Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/216

 may be said generally of the Shintō shrines that not more than one service is performed there annually. The building stands frequently uninhabited, apparently untended. Now and then a worshipper comes, grasps the thick hempen rope that hangs in front, sways it against the gong across which it is suspended, and having thus summoned the presiding spirit, mutters a brief prayer, deposits two or three cash in the alms-chest, and goes his way. The Buddhists have 108,000 temples and 54,000 priests. It will be seen that many of these temples cannot fare better in the matter of ministrations than do the Shintō shrines.

As Shintō shrines are officially graded, so are the priests connected with them. But the rank, held by the greatest of the latter corresponds only with that of a local governor or a vice-minister of State. The hierarchy does not climb to a lofty elevation; there is no Archbishop of Canterbury, no Pope of Rome. Nor would the emoluments of office excite the envy of an English rector. The official allowance, when there is one, varies from 100 yen to 33 yen monthly. Supplemented by a portion of the income accruing to the shrine, the portliest stipend of a Shintō priest probably amounts to twenty pounds sterling per month. In order to qualify for the magnificent chance of such opulence, he has to pass an examination, unless, indeed—and the