pictures by famous ancient saints, such as the Abbot Kōbō Daishi and Prince Shōtoku Taishi, whose activity in this direction was phenomenal if legend can at all be trusted,—holy swords, holy garments, wells that never run dry, statues so lifelike that when struck by an impious hand, blood has been known to flow from the wound,—these things and things like these are what will be brought to the notice of the traveller curious to pry into the arcana of Japanese piety.
Book recommended. Occult Japan, by Percival Lowell.
Pipes. The diminutive pipes of modern Japan are but one among the innumerable instances of the tendency of Japanese taste towards small things. To judge from the old pictures that have been preserved, the first Japanese pipes must have been as large as walking-sticks, whereas those now used give a man but three whiffs. After the third whiff, the wee pellet of ignited tobacco becomes a fiery ball, loose, and ready to leap from the pipe at a breath; and wherever it falls, it pierces holes like a red-hot shot. But the expert Japanese smoker rarely thus disgraces himself. He at once empties the contents of the mouthpiece into a section of bamboo (hai-fuki) which is kept for the purpose, somewhat after the fashion of a spittoon. Not so the foreigner ambitious of Japonising himself. He begins his new smoking career by burning small round holes in everything near him,—the mats, the cushions, and especially his own clothes.
The pipe may be made either of metal only, or of bamboo with metal at either end,—the bowl and the mouthpiece. The metal commonly employed is brass, but silver is more fashion able; and as massive silver would be inconveniently heavy, the plan followed is to engrave and inlay it elaborately, thereby both lightening the article and beautifying it. A really fine pipe may cost as much as thirty yen, and will be handed down as an heirloom. A friend of the present writer has collected over a hundred sorts, ranging from such artistic triumphs down to the five sen pipe of the navvy or the navvy's wife,—for in
