"HIBACHI" AND, IN "TOKONOMA," FLOWER ARRANGEMENT AND "KAKEMONO."
SCHOOL SHRINE CONTAINING EMPEROR'S PORTRAIT.
A good judge expressed the opinion that Buddhism was flourishing in 80 per cent. of the villages of Aichi, but this was in a material and ceremonial sense. The prefectures of Aichi and Niigata had been called the "kitchens of Hongwanji" [[55]] (the great temple at Kyoto), such liberal contributions were forthcoming from them. "A belief in progress," this speaker said, "may be a substitute for religion for many of our people; another substitute is a belief in Japan." A village headman from the next prefecture (Shidzuoka) said: "People in my village do not omit to perform their Buddhist ceremonies, but they are not at their hearts religious. In our prefecture the influence of Ninomiya is greater than that of Buddhism. If the villagers are good it is Ninomiyan principles that make them so. Under Ninomiyan influence the spirit of association has been aroused, thriftiness has been encouraged and extravagance reprimanded."
FENCING AT AN AGRICULTURAL SCHOOL.