But there is another set of phenomena, even more impressive to the candid and sympathetic student.  It is the presence in every home of the “Butsu-dan,” or Buddha shelf, and the “Kami-dana,” or God shelf.  The former is Buddhist, and the latter Shinto.  Exclusive Shintoists, who are rare, have the latter alone.  Where both are found, the “I-hai,” ancestral memorial tablets, are placed on the “Butsu-dan”; otherwise they are placed on the “Kami-dana.”  The Kami-dana are always quite simple, as are all Shinto charms and utensils.  The Butsu-dan are usually elaborate and beautiful, and sometimes large and costly.  The universality of these tokens of family religion, and the constant and loving care bestowed upon them, are striking testimony to the universality of the religion in Japan.  The pathos of life is often revealed by the faithful devotion of the mother to these silent representatives of divine beings and departed ancestors or children.  I have no hesitation in saying that, so far as external appearances go, the average home in Japan is far more religious than the average home in enlightened England or America, especially when compared with such as have no family worship.  There may be a genuine religious life in these Western homes, but it does not appear to the casual visitor.  Yet no casual visitor can enter a Japanese home, without seeing at once the evidences of some sort, at least, of religious life.

It is impossible for me to believe, as many assert, that all is mere custom and hollow form, without any kernel of meaning or sincerity.  Customs may outlast beliefs for a time, and this is particularly the case with religious customs; for the form is so often taken to involve the very essence of the reality.  But customs which have lost all significance, and all belief, inevitably dwindle and fade away, even if not suddenly rejected; they remain them; they leave their trace indeed, but so faintly that only the student of primitive customs can detect them and recognize their original nature and purpose.  The Butsu-dan and Kami-dana do not belong to this order of beliefs.  The average home of Japan would feel itself desecrated were these to be forcibly removed.  The piety of the home centers, in large measure, about these expressions of the religious heart.  Their practical universality is a significant witness to the possession by the people at large of a religious nature.

If it is fair to argue that the Christian religion has a vital hold on the Western peoples because of the cathedrals and churches to be found throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, a similar argument applies to Japan and the hold of the religions of this land upon its people.  For over a thousand years the external manifestations of religion in architecture have been elaborate.  Temples of enormous size, comparing not unfavorably with the cathedrals of Europe as regards the cost of erection, are to be found in all parts of the land.  Immense temple bells of