Then we visit the other edifices belonging to the temple: the
storehouse; the library; the hall of assembly, a massive structure two
stories high, where may be seen the portraits of the Thirty-Six Great
Poets, painted by Tosano Mitsu Oki more than a thousand years ago, and
still in an excellent state of preservation. Here we are also shown a
curious magazine, published monthly by the temple--a record of Shinto
news, and a medium for the discussion of questions relating to the
archaic texts.
After we have seen all the curiosities of the temple, the Guji
invites us to his private residence near the temple to show us other
treasures--letters of Yoritomo, of Hideyoshi, of Iyeyasu; documents in
the handwriting of the ancient emperors and the great shoguns, hundreds
of which precious manuscripts he keeps in a cedar chest. In case of fire
the immediate removal of this chest to a place of safety would be the
first duty of the servants of the household.
Within his own house the Guji, attired in ordinary Japanese full dress
only, appears no less dignified as a private gentleman than he first
seemed as pontiff in his voluminous snowy robe. But no host could be
more kindly or more courteous or more generous. I am also much impressed
by the fine appearance of his suite of young priests, now dressed,
like himself, in the national costume; by the handsome, aquiline,
aristocratic faces, totally different from those of ordinary
Japanese--faces suggesting the soldier rather than the priest. One young
man has a superb pair of thick black moustaches, which is something
rarely to be seen in Japan.
At parting our kind host presents me with the ofuda, or sacred
charms given to pilgrimsh--two pretty images of the chief deities of
Kitzuki--and a number of documents relating to the history of the temple
and of its treasures.