442 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



have walls two feet tliick, made of dried mud and cobbles, and faced with stone, while their 

 roofs are securely constructed of earthen tiles. These warehouses are generally two stories in 

 height, the upper one having window shutters of wood sheathed with iron. Their exterior is 

 sometimes covered with a coat of fine plaster, which, with their substantial structure, gives 

 them a neatness and solidity of aspect which contrast greatly with the flimsy stained look of 

 the ordinary houses. They are iirobably depots for the storage of goods which belong to the 

 government, and are kept with great care and guarded watchfully. 



The shops in Hakodadi generally contain such goods as are of a cheap sort, and adapted to 

 the restricted wants of a poor population. The stock is made up of a miscellaneous assortment 

 of coarse, thick cottons, inferior silks, common earthen and China ware, lacquered bowls, cups, 

 stands and chop sticks, cheap cutlery, and ready made clothing. Furs, leather, felted cloths, 

 glass-ware, or copper articles are rarely seen, nor are books and stationery very common. The 

 provision shops contain rice, wheat, barley, pulse, dried fish, seaweed, salt, sugar, sackee, soy, 

 charcoal, sweet potatoes, flour, and other less necessary articles, and all apparently in abundant 

 quantities. There is no public market in the town, as neither beef, pork, nor mutton are eaten, 

 and very little poultry. Vegetables, and a preparation made of beans and rice flour, which has 

 the consistency and appearance of cheese, are hawked about the streets, and form a considerable 

 portion of the diet of the people. The signs of the shops, in accordance with the general prac- 

 tice in Japan, are inscribed on the paper windows and doors, in various well known devices and 

 cyphers, either in Chinese or Jajianese characters. The shopmen were at first very shy, and 

 showed but little disposition to sell their goods to the Americans ; but when they became some- 

 what more familiar with the strangers, the characteristic eagerness of tradesmen developed 

 itself to the full, and the Hakodadi merchants showed themselves as clever at their business as 

 any Chatham street or Bowery salesman with us. They bustled about the raised platform upon 

 which they were perched, pulled out the di-awers arranged on the walls, and disjilayed their 

 goods to the greatest advantage when they thought there was a chance ©f catching the eye and 

 pleasing the taste of a passing American. They were always very jealous, however, of their 

 prerogatives, and were exceedingly annoyed if any of their purchasers stepped upon the 

 platform, which was their trading sanctum, and as carefully guarded against intrusion as the 

 "behind the counter" of a New York shopman. The purchaser ordinarily stood under the 

 roof, on the ground, in the space which intervened between the sidewalk and the elevated shop 

 floor. Some of the more impatient and intrusive Yankees, however, would occasionally spring 

 up, and pulling out the goods, handle them very unceremoniously, not, however, without a 

 serious protest on tlie part of the sellers, who sometimes were so annoyed that oflicial complaints 

 were made by them to the authorities. The shoi^keepers had always a fixed price for their 

 goods, and all attempts to beat them down were useless, and generally rebuked by an expres- 

 sion of displeasure. 



There are four large Buddhist temples in Hakodadi, one of which, called the Zhiogcn-zhi, or 

 the country's protector, is a good specimen of Japanese architecture. It was built by the 

 townspeople about twenty years since, and is kept in excellent repair. The tiled roof rises fully 

 sixty feet from the ground, and is supported by an intricate arrangement of girders, posts, and 

 tie-beams, resting upon large lacquered pillars. This temple is one of the most conspicuous 

 objects seen when entering the harbor. The principal apartment in the interior is elaborately 

 carved and richly gilded. The carving and sculpture about the altar, the niches^ and cornices, 

 are of wood and brass, and show very skilful workmanship. The designs are dragons , 



