JAPANESE CUSTOMS AND HABITS. 193 



way to ours, so that they cut when being pulled to, and 

 not when pushed from, the operator. A rider gets on 

 his horse from the off (right) side instead of the 

 near (left), as we do. Speaking of saws reminds me 

 what excellent carpenters these people are. So 

 smoothly do they work, that sandpaper is unnecessary 

 and unknown, though in some cases the dried stem of 

 the equisetum is used for very fine work, and answers 

 admirably. 



The women paint and powder themselves, to show 

 that they are painted and powdered, not to deceive ; 

 there is no secrecy about it. Powder, rouge, and such 

 articles, are not bought under feigned names, and put 

 on secretly with closed doors, and as if no one ought to 

 know that such a thing was done. A Japanese damsel 

 sits by the open street, with her little cabinet of 

 cosmetics, her glass, brushes, and other concomitants 

 before her, chatting with the passers-by as she decorates 

 herself. Many a time I have hove-to during a walk, 

 and talked to these nut-brown girls, stripped to the 

 waist, as they went through their toilet. One great 

 aim, as showing especially good taste, is to leave two 

 or three triangular patches of their skin unpowdered. 

 These are always left on the back of the neck, running 

 up into the powdered surface, and looking like dark cones. 



N 



