SOME ASPECTS OF RURAL JAPAN 



299 



sacred to them ; for he, being deaf, could 

 not hear the summons thither. And so 

 his worshipers seek to cheer him in his 

 loneliness by their own infectious merri- 

 ment. 



It is a natural instinct of the human 

 heart to feel that this act must be accept- 

 able to the object of its most unfettered 

 rejoicings: "Let us come before His 

 presence with thanksgiving and shozv 

 ourselves glad in Him with psalms/' 



JAPAN PRODUCES 4,000 VARIETIES 0E RICE 



It is impossible to get a clear idea of 

 the life of rural Japan until we realize 

 the all-importance of the rice crop to the 

 nation at large. Two-thirds of the culti- 

 vated land is devoted to it, and no less 

 than 4,000 varieties are produced, while, 

 as we have seen, it is the sowing, trans- 

 planting, and ingathering of it that form 

 the chief occasions of popular solicitude 

 and rejoicing. 



Until, at the Restoration, in 1868, the 

 Daimyo, the old feudal lords, retired into 

 private life, their incomes were paid in 

 rice, and to-day the peasants pay their 

 rent in the same commodity. 



Only when we have wandered observ- 

 antly off the beaten tracks and listened to 

 the chance scraps of conversation among 

 the country-folk in the summer months, 

 and heard most of it bearing on the state 

 of the crops and the probable prices 

 ahead, can we appreciate what the pre- 

 cious grain means, even in these days of 

 growing industrialism, to the people of 

 Japan. 



Japan is not only the third most impor- 

 tant rice-producing country in the world, 

 but its rice stands first in quality. In its 

 cultivation all is carried out according to 

 the strictest rule, with a conservatism 

 born of experience. The sowing, for in- 

 stance, must take place on the 88th day 

 of spring, the first day of which is also 

 Xew Year's Day. 



Before sowing, the seed is soaked in 

 salt water for a week, washed in fresh 

 water, and then dried, after which it is 

 planted in well-watered "nursery" beds. 

 About the end of May it is transplanted 

 into "paddy" fields in small bunches about 

 a foot apart, an operation employing 

 hundreds of thousands 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-uc-uta — "rice-field planting 

 songs." 



THE MOST MOMENTOUS PERIOD OF THE 

 YEAR 



The most momentous period of the 

 whole year, however, comes at the end of 

 August or the beginning of September, 

 when the ni-hyaku-toka draws near — the 

 "two hundred and tenth day" — for it is 

 the ten days which then follow that form 

 the season of intensest anxiety, of min- 

 gled 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 dread typhoon, which 

 not only marks the break-up of summer, 

 but incidentally the breaking 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-dispel- 

 lers" — and are bought at shrines of repute 

 all over the country. 



"THE HONORABLE LITTLE GENTLEMAN" — 

 THE SILKWORM 



Next in importance to rice come the 

 silk and tea industries, which furnish 

 revenues of some $100,000,000 and $25,- 

 000,000 respectively, silk being produced 

 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 treat- 

 ment of the precious worm itself. It is 

 popularly called ko sama — "The honor- 

 able little gentleman" — and during the 

 period of his "intensive cultivation." 

 mainly the month of August, the satisfac- 

 tion of his voracious appetite keeps whole 

 households occupied day and night, to the 

 exclusion of all else. 



