is their clutch upon what they call "consecrated ground." In a large
sense Japan is still, what China has always been, a country governed by
the graveyard. These cities of the dead are usually kept in attractive
order and made beautiful with flowers in memoriam. The study of epitaphs
and mortuary architecture, though not without elements bordering on the
ludicrous, is enjoyed by the thoughtful student.[35]

In every community the inhabitants are enrolled at birth at the
local temple, whose priests are the authorized religious
teachers, and are always expected to take charge of the funerals
of those whose names are thus enrolled. So long as an individual
remains in the region of the family temple, the tie which binds
him to it is exceedingly difficult to break; but if he moves
away he is no longer bound by this tie. This explains the fact,
so often observed by missionaries, that the membership of
Christian churches is made up almost entirely of people who have
come from other localities. In the city of Osaka, for instance,
it is a very rare thing to find a native Osakan in any of the
churches. The same is true in all parts of the country. So long
as a Japanese remains in the neighborhood of his family temple
it is almost impossible to get him to break the temple tie and
join a Christian church; but when he moves to another place he
is free to do as he likes.[36]

This statement of a resident in modern Japan will long remain true for a
large part of the empire.


Political and Military Influences.