Page:Things Japanese (1905).djvu/94

82 Ages. Kamakura, taken by storm and burnt to the ground in 1455 and again in 1526, gradually lost its importance. Woods and rice-fields now stretch over the area that once afforded a home to more than a million inhabitants, and little remains to tell of its ancient splendour, save the great temple of Hachiman and the magnificent bronze image of Buddha, perhaps the grandest of all Japanese works of art.

The principal sights of Tōkyō are the Shiba temples, with the tombs of the Shōguns of the Tokugawa dynasty, near which is one of the best Kwankōba or Bazaars; the view over the city from the tower on Atago-yama; the Shintō temple named Shōkonsha, erected to the memory of the loyal troops slain in battle; the adjacent museum of military objects, called the Yūshū-kwan; Ueno Park, with tombs and temples similar to those of Shiba, and also an interesting museum; the popular Buddhist temple of Asakusa, to say nothing of such modern European buildings as the government offices, banks, hospitals, prisons, etc., which will have an interest for some persons. In addition to these, according to the time of year, there are the cherry-blossoms of Ueno, Shiba, and Mukōjima, the wistarias of Kameido, the irises of Horikiri, and the chrysanthemums of Dango-zaka. It is also worth while paying a visit to one of the theatres, of which the Kabuki-za and Meiji-za are the best, and to the wrestling-matches held at the temple of Ekō-in and elsewhere. But after all, the chief sight of Tōkyō to one fresh from home is Tōkyō itself,—the quaint little wooden houses, which brick structures in foreign style have only partially replaced, the open-air life of the people, the clatter of the clogs, the jinrikishas, the dainty children powdered and rouged for a holiday outing, the graceful native dress which Western fashions and fabrics have not succeeded in driving out, the indescribably grotesque combinations of this dress with billycock hats, Inverness capes, and crochet tippets. There are also the attractions of the shops, which make Mr. Percival Lowell truly observe that "To stroll down the Broadway of Tōkyō of an evening is a liberal education in every day art," for as he adds—"whatever these people fashion, from the toy of an hour to