PREFACE. 



In publishing these results of many years of study, I hope to 

 afford welcome information and instruction to educated readers 

 of all callings regarding many questions as to the state of civiliza- 

 tion in Japan and the industrial activity of its inhabitants. The 

 rich literature upon this land and people has either not touched 

 at all upon many matters which are here thoroughly treated, or 

 at least in such a way that the scientific and technical side has 

 received scant justice. This circumstance, and various others, 

 inclined me, during my stay in Japan, to extend my observations 

 and studies to regions that did not come directly within the 

 sphere of my undertakings. Still I do not fear that competent 

 judges will find, on that account, any want of devotion and 

 thoroughness in the sections on Japanese art-industry. 



It is very true, however, that with the wide range which I 

 allowed myself, very considerable difficulties arose, especially when 

 it came to working up and completing in Europe the impressions 

 and results obtained in Japan. That this is so, and how it is so, 

 will best be seen in the separate chapters themselves. 



In what has been said I have already indicated the chief reason 

 why this work is so late in appearing. It is now more than five 

 years since the publication of the first volume, and two and a half 

 years since its English edition, although since my return from 

 Japan I have dedicated to the task the greater part of the time and 

 strength left me by the duties of my profession. 



With the satisfaction of having tilled for the first time a field 

 that was yet for the most part uncultivated, I unite the less agree- 

 able consciousness that all I can offer is only patchwork, notwith- 

 standing all my care and labour. From the fulness and uncommon 

 importance of the material, it was not possible to treat all subjects 



