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| THE JAPANESE HO-O-DEN - A most cordial feeling
for Japan instantly followed the official announcement that the
Mikado, desiring to show his admiration for America, asked to present
to the City of Chicago, for use during the World's Fair, and for
maintenance by Japan permanently, in commemoration of 1893, a
reproduction of the most ancient, most beautiful and most celebrated
temple in Japan, the Ho-o-den, or house made like the Phoenix (bird).
To carry out the designs of the Emperor, the sum of $650,000 had
been set aside out of his private fortune. At a banquet given by the
Mayor of Chicago and the Commissioners, to Mr. Tegina, the
Commissioner for Japan, this magnificent gift was accepted, and early
in 1892, a company of odd, merry and industrious Japanese artisans
made their appearance in Chicago, with innumerable packages and
timbers. Their operations on the Wooded
Island were, thereafter, daily contrasted with the progress of
Americans on the great Manufactures
Building near by, and a more instructive picture could not have
been offered. While a dozen Japanese were working their little
wooden pile-driver, which struck a blow of one hundred pounds, a
company of men not larger across the lagoon was raising iron arches
with a span of nearly four hundred feet, two hundred and twenty feet
high. The original Ho-o-den, near Kioto, Japan, is undeniably
beautiful. It cannot be said that the modern Japanese builders
caught the spirit or fancy of the ancient temple, which, poised over
its lotus-pond, produced the impression that it might be some
fabulous bird, with outstretched wings. |
