The Days of a Man 1900 



These interesting ancient strongholds of provincial 

 princes or daimyos are still dear to the hearts of the 

 people, though no longer officially recognized as 

 political units. 1 



Odd During feudal days it was customary for princes 



protective to build wa lls of earth across the lanes leading into 

 another province, in order to keep people and 

 products at home. Referring to this practice, Pro- 

 fessor Basil Hall Chamberlain 2 translates a dainty 

 Japanese poem which relates to a Hitachi-Iwaki 

 barrier: 



Methought this barrier, with its gusty breezes, was but a 

 mere name, but, lo, the wild cherry blossoms flutter down to 

 block the path. 



On the Fourth of July we attended a luncheon given 

 ito and by Mr. Buck at the American Embassy. Prince 

 amagata Yamagata, at that time prime minister, was among 

 the numerous guests, as well as Prince Ito, his 

 predecessor. With the straightforward sagacity of 

 Ito, unquestionably the ablest statesman of con- 

 temporary Japan, I was much impressed. 

 Baseball In the afternoon I went to a baseball match be- 

 i japan tween a Japanese nine and one made up of Americans 

 resident in Yokohama; the home team won, not by 

 hitting but by very clever base running. The sport, 

 then already popular, soon became the national 

 game, the students of the two local universities, Keio 

 and Waseda, being special rivals. After a while 

 contests between them had to be forbidden, as popu- 

 lar feeling ran so high that riots were sometimes 

 imminent. For each institution seems to have a 



1 See Chapter xxvn, page 65. 



2 Of the Imperial University of Tokyo, author of the excellent "Murray's 

 Handbook for Japan." 



n 16 n 



