The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Old World and Its Ways, by William Jennings Bryan

Yours truly
W. J. Bryan

THE
Old World and Its Ways

BY

William Jennings Bryan

DESCRIBING

A TOUR AROUND THE WORLD
AND
JOURNEYS THROUGH EUROPE

ST. LOUIS
The Thompson Publishing Company
1907

Copyright 1907
By William Jennings Bryan

Author's Preface

This volume is published in response to numerous requests from many sections, and my purpose is to put in permanent and convenient form the observations made during travels in the old world.

The illustrations will throw light on the subjects treated and it is believed will add much to the interest. The photographs from which they were made were collected at the places visited or taken by members of our party. Chapters one to forty-six were written from time to time during the trip around the world.

I was accompanied on this tour by my wife and our two younger children, William J., Jr., and Grace, aged sixteen and fourteen years respectively. The trip was taken for educational purposes and proved far more instructive than we anticipated.

We left our home September 21, 1905, sailed from San Francisco September 27, and arrived in New York August 29, 1906—the day before the date fixed for the home-coming reception in that city—and reached Lincoln September 5, sixteen days less than a year after our departure.

While most of our travel was in the North Temperate Zone, we were below the Equator a few days in Java and above the Arctic Circle in Norway.

In this narrative I fear I have sacrificed literary style to conciseness, for I have endeavored to condense and crowd into the space as much information as possible. The statement of facts may be relied on, being based either upon observations gathered at first hand from persons worthy to be trusted, or taken from authoritative writings.

Mrs. Bryan assisted me in the collection of materials and the preparation of the matter, and I am also indebted to the American Ambassadors, Ministers and Consuls, as well as to the officials of the countries which were visited, for valuable information.

I have included a series of articles written during a former visit to Europe in 1902. As I have avoided in the World Tour Narratives the subjects treated in these previous European articles, the two series are appropriately published together.

All of these are published with the more pleasure because I believe they will give the reader increased admiration for American institutions and a larger confidence in the triumph of American Ideals.

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

Lincoln, Nebraska, 1907

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

ROUTE TRAVELED.

CHAPTER I.

CROSSING THE PACIFIC—HAWAII.

There is rest in an ocean voyage. The receding shores shut out the hum of the busy world; the expanse of water soothes the eye by its very vastness; the breaking of the waves is music to the ear and there is medicine for the nerves in the salt sea breezes that invite to sleep. At first one is disturbed—sometimes quite so—by the motion of the vessel, but this passes away so completely that before many days the dipping of the ship is really enjoyable and one finds a pleasure in ascending the hills and descending the valleys into which the deck sometimes seems to be converted.

If one has regarded the Pacific as an unknown or an untraversed sea, the impression will be removed by a glance at a map recently published by the United States government—a map with which every ocean traveler should equip himself. On this map the Pacific is covered with blue lines indicating the shortest routes of travel between different points with the number of miles. The first thing that strikes one is that the curved line indicating the northern route between San Francisco and Yokohama is only 4,536 miles long, while the apparently straight line between the two points is 4,791 miles long—the difference being explained by the curvature of the earth, although it is hard to believe that in following the direct line a ship would have to climb over such a mountain range of water, so to speak, as to make it shorter to go ten degrees north. The time between the United States and the Japanese coast has recently been reduced to less than eleven days, but the northern route is not so pleasant at this season of the year, and we sailed on the Manchuria, September 27, going some twenty degrees farther south via Honolulu. This route covers 5,545 miles and is made in about sixteen days when the weather is good.

The Manchuria is one of the leviathans of the Pacific and is owned by Mr. Harriman, president of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific Railways. The ship's crew suggests the Orient, more than three-fourths being Chinese, all wearing the cue and the national garb. There is also a suggestion of the Orient in the joss house and opium den of the Chinese in the steerage.

In crossing the one hundred and eightieth meridian we lost a day, and as we are going all the way around, we cannot recover it as those can who recross the Pacific. We rose on Saturday morning, October 7, and at nine o'clock were notified that Sunday had begun and the remainder of the day was observed as the Sabbath (October 8).

LEAVING SAN FRANCISCO ON THE MANCHURIA.

According to the chart or map referred to there are three centers of ocean traffic in the Pacific. Honolulu, the most important of all, the Midway Islands, 1,160 miles northwest of Honolulu, and the Samoan Islands, some twenty-two hundred miles to the south. The Society Islands, about the same distance to the southeast of Honolulu, and Guam, some fifteen hundred miles from the mainland of Asia, are centers of less importance.

Our ship reached Honolulu early on the morning of the sixth day out and we had breakfast on the island. The Hawaiian Islands (inhabited) number eight and extend from the southeast to the northwest, covering about six degrees of longitude and nearly four of latitude. Of these eight islands, Hawaii, the southernmost one, is the largest, having an area of 4,200 square miles and a population of nearly fifty thousand. Hilo, its chief city, situated on the east shore, is the second Hawaiian city of importance and contains some seven thousand inhabitants. The island of Oahu, upon which Honolulu is situated, is third in size but contains the largest population, almost sixty thousand, of which forty thousand dwell in or near the capital. The islands are so small and surrounded by such an area of water as to remind one of a toy land, and yet there are great mountains there, one piercing the clouds at a height of 14,000 feet. Immense cane fields stretch as far as the eye can reach, and busy people of different colors and races make a large annual addition to our country's wealth. On one of the islands is an active volcano which furnishes a thrilling experience to those who are hardy enough to ascend its sides and cross the lava lake, now grown cold, which surrounds the present crater. Each island has one or more extinct volcanoes, one of these, called "The Punch Bowl," being within the city limits of Honolulu. On one of the islands is a leper colony, containing at times as many as a thousand of the afflicted. During campaigns the spellbinders address the voters from boats anchored at a safe distance from the shore.

As the Manchuria lay at anchor in the harbor all day the passengers went ashore and, dividing into groups, inspected the various places of interest. By the aid of a reception committee, composed of democrats, republicans and brother Elks, we were able to crowd a great deal of instruction and enjoyment into the ten hours which we spent in Honolulu. We were greeted at the wharf with the usual salutation, Aloha, a native word which means "a loving welcome," and were decorated with garlands of flowers for the hat and neck. While these garlands or leis (pronounced lays) are of all colors, orange is the favorite hue, being the color of the feather cloak worn by the Hawaiian kings and queens in olden times. The natives are a very kindly and hospitable people, and we had an opportunity to meet some excellent specimens of the race at the public reception and the country residence of Mr. Damon, one of the leading bankers of the island.

When the islands were discovered in 1778 by Captain Cook, the natives lived in thatched huts and were scantily clothed, after the manner of the tropical races. They were not savages or cannibals, but maintained a degree of civil order and had made considerable progress in the primitive arts. In their religious rites they offered human sacrifices, but they welcomed the white man and quickly embraced Christianity. American influence in the islands reaches back some seventy-five years, beginning with New England missionaries, many of whose descendants have made permanent homes here. Some of these, mingling their blood with the blood of the natives, form connecting links between the old and the new civilization. Foreign ways and customs soon began to manifest themselves and long before annexation the native rulers built buildings after the style of our own architecture. The Capitol building, erected twenty years ago for the king's palace, is an imposing structure, and the Judiciary building is almost equal to it. The parks and public grounds are beautiful and well kept, and the business blocks commodious and substantial. In short, Honolulu presents the appearance of a well built, cleanly and prosperous American city, with its residences nestling among palm trees and tropical plants. Good hotels are abundant. The Alexander Young hotel is built of stone imported from the States and would do credit to a city of half a million. The Royal Hawaiian hotel, even more picturesque, though not so large, and the Moana hotel, at the beach, vie with the Young in popularity.

The program for our day's stay began with a seven mile automobile ride to the Pali, the pass over which the natives cross to the farther side of the island. The road is of macadam and winding along a picturesque valley rises to a height of about 1,200 feet. At this point the eye falls upon a picture of bewitching beauty. Just below is a precipitous cliff over which a conquering king, Kamehameha the First, about one hundred and ten years ago, drove an opposing army when he established himself as ruler of the islands. To the east from the foot of the cliff, a thousand feet down, stretches a beautiful valley with an endless variety of verdure; and beyond, a coast line broken by a rocky promontory, around whose base the waters reflect from their varying depths myriad hues of blue and green. There are ocean views of greater expanse, mountain views more sublime and agricultural landscapes more interesting to a dweller upon prairies, but it is doubtful whether there is anywhere upon earth a combination of mountain, valley and ocean—a commingling of the colors of sky and sea and rock and foliage—more entrancing. Twice on the way to Pali we passed through mountain showers and were almost ready to turn back, but the members of the committee, knowing of the rare treat ahead, assured us that Hawaiian showers were of short duration and "extra dry." When we at last beheld the view, we felt that a drenching might gladly have been endured, so great was the reward.

The committee next took us by special train on the Oahu railroad to one of the great sugar plantations of the island, a plantation outside of the trust, owned and operated by a San Francisco company. This company has built an immense refinery upon the plantation and the manager showed us the process of sugar making from the crushing of the cane to the refined product, sacked ready for shipment.

SURF-RIDING IN HAWAII.

The stalks, after passing through the mill, are dried and carried to the furnace, thus saving some sixty-five per cent of the cost of fuel—an important economy when it is remembered that all the fuel for manufacturing is brought from abroad. Until recently, several hundred thousand dollars' worth of coal was annually brought from Australia, but California oil is now being substituted for coal. The refuse which remains when the sugar making process is completed is returned to the land as fertilizer. The economies effected in fuel and in fertilizer, together with the freight saved on impurities carried in the raw sugar, amount to a considerable sum and to this extent increase the profit of the business. While at the sugar plantation we were shown an immense pumping plant used in the irrigation of the land. The water is drawn from artesian wells and forced to a height of almost six hundred feet, in some places, and from the summits of the hills is carried to all parts of the plantation. Some idea of the size of the plants can be gathered from the fact that the pumps used on this plantation have a combined capacity of sixty million gallons per day.

Speaking of irrigation, I am reminded that the rainfall varies greatly in different parts of the island. At Honolulu, for instance, it is something like thirty inches per year, while at one point within five miles of the city the annual rainfall sometimes reaches one hundred and forty inches. The sugar plantation visited, while one of the largest, is only one of a number of plantations, the total sugar product of the islands reaching about four hundred thousand tons annually.

Next to the sugar crops comes the rice crop, many of the rice fields lying close to the city. Pineapples, bananas, coffee and cocoanuts are also raised. Attention is being given now to the development of crops which can be grown by small planters, those in authority recognizing the advantage to the country of small holdings.

The labor problem is the most serious one which the people of Hawaii have to meet. At present the manual labor is largely done by Japanese, Chinese and Koreans—these together considerably outnumbering the whites and natives. Several thousand Portuguese have been brought to the islands and have proven an excellent addition to the population. On the day that we were there the immigration commission authorized the securing of a few Italian families with a view of testing their fitness for the climate. The desire is to develop a homogeneous population suited to the conditions and resources of the islands.

We returned from the sugar plantation in automobiles, stopping at the country home of Mr. Damon, which was once a royal habitation. The present owner has collected many relics showing the life, habits and arts of the native Hawaiians.

Still nearer the town we visited two splendid schools, one for native boys, the other for native girls, built from the funds left by native chiefs. The boys and girls were drawn up in front of one of the buildings and under the direction of their instructor sang the national anthem of the natives, now preserved as the territorial hymn. They were a finely proportioned, well dressed and intelligent group and are said to be studious and excellently behaved. Nothing on the islands interested us more than these native children, illustrating as they do, not only the possibilities of their race, but the immense progress made in a little more than a hundred years of contact with the whites. The museum, the gift of Mr. Bishop, now of California, who married the widow of one of the native chiefs, is said to contain the best collection of the handiwork of the natives of the Pacific Islands to be found anywhere.

The public reception at the Royal Hawaiian hotel gave us an opportunity to meet not only the prominent American and native citizens and their wives, but a large number of the artisans and laborers of the various races, and we were pleased to note throughout the day the harmonious feeling which exists between the whites and the brown population.

Political convictions produce the same results here as in the United States, sometimes dividing families. For instance, Prince Cupid, the present territorial representative in congress, is a republican, while his brother, Prince David, is an enthusiastic democrat. The luncheon prepared by the committee included a number of native dishes cooked according to the recipes which were followed for hundreds of years before the white man set foot upon the island. The health of the guests was drunk in cocoanut water, a nut full of which stood at each plate. Poi, the staple food of the natives, was present in abundance. This is made from a root or tuber known as taro, which grows in swamps and has a leaf resembling our plant, commonly known as elephant's ear. This tuber is ground to a pulp resembling paste and is served in polished wooden bowls, in the making of which the natives exhibit great skill. Next in interest came the fish and chicken, wrapped in the leaves of a plant called ti (pronounced like tea) and cooked underground by means of hot stones. The flavor of food thus cooked is excellent. The crowning glory of the feast was a roasted pig, also cooked underground—and a toothsome dish it was. Besides these, there were bread fruit, alligator pears and delicacies made from the meat of the cocoanut. The salt, a native product, was salmon colored. The invited guests were about equally divided between the American and native population. But for the elegant surroundings of the Young hotel, the beautifully appointed table and the modern dress, it was such a dinner as might have been served by the natives to the whites on the first Thanksgiving after the New England missionaries landed.

OUR PARTY:
W. J. BRYAN MRS. MARY BAIRD BRYAN
GRACE DEXTER BRYAN W. J. BRYAN, JR.

After a call upon Governor Carter, a descendant of the third generation from missionary stock, we visited the aquarium. When we noticed on the printed program that we were scheduled for a visit to this place, it did not impress us as possessing special interest, but we had not been in the building long before we were all roaring with laughter at the remarkable specimens of the finny tribe here collected.

Language can not do this subject justice. No words can accurately portray what one here sees. The fish are odd in shape and have all the hues of the rainbow. The tints are laid on as if with a brush and yet no painter could imitate these—shall we call them "pictures in water color?" Some were long and slim; some short and thick. One had a forehead like a wedge, another had a very blunt nose. Some looked like thin slabs of pearl with iridescent tints; others had quills like a porcupine. One otherwise respectable looking little fellow had a long nose upon the end of which was a fiery glow which made him look like an old toper; another of a deep peacock blue had a nose for all the world like a stick of indigo which it wiggled as it swam.

There were convict fish with stripes like those worn in penitentiaries and of these there were all sizes; some moving about slowly and solemnly like hardened criminals and others sporting about as if enjoying their first taste of wrongdoing. One variety wore what looked like an orange colored ribbon tied just above the tail; the color was so like the popular flower of Hawaii that we were not surprised to find that the fish was called the lei. In one tank the fish had a habit of resting upon the rocks; they would brace themselves with their fins and watch the passersby. At one time two were perched side by side and recalled the familiar picture of Raphael's Cherubs. Besides the fishes there were crabs of several varieties, all brilliant in color; one called the hermit crab had a covering like velvet, with as delicate a pattern as ever came from the loom. And, then, there was the octopus with the under side of its arms lined with valve-like mouths. It was hiding under the rocks, and when the attendant poked it out with a stick, it darkened the water with an inky fluid, recalling the use made of the subsidized American newspapers by the trust when attacked.

No visitor to Honolulu should fail to see the aquarium. Every effort to transport these fish has thus far failed. To enjoy the dudes, clowns and criminals of fishdom one must see them in their native waters.

The tour of the island closed with a trip to the beach and a ride in the surf boats. The native boat is a long, narrow, deep canoe steadied by a log fastened at both ends to the boat and floating about ten feet from the side. These canoes will hold six or seven persons and are propelled by brawny-armed natives. Our party clad themselves in bathing suits and, filling three canoes, were rowed out some distance from the shore. The natives, expert at this sport, watch for a large wave and signal each other when they see one approaching, and then with their big round paddles they start their canoes toward the land. As the wave raises the stern of the canoe, they bend to their work, the purpose being to keep the canoe on the forward slope of the wave. It is an exciting experience to ride thus, with the spray breaking over one while the canoe flies along before the wave. Sometimes the boatmen are too slow and the wave sweeps under the canoe and is gone, but as a rule they know just how fast to work, and there is great rivalry between the surf riders when two or more crews are racing. It is strange that a form of sport so delightful has not been transported to the American seaside resorts. There is surf bathing the year round at Honolulu and few beaches can be found which can compare with Waikiki.

The Oahu railroad, which carried us out to the sugar plantation, and which has seventy miles of track on the island, passes within sight of the Pearl harbor, which is the only large inlet in the islands capable of being developed into a harbor. The United States government is already dredging this harbor and preparing it for both naval and commercial uses. The Hawaiian Islands occupy a strategic position as well as a position of great commercial importance, and as they are on a direct line between the Isthmus of Panama and the Orient, their value as a mid-ocean stopping place will immeasurably increase. The islands being now United States territory, the advantage of the possession of Pearl harbor is accompanied by a responsibility for its proper improvement. No one can visit the harbor without appreciating its importance to our country and to the world.

When we departed from the wharf at nightfall to board the Manchuria we were again laden with flowers, and as we left the island, refreshed by the perfume of flowers and cheered by songs and farewells, we bore away grateful memories of the day and of the hospitality of the people. Like all who see this Pacific paradise, we resolved to return sometime and spend a part of a winter amid its beauties.

HAWAIIAN FOLIAGE.

CHAPTER II.

JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE.

The eyes of the world are on Japan. No other nation has ever made such progress in the same length of time, and at no time in her history has Japan enjoyed greater prestige than she enjoys just now; and, it may be added, at no time has she had to face greater problems than those which now confront her.

We were fortunate in the time of our arrival. Baron Komura, the returning peace commissioner, returned two days later; the naval review celebrating the new Anglo-Japanese alliance took place in Yokohama harbor a week afterward, and this was followed next day by the reception of Admiral Togo at Tokyo. These were important events and they gave a visitor an extraordinary opportunity to see the people en masse. In this article I shall deal in a general way with Japan and her people, leaving for future articles her history, her government, her politics, her industries, her art, her education and her religions.

The term Japan is a collective title applied to four large islands, that is, Honshiu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido and about six hundred smaller ones. Formosa and the islands immediately adjoining it are not generally included, although since the Chinese war they belong to Japan.

Japan extends in the shape of a crescent, curving toward the northeast, from fifty north latitude and one hundred and fifty-six east longitude to twenty-one degrees north latitude and one hundred and nineteen east longitude. The area is a little less than one hundred and sixty thousand square miles, more than half of which is on the island of Honshiu. The coast line is broken by numerous bays furnishing commodious harbors, the most important of which are at Yokohama, Osaka, Kobe, Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Hakodate. The islands are so mountainous that only about one-twelfth the area is capable of cultivation. Although Formosa has a mountain, Mt. Niitaka (sometimes called Mt. Morrison) which is two thousand feet higher, Fujiyama is the highest mountain in Japan proper. It reaches a height of 12,365 feet.

A PICTURESQUE VIEW.

Fuji (Yama is the Japanese word for mountain) is called the Sacred Mountain and is an object of veneration among the Japanese. And well it may be, for it is doubtful if there is on earth a more symmetrical mountain approaching it in height. Rising in the shape of a perfect cone, with its summit crowned with snow throughout nearly the entire year and visible from sea level, it is one of the most sublime of all the works of nature. Mt. Ranier, as they say at Seattle, or Tacoma, as it is called in the city of that name, and Popocatapetl, near Mexico's capital, are the nearest approach to Fuji, so far as the writer's observation goes. Pictures of Fuji are to be found on everything; they are painted on silk, embroidered on screens, worked on velvet, carved in wood and wrought in bronze and stone. We saw it from Lake Hakone, a beautiful sheet of water some three thousand feet above the ocean. The foot hills which surround the lake seem to open at one point in order to give a more extended view of the sloping sides of this sleeping giant.

And speaking of Hakone, it is one of the beauty spots of Japan. On an island in this lake is the summer home of the crown prince. Hakone is reached by a six-mile ride from Miyanoshita, a picturesque little village some sixty miles west of Yokohama. There are here hot springs and all the delights of a mountain retreat. One of the best modern hotels in Japan, the Fujiya, is located here, and one of its earliest guests was General Grant when he made his famous tour around the world. The road from the hotel to Hakone leads by foaming mountain streams, through closely cultivated valleys and over a range from which the coast line can be seen.

Nikko, about a hundred miles north of Tokyo, and Nara about thirty miles from Kyoto, are also noted for their natural scenery, but as these places are even more renowned because of the temples located there they will be described later. The inland sea which separates the larger islands of Japan, and is itself studded with smaller islands, adds interest to the travel from port to port. Many of these islands are inhabited, and the tiny fields which perch upon their sides give evidence of an ever present thrift. Some of the islands are barren peaks jutting a few hundred feet above the waves, while some are so small as to look like hay stacks in a submerged meadow.

All over Japan one is impressed with the patient industry of the people. If the Hollanders have reclaimed the ocean's bed, the people of Japan have encroached upon the mountains. They have broadened the valleys and terraced the hill sides. Often the diminutive fields are held in place by stone walls, while the different levels are furnished with an abundance of water from the short but numerous rivers.

The climate is very much diversified, ranging from almost tropical heat in Formosa to arctic cold in the northern islands; thus Japan can produce almost every kind of food. Her population in 1903 was estimated at nearly forty-seven millions, an increase of about thirteen and a half millions since 1873. While Tokyo has a population of about one and a half millions, Osaka a population of nearly a million, Kyoto three hundred and fifty thousand, Yokohama three hundred thousand, and Kobe and Nagoya about the same, and there are several other large cities of less size, still a large majority of the population is rural and the farming communities have a decided preponderance in the federal congress, or diet. The population, however, is increasing more rapidly in the cities than in the country.

The stature of the Japanese is below that of the citizens of the United States and northern Europe. The average height of the men in the army is about five feet two inches, and the average weight between a hundred and twenty and a hundred and thirty pounds. It looks like burlesque opera to see, as one does occasionally, two or three little Japanese soldiers guarding a group of big burly Russian prisoners.

The opinion is quite general that the habit which the Japanese form from infancy of sitting on the floor with their feet under them, tends to shorten the lower limbs. In all the schools the children are now required to sit upon benches and whether from this cause or some other, the average height of the males, as shown by yearly medical examination, is gradually increasing. Although undersize, the people are sturdy and muscular and have the appearance of robust health. In color they display all shades of brown, from a very light to a very dark. While the oblique eye is common, it is by no means universal.

The conveyance which is most popular is the jinrikisha, a narrow seated, two wheeled top buggy with shafts, joined with a cross piece at the end. These are drawn by "rikisha men" of whom there are several hundred thousand in the empire. The 'rikisha was invented by a Methodist missionary some thirty years ago and at once sprang into popularity. When the passenger is much above average weight, or when the journey is over a hilly road, a pusher is employed and in extraordinary cases two pushers. It is astonishing what speed these men can make. One of the governors informed me that 'rikisha men sometimes cover seventy-five miles of level road in a day. They will take up a slow trot and travel for several miles without a break. We had occasion to go to a village fifteen miles from Kagoshima and crossed a low mountain range of perhaps two thousand feet. The trip each way occupied about four hours; each 'rikisha had two pushers and the men had three hours rest at noon. They felt so fresh at the end of the trip that they came an hour later to take us to a dinner engagement. In the mountainous regions the chair and kago take the place of the 'rikisha. The chair rests on two bamboo poles and is carried by four men; the kago is suspended from one pole, like a swinging hammock, and is carried by two. Of the two, the chair is much the more comfortable for the tourist. The basha is a small one-horse omnibus which will hold four or six small people; it is used as a sort of stage between villages. A large part of the hauling of merchandise is done by men, horses being rarely seen. In fact, in some of the cities there are more oxen than horses, and many of them wear straw sandals to protect their hoofs from the hard pavement. The lighter burdens are carried in buckets or baskets, suspended from the ends of a pole and balanced upon the shoulder.

THE JINRIKISHA AT MIYANOSHITA THE CHAIR

In the country the demand for land is so great that most of the roads are too narrow for any other vehicle than a hand cart. The highways connecting the cities and principal towns, however, are of good width, are substantially constructed and well drained, and have massive stone bridges spanning the streams.

The clothing of the men presents an interesting variety. In official circles the European and American dress prevails. The silk hat and Prince Albert coat are in evidence at all day functions, and the dress suit at evening parties. The western style of dress is also worn by many business men, professional men and soldiers, and by students after they reach the middle school, which corresponds to our high school. The change is taking place more rapidly among the young than among the adults and is more marked in the city than in the country. In one of the primary schools in Kyoto, I noticed that more than half of the children gave evidence of the transition in dress. The change is also more noticeable in the seaport cities than in the interior. At Kyoto, an inland city, the audience wore the native dress and all were seated on mats on the floor, while the next night at Osaka, a seaport, all sat on chairs and nearly all wore the American dress. At the Osaka meeting some forty Japanese young ladies from the Congregational college sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee" in English.

The shopkeepers and clerks generally wear the native clothing, which consists of a divided skirt and a short kimono held in place by a sash. The laboring men wear loose knee breeches and a shirt in warm weather; in cold weather they wear tight fitting breeches that reach to the ankles and a loose coat. In the country the summer clothing is even more scanty. I saw a number of men working in the field with nothing on but a cloth about the loins, and it was early in November, when I found a light overcoat comfortable.

A pipe in a wooden case and a tobacco pouch are often carried in the belt or sash, for smoking is almost universal among both men and women.

Considerable latitude is allowed in footwear. The leather shoe has kept pace with the coat and vest, but where the native dress is worn, the sandal is almost always used. Among the well-to-do the foot is encased in a short sock made of white cotton cloth, which is kept scrupulously clean. The sock has a separate division for the great toe, the sandal being held upon the foot by a cord which runs between the first and second toes and, dividing, fastens on each side of the sandal. These sandals are of wood and rest upon two blocks an inch or more high, the front one sloping toward the toe. The sandal hangs loosely upon the foot and drags upon the pavement with each step. The noise made by a crowd at a railroad station rises above the roar of the train. In muddy weather a higher sandal is used which raises the feet three or four inches from the ground, and the wearers stalk about as if on stilts. The day laborers wear a cheaper sandal made of woven rope or straw. The footwear above described comes down from time immemorial, but there is coming into use among the 'rikisha men a modern kind of footwear which is a compromise between the new and the old. It is a dark cloth, low-topped gaiter with a rubber sole and no heel. These have the separate pocket for the great toe. The sandals are left at the door. At public meetings in Japanese halls the same custom is followed, the sandals being checked at the door as hats and wraps are in our country. On approaching a meeting place the speaker can form some estimate of the size of the audience by the size of the piles of sandals on the outside. After taking cold twice, I procured a pair of felt slippers and carried them with me, and the other members of the family did likewise.

A JAPANESE FAMILY.

The women still retain the primitive dress. About 1884 an attempt was made by the ladies of the court to adopt the European dress and quite a number of women in official circles purchased gowns in London, Paris and the United States, in spite of the protests of their sisters abroad. (Mrs. Cleveland joined in a written remonstrance which was sent from the United States.) But the spell was broken in a very few months and the women outside of the court circles returned to the simpler and more becoming native garb. It is not necessary to enter into details regarding the female toilet, as the magazines have made the world familiar with the wide sleeved, loose fitting kimono with its convenient pockets. The children wear bright colors, but the adults adopt more quiet shades.

The shape of the garment never changes, but the color does. This season grey has been the correct shade. Feminine pride shows itself in the obi, a broad sash or belt tied in a very stiff and incomprehensible bow at the back. The material used for the obi is often bright in color and of rich and expensive brocades. A wooden disc is often concealed within the bow of the obi to keep it in shape and also to brace the back. Two neck cloths are usually worn, folded inside the kimono to protect the bare throat. These harmonize with the obi in color and give a dainty finish to the costume. As the kimono is quite narrow in the skirt, the women take very short steps. This short step, coupled with the dragging of the sandals, makes the women's gait quite unlike the free stride of the American woman. In the middle and higher schools the girls wear a pleated skirt over the kimono. These are uniform for each school and wine color is the shade now prevailing. The men and women of the same class wear practically the same kind of shoes.

Next to the obi, the hair receives the greatest attention and it is certainly arranged with elaborate care. The process is so complicated that a hair dresser is employed once or twice a week and beetle's oil is used in many instances to make the hair smooth and glossy. At night the Japanese women place a very hard, round cushion under the neck in order to keep the hair from becoming disarranged. The stores now have on sale air pillows, which are more comfortable than the wooden ones formerly used. The vexing question of millinery is settled by dispensing with hats entirely. Among the poorer classes the hat is seldom used by the men.

More interesting in appearance than either the men or women are the children—and I may add that there is no evidence of race suicide in Japan. They are to be seen everywhere, and a good natured lot they are. The babies are carried on the back of the mother or an older child, and it is not unusual to see the baby fast asleep while the bearer goes about her work. Of the tens of thousands of babies we have seen, scarcely a half dozen have been crying. The younger children sometimes have the lower part of the head shaved, leaving a cap of long hair on the crown of the head. Occasionally a spot is shaved in the center of this cap. After seeing the children on the streets, one can better appreciate the Japanese dolls, which look so strange to American children.

Cleanliness is the passion of the Japanese. The daily bath is a matter of routine, and among the middle classes there are probably more who go above this average than below. It is said that in the city of Tokyo there are over eleven hundred public baths, and it is estimated that five hundred thousand baths are taken daily at these places. The usual charge is one and a quarter cents (in our money) for adults and one cent for children. One enthusiastic admirer of Japan declares that a Japanese boy, coming unexpectedly into the possession of a few cents, will be more apt to spend it on a bath than on something to eat or drink. The private houses have baths wherever the owners can afford them. The bath tub is made like a barrel—sometimes of stone, but more often of wood—and is sunk below the level of the floor. The favorite temperature is one hundred and ten degrees, and in the winter time the bath tub often takes the place of a stove. In fact, at the hot springs people have been known to remain in the bath for days at a time. I do not vouch for the statement, but Mr. Basil H. Chamberlain in his book entitled "Things Japanese," says that when he was at one of these hot springs "the caretaker of the establishment, a hale old man of eighty, used to stay in the bath during the entire winter." Until recently the men and women bathed promiscuously in the public baths; occasionally, but not always, a string separated the bathers. Now different apartments must be provided.

The Japanese are a very polite people. They have often been likened to the French in this respect—the French done in bronze, so to speak. They bow very low, and in exchanging salutations and farewells sometimes bow several times. When the parties are seated on the floor, they rise to the knees and bow the head to the floor. Servants, when they bring food to those who are seated on the floor, drop upon their knees and, bowing, present the tray.

In speaking of the people I desire to emphasize one conclusion that has been drawn from my observations here, viz., that I have never seen a more quiet, orderly or self-restrained people. I have visited all of the larger cities and several of the smaller ones, in all parts of the islands; have mingled in the crowds that assembled at Tokyo and at Yokohama at the time of the reception to Togo and during the naval review; have ridden through the streets in day time and at night; and have walked when the entire street was a mass of humanity. I have not seen one drunken native or witnessed a fight or altercation of any kind. This is the more remarkable when it is remembered that these have been gala days when the entire population turned out to display its patriotism and to enjoy a vacation.

The Japanese house deserves a somewhat extended description. It is built of wood, is one story in height, unpainted and has a thatched or a tile roof. The thatched roof is cheaper, but far less durable. Some of the temples and palaces have a roof constructed like a thatched roof in which the bark of the arbor vitæ is used in place of grass or straw. These roofs are often a foot thick and are quite imposing. In cities most buildings are roofed with tile of a pattern which has been used for hundreds of years. Shingles are sometimes used on newer structures, but they are not nearly so large as our shingles, and instead of being fastened with nails, are held in place by wire. On the business streets the houses are generally two stories, the merchant living above the store. The public buildings are now being constructed of brick and stone and modeled after the buildings of America and Europe. But returning to the native architecture—the house is really little more than a frame, for the dividing walls are sliding screens, and, except in cold weather, the outside walls are taken out during the day. The rooms open into each other, the hallway extending around the outside instead of going through the center. Frail sliding partitions covered with paper separate the rooms from the hall, glass being almost unknown. The floor is covered with a heavy matting two inches thick, and as these mats are of uniform size, six feet by three, the rooms are made to fit the mats, twelve feet square being the common size. As the walls of the room are not stationary, there is no place for the hanging of pictures, although the sliding walls are often richly decorated. Such pictures as the house contains are painted on silk or paper and are rolled up when not on exhibition. At one end of the room used for company, there is generally a raised platform upon which a pot of flowers or other ornament is placed, and above this there are one or two shelves, the upper one being inclosed in sliding doors. There are no bedsteads, the beds being made upon the floor and rolled up during the day. There are no tables or chairs. There is usually a diminutive desk about a foot high upon which writing material is placed. The writing is done with a brush and the writing case or box containing the brush, ink, etc., has furnished the lacquer industry with one of the most popular articles for ornamentation. The people sit upon cushions upon the floor and their meals are served upon trays.

Japanese food is so different from American food that it takes the visitor some time to acquire a fondness for it, more time than the tourist usually has at his disposal. With the masses rice is the staple article of diet, and it is the most palatable native dish that the foreigner finds here. The white rice raised in Japan is superior in quality to some of the rice raised in China, and the farmers are often compelled to sell good rice and buy the poorer quality. Millet, which is even cheaper, is used as a substitute for rice.

As might be expected in a seagirt land, fish, lobster, crab, shrimp, etc., take the place of meat, the fish being often served raw. As a matter of fact, it is sometimes brought to the table alive and carved in the presence of the guests. Sweet potatoes, pickled radishes, mushrooms, sea weed, barley and fruit give variety to the diet. The radishes are white and enormous in size. I saw some which were two feet long and two and a half inches in diameter. Another variety is conical in form and six or eight inches in diameter. I heard of a kind of turnip which grows so large that two of them make a load for the small Japanese horses. The chicken is found quite generally throughout the country, but is small like the fighting breeds or the Leghorns. Ducks, also, are plentiful. Milk is seldom used except in case of sickness, and butter is almost unknown among the masses.

But the subject of food led me away from the house. No description would be complete which did not mention the little gate through which the tiny door yard is entered; the low doorway upon which the foreigner constantly bumps his head, and the little garden at the rear of the house with its fish pond, its miniature mountains, its climbing vines and fragrant flowers. The dwarf trees are cultivated here, and they are a delight to the eye; gnarled and knotted pines two feet high and thirty or forty years old are not uncommon. Little maple trees are seen here fifty years old and looking all of their age, but only twelve inches in height. We saw a collection of these dwarf trees, several hundred in number, and one could almost imagine himself transported to the home of the brownies. Some of these trees bear fruit ludicrously large for the size of the tree. The houses are heated by charcoal fires in open urns or braziers, but an American would not be satisfied with the amount of heat supplied. These braziers are moved about the room as convenience requires and supply heat for the inevitable tea.

DWARF MAPLE TREE, FIFTY YEARS OLD

But I have reached the limit of this article and must defer until the next description of the Japanese customs as we found them in the homes which we were privileged to visit.

CHAPTER III.

JAPANESE CUSTOMS AND HOSPITALITY.

Every nation has its customs, its way of doing things, and a nation's customs and ways are likely to be peculiar in proportion as the nation is isolated. In Japan, therefore, one would expect to see many strange things, and the expectation is more than realized. In some things their customs are exactly the opposite of ours. In writing they place their characters in vertical lines and move from right to left, while our letters are arranged on horizontal lines and read from left to right. Their books begin where ours end and end where ours begin. The Japanese carpenters pull the saw and plane toward them, while ours push them from them. The Japanese mounts his steed from the right, while the American mounts from the left; Japanese turn to the left, Americans to the right. Japanese write it "Smith John Mr.," while we say "Mr. John Smith." At dinners in Japan wine is served hot and soup cold, and the yard is generally at the back of the house instead of the front.

The Japanese wear white for mourning and often bury their dead in a sitting posture. The death is sometimes announced as occurring at the house when it actually occurred elsewhere, and the date of the death is fixed to suit the convenience of the family. This is partly due to the fact that the Japanese like to have the death appear as occurring at home. Sometimes funeral services are held over a part of the body. An American lady whose Japanese maid died while attending her mistress in the United States, reports an incident worth relating. The lady cabled her husband asking instructions in regard to the disposition of the body. He conferred with the family of the deceased and cabled back directing the wife to bring a lock of the hair and the false teeth of the departed. The instructions were followed and upon the delivery of these precious relics, they were interred with the usual ceremonies.

The handshake is uncommon even among Japanese politicians, except in their intercourse with foreigners. When Baron Komura returned from the peace conference in which he played so important a part, I was anxious to witness his landing, partly out of respect to the man and partly out of curiosity to see whether the threatened manifestations of disapproval would be made by the populace, it having been rumored that thousands of death lanterns were being prepared for a hostile parade. (It is needless to say that the threats did not materialize and that no expressions of disapproval were heard after his arrival.) I found it impossible to learn either the hour or the landing place, and, despairing of being present, started to visit a furniture factory to inspect some wood carving. Consul-General Jones of Dalney (near Port Arthur), then visiting in Yokohama, was my escort and, as good fortune would have it, we passed near the Detached Palace. Dr. Jones, hearing that the landing might be made there, obtained permission for us to await the peace commissioner's coming. We found Marquis Ito there and a half dozen other officials. As Baron Komura did not arrive for half an hour, it gave me the best opportunity that I could have had to become acquainted with the Marquis, who is the most influential man in Japan at present. He is President of the Privy Council of Elder Statesmen and is credited with being the most potent factor in the shaping of Japan's demands at Portsmouth.

JAPANESE GEISHA GIRLS.

When Baron Komura stepped from the launch upon the soil of his native land, he was met by Marquis Ito, and each greeted the other with a low bow. The baron then saluted the other officials in the same manner and, turning, bowed to a group of Japanese ladies representing the Woman's Patriotic Association. Dr. Jones and I stood some feet in the rear of the officials and were greeted by the baron after he had saluted his own countrymen. He extended his hand to us. The incident is mentioned as illustrating the difference in the manner of greeting. For who would be more apt to clasp hands, if that were customary, than these two distinguished statesmen whose personalities are indissolubly linked together in the conclusion of a world renowned treaty?

A brief account of the reception of Admiral Togo may be interesting to those who read this article. While at Tokyo I visited the city hall, at the invitation of the mayor and city council. While there Mayor Ozaki informed me that he, in company with the mayors of the other cities, would tender Admiral Togo a reception on the following Tuesday, and invited me to be present. Of course I accepted, because it afforded a rare opportunity to observe Japanese customs as well as to see a large concourse of people. As I witnessed the naval review in Yokohama the day before and the illumination at night, I did not reach Tokyo until the morning of the reception, and this led me into considerable embarrassment. On the train I met a Japanese gentleman who could speak English. He was kind enough to find me a 'rikisha man and a pusher and to instruct them to take me at once to Uyeno Park. He then left me and the 'rikisha men followed his instructions to the letter. They had not proceeded far when I discovered that Admiral Togo had arrived on the same train and that a long procession had formed to conduct him to the park. Before I knew it, I was whisked past an escort of distinguished citizens who, clad in Prince Alberts and silk hats, followed the carriages, and then I found my 'rikisha drawn into an open space between two carriages. Grabbing the 'rikisha man in front of me, I told him by word and gesture to get out of the line of the procession. He could not understand English, and evidently thinking that I wanted to get nearer the front, he ran past a few carriages and then dropped into another opening. Again I got him out of the line, employing more emphasis than before, only to be carried still nearer the front. After repeated changes of position, all the time employing such sign language as I could command and attempting to convey by different tones of voice suggestions that I could not translate into language, I at last reached the head of the procession. And the 'rikisha men, as if satisfied with the success of their efforts, paused to await the starting of the line. I tried to inform them that I was not a part of the procession; that I wanted to get on another street; that they should take me to the park by some other route and do so at once. They at last comprehended sufficiently to leave the carriages and take up a rapid gait, but get off of the street they would not. For three miles they drew me between two rows of expectant people, whose eyes peered down the street to catch a glimpse of the great admiral, who, as the commander of the Japanese navy, has won such signal victories over the Russians. I saw a million people; they represented every class, age and condition. I saw more people than I ever saw before in a single day. Old men and old women, feeble, but strengthened by their enthusiasm; middle aged men and women whose sons had shared in the dangers and in the triumphs of the navy; students from the boys' schools and students from the girls' schools with flags and banners, little children dressed in all the colors of the rainbow—all were there. And I could imagine that each one of them old enough to think, was wondering why a foreigner was intruding upon a street which the police had cleared for a triumphal procession. If some one had angrily caught my 'rikisha men and thrust them through the crowd to a side street I should not have complained—I would even have felt relieved, but no one molested them or me and I reached the park some minutes ahead of the admiral. How glad I was to alight, and how willingly I rewarded the smiles of the 'rikisha men with a bonus—for had they not done their duty as they understood it? And had they not also given me, in spite of my protests, such a view of the people of Tokyo as I could have obtained in no other way?

YUKIO OZAKI—MAYOR OF TOKYO

At the park I luckily fell in with some of the councilmen whom I had met before and they took me in hand. I saw the procession arrive, heard the banzais (the Japanese cheers) as they rolled along the street, keeping pace with Togo's carriage, and I witnessed the earnest, yet always orderly, rejoicing of the crowd that had congregated at the end of the route. When the procession passed by us into the park the members of the city council fell in behind the carriages, and I with them. When we reached the stand, a seat was tendered me on the front row from which the extraordinary ceremonies attending the reception could be witnessed. Mayor Ozaki, the presiding officer, escorted Admiral Togo to a raised platform, and there the two took seats on little camp stools some ten feet apart, facing each other, with their sides to the audience and to those on the stand. After a moment's delay, a priest, clad in his official robes, approached with cake and a teacup on a tray and, kneeling, placed them before the admiral. Tea was then brought in a long handled pot and poured into the cup. After the distinguished guest had partaken of these refreshments, the mayor arose and read an address of welcome. He has the reputation of being one of the best orators in the empire, and his part was doubly interesting to me. As he confined himself to his manuscript, I could not judge of his delivery, but his voice was pleasing and his manner natural. The address recited the exploits of Admiral Togo and gave expression to the gratitude of the people. At its conclusion the hero-admiral arose and modestly acknowledged the compliment paid to him and to his officers. Admiral Togo is short, even for the Japanese, and has a scanty beard. Neither in stature nor in countenance does he give evidence of the stern courage and indomitable will which have raised him to the pinnacle of fame.

When he sat down the mayor proposed three times three banzais, and they were given with a will by the enormous crowd that stood in the open place before the stand. While writing this article, I am in receipt of information that Mayor Ozaki has secured for me one of the little camp stools above referred to and has had made for me a duplicate of the other. They will not only be interesting souvenirs of an historic occasion, and prized as such, but they will be interesting also because they contrast so sharply with the large and richly upholstered chairs used in America on similar occasions.

From this public meeting the admiral and his officers were conducted to a neighboring hall where an elaborate luncheon was served. With the councilmen I went to this hall and was presented to the admiral and his associates, one of whom had been a student at Annapolis.

By the courtesy of Hon. Lloyd Griscom, the American minister, I had an audience with the emperor, these audiences being arranged through the minister representing the country from which the caller comes. Our minister, to whom I am indebted for much assistance and many kindnesses during my stay at the capital, accompanied me to the palace and instructed me, as they say in the fraternities, "in the secret work of the order." Except where the caller wears a uniform, he is expected to appear in evening dress, although the hour fixed is in the day time. At the outer door stand men in livery, one of whom conducts the callers through long halls, beautifully decorated on ceilings and walls, to a spacious reception room where a halt is made until the summons comes from the emperor's room. The emperor stands in the middle of the receiving room with an interpreter at his side. The caller on reaching the threshold bows; he then advances half way to the emperor, pauses and bows again; he then proceeds and bows a third time as he takes the extended hand of the sovereign.

The conversation is brief and formal, consisting of answers to the questions asked by his majesty. The emperor is fifty-three years old, about five feet six inches in height, well built and wears a beard, although, as is the case with most Japanese, the growth is not heavy. On retiring the caller repeats the three bows.

IN COUNT OKUMA'S CONSERVATORY

We were shown through the palace, and having seen the old palace at Kyoto, which was the capital until the date of the restoration (1868), I was struck with the difference. The former was severely plain; the latter represents the best that Japanese art can produce.

MARQUIS ITO.

No discussion of Japanese customs would be complete without mention of the tea ceremonial. One meets tea on his arrival; it is his constant companion during his stay and it is mingled with the farewells that speed him on his departure. Whenever he enters a house he is offered tea and cake and they are never refused. This custom prevails in the larger stores and is scrupulously observed at public buildings and colleges. The tea is served in dainty cups and taken without sugar or cream. The tea drinking habit is universal here, the kettle of hot water sitting on the coals in the brazier most of the time. At each railroad station the boys sing out, "Cha! Cha!" (the Japanese word for tea) and for less than two cents in our money they will furnish the traveler with an earthen pot of hot tea, with pot and cup thrown in.

COUNT OKUMA.

The use of tea at social gatherings dates back at least six hundred years, when a tea ceremonial was instituted by a Buddhist priest to soften the manners of the warriors. It partook of a religious character at first, but soon became a social form, and different schools of tea drinkers vied with each other in suggesting rules and methods of procedure. About three hundred years ago Hideyoshi, one of the greatest of the military rulers of Japan, gave what is described as the largest tea party on record; the invitations being in the form of an imperial edict. All lovers of tea were summoned to assemble at a given date in a pine grove near Kyoto, and they seem to have done so. The tea party lasted ten days and the emperor drank at every booth.

According to Chamberlain, tea drinking had reached the luxurious stage before the middle of the fourteenth century. The lords took part in the daily gatherings, reclining on tiger skins, the walls of the guest chamber being richly ornamented. One of the popular games of that day was the offering of a number of varieties of tea, the guests being required to guess where each variety was produced, the best guess winning a handsome prize. The tea ceremony answered at least one useful purpose—it furnished an innocent way of killing time, and the lords of that day seem to have had an abundance of time on their hands. The daughters of the upper classes were trained to perform the ceremony and displayed much skill therein. Even to this day it is regarded as one of the accomplishments, and young ladies perfect themselves in it, much as our daughters learn music and singing. At Kagoshima, Governor Chikami, one of the most scholarly men whom I have met here, had his daughter perform for my instruction a part of the ceremony, time not permitting more. With charming grace she prepared, poured and served this Japanese nectar, each motion being according to the rules of the most approved sect, for there are sects among tea drinkers.

The theatre is an ancient institution here, although until recently the actors were considered beneath even the mercantile class. Their social standing has been somewhat improved since the advent of western ideas. The theatre building is very plain as compared with ours or even with the better class of homes here. They are always on the ground floor and have a circular, revolving stage within the larger stage which makes it possible to change the scenes instantly.

The plays are divided into two kinds—historical ones reproducing old Japan, and modern plays. The performance often lasts through the entire day and evening, some of the audience bringing their tea kettles and food. Lunches, fruit, cigarettes and tea are also on sale in the theatre. The people sit on the floor as they do in their homes and at public meetings. One of the side aisles is raised to the level of the stage and the actors use it for entrance and exit.

In this connection a word should be said in regard to the Geisha girls who have furnished such ample material for the artist and the decorator. They are selected for their beauty and trained in what is called a dance, although it differs so much from the American dance as scarcely to be describable by that term. It is rather a series of graceful poses in which gay costumes, dainty fans, flags, scarfs and sometimes parasols, play a part. The faces of the dancers are expressionless and there is no exposure of the limbs. The Geisha girls are often called in to entertain guests at a private dinner, the performance being before, not after, the meal.

Our first introduction to this national amusement was at the Maple Club dinner given at Tokyo by a society composed of Japanese men who had studied in the United States. The name of the society is a Japanese phrase which means the "Friends of America." The Maple Club is the most famous restaurant in Japan, and the Geisha girls employed there stand at the head of their profession. During the dancing there is music on stringed instruments, which resembles the banjo in tone, and sometimes singing. At the Maple Club the Geisha girls displayed American and Japanese flags. We saw the dancing again at an elaborate dinner given by Mr. Fukuzawa, editor of the Jiji Shimpo. Here also the flags of both nations were used.

In what words can I adequately describe the hospitality of the Japanese? I have read, and even heard, that among the more ignorant classes there is a decided anti-foreign feeling, and it is not unnatural that those who refuse to reconcile themselves to Japan's new attitude should blame the foreigner for the change, but we did not encounter this sentiment anywhere. Never in our own country have we been the recipients of more constant kindness or more considerate attention. From Marquis Ito down through all the ranks of official life we found everyone friendly to America, and to us as representatives of America. At the dinner given by Minister Griscom there were present, besides Marquis Ito, the leader of the liberal party, Count Okuma, the leader of the progressive party (the opposition party), and a number of other prominent Japanese politicians.

At the dinner given by Consul General Miller at Yokohama, Governor Sufu and Mayor Ichihara were present. The state and city officials wherever we have been have done everything possible to make our stay pleasant. The college and school authorities have opened their institutions to us and many without official position have in unmistakable ways shown themselves friendly. We will carry away with us a number of handsome presents bestowed by municipalities, colleges, societies and individuals.

We were entertained by Count Okuma soon after our arrival and met there, among others, Mr. Kato of the state department, and President Hatoyama of the Waseda University, and their wives. The count's house is half European and half Japanese, and his garden is celebrated for its beauty. At Viscount Kana's we saw a delightful bit of home life. He is one of the few daimios, or feudal lords, who has become conspicuous in the politics of Japan, and we soon discovered the secret of his success. He has devoted himself to the interests of agriculture and spent his time in an earnest and intelligent effort to improve the condition of the rural population. He is known as "The Farmer's Friend." His house is at the top of a beautifully terraced hill, which was once a part of his feudal estate. He and his wife and six children met us at the bottom of the hill on our arrival and escorted us to the bottom on our departure. The children assisted in serving the dinner and afterward sang for us the American national air as well as their own national hymn. The hospitality was so genuine and so heartily entered into by all the family that we could hardly realize that we were in a foreign land and entertained by hosts to whom we had to speak through an interpreter.

In the country, fifteen miles from Kagoshima, I was a guest at the home of Mr. Yamashita, the father of the young man, who, when a student in America, made his home with us for more than five years. Mr. Yamashita was of the samurai class and since the abolition of feudalism has been engaged in farming. He had invited his relatives and also the postmaster and the principal of the district school to the noon meal. He could not have been more thoughtful of my comfort or more kindly in his manner. The little country school which stood near by turned out to bid us welcome. The children were massed at a bridge over which large flags of the two nations floated from bamboo poles. Each child also held a flag, the Japanese and American flags alternating. As young Yamashita and I rode between the lines they waved their flags and shouted "Banzai." And so it was at other schools. Older people may be diplomatic and feign good will, but children speak from their hearts. There is no mistaking their meaning, and in my memory the echo of the voices of the children, mingling with the assurances of the men and women, convinces me that Japan entertains nothing but good will toward our nation. Steam has narrowed the Pacific and made us neighbors; let Justice keep us friends.

CHAPTER IV.

JAPAN—HER HISTORY AND PROGRESS.

As for the islands themselves, they are largely of volcanic origin, and a number of smoking peaks still give evidence of the mighty convulsions which piled up these masses of masonry. Asosan mountain, on the island of Kyushu, has the largest crater in the world.

Japan is the home of the earthquake. The Japanese Year Book of 1905 is authority for the statement that Japan was visited by 17,750 earthquakes during the thirteen years ending 1887—an average of more than thirteen hundred a year, or three and a half each day. It is needless to say that a large majority of these were so trivial as to be unnoticed, except by those in charge of the delicate instrument which registers them.

If the average is as great at this time, there have been more than seventy-five since we landed, but we have not been aware of them. The severe shocks have come at periods averaging two and a half years, and the really disastrous ones have been something like fifty years apart. The country about Tokyo is most subject to earthquakes, the last severe one being in 1894. According to an ancient legend, Japan rests upon the back of a large fish and the earthquakes are caused by the moving of the fish. There is a Seismological society in Japan which has published a sixteen-volume work giving all that is scientifically known of the cause and recurrence of these disturbances.

Of the origin of the Japanese themselves nothing certain is known. The best authorities say that they came from the continent in an early Mongol invasion, while others believe that they came from the islands which stretch to the south. One writer announces the theory that they are the lost Israelites. It is quite certain that when the first Japanese landed on the islands they found an earlier race in possession. Some seventeen thousand of these, called Ainus, now occupy the northern extremity of the empire—an indication that the migration was from the southwest. The Ainus have remained distinct; where they have intermarried with the Japanese, the half breeds have died out in the second or third generation. They are a hairy race and in physical characteristics quite different from the Japanese. Their religion is a sort of nature worship, and it is their custom to say a simple grace before eating.

THE GUEST OF GOV. CHIKAMI AT KAGOSHIMA

The remoteness of the settlement of Japan is shown by the fact that the reigning family, which claims descent from the gods, has held undisputed sway for twenty-five hundred years, although the record of the first thousand years is so dependent upon verbal tradition that the official history cannot be verified. As concubinage has been practiced from time immemorial, the heir, the oldest son, has not always been born of the empress.

Soon after the beginning of the Christian era the influence of China and Korea began to be felt in Japan, the written characters of the language being quite like the Chinese. Koreans and Japanese do not agree as to the influence which the former have had upon the latter. A very intelligent Korean informs me that his is the mother country and that Japan was settled from Korea, but the Japanese do not take kindly to this theory.

The feudal system, of which I shall speak more at length in another article, was early established in Japan, and society was divided into well defined classes. First came the members of the royal family and those admitted to the circle by favor; next, the Shogun (of whom more will be heard under the subject of government) and his relatives.

Next in rank were the daimios, or lords, of varying degrees of importance. Each daimio had a large number of retainers, who were called samurai, and below these were a still larger number of peasants who tilled the soil and did the manual labor. Some of the early pictures show the gorgeous dress of the daimios and portray the elaborate ceremony employed on state occasions.

The samurai were the warriors and had no other occupation than to defend their lords in the struggles between the clans. They corresponded to the knights in Europe during the days of chivalry, except that there were no romantic adventures over women—woman holding until recently a very subordinate place as compared with "her lord and master."

The samurai were given an annual allowance for their subsistence, and felt that toil was far beneath their dignity. They wore lacquered armor and costly helmets and carried two swords—a long one for the enemy and a short one for themselves.

It was with this short sword that the famous hara-kiri was committed. This ancient form of suicide by disembowelment was considered an highly honorable death and has been practiced until within a generation. General Saigo, one of the great men of Japan and one of its popular heroes, was the last man of prominence to terminate his life in this way. He was one of the leaders in the movement to restore to the emperor the authority which the shoguns had usurped and was for a while close to the throne. In 1874, however, he organized an army for the invasion of Korea, and coming into conflict with the forces of the empire, which were called out to prevent the invasion, he was defeated. In his humiliation he committed hara-kiri. A few years ago the title of Marquis was conferred upon him by a posthumous decree and is now enjoyed by his eldest son. One of his sons is the present mayor of Kyoto and another a colonel in the Imperial Guard. A bronze monument of heroic size, the gift of admiring friends, has recently been placed in the principal park in Tokyo.

Only a few years ago a young Japanese committed suicide in this way in order to emphasize his protest against the encroachments of the Russians, but a strong sentiment is developing against hara-kiri, and it will soon take its place among other obsolete customs.

The samurai represented the intellectual as well as the military strength of the nation. The daimios have furnished few of the men of prominence in modern Japan, nearly all of the leaders in government, education, literature and the professions having come from the samurai class. Now, however, that all social distinctions have been removed and the schools opened to the children of all, the old lines between the classes cannot so easily be traced.

The merchant class has always been looked down upon in Japan. In the social scale the members of this class were not only lower than the samurai, but lower than the tillers of the soil. It was probably because of the contempt in which they were held that so low a standard of integrity existed among them—at least this is the explanation usually given. Even now Japanese, as well as foreigners, complain that the merchants impose upon their customers, but here also a change is taking place and a new order of things being inaugurated. There are in every city merchants of honor and responsibility who are redeeming trade from the stigma which it so long bore. Still, unless the stranger knows with whom he is dealing, it is well to have a Japanese advisor, for we found by experience that the price named to foreigners was sometimes considerably above the regular price.

For centuries Japan lived an isolated life and developed herself according to her own ideas. Of her native religion, Shintoism, of the introduction of Buddhism and of the first Christian missionaries, I shall speak in a later article. She repelled an attack of the Mongols which might have been disastrous to her but for the fact that a timely storm destroyed the invading fleet, much as the Spanish Armada was destroyed. She has from time to time attempted the invasion of Korea, the last attempt being made about three hundred years ago. A little later the Shogun, Iemitsu, alarmed by the spread of the Christian religion, introduced by Catholic missionaries from Spain and Portugal, shut the country up, and for two and a half centuries no foreigner was admitted and no citizen of Japan was permitted to go abroad.

JAPANESE LADY IN AMERICAN DRESS.

To more surely keep his people at home the Shogun prohibited the building of any but small sailing vessels. It is almost incredible that so large a group of people could have enjoyed the civilization which existed here and still concealed themselves so completely from the outside world and remained so ignorant of the mighty movements in Europe and America. In 1853 Commodore Perry arrived with an American fleet and a treaty was finally entered into which opened the country to foreign intercourse. Japan was ripe for the change. While there was at first an anti-foreign sentiment which affected domestic politics and at one time resulted in an attack upon a foreign fleet, the assimilation of western civilization was rapid and constant. Young men began to go abroad, foreign teachers were sent for and the Japanese people began to manifest a wonderful aptitude for the adaptation of foreign ideas to local conditions. The army and navy were reconstructed upon the European models and a public school system largely like our own was established.

A JAPANESE MAIDEN.

In most countries reforms have come up from the masses through more or less prolonged seasons of agitation, but in Japan the higher classes have been the leaders and have extended increasing social and governmental advantages to the whole people without a struggle. In every department of thought there has been progress, and in every line of work there have been leaders whose ambitions and ideals have been high and noble.

To illustrate the change that has taken place, Count Okuma cites the case of the famous military genius, the present Marshal Yamagata. When a very young man Yamagata was a spearman in the army organized by the daimios of Choshu to attack the foreign ships at the Shimonoseki Straits. He was so ignorant of modern warfare that he was confident of the ability of the Japanese to defeat the foreigners with spears. He thought that the Europeans and Americans would be at the mercy of the natives as soon as they landed. His surprise may be imagined when leaden missiles mowed down his comrades long before the spears could be brought into use. But this young man who attempted in 1864 to measure spear against rifle, betook himself to the study of the military methods of the foreigners, and in the recent war with Russia he has been chief of the general staff of the Japanese army—an army which in equipment, in preparation, and in provision for sick and wounded, as well as in its exploits upon the battlefield, has astonished the world. Count Okuma said that the progress made in the army and in the navy was paralleled by the progress made in other directions.

While there are here abundant preparations for war, there is a prevalent desire for peace. Notwithstanding Japan has a most efficient army and navy, and notwithstanding the natural exultation over their success at arms, the Japanese as I have met them are strongly inclined toward peace. Several times in introducing me the presiding officer has referred in terms of generous appreciation to the action of our president in bringing about the recent treaty of peace. The wars against China and Russia have been regarded by the people as defensive wars and it will be remembered that the civil war of 1874 was simply a suppression by the government of an attempt to invade Korea. General Saigo raised his army for the purpose of conquering Korea, but the government met the insurrectionists with an army large enough to completely overwhelm the forces of the famous general.

The Anglo-Japanese alliance is everywhere defended as a guarantee of peace. I met yesterday a Japanese of some local prominence who has issued a plea for universal peace. He proposes the establishment of an international peace society and in earnest language sets forth the horrors of war and the material, as well as the moral, arguments in favor of peace.

Upon no element of Japanese society has the rising sun of a higher civilization shed its rays more benignantly than upon woman. The position of the mother was an honored one when she became the head of the family, but while the children cared for both parents with a generous filial devotion, the wife and daughter were under the almost absolute power of the husband and father. Marriages were arranged by the parents and the young people were allowed to see each other after the match was agreed upon. Theoretically, each had a right to protest if dissatisfied, but practically the girl's protest amounted to nothing.

The wife was not only the servant of the husband, but might also be the servant of the mother-in-law—the mother-in-law joke being here on the daughter-in-law instead of the son-in-law. The fact that the husband was permitted to keep as many concubines as he desired still further lowered the status of woman. The daughters were often sold into prostitution to relieve the indebtedness of the father, and while this custom is on the decline, there are still thousands of Japanese girls whose virtue is made a matter of merchandise in accordance with this ancient custom. There is recorded among the decisions of Ooka, sometimes called the Japanese Solomon, who lived three centuries ago, a case in which the release of a young woman from a house of ill-fame was the central feature. The report of the judge's decree shows a discriminating mind as well as devotion to justice. Incidentally, the record reveals the fact that there were Shylocks in those days who loaned on short time at high rates and exacted the pound of flesh. In this case, the usurer compelled the sale of the daughter in extinguishment of a debt of fifteen yen, which by rapidly accumulating interest, had reached the, to them, enormous sum of thirty-five yen (or $17.50). The righteous judge confiscated the house of the extortioner and with the proceeds redeemed the woman. By the aid of the missionaries, under the leadership of Rev. Murphy, of Nagoya, legislation has been secured making it unlawful for a girl to be retained in one of these houses against her will, and many have already been rescued. As the taking of a concubine is a matter of record it is possible for the newspapers to acquaint themselves with the domestic relations of prominent men, and some of the papers have assisted in creating a public opinion against concubines. This custom is certain to give way before the advance of western ideas.

One of the foremost leaders in the elevation of woman was Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of the greatest, as well as one of the most influential, of the men who have appeared in Japan. He was a journalist, an educator, an orator and a philosopher. He refused to accept any titles or decorations and was called "The Great Commoner." He founded a college, the Keio-Gijuku, to which many of the public men trace their ideals and their interest in national and social problems. He delivered the first public speech made in Japan for, strange as it may seem, the habit of public speaking does not reach farther back than twenty-three years. Until constitutional government was formed there was no place for the forum. Shortly before his death, Mr. Fukuzawa reduced his philosophy to the form of a code of morals which has made a profound impression upon the thought of his country. He presented "independence and self respect," as he defined them, as the "cardinal tenet of personal morals and living." He insisted upon the care of the body, the training of the mind and the cultivation of the moral nature. He was one of the first to raise his voice against hara-kiri and in his code of morals he says: "To complete the natural span of life is to discharge a duty incumbent on man. Therefore, any person who, be the cause what it may or the circumstances what they may, deprives himself by violence of his own life, must be said to be guilty of an act inexcusable and cowardly, as well as mean, and entirely opposed to the principle of independence and self respect."

MR. YUKICHI FUKAZAWA, JR.

Concerning woman his code of morals says: "The custom of regarding women as the inferiors of men is a vicious relic of barbarism. Men and women of any enlightened country must treat and love each other on a basis of equality, so that each may develop his or her own independence and self respect."

When this great man died in 1901 his widow was in receipt of letters from many women expressing their appreciation of his labors in behalf of the women of Japan. Some of these are reproduced in a life of Mr. Fukuzawa, recently issued, and show the deep gratitude which the women feel toward him. It is also interesting to know that Mr. Fukuzawa believed in the dignity of labor and taught that each person should be "an independent worker beside being his own breadwinner." While he taught patriotism, he also taught that the people of all nations "are brethren" and that "no discrimination should be made in dealing with them."

The emperor sent him, just before his death, fifty thousand yen as a recognition of his eminent services, but he immediately turned the sum over to the Keio-Gijuku.

The Jiji Shimpo, the newspaper established by Mr. Fukuzawa, is still conducted by one of his sons, with whom we had the pleasure of dining. Another son is an instructor in the Keio-Gijuku.

Newspaper development has kept pace with the development in other directions. Tokyo, the capital, has sixteen daily papers with sufficient circulation to make them known as large papers. Besides these, there are magazines, periodicals and papers published in English. The Kokumin Shimbun is known as the government organ while most of the others are regarded as independent. The Tokyo Times is an excellent paper published in English. There is a weekly publication called the Economist, with a circulation of five thousand, which deals with commercial, financial and economic questions. Yokohama has papers published in both languages and the same is true of the other large seaport towns.

All the cities are supplied with daily papers published in Japanese. At Kagoshima, a city of about fifty thousand, situated at the southern extremity of Kyushu Island, I found a prosperous daily paper called the Kagoshima Shimbun. (Shimbun means daily newspaper.) It has a circulation of nine thousand six hundred, six thousand being in the city.

At Osaka I noticed a building elaborately decorated. In front were large flags on bamboo poles and smaller flags strung on cords, while Japanese lanterns were present in profusion. As none of the buildings around were decorated, I inquired and found that the decorated building was the office of the Osaka Asahi News and that the paper was celebrating the withdrawal of the governmental order which for two weeks had suspended its publication. The issue for that day contained a large sized picture of the Goddess of Liberty. When rioting occurred at Tokyo just after the treaty of peace with Russia, an order was issued authorizing the arbitrary suspension of any newspaper containing utterances deemed incendiary. Under this order the Asahi News received notice to suspend publication until permission was granted to resume. The withdrawal of the notice was duly celebrated and the paper announced that its readers, rather than the paper, had reason to complain of the suspension. This paper has the largest circulation of any in Japan, about two hundred thousand, and the order suspending it has been the subject of much editorial criticism.

SUMITKA HASEBA—JAPANESE STATESMAN.

Besides the newspapers which are conducted as business propositions, there are papers supported by associations formed for the propagation of various reforms. For instance, a paper called Romaji is published monthly at Tokyo—Japanese words being spelled with Roman letters, in the place of the present Japanese characters. A society was formed some twenty years ago for the purpose of urging this reform and a paper advocating it was published for three years, but finally suspended from lack of support. This fall the Romaji was established and hopes for a better fate. While this reform would be very acceptable to foreigners who are trying to learn the language, the movement does not seem to have gathered much momentum.

In one of the leading papers, the Hocho Shimbun, Mr. Gensai Murai, a novelist of distinction, published a continued story running daily through six years. It is not yet completed, having been suspended during the war. In this story the writer presents a large amount of information on national, political, economic and social questions, at the same time putting in enough fiction to sustain the interest.

Progress along some other lines will be treated under special heads. I find that there is some tendency here to resent the statement that Japan has borrowed largely from other nations. Some native writers insist that New Japan is but the natural development of Old Japan. There is a measure of truth in this, because there is no growth except from a living germ; and yet it can not be denied that Japan has appropriated to her own great advantage many foreign ideas, and it is not to her discredit that she has done so. Both individuals and nations borrow; imitation, not originality, is the rule. It will humble the pride of anyone to attempt to separate that which he has learned from others from that which he can claim as his own by right of discovery.

Steam is the same to-day that it was ages ago, and yet millions watched it escaping from the kettle with no thought of its latent power. One man showed mankind the use to which it could be put and all the rest profited by the idea. Shall we refuse to ride upon the railroad or cross the waters in an ocean greyhound for fear of employing the conception of another? Electricity is not a new agency. The lightnings have illumined the sky from the dawn of creation, and the people saw in them only cause for fear. A few decades ago one man thought out a method by which it could be imprisoned in a wire, and now widely separated lands are united by telegraph lines, while cables traverse the ocean's bed. Shall we refuse to read the news that the current carries or reject a message from home because we must employ an idea which sprang from another's brain? He is stupid who rejects truth, no matter from what source it comes; that nation is blind which does not welcome light from anywhere and everywhere. It is to the glory, not to the shame, of the land of the Rising Sun that her people have been quick to obey the injunction, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."

CHAPTER V.

INDUSTRIES, ARTS AND COMMERCE.

The basis of Japanese industry is agricultural, although each year shows a decreasing proportion engaged in the tilling of the soil. Rice is the principal product, but owing to the large amount consumed at home it is not the chief export. As this crop needs an abundance of water, the rice fields occupy the low lands and the mountain gorges. Sometimes the narrow valleys that pierce the ranges are so terraced as to look like steps, and at this time of the year when the crop is being harvested, they resemble golden stairs. The men and women work together in the field, and in many places we saw them standing almost knee deep in mud, cutting the grain with old fashioned hand-sickles. The rice is tied in bundles somewhat smaller than our wheat sheaves, and hung over poles or laid along the edge of a terrace to cure. If the threshing is delayed the grain is stacked, not as we stack wheat and oats in the United States, but in little columns with the heads of the sheaves tied to a pole in the center. Sometimes the stacks are built around a living tree. The grain is separated from the straw by means of a long toothed comb, and at this season innumerable groups of persons are busily engaged at this work. The yellow heaps of rice in the hull, looking from a distance like wheat, can be seen from the train and from the country roads. Straw mats are used to keep the grain off the ground and, I may add, the mat is in evidence everywhere in Japan and is used for all sorts of purposes.

The cultivation of the tea plant is an industry of no small magnitude, although not so universal as the cultivation of rice. The tea fields occupy the higher levels and add an interesting variety to the landscapes. At one point on the railroad between Yokohama and Nagoya the hillsides are covered with tea plantations, if such tiny farms can be called plantations. The tea plant is something like our gooseberry and currant bushes in size, but the foliage is much thicker. The leaves vary widely in value, from the cheaper grades, which are exported, to the Uji which costs what is equivalent to five or more dollars per pound.

Some cotton is grown here, but the cotton plant as we saw it is small compared with our plant, and the tillable area is too limited to admit of the growing of cotton on a large scale.

Tobacco is cultivated to some extent, but the sale of manufactured tobacco is a government prerogative.

Raw silk is by far the most valuable export, thirty-five million dollars' worth having been sent abroad last year. Three-fifths of the entire export goes to the United States, the remainder to Europe, with France as the largest European purchaser. As fifteen million dollars' worth of silk fabrics went abroad also, as against five million dollars' worth of tea and four million dollars' worth of rice, it will be seen that the cultivation of the silk worm and the mulberry tree is extensively carried on. The silk worms are kept indoors and the leaves brought in to them. When put outdoors the silk worms are devoured by birds.

Fruits grow here in great variety. We have found everywhere apples of excellent quality, raised in the northern parts of the islands, while the southern islands produce oranges, bananas and pineapples. The apple tree was imported from America about thirty-five years ago; now apples are exported to China and Siberia. The most popular orange is the tangerine, or kid glove orange as it is sometimes called; many of these are exported.

There is a kind of fruit called the ban-tan grown on the island of Kyushu. It looks something like the grape fruit, but grows considerably larger and has a thicker skin; the meat is pink in color, sweeter and less juicy than the grape fruit. Pears grow here; one variety looks like a russet apple in shape and color. Peach trees are sometimes trained as we train grape vines on an arbor, so that the orchard seems to have a flat roof of foliage.

They have here, too, persimmons as large as apples and as solid. We found these on the table in all parts of the island and there are several varieties. The grape is cultivated in Japan, but we did not see grape vines in such profusion as they are seen in southern Europe, along the lakes in western New York or in California. And, in this connection, I may add that wine is not used here to the extent that it is in some other countries, the national drink, sake, being made from fermented rice. Ordinarily this beverage contains from eleven to fourteen per cent of alcohol, but there is a stronger kind called shochu, which contains as much as fifty per cent of alcohol. It is evident, however, that liquor by any other name can be as intoxicating as our whisky, and we found at Tokyo a national temperance society with branches throughout the empire. Mr. Ando, the president of this society, is a Japanese gentleman of great earnestness and intelligence, who was converted to Christianity a few years ago when he was representing his country in Honolulu. While, as I have stated in another article, I have seen no evidences of drunkenness, Mr. Ando informs me that his society has ample work to do. I carry back with me a badge which the society gave me on learning of my total abstinence habits. I have only mentioned the leading products of the field, but I can not leave the cultivators of the soil without a word concerning the gardens. They are so cute, occupying as they do the little nooks and corners that can not be utilized for the large crops. There does not seem to be a square inch of ground wasted. The vegetables are planted in rows which are either straight or curved, never crooked, and we have scarcely seen a weed. Fertilizer is extensively used, being kept in stone or cement vats protected from the weather by a straw colored shed. Near the cities the soil is enriched by the refuse from closets which is collected and carried away during the night. The introduction of sewage systems has been somewhat impeded in some cities by the fact that sewage would be an expense while closets are now a source of profit. It must be confessed, however, that the present system tends to make fresh vegetables unpopular with the tourist.

Most travelers land at Yokohama and depart at Kobe, or land at Kobe and depart at Yokohama, these being the two principal ports. As these are about 300 miles apart, one has a chance to see much of the farming land from the railroad. The side trips from Tokyo to Nikko, from Yokohama to Miyanoshita and from Kyoto to Nara, give additional opportunities for seeing the farmer at work, but the ride from Kobe west to Shimonoseki surpasses any of these in interest and in beauty of scenery. As this route leads along the sea coast as well as through densely populated valleys, there is greater variety. Now one skirts the inland sea, with its numerous islands, its transparent waters, its little harbors and its fleets of fishing boats; now he winds his way along a stream with falls and rapids and spanned by frail foot bridges or by stone wagon bridges. On the one side he sees a bamboo grove and on the other a tiny graveyard or a little hill dedicated to a Shinto shrine—stone steps ascending along a shaded path from the sacred gate, which invariably marks the entrance to holy ground. In passing over this railroad route one gathers a large amount of information concerning the industries of the sea coast, as well as those of the inland, and besides one can visit the Shimonoseki Strait which is of historic interest to Americans. The Sanyo railroad, which connects Kobe and Shimonoseki, is well equipped and well managed and has built an excellent hotel, The Sanyo, at Shimonoseki for the accommodation of its patrons. From this point a steamer runs to Fusan, the nearest Korean port, where direct connection is made for Seoul, the Korean capital. From Moji, just across the strait from Shimonoseki, one can take a train to Nagasaki, the western seaport of Japan. At Shimonoseki one is shown the house in which Marquis Ito and Li Hung Chang drafted the Japanese-Chinese treaty in 1894.

JAPANESE WATER CARRIER.

Mining is an industry of considerable importance here. Gold, silver and copper are found in paying quantities. More than six million dollars' worth of copper was exported last year. One of the gold fields on the island of Kyushu, near Kagoshima, gives promise of considerable richness. Coal is found in such abundance that the exports of this commodity have amounted to nearly ten million dollars in a single year. A hard quality of smokeless coal has recently been discovered in western Japan.

The islands also produce a number of varieties of valuable woods. The camphor tree grows to an enormous size, a gigantic statue of the Goddess of Mercy in one of the temples at Kamakura being carved from a single camphor log. The value of the camphor exported from Japan last year exceeded a million and a half dollars. Among the hard woods suitable for carving, cherry seems to be the most popular.

Of all the trees, however, the bamboo is the most useful. Just at this time when the returning soldiers are being welcomed, it is present everywhere in the form of flag poles, and there is nothing that equals it for this purpose; long, slender, light and strong, it is just the thing for flags and banners, and when a little plume of leaves is left at the top, it is still more beautiful. The bamboo is used for water pipes and for fences, for furniture and picture tubes, for dippers, baskets, fishing poles, flower vases, candlesticks, wicker work, etc., etc.

In wood carving the Japanese have long been skilled. Specimens of work done hundreds of years ago and testifying to their taste, no less than to their deftness of hand, may be seen in their ancient palaces and temples.

Stone cutting is also an ancient industry here. There is an abundance of stone and granite, while the lanterns, Korean lions and sacred gates have furnished subjects for many a chisel. Osaka seems to be the center of the stone cutting industry.

The iron industry is represented by an increasing number of establishments. In many instances workmen have been brought from abroad and employed until Japanese artisans were sufficiently trained to take their place. Much of the iron work is still done in little shops and by hand, although machinery is being imported in large quantities.

I visited a tannery at Kagoshima and found that the proprietor had spent seven years in America learning the business, and that on his return he had taught native help each branch of the business. He is now turning out an excellent product.

One of the most promising industries in Japan is cotton spinning. There are a number of factories already in operation and new ones are building. I visited one of the plants of the Osaka Nippon Boseki Kaisha at Osaka. This company has about seventy thousand spindles and the mills employ nothing but native labor. Foreign artisans were used in the beginning, but are no longer needed. A great many women are employed and some children; for the latter a school is maintained for two hours a day in the building. Cotton yarn is now selling for about forty cents a pound and is becoming one of the leading articles of export; China is the largest purchaser. Some idea of the growth of this branch of industry can be gathered from the fact that the exports of cotton yarn amounted to less than four thousand dollars in 1891 and 1892; in 1896 it had grown to over two millions, in 1898 to over ten millions, and during the last two years it has averaged about fifteen millions.

At Osaka I also visited a brush industry and found that from bones, imported from the slaughter houses of America, and from bristles, purchased in Russia and in China, they made tooth, nail and hair brushes for export to both Europe and America. Here, too, they have dispensed with the foreign labor which they employed in the beginning.

Earthenware is manufactured in abundance and of every variety. The exports of porcelain and earthenware reached almost two million dollars last year. In Kyoto we visited a pottery and found two rooms in which the finished product was displayed; the first contained beautiful specimens of Japanese skill, graceful in shape and dainty in decoration; the second was filled with big pieces in loud colors and of inferior workmanship. These last articles, we were informed, were made especially for the American trade.

Some beautiful porcelain work is done in Kyoto, the decoration representing a high degree of artistic skill.

One of the most famous kinds of china produced by Japan is known as Satsuma ware, the glazing of which is of a peculiar tint and has a crackled appearance. The secret of the manufacture of this ware was brought from Korea by the captives taken in war some three hundred years ago, and the industry still flourishes in Japan, although it has perished in Korea. Kagoshima is the center for Satsuma ware, and a colony of Koreans living near there, as well as Japanese manufacturers, produce excellent specimens.

Lacquer work has been done in Japan from time immemorial, samples of which, centuries old, can be seen in temples, palaces and museums. When gold and silver are used in connection with the lacquer the product is often very valuable.

The bronzes produced in the little shops scattered over Japan give play to the artistic taste which one finds here. Osaka and Kyoto are noted for their bronzes. Sometimes various metals are inlaid in the forms of flowers, birds, animals and landscapes, producing a most pleasing effect. Then there are damascene factories and places for embroidery and for pictures made in cut velvet, etc., etc.

No one can pass through Japan without being impressed with the taste, which seems to be national, and with the delicate skill which has been handed down from generation to generation. And nothing, in my judgment, more clearly exhibits this union of taste and skill than the Cloisonne work. Upon a metallic base, as a vase, placque or box, an artist draws a design; this design is then outlined with fine wires of gold and silver, then enamels of various colors are filled in. When the enamels are hardened and the whole polished, the product is a thing of marvelous beauty.

I have not space to speak of the minor industries, such as paper making, matches (in which Japan monopolizes the trade of the East), fans, umbrellas, lanterns, napkins, etc. The Japanese lantern which we use for ornamentation is here a practical thing, in daily, or rather nightly, use. These lanterns hang in front of the houses and are carried on the streets. They are also used for illumination on festive occasions; at the time of the naval review and the reception to Admiral Togo, Yokohama and Tokyo were illuminated by these lanterns as I never saw an American city lighted.

When Japan was opened to the commerce of the world, there were few business houses or trading establishments of any size. Now there are several department stores and large wholesale houses, besides manufacturing and trading companies of importance. One business man in Tokyo, Mr. K. Okura, has a private collection of curios valued at one million dollars, which he offered to sell in Europe or America, the proceeds to be given to the government for carrying on the war against Russia. Osaka has a successful business man who has earned the name of the "Japanese Carnegie" by giving a fine library building to that city.

Consul General Miller, at Yokohama, and Consul Sharp, at Kobe, furnished me with interesting statistics regarding the commerce of Japan. Exports have increased from about eighty millions in 1891 to about three hundred and twenty millions in 1904; during the same period imports increased from a little more than sixty-three millions to a little more than three hundred and seventy-one millions. While our country sells less to Japan than Great Britain and British India, she buys more than any other nation from Japan. Our chief exports to Japan last year were electric motors, locomotive engines, steam boilers and engines, iron pipes, nails, lead, oil, paraffine wax, cotton drills, cotton duck, raw cotton, tobacco, coal, cars, turning lathes, condensed milk, flour and wheat. Of these items, flour, raw cotton and oil were by far the most valuable, each amounting to more than four and a half million dollars.

In the ocean carrying trade, Japan is making rapid strides. In ten years her registered steamers have increased from four hundred and sixty-one to twelve hundred and twenty-four and her sailing vessels from one hundred and ninety-six to three thousand five hundred and twenty-three. There are now two hundred private ship yards in Japan, and in 1903 they built two hundred and seventy-nine vessels. The Japan Mail Steamship Company has a paid-up capital of eleven million dollars, runs steamers between Japan, America, Europe and Asia and pays a ten per cent dividend on its capital. The Osaka Mercantile Steamship Company (Osaka Shosen Kaisha) has a paid-up capital of nearly three and a half million dollars, owns about one hundred vessels and pays a dividend of ten per cent. These are the largest companies, but there are many smaller ones, some paying dividends of sixteen and twenty per cent.

I will close this article with the suggestion that the mercantile marine seems likely to show large growth in the future, offering, as it does, a legitimate field for national expansion.

Japan's fishing industries furnish a training for seamen and her people seem at home upon the water. She needs more territory for her expanding population and has about reached the limit in the cultivation of her tillable land. Every additional ship manned by her citizens is like a new island, rising from the waves, upon which her increasing population can be supported. If she seeks to acquire land in any direction, she finds her efforts contested by the inhabitants already there; no wonder she hails with delight these floating farms constructed by the genius of her own people—new land, as it were, won and held without the sacrifice of war.

CHAPTER VI.

EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND RELIGIONS.

Back of Japan's astonishing progress along material lines lies her amazing educational development. Fifty years ago but few of her people could read or write; now considerably less than ten per cent would be classed as illiterate. It is difficult to conceive of such a transformation taking place almost within a generation. The prompt adoption of western methods and the rapid assimilation of western ideas give indubitable proof of the pre-existence of a vital national germ. A pebble dropped into soil, however rich, and cultivated, no matter how carefully, gives back no response to the rays of the springtime sun. Only the seed which has life within can be awakened and developed by light and warmth and care. Japan had within her the vital spark, and when the winter of her isolation was passed, her latent energies burst forth into strong and sturdy growth.

Her sons, ambitious to know the world, scattered themselves throughout Europe and America, and having laden themselves with new ideas, returned to apply them at home. In this way Japan constantly gained from every quarter and her educational system is modeled after the best that the ages have produced. She has her primary schools for boys and girls, attendance being compulsory, and below these in many places there are kindergarten schools. The middle schools, in which the boys and girls are separated, take up the course of instruction where the primary schools leave off.

Then follow the universities, of which there are seven under the control of the government. Besides these there are in the cities institutions known as higher commercial schools, which combine general instruction with such special studies as are taught in our commercial colleges. There are also a number of normal schools for the training of teachers. In addition to the schools and colleges established and conducted by the government, there are a number founded by individuals and societies. The largest of these is Waseda College, founded and still maintained by Count Okuma, the leader of the progressive party. It is adjoining the home of the count and is built upon land which he donated. Dr. Hatoyama, at one time speaker of the national house of representatives, who holds a degree from Yale College, is the official head of this institution; in all of its departments it has some five thousand students.

A VISIT TO COUNT OKUMA'S SCHOOL NEAR TOKYO

I have referred in a former article to the Keio Gijuku, the college founded by Mr. Fukuzawa. The attendance here is not so large as at Waseda, but the institution has had an illustrious career and exerts a wide influence upon the country. I visited both of these colleges and never addressed more attentive or responsive audiences. As English is taught in all the middle schools, colleges and universities, the students are able to follow a speech in that language without an interpreter.

The state university at Tokyo includes six departments—law, medicine and engineering courses being provided, as well as courses in literature, science and agriculture. The total number of students enrolled at this university is about thirty-five hundred. The national university at Kyoto has three faculties—law, medicine and science—the last named including engineering; the attendance at this university is between six and seven hundred. In the states of Choshu and Satsuma there are higher schools supported by funds given by former feudal lords of those states.

The education of girls is not neglected, although as a rule the girls do not go as far in their studies as the boys. There are a number of normal schools and seventy-nine high schools for girls, besides the Peeresses' school and several private institutions. The Woman's University of Tokyo, situated near Waseda College and under the patronage of Count Okuma, has had a phenomenal career. Established only five years ago, it has now an enrollment of some seven hundred, and is putting up several new buildings.

There are also a number of missionary schools and colleges. The Presbyterians support three boarding schools for boys and eleven for girls, besides ten day schools; the total attendance at these schools is nearly twenty-three hundred.

The Congregationalists have a number of schools, the largest, Doshisha College at Kyoto, being the most influential Christian institution in Japan. I had the pleasure of visiting both this college and Kyoto University.

The Methodists have eighteen boarding schools and nineteen day schools with a total attendance of nearly five thousand. Their college at Kobe is a very promising institution.

The Baptists have a theological seminary, an academy, five boarding schools for girls and eight day schools, with a total attendance of nearly a thousand. The Episcopal Church has also taken an important part in educational work, while the Catholics (who were first on the ground) have over sixty seminaries, schools and orphanages, with an attendance of some six thousand.

The Japanese government supports more than twenty-five thousand primary schools, attended by over five million boys and girls; it supports more than two hundred and fifty middle schools, with an attendance of nearly one hundred thousand. While less than two per cent of the primary students enter the middle schools, more than ten per cent of the middle school students enter the higher colleges.

Although these figures give some idea of the interest taken in education, they do not furnish an adequate conception of the enthusiasm with which a large number of these students pursue their studies. Nearly fifty young men called upon me or wrote to me asking to be taken to America that they might continue their studies. Many of the leading men in Japan to-day are graduates of American or European colleges. The physicians have shown a preference for German schools, while to engineers and politicians our universities have been more attractive. A part of the friendliness felt toward foreigners can be traced to the favors shown Japanese boys who left home in search of knowledge. Marquis Ito, one of the first of these, owes much to an elder of the Presbyterian Church in England in whose home he lived as a student, and the marquis has ever since been making returns in kindness to foreigners and Christians.

Marquis Ito's case is not exceptional; all over Japan are men who hold in grateful remembrance Americans and Europeans to whom they are indebted for assistance. I met a man, now the publisher of an influential paper, who twenty years ago, at the age of sixteen, went to sea and in a shipwreck was cast upon one of the islands in the South Pacific. He became a retainer for the king of the islands and as such wore the scanty native dress, consisting of a loin cloth. He went with his king to Honolulu to pay a visit to the Hawaiian queen, and finding a Japanese settlement there, remained for two or three years. He then went to the United States and, making a friend of a professor in one of the universities, attended school there for several years. He now visits the United States every year or so on business, and one seeing him wearing a silk hat and a Prince Albert coat would hardly guess the experiences through which he has risen to his present position. If Japan, beginning fifty years ago with no educational system and scarcely any educated men or women, could accomplish what she has accomplished in half a century, what will she accomplish in the twentieth century, with the start which she now has and with the educational advantages which her people now enjoy?

Japan has several religions, although Shintoism has been, since 1868, the state religion. As a matter of fact, however, Shintoism can hardly be called a religion for it has no creed, no priesthood and no code of morals. It is really ancestor worship and comes down from time immemorial. It implies a belief in immortality, for the ancestral spirits are invoked and vows are paid to them at the numberless shrines that dot the country. These shrines are not usually in temples, although sometimes Shintoism and Buddhism have been mixed together and one temple employed for both shrines; as a rule, however, the Shinto shrine is in some secluded spot on the top of a hill or on a mountain side where a bit of natural scenery awakens a spirit of reverence. A gate of simple but beautiful design is placed at the point where the pathway to the shrine departs from the main road. We had read of these Shinto gates and had seen pictures of them, but we first saw one at Honolulu, itself the gateway to the Orient. No description can convey to the reader the impression which this gate makes upon the traveler; its outlines are so graceful and yet so strong that it seems an appropriate portal to a holy place.

The moral code of Confucius has also influenced the thought of Japan.

About fourteen hundred years ago the Buddhist religion was introduced into Japan by Chinese priests, and it spread rapidly throughout the islands. Its temples were imposing, its ceremonies impressive and the garb of its priests costly and elaborate. It did not root out Shintoism, it simply overwhelmed and absorbed it. The Buddhist temples, though not as popular as they once were, are still visited by millions of believers and are objects of interest to the tourist. Most of them are old, one at Nara having been built about the year 700. It is in such an excellent state of preservation that one can hardly believe that it has stood the storms of twelve centuries.

In the center of the temple is an image of Buddha, and on either side the figure of a huge warrior. There is also in this temple a God of War to which the Japanese were wont to pay their vows before going to battle. The devout Buddhist, approaching the image of the founder of his religion, bows and mutters a prayer, half audibly, and, throwing his mite in a box or on the floor before the shrine, departs. There is usually a bell, or sometimes only a chain, hanging above the place where prayers are said, and the suppliant swings a rope against the bell or shakes the chain before his prayer and claps his hands two or three times at its close. We inquired about the bell and received two answers: One, that it was to attract the attention of the god, and the other that it was to awaken the conscience of the one about to present his petition.

Near the temple at Nara stands an ugly image which never fails to attract the attention of the visitor. It is literally covered with paper wads which have been thrown against it by worshipers at the temple in the belief that their prayers would be answered if the wads adhered to the image. There is also at Nara a huge bell, almost as old as the temple. This bell is about thirteen feet high, nine feet in diameter and eight inches thick. It hangs in a pagoda quite near the ground, and when struck upon the side by a swinging log gives forth a sound of wonderful depth and richness. It was rung for us, and as its mellow tones reverberated along the hills we were awed by the thought that a thousand years before our Declaration of Independence was written, eight hundred years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, yes, even seven hundred years before America was discovered, this old bell was calling people to worship.

JAPANESE STONE LANTERN.

There is at Nara an immense bronze image of Buddha, even larger than the famous one at Kamokura, though not so finely proportioned. The smaller one is forty-nine feet in height and nearly one hundred feet in circumference (both represent Buddha, seated tailor-fashion, on a lotus flower) and the larger one is almost twice as large as the smaller one. The lantern of stone or bronze seems to be as necessary an adjunct to a Buddhist temple as the Shinto gate is to that form of religion. At Nara there are twenty-nine hundred stone lanterns of various sizes along the walks that lead from one temple to another, and they are found in abundance in other cities. The Korean lions are also identified with Buddhistic worship, these animals wrought in bronze or carved in stone guarding all temple doors. They are not as ferocious in appearance as the Numidian lion, and they illustrate an idea. One has his mouth open and the other has his mouth tightly shut, and they together represent the affirmative and the negative, or, in other words, the eternal conflict between the positive and the negative—one says yes, the other no.

KOREAN LION—YES.