f
silver. The koban was one-tenth of the value of the oban.

Gold and silver thenceforth became the standards of value, and as the
mines at Sado and Ikuno belonged to the Government, that is to say,
to Hideyoshi, his wealth suddenly received a conspicuous increase.
That he did possess great riches is proved by the fact that when, in
September, 1596, a terrible earthquake overthrew Momo-yama Castle and
wrecked all the great structures referred to above, involving for
Hideyoshi a loss of "three million pieces of gold," he is described
as having treated the incident with the utmost indifference, merely
directing that works of reparation should be taken in hand forthwith.
The records say that Osaka Castle, which had suffered seriously and
been rendered quite uninhabitable, was put in order and sumptuously
fitted up within the short space of six weeks. Of course, much of the
resulting expense had to be borne by the great feudatories, but the
share of Hideyoshi himself cannot have been inconsiderable.

LITERATURE, ART, AND COMMERCE

It has already been shown that in spite of the disorder and unrest
which marked the military era, that era saw the birth of a great art
movement under the Ashikaga shogun, Yoshimasa. It has now to be noted
that this movement was rapidly developed under the Taiko. "The latter
it was whose practical genius did most to popularize art. Although
his early training and the occupations of his life until a late
period were not calculated to educate esthetic taste, he devoted to
the cause of art a considerable portion of the sovereign power that
his great gifts as a military leader and a politician had brought
him." His earnest patronage of the tea ceremonial involved the
cultivation of literature, and although he himself did not excel in
that line, he did much to promote the taste for it in others. In the
field of industrial art, however, his influence was much more marked.
Not only did he bestow munificent allowances on skilled artists and
art artisans, but also he conferred on them distinctions which proved
stronger incentives than any pecuniary remuneration, and when he
built the celebrated mansions of Juraku and Momo-yama, so vast were
the sums that he lavished on their decoration, and such a certain
passport to his favour did artistic merit confer, that the little
town of Fushimi quickly became the art capital of the empire, and
many of the most skilful painters, lacquerers, metal-workers, and
wo