may
step on to this bridge; other mortals must pass over another bridge near
at hand. On the farther side we ascend a tremendously long avenue of
grand cryptomerias rising straight up to the sky. It leads to a
mausoleum erected to the memory of the first Shogun of the famous
dynasty of Tokugawa. The first of them died in the year 1616.

This mausoleum is considered to be the most remarkable sight in Japan.
It is not huge and massive, like the Buddhist temple in Kioto, the old
capital of Japan. It is somewhat small, but both outside and inside it
displays unusually exquisite artistic skill. Granite steps lead up to
it. A _torii_, or portal, is artistically carved in stone, and another
is so perfect that the architect feared the envy of the gods, and
therefore placed one of the pillars upside down. We see carved in wood
three apes, one holding his hands before his eyes, another over his
ears, and the third over his mouth. That means that they will neither
see, hear, nor speak anything evil. A pagoda rises in five blood-red
storeys. At all the projections of the roof hang round bells, which
sound melodiously to the movement of the wind. In the interior of the
temple the sightseer is lost in dark passages dimly illuminated by oil
lamps carried by the priests. The walls are all covered with the finest
paintings in gold and lacquer. A moss-grown stone staircase leads down
to the tomb where the Shogun sleeps.

Nara is situated immediately to the south of Kioto. Here are many famous
temples, pagodas, and _torii_, and here also is the largest image of
Buddha in Japan, twelve hundred years old. The finest thing of all,
however, is the temple park of Nara, where silence and peace reign in a
grove of tall cryptomerias. Along the walks are several rows of stone
lamps placed on high pedestals of stone. They stand close together and
may number a thousand. Each of these lamps is a gift of some wealthy man
to the temple. On great festivals oil lamps are placed in them. Hundreds
of roedeer live in the park of Nara. They are as tame as lambs, and
wherever you go they come skipping up with easy, lively jumps. Barley
cakes for them to eat are sold along the paths of the park, and you buy
a whole basket of these. In a minute you are surrounded by roedeer,
stretching out their delicate, pretty heads and gazing at the basket
with their lovely brown eyes. Here a wonderful air of peace and
happiness prevails. The steps of roedeer and pilgrims a