Our lovely trip on the Inland Sea ended at the little port of Onomichi, where, you will remember, we passed the night at a Japanese inn. We left at once, and visited some of the temples for which Onomichi is famous. We first went to a very old Buddhist place with an equally ancient pagoda, Sinkokuji; this was at quite a height above the street, and was in decay. Interest centred chiefly in the Senkiji Temple, rudely formed of huge blocks of granite which seem to spring from the soil; to reach this, we climbed a succession of tiers of stairs, each landing affording an extended view of the hamlet. The shrine and the details of this rock-bound temple were very simple, but there was a weird impressiveness about it.
At five we took the train for Kobe, arriving there at nine, this time staying at the Mikado Hotel. Having been there twice before, the visit was simply in order to break the trip to Yokohama; so a jinrikisha ride and a visit to a few shops the morning following sufficed in the sight-seeing line; and in the evening we took the night train for Yokohama, arriving there early on the morning of June 12th. Yokohama was to be our headquarters until the homeward sailing, June 29th.
I have before spoken of the beauty of the bay and the fine location of the city. The heights reminded me of Hong-Kong; but on this third visit the scene seemed to have gained new interest, for all Nature was in her Summer dress, and the streets and parks teemed with life. There were many jinrikisha rides and much general enjoyment during the two weeks and a half that followed. Yokohama is a modern city and not famed for sight-seeing particularly, aside from the shops, which are of great interest and are filled with beautiful things; the curios, silks, and embroideries were very enticing, and, as dressmaking can be done well and economically by many of the Chinese tailors, some time is devoted even by tourists to that.
Moto-machi Temple is of interest, heading the little shopping street of that name, which, with Benten-dori divides the interest as regards small but well-equipped native stores. The temple is Buddhist.
Nogeshima is a hill from which an extended view of the city and harbor may be enjoyed. With cherry blossoms in May, great fields of many-colored iris marked the month of June, and an expedition to such a field proved attractive. The ride around Mississippi Bay is possibly the greatest trip for an afternoon's excursion. A picturesque feature of the city is the one hundred steps leading to the heights, on the top of which is a tea-house, largely frequented by residents. The many pleasant homes and churches make the heights very attractive, and one morning we extended our jinrikisha ride to the outskirts so as to visit the gardens and greenhouses of a young Japanese who supplies the hotel with peculiar dwarfed plants for the dining-room tables. We saw some maples and cedars twelve inches in height and fifteen years old.
The park, attractive at any time, is especially interesting in May on account of the cherry blossoms. It must be remembered that Yokohama was only a fishing village when Commodore Perry anchored there in 1854; it was not the treaty port until 1858, and from that time begins its commercial importance. The greatest portion of the city as it now exists dates from after the fire of 1866, and the bluff on which most of the residents have their dwellings was first leased for building purposes in 1867; since then a large native town has sprung up outside the foreign settlement.
The principal excursion from Yokohama is to Kamakura, about one hour's ride by train. It was once the capital of Japan, from the end of the twelfth to the fifteenth century, numbering over one million inhabitants; but it now affords no indication of its former glory; it is only a little seaside village to-day, and its principal interests are the great Dai-butzu, or Buddha, and certain other temples; the Buddha is renowned among Japanese works of art. We took a jinrikisha from the station, and first visited the Temple of Hachiman, which occupies a high position on a hill and is reached through an avenue of pine trees. We passed through three stone toriis before reaching the temple, which stands at the head of a broad flight of stone steps.
