e rooms of a Jap that he was a great
picture-collector. The wealthy collector keeps all his treasures stowed
away in what is called a "go-down"--his storehouse--and his pictures are
brought up one at a time if any visitor is present or expected.
Generally a single picture will be brought in and hung up. You enjoy
that beautiful picture by itself. It is very much like bringing a bottle
of wine from the cellar--no one would want the whole bin at a time.

The Japs have an artistic temperament altogether and the simplest
craftsman is an artist in his own way. I was especially struck with this
once when I was in want of some frames, and I employed a Jap to make
them for me. He could talk English perfectly well, and it was remarkable
to watch the development of the frames and the enthusiastic temperament
discovered by the carpenter as he proceeded. I myself designed a certain
frame, and I would by slight drawings encourage him and his fellows to
go on with the work. They all took the greatest possible interest in the
refinement of the object--they would place it down and then go off and
look at it, and talk to those friends who were looking on about the
beauties they saw in it and in its proportions; and the intelligence and
pleasure they showed were not only extraordinary but also delightful.
This frame-making was quite novel to them, as they do not frame any of
their objects; but they were interested in the design of the frame and
the placing of the picture within it. Although the matter was not in
itself of any remarkable importance, I hold that it fairly proves the
artistic temperament of a chance selection of people. Think of a common
carpenter making a simple thing and taking a just pride in doing it! The
result was that I got one of the most beautiful frames you can conceive,
and that I was encouraged in my own work by the sympathy of these
workmen.

[Illustration: THE SCARLET UMBRELLA]

Of course, in Japan there are painters who paint for the market--people
who have been destroyed by the British merchant and the American trader.
They spend their time in painting pictures of flowers and birds in vivid
colourings that appeal to our tastes, solely for exportation to England
and America. _Apropos_ of this I must mention a conversation I had with
a painter about screens, which struck me as being very curious. I wanted
to buy a gold screen, and he took me to a shop where I saw a vast number
of screens, nearly all with bla