa r ing notes it was found that
their dreams we re both a l ike ,
and whi l e they
,

wonde re d at the coincidence the founder o f the ,

j u fuk uj i— Sen k o Zen sh i— ar r ived and to l d the

S an e t o m o , now c l ea rl y pe r ceiving that he was

N anzan Dosen R issh i in a new birth conceived a ,

great desi re to trave l to China see the sacred soi l

, ,

’
and worship the B uddha s tooth but ,
the pr oject
was discountenanced by Yo sh it o k i ,
H ojo Lo r d of
Sagami and his yo unge r brother
,
T o k ifusa , Lord
of M u sa sh i who st r ong l y admonished him and
,

advised h im not to p roceed . S a n et o m o ,

however ,

was not so easi l y led and dete r mining to carry

, ,

out his idea o rdere d a ,

sea -
going vessel to be
constru cted fo r the voyage ; b ut the o ffice r s and
art iz an s engaged in the task consulted together and ,

pu r po sely b uilt a boat which wou l d not sai l pr o pe r

ly , and wh en it was finished it was of cou rse qui t e , ,

unmanageable . Al though greatl y ince n sed at the

fail u re of his pl ans ,
S an et o m o at last abandoned
30 KAMAKURA

his design and sent messengers in his stea d to

,

China . A mong the other m embers of the Em

bassy we r e — R y o sh in S o dz u ; K a t s u z an Gwa n z ei
Ot omo Bungo no Kami Shoni M ago t a ro ;

Oyama Sh ichiro z aem o n ; U tsunomiya S h im bei ;

Kikuchi Shiro M u rakami Ji r o M iu ra Shurino

s uke ; Unno K ota ro ; Katsumata Hyogo no
Kami ; and Nanj o j i r o The E mbassy carried
.

with them gold silver and various p recious

, ,

,
— —
thi n gs also timbe r and utensils tools etc .
,

and on reaching thei r destina tion at the Ca pital of

China related the sto ry of the d ream p resented
,

money and o ffe r ing to the priests and b uilt a ,

gate for the tem p le . Greatly rejoiced ,

the
Chinese priests desi red to make retu r n presents
to S an et o m o , and therefo re held a consul t ation
on the subject but the Ja panese Said
,
We have ,

in o ur count ry money and t reasure i n abundance

, ,

and the Shogun therefore desires nothing . Al l

we desi re is to be favo red by a loan of the
’
Buddha s tooth in o rde r that we may take it to
,

o ur Lord so that he may WO I sh ip it and thus

,

gladden his heart . Afte r this we wi l l retu rn it to

 T HE B U D D H A S T OO T H
’

31

you . The Chinese pr iests having been o r d e red

to guard the relic by their E mperor , and the tooth
b ein g sealed they said it was a di fficul t req uest
,

to comply with yet as this was such a special

, ,

request they wou l d l end the tooth on the under

,

s tanding that it s ho ul d be returned after Sane

tomo had worshippe d it .

Accordingly the relic was hande d over to the

,

Japan ese mes senge r s and they returned home

,

wa r d accompa nied by severa l Chinese p r iests .

As they pa s sed through Kyoto the J a panes e ,

E mpe r or heard the news and requestin g that the

,

sacred toot h be de posited in hi s Palace k ep t it ,

the re fo r abo ut half a year . The mes sen gers

h avin g retu r ned to Kamakura and r e l ated the ,

action of His M ajesty ,

S an et o m o became very
ang r y and ordered one of h is peopl e to go to

Kyoto and fetch the relic . A ce r t ain o ld man

na m ed M o r i n aga (over 8 0 yea r s o f age)
T o k u ro

vol untee red to go and visiting the E mperor

, , ,

urged his cau se with such succe ss t ha t althoug h ,

His Majesty was l oth to p art with the t reas ure ,

M o rinaga was enab l ed to carry the tooth ba c k to

32 KAMA K URA

Ka maku ra with him and in honor of this event

,

S an et o m o s u r rounded by a b r illiant following of

Lo rds and vassals came out to meet his aged

messenge r as fa r as O dawa ra and it is affirmed
that many marvel lous signs and wonde r s and
strange phenomena ma rked the arri val of the
sacred relic in the l and .

“
A temp le ,
the (T emp l e o f G
D aij ij i
r eat
Me r cy) was s peedily constructed and the relic ,

duly p laced the rein and later on in the time o f

,

S adat o k i
Hojo (became Shikk en in 1 2 8 4)
it was conside red that the position o f the
“ ” “ ”
E n gak uj i
being between the Inu and
I (Hound and S win — two o f the names of the
Chines e Zodiac) was auspicious for the prese rva
ti on of the relic as it wou l d b ring happiness to
,

and guard the city . A Special Sha r i Den

( r elic sh r ine) was therefore constructed at the
”
E n gak uji, and the sacred tooth was r emoved
the reto .

It is said tha t du ring periods of wa r st rife , ,

famine p es ti lence d r ought and floods if praye rs

, , , ,

were addressed to thi s sh r ine a wonderful answer

34 K A MAKUR A

ever —th e wo rl d is now in a peacefu l sta te and

, ,

a l l mankind bask in the Cl emency of the Em

p ero r s
’
benevolence therefo r e we shou l d earnest
ly pray that this peace may long continue and ,

that the Im p e rial House may flou rish th roughout

ten thousand yea r s .

In the Dai H an kyak y o ( M ah a p radj n a

p aramita sut ra) it is w r itte n

If good young men and vi r tuous young women
respectfully and devoutly wo rshi p the r elic o f the
Buddha they will certainly
,
fall into eithe r of
not

— —
the th ree evil paths o f J igo k u Gak i o r C h ik ush o
( Pu r gato r y Hung r y devils — and Beasts ) but will ,

be rebo r n in the state of human beings and celestial

beings will be blessed with wealth and ha pp iness ,

a nd acco rding to thei r praye rs will r ide u p on the

th ree conveyances (T riya n a ) into Ni rvana .

In the H ik wak y o is likewise w r itten

In this Wo rld of suffe r ing my relics Shall
,

cha rge to an E me rald jewel fo r the sake of the p oo r

and unfo r tunate and shall scatte r seven
, t rea ss ure
”
up on all mankind . I will g rant thei r praye rs .

The golden wo rds of Buddha a re pe rfectly t r ue

 BY A B U D D HA T E M PL E

IN the voices of a be l l
Whe r e p ra ye r like a l ight al l day
K isses the shadow like Chest-
of faith ,

I a wea ried note o f l ife have a home

, , .

A long the path of the breeze

Where l ove lone b ut ha ppy sings and roams ,

I gathe r the peta l s of thought

N u rsed by the sl umbe r of p eace .

T r uth l ike the moon of day and night

, ,

E ve r perfect al l si l ent and go l d

, ,

Shed thy l ight over so r row and chee r ,

M ake me r egain m y r est and song .

A h through the mountains and r ive r s

, ,

Let thy vastness th r ill like tha t of ai r

I read thy wo r d in the flash of a leaf ,

Thy mystery in the whisper of a g ras s .

 U NDISC O V E RE D KAMAKU R A

A F T E R all ,
this Kamaku ra is still al most an
undiscove red country to fo reign travelle rs ,
al

though it is supp osed to be the fi r st or second

calling sp ot in the cou rse of
their Japanese
p ilgrimage .
I da re say it is unknown also to the
present Jap anese themselves . By Kamaku ra I do
not mean the town of the colossa l statue o f B uddha
o r the st riking figu re of Kwannon of Hase a ll

golden in the dark o r the red p ai n ted Hachiman

-

tem ple with the beautifully g r een background I

admit that they a re histo rica l at least to the
Jap anese mind and fan ta stically s uggestive no
, ,

doubt to the Weste r n visitors . But my a rtistic

sense 15 always r epelled by the thought of the
town gene rally known as Kamaku ra ,
which is
most artl essly built and comme rcially schemed
, .

I know that the real Kamaku ra in the O l der

meaning ,
t he most r eve rential town of Buddhism
and praye r is ,
not the town we see to day -
. O nce
u pon a time —
it is a long,
time ago — a mighty
 U NDI SC OV E RE D KAM A KUR A 37

cata clysm of natu re a tremendous wave o f the sea

,

dashing far inland destroyed the whole town and

,

left it a perfect r uin fo r many centu r ies ti ll modern

Japan found it as a summe r resort . When it
a woke fr om the ashes and dusts alas it did , ,
not

find the o ld glo r y and song but only the hastily

,

bui l t vi l las of r ich men and nob l es . It is sad to

se e the H oly B uddha and Kwannon i n an atmos
p h ere and su rr oundings not congenial to their
own Sp irits ; they a re o b liged to stand in thei r
o wn o ld places like lost s p i rits and saddest o f all ,

they a re show p iec es which are a l ways S hown out

of p lace . Therefore known Kamak u ra is one of
the most mise rable sights . A nd I da r e say it is
not rea l K amak u r a at a ll . Oh where is then
, , ,

u ndiscove red K amakura as I s ay

Fo r th r ee l ong months o f Summe r I was al most

wretched in fee l ing he r e at Ka mak ura that com
m ercia lis m reigned over it it is not only he re but
in any p lace ca l led a summe r r esort that you r
comme rcial va l ue is the fi r st thing to be conside r
ed . But with the pa ssi n g of Sep tember when the
fi er ily quick song of the cicada gave place to the
38 KA M A KUR A

gentle r chant of the c ricket the summer peo p le , ,

we might s ay , ebbed away . A nd when we ar e

done with the unce rtain w eathe r usua ll y with rai n
and wind which is bou n d to follow after summe r ,

we a re as I am to day with the autu mn mel low

,
-

and kind the season of the clearest sky and softest

,

b reeze . It was natura l that I found myse l f by the

Yu igah a m a shore where I had not da red to ste p
fo r two o r th ree months as I had been afraid to
confront the bathing c r owd as I expected I met ,

—
nobody he re to day to my satisfaction . I sa t

with the s ea fo r a long while and dreamed and , ,

the n

Into the home lessness of the s ea I awoke

O h my heart
, of the wind and Spray
I am glad to be no man to -
day
With the laughte r and dance of the sea soul -

Di p the song of the sea and wind ,

Th row it into my hea r t of l on ging

I like to be with the clan of the wate rs and
O h my soul
, of the sea -
sou l and surge
 U N D I SC OVER ED KAM A KURA 39

R oll in the wonde r of the heart and sea ,

O h my joy
, of the sea soul and flash
-

Gathe r al l the lights of the wind an d sea ,

To guard against the b l ack night

Of cou rse the sk y was as bl ue as could be .

It seems that the sno w al ready touch ed F uji

Yama as I saw fa r away the divinely white cone
transcending the green foliage and hil l s which
faced me . I a m glad that En o sh im a, the holy
isle of the goddess of the s ea or Benten is ,
so nea r
to me that I can a l most ta lk with i t . This is the
season when y u
o can O pen your o wn heart to
M other Nature and ,
sh e will revea l her truest soul
to you in wh ich y ou may find you r
,
o wn salvati on .

I be l ieve that even the ugly pa r t of the town o r

the p art of known K a m ak ufa would not l ook
bad unde r this lovel y A utu m na l weathe r . I am
su r e Great Buddha will a ppear as the p e rfect
form of contemp l ation or satisfaction with the
decided background of the deep blue s ky not ,

—
t o day un de r t h e unce r tainty o f c l oud and sky of

the summe r season ; and the r ed paint o f the

40 KAM A KUR A

Hachiman sh r ine which looked ho rridly O ppressive

unde r the hot sun should now I imagine , , ,
be

toned down even beautifully th r ough the soft ai r .

Indeed this is the time when you can find real

,

Kamaku r a whose loveliness is sung in o ld p oet ry .

A nd again this is the season when -

we reflect on
ou r selves and adventu re even into the U nknown
, ,

and if you a re a Buddhistic believe r into the ,

thought of the Pa radise o r Ni r vana ; it is not

un pr ofitable to think a bit of you r futu re life o r

Afte r -
death .

I walked by the beach towa rd K otsubo the ,

fishing village . I have nothing to do with the

village but my aim is to find
, o ut undisc overed
Kamaku ra the old town , of Buddhism and praye r
as I know how to find it . Because this is the
th i rteenth of Octobe r the opening night
, of Juya
or Ten Night P raye r held annually at K o m y o ji

Temp le A gain this is the very season when we

.

feel like praying .

I a ppr oached Zaim o k uz a whe re K o m y oj i

Tem p le ,
o ne o f the five g reatest tem p les in Kama
ku ra is situated close by the water whose
, rh y t h
 U N D I SC OV E R ED K A MAKUR A 4 1

mical sound beating the sands and pebbles echoe s

to the hea r ts of Buddhistic faith as the ti r eless
r e p etition of the ho l y name of Buddha A m idabh a .

The temp le belongs to the Jodo sect w h ich

pr oclaims that the real sa l vation is gained only
th r ough fe rvency in cal ling on his name . P raye r
in the r ea l meaning is bette r t ha n reasoning and
the shortest prayer is the best . The sing l e
”
exclamation of Namu A mida is said to be
wo r thy enough to make you b o r n in th e Pa radise .

He re I wil l say that you must g o to the wate r to

l ea r n the sec ret of pr aye r ,
an d in another wo rd ,

the sec ret of the Jodo sect of Buddhism th us

whi l e I mused on one thing or another my ,

footstep s we re al ready in the main st reet which

l eads to the entr ance gate of the tem p le . What a
sight What a crowd and what booths
A lthough there was some little while yet befo r e
the real dusk every booth was already lighted by
,

c andles and l anterns . It is no t exagge ration at

a l l to sa y that there we re almost a thousand b o oths
which were eager to make business with the
people who came here to pray and hold a wake
4 2 K A M A KUR A

befo re the holy Buddha . The r e was in fact

nothing in the wo rl d that yo u might n ot find ,

even fr om the dust p an and broom to needles and

th reads as it was a Jap ane se a ffair in the count r y ,

the eating booths occu p ied a p r ominent p art at

this religious festival too . We as som ebody
,

r ema rked do not fo r get p leasures

,
of the se n ses
even in religion . A scet I C I s m IS not t rying if yo u
know how to unde r tak e it this Ten Night Pra y e r
is ,
on the othe r hand the ha pp iest sort
,
of annual
p leasu r e -
m ak m g In count r y life . I thi n k that it
was even necessa ry fo r fishe r men and fa r me r s in
the olden time befo re the age of r ail r oad an d

’
ca rriage to come he re an d do the whole year s
ma rketing ; even to —
day when C ivilization and a
bigger town a re on l y one ste p o ut they seem to find ,

a joy in buying one thing o r two and recollecting a ,

t radition or histo ry . I walked amid the c rowds

and din th rough the booths and s l ow ly en t e red
, ,

the temple gate ; on both sides of the pathway ,

nume r ous shows we r e p ut u p tem p o rar ily , whe r e

chi l dren swa r med ; I thought it freedom which

l et the j oy hunt ers follow after thei r o wn p urp ose .
 U N D I SCO V E R ED KAMAKURA 43

Who wishes to pray and re p eat the holy name

ha s to ste p into t he main tem pl e . I ente r ed too .

The chief fathe r with the othe r thirty and mo r e

monks al ready had tak en his seat befo re the
’
Buddha s holy dais ; the sixteen l ittle gi rl s cal l ed
”
Chigo ,
in two lines left and r ight b y the dais
, ,

with golden c r owns on thei r heads p a pe r made

,
-

flowe rs o f l otus and peony in hand d ressed in red ,

and white we r e cha r ming p ictu res

, . When the
sutr a reading commenced
-

, mo re candles we r e
li hted
g ,
and mo r e incense bu rned the p eo p le
who sat in the hal l with the hearts of pr aye r we r e
silent as a dee p sea . The reading was finished ;
the fathe r turned from the dais to the p eo p le wh o

called in profo und voice the ho l y name th ree

”
times a fte r his lead ,
Namu Amida 1 Then the
fathe r and monks and c hi
g os left the pr ayer
hall noise l ess l y ,
—
leaving the p eo p le more than
’
one thousand in n umber to re peat the Buddha s
name at thei r o wn wills .

I was pe r mitted to stay over the night a little

’
r oo m in the monks resid ence qua rte r was given
me fo r slee ping . AS I wanted to p ass my hours
44 K A M A KURA

quietly ,
I did n ot da re to go into the c rowd
a ga in ; when I wished to s l eep I was p e rfectly ,

r estless being haunted by the p raying sound

,
of a
thousand p e rsons in the bal l that r ounded me as
if a voice of the far -
o ff sea , o r fo rgott en ghosts .

The voice of pr aye r is o ld as the t r uest hea r t is

o ld ; I thought I had seen the religion of pr ayer
in its sti ll living li fe and fi re .

Gen k u ,
the founde r Of this Jodo sect l eft the ,

“
pr inci p le on his death b ed The method of
final salvation that I have given fo r a ll mankind
is neither a so r t of meditation such as is p racticed
by many schola rs In China an d Japan ,
nor is it a
’
r e petition o f a Buddha s name by those who have
studied and unde r stood the dee p meaning of the
Buddha A m idabh a without even any doubt of His
me rcy whe reby one may be born in the Ha pp iest
Land of the Buddha . The me r e re p etition with
fi r m faith incl udes al l the p ractical details such as

the th reefold pr ep a ration of mind and the four

methods of r eligious se r vice .

If I as an individual have any doct rine more

profound than this I should miss the me r cy of the
 U NDI SC O V E R ED K A M A KUR A 45

two Hono r able O nes A m idabh a and S a kya’

,

muni ,
and be l eft o ut of the convent of the
B uddha A m idab h a . Those who believe this
s h ou l d tho ugh they clea rl y unde r stand a l l the
,

’
teac h in gs of S akyamuni throughout his who l e
life behave themse l ves l i k e sim p le people who
,

know not a single l etter ,

or l ik e igno r ant nuns or

monk s who se faith is implicit l y sim pl e . Thus ,

without pedantic airs they should practice fe r ,

v en t ly the repetition of t h e name of A m idabh a ,

”
and that a l one .

In the days of the o ld glory of Kamak u ra ,

when such a saying , K w a n t o [ met a bo li ze wo

m at t e M pp o n been 725 fa ir/t i , K a m a ku r a wo

”
m at t e K wa n t o na é é a é o bu(
' '

the K wanto nz t a z sn ,

eight pr ovinces can matc h the who l e of Japan ;

and here Kama k ura can match the whole of those
eight p rovinces) was mi n ted in go l d —in those ,

days to be a Kamak ura b ushi or K amaku ra man

meant to be a Man on the face of earth . A
’
cl uster of fi sh erm en s vil l ages suddenly became
the capital of the Ea stern p ro v inces un de r
Yo rit o m o wh o o r iginated the first feudal govern
46 K A M A KUR A

ment he r e and the p lace as I said demonst rated

,

the mightiest p ower ever known in history .

Howeve r Yo rit o m o and his fami ly lasted onl y

,

fo r ty yea rs in r ea l p owe r ,
being followed by
Yo shit o k i Hojo wisely unde r the title,
of S ki/t een

or A dmi n ist rato r ; and his fami ly remained for

one hund red and fifty yea r s gras ping at the
’
b reasts of Jap an s sixty -
s ix pr ovinces and,
dic t at

ing but not j ust l y always ti ll the downfa ll of

, ,

T a k a t o ki Hoj o in 1 3 7
0 . However ,
the Hojo
family sta rted it s administ ration with no sma ll
wisdom and c reditab l e justice which the peop l e
welcomed glad to b reathe freely unde r the age of
,

p eace p eace soon bloomed into the mellowness of

p ros pe r i t y which reached its height it is said u nde r , ,

Ya sut o k i and T o kiy o ri the successo r s of T ok i ,

masa . They encoura ged simplicity of living and

rejected every habit “

of ease and luxury . An d

thei r minds we r e tu rned to the amelioration o f
’
peop le s con dition and the desire to renew their
pr os p erity ; they insti lled t he very Sp i rit of
Bushido the prece pts of Kn ighthood into thei r
, ,
 UN DI S CO V E R ED K AM A KUR A 47

h o use in Kyoto . And they tried to im press upon

the Deo p le tha t thei r g ui di n g p ri nci p le wa s t o

ado re the gods and the Buddhas as was clea r ly ,

exp res sed in the Gosez é a z ( S /z z b z mo t

'

co d e ) they
' ' '

b uilt tem pl es and invited many p r iests to Kama

,

kura to whom the y made obeisance as students .

K oben of T o gan o wo , a priest i n those days ,

once exclaimed We re B uddhism a r eligion

r ep resented by the pre se n t gene ration of priests it ,

”
would be the wo rst in t he wo r ld . In t r uth the ,

religious decadence had al most reached ebb wa t e r

’
ma rk ; the p riests had lost the peo p le s respect ,

and Buddhism tu rned to a c hi l dish r ite itse l f its ,

r eal s pi rit utte r ly v an is h ad. Howeve r its r evival ,

in o ne fo rm or another was expected when

Yo rit o m o came to powe r ; and the t ime r i p ened
with the r ise of the Hoj o family . Yas u t o k i and
T o kiy o ri and ot he rs found their religi o u s idea l in
T o k iyo ri S l at t
'

the Zen Budd h ism .

,
the then en ,

who went to China fo r the pu rp ose of studying

“
the Zen Budd h is m ,
recei ved b o sa t s uk ai and
afterwa r d he invited a So priest named
,
D o ry u

from China and b ui lt

,
fo r hi m the K en ch o j i te m pl e
4 8 K A MAKU RA

wh ich might be said to -

day to be the companion
tem p le of the En gak uj i temple . The latter wa s
built late r by famous T o k im u n e, the very so n of
T o k iy o ri, the fou r th administ rato r of the Hojo
family .

The Zen Buddhism which professes to seek

salvation in you r own soul ,
that is to say ,

th r ough the vi rtue of you r medita tion was not , ,

howeve r ac cessible fo r the masses only bel ong

, ,

ing to the u p pe r class o f intelligence and culture .

A nd then ho w should the souls of the masses ,

igno rant and uncouth be saved P He r e Nena of

,

the Jodo s ect ente red into Kamaku ra with his

r eligion of prayer and at once became the l ight
,

and law to them . What is religion if not faith

Faith is fi re and li fe with it indeed you live and , ,

die .

It was T s u n et o ki , the second administ rato r o f

the Hoj o family who built thi s, K o m y oj i tem p le
for Nena o riginally at
, S asuk e g a Yatsu and soon,

afte r ward moved it he re to Zaim o k u z a whe r e it

still stands . The Im perial Cou r t often invited
him and his successo rs to Kyoto and th ought ,
50 K AMAK URA

appre ciation of re l i gi o n
. Get in the
m o untains an d seas Th en y o ur so ul is saved .
 T H E W O N D ER OF B R O N Z E

WE have a l so a time q uite frequently when a

littl e dissa tisfaction at once turns even to a fu ll
sized cynici s m and l ike a for ei gn tr avel l er
,
wh o

ha s b ecome sudden l y sad l osing a ll excitement ,

as things grow fa m iliar we fee l e v en a ridicul o us

,

litt l ene ss i n h ouses ,

in g ardens in every thing
, ,

a b ove a ll in the set manners . It is at such a ti m e

tha t we tak e th e mo s t ind i fferent attitude a s , if

we were not a l l in part re spons i bl e an d g l ad ly ,

specul ate in cold b lood u po n the degra da tio n of

m odern Japan . Where is arti s tic s urprise a thing ,

won d erful and i nten s e P Th ere sti ll in fact exi s ts

s uch if o n e know s w h ere
,
find it (Ja p an is n o t
to ,

who lly l ost) ; and if y ou see it at the une x pecte d

corner p articula rl y when y o u are in a bad
,

humour , your j oy wil l be s urely do ub led . It

is e xa ct ly my o wn case whenever I see the
Daibutsu O ,
ho l ine ss holine ss
,
' -
and it is
singu l ar enough that the p l ace whe r e the sta tue
dwells a l ways a p pears to me st range and sudden .
5 2 K A M A K U RA

( I assure y o u ,
howeve r I have seen it a hun d red
,

times) . A n d at le ast I make myself be l ieve the

p l ace is sudden an d s trange to m ak e my p ro saic
life inte resting with a happ y brea k . I ndeed ,

j apanese l i fe is not so romanti c a s it i s writte n

in a story .

It is not easy fo r anybody to think tha t suc h a

'

wonder hu man creation (Daibuts u g r eat a nd

of

e t e r nal) ever sta nds q uite near the station at

Kamakura ; it is not m u ch mo r e than o n e mile
from there taking the m ain tho r oughfare at the
,

right . I a m s ure yo u wo ul d never think that

y o u wil l come at the end to anything worthy ,

when yo u see about your se l f a com m on so r t of

country town of mode rn Japan not m uc h di ffe rent

from the others , pe rha ps less individua l and
s t riking because ambition looks mere l y to goin g
,

into commercia l ism ; and yo u cannot under the

,

heaven make you r self believe the town is con

,

n ect ed with one of the g reatest a r ts that to day -

exists . If you are n ot su re the g reat ido l of

Buddha is waitin g fo r yo u at a certain pla ce ,

y o u will I be l ieve t u rn bac k at the start as q uic k

, ,
 T HE WO N D E R OF B R O N Z E 53

a s yo u can . It is true it wi ll wait fo r yo u r

comin g ,
if nece ssary even ,
one th o usand yea rs .

T hi s may be a proper p l ace to te ll yo u that thi s

town of Ka m aku ra the g reat seat of the Shogu ns
,

from 1 1 8 9 onwa r d and o f th e so —

call ed R egents
,

of the Hojo fami ly d uring the troubl ous M iddl e

Ag e was the city of re l i gious faith an d art ; and
,

b eing tak en by stor m and bu rnt to the gro und i n

[45 5 and again 1 5 2 6
,
it gra d ua lly l ost its impor
t a nce . Yo u wou l d s ee that the an ic ien t city of

Ka ma k ura was n ot a l to gether uncongenia l to

yo ur artistic temperament an d can we ll s uppo s e ,

th at the g reat i d o l found q uite a sati sfactory

h om e . Whe re i s to da y a sh 0 p o f pi ctu re car ds a n d
-

s ouveni r s there s tood in o ld en da y a man s ion or

castl e of figh tin g he r oes ; where to d ay we s ee -

a r estaurant eve n with a sign bo a rd in -

E ng l ish

m ay ha ve been the h o me of an e minent sword

s mith o r painter . Ka makura is nothing if she
h as no histo ry ; fo r the sa k e of th at history we
t ry not to see the present .

I do n ot thin k it nece ssary to te ll yo u to turn

to th e right after y o u ha ve fo ll owed the main
54 K AMAKUR A

road ; you can t r ust in yo u r artistic imp u l se in

t urning ri gh t ; an d w h en y o u once have t u rne d
right , y o u are a lrea dy un d er th e soft a n d gra y
B uddhisti c atmo s ph ere and e ven fee l th e i n fluence
,

of t h e great i d o l . There is on l y ten or fi fteen

minutes wal k b efore y o u reach the temp l e ga te
where the N iwo , th e gu ard ian g od s watch ,
fo r

an y u ndesirab le in tr uder . A n d yo u s ee face

to fa ce the g reat h o l ines s righ t be y ond th e

gate ,
having a l on g co u rty ar d in goo d order
b etween .

Professor Ch am ber l ain says in Th ing s

Japan ese He w h o has ti me shou ld visit th e
'

Daibutsu repeatedly ; for l i k e Niagara l i k e St , , .

’
Peter s and s e vera l oth er
, of the g reatest wo rks
of natu re and art it fai ls to prod uce its fu l l effect
,

on a first or e ven on a second vis it ; b ut the

impre ssion it prod uces grow s on the b eho ld er
each time that he gazes afresh at the ca l m ,

i ntel lectual ,
p as s ion l ess face , which seems to
c oncent r ate in its e l f the who l e phi l o s ophy of

B uddhism ,
—the t r i um p h of mind over sense ,
of

eternity over fleeting time , of th een d u rin g majest y

56 KAMAKU R A

The ey es are of pu re gold and the si l ver b o s s

weighs 30 pounds avoirdupois . The image i s
form ed of s heets of b ronze cast s eparate ly braze d ,

together and fini shed O ff o n the outside with the

chisel .

It i s not out of p l ace to te ll a bit of its history ,

I be l ieve . It is said that the r e h as b een a t emple

in the pl ace since the 8 th century b ut its preci s e
histo ry is involved in obscurity . T ra dition sa ys
t hat the S hog un Yo rit o m o when tak ing part in
,

the dedication of the re stored Daib ut s u at N ara

in the 6th year of Kenky u to which

p lace he h a d been ca ll ed by the E mpe r or to
s upervi s e the ceremon y conceived the desi r e
, of

having a simi l ar object of wo rship at h is o wn

c a p ita l of Kamakura but died before he cou l d

,

put h is plan into execution . Itano no T s ub o n e,

one of h is waiting l adies undertook to co ll ec t
,

funds fo r the pu rpose and the priest Joko assisted

her wit h such devotion that in the I st y ear of

Gennin ( ) the firs t image which was o f

12 24

woo d was begun to be built and it wa s com pl et ,

ed in the first ye a r o f R ek in in A
 T HE WO N D ER OF B RO N ZE 57

sp l endid cha pe l was al so constru cted here in the

fi rst year of K wangen but in the
autu m n of the 2 nd
year of Hoj i ( 1 2 4 8 ) the
c ha pel was overthrown by a s torm and the im age ,

ba d l y da ma ged . And Itano no T s ubo n e w as

ca lled to action being assi s ted by the Shog un
,

Prince Mun et aka w h o p rovided the meta l to ca s t

,

a bronze i mage and res tored the tem p le in a ll its

fo r mer sp l endo r . The i mage was commenced in
th e 4t h year of K encho ,
and the maker w as
Go ro yem o n O no ,
an a rt ifi cer of Yan am ura of the
K adz usa province . It is in deed sad that nothin g
i s known about him ; b ut his g l o rious wo rk
r em ains as it i s . It was the fi rs t ti me th at suc h a
m a r velous piece of meta l wo rk ha d been succe ss
ful ly attempted in Japan and the perfect mas tery ,

of form an d bea uty and grandeur of outl ine is a

great triumph of Japanese a rt . It is in the words
of a true fri end that John La Farge said Like
a ll work done on arc h aic princip l es the main ,

a ccent uations a re overs tated and saved in thei r

rela t ion s by great s ub t l eties in the large s u rfaces .

It is em pha ti cal l y mod e l ed for a colossus ; it is

58 KAM A KURA

not a l it t l e t h ing m a de 5 4g, l ike o ur modern

co l lo ss a l statues ; it [m s a l w ay s é em my and ,

wou l d be so if r educed to l ife size -

.

F urthe r he rema r ks A stounding success of

the art ist in what he has rea l ly done for t here is ,

no trace of means the s um of realism is s o slight ,

the conventional has so g reat a pa rt each deta i l

is a l most mo r e of an ornament than of a rep resen

t at io n . O ne almost be l ieves that the resu l t may

be p artly accidenta l that as ,
one cannot fathom
the reason of the expressiveness of a countenance ,

or of the influence of a few musical notes ,

so it
seems di ffi cu l t to g rant that th e r e we r e once
many paths O pened befo re it .

And sti ll m o r e do I be l ieve that the accident

of the g reat tempest has given a yet more potent
and subtl e meaning to the enti r e figure . O nce
u pon a time its detail s indeed if not ,
it s enti rety ,

m ust have l ook ed more de l icate in the r eflected

light of the temple bui l ding when the u p per part
,

of the figure glittered in answer to the open ing of

the doo rs . But co ul d anything ever have r ivaled

the undecidedness of this b ac k g r ound of vei l ed
 T H E WO ND ER OF B RO N Z E 59

sk y and shi fting blu e which makes one believe

,

at time s that the figure soon mu s t move ' As

one look s l onger and longer at it with eve rything ,

a round it gently changing ,

and the s hadows
shifting upon its su rface the tension ,
of exp ecta
tion r ises to an xiety . The trees rustle and wave
b ehind it and ,
t he light dances u p and down the
g reen boughs with the wind it must move — b u t
”
the r e i s no change and it shal l
,
s it foreve r .

Indeed it is fa r better to s ee this gigantic divinity

,

of b r onze with folded hands and head inclined in ,

ecstatic contem p lation in the O p en air rathe r than

,

in the house because we can go st raight with its

, ,

pr esence ri ght befo r e o ur faces ,

now l ooming
a b ove the t rees then almost ap pea r ing to move
,

th r ough thei r o penings into the true heart o f

—
M othe r Natu r e the hills the sky (what de p th l)
, , ,

the s unshine and air to truly unde rstand it is the

wn
’
ve ry way of one s O salvati on . When yo u
’
l ook u po n the Dai b utsu s unwink in g c hange l ess ,

face perfectly fr ee fr om al l the distu rb ance of the

wo rl d which is a l ways subject to time a nd

cha n ge , yo u are ente r in g into the state of

60 KAMAKU RA

N irvana al ready on the spot . It I S here th at

once I wrote

I that s it in your haven am a sea -

tossed boat
I lay my body and sai l under your b reath .

You that p itied me , yo u that g reeted me ,

’
O h what a scent that is the Lo r d Buddha s l
,

He r e the air mist p u rp le

,
-

,
is l aden with prayer
Ah let me j oin to your pr ayer and sou l
,

( A h Ho l iness
,
Holiness )
' ,

Touch me hea l my sea wounded heart

,
-

’
You r hand blessed is but the
, ,
N i rv ana s .

It has been my joy n ow for many yea rs to see

it and linge r about it in S p ring or A utumn under ,

the sunshine o r rain I s ee its soft g r ay a nd vio l et

tone when a faint but love l y A utumn fi l ls fu l ly
—
the little ho l low the haven of p eace and p rayer
and when the h o t Summe r light fal l s on it , it s co l or
is cu r iously p ale . I again agree with M r La Farge .

t hat it was j u s t as wel l not to h ave any imposin g

monuments l ike the g reat cry p tome r ia round here ,

as the whole imp re s sion comes on ly from the

stat ue h e wa s a l ways right in the matter of art .
 BY T H E D A I B U TS U A T KAMA KU RA

AB O VE the o ld songs turne d to ashe s and pain ,

U n d er whic h Deat h ensh rouds the ido l s and trees

with mist of sigh ,

( Whe r e are K a m akura s rising days and l ife of

o ld

With h eart heightened to h u sh the Daibutsu ,

fo r

ever sits
O holine s s h ol iness of tri ump h and voice l essness '
, ,

A t times the l one pi l grims in w hiteness o f p ray er

, ,

Ca l led b y the sudden voice of shadow cha nting ,

the dre a m ,

A re seen as the swal l ows upon the sa d ne ss of seas

O the ghosts s tirring the ruins of faith fro m

morta l heart .

Leave not the wo rl d and h u manity to be who l ly l o st ,

’
Sa ve the i d o l s an d s ongs from the c enturies s igh ,

Bui l d again the house of l igh t on the p rayer of

E arth

Where is t he wor l d with t he N irv ana sky an d

thri ll of faith
62 K A MAKU RA

N a mu da but su
'

I p ray and again pray ,

amz .

O n the g r o u nd the pale s hadows of the Dai b uts u

and my se l f
The moon swings thro ugh th e graynes s of sad
t rees and eve
With the ido l an d m oon I h ere step with my
head b ent
We three in the ra pt ure of E ternity an d sile nc e '
64 KAMAKU RA

the former at E iz an , N o r thea s t of the c apital

( Ky oto then ) and the l atter
,
at the South en d
whe re Toji with famo u s pagoda sta n d s to—
day as
o f o l d. They ca n be prope rl y called the founde rs
of Ja p ane s e Buddhi s m under whose powe r it too k
deep root in Japan the numbers of the s ects that
had been al ready introduced then he r e were
counted eight . Afte r the death ofthe famous K uk a i
we had no i nt r oduction of any new sect but the
religious fi re was never extingui shed . E mperor

afte r emp e ro r noble afte r nob l e buil t temples

, , of

their o wn faith ,
and bea ut ifi ed them with new
a l ta rs , b ronze idols ,
p agodas and bell tower s -

The age of r eligion and art wa s soon fol l owed by

the age of swo rds that lasted for some time but
when it subsided near the clo se of the twel fth
centu r y the rel igious enth usia s m a gain took fi r e
,

but in a di fferent fo r m perha p s . The Zen or

meditative school of Buddhi s m that was b r ought
from China in the ea r ly p art of the so -
ca l led
Ka maku ra age , ta citly denied the pom p and
fo rmalism tha t b el onge d to the other sects ; its
esoteris m or m etap hys ics intere s ted the min ds of
 N I CH I R EN 65

the r ul ing c l asse s . But th e popu l ace foun d a m ore

simp l e b e l ief in the p riest ca l led Gen k u who
“
established the Jodo or the Pu r e La nd sect ;
his teaching was only to te l l them that ca l ling on
“
N amu A mida
’
Buddha s name in Buts u ( I co m

mit myse l f to thee O A m idabh a) was the assu rance

,

of thei r ente ring into the p a radise . The Shin sect

which might b e called a b ranch of this Jodo sect
w as s t a rted by Saint S h in ra n who at once b r ok e
the views or rules of chastity and combined pr iest
hood with the common j o y o f l ife ; its vulga riza
tion as o n e might say made at once the
app r oach of the p eopl e to religion easie r .

A nd again we had on e mo re b ranch of the said

Jodo sect in Jishu which was mo r e or less similar
i n obse r vance with the sect fr om which it Sprang .

No w we have the th ree sects of Buddhism p ra c t i

cally c reated by Japanese and with the Zen

school of t h e i nte l ligent c l ass they in fact con
, , ,

trol led religious Jap an . B ut we found ou rselves

to have one more Ja p anese religion of B uddhism
’
th r ough a boy that was bo r n to a fi s h er s fami l y
in the village of K ominato or Littl e Haven in
66 KAM A KURA

the Awa p rovince on a certa in day of January of

T eiwa, that is ,
12 22 . It is a l read y rema rk ab l e to
“
Sp eak of the r ea l founde r of a new sect and a
Shudra of the s ea -

coast as he called himself in

the same b reath ; his name i s Nichi ren and hi s ,

sect is called afte r it . Th ere are in fact few , ,

’
sto ries mo r e wonderful than Nichiren s and it
was mainly enacted he re at Kamaku ra the capita l ,

of his o wn age . I am ha ppy to write down the

most rema r kab l e p oints of it .

Whenever I ha pp en to p ass by K omachi KOJ I ,

the street that r uns E ast p a r al l el to Wa ka m iy a

Oji the main tho roughfare leading to the Hachi
,

man sh rine I used to li n ge r round the s p ot whe r e

,

’
the monumental stone fo r Nich i r en s street p reach
ing stands and imagine the unda unted s p i rit and
,

ext rao rdina r y conviction of h is re l igious ca r eer .

St reet preaching was a thing unhea r d of in the

l and in 12 54 whe n Nichi r en sta r ted it . I can hear
at once in imagination the gibes and railings of

the st reet audience ; in fact he was alone in the ,

wo rld with the P un dar ika Sut ra in which he found

the M ysterious Law of the White Lotus b u t his ,
T HE CA V E W H ER E N I C H I RE N H AD WR I TT EN
“ ”
ms R i s sm AN K O K U RON
 N I C H I RE N 67

faith that as a pr omulgato r of the sut ra he was ,

’
Shakyamuni s special messenge r and as such ,

Brahma se rved him on his right hand and Sak r a

on his left the ,
s un guided him and the moon
followed him and all the deities of the land bent
,

”
thei r heads and honored him ,
made him unafraid
’
of peo p le s p ersecution . When he was accused
that it was not p ro p e r for a man of his o r der to
preach by the wayside he said that it was quite ,

pr o per fo r any man to eat standing in time of war .

( Indeed he ,
was in a field of battle with his re l i
gi )
on . When he was rebuked that the other
forms of wo r shi p cou l d not all be mistaken he at ,

once shoute d aloud that the scaffold was of us e

on l y til l the temp le was done . He be lieved that
he al one he l d the sec ret of the l aw and was the
,

on l y one m essenge r of heaven sent to save the

wo r ld He said somewhe r e
. K now that the Jodo
is a way to Hell the Zen the teaching , ,
of infe rna l
hosts the Shingon a he resy to dest r oy the nation
, ,

and the R itsu , an enemy of the land . These a re

not my wo rds but I found them in the sut ra
,
.

Hark to the cuckoo above the cloud . He know s

68 KAM A KU RA

the time and wa r ns you to p lan t

,
. Plant now
therefore and do not r ep ent when the ha rvest
,

season comes . N ow is the time for planting the

Lotus Sutr a and I am the messenger sent by the
,

Wo r shipful fo r that end .

Mr K anzo U chimu ra says in his able essay

. on

N ichi r en M ost of his doctr ines I g rant cannot , ,

stand the test of p resent day c r iticism . Hi s

polemics we re inelegant and his whole tone was ,

in sa n o id . He certa inly was an unb a l anced cha r

acte r too p ointed in only
,
one di rection . But
divest him of his intellectua l err o rs ,
o f his he re
di t a ry temp e rament and ,
of much that his time
and su rr oundings ma rk ed upon him and you have ,

a soul since r e to its very co r e the honestest of ,

men the b r avest o f Japanese

, . A hy p oc rite cannot
keep his hyp oc r isy fo r twenty -
fi ve years and mo r e .

Neithe r can he have thousands of fol lowe r s read y

to lay down thei r lives fo r him .
‘
A false man
found a r eligion ' Car l yle excla ims : Why a ,

’
false men cannot bui ld a b r ick house . I l ook
a r o und me and I see , 5 000 temples manned by
4 000 p riests and 8 00 0 teachers and
7 0 KA MAKU RA

”
When he p ubli shed R is sei A n k o ku R 0 11

( A Treatise on B r inging Peace and R ighteo u sness

to the Country) he was ob liged to l ea ve the

cap ital in the r o l e o f exi l e on accoun t of distu rb
,

in g the p ublic peace . In t h e book he told the ,

evils that the false doctrines brought to peo pl e ,

and that the r emedy cou l d be gained only i n the

unive rsal acce p tance of the P un darika Sutra and
'

he even pr o p hesied a civil war and foreign

invasion . It is sing ula r enough that we had soon
a fo reign invasion fr om the M o go ls although I do ,

not believe that his pr ophesy was fu l fil l ed as h is

fol l owe r s are glad to s ay . This rema rkable boo k ,

it is said was written in a litt l e cave in Mat s uba

,

g a Tani (Dale of Pine Leaves) whe r e he had a

l ittle st raw hut fr om where he went to K omachi
,

K oji fo r street preaching ; to day a little tem p le -

called A nk okuji stands as hi s memorial . A nd

the cave i s the one y u
o s ee at the r ight beyond
the gate .

He resumed his r eligious batt l e when he

r etu r ned to Kamakura fr o m I dz u whe re he was

banished ; his vigo r and audacity we re a l most o ut

7 2 KAMAKU RA

l ooki n g temple ca l led R y uk 0j 1 . T h at is the

t em p le built in memo r y
. of Nichi ren by hi s
followe r s afte r his death at t h e p l ac e
, where he
’
s at r ep eating the sutra unde r t he , executione r s
swo r d .

He was neve r idle in his life of exile he p reach ;

cd his faith whereve r he went . By this time ,

he was not religiously alone on the cont ra r y the ,

n umbe r s of believe r s in his doct ri ne i nc reased .

A nd the autho r ities at K amaku ra began to look

upon him with fear as we l l as with admirati on ;
and when his p ro p hecy of the fo reign invasion
seemed to be realized in fact ,
it s attitude who l ly
c hanged and he was recalled to the ca pital in
, 1 2 74 ,
being given a cha r ter fo r the free pr omulgation of
h is faith in the land . He fi n ally conque re d .

Mr U chim ur a writes
. He n o w began to thin k
o f reti r i n g to a mountain afte r the manner of his

H indoo maste r the r e to end his days in quiet

,

contem p lation and instr uction of his disciples .

He rein we believe lies his g r ea t ness and the main ,

r eason of the p e rmanence of his sect . When the

wo r ld began to receive him he le ft it ,
. He re was
P AG ODA AT R YU K O J I
 TH E H A CHI MA N SH R IN E

IT is me rely an assemblage o f fou r lines of stone

O ften of wood) but it is one of the c reation s of
(
art like the obelisk o r the p yramid
, , quite an
impressive and o riginal symbolic gate . Whether
it came fr om the sac red hea rt of Northern India
or elsewhere the re is something
,
of the beginning
of man when he lived and talk ed with the birds
,
.

A s the name To r ii indicates it may be nothing,

but a p e r ch fo r fowls is it not rig h t to fancy

then that it is the very p lace whe re they hail the
,

daybreak ' The re is no othe r sight like the

’
dayb r eak that takes one s mind at once back to
the age of mythology and nature worshi p when -

o ur ancesto r s (nay gods) lived p rimitively like

the fowls o n that To rii under the thatched r oof
,

of kay zz grass ; if the r e i s a pro p er ent rance to

a Shinto sh rine the shrine of
, o ur ancestors or

he r oes ,
that is the To r ii pr imitiveness only
in sp i res r eve rence p u r e and simp le that you never,

feel befo re a Buddha tem p le . You wil l beco m e

7 6 KAMAKURA

s acred in the ancient age ,

on ly m eant fo r the
quiet c r ossing of the gods . The br idge on the
l eft is flat very common being
, ,
o f wood painted
,

red ,
fo r daily use when we pass over it we s ee

on both S ides of the sac red gro un d l arge p ond s

of lotu s flowers .

AS I have had my temporary h ome at En gak up

fo r some time far bey ond the Hac h iman shrine
, ,

I u s ed to p as s by it al m ost dail y especially in ,

Summer on my way to the s ea and a d mi re the

, ,

l otus gracefu l ly vei l ed in th e purp l e h aze of th e

A ugust s un l ight some ,
of th em gesticu l ating a s
if on the point of flight and oth er dro pp ing
,

their heads q uite sad l y . W hy it is sad, my

thought of fantas tic tu r n often tried to fancy .

I often imagined that it ha d amp l e reason to be

sad as th e o l d g l ory of famous K ama k ura is only
to be t raced i n odds and ends . When I sme l le d
a faint o rdo r o f the flowe r s rising in l azy whi ffs ,

I thought it to b e a ghost hunting after m e m ories

o l d. The l otu s flowe r s never appea r gay t o o ur

Japa nese mind b ut ,

to be s ad l y pious evi d ent ly ,

a rel igious s ort of beaut y as ,

in fact it i s a
,
 T HE H A C HI M A N S H R INE 77

B uddhistic flower . I see that when the R yo b u

Shi n to a mixed r e l igion p revailed a com pr omise

, , ,

between B uddhism and Shintoism itself that is ,

befo re the g r and restoration and peo ple thought ,

that they we r e the S ame thing while they look ed

O pp osed at l east in usage the r e we re r ound he re
,

m any Buddhistic bui l dings ,

the gate with the
gua r dian g o d o f N iwo to be gin with the bel l ,

towe r the Chinese p agoda the tem p le called

, ,

Go m ado where the incense was bu rned day and

night the building of the Holy Books the main
, ,

tem p le of p raye r as wel l as the habitations of the

pr iests but they were abolished some fifty yea r s
a go when it was p roclaimed that the Shintoism
should return to its original sim p licity . A nd
only the lotus p onds r emain here to m ake us
think of the o ld days . It is sad that the famous
N iwo ,
the wo rk of the eminent sc ulptor Un kei ,

was de pr ived of it s own home and at pr esent

,

k eep s unhap p y l ife at the J ufuk uj i tem pl e of

it s

so me distance .

Though it may not b e so beautifu l a s La fcadio

Hearn once w r ote somewhe re on the ap pr o aches
7 8 K A MAKURA

to high p laces of wo rshi p o r of r est the Ways ,

that go to No where and the Ste p s that lead to

N othing ,
”
this sac red g r ound h as it s own sp ecia l
’
cha r m ; he re N atu re s fin e moods of light an d
’
fo r m an d colo r a r e ve r ily well u n ited with man s
h andiwo r k ; o h, what a l ovely contrast of g reen
of ma n y giant t rees and r ed of the Hachiman
s h rine which com fo r tably c udd les in the bosom
of the back hill . When you a re in the ne xt
precinct a few ste p s higher ,
you a re already
facing the most stu p e n dous stone ste p s sixty ,

two in numbe r which lead you to the u p per

,

p r inci p a l sh r ine of Hachiman which consists , of

ent rance tower ,

of the main building and of the ,

roofed co rr ido r around the mai n S h rine whe re are ,

the swo r ds armo r s , ,

banne r s and the thousand
re l ics of w riting and art m ost of them belonging ,

to this Kamaku ra age . Hachiman bel ongs to

the h e roic p e r iod of the E m p i re he was the so n

of the E mpress Jingu the co n que r or of the three

,

k ingdoms K o rea (2 00 A D ) natu rally the

of . .

b ravest of soldiers When she had attained the

.

age of one h undred yea rs she tran s mitted the,

 T H E HA CHI MA N S H R I N E 79

sceptre and c r own t o him ; he wa s then a lready

seven -
one yea r s o ld . He r eigned g l o r ious ly for
forty three years under th e name of
-

Oj in , and
was raised after h is death ,
to the rank of a
p rotecting g o d of the count r y ; and he was the
pa t r on of so l die rs . There is no do ubt that Yori
tomo the r eal founder of the Ka maku ra feuda l ism
, ,

made the Hachiman S h r ine most i mp orta nt and ,

made h is fo l lowe r s promise to live u p to their

’
fighte r s name . H is o wn age was still bloody
and ba rbarous although the later time
,
of the
K amakura age which l asted some one hundred
and fifty years might be ca l led the pe riod of art
and religion ; it was only afte r the overth r ow of

the Taira family hi s t r ust was in his swo rds and

bows . He was a me r e s l ip of an orphan bo rn of

Yo shit o m o ; and he was less than fifty yea r s o l d

when h e became the Sho g un lite ral l y , Genera l
”
issim o , th r ough shee r force and tact i n the
ba tt l efie l d the most p owerful man of the emp i r e
,

in his days whose fingerti p was strong enough

,

to m ove who l e Japan .

Let u s stan d before th e entranc e tower an d l oo k

80 KAMAKURA

down over the va l ley whe re present K amak u r a

S how s its exist ence . You wil l see white wave
after wave washing the Yu igaha m a shore far
away ; and he re r ight befo re you a st retch of
p ine trees p arade like a sentinel . B ut you wil l
b e astonished to discove r that what you can s ee

is rea l ly sm all and wonde r whether this is the

,

p lace w h ere Kamak ura the ancient feuda l city

, ,

the habitation of a mi l lion peop l e once had its ,

seat
When we desce n d the steps we see at the l eft,

a sh rine called Shita no M iya (the l owe r sh r ine) ,

the sight o f which m akes us at once i magine the

most d ramatic scene Of Japanese histo r y it i s the
ve ry place ,
it is said ,
whe r e S h iz uk a , that
mist r ess of Yo sh it sun e the youngest brother of
,

Yo rit o m o ,
was summoned even by fo rce to
a pp e a r befo re the Shogun (Yo rit o m o ) and dance ,

a s S he was original l y a famous dance r to p lease

,

his whim . I can we ll fancy that it Should have

been a great occasion as I r ead in the book that
S uket s un e K udo ,
S h iget ada Hatak eyama and
othe r famo us wa r ri ors of the day a l so made th ei r
82 KAM A KURA

san g . What song P She sang a l oud a l ove son g

l amenting her l ost lover and l ord and even
wished that the day s of the pa st wou l d soon
become the present again . It is said that a l l th e
war riors were almost frightened as they did not

kno w what the Shogun would do with he r ; She

was such an undaunted Sp i r it as sh e thought she
was perfectly r igh t in l oving h er own l ord .

Yo rit o m o got mad ; he immediate l y reti r ed ,

it
is said within the sc reen
, . Oh ,
What a di fference
to the women of the fo r me r age es pecial l y at
,

Ky oto when the Impe ria l Co u r t was a rendez v o us

,

of superstition and l ove the empe r o r s and ladies

,

Sp ending day afte r day over music and poetry .

They we r e a sym phony of softness and ex uber

ance like the c r imson masses

,
o f the flower or the
l owe r clouds seen th r ough the S pr ing mists but
how vague and delicate they we r e ' They were
indeed the most transient characters of cherry
b lossom whose beauty Speedily departs under rain
or wind . A nd what a wonderful soul those women
of the fighting c l ans l i ke that S h iz uk a had even
the Shogun cou l d not t rample down their wil l .
 TH E H A c m MA N S H R INE 83

I wa lked a r o rm d he r e slow ly and medita tively

my ima gination sa w a l ittle thin old p riest who
wa s giving a cat of si l ver to a bo y . The p riest
wa s the famo u s p oet S aigy o he ta l ked O ver the
night with Yo rit o m o who at the poet s depa r ture ’

ga ve him the silver cat of great price . What use

w as it for the poet ,
a Sp i rit of wind The
Shogun was a gain as with
,
S h iz uk a, outwitted by
the poet ; and there a re many peop l e I believe , ,

w h o wou l d wish to b e a Saigy o rather tha n a

Yo rit o m o . I am one o f them .
 E N O S H I MA *

THE r oad Sl opes be fore us as we go sinks down

,

b etween cli ffs stee p as the wal ls of a ca ti on and ,

curves . Sudden l y we eme rge fro m the cliffs and ,

r eac h the sea . It i s b l ue like the unc l oud ed sky ‘

— a soft dreamy bl ue .

An d o ur path tu r ns sharp ly to the r ight and ,

winds a l ong c l iff—

s u mmits ove rl oo king a broad
b each of d un co l o r ed sand ;
-
an d the sea -
win d
b lows de l icious ly with a sweet sa line scent u rging ,

the lung s to fi ll the mse lves to the ve ry utmost ;

and far away befo r e me I pe rceive a beautifu l ,

h igh green mass an island foliage covered r ising

,
-

o ut o f
the water ab out a qua r ter o f a mi l e fr om
—
the main l and En o sh im a the ho l y island sac r ed
, , ,

to the goddess of the sea the goddess ,

of beauty .

I can a lr ead y distinguish a tiny town ,

grey
Sp r ink ling it s stee p l pe. E vidently it can be
reached to day -

on foot ,
fo r the tide is out an d ,

has left ba re a long broad reach o f sand extending ,

Wr it t en b y 'afc a dio H ea rn .
 E N O S H I MA 85

to it from the
, Op posite vi llage which we are
a pproaching l i k e a ca u seway , .

A t K atase , the l ittl e sett l ement facin g the

j z fl r ih k/m and wa lk ;
'

is l and we must leave

,
o ur

the dunes between the vil l ages and the beach a re

too dee p to p ull the vehicle over . Sco res of other
are waiting here in the l itt l e narrow
st reet fo r p il gri ms who ha ve p r eceded me . But
to day I am told I am the only
-

, ,
E u r o pean who
visits the shrine of Benten .

O u r two men lead the way over the dunes and ,

we s o on descend u pon dam p firm sand , .

A s we nea r the island the architectu ral deta ils of

the littl e town define delightfully through the
—
faint sea ha ze curved b l uish sweeps o f fantastic
-

roofs ang l es of ai r y ba l conies high peaked curious

, ,
-

gab l es a l l above a fluttering of quee rly sha ped

, ,

b anners covered with mysterious l ette r ing . We

pa ss the sand -

flat s and the eve r O p en Portal -

of

the Sea City the City -

,
of the D ragon goddess is -

befo re us a beau t ifu l Al l of b ron ze it is

' '

,
Tar t t .
,

w ith slz z m efl a w a of bronze above it and a b razen

'

T/z z s
'

tab let insc ribed with cha rac t ers decl ari n g
86 KAMAKURA

Me Goddess E n o s/z z m a
'

t /z e P a l a ce f f
'

zs o o .

Ab out the b ases of the ponderou s pi ll a r s are

strange desi gns in rel z ev o , eddyi n gs of waves with
'

tortoises stru ggling in the flow . This is rea ll y

the gate of the city fac ing the s hrine of Benten
,

by the l and ap p roac h ; b ut it is on ly the th i rd

’

of
'

To r z z , the impo s in g series th rough Ka tase we

did not s ee the others ha vin g come b y way o f the
,

coast .

A nd l o 'we a r e in En o shim a . High befo re us

l pes the single street a st r eet , of b r oad steps a ,

st reet Shadowy ,
fu l l of m ul ti co l o red flags and
-

da rk bl ue drapery das he d with white fa n t ast ica l i

ties which are words flutte re d b y the

, ,
sea -
wind .

It is l i ned with tave r ns and miniat ure sho p s . At

eve ry o ne I must pause to loo k ; and to da re to ‘

look at anything in Japan is to want to buy it .

So I buy and buy and buy

, ,
.

’
Fo r v er ily _
t is a City of M othe r -
of-

Pea rl this,

E n o sh im a . In eve ry shop b ehind the lette red ,

draperies the r e a r e mi racles of She ll wo r k fo r sale

at absu r d l y smal l p r ice s . The glazed cases l aid
flat u p on the matted p l atforms ,
the she l ved
88 KAM AK URA

pin s ca rven in a hundred forms b rooches neck , ,

laces . A nd the r e are photograp hs of En o sh im a .

T his curio us street ends at anothe r Tw it , a

with a s t eeper flight of stone ste p s
' '

wooden To r z z ,

as c ending to it . A t the foot of the steps a re

votive stone lamps an d a litt l e we ll and a stone ,

ta n k at which a ll pilgri ms wash thei r ha nd s an d

rinse their mo u ths before appr o ac hi ng the temp l es
of the gods An d ha n gi ng beside t h e t an k a re
‘

. .

b r ight bl ue towe l s ,
with la rge white C h ine se
cha rac t ers up on them . I ask A k ir a w h a t the se
cha racter s si gn ify
H o—
km is the so u nd of the characters in t he

C hine se but in Japane se the same chara cters a r e

pr ono u nced K enj it a t e —m a t su m, and si gn i fy that
those towe ls a re mo s t humbly o ffered to Benten .

T he y a r e wha t you ca l l votive offering s . A nd

there are many kin d s of votive o ffe rings m ad e to
famou s shrines . So me peo pl e give towe l s some ,

give pictu res so m e give vase s ; so m e o ffer l anter n s

,

of pa per or b ronz e
, or sto n e . It i s comm on to
,

pr o mi se su ch o fferings when mak ing petitio ns to

the god s ; and it is u su al to promi se a Tom .
 E NOS H l MA 89

' '

The Tar z z may be sma ll or g reat according to

,

the wea l th of him who gives it ; the very ric h

pilg r im may o ffer to the gods a Tm meta l
’ ’

z of ,

su ch a s that bel ow w h ic h i s th e Ga te
, o f E n o sh im a.

Now we are going to visit th e Drag on cavern ,

n ot so ca l led Ak ira sa y s be ca use the Dragon of

, ,

Benten ever dwe l t the r ein bu t beca use , the shape

of t he ca vern is the s hape of a d ragon . Th e pa th
desc ends toward the O p posite side of the isl and ,

an d s uddenly br eak s into a flight of steps cut out

of th e pa l e h ard roc k ,
-
e xceeding l y steep and
worn ,
and Sl ippery , and peri l ous ,
-
overl oo k in g
th e sea . A vi sion of l ow pale rocks and s urf ,

bu rstin g a m on g th em and a , Tar e, or voti ve st one

l amp in the cent re
,
of —
the m a ll see n as in a
,

’
b ird s eye view ,
over the verge of an awfu l
prec ipice . I see a lso d eep round holes in one of
th e rock s . There used to be a tea house be l ow -

and the wooden p i l lars s upporti ng it were fitted

into tho se h o l es .

I d escend with ca ution ; the Japan ese sel dom

sl ip in thei r straw san dals but I ,
ca n only p r o c eed
w ith th e aid of the gu i d e . A t a lm ost every ste p
90 KAMAKU RA

I sl ip . Su r e ly thes e st ep s co uld never h a ve bee n

thus worn away by the s t raw san da ls of pi lgri ms
who came to See onl y stones an d se rpents
A t last we r ea c h a p l an k gall ery c arried a l on g
th e face o f th e c l i ff a bove the ro ck s a nd poo ls ,

a n d fo ll owin g it ro u nd a projection of th e c l i ff
ente r the sa c red cave
‘

. Th e l i ght di m s a s we
advance and the sea -
waves , runnin g after u s into
th e gl oo m m ak e a stu pefyin g roar m u l tip l ied b y
, ,

the ext rao rdi nary e cho . Loo k in g b ac k I see t h e

,

mouth of the cavern l i k e a p rodigi ous Sharp ly

angl ed rent in bl ack ne ss s how i n g a fragment of
'

a z u re sky .

We r each a shrine w ith no deity in i t pay a ,

fee ; and lamp s being l ighted and gi ven to each

of us we proc eed
,
to e xp l ore a s eries of under
g ro u nd pa s sa ge s So bl ac k they are that even
.

with the l ight o f three la m ps I can a t firs t s ee ,

n othing . In a w hi l e h o weve r
, ,
I ca n di sti n gu ish
s tone fi gur es in re li ef —c hi se l ed , on s labs l ik e those
1 saw in the B uddhist gra vey a rd . The se are
p la ced at regula r in ter va ls along the r Ock wa lls .

The gui d e app ro aches hi s l i ght to the face of ea c h ’

 EN O S H I M A
9I

” “
o n e, and utters a na me ,
Dai k oku Sa ma -

, P udo
”
S ama , Kwannon Sama -
. Someti mes in lie u
of a sta t ue th ere is an empty shrine only with a ,

m one y bo x -
befo r e it and the se void shri ne s have
”
t he n ame s of S h i n to gods ,
D aij in gu , Ha chi
”
man , Inari Sa ma-
. All the statue s are b l ac k ,

o r seem b l ac k i n the yel low l amplight and S parkle ,

a s if frosted . I fee l as if I we re in some mort uary

pit some s ubte r ranean b uri al p l ace of dead g ods
,
-

I ntermin ab l e the co rridor appears yet the re i s at

last an end ,
an end with a shr ine in it — where
-
,

th e r oc k y cei ling des cends so lo w that to r ea ch

the shrine one must go down on han ds and k nee s .

A nd there is not h ing in the sh rine . Thi s is the

Tail of the Dragon .

We do not retu rn to the light at once but enter ,

i nto other l ateral b la c k corri d o r s—the Wi n gs of

’
the D ragon . M o r e sab l e eflrgies of dis po sse ssed
gods more em p ty sh r ines ; more stone fac es
covered with s a l tpetre and more money boxes -

po ssi b le on ly to rea ch by stoopin g where m ore ,

o fferings S hou l d be mad e . A nd there i s no

Benten either , of wood or sto ne .
92 KAMAK U RA

I a m g l ad to return to t he ligh t . H ere o ur

gui de strip s n aked , and s udderrly leap s h ea d

fore m o s t into a bla ck ,
deep ,
s wir li n g cu r rent
b etween roc ks . F i ve mi nutes l ater he rea ppears ,

and c lamberi n g o ut lay s at m y feet a l ivin g ,

s qu irm in g s ea s n a i l -
and an . '
en o rrr o us i s hrimp .

Th en he resu me s hi s robe and we re asc end the ,

m o unta i n .
‘

An d thi s ,
the rea der may say ,
this i s a l l
'

t ha t yo u '
wen t fort h -
to s o me s he lls ,

a s ma ll dama sk s nake so me stone s P ,

It is tr ue .
‘
A n d ne verthe l e ss I k n o w tha t I a m .

bewitched . There i s a charm in defi n ab le abo u t

the p la ce ,
-
a S o rt of c ha rm w hic h come s with a
l itt l e gho st ly thrill ne ver to b e forgotte n .

N ot of stra ng e s ights a l one i s this charm mad e ,

b ut of number l e s s Subtl e sen sations and ide as

interwo v en and i n terb l ended : the s weet , Sharp
scents of g rove and sea ; the bl ood brightenin g-

vivifying touch of the free wi n d t h e dumb appea l

of anc ient mys tic ; mo ssy things v ag ue reverence
.

evok ed b y k now l edge of treading soi l cal le d h ol y

for a thou sand years and a s e n s e of sympath y ,
 94 K AMAKURA

A nd the ro ma nce of Benten ,

t oo , —the Deity of
Beauty th e Divinity
,
of Lo v e th e God de ss
,
of

E l oquence . Ri gh tl y is She named Godd e ss of the

Sea . F o r is not the Se a most an cient and m o s t
e xc e ll ent of Speak er s ,
—
th e etern a l Poet c h anter
,

of tha t mys ti c h y m n w h ose r hy th m s ha ke s th e

’

wor ld w h ose mig h ty s yllabl e s n o man may l ear n

,
B I N D I NG S EC T APR 30
.

No gu s hi Yon é

P'EASE DO NO T R EMO VE

CAR DS O R S'I PS FRO M THI S PO CKET

UNI VER SI TY O F TORO NTO 'I BRAR Y