utes are said to be Shuku or Eta. I was told that
most of the girls in the prostitutes' houses of Shimane prefecture are
from "special tribes," and that they are "preferred by the
proprietors" because, as I was gravely informed, "they do not weary of
their profession and are therefore more acceptable to customers." As
prostitutes are frequently married by their patrons, it is believed
that not a few women from "special villages" are taken to wife without
their origin being known. Unwitting marriage with an Eta woman has
long been a common motif in fiction and folk story. Many members of
the "special tribes" go to Hokkaido and there pass into the general
body of the population. The folk of this class are "despised," I was
told by a responsible Japanese, "not so much for themselves as for
what their fathers and grandfathers did." The country people
undoubtedly treat them more harshly than the townspeople, but a man of
the "special tribes" is often employed as a watchman of fields or
forests. I was warned that it was judicious to avoid using the word
Eta or Shuku in the presence of common people lest one might be
addressing by chance a member of the "special tribes."

Except that the houses of the village we were visiting looked possibly
a trifle more primitive than those of the non-Eta population outside
the _oaza_, I did not discern anything different from what I saw
elsewhere. The people were of the Shinshu sect; there was no Shinto
shrine. At the public room I noticed the gymnastic apparatus of the
"fire defenders." The hamlet was traditionally 300 years old and one
family was still recognised as chief. According to the constable, who
eagerly imparted the information, the crops were larger than those of
neighbouring villages "because the people, male and female, are always
diligent."

The man who was brought forward as the representative of the village
was an ex-soldier and seemed a quiet, able and self-respecting but sad
human being. His house and holding were in excellent order. None of
his neighbours smiled on us. Some I thought went indoors needlessly; a
few came as near to glowering as can be expected in Japan. I got the
impression that the people were cared for but were conscious of being
"hauden doon" or kept at arm's length.[179]

Our next stop was for a rest in a fine garden, the effect of which was
spoilt in one place by a distressing life-size statue of the owner's
father. When we took to our _kuruma_ aga