luence acted a strong part. Hideyoshi determined to set up a still
more imposing effigy in Kyoto, and, in 1586, the work was commenced
under the superintendence of Maeda Gen-i. All the principal
idol-makers were summoned to the capital, and among them were said to
have been some Chinese experts. Hideyoshi declared that whereas the
Nara Daibutsu had taken twenty-seven years to build, the Kyoto image
should be finished in five. He kept his word. No less than twenty-one
provinces were placed under requisition for labour and materials. The
enclosure of the temple containing the image measured 260 yards by
274, and the great hall had dimensions of 110 yards by 74.

The original intention had been to make the idol of copper; but as
the statue was to have a height of 160 feet, the quantity of metal
required could not have been obtained within the time fixed, and
lacquered wood was therefore substituted for copper. It is related
that timbers of sufficient scantling could not be found anywhere
except in the forests at the base of Fuji-yama, and Ieyasu employed
fifty thousand labourers at a cost of a one thousand ryo in gold, for
the purpose of felling the trees and transporting them to Kyoto. The
operations furnished evidence of the curiously arbitrary methods
practised officially in that age. Thus, when the building was
interrupted owing to a lack of large stones for constructing the
pedestal, messengers were sent to appropriate rocks standing in
private gardens, without consulting the convenience of the owners,
and many beautiful parks were thus deprived of their most picturesque
elements. Moreover, on the plea of obtaining iron to make nails,
clamps, and so forth, a proclamation was issued calling upon the
civilian section of the population at large to throw their swords,
their spears, their muskets, and their armour into the melting-pot.
This proclamation, though couched in terms of simulated benevolence,
amounted in reality to a peremptory order. The people were told that
they only wasted their substance and were impeded in the payment of
their taxes by spending money upon weapons of war, whereas by giving
these for a religious purpose, they would invoke the blessings of
heaven and promote their own prosperity. But, at the foot of these
specious arguments, there was placed a brief command that the weapons
must be surrendered and that those concerned should take due note of
their duty in the matter. The import of such an inj