232 



Disc()Vi:m' 



after which it is ])l,intc<l iii wcil-watcrcd " nursery " 

 bi'ds. About the end of May it is transplanted into 

 " paddy-fields " in small bunches about a foot apart, 

 an operation employing literally almost millions of 





men and women knee-deep in water and mud. This is 

 an occasion of great rejoicing, and is celebrated with 

 special songs known as ta-ue-uta — " rice-field planting 

 songs." The most momentous period of the whole 

 year, however, comes at the end of August or the begin- 

 ning of September, when the ni-hyaku-loka — the " two 

 hundred and tenth day " — draws near, for it is the ten 

 days which then follow that form the season of intensest 

 an.xiety, of mingled hopes and fears, through which the 

 bulk of the population of Japan passes from year to year. 

 The rice is then ripening fast, and it is a gentle breeze 

 that is urgently needed, although it is just at that 

 precise moment that there is usually the gravest peril 

 threatening, in the dreaded typhoon, which not only 

 marks the break-up of summer, but incidentally the 



bnaking-up of much else ! With the ripening of the 

 various crops in their proper seasons, and with the birds 

 and countless varieties of insects in which Japan so 

 abounds eager to prey on them, the fields are dotted 

 over with little flags of bamboo and paper inscribed 

 with charms against their depredations. These are 

 called mushi-yoke — " vermin dispellers " — and are 

 bought at shrines of repute all over the country. 



Next in importance to rice come the silk and tea 

 industries, which furnish revenues of some 20 and nearly 

 5 million pounds sterling respectively, silk being pro- 

 duced mainly in central, and tea in central and southern 

 Japan. There are many features of peculiar interest 

 connected with the cultivation of silk, of which not 

 the least is the treatment of the precious worm itself. 

 It is popularly called ko sama — " the honourable 

 little gentleman" — and during the period of its "in- 

 tensive cultivation," mainly the month of August, the 

 satisfaction of its voracious appetite keeps whole house- 

 holds occupied day and night, to the exclusion of all 

 else. The leaf-strewn trays, arranged in tiers, fill 

 nearly every room in the house, and the sound of the 

 ceaseless nibbling of the countless mjTiads is precisely 

 that of the scratching of a thousand pens in the Cam- 

 bridge University Senate House on an examination 

 day. It is believed that any harsh or noisy, ill-bred 

 conduct on the part of persons within earshot of the 

 little creatures will seriously affect the quality of the 

 silk produced. 



Of tea, the national beverage of Japan (drunk always 

 without sugar or milk), we cannot speak in detail. Like 

 most good things in Japan, it was introduced from 

 China about a.d. 800, and for 1,000 years its use was 

 almost confined to the aristocracy' and the Court. It 

 is picked after three years' growth of the plant, and is 

 nearly all consumed in the country, with the exception 

 of some fifty million pounds exported to Canada and 

 the United States. 



Mention should not be omitted of the part played by 

 the policeman of the country-side as guide, philosopher 

 and friend to all who meet him there on his often lonely 

 beat. Some yearsago hewas instructed toimpresson the 

 good rustics, in their intercourse with European travel- 

 lers, the following cautions (the unconscious humour 

 lurking therein suggests the person responsible for 

 drafting them did so somewhat feelingly) : 



" No criticism should be made, either by gesture or 

 words, regarding the language, attire, or actions of 

 foreigners. 



" Foreigners are most sensitive regarding cruelty to 

 animals, therefore special attention should be given 

 to this matter. 



" ^\■hen a foreigner pulls out his watch a;i(i looks at it, 

 you should think that he has business elsewhere, and 

 that it is time for vou to leave. 





