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This success, however, proved only temporary. Goods were packed in stores (kura) or disposed on shelves in shops(machi-ya), and at ports where merchantmen assembled It has been welldescribed as a mirror in which the extraordinary elaborations ofJapanese social etiquette may be seen vividly reflected. Not a few chose the former course, but a large majoritycontinued to wear their swords and draw their pensions as of old.

With the widespread belief in the power of priestly prayer there wasprevalent a fear of spirits and demons. n obedience to the shogun'sfoible, and as many of these men had not learned to ride on horsebackthey petitioned for permission to use palanquins. He inherited nothing of hisfather's sagacity. Theyascended into the hall, where they performed their obeisances.