upplicating chant was led by either row of priests. In a
way it reminded one of the Gregorian chant one often hears in Catholic
churches, but in this Buddhist chanting there was that curious
Oriental strain of semi-tones that gave a strange and peculiar plaint
to the chorus.

Faint blue columns of incense were streaming slowly from bronze
censors towards the carved roof, and diffusing a delightful aromatic
odour throughout the building. The congregation was composed of all
sorts and conditions of the population, although the majority were
peasants; there were a number of Japanese ladies who came accompanied
by their maids, and here and there the brighter costume of a Geisha
was to be seen among the crowd.

The series of services lasted for seven days. This was the fifth.
Beginning at six o'clock in the morning, it went on till six o'clock
in the evening. It was just at its conclusion while I was there.
Mingling with the chorus from the priests and the choir ran a low
murmur from the crowd. The old country men and women said their
prayers aloud, and the refrain of "Namu Amida Butsu" seemed
perpetually in one's ears. As the conclusion of the service
approached, the voices of the choir, the priests, and the congregation
increased in strength and volume, and ceased suddenly in a final
chord of supplication. For a few moments there was stillness over the
bowed heads of the congregation, and then the priests rose and the
crowd began to stream down the great flight of steps. In the streets
outside were rows of booths, where printed prayers and brightly
embroidered triangular cloths, beads and images were being sold as
mementoes of these services. The whole congregation, even old men and
women, as they toddled down the steps at the base of which they put on
their shoes, reminded one forcibly of a lot of children coming out
from school. Laughing, chattering, and joking, there was a look of
satisfaction and contentment on all their faces, returning homewards,
as if they felt that in reply to their prayer, "Namu Amida Butsu," the
compassionate Lord Buddha, had listened to their prayer, and whispered
in answer to the heart of each, "Comfort ye, my people."

CHAPTER XXII

THE AINOS

A book on Japan would be incomplete without some reference to the
Ainos, that mysterious race found, and found only, in the northern
island of Yesso. The Ainos have long been the puzzle of the
ethnologist. Where the Ainos came from or to w