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112 HONDA THE SAMUBAI.
and ablest man in the empire, the Mikado appointed
him chief constable of the empire. By degrees,
however, Yoritomo possessed himself not only of the
military but of the civil control : for he not only put
down the robbers and kept the peace, but put his
relatives and favorites in office, and even got pos-
session of the treasury by winning over the Kyoto
officers to Kamakura. In eight or ten years he was
the virtual ruler of Japan. He made a visit to the
Mikado, and also to the large temples of Buddha at
Kyoto and Nara. On his return to the east he enlarged
the temple of Hachiman, or the Buddha of the
Eight Banners, and erected a colossal gilt statue in
carved wood of Great Buddha. This statue was
afterwards cast in bronze, and still stands in the same
place where for six centuries it has been admired
and visited. The bronze image of Dai Butsu was
not reared by Yoritomo, or in his time, but chiefly
through the efforts of a woman named Itano, who
collected the money for its casting and erection in a
temple. It is over fifty feet high, and many hundred
tons of copper were melted to cast it.
" Yoritomo erected important water-works, and
gave great feasts in his palaces. Wishing to keep
his warriors hardy and active, he held hunting par-
ties on Mount Fuji twice a year, where many deer,
wild boar, and much smaller game were captured.
" It was at one of these hunts that Nitto no Shiro
won his fame as a hunter. A huge wild boar had
taken refuge in a cave. The only approach to the
lair was up the steep side of a mountain. The