KUMAMOTO, November, 1893.
DEAR NISHIDA,--A few days ago there came from Kizuki a little box
addressed to me,--from Mr. Senke; and opening it, I found therein the
robe of a _Kokuzō_--all black silk with the sacred _mon_ of the
temple worked into the silk. Accompanying the robe were two poems, very
beautifully written upon vari-coloured paper. The robe was very curious
in itself, and of course most precious as a souvenir. I hesitated to
write at once; for I could not answer Mr. Senke's magnificent letter in
a worthy way at all. It was a very long letter, written on fine paper
and in large handsome characters. I have now tried to reply, but my
answer reads very shabbily compared with Mr. Senke's gracious style.
I found I had forgotten, in writing you the other day, to speak about
Kompira, as you asked me. What a pity I had not known about the real
temple of Kompira, which I did not see at all. Yes, I did find the place
interesting and very beautiful. But it was interesting because of the
quaint shops and streets and customs; and it was beautiful _because
the day happened to be very beautiful_. The vast blue light coloured
everything,--walls, timbers, awnings, draperies, dresses of pilgrims;
and the cherry-trees were one blaze of snowy blossoms; and the horizon
was clear as crystal. In the distance towered Sanuki-Fuji,--a cone of
amethyst in the light. I wished I could teach in some school at Kompira
_uchimachi_, and stay there always.
I like little towns. To live at Tadotsu, or at Hishi-ura in Oki, or at
Yunotsu in Iwami, or at Daikon-shimain Naka-umi, would fill my soul with
joy. I cannot like the new Japan. I dislike the officials, the imitation
of foreign ways, the airs, the conceits, the contempt for Tempō, etc.
Now to my poor mind, all that was good and noble and true was Old Japan:
I wish I could fly out of Meiji forever, back against the stream of
Time, into Tempō, or into the age of the Mikado Yūriaku,--fourteen
hundred years ago. The life of the old fans, the old _byōbu_, the
tiny villages--that is the _real_ Japan I love. Somehow or other,
Kumamoto doesn't seem to me Japan at all. I hate it.
Ever with best regards,
LAFCADIO HEARN.