FOOTNOTES:
[1] Nowaki is the name given to certain destructive storms usually occurring toward the end of autumn. All the chapters of the Genji Monogatari have remarkably poetical and effective titles. There is an English translation, by Mr. Kenchō Suyematsu, of the first seventeen chapters.
[2] The Kurando, or Kurōdo, was an official intrusted with the care of the imperial records.
[3] A chō is about one-fifteenth of a mile.
[4] Hagi is the name commonly given to the bush-clover. Ominameshi is the common term for the valeriana officinalis.
[5] That is to say, there are now many people who go every night to the graveyards, to decorate and prepare the graves before the great Festival of the Dead.
[6] Most of these names survive in the appellations of well-known districts of the present Tōkyō.
[7] Katabira is a name given to many kinds of light textures used for summer-robes. The material is usually hemp, but sometimes, as in the case referred to here, of fine silk. Some of these robes are transparent, and very beautiful.—Hakata, in Kyūshū, is still famous for the silk girdles made there. The fabric is very heavy and strong.
[8] Amé is a nutritive gelatinous extract obtained from wheat and other substances. It is sold in many forms—as candy, as a syrupy liquid resembling molasses, as a sweet hot drink, as a solid jelly. Children are very fond of it. Its principal element is starch-sugar.
[9] Ōyama mountain in Sagami is a great resort of Pilgrims. There is a celebrated temple there, dedicated to Iwanaga-Himé (“Long-Rock Princess”), sister of the beautiful Goddess of Fuji. Sekison-San is a popular name both for the divinity and for the mountain itself.
[10] Prices of the year 1897.
[11] Calyptotryphus Marmoratus. (?)
[12] Homeogryllus Japonicus.
[13] Locusta Japonica. (?)
[14] Sanscrit: Yama. Probably this name was given to the insect on account of its large staring eyes. Images of King Emma are always made with very big and awful eyes.
[15] Mushi no koe fumu.
[16] Such figures are really elaborate tiles, and are called onigawara, or “demon-tiles.” It may naturally be asked why demon-heads should be ever placed above Buddhist gate-ways. Originally they were not intended to represent demons, in the Buddhist sense, but guardian-spirits whose duty it was to drive demons away. The onigawara were introduced into Japan either from China or Korea—not improbably Korea; for we read that the first roof-tiles made in Japan were manufactured shortly after the introduction of the new faith by Korean priests, and under the supervision of Shōtoku Taishi, the princely founder and supporter of Japanese Buddhism. They were baked at Koizumi-mura, in Yamato;—but we are not told whether there were any of this extraordinary shape among them. It is worth while remarking that in Korea to-day you can see hideous faces painted upon house-doors,—even upon the gates of the royal palace; and these, intended merely to frighten away evil spirits, suggest the real origin of the demon-tiles. The Japanese, on first seeing such tiles, called them demon-tiles because the faces upon them resembled those conventionally given to Buddhist demons; and now that their history has been forgotten, they are popularly supposed to represent demon-guardians. There would be nothing contrary to Buddhist faith in the fancy;—for there are many legends of good demons. Besides, in the eternal order of divine law, even the worst demon must at last become a Buddha.
[17] Osmanthus fragrans. This is one of the very few Japanese plants having richly-perfumed flowers.
[18] The word “sotoba” is identical with the Sanscrit “stûpa.” Originally a mausoleum, and later a simple monument—commemorative or otherwise,—the stûpa was introduced with Buddhism into China, and thence, perhaps by way of Korea, into Japan. Chinese forms of the stone stûpa are to be found in many of the old Japanese temple-grounds. The wooden sotoba is only a symbol of the stûpa; and the more elaborate forms of it plainly suggest its history. The slight carving along its upper edges represents that superimposition of cube, sphere, crescent, pyramid, and body-pyriform (symbolizing the Five Great Elements), which forms the design of the most beautiful funeral monuments.
[19] These relations of the elements to the Buddhas named are not, however, permanently fixed in the doctrine,—for obvious philosophical reasons. Sometimes Sakyamuni is identified with Ether, and Amitâbha with Air, etc., etc. In the above enumeration I have followed the order taken by Professor Bunyiu Nanjio, who nevertheless suggests that this order is not to be considered perpetual.
[20] The above prayer is customarily said after having read a sûtra, or copied a sacred text, or caused a Buddhist service to be performed.
[21] Dai-en-kyō-chi (Âdarsana-gñâna). Amida is the Japanese form of the name Amitâbha.
[22] “Great (or Noble) Elder Sister” is the meaning of the title dai-shi affixed to the kaimyō of a woman. In the rite of the Zen sect dai-shi always signifies a married woman; shin-nyo, a maid.
[23] This kaimyō, or posthumous name, literally signifies: Radiant-Chastity-Beaming-Through-Luminous-Clouds.
[24] The Supreme Wisdom; the state of Buddhahood.
[25] San-Akudō,—the three unhappy conditions of Hell, of the World of Hungry Spirits (Pretas), and of Animal Existence.
[26] “Haijō Kongō” means “the Diamond of Universal Enlightenment:” it is the honorific appellation of Kūkai or Kobodaishi, founder of the Shingon-Shū.
[27] From a Zen sotoba.
[28] In Japanese “Sanbodai.” The term “tower” refers of course to the sotoba, the symbol of a real tower, or at least of the desire to erect such a monument, were it possible.
[29] In Japanese, Anuka-tara-sanmaku-sanbodai,—the supreme form of Buddhist enlightenment.
[30] From a sotoba of the Jodo sect.
[31] From a sotoba of the Jōdo sect. The Amida-Kyō, or Sûtra of Amida, is the Japanese [Chinese] version of the smaller Sukhâvatî-Vyûha Sûtra.
[32] Gokuraku is the common word in Japan for the Buddhist heaven. The above inscription, translated for me from a sotoba of the Jōdo sect, is an abbreviated form of a verse in the Smaller Sukhâvatî-Vyûha (see Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts: “Sacred Books of the East”), which Max Müller has thus rendered in full:—“In that world Sukhâvatî, O Sâriputra, there is neither bodily nor mental pain for living beings. The sources of happiness are innumerable there. For that reason is that world called Sukhâvatî, the happy.”
[33] From a sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[34] Sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[35] Sotoba of the Jōdo sect.
[36] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[37] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[38] Tathâgata.
[39] From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[40] Avatamsaka Sûtra.—This text is also from a Zen sotoba.
[41] From a tombstone of the Jōdo sect. The text is evidently from the Chinese version of the Amitâyur-Dhyâna-Sûtra (see Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts: “Sacred Books of the East”). It reads in the English version thus:—“In fine, it is your mind that becomes Buddha;—nay, it is your mind that is indeed Buddha.”
[42] Pratyeka-Buddha sastra?—From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[43] San-zé, or mitsu-yo,—the Past, Present, and Future.
[44] “Mind” is here expressed by the character shin or kokoro.—The text is from a Zen sotoba, but is used also, I am told, by the mystical sects of Tendai and Shingon.
[45] Krityânushthâna-gñâna.—The text is from a sotoba of the Shingon sect.
[46] More literally, “Self and Other:” i. e., the Ego and the Non-Ego in the meaning of “I” and “Thou.” There is no “I” and “Thou” in Buddhahood.—This text was copied from a Zen sotoba.
[47] From a Zen sotoba.
[48] The Chinese word literally means “void,”—as in the expression “Void Supreme,” to signify the state of Nirvana. But the philosophical reference here is to the ultimate substance, or primary matter; and the rendering of the term by “Ether” (rather in the Greek than the modern sense, of course) has the sanction of Bunyiu Nanjio, and the approval of other eminent Sanscrit and Chinese scholars.
[49] Literally, “illuminates the Zenjō-mind.” Zenjō is the Sanscrit Dhyâna. It is believed that in real Dhyâna the mind can hold communication with the Absolute.—From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[50] From a sotoba of the Tendai sect.
[51] From a Jōdo sotoba.
[52] Literally, “the Great-Round-Mirror-Wisdom-Sûtra.” Sansc., Adarsana-gñâna.—From a Zen sotoba.
[53] Sotoba of the Zen sect.
[54] Pratyavekshana-gñâna.
[55] From a Zen sotoba.
[56] Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts: “Sacred Books of the East,” vol. xlix. p. 180.
[57] From a sotoba of the Zen sect.
[58] Lit.: “the Inscription of the Tower of Diamond,”—name of a Buddhist text.
[59] The Six States of Existence are Heaven, Man, Demons, Hell, Hungry Spirits (Pretas), and Animals.—The above is from a Zen sotoba.
[60] Sotoba of the Nichiren sect.
[61] San-doku or Mitsu-no-doku, viz.:—Anger, Ignorance, and Desire.—From a Zen sotoba.
[62] Japanese title of the Saddhârma-Pundarika Sûtra. See, for legend, chap. xi. of Kern’s translation in the Sacred Books of the East series.
[63] There is a great variety of sîla;—five, eight, and ten for different classes of laity; two hundred and fifty for priests;—five hundred for nuns, etc., etc.—Be it here observed that the posthumous Buddhist name given to the dead must not be studied as referring always to conduct in this world, but rather as referring to sîla in another world. The kaimyō is thus a title of spiritual initiation.—Some Japanese Buddhist sects hold what are called Ju-Kai-E (“sîla-giving assemblies”), at which the initiated are given kaimyō of another sort,—sîla-names of admission as neophytes.
[64] That is, according to the Japanese reading of the Chinese characters.
[65] By the old calendar, the eleventh month was the Month of Frost.
[66] The second year of the period Shōtoku corresponds to 1712 A.D.—(For the meaning of the phrase “Dragon of Elder Water” the reader will do well to consult Professor Rein’s Japan, pp. 434-436.)
[67] This beautiful kaimyō is identical with that placed upon the monument of my dear friend Nishida, buried in the Nichiren cemetery of Chōmanji, in Matsué.
[68] Signifying:—“believing man of mind as chastely pure as the snow upon a peak in winter.”
[69] This is the kaimyō of the lady for whose sake the temple of Kobudera was built; and the words “Mansion of Self-witness” here refer to the temple itself, which is thus named (Ji-Shō In). The Chinese text reads:—“Ji-Shō-In den, Kwo-zan Kyō-kei, Daishi,”—literally, “Great Elder-Sister, Dawn-Katsura-of-Luminous-Mountain, dwelling in the August Mansion of Self-witness.” The katsura (olea fragrans) is a tree mysteriously connected, in Japanese poetical fancy, with the moon; and its name is often used, as here, to signify the moon. Katsura-no-hana, or “katsura-flower” is a poetical term for moonlight.—This kaimyō is remarkable in having the honorific term “August” prefixed to the name of the mansion or temple,—a sign of the high rank of the dead lady. The full date inscribed is “twenty-eighth day of Mid-Autumn” (the old eighth month) “of the seventeenth year of Kwansei” (1640 A. D.)
[70] The prefix dai (great) before the ordinary term dōji (male child) is of rare occurrence. Probably the lad was of princely birth. The grave is in a reserved part of the Kobudera cemetery; and the year-date of death is “the fourth of Enkyō”—corresponding to 1747.
[71] The tomb bearing this kaimyō is set beside that inscribed with the kaimyō preceding. Probably the boys were brothers. In both instances we have the honorific prefix “dai,” and the term “August” qualifying the mansion-name. The year-date of death is “the second of Kwan-en” (1749).
[72] Probably a princely child,—sister apparently of the highborn boys before referred to. She is buried beside them in Kobudera. Observe here again the use of the prefix dai,—this time before the term dōnyo, “child-girl” or “child-daughter.” Perhaps the dai here would be better rendered by “grand” than by “great.” Notice that the term “August” precedes the mansion-name in this case also. The date of death is given as “the sixth year of Hōreki” (1756).
[73] Cettia cantans,—the Japanese nightingale.
[74] Such, at least, is the posture prescribed by the old etiquette for men. But the rules were very complicated, and varied somewhat according to rank as well as to sex. Women usually turn the fingers inward instead of outward when assuming this posture.
[75] Blue jewels, blue eyes, blue flowers delight us; but in these the color accompanies either transparency or visible softness. It is perhaps because of the incongruity between hard opacity and blue that the sight of a book in sky-blue binding is unendurable. I can imagine nothing more atrocious.
[76] This essay was written several years ago. During 1897 I noticed for the first time since my arrival in Japan a sprinkling of dark greens and light-yellows in the fashions of the season; but the general tone of costume was little affected by these exceptions to older taste. The light-yellow appeared only in some girdles of children.