266 COFFEE. 



been put in operation in China, where they bid fair to be as suc- 

 cessful as here. Japanese houses are generally mere skeletons 

 constructed of wood, in the country roofed with straw, in the 

 cities with tiles somewhat similar to the old Dutch pattern ; they 

 are arranged with screens which slide in grooves, and which, in 

 warm weather, can, if desired, be taken out on all four sides ; the 

 rooms are also simply separated with screens or sliding paper par- 

 titions about six feet high. They have no chairs or bedsteads, 

 everybody sitting cross-legged on the floor, which is composed of 

 thick, heavy grass mats, which also serve the purpose of a bed at 

 night. Shoes, which consist either of wooden clogs or straw san- 

 dals, are invariably removed before entering the house, which is 

 thus always kept neat and clean. Kice and fish are the principal 

 articles of diet, and chopsticks, as in China, are used to convey 

 the food to the mouth, no knife or fork being used. Tea is the 

 universal drink, although saki, a malt liquor brewed from rice 

 and barley, is used to a considerable extent. It is not strong and 

 fiery like distilled liquor, but will intoxicate if taken in sufficient 

 quantities. Costumes are scanty, especially in summer time, and 

 in the coimtry many of the males go naked with the ex!ception of a 

 scanty cloth aroimd the loins. This is also true of the boatmen at 

 the seaports, but in the cities all classes are obliged by law to wear 

 a sort of wrapper called Jcimona. Women are, as a rule, more 

 fully dressed, but they, as well as the men, usually go bareheaded. 

 In the higher classes some affect the European costume, and all are 

 more completely clad than the lower classes. Infants are never 

 carried in the arms, but on the back, supported by a shawl or 

 scarf, and clinging tightly, even when quite small, to the neck and 

 shoulders of the person carrying them. They are generally con- 

 fided to the care of the other children who are too young to work, 

 or of very old and superannuated persons. It is no uncommon 

 thing to see a little girl of five or six years, with an infant fastened, 

 upon her back, entering into sports with children of her own age, 

 without seeming to heed, in the slightest degree, the burden she 

 is carrying. While the language of adult Japanese is as different 

 as can well be imagined from that of Europeans, I have noted 

 that babies' cries sound quite natural. Indeed, I believe that the 

 language of babies is the same all the world over. Perhaps when 



