Kamakura. Such recluses as Kamo Chomei,
Saigyo Hoshi and Yoshida Kenko were an outcome of these conditions.
Chomei has been called the "Wordsworth of Japan." He is immortalized
by a little book of thirty pages, called Hojoki (Annals of a Cell.)
It is a volume of reflections suggested by life in a hut measuring
ten feet square and seven feet high, built in a valley remote from
the stir of life. The style is pellucid and absolutely unaffected;
the ideas are instinct with humanity and love of nature. Such a work,
so widely admired, reveals an author and an audience instinct with
graceful thoughts.

In the career of Saigyo--"the reverend," as his title "hoshi"
signifies--there were episodes vividly illustrating the manners and
customs of the tune. Originally an officer of the guards in Kyoto, he
attained considerable skill in military science and archery, but his
poetic heart rebelling against such pursuits, he resigned office,
took the tonsure, and turning his back upon his wife and children,
became a wandering bard. Yoritomo encountered him one day, and was so
struck by his venerable appearance that he invited him to his mansion
and would have had him remain there permanently. But Saigyo declined.
On parting, the Minamoto chief gave him as souvenir a cat chiselled
in silver, which the old ascetic held in such light esteem that he
bestowed it on the first child he met. Yoshida Kenko, who became a
recluse in 1324, is counted among the "four kings" of Japanese
poetry--Ton-a, Joben, Keiun, and Kenko. He has been called the
"Horace of Japan." In his celebrated prose work, Weeds of Tedium
(Tsure-zure-gusa), he seems to reveal a lurking love for the vices he
satirizes. These three authors were all pessimistic. They reflected
the tendency of the time.

RELIGION

The earliest Buddhist sect established in Japan was the Hosso. It
crossed from China in A.D. 653, and its principal place of worship
was the temple Kofuku-ji at Nara. Then (736) followed the Kegon sect,
having its headquarters in the Todai-ji, where stands the colossal
Daibutsu of Nara, Next in order was the Tendai, introduced from China
by Dengyo in 805, and established at Hiei-zan in the temple
Enryaku-ji; while fourth and last in the early group of important
sects came the Shingon, brought from China in 809 by Kukai, and
having its principal metropolitan place of worship at Gokoku-ji (or
To-ji) in Kyoto, and its principal provincial at Kongobo-ji on
Koya-san. The