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Lafcadio Hearn - Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan, 1
Japan. Those of the eastern provinces differ from those of the western and southern. The old practice of
placing articles of value in the coffin - such as the metal mirror formerly buried with a woman, or the
sword buried with a man of the Samurai caste - has become almost obsolete. But the custom of putting
money in the coffin still prevails: in Izumo the amount is always six rin, and these are called
Rokudo-kane, or 'The Money for the Six Roads.'
7 Literally 'Western Capital,' - modern name of Kyoto, ancient residence of the emperors. The name
'Tokyo,' on the other hand, signifies 'Eastern Capital.'
8 These first ten lines of the original will illustrate the measure of the wasan:
Kore wa konoyo no koto narazu, Shide no yamaji no suso no naru, Sai-no-Kawara no monogatari Kiku
ni tsuketemo aware nari Futatsu-ya, mitsu-ya, yotsu, itsutsu,
To nimo taranu midorigo ga Sai-no-Kawara ni atsumari te, Chichi koishi! haha koishi! Koishi! koishi! to
naku koe wa Konoyo no koe towa ko to kawari..
Notes for Chapter Four
1 Yane, 'roof'; shobu, 'sweet-flag' (Acorus calamus).
2 At the time this paper was written, nearly three years ago, I had not seen the mighty bells at Kyoto and
at Nara.
The largest bell in Japan is suspended in the grounds of the grand Jodo temple of Chion-in, at Kyoto.
Visitors are not allowed to sound it. It was east in 1633. It weighs seventy-four tons, and requires, they
say, twenty-five men to ring it properly. Next in size ranks the hell of the Daibutsu temple in Kyoto,
which visitors are allowed to ring on payment of a small sum. It was cast in 1615, and weighs sixty-three
tons. The wonderful bell of Todaiji at Nara, although ranking only third, is perhaps the most interesting
of all. It is thirteen feet six inches high, and nine feet in diameter; and its inferiority to the Kyoto bells is
not in visible dimensions so much as in weight and thickness. It weighs thirty-seven tons. It was cast in
733, and is therefore one thousand one hundred and sixty years old. Visitors pay one cent to sound it
once.
3 'In Sanscrit, Avalokitesvara. The Japanese Kwannon, or Kwanze-on, is identical in origin with the
Chinese virgin-goddess Kwanyin adopted by Buddhism as an incarnation of the Indian Avalokitesvara.
(See Eitel's Handbook of Chinese Buddhism.) But the Japanese Kwan-non has lost all Chinese
characteristics, - has become artistically an idealisation of all that is sweet and beautiful in the woman of
Japan.
4 Let the reader consult Mitford's admirable Tales of Old Japan for the full meaning of the term 'Ronin.
5 There is a delicious Japanese proverb, the full humour of which is only to be appreciated by one
familiar with the artistic representations of the divinities referred to: Karutoki no Jizo-gao, Nasutoki no
Emma- gao.
'Borrowing-time, the face of Jizo;
Repaying-time, the face of Emma.'
6 This old legend has peculiar interest as an example of the efforts made by Buddhism to absorb the
Shinto divinities, as it had already absorbed those of India and of China. These efforts were, to a great
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