20 RECENT FOREIGN EXPLORATIONS. 



the shop. The farmer's wife was cooking at the stove. On the left 

 of the kitchen, in front of the house, was a room 10 by 12 feet, covered 

 with the customary mats and used for a sitting room. Each mat was 

 3 by 6 feet in size and 2 inches thick. Back of the sitting room and 

 opposite the stove was a room, 10 by 12 feet, used for a dining room. 

 Beyond the sitting room, in the front of the house, was a private 

 room, 12 by 16 feet, for lodging. From the dining room a hallway 

 extended to and along the end of the house. The partitions of the 

 rooms, which are generally removed during the day to give more venti- 

 lation, were made of light sash, with strong white paper instead of glass. 

 On the right of the kitchen was an addition, 20 by 24 feet, for the serv- 

 ants' quarters and general storage. Each servant had a small sitting 

 room and a lodging room, with mats on the floor. There was no fur- 

 niture, as we use the term, in the house; no chairs, tables, bedsteads, 

 or mirrors. The members of the household sit, eat, and sleep on the 

 matted floor. How everything can be kept so perfectly clean, without 

 soil or stains, belongs to the mysteries of Japanese housekeeping. In 

 front of the servants' quarters a servant was cleaning grain and 

 spreading it on the mats to dry in the sun. The tub and pounder for 

 cleaning rice was in front of her. She did not like to be photo- 

 graphed in her ordinary garb, but was satisfied when told to turn her 

 back and appear to be at work. 



Adjoining the house on the left was a beautiful Japanese garden or 

 tiny park, possibly 40 feet square, containing the usual landscape, 

 trees, and statuary. In the center of this park and about 20 feet from 

 the farm dwelling stood an artistic little one-storj-^ house, about 14 by 

 16 feet in size. It looked like a large playhouse for children, but we 

 were informed that this was a special house for receiving guests and 

 serving tea. The Japanese paper windows were slid l)ack, revealing 

 a beautiful little parlor about 10 feet square, with the usual seat or 

 bench of honor on one side, and a tiny waiting room. The house 

 was a frame building, cross lathed and plastered, with posts exposed, 

 boarded up and down on the outside, and ceiled overhead. In the rear 

 of the house was a barn, 18 b}^ 20 feet. 



The house here described is a typical Japanese farmhouse, one story, 

 with thatched roof. The laborers' cottages are built upon the same 

 plan, but are smaller. The residences of wealthy country gentlemen 

 are somewhat larger and with more elaborate grounds. Imt they retain 

 the same simple arrangements and general style of living. There is 

 no arrogant caste in Japan. The rich and the poor, the landlord and 

 the tenant, the employer and the employed, live on the most intimate 

 and friendly terms. 



Among the farmers of Japan, rice is considered quite a luxury and 

 many can not afiord to eat it regularly. Among the poorer farmers 

 barley, millet, and sweet potatoes are substituted for rice. Among the 



