146 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



the world was being formed, and the earth was still soft like mud, or like thick oil floating on 

 the surface of water, there arose out of the mass the flag or rush called asi (Erianthus 

 japonicus], from which there sprang the land-forming god, Kuni-soko-tatsino-mikoto. After 

 him arose the god and goddess whose functions are the baking of mud-earth and the baking 

 of sand-earth. As the asi grows thickly in marshy places round the Japanese coast, we have 

 here stated the geological process of the formation of new ground. One of the next proceedings 

 was the special production of the Japanese islands by the god Iza-na-gi, and the goddess 

 Iza-na-mi. They stood on the heaven-bridge and dipped a spear in the muddy waters. 

 Then they raised the spear, and each drop that fell from it formed an island. Then followed 

 the loves of this divine pair, who descended on Dai Nippon, the larger island, which, indeed, 

 may be regarded as the mainland of Japan. They met near the stalk of the asi, from which 

 the land-forming god had sprung, and which had now grown into a tall imperial column. 



A JAPANESE VEGETABLE-PEDLAR. 



They regarded each other with looks of admiration. But, unhappily, the goddess was not free 

 from all the human weaknesses of her sex, for she spoke first, and from that fact only a 

 presage of evil could be drawn. The first child born to them was set adrift in an ark of 

 reeds, but survived many perils and became the progenitor of an illustrious race. 



The physical characteristics of the Japanese type are a flat forehead with more than the 

 usual distance between the eyebrows, a small but well-formed nose, slightly raised nostrils, and 

 small black eyes, rather less oblique than the Chinese, lank black hair, little or no beard, 

 short legs and low stature, the average being about 5 feet 4 inches. The complexion is sallow, 

 or dirty olive-yellow. "It is curious," says Dr. W. H. Guillemard, "how the face-complexion 

 of these people differs from the body-complexion. In the course of two visits to Japan, in 

 which I travelled much in various parts of the country, I saw many hundreds of naked 

 Japanese, the bathing of both sexes in company being at that time the rule, and I was struck 

 particularly with the fact that, in spite of their sallow or yellowish complexion, their bodies 



