I could not help thinking that the two or three old conservative Ministers who had stuck to their native dress must have congratulated themselves on their firmness, when they saw the effect of the unaccustomed garments upon their confreres.  The old court dress of the Daimios is very handsome, consisting of rich silks and brocades, with enormously long loose trousers trailing two or three feet on the ground, and with sleeves, like butterfly wings, of corresponding dimensions.  A small high-peaked black cap is worn on the head, to accommodate the curious little cut-off pigtail, set up like a cock’s comb, which appears to be one of the insignia of a Daimio’s rank in Japan.

As soon as the people had arranged themselves into three sides of a square, Sir Harry Parkes read an address, and presented his five compatriots to the Mikado, who replied in inaudible but no doubt suitable terms.  Then the Governor of Kobe had to read an address, and I pitied the poor man from the bottom of my heart.  His knees shook, his hands trembled, and his whole body vibrated to such an extent, that his cocked hat fell and rolled on the floor of the dais, and finally hopped down the steps, while the address nearly followed its example.  How thankful he must have felt when it was over!

The proceedings in the pavilion being now at an end, the Mikado walked down the middle of the assembly, followed by all his Ministers in single file, on his way to the luncheon tent.  After they had gone, we inspected the imperial railway carriage, the soldiers, guns, &c., and just as we were leaving the station yard, to look at the daylight fireworks they were letting off in honour of the occasion, a salute announced the departure of the Mikado for Kioto.

We lunched at the Consulate, our gentlemen changed to more comfortable attire, and then we went to see a Buddhist temple, supposed to be rather a fine specimen of woodwork.  It is specially curious on account of some monkeys and a white horse, each kept in a sort of side shrine.  Every worshipper at the temple stopped before these shrines, and for a small coin bought rice or beans to feed them with, through the priest.  Whether it was an act of worship, or simply of kindness, I could not discover, though I paid several visits to the spot during our stay at Kobe.

From the temple we went to the shops in the main street of Hiogo, and full of interest and temptation we found them.  The town itself is quite Japanese, and consists, as usual, of wooden houses, narrow streets, and quaint shops.  To-day all was en fete, in preparation for the illuminations to-night.

Kobe, the foreign settlement, is, on the contrary, bran-new, spick and span, with a handsome parade, and grass and trees, planted boulevard fashion, along the edge of the sea.  It is all remarkably clean, but quite uninteresting.  To-night, however, it looked very well, illuminated by thousands and thousands of coloured paper lanterns, arranged in all sorts of fanciful devices.  It was dark and clear, and there was no wind, so that everything went off well.