Kakemono

"Kakemono : Japanese sketches" by A. Herbage Edwards is a collection of travel sketches and cultural essays written in the early 20th century. The work surveys Japan’s religious life, art, landscape, and customs through lyrical description, on-the-ground observation, and folklore retellings. It moves from temples and shrines to street fairs and sacred mountains, balancing reverence with occasional critique. A recurring thread is the encounter with Buddhist and Shintō belief—culminating in a pilgrimage toward Mount Fuji. The opening of the book moves through a series of vivid scenes: a contemplative portrait of the Great Buddha; the austere sanctity of the Ise shrines; the sumptuous artistry of Nikkō’s mausoleum; and the bustling, commercialized devotion at Asakusa’s Kannon. It contrasts the serene altar-garden of Rinzaki with a compassionate episode at Ikkegami, where villagers honor foreign sailors, then tells the legend of a missionary child who damages a Jizō statue. The narrative lingers over Shiba’s ornate tomb-temples and the restrained dignity of the Hongwanji, counters it with a sharp sketch of Nichiren worship’s noisy zeal, and offers a universalist moment in a Shintō rite above the sea. Further scenes depict fox-god superstition at Inari, a communal fire-walking ceremony in Tokyo, and a meditation on the “smiling” Buddhas of Nikkō. It then turns to Mount Fuji: a poetic prologue on its presence and a grounded travel account—tram and horse to Subashiri, mist-bound ascent past tea-house stations and lava beds, purchase of pilgrim staves, and a first night’s halt at the second station.

Kakemono, by A. Herbage Edwards. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #76241.