es strapped on their backs
in the same loose-fitting, sack-like baby-holders, and after work-time
the father takes a turn at the same business. You are reminded of the
negro who said to another: "'Fo Gawd, Bill, you's got the mos' chillun
any nigger I ever seed. Why, I passed yo' house yistiddy mornin' at
nine erclock and throwed a brick on top and hollered 'Fiah!' an' at
five erclock in the evenin' nigger chillun was still runnin' out!" It
seems sometimes as if such an incident, with Jap children substituted
for negroes (I doubt if there is a negro here), might actually happen
in Japan.

And those two men bowing to each other as they meet--are they
rehearsing as Alphonse and Gaston for the comedy show to-night, or are
they serious? No, they are serious, for yonder is another pair meeting
in the same way, and yonder another couple separating with even more
violent "convulsions of politeness"--and nobody laughing but yourself.
No wonder the Japanese are strong: they only need to meet a few
friends a day to get exercise enough to keep them in trim! Look again:
those women meeting at the depot, for example (for there are
familiar-looking street cars and less familiar-looking passenger cars
amid all these strange surroundings). There is the woman with her hair
combed straight back, which, I am told, means that she is a widow; one
with an odd Japanese topknot, which means that she is married, and a
younger one whose hair is arranged in the style of unmarried girls;
and though they are evidently bosom friends, they do not embrace and
kiss at meeting--to kiss in public would be shocking to the
Japanese--and you can only guess the depth of their affection by the
greater warmth and emphasis of their bows to one another.

{13}

[Illustration: THE GIANT AVENUE OF CRYPTOMERIAS AT NIKKO.]
This magnificent avenue, twenty-five miles in length, consists of
trees planted by daimyos, or small lords, as a memorial to the great
Japanese warrior and statesman, Iyeyasu. A spirit of simplicity and
love of nature has produced a nobler monument than extravagance
could possibly have done.

{14}

[Illustration: TYPICAL JAPANESE COSTUMES AND TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE.]
In the temple picture notice also how the limbs of the trees have
been trained. Many fantastic effects are often produced in this way.

{12 continued}

They are trained in politeness from their youth up, are these
Japanese; and it is perhaps the greatest ch