SOME ASPECTS OF RURAL JAPAN 



The leaf-strewn trays, arranged in tiers, 

 fill nearly every room in the house, and 

 the sound of the ceaseless nibbling of the 

 countless myriads is precisely that of the 

 scratching of a thousand pens in the great 

 hall of a college or university on an ex- 

 amination day. 



It is believed that any harsh or noisy, 

 ill-bred conduct on the part of persons 

 within earshot of the little creature will 

 seriously affect the quality of the silk pro- 

 duced. 



SUGARINESS TEA 



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 800 A. D., and for one 

 thousand years its use was almost con- 

 fined 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. 



Not the least interesting of one's ac- 

 quaintances in rural Japan is the country 

 policeman — ever ready to act, when 

 needed, as guide, philosopher, and 

 friend — upon his lonely beat. Some years 

 ago he received the following counsels 

 from police headquarters for the benefit 

 of the unsophisticated of the country- 

 side, the unconscious humor of some of 

 these admonitions suggesting that the 

 person who drafted them did so some- 

 what feelingly : 



"No criticisms should be made, either 

 by gesture or words, regarding the lan- 

 guage, attire, or actions of foreigners. 



"Foreigners are most sensitive regard- 

 ing cruelty to animals ; therefore special 

 attention should be given to this matter. 



"If a foreigner pulls out his watch and 



looks at it, you should think that he has 

 business elsewhere, and that it is time for 

 you to leave. 



"It is a mistake to suppose that a for- 

 eigner will always respond to a request 

 for a loan of money." 



During one of my explorations in the 

 Japanese Alps I met a little policeman— 

 the exact circumstances need not now be 

 specified — who insisted on sharing my 

 little room in the primitive hut where we 

 spent several nights. He also insisted on 

 sleeping on the floor, underneath my 

 hammock, which I had slung to a con- 

 venient beam in the roof. And yet when 

 I chanced to roll out during my sleep he 

 made no further reference to this start- 

 ling interruption than to murmur a word 

 of polite apology : "O jama wo itashima- 

 shita!" — "I am so sorry to have been in 

 your honorable way !" 



At the close of the paper contributed to 

 The Geographic for July, 1921, I spoke 

 of the strange contrasts that may often 

 be met with in modern Japan and which 

 cause one almost to rub one's eyes and 

 ask whether we are living in the twentieth 

 century or the tenth. 



Since those words were written a curi- 

 ous illustration of this has come to mv 

 knowledge. Near the famous Naval Yard 

 of Kure, in southern Japan, a ceremony 

 was recently held for the souls of de- 

 parter bullocks ! One hundred oxen, 

 gaily garlanded, were led in solemn array 

 to one of the chief Buddhist temples, 

 where suitable prayers were said on be- 

 half of their departed comrades. This 

 was followed by instruction in the Bud- 

 dhist scriptures, and finally they were 

 given a grand feast by their masters, who 

 apologized for all the unkind things they 

 had done to them ! 



A mile away Japan was building one of 

 the biggest battleships in the world ! 



