nesses were abandoned or reduced because it was not such easy work as formerly. I agree with Viscount Watanabe in his views on the present financial situation of the country, but I do not agree with him in his opinion that the present condition of affairs will inevitably result in national bankruptcy. This will not be the case, because by proper management our national income can be made still greater than our expenditure."

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

For interesting accounts of travel when and where modern conveniences were not available, read “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" (Bird); "The Mikado's Empire" (Griffis); "Noto, an Unexplored Corner of Japan" (Lowell); "Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan" (Hearn); and papers in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan. For similarly interesting accounts of travel with modern conveniences read "Jinrikisha Days in Japan" (Scidmore); "Japan and her People" (Hartshorne); "The Yankees of the East" (Curtis).

On the industrial and commercial phases of these topics, consult books, papers, magazines, and pamphlets mentioned in the bibliography of the preceding chapter; also "General View of Commerce and Industry in the Empire of Japan," occasionally published for free distribution.

CHAPTER IV

PEOPLE, HOUSES, FOOD, DRESS

OUTLINE OF TOPICS: Ainu; ethnology; two types; comparative stature and weight; intellectual and moral qualities. - Classes in society of old and new régimes; social principle. - Family and empire. Houses; public buildings; rooms; foreign architecture. Gardens. Food; meals; table manners; foreign cooking. Undress and dress; European costume. - Bathing. - Bibliography.

W

HO were the aborigines of Japan is yet a disputed question. Remains have been found of a race of dwarfs who dwelt in caves and pits, but who these people were is not positively known. They may have been contemporary with the Ainu, whom many call "the aborigines of Japan." It is certain, however, that the Ainu were once a very numerous nation, "the members of which formerly extended all over Japan, and were in Japan long before the present race of Japanese. But the latter gradually forced the former northward, until a final refuge was found in Yezo and the Kurile Islands. There the Ainu are now living, but are slowly dying out as a race; there are at present only about 17,600 remaining. They are said to be "the hairiest race in the whole world," "of sturdy build,' filthy in their habits (bathing is unknown), addicted

to drunkenness, and yet "of a mild and amiable disposition." Their religion is nature-worship.1

It is well known that the Japanese are classed under the Mongolian (or Yellow) Race. They themselves boastfully assert that they belong to the "golden race," and are superior to Caucasians, who belong to the "silver race"! As Mongolians, they are marked, not only by a yellowish hue, of many shades from the darkest to the lightest, but also by straight black hair (rather coarse), scanty beard, rather broad and prominent cheek-bones, and eyes more or less oblique. Some think that the Japanese people show strong evidences of Malay origin,2 and claim that the present Emperor, for in

1 "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," by Miss Bird (now Mrs. Bishop), is interesting and reliable in its treatment of the Ainu of that day. Chamberlain also has written on the "Ainos." The best single book is, of course, "The Ainu of Japan," by Rev. J. Batchelor, the leading authority, who has also written a book on "Ainu Folk-lore."

2 "Various Impressions" is the title of an address delivered at a meeting of the Imperial Education Society by Dr. Nitobe, reported very fully in the Kyōiku Kōhō. Dr. Nitobe gave an account of his travels in the South Pacific. He visited Java, many other islands, and Australia. At Java he felt persuaded that an eminent French ethnologist who not long ago said that, as the result of much investigation, he had come to the conclusion that the Japanese race was 10 Malay, 10 Mongolian, and 10 mixed, was right. Among the mixed elements there was an Aryan element, which came from India, and a negrito element. "Now it is supposed," says Dr. Nitobe, "that this negrito element comes from the Javanese. It no longer shows itself in the Japanese in regard to the form of the nose and that of the cheek-bones, but it is to be seen in the curly hair of certain inhabitants of Kyūshiu. In Oshū, from which I come, this peculiarity is not known. During my travels in the South Pacific Islands I was repeatedly struck by