n their foreign rivals secure apparently equal if not
superior results by quick and careless work. It is upon these Japanese
children that the future of the empire depends. They are sure to be
infected by these object lessons in the gospel of selfish and careless
work, which the labor union leaders in our country have preached until
it has been accepted by the great mass of mechanics.

Another racial quality of the Japanese, which is likely to suffer from
contact with foreigners, is his politeness. This is innate and not
acquired; it does not owe any of its force to selfish considerations.
The traveler in Japan is amazed to see this politeness among all
classes, just as he sees the artistic impulse flowering among the
children of rough toilers in the fields. And again the question arises:
Will the Japanese retain this attractive trait when they come into more
intimate contact with the foreigner, who believes in courtesy mainly as
a business asset rather than as a social virtue?

So, in summing up one's impressions of Japan, there comes this
inevitable doubt of the permanence of the fine qualities which make the
Japanese nation to-day so distinct from any other. The Japanese may
differ from all other races in their power of resisting the corrupting
influences of foreign association, but it is to be feared that the
visitor to the Mikado's land fifty years from now may not only find no
Mikado, but none of the peculiarly gracious qualities in the Japanese
people which to-day set them apart from all other nations.

[Illustration: PLATE I

Street Scene, Asakusa
Park, Tokyo. This Picture
Gives a Good Idea
of Japanese Street
Dress of Men and
Women. The Park
Contains a
Twelve-Story
Tower, Two
Hundred and Twenty
Feet in Height]

[Illustration: PLATE II

Entrance Hall and Stairway
of Modern Home
of a Tokyo Millionaire.
Note the Priceless
Screens With
Cherry-Blossom Decoration,
the Bronze Stair Railings
and the Inlaid Floor]

[Illustration: PLATE III

Bronze Lanterns and
Sacred Fountain, Shiba
Temple, Tokyo. These
Temples in Shiba Park
Are Among the Marvels
of Japanese
Art]

[Illustration: PLATE IV

Sacred Red Bridge at
Nikko. Legend Says It
Was Built for the Saint
Shodo Shonin. No
One Crossed It Except
the Shoguns and in
Modern Times the
Mika