eing built. No one can have visited any shrine of
note without observing the large number of signboards along either
side of the main approach, on which are written the sums contributed
for the building or repairing of the temple. These gifts are often
munificent, single gifts sometimes reaching the sum of a thousand yen;
I have noticed a few exceeding this amount. The total number of these
temples and shrines throughout the country is amazing. According to
government statistics, in 1894 the Buddhist temples numbered 71,831;
and the Shinto temples and shrines which have received official
registration reached the vast number of 190,803. The largest temple in
Japan, costing several million dollars, the Nishihongwanji in Kyoto,
has been built during the past decade. Considering the general poverty
of the nation, the proportion of gifts made for the erection and
maintenance of these temples and shrines is a striking testimony to
the reality of some sort of religious zeal. That it rests entirely on
form and meaningless rites, is incredible.

XXVI

SOME RELIGIOUS PHENOMENA

Without doubt, many traits are attributed to the Japanese by the
casual observer or captious critic, through lack of ability to read
between the lines. We have already seen how the stoical element of
Japanese character serves to conceal from the sociologist the
emotional nature of the people. If a Japanese conceals his ordinary
emotions, much more does he refrain from public exhibition of his
deeper religious aspirations. Although he may feel profoundly, his
face and manner seldom reveal it. When torn with grief over the loss
of a parent or son, he will tell you of his loss with smiles, if not
with actual laughter. "The Japanese smile" has betrayed the solemn
foreigner into many an error of individual and racial character
interpretation. Particularly frequent have been such errors in matters
of religion.

Although the light and joyous, "smiling" aspect of Japanese religious
life is prominent, the careful observer will come incidentally and
unexpectedly on many signs of an opposite nature, if he mingle
intimately with the people. Japan has its sorrows and its tragedies,
no less than other lands. These have their part in determining
religious phenomena.

The student who takes his stand at a popular shrine and watches the
worshipers come and go will be rewarded by the growing conviction
that, although many are manifestly ceremonialists, others