Tokyo—Atagoyama

“Atago Yama, a tiny temple on the edge of a precipitous hilltop, approached by men’s stairs, an air-line flight of broad steps, and women’s stairs, curving by broken flights of easier slope. … picturesque, white clad pilgrims, with staff and bell, go up and down these breathless flights. The tateba with their rows of lanterns, where nesans (teahouse waitresses) offer tea of salted cherry blossoms, that unfold again into perfect flowers in the bottom of the cup, overhang a precipice wall, and look down upon the Shiba quarter as upon a relief map.”

Eliza Ruhamah Scidmore, Jinrikisha Days in Japan, (New York, 1891) pp. 29–30