92 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan. 



Upon the feet short stockings, or foot mittens, are worn, 

 fastened around the ankle by a simple clasp. They are cleft 

 between the great and second toe, for the thong of their 

 straw sandals or wooden clogs, which are always slipped off 

 the feet and left at the door of the porch on entering a house. 



During the past fifteen years European clothing has been 

 adopted to a large extent in cities open to foreign influence, 

 while the court costume and the official dress in all the de- 

 partments of the government are of foreign style. Gowns 

 and skirts are poorly adapted to the active pursuits of men, 

 although they are still worn by all in their home life, and 

 even by some foreigners during the relaxation from active 

 duty which warm summer evenings invite. 



One of the most striking adaptations of foreign costume 

 which I saw — it was on a winter's day — consisted of the 

 loin-cloth, which is never omitted, a heavy woollen overcoat, 

 devoid of buttons, and a pair of wooden clogs, while from a 

 staff over the shoulder was suspended a pair of foreign boots 

 and trousers, which the noon-day sun had rendered quite 

 superfluous. 



While the Japanese wear no linen, or its equivalent, they 

 are excessively given to hot bathing. It is customary to 

 bathe daily. Some have bath-tubs at their houses, and they 

 are always found in hotels ; but the great mass of the people 

 living in cities and towns resort to public bath-houses, where, 

 for a fraction of a cent each, men, women and children may 

 enjoy a social bath in large tanks, which are often exposed 

 to view from the street. Bathing suits are quite superfluous. 

 These houses are full of people every evening, and are more 

 or less frequented during the da}^. Whether in dwelling, 

 hotel or public bath-house, the tub is filled but once a day. 

 Meanwhile, it may be patronized by hundreds. The purity 

 of the water is preserved in some measure, however, by the 

 disuse of soap, that article until recently being known in 

 Japan only as an importation.* 



During my travels, my antipathy to the cosmopolitan bath 

 of the hotels was soon marked. I was therefore offered the 

 first chance at the tub after the old water had been retired 



* Its Japanese name, shabon, is taken from the Spanish Xabon, by whom it was 

 kitrodaced three hundred years ago. 



