The Times of Thursday gives a curious account of a
wonderful hoard of Japanese relics dating from about the eighth century of our era, which was shown during last August to certain privileged visitors. They are preserved at Nara, a place which was at one time the capital of Japan. In 749, the Emperor Shomu moved to Kioto, and the priests of the celebrated Temple at Nara were left in possession of a large number of articles in use in the palace by the Emperor and his predecessors. Thus the Temple became the depository of dresses, utensils, ornaments, and the like, belonging to the three Emperors and Empresses of the first half of the eighth century. Imagine what it would be to find, say in a hidden chamber at Glastonbury or Wedmore, a hoard containing the apparel and household vessels of Alfred or Egbert. We trust that the Japanese relics have been photographed, and will be reproduced in the illustrated papers. Does Japanese art, like Egyptian art, get less instead of more formal and archaic in appearance, the farther you go back P
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