It has been shown that the Sin wo and sons of the imperial families are provided for by absorption into the higher offices of the priesthood, and to fill the seats in, and receive the revenues of, the richer abbeys and monasteries. In a similar way the sons of the Go sekkay and higher Koongays (known as Kindatchi) are provided for. There are six richly-endowed temples whose revenues are respectively enjoyed by a member of one of these families. These men are known by the name of “Sekkay Monzekke.” If a Daimio happens to meet the norimono or sedan-chair of a Koongay upon the highroad, he must wait with all his retinue till the latter shall have passed. Koongays usually blacken their teeth and shave the eyebrows, and do not follow the usual custom in shaving the head. Civilians do not carry a sword; military carry one called “tatchi.” In ordinary times a Koongay is not likely to be put to death, however great may be his crimes; but he may be ordered to shave his head and enter a monastery, or may be confined to a room in his own house. It is not easy to ascertain what was the exact position of the Koongays in the times before the great civil wars of the thirteenth and following centuries. The empire seems to have been divided at that time very much as it is now, into one large central court at the metropolis, with a number of smaller courts in the provinces, each ruled by its lord, king, Daimio, or dynasta, as they have been called. The court of the Emperor always remained at Miako. There he was surrounded by the members of the old families, among whom he distributed honors. There was to be seen a supposed prefect form of government, the history of which is written in the “Annals.” Probably in each of the lesser courts--such, for instance, as that of Satsuma, Mowori, and other wealthy lords--the same form of government was carried on in a miniature scale; and, so far as can be gathered from history and native historical maps, the extensive territories belonging to these lords were always under the entire rule each of its own master, and acknowledging no right in the central court (so long as that master did not in any way come into collision with the general good of the empire) to interfere in any way with what passed within these territories. The imperial court, in its executive form, was confined to the provinces around Miako--the Gokinai. The annals of the Emperors are devoted in the main to the occurrences which took place within these provinces, detailing the names and families, the titles, ranks, and history of the men who in that court were looked upon as great and eminent. Of these, the more prominent were brought forward and advanced by the Emperor in hereditary rank and title above their fellows--these were the Koongays; while the territorial lords were only known by their family names, or the name of the provinces over which they ruled, and were only expected to come once a year to Miako, in order to pay their respects to the