up and allow them to strike these bells, toss a coin
into the contribution-box, and pass on. The vehicles probably contain
relics of the gods.

A wooden horse, painted red, stands in solemn and lonely state behind the
wooden bars of his stall--but I have almost registered a vow against
temples and their belongings, in Japan, so inexplicable are most of the
things to be seen. A person who has delved into the mysteries of Japanese
mythology would no doubt derive much satisfaction from a visit to the
Oyama-tsumi-uo-Kami temple, but the average reader would weary of it all
after seeing others. What to ordinary mortals signify such hideous
mythological monsters as saru-tora-hebi (monkey-tiger-serpent), or the
"Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety" on the architrave. Yet, of such as
these is the ornamentation of all Japanese temples. Some few there are
that are admirable as works of art, but most of them are hideous daubs
and representations more than passing rude.

Down the street near my yadoya, within a boarded enclosure, a dozen
wrestlers are giving an entertainment for a crowd of people who have paid
two sen apiece entrance-fee. The wrestlers of Japan form a distinct class
or caste, separated from the ordinary society of the country by long
custom, that prejudices them against marrying other than the daughter of
one of their own profession. As the biggest and more muscular men have
always been numbered in the ranks of the wrestlers, the result of this
exclusiveness and non-admixture with physical inferiors is a class of
people as distinct from their fellows as if of another race. The Japanese
wrestler stands head and shoulders above the average of his countrymen,
and weighs half as much more. As a class they form an interesting
illustration of what might be accomplished in the physical improvement of
mankind by certain Malthusian schemes that have been at times advocated.

Within a twelve-foot arena the sturdy athletes struggle for the mastery,
bringing to bear all their strength and skill. No "hippodroming" here:
stripped to the skin, the muscles on their brown bodies standing out in
irregular knots, they fling one another about in the liveliest manner.
The master of ceremonies, stiff and important, in a faultless gray
garment bearing a samurai crest, stands by and wields the fiddle-shaped
lacquered insignia of his high office, and utter his orders and decisions
in an authoritative voice.

The wrestlers squat around