Two handsome shrines from which the unemotional faces of
two Buddhas looked out all night, a fine figure of the goddess
Kwan-non, and a venerable one of the god of longevity, suggested
curious dreams.
I. L. B.
LETTER XIX
Prosperity - Convict Labour - A New Bridge - Yamagata - Intoxicating
Forgeries - The Government Buildings - Bad Manners - Snow Mountains - A
Wretched Town.
KANAYAMA, July 16.
Three days of travelling on the same excellent road have brought me
nearly 60 miles. Yamagata ken impresses me as being singularly
prosperous, progressive, and go-ahead; the plain of Yamagata, which
I entered soon after leaving Kaminoyama, is populous and highly
cultivated, and the broad road, with its enormous traffic, looks
wealthy and civilised. It is being improved by convicts in dull
red kimonos printed with Chinese characters, who correspond with
our ticket-of-leave men, as they are working for wages in the
employment of contractors and farmers, and are under no other
restriction than that of always wearing the prison dress.
At the Sakamoki river I was delighted to come upon the only
thoroughly solid piece of modern Japanese work that I have met
with - a remarkably handsome stone bridge nearly finished - the first
I have seen. I introduced myself to the engineer, Okuno Chiuzo, a
very gentlemanly, agreeable Japanese, who showed me the plans, took
a great deal of trouble to explain them, and courteously gave me
tea and sweetmeats.
