The Days of a Man 1900 



nishing the intelligible accompaniment. One serious, 

 preoccupied young fellow, the naturalist Irako, direc- 

 tor of the museum, seemed especially interested, and 

 I wondered if perchance my argument, cooled by 

 interpretation, held some direct appeal for him. 



In the municipal museum we saw a fine display of 

 red iron j-]-^ industries of Morioka, the local specialty being 

 "red iron" that is, iron with purposely rusted sur- 

 face. We found also a small but noteworthy collec- 

 tion of fishes obtained by Irako in remote parts of 

 Rikuchu from both river and sea; this he divided, 

 giving me three or four species new to science, one of 

 which I afterward named for him. He then showed us 

 a number of accurate sketches and paintings made 

 under his direction by Motokiku, a country boy liv- 

 ing out in the foothills. 



Motokiku showed decided ability, though he had 

 received no special training and possessed no means 

 Waste of of securing any. Thus does the Japanese caste sys- 

 tem waste native talent. At that time - - and even 

 now, so far as I know to become an artist in Japan 

 one had either to be the son of an artist or be adopted 

 as a pupil, for humble genius has practically no 

 chance. So far as my observation went, each does 

 what he has been brought up to do, and little else. 

 Lines in general are drawn very sharply. Only a porter 

 can carry a trunk; only a fisherman is allowed to 

 draw a net, no matter how small the net or how 

 simple the process. As a rule, therefore, individuals 

 show little ingenuity when faced by new tasks. A 

 boy whose business it is to tie packages will do it 

 very deftly, others most clumsily. 



Another Japanese limitation is the general unwill- 



c 50 : 



