We saw the Russian Embassy, the Chinese Legation, and also some palaces and residences of many officers and foreign embassies. This neighborhood, called Nagata-cha, is the most fashionable in Tokio. Near the palace lies a garden planted with azaleas, and also containing some trellises wholly covered in season with wistaria. We also passed a fine Shinto temple and several statues, and, on an eminence, saw the Russian Cathedral, consecrated in 1891.
The following morning we went to Shiba Park. Until 1887 this formed the grounds of a great Buddhist temple, and here are still preserved the mortuary temples of several Tokugawa Shoguns, Ieyasu, the founder of that dynasty, having chosen it as the temple where the funeral tablets of himself and of his descendants should be enshrined. There are several temples in the park, and they rank among the chief marvels of Japanese art. They are somewhat after the style of the temples at Nikko. All of them have a wonderful setting of green, the many fine trees and the beautiful park forming an excellent background. Each of these mortuary temples consists of three parts, an outer oratory, a connecting gallery, and an inner sanctuary. In each of these the decorations are of gilt and different colors, with elaborate patterns which are almost dazzling to the eye.
On one occasion we visited Ueno Park, famed for its temples and tombs of the Shoguns; it is a most popular resort in Tokio, and is celebrated for its display of cherry blossoms in the month of April, during which season there are held gala times. Six Shoguns, members of the Tokugawa family, lie buried at Ueno. In general style the tombs here resemble those at Shiba Park.
There are many objects of interest in Ueno Park other than its temples. One is the bronze image of Buddha, twenty-one and a half feet high, known as Dai-butsu, near which is a massive torii. We passed along an avenue of stately cryptomerias where stands an ancient pagoda. There is also a long row of very large stone lanterns, presented as a tribute to the memory of the Shogun, Ieyasu. While in Ueno Park the attendant pointed out, in a small enclosure, two diminutive trees,—a hinoki, planted by General Grant, and a magnolia by Mrs. Grant during their visit to Tokio.
The Ueno Museum proved interesting, particularly in the historical and archæological departments. Near the Museum is a public library and reading-room—the largest in the Empire. In the distance we saw the Imperial University, which has a very high reputation, even foreign students attending there for the purpose of studying art.
Court of the Temple Shiba at Tokio
Asakusa: The district of Asakusa possesses a fine park, and here also is the spacious Temple of Higashi Hongwanji, the chief religious edifice of the Monto sect of Buddhists. It is very plain in its architecture, but is noted principally for its proportions. The area of the matted floor of the nave alone is one hundred and fifty mats, and around the front and sides is a wooden aisle one hundred and twelve feet wide.