But the most remarkable novelty of this sort yet produced is a kind of toko-niwa recently on display at a famous shop in Ginza.  A label bearing the inscription, Ka[:i]-t[’e][:i] no Ikken (View of the Ocean-Bed) sufficiently explained the design.  The su[:i]bon, or “water-tray,” containing the display was half filled with rocks and sand so as to resemble a sea-bottom; and little fishes appeared swarming in the fore-ground.  A little farther back, upon an elevation, stood Otohim[’e], the Dragon-King’s daughter, surrounded by her maiden attendants, and gazing, with just the shadow of a smile, at two men in naval uniform who were shaking hands,—­dead heroes of the war:  Admiral Makaroff and Commander Hiros[’e]!...  These had esteemed each other in life; and it was a happy thought thus to represent their friendly meeting in the world of Spirits.

* * * * *

Though his name is perhaps unfamiliar to English readers, Commander Takeo Hiros[’e] has become, deservedly, one of Japan’s national heroes.  On the 27th of March, during the second attempt made to block the entrance to Port Arthur, he was killed while endeavoring to help a comrade,—­a comrade who had formerly saved him from death.  For five years Hiros[’e] had been a naval attach[’e] at St. Petersburg, and had made many friends in Russian naval and military circles.  From boyhood his life had been devoted to study and duty; and it was commonly said of him that he had no particle of selfishness in his nature.  Unlike most of his brother officers, he remained unmarried,—­holding that no man who might be called on at any moment to lay down his life for his country had a moral right to marry.  The only amusements in which he was ever known to indulge were physical exercises; and he was acknowledged one of the best j[=u]jutsu (wrestlers) in the empire.  The heroism of his death, at the age of thirty-six, had much less to do with the honors paid to his memory than the self-denying heroism of his life.

Now his picture is in thousands of homes, and his name is celebrated in every village.  It is celebrated also by the manufacture of various souvenirs, which are sold by myriads.  For example, there is a new fashion in sleeve-buttons, called Kinen-botan, or “Commemoration-buttons.”  Each button bears a miniature portrait of the commander, with the inscription, Shichi-sh[=o] h[=o]koku, “Even in seven successive lives—­for love of country.”  It is recorded that Hiros[’e] often cited, to friends who criticised his ascetic devotion to duty, the famous utterance of Kusunoki Masashig[’e], who declared, ere laying down his life for the Emperor Go-Daigo, that he desired to die for his sovereign in seven successive existences.