barley or millet as the ordinary food. Various vegetables, particularly beans, are much used, fresh or pickled; seaweed, fish, eggs, and nuts are largely eaten; and a sauce, made of beans and wheat, and sold in America as "soy," is "the universal condiment." Thin vegetable soups are an important part of their meals, and, as no spoons are used, are drunk with a loud sucking noise, which is a fixed habit in drinking. The principal beverages, even more common than water, are tea and sake. The latter, an alcoholic liquor brewed from rice, is taken hot; the former, without milk or sugar, is also taken hot, and is served, not only at meals, but just about all the time. A kettle of hot water is always kept ready at hand, in house or inn, so that tea may be steeped in a moment and procured to drink at any time. It is always set before a guest as soon as he arrives, and is absolutely indispensable in every household.

At meal time each person sits on the floor before a small, low table on which his food is placed. They use no knife, fork, or spoon, only chop-sticks; and do not consider it in bad form to eat and drink with loud smacking and sucking sounds. Their food, when served, seems to foreigners more beautiful than palatable; it is "unsatisfying and mawkish." One who has probably had innumerable experiences during a long residence in Japan says: "After a Japanese dinner you have simultaneously a feeling of fulness and a feeling of having eaten nothing that will do

you any good."1 Yet, in time foreigners learn to like many parts of a Japanese bill of fare; and when travelling about the country, by carrying with them bread, butter, jam, and canned meats, can get along with rice, eggs, vegetables, and chicken or fish to complete the daily fare. In the summer resorts frequented by foreigners there are always hotels and restaurants where only European cooking is served. With the introduction of Western civilization came wine, ale, beer, etc., which are extensively used by the Japanese.

Indeed, we must not fail to take notice of the change that is taking place in the diet of the Japanese. Bread and meat, which were long ago introduced into the diet of the army and the navy, are pretty generally popular; and many other articles of “foreign food” are largely used. It is quite a common custom in well-to-do families to have at least one "foreign meal" per day; and "foreign restaurants," especially in the large cities, are well patronized. It is said, indeed, that first-class "foreign cooking" is cheaper than first-class "Japanese cooking." The standard of living has been considerably raised within the past decade.

It is important to touch briefly on the subject of costume, though it will not be possible or profitable to describe minutely every garment. It may not be

1 For descriptions of Japanese meals or banquets, see Miss Scidmore's "Jinrikisha Days in Japan," passim; "The Yankees of the East" (Curtis), vol. ii. chap. xiv.; and Norman's "Real Japan," chap. i.

improper to begin with the topic of undress; for the Japanese, perhaps because great lovers of nature, think it nothing immodest to be seen, even in public, in the garb of nature. Of course, in the open ports and large cities, foreign ideas of modesty are more strongly enforced; but in the interior the primitive innocence of the Garden of Eden prevails to a greater or less extent. In hot weather children go starknaked, and men wear only a loin-cloth: "Honi soit qui mal y pense"-"Evil to him who evil thinks."

The ordinary Japanese costume may be said to consist of a shirt, a loose silk gown fastened at the waist with a silk sash, short socks with separate places for the big toes, and either straw sandals or wooden clogs. For ceremonial occasions, "a divided skirt," and a silk coat, adorned with the family crest, are used; these are called, respectively, hakama and haori. In winter two or three padded gowns are added; and in all seasons many persons go barefooted, bare-legged, and bare-headed. The female garb1 does not differ greatly from the male costume, except that the sash is larger and richer and the gown is made of lighter fabrics. The women powder and paint, oil their hair, and adorn their heads with pretty combs and hairpins.

The Japanese costume is certainly very beautiful and becoming, and is pronounced by medical authorities to be highly sanitary. For persons, however, in active business, and for those who work in the fields,

1 See Norman's "Real Japan," pp. 180-195.

it is not so convenient as the European costume; but it is altogether too charming to be entirely discarded, and, with some modification, might well be adopted in other lands. At court, the European costume is generally used; the frock coat and evening dress have become common ceremonial garbs; and silk hats, gloves, and canes also have become fashionable. The efforts of the Japanese to adopt Western customs and to conform to the usages of the Occident in matters of dress are sometimes quite amusing to those who witness them.1

Chamberlain affirms that "cleanliness is one of the few original items of Japanese civilization." Surely their practice of frequent bathing ought to have brought them to that stage which is considered "next to godliness." A bathroom is commonly an important part of the house; but if a room is not available for that purpose, a bathtub outdoors will do, or the public bath-houses afford every facility at a very small charge. Necessary exposure of the person in connection with bathing is not considered immodest; but, in large cities at least, the two sexes are no longer permitted to bathe together promiscuously. The hot baths, with water at about 110° F., are generally unendurable by foreigners. The latter,

1 For instance, "such an attire as Japanese clogs, flannel drawers, swallow-tail coat, and opera hat" has been seen; and another witness testifies to the "oddest mixtures of evening dress and bathing suits, naked legs with a blouse and a foreign hat, high boots with a kimono, legs and head Asiatic with trunk European, or vice versa, with endless combinations and variations." There is a great variety, with all kinds of fits and misfits.

however, after some experience, may become accustomed to such heat and find it quite healthy. "Seabathing was not formerly much practised; but since 1885 the upper classes have taken greatly to it, in imitation of European usage, and the coast is now dotted with bathing establishments.”1 The Japanese also resort "to an almost incredible extreme" to the hot mineral springs, which are so numerous in Japan and generally possess excellent medicinal qualities.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Rein's "Japan" is valuable on these topics; "Advance Japan" has a good chapter on "Diet, Dress, and Manners" (iv.); "A Japanese Interior," by Miss Alice M. Bacon, gives most interesting glimpses of the inner life of the people; Murray's "Story of Japan," chap. ii.; Knapp's "Feudal and Modern Japan," vol. i. chap. v. and vol. ii. chap. iv.; and Japan in History, Folklore, and Art" (Griffis), are useful; Finck in his "Lotos-Time in Japan," also gives interesting glimpses of these topics; and Miss Bacon's "Japanese Girls and Women" (revised and illustrated edition) is invaluable concerning family life. Miss Hartshorne's " 'Japan and her People" is worth reading on these subjects.

1 Chamberlain.