many of them are well off, the village has been "praised and rewarded"
by the prefecture for its "good farming and good morals," and the
philanthropist is worth only 50,000 yen. Impressed by his
unselfishness, the village has raised a great slab of stone in his
honour.

I made enquiries continually about the influence exerted by priests. I
was told of many "careless" priests, but also of others who delivered
sermons of a practical sort. A few of the younger priests were
described as "philosophical" and some preached "the kingdom of God is
within you." Many people laid stress on the necessity for a better
education of the priesthood and for combating superstition among the
peasantry, though the schools had already had a powerful influence in
shaking the faith of thousands of the common people in charms and
suchlike. Many folk put up charms because it was the custom or to
please their old parents or because it could do no harm.

I was told that the Government does not encourage the erection of new
temples. Its notion is that it is better to maintain the existing
temples adequately. When I went to see a gorgeous new temple, I found
that official permission for its erection had been obtained because
the figures, vessels and some of the fittings of an old and
dilapidated temple were to be used in the new edifice. This temple
was on a large tract of land which had recently been recovered from
the sea. The building had cost between 80,000 and 90,000 yen. It stood
on piles on rising ground and had a secondary purpose in that it
offered a place of refuge to the settlers on the new land if the sea
dike should break.

The founder of the temple was the man who had drained the land and