wooden
doors separating the different sets of apartments are all adorned with
paintings of flowers, birds, and the like, done by artists of the Kano
School. There is beautiful metal work, and the reception hall is
decorated with representations of street life in Kyoto and other cities.
The ceiling is lacquered.

We also procured a permit to visit the Imperial Palace, which is placed
in a large garden like a park. This was spacious, but not so artistic as
Nijo; there were many different buildings. We visited several, one known
as the Temple of 33,333 Buddhas, and after gazing at the long array of
walls and corridors with their ornaments, we accepted the estimate as
accurate. One afternoon the great Shinto procession of the year was in
progress. We took jinrikishas for quite a long ride, and then arrived at
a small suburb of Kyoto, where we had places engaged on the upper
gallery of a house. There were great crowds of people, and we waited a
long time before the arrival of the first shrine. There were five in
all. These shrines were large and ornamental, with a great deal of gilt
about them, and they were placed on poles borne upon the shoulders of
men. Four other small shrines followed, and before the pageant was over,
the afternoon was nearly consumed. This procession was on its way to the
great Temple of Inari, several miles distant.

One morning we devoted to visiting two cloisonne studios and some curio
shops. The first studio, Nakamura's, was very artistically arranged; one
large room encircled a miniature garden laid out in true Japanese style
with dwarf trees, rockeries, and a tiny little lake. We saw the whole
process of manufacture and it was also explained to us.[7] The specimens
were very rare and beautiful. Tea and little cakes were served and great
courtesy extended to us. The second studio was similar to this, but a
little larger, and again we saw the garden, and again tea was served.
Several interesting curio shops were visited, and we then went to the
large establishment of Yamanaka, who had fine collections at the Chicago
and St. Louis Expositions. We then went over some silk stores, the
manufacture of silk being the chief industry; one may purchase all kinds
of embroidered goods.

[Illustration: _Kasuga Temple_]

The annual Cherry Blossom Dance--repeated at intervals for one
week--occurred at this time. It is preceded by a ceremonial tea. We went
at five in the afternoon and were seated around the s