Since The
Restoration, And What May Be Called The Disestablishment Of
Buddhism, The Shrine Of Iyeyasu Has Been Shorn Of
All its glories
of ritual and its magnificent Buddhist paraphernalia; the 200
priests who gave it splendour are scattered, and
Six Shinto priests
alternately attend upon it as much for the purpose of selling
tickets of admission as for any priestly duties.
All roads, bridges, and avenues here lead to these shrines, but the
grand approach is by the Red Bridge, and up a broad road with steps
at intervals and stone-faced embankments at each side, on the top
of which are belts of cryptomeria. At the summit of this ascent is
a fine granite torii, 27 feet 6 inches high, with columns 3 feet 6
inches in diameter, offered by the daimiyo of Chikuzen in 1618 from
his own quarries. After this come 118 magnificent bronze lanterns
on massive stone pedestals, each of which is inscribed with the
posthumous title of Iyeyasu, the name of the giver, and a legend of
the offering - all the gifts of daimiyo - a holy water cistern made
of a solid block of granite, and covered by a roof resting on
twenty square granite pillars, and a bronze bell, lantern, and
candelabra of marvellous workmanship, offered by the kings of Corea
and Liukiu. On the left is a five-storied pagoda, 104 feet high,
richly carved in wood and as richly gilded and painted. The signs
of the zodiac run round the lower story.
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