but the general uses to which the manufactured paper are put in Japan is
infinite. A very superior grade of oil paper is manufactured which is
suitable even for clothing, and is so used. It has been mentioned how
universally a certain grade is used in place of glass; paper is also
employed for partitions of rooms in place of lath and plaster; for fans,
an immense amount is required; also, for cases and boxes, for twine,
letter-bags, purses, umbrellas, and many other articles.

The largest lake in Japan is that of Biwa, a very fine sheet of water,
nearly fifty miles long, but rather narrow, probably not exceeding an
average width of more than ten miles. It is situated about eight miles
from Kioto, and thither we went in jinrikishas. It was anciently the
summer resort of the Mikados, and is a very beautiful lake, abounding in
fish, a most important matter to the neighborhood, as rice and fish are
the chief diet in Japan. There are many pleasure-houses, so-called,
along its banks, where the visitor is entertained with fish fresh from
the water, cooked in a great variety of ways. On the north and west side
the lake is hemmed in, like a Scotch loch, by lofty hills, but on the
other sides by pleasant, highly cultivated lands, slightly undulating,
and ornamented with pretty little hamlets, and tea-houses for visitors
who sail upon the lake for pleasure. Our jinrikisha men took us there in
less than an hour and a half, but as the road rises towards Kioto we
were fully two hours in returning. On this occasion women harnessed
tandem, with men, to some jinrikishas were met, and they trotted off
quite as easily at a pony gait as did the men, but it is gratifying to
say that it was the only time we saw women so employed.

We returned to Kobe by way of Osaka, a city nearly as large as Kioto,
and much more of a business and manufacturing centre. The national mint
is located here, with some other large government works. The ancient
fort overlooking the town is of great interest, and is still fortified,
affording barracks for a couple of regiments of the regular army. It is
a remarkably substantial structure; many of the stones of which it is
composed are so large that it is a wonder how they could ever have been
transported intact from the quarry. Osaka has rivers and canals running
through it much like Amsterdam, though not so numerous, and has been
appropriately called the Venice of Japan. It is not Europeanized like
Kobe or Yokoham