The Days of a Man 



D900 



galling to those who long for some degree of self- 

 extrication. 

 Gracious From the museum we went to a large tea house, 

 hospitality vv'here the leading citizens of Morioka were again 

 gathered to meet us. Tea and sweetmeats having 

 been served, the mayor, a bright, active, American- 

 sort of man, made a speech of welcome thanking me 

 for my visit to his humble town, and presenting in 

 the name of the municipality one of Morioka's finest 

 iron kettles, also a kakemono by the noted Kawabata, 

 called Gyokusho or "Jewel-writer" for his delicate 

 touch. The picture represents a turtle, the symbol 

 of long life, under the full moon. 



Mutsu 

 and the 

 Kitakami 



The road northward from Morioka to Aomori on 

 the Straits of Tsugaru winds up through the pretty 

 mountain scenery of Mutsu province, with very 

 noble views from the passes down into the deep, 

 wooded valley of the tortuous Kitakami. Near the 

 summit we saw clearings, "deadenings," and other 

 evidences of frontier life, until, striking another 

 foaming river, we were let down quickly to a rice 

 plain backed by grassy moors and big, shallow lakes. 

 Then, with the coming of darkness, we dimly beheld 

 conical islands rising from out a bay, and — finally 

 — Aomori itself, where I was again hospitably re- 

 ceived at a mission, this time a Protestant Episcopal 

 one under the direction of Miss Bertha Babcock. 



Shortly after dawn, fishmarket time, the outside 

 door being still locked, I climbed out of my bedroom 

 window to the admiration of curious neighbors, a 

 Japanese mother and half a dozen partly shaven tots 



C 52 J 



