The Largest Procession Ever Seen in Japan Tokio, Jan. 17.
Marquis Okuma's funeral, which took place to-day in bitterly cold weather, was' unique inasmuch as was the first of its kind ever witnessed in Japan and was re-
ity. markable for its impressive simplic-The cortege, which was the largest ever seen in Japan, traversed three miles of snowy ground from the mansion of the Okuma family in the Waseda suburb to the historic Hibiya Park where a mammoth funeral pavilion, surrounded by a mountain of flowers, had been erected.
The body was laid on a white wood Shinto catafalque, mounted on a motor chassis, and was followed by the late Marquis's family and friends in 25 motor-cars. The Emperor paid a gracious tribute by sending a detachment of his personal bodyguard and a detachment of the Imperial Infantry Bodyguard.
Forty thousand mourners followed on, foot, including 10,000 students from Waseda University, which Marquis Okuma founded.
On arrival at the funeral pavilion a simple Shinto ceremony was held and a salute of nineteen guns fired at noon. The body lay in state for three hours and enormous crowds were admitted, without distinction of rank or dress, in accordance with Marquis Okuma's lifelong principles, to pay a last tribute to the dead.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.