Impressed As I Had Been With The Glorious Workmanship In Wood,
Bronze, And Lacquer, I Scarcely Admired Less The Masonry
Of the
vast retaining walls, the stone gallery, the staircase and its
balustrade, all put together without mortar or cement,
And so
accurately fitted that the joints are scarcely affected by the
rain, damp, and aggressive vegetation of 260 years. The steps of
the staircase are fine monoliths, and the coping at the side, the
massive balustrade, and the heavy rail at the top, are cut out of
solid blocks of stone from 10 to 18 feet in length. Nor is the
workmanship of the great granite cistern for holy water less
remarkable. It is so carefully adjusted on its bed that the water
brought from a neighbouring cascade rises and pours over each edge
in such carefully equalised columns that, as Mr. Satow says, "it
seems to be a solid block of water rather than a piece of stone."
The temples of Iyemitsu are close to those of Iyeyasu, and though
somewhat less magnificent are even more bewildering, as they are
still in Buddhist hands, and are crowded with the gods of the
Buddhist Pantheon and the splendid paraphernalia of Buddhist
worship, in striking contrast to the simplicity of the lonely
Shinto mirror in the midst of the blaze of gold and colour. In the
grand entrance gate are gigantic Ni-o, the Buddhist Gog and Magog,
vermilion coloured, and with draperies painted in imitation of
flowered silk. A second pair, painted red and green, removed from
Iyemitsu's temple, are in niches within the gate. A flight of
steps leads to another gate, in whose gorgeous niches stand hideous
monsters, in human form, representing the gods of wind and thunder.
Wind has crystal eyes and a half-jolly, half-demoniacal expression.
He is painted green, and carries a wind-bag on his back, a long
sack tied at each end, with the ends brought over his shoulders and
held in his hands. The god of thunder is painted red, with purple
hair on end, and stands on clouds holding thunderbolts in his hand.
More steps, and another gate containing the Tenno, or gods of the
four quarters, boldly carved and in strong action, with long eye-
teeth, and at last the principal temple is reached. An old priest
who took me over it on my first visit, on passing the gods of wind
and thunder said, "We used to believe in these things, but we don't
now," and his manner in speaking of the other deities was rather
contemptuous. He requested me, however, to take off my hat as well
as my shoes at the door of the temple. Within there was a gorgeous
shrine, and when an acolyte drew aside the curtain of cloth of gold
the interior was equally imposing, containing Buddha and two other
figures of gilded brass, seated cross-legged on lotus-flowers, with
rows of petals several times repeated, and with that look of
eternal repose on their faces which is reproduced in the commonest
road-side images. In front of the shrine several candles were
burning, the offerings of some people who were having prayers said
for them, and the whole was lighted by two lamps burning low. On a
step of the altar a much-contorted devil was crouching uneasily,
for he was subjugated and, by a grim irony, made to carry a massive
incense-burner on his shoulders. In this temple there were more
than a hundred idols standing in rows, many of them life-size, some
of them trampling devils under their feet, but all hideous, partly
from the bright greens, vermilions, and blues with which they are
painted. Remarkable muscular development characterises all, and
the figures or faces are all in vigorous action of some kind,
generally grossly exaggerated.
While we were crossing the court there were two shocks of
earthquake; all the golden wind-bells which fringe the roofs rang
softly, and a number of priests ran into the temple and beat
various kinds of drums for the space of half an hour. Iyemitsu's
tomb is reached by flights of steps on the right of the chapel. It
is in the same style as Iyeyasu's, but the gates in front are of
bronze, and are inscribed with large Sanskrit characters in bright
brass. One of the most beautiful of the many views is from the
uppermost gate of the temple. The sun shone on my second visit and
brightened the spring tints of the trees on Hotoke Iwa, which was
vignetted by a frame of dark cryptomeria.
Some of the buildings are roofed with sheet-copper, but most of
them are tiled. Tiling, however, has been raised almost to the
dignity of a fine art in Japan. The tiles themselves are a coppery
grey, with a suggestion of metallic lustre about it. They are
slightly concave, and the joints are covered by others quite
convex, which come down like massive tubes from the ridge pole, and
terminate at the eaves with discs on which the Tokugawa badge is
emblazoned in gold, as it is everywhere on these shrines where it
would not be quite out of keeping. The roofs are so massive that
they require all the strength of the heavy carved timbers below,
and, like all else, they gleam with gold, or that which simulates
it.
The shrines are the most wonderful work of their kind in Japan. In
their stately setting of cryptomeria, few of which are less than 20
feet in girth at 3 feet from the ground, they take one prisoner by
their beauty, in defiance of all rules of western art, and compel
one to acknowledge the beauty of forms and combinations of colour
hitherto unknown, and that lacquered wood is capable of lending
itself to the expression of a very high idea in art. Gold has been
used in profusion, and black, dull red, and white, with a breadth
and lavishness quite unique.
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