Last Saturday the late Japanese Emperor, Mutsuhito, was buried with
the traditional ceremonial of his country. On Friday week, in the presence of immense crowds, the body was removed after dark from the palace in Tokyo to the parade ground, where offerings of food, silk, lights, trees, and .other
things were placed before the coffin. A dirge meanwhile was played, and the chief of the Ritualists read a prayer. Then the new Emperor advanced alone to the coffin, prayed for his dead father, and read an "address of lamentation." After other members of the Imperial family and the nota- bilities and guests had also paid their respects, the body was removed by train to Kyoto for burial. On Saturday evening the coffin was conveyed through brilliantly lighted streets and roads from Kyoto railway station to the Imperial estate about five miles away. The grave was on the top of a wooded bill, supposed to be an abode of the gods. Near the grave members of the Imperial family again paid their respects, and the actual burial at the summit of a very steep cone was performed in the presence of only a few persons. A Reuter message says that, according to an old custom, clay figures, known as " God Generals," clad in minia- ture suits of ancient armour, were placed in the four corners of the grave. The construction of the ball, intended for the spirit of the dead Emperor, over the grave, will not be begun till a hundred days after the Emperor's death.
