Entering the grounds of the next temple, the Temple of Ken-cho-ji,
through the 'Gate of the Forest of Contemplative Words,' and the 'Gate
of the Great Mountain of Wealth,' one might almost fancy one's self
reentering, by some queer mistake, the grounds of En-gaku-ji. For the
third gate before us, and the imposing temple beyond it, constructed
upon the same models as those of the structures previously visited, were
also the work of the same architect. Passing this third gate--colossal,
severe, superb--we come to a fountain of bronze before the temple doors,
an immense and beautiful lotus-leaf of metal, forming a broad shallow
basin kept full to the brim by a jet in its midst.
This temple also is paved with black and white square slabs, and we
can enter it with our shoes. Outside it is plain and solemn as that of
En-gaku-ji; but the interior offers a more extraordinary spectacle of
faded splendour. In lieu of the black Shaka throned against a background
of flamelets, is a colossal Jizo-Sama, with a nimbus of fire--a single
gilded circle large as a wagon-wheel, breaking into fire-tongues
at three points. He is seated upon an enormous lotus of tarnished
gold--over the lofty edge of which the skirt of his robe trails down.
Behind him, standing on ascending tiers of golden steps, are glimmering
hosts of miniature figures of him, reflections, multiplications of him,
ranged there by ranks of hundreds--the Thousand Jizo. From the ceiling
above him droop the dingy splendours of a sort of dais-work, a streaming
circle of pendants like a fringe, shimmering faintly through the webbed
dust of centuries. And the ceiling itself must once have been a marvel;
all beamed in caissons, each caisson containing, upon a gold ground,
the painted figure of a flying bird. Formerly the eight great pillars
supporting the roof were also covered with gilding; but only a few
traces of it linger still upon their worm-pierced surfaces, and about
the bases of their capitals. And there are wonderful friezes above the
doors, from which all colour has long since faded away, marvellous grey
old carvings in relief; floating figures of tennin, or heavenly spirits
playing upon flutes and biwa.
There is a chamber separated by a heavy wooden screen from the aisle on
the right; and the priest in charge of the building slides the screen
aside, and bids us enter. In this chamber is a drum elevated upon
a brazen stand,--the hugest I ever saw, fully eighteen feet in
circumference. Beside it hangs a big bell, covered with Buddhist texts.
I am sorry to learn that it is prohibited to sound the great drum. There
is nothing else to see except some dingy paper lanterns figured with the
svastika--the sacred Buddhist symbol called by the Japanese manji.