WHEN THE MIKADO DIED.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1557, 28 September 1912, Page 11

WHEN THE MIKADO DIED.

A NATION'S GRIEF. . It would be impossible to realise the I° ve and reverence in which the Japanese held their late Emperor (wrote "Pippa" recently in the "Australasian"), unless one had actually been in Tokio during those last days of July, when he lay there sick unto death. Wo may read in the newspapers that his subjects were simply prostrated with grief when Ih'ey knew that the Emperor was dying, but we accept such statements .with a pound or two of salt. But it.is true, they were. To the Japanese the reigning sovereign is no ordinary mortal; he is the Son of Heaven, and the whole Imperial family divine. And this Emporer had reigned for so long (45 years) that the majority of his people had got used to his presence and power in the land, they "didn't think of him dying," to put it baldly (and ungrammatically). let for somo years his medical advisers have known that his constitution was not of the best, but. the people, of course, did not know. His last illness was short, -and for some days before the Emperor died , the grounds of the Palace in Tokio were thronged with his mourning subjects. When it became certain that the Heaven-born must die, the crowd grew greater and greater, people flocking in myriads from all quarters to silently pray for his. recovery. The day before the Emperor's death we were motoring -in Tokio, the capital, and thought of driving through the gardens of .the. Imperial Palace, which, is in the town itself, not far from the famous Ginza, or shopping street. The gardens of the palace, or rather palaces jfor there are two, the mam palace and the west palace, surrounded by a high stono wall built above a wide, water-filled moat, ■ are not particularly beautiful. Thei "double-bridge," held in high esteem by the Japanese; is an ordinary substantial stone structure,'with two. arches, and a balustrade. It leads over the moat to the palace, and is, I believe, only crossed by the. reigning-Emperor. The general public are allowed "in tho grounds, but visitors 'are not admitted to tho palaco or .to the gardens immediately surrounding it, unless, of course, on the occasion of tho-Emperor's birthday, when, during the late Eniperor's lifetime, a largo garden party , was always given there. It was. therefore,' through the grounds without that ,wo tried to go. But everywhere, everywhere there were people. People kneeling, their foreheads on the bare earth, silent, sad, and still, murmuring prayers • for the life of the Emperor, and looking always-towards-the'-palace."' One-c'oijld'scarcely walk v through the throng, there were thousands . and thousands there; indeed, -my companions, with feminine exaggeration, were . sure they "were collected in millions." : It was a pathetic and impressive sight! ; At night, a light shone from a window in the palace, indicating the direction the Emperor's head was facing, so they said, and it was towards the spot that all' eyes H'ere turned. When the news of. his death was received, the mourning of the people was intense, not loud and not with weeping, for the-Japanese will not show; their feelings, and will not cry out' in lamentation.

T have watched the. restraint put upon themselves at tho funerals, perhaps of their best-loved and nearest, by Japanese, whose eyes were red and faces swollen with tears shed in secret—yet they would scorn to weep in public. A'girl of fourteen will not. let . anyone, see her cry, if her mother'., (lies. " ;. While the,,late Emperor's remains are unburied'"(niitil'.September 13), scarcely a sound. will'be, heard in Japan. The people speak in whispers. A lady of my acquaintance, who'was'trying to buy a gong in a shop iri Tokio, took up the "hnnjmer" with which to .test" its tone. She was stopped' before she had time to commit such a crime as to unnecessarily cause li sound in grief-stricken Japa.n. There iave been several cases of suicide —young religions fanatics who have performed hara-kiri in:order to assist the passage of' the Emperor's soul .to Nirvana. It is'difficult for us, to comprehend suchi fervour iiiid enthusiasm, but to the Oriental mind there is nothing easier, for what is tho sacrifice of-one's paltry self when it may assist the Son of Heaven?