Volume II Part 25 (2/2)
17 'Presenting the honourable tea to the august Buddhas'--for by Buddhist faith it is hoped, if not believed, that the dead become Buddhas and escape the sorrows of further transmigration. Thus the expression 'is dead' is often rendered in j.a.panese by the phrase 'is become a Buddha.'
18 The idea underlying this offering of food and drink to the dead or to the G.o.ds, is not so irrational as unthinking Critics have declared it to be. The dead are not supposed to consume any of the visible substance of the food set before them, for they are thought to be in an ethereal state requiring only the most vapoury kind of nutrition. The idea is that they absorb only the invisible essence of the food. And as fruits and other such offerings lose something of their flavour after having been exposed to the air for several hours, this slight change would have been taken in other days as evidence that the spirits had feasted upon them. Scientific education necessarily dissipates these consoling illusions, and with them a host of tender and beautiful fancies as to the relation between the living and the dead.
19 I find that the number of clappings differs in different provinces somewhat. In Kyushu the clapping is very long, especially before the prayer to the Rising Sun.
20 Another name for Kyoto, the Sacred City of j.a.panese Buddhism.
Notes for Chapter Three
1 Formerly both s.e.xes used the same pillow for the same reason. The long hair of a samurai youth, tied up in an elaborate knot, required much time to arrange. Since it has become the almost universal custom to wear the hair short, the men have adopted a pillow shaped like a small bolster.
2 It is an error to suppose that all j.a.panese have blue-black hair.
There are two distinct racial types. In one the hair is a deep brown instead of a pure black, and is also softer and finer. Rarely, but very rarely, one may see a j.a.panese chevelure having a natural tendency to ripple. For curious reasons, which cannot be stated here, an Izumo woman is very much ashamed of having wavy hair--more ashamed than she would be of a natural deformity.
3 Even in the time of the writing of the Kojiki the art of arranging t hair must have been somewhat developed. See Professor Chainberlai 's introduction to translation, p. x.x.xi.; also vol. i. section ix.; vol.
vii. section xii.; vol. ix. section xviii., et pa.s.sim.
4 An art expert can decide the age of an unsigned kakemono or other work of art in which human figures appear, by the style of the coiffure of the female personages.
5 The princ.i.p.al and indispensable hair-pin (kanzas.h.i.+), usually about seven inches long, is split, and its well-tempered double shaft can be used like a small pair of chopsticks for picking up small things. The head is terminated by a tiny spoon-shaped projection, which has a special purpose in the j.a.panese toilette.
6 The s.h.i.+njocho is also called Ichogaes.h.i.+ by old people, although the original Ichogaes.h.i.+ was somewhat different. The samurai girls used to wear their hair in the true Ichogaes.h.i.+ manner the name is derived from the icho-tree (Salisburia andiantifolia), whose leaves have a queer shape, almost like that of a duck's foot. Certain bands of the hair in this coiffure bore a resemblance in form to icho-leaves.
7 The old j.a.panese mirrors were made of metal, and were extremely beautiful. Kagamiga k.u.moru to tamas.h.i.+ ga k.u.moru ('When the Mirror is dim, the Soul is unclean') is another curious proverb relating to mirrors. Perhaps the most beautiful and touching story of a mirror, in any language is that called Matsuyama-no-kagami, which has been translated by Mrs. James.
Notes for Chapter Four
1 There is a legend that the Sun-G.o.ddess invented the first hakama by tying together the skirts of her robe.
2 'Let us play the game called kango-kango. Plenteously the water of Jizo-San quickly draw--and pour on the pine-leaves--and turn back again.' Many of the games of j.a.panese children, like many of their toys, have a Buddhist origin, or at least a Buddhist significance.
3 I take the above translation from a Tokyo educational journal, ent.i.tled The Museum. The original doc.u.ment, however, was impressive to a degree that perhaps no translation could give. The Chinese words by which the Emperor refers to himself and his will are far more impressive than our Western 'We' or 'Our;' and the words relating to duties, virtues, wisdom, and other matters are words that evoke in a j.a.panese mind ideas which only those who know j.a.panese life perfectly can appreciate, and which, though variant from our own, are neither less beautiful nor less sacred.
4 Kimi ga yo wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazare is.h.i.+ no iwa o to narite oke no musu made. Freely translated: 'May Our Gracious Sovereign reign a thousand years--reign ten thousand thousand years--reign till the little stone grow into a mighty rock, thick-velveted with ancient moss!'
5 Stoves, however, are being introduced. In the higher Government schools, and in the Normal Schools, the students who are boarders obtain a better diet than most poor boys can get at home. Their rooms are also well warmed.
6 Hachi yuki ya Neko no as.h.i.+ ato Ume no hana.
7 Ni no ji fumi dasu Bokkuri kana.
8 This little poem signifies that whoever in this world thinks much, must have care, and that not to think about things is to pa.s.s one's life in untroubled felicity.
9 Having asked in various cla.s.ses for written answers to the question, 'What is your dearest wish?' I found about twenty per cent, of the replies expressed, with little variation of words, the simple desire to die 'for His Sacred Majesty, Our Beloved Emperor.' But a considerable proportion of the remainder contained the same aspiration less directly stated in the wish to emulate the glory of Nelson, or to make j.a.pan first among nations by heroism and sacrifice. While this splendid spirit lives in the hearts of her youth, j.a.pan should have little to fear for the future.
10 Beautiful generosities of this kind are not uncommon in j.a.pan.
11 The college porter
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