s upon it alone, you would have to frame it
between your hands, cutting it off and isolating it from the rest.

This the Japanese do for you. They know that you cannot appreciate more
than one beautiful object at a time, and they see that that one object
is perfectly placed in relation to its surroundings, so as to give rest
and enjoyment to the eye. Almost every one in Japan, either young or
old, is capable of appreciating a fine arrangement of flowers, and
nearly every Japanese woman can practise the art.

So many minute descriptions have already been written of the methods of
the masters of flower decoration that there is little else to say on
that point. However, since decoration by flowers has so much to do with
the art of the country, and is so closely connected with the character
of the people, I feel that I must give a slight description of some of
the marvellous creations in purple irises, lilies, and pines that the
greatest master in Tokio once arranged for me at my hotel. He arrived
early one morning, and in great good-humour, evidently feeling that, I
being an artist, his work would be appreciated and understood. He
carried with him his flowers, tenderly wrapped in a damp cloth under one
arm, and his vases under another. One of his most promising pupils, a
girl of nineteen, accompanied him, acting almost as a servant and
evidently worshipping him as her master. He began at once to show us a
decoration of lilies and reeds. With the utmost rapidity he took out a
bunch of slim reeds, pulled them to different lengths, the large ones
at the back, the small ones in front, and caressed the whole into a
wooden prong looking like a clothes-peg, and arranged it in a kind of
vase made out of a circular section of bamboo. An immense amount of care
was taken with the handling of these reeds, the master drawing back now
and then in a stooping position with his hands on his knees and his eyes
bolting out to view his handiwork critically. Next he took some lilies
with their leaves, and arranged them in a metal stand composed of a
number of divisions looking like cartridge-cases cut off. Every leaf was
twisted and bent and cut to improve its form. The half-open lilies were
made to look as though they were growing, and were a great favourite
with this master because of the scope for beautiful curves and lines
that they allowed. Time after time he would take out a leaf or a flower,
putting another in its place, thereby showing