, and its marvelous wood carvings, has been built by
offerings of labor, money, and materials made by the faithful. The great
timbers were given and brought to the spot by the countrymen; and the
women, wishing to have some part in the sacred work, cut off their
abundant hair, a beauty perhaps more prized by the Japanese women than
by those of other countries, and from the material thus obtained they
twisted immense cables, to be used in drawing the timbers from the
mountains to the site of the temple. The great black cables hang in the
unfinished temple to-day, a sign of the devotion of the women who spared
not their chief ornament in the service of the gods in whom they still
believe. And a close scrutiny of these touching offerings shows that the
glossy black locks of the young women are mingled with the white hairs
of those who, by this sacrifice, hope to make sure of a quick and easy
departure from a life already near its close.

All along the T[=o]kaid[=o], the great road from T[=o]ky[=o] to
Ky[=o]to, in the neighborhood of some holy place, or in the district
around the great and sacred Fuji, the mountain so much beloved and
honored in Japanese art, will be seen bands of pilgrims slowly walking
along the road, their worn and soiled white garments telling of many
days' weary march. Their large hats shield them from the sun and the
rain, and the pieces of matting slung over their backs serve them for
beds to sleep on, when they take shelter for the night in rude huts. The
way up the great mountain of Fuji is lined with these pilgrims; for to
attain its summit, and worship there the rising sun, is believed to be
the means of obtaining some special blessing. Among these religious
devotees, in costumes not unlike those of the men, under the same large
hat and coarse matting, old women often are seen, their aged faces
belying their apparent vigor of body, as they walk along through miles
and miles of country, jingling their bells and holding their rosaries
until they reach the shrine, where they may ask some special blessing
for their homes, or fulfill some vow already made.[*242]

Journeying through rural Japan, one is impressed by the important part
played by women in the various bread-winning industries. In the village
homes, under the heavily thatched roofs, the constant struggle against
poverty and famine will not permit the women to hold back, but they
enter bravely into all the work of the men. In the rice-field