The Governor had promised to carry me round next day to see whatever was remarkable in the town. I was not much delighted at this, because I feared that the whole day would be taken up with inspecting the whole or half-European public offices and schools, which had not the slightest interest for me. My fear however was quite unjustified. The Governor was a man of genius, who, according to the statements of my companions, was reckoned among the first of the contemporary poets of Japan. He immediately declared that he supposed that the new public offices and schools would interest me much less than the old palaces, temples, porcelain and faïence manufactories of the town, and that he therefore intended to employ the day I spent under his guidance in showing me the latter.
We made a beginning with the old imperial palace Gosho, the most splendid dwelling of Old Japan. It is not however very grand according to European ideas. A very extensive space of ground is here covered with a number of one-story wooden houses, intended for the Emperor, the imperial family, and their suite. The buildings are, like all Japanese houses, divided by movable panels into a number of rooms, richly provided with paintings and gilded ornamentation, but otherwise without a trace of furniture. For the palace now stands uninhabited since the Mikado overthrew the Shogun dynasty and removed to Tokio. It already gives a striking picture of the change which has taken place in the land. Only the imperial family and the great men of the country were formerly permitted to enter the sacred precincts of Gosho. Now it stands open to every curious native or foreigner and it has even as an exhibition building been already pressed into the service of industry. Alongside the large buildings there are several small ones, of which one was intended to protect the Emperor-deity during earthquakes, the others formed play-places for the company of grown children who were then permitted to govern the country.
Much more remarkable and instructive than the now deserted imperial palace are the numerous temples at Kioto, of which we visited several. We were generally received by the priests in a large vestibule, whose floor was covered with a fine woollen carpet and was provided with tables and chairs of European patterns. The priests first offered us Japanese tea, cigars, and sweetmeats, then we examined some valuable articles exhibited in the room, consisting of bronzes, works in the noble metals, splendid old lacquer work, and a number of famous swords dedicated to the temple. These were the only things that our freethinking Governor treated with reverence, for the rest neither the priests nor their reliques seemed to inspire him with any particular respect.
When a valuable Japanese sword is exhibited one touches neither the hilt nor the scabbard, and of course still less the blade, with the bare hand, but it is taken hold of either with a gloved hand, or with the hand with a handkerchief or piece of cloth wrapped round it. The blade is only half bared, the steel setting is looked at against the light and admired; on the often exceedingly valuable blades which are not mounted, but only provided with a wooden case to protect them from rust, the maker's mark is examined, and so on. As among us in former times, the swordsmith's is the only handicraft which in old times was held in high esteem in Japan, and immense sums were often paid for sword-blades forged by famous masters of the art. Among old Japanese writings are to be found many works specially treating of the making of weapons. But since the swordsmen (samurai) have now been forbidden to show themselves armed, old Japanese swords are sold in all the towns by hundreds and thousands, often for a trifle. During our stay in the country I purchased for a comparatively limited sum a fine collection of such weapons. Even those who cannot appreciate the artistic forging of the blade, the steel-setting, and tempering, must admire the exceedingly tasteful casting and embossing of the ornamentation, especially of the guard-plates of the sword. They are often veritable works of art, unsurpassed in style and execution.
It is not very many years ago since the men who belonged to the samurai class never showed themselves abroad without being armed with two swords. Even schoolboys went armed to the first European schools that were established in the country. This gave occasion to several acts of violence during the time which succeeded the opening of the ports, for which reason the European ambassadors some years after requested that carrying the sword in time of peace should be prohibited. To this the Japanese government answered that it would make short work with the minister who should publish such a prohibition. Soon after, however, it gave permission to those who desired it to go without weapons, and the carrying of arms soon became so unfashionable that one of the authorities did dare at last to issue a distinct prohibition of it. During our stay in Japan, accordingly, we did not see a single man armed with the two swords formerly in use.
After we had seen and admired the treasures in the temple vestibule, we visited the temple itself. This is always of wood, richly ornamented with carvings and gilding. If it is dedicated to Shinto, there are no images in it, and very few ornaments, if we except a mirror and a large locked press with the doors smashed in, which sometimes occupies the wall opposite the entrance, and in which, as I have already stated, the spirit of the deity is said to dwell. The Shinto temples are in general poor. Many are so inconsiderable as to look almost like dovecotes. They are often completely deserted, so that it is difficult to discover them among the magnificent trees by which they were surrounded. The entrance to the temple is indicated by a gate (torryi) of wood, stone, or copper, and here and there are ropes, stretched over the way, to which written prayers and vows are affixed.