ay it looked as if they were telling each other all
their deepest secrets and life ambitions. Our host of the day laughed
most benevolently all the time, not excluding when a fellow dressed in
bright red woman's clothes insisted on riding on the running board. They
get drunk so seldom that it didn't appeal to him so much as a drunk as
it did as a popular festival; the people really were happy.

There were miles of trees planted each side of a canal that supplies
Tokyo with water, all kinds of trees and in all stages of development,
from no blossoms to full, no leaf and beautiful little pink leaves. The
blossoms are dropping, it is almost a mild snowfall, and yet the trees
seem full.

Yesterday we went to the theater again, the Imperial, a party of ten
filling two boxes. We were taken behind the scenes and shown the green
rooms, etc., and introduced to an actor and to his son, about eleven,
who appeared on the stage later and did a very pretty dance. He had a
teacher in the room and was doing his Chinese writing lesson, never
looked up till he was spoken to, about the handsomest and most
intelligent looking lad I have seen in Japan. Acting is practically an
hereditary profession here. I doubt if an outsider not trained from
early childhood could possibly do the acting anyway, and I don't think
the guild would let him break in if he could, though one man of British
extraction has been quite successful on the Japanese stage. We saw some
very interesting things yesterday, including dances, and learned that
they are very anxious to come to America, but they want a patron. If the
scenes were selected with great care to take those that have lots of
action and not so much talking, and the libretto was carefully
explained, they could make a hit in New York at least.

Our other blowout was the other evening at a Japanese classic tea house,
a part of a Noh dance for entertainment and a twelve-course meal or so.
The most interesting thing though is talking to people. On the whole I
think we have a chance to see people who know Japan much better than
most. We haven't been officialized and putting the different things
together I think we have as good an acquaintance with the social
conditions as anybody would be likely to get in eight weeks. An
experienced journalist could get it, so far as information is concerned,
in a few days, but I think things have to be soaked in by cumulative
impressions to get the feel of the thing and the