some ancient relics in japan.

SOME ANCIENT

RELICS IN JAPAN.

By

Komyn

Hitchcock.

Four

stone figures iu a smallinclosurc near Hirata Mura, in south, ern Yamato, areprobablythe oldest stone images inJapan. 1 visited tlieplace, in

company

with Mr.

W. Gowland and

Mr. K. Nagai, on the afternoon of April1^,1888.

The

^figures are atthefoot ofa smallcircu- lar

mound

on aslight elevation, near the niisasagi of

Kimmei

Tenno, surrounded

by

a hedge, with a securely locked gate in front.

The

small

mound

^{itself is said to} be tbe burial place of Kibi himed, the motherof

Kokioku Tenno and Kotoku

^Tenno.

While

at

Nara we

presentedlettersto the governorof

Nara

ken,

and

stated ourdesire to

have

the gate opened that

we

might examine

and make

photographs of the figures.

An

^{official letter}

was

accordingly senttothe

man

^{in charge,}

^and

^{on our arrival}

^we

^were

^{met by}

^apolice

ofHcer, a

number

of local officials,

and

most of thevillagers,

who

^es-

corted us to the place.

But when we

asked to havethe gate opened

we

weretoldthat it could not be done without ^permissionfrom the Imperial Household

Department

at Kyoto. This is a characteristic

example

of Japanese^{official courtesy} such as

we more

than once ex- perienced.

The workman

is free to enter the

mound

inclosureand to care for it, but gentlemen

engaged

in archa-ological studiesare not permitted to have the gate opened, even

when

theydo not care to tread^inside,butonlyto get a clear field for aphotograph. However, with

some

difficulty

we

contrived to

make

several pictures. There being no^{official regulation} about ^{cameras, I}ventured to plant mine insidethe

hedge and work

^{it from withinit, which}

was

done without remonstrance.

The

^{result is}

shown

^{in Pis.}

lxiv and

lxv, which are different views of the

same

figures.

The

resemblance between ^these rude^carvings

and

the imagesof Easter Island are quite noticeable.

The

story told in aJapanesebook, the

Koko

Nichi Koku, a

work

on Japaneseantiquities, datedthe ninth year^of Kwansei,

was

translated

by

Mr. Nagai^asfolhws:

"Long

ago, four stone

men

were

dug

out of a fieldnear

Kimmei

Tenno's misasagi.

The

first one has three faces, thesecond four, thethird three,

and

the fourth two. Afterwards the natives put

them

^on the misasagi

and

called

them

Schichi fukujin (seven

happy

^{gods),which of course}

means

nothing.

The

significance

526 KEPURT OF NATIONAL

MUl^EUM, 1891.

ofthesefigures is

uuknowu,

but souu* jjcrsoiis tliiuk that theywere luadefor the ph^asure ofthe worlcmeu,

and

perhaps tliis

may

be so."

The

^figures are uiuh)ubt<Mlly of gr<'at age,

and

of far

more

interest thantheabove account

would

indicate.

They show

traces of

more

than a

common workman's

skill,

and

while speculation(-oncerning

them

is

now

i)rofltless, they

may some day

ijroveofimj^ortance.

The

largest standsabout 4feetin height.

We

can api^roximate to the date of

some

of theoldJapanese

monu- ments

with

some

degree of ccmfidencc.

For

example, in the Province of Kawachi, a short distance from a

much

frequented passover the mountain, there are

some

very old relics of

Buddhism. On

the top of a j)rojecting spurofthemountain standsa weather-worn stone

pagoda

(PI. Lxvi),

known

as thejiu-san to. Itshistory is

unknown,

but it is l)robablyone^oftheoldestBuddhist

monuments

ofJapan.

Near by and

facingitistheremainsofacave,the roof

and

sidesofwhich

have

almost crumbled away,leaving thebackclearlyexposed.

Some

i-ouglily-drawn characters

may

be traced on the back, one of

which

evidentlyrepre- sented afaceofa

Buddha.

Thereareotherrocksnear,whichalso bear traces ofsculptures,buttheformscan notbe

made

out. SomeAvhatlower

down

there is a si)ot

where

it is evident thereonce wereother stone structures,but itisimpossible to infer their character or significance.

A

short distance from this i>lace, in plain view, on another hillside, there is a secondcave, evidently

much

larger, within which are the ruins of a stone

pagoda

(PI. lxvii).

It

was

during the lifetime of the famous priest Shotoku Taislii, earlyin the 7th century, that

Buddhism became

firmly establishedin Japan,

and many

of the

most

celebrated temples were built

by

him.

Among

those are Horiu-Ji, in

Yamato, and

Tenno-ji, in Ozaka.

The

tumulus of this ^likado is at the temple Eifuku-ji, near thevillage called Kasuga, in Kawachi, at the foot of the mountain

where

these relics arefound (see PI. xlv, in the precedingpaper).

Considering the veryactive part taken

by

Shotoku Taishi, in estab- lishing theBuddhistreligion,

and

the fact that these ruins arefound between his

two most

famous temples an<lnearhis final restingplace, it seemsi)robable that theydate from histimeorearlier,

and

are there- fore

more

than 1,200yearsold.

Reportof NationalMuseum, 18.91.

—

^Hitchcock. Plate LXIV.

ReportofNationalMuseum, 1891.—Hitchcock. Plate LXV.

ReportofNationalMuseum, 1891.—Hitchcock. Plate LXVI.

Reportof NationalMuseum,1891

—

Hitchcock. Plate LXVII.