DWELLINGS AT HAKODADI. 



439 



the inhabitants, and the charred timbers and ruins still remaining where a hundred houses had 

 stood but a few months before, proved the necessity of the most careful precautions. 



A few of the better houses and the temples are neatly roofed with brown earthen tiles, laid in 

 gutter form. The poorer people are forced to content themselves with mere thatched hovels, the 

 thatch of which is often overgrown with a fertile crop of vegetables and grass, the seeds of 

 •which have been deposited by vagrant crows. The walls of the buildings are generally con- 

 structed of pine boards, fastened lengthwise, with a layer inside and out, to the framework, 

 which is jointed with admirable skill. The boards in front and rear are made to slide horizon- 

 tally in grooves like shutters. At night they are barred fast, and in the day-time entirely 

 removed, to allow of the light to pass freely through the paper screens behind them. As in 

 Simoda, the roofs project beyond the walls of the houses, and serve as a shelter, in front for the 

 display of goods, and in the rear for the carrying on of various domestic operations. The 

 Japanese wood-work is never painted^ although in the interior of the houses it is occasionally 

 varnished or oiled ; the buildings consequently have a mean and thriftless look. In the wintry, 

 moist climate of Hakodadi, the effect of weather upon tlie unpainted pine boards was strikingly 

 apparent, causing them to contract mould and rot, so that the whole town had a more rusty, 

 ruined appearance than its age should indicate. 



Previous to building a house the ground is beaten smooth, and the floor is raised about two 

 feet above it, leaving a space in front and by one of the sides, which serves for a path to the 

 rear, and a place to store heavy goods, as the roof projects over and protects it from the weather. 

 In the shops the whole front is often taken out to display their contents, but in the dwellings 

 and the mechanics' establishments, there is usually a barred lattice of bamboo to hide the 

 inmates from passing observation. Each house has a charm placed over the lintel or doorpost, 

 consisting of the picture of a god, a printed prayer or a paper inscribed with some complicated 

 characters, designed to protect the dwelling from fire or any other calamity. 



The raised floor which covers nearly the whole 

 area of the house is covered with white mats 

 made soft and thick by being lined at the bottom 

 with straw. These are very neatly woven and 

 bound with cloth, and are all of the uniform size 

 prescribed by law, being three feet by six, and 

 placed in rows upon the floor so neatly asto have 

 the appearance of one piece. Upon these mats 

 the people sit to take their meals, to sell their 



Japanese Pillow and Cushion.-Drawer open. WarOS, tO Smokc their pipCS, tO COnVCrSe with 



their friends, and lie down at night without undressing themselves to go to sleep, adding, 

 however, a quilted mat for a cover, and the equivocal comfort of a hard box for a pillow. 

 The houses are generally lighted, as has been frequently observed, with windows of oiled 

 paper, though mica and shells are occasionally used instead. 



The interior of the houses is plain and simple in arrangement, but always scrupulously neat 

 and clean. There are in some of the better mansions occasional wood carvings of exquisite 

 workmanship, though not very elaborate in design. The paper windows and sliding screens 

 which divide the apartments are often adorned with paintings of landscape and birds. In 

 addition to the panels the walls of the room are frequently hung with gaily painted paper, 



