e called himself). "But why stop at the surface? As you
know, the ambition of this Sho[u]ji had long been to see gathered
together all the most beautiful women of Nippon. And you, Kosaka?"--"To
see all distinction done away with between other men's property and my
own."--"Splendid indeed! But don't poach on our ground." The two others
clapped their hands and laughed. Kosaka Jinnai did not. "Well then--to
put the matter to the test," said he callously. Tomizawa Jinnai
forthwith took up the collection of old clothing and costumes of divers
sorts. He can be said to be the ancestor of the old clothes trade of
Edo--To[u]kyo[u]; and the Tomizawacho[u] at Ningyo[u]cho[u] no
Yokocho[u], the place of his residence, is his memorial. To this day it
is a centre for old clothes shops. Sho[u]ji Jinnai pressed the petition
he had once put in (Keicho[u] 17th year--1612) as Jinemon before being
finally convinced of the righteousness of a Tokugawa world. He was lucky
enough to find oblivion and reward in the permit for a harlot quarter.
As its bailiff (_nanushi_) he assembled three thousand beautiful women
for the service of the Yoshiwara, then at Fukiyacho[u] near Nihonbashi,
and of which O[u]mondori is the chief relic. Kosaka Jinnai, under such
encouragement and auspices, betook himself more vigorously than ever to
robbery; enhanced by a mighty idea which the years gradually brought to
ripeness in his mind. From being a sandal bearer Hideyoshi the Taiko[u]
had risen to rule. He, Jinnai, would emulate the example and rise to
rule from being a bandit. He was not, and would not be, the only one of
the kind in the political world. Hence his wide travels through the
provinces, his seeking out all the most desperate and villainous
characters, for he had "trust" in few others, his weaving together of a
vast conspiracy of crime, not to be equalled in any time but the closing
days of the Ashikaga Sho[u]gunate--and that not so far off. Of this
period of Jinnai's life there is a tale to relate.

CHAPTER XIX

A MATTER OF PEDESTRIANISM

Up to the very recent days of Meiji the precincts of the Shiba
San-en-zan Zo[u]jo[u]ji, now known more particularly as the most
accessible of the burial places of the Tokugawa Sho[u]gun, were an
excellent example of the old monastic establishments. The main temple
with its wide grounds was completely girdled by a succession of halls or
monastic foundations, some of which were famed through the land for
th