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This little village is only a few miles from the foot of Fujiyama and pilgrims-though met in all parts of Japan-are particularly numerous in the vicinity of the Sacred Mountain. These are respectable country people who are tramping about the country visiting different religious shrines; their expedition is dictated partly by piety and partly by desire to see the world. 

The odd, mushroom-shaped hats are of pith.

That box shaped like a Buddhist shrine and worn, knapsack-fashion, on the shoulders, contains personal baggage and supplies. Somewhere in the box or in a sleeve-pocket of the kimono each one carries a special treasure-a little blank book or a towel of something white, on which the priest of every temple that is visited stamps the temple seal in red. The possession of such a be-stamped book or cloth marks the owner ever after as a person of local distinction. The brass gongs which the pair are beating explain the errand on which they are going and announce that any help you like to give to so pious an enterprise will be gratefully received. Those cheap straw sandals will wear out (they say it uses up to eight pairs to climb the cindery sloped of Fuji and come down again), but they will doubtless be replaced by some sympathetic stranger.

It is said that fully thirty thousand pilgrims each year climb to Fuji's summit to pray before the shrined near the sleeping crater. Many are poor and, choosing not to come seeking alms along the way, join regularly organized clubs for raising funds. Club members pay certain small annual dues; each season a certain number of persons, chosen from the membership lists, have their expenses paid for the expedition to Fuji and home again. Some members may have to wait several seasons for their turn, but all have the privilege sooner or later.

(Read Hearn's "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan," Scidmore's "Jinrikisha Days in Japan,' etc., etc.)

From Notes of Travel, No. 9, copyright, 1904, by Underwood & Underwood.

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Pilgrim-beggars beating their gongs. Japan. 

Pélerins mendiants battant leurs gongs, Japon.

Gong ichlagende Bettel- ßilger, Japan.

Peregrinos mendicants golpeando sus gongs, Japón.

Tiggarepilgrimer, som ljuda sina klockor, Japan.

Бвдныe uилrpиммы, бьюмie въ кoдoкoдa, Янoнiя.

Transcription Notes:
Last few lines. Unsure of German translation. Cannot read Russian translation. French: àâæ éèêë ïî ôœ ùûüÿ ç German: äöüß Spanish: áéíñóúü Swedish: äåéö Russian uppercase: Я Ш Е Р Т Ы У И О П Ю Щ Э А С Д Ф Г Ч Й К Л Ь Ж З Х Ц В Б Н М Ъ Ё Russian lowercase: я ш е р т ы у и о п ю щ э а с д ф г ч й к л ь ж з х ц в б н м ъ ё