MATSUE, October, 1890.
DEAR PROFESSOR CHAMBERLAIN,--I received your last kind letter
just after having posted a note to you. As for what information I could
send, I am surprised and delighted to find that it was of some use. I
never expected to be so kindly thanked for it,--deeming it too scanty.
I do not think I shall have any difficulty in getting a model made of
the fire-drill, which at Kizuki is a thick board of dense white wood,
all the holes being drilled near one edge, in an almost parallel line.
Perhaps it may take some little time to arrange the matter; but if there
be no hurry, I am almost certain I can get the model made. I am a member
of the society now for the preservation of the Kizuki buildings, and am
sure my request will be kindly considered.
There are coloured prints here enough: _Samurai-no-ehon_ they call the
old picture-books here. But they do not relate to Izumo. I hope to
procure some soon which will do.
I am more and more impressed with the ascendency of Shintō here.
Everybody is a Shintōist; and every house seems to have both its
_kamidana_ and its _butsudan._ One street is almost entirely composed
of Buddhist temples--the Teramachi; but all the worshippers also attend
the Shintō services on certain days. The charms suspended over
doors, etc., are Shintō. Most of the _mamori_ on the _kamidana_ of
a house are sure to be Shintō. The Gods (1) Ebisu and (2) Daikoku,
here respectively identified with (1) Koto-shiro-nushi-no Kami and (2)
Oho-kuni-nushi-no-Kami, are monopolized by Shintō. Its signs and
mysteries are everywhere: the atmosphere is full of magic.
I suppose some people would think this sort of worship shocking,
but I must say I could not laugh at it: the childish naïveté of the
prayers and the offerings--the idea of a _kami_ in the tree, able
to heal--seemed to me rather touching than absurd, and delightfully
natural. One feels what pastoral life in the antique world must have
been, on studying the artless notions of these good country-folk, whom
no one could live among without loving,--unless he were strangely brutal
or bigoted.
I had to make a speech before the educational association of Izumo the
other day, and in citing the labours of Darwin, Lubbock, Huxley, and
others, I quoted also Tylor's delightful little book on Anthropology. My
speech was on the Value of the Imagination as a Factor in Education. The
Governor ordered it to be translated and printed;--so that I am being
for the moment perhaps much more highly considered than I ought to be.
I have become so accustomed to Japanese food and habits, that it would
now be painful to me to change them. The only extras, besides sake,
which I take, are plenty of fried and raw eggs. So far I am in better
health than I hoped to be in Japan.
I am very sorry you are not quite well. Here the weather is what they
call "mad weather"--rain alternating with sun, and chilly winds.
With best regards,
Faithfully yours,
LAFCADIO HEARN.