Chap. VI. 
PUBLIC BATHS. 
93 
civilization amongst a people, the lower orders 
amongst the Japanese come out in a most fa- 
vourable light when contrasted with the same 
classes amongst ourselves. Vegetables, too, were 
observed in abundance. All foreigners who visit 
Japan remark on the little flavour possessed 
by the vegetables of the country. This is 
probably owing to the peaty nature of the 
soil. Although dark in colour and apparently 
rich in vegetable matter, yet it has not the 
strength or substance of the soil which is found 
(for example) in the rich alluvial plain of the 
Yang-tze-kiang in China. 
In one of the villages through which we passed 
we observed what appeared to be a family 
bathing-room. The baths at the time were full 
of persons of both sexes, old and young, ap- 
parently of three or four generations, and all 
were perfectly naked. This was a curious exhi- 
bition to a foreigner, but the reader must 
remember we are now in Japan. Bathing-houses 
or rooms, both public and private, are found in 
all parts of the Japanese empire — in the midst 
of crowded cities, or, as we here see, in country 
villages. The bath is one of the institutions of 
the country ; it is as indispensable to a Japanese 
as tea is to a Chinaman. In the afternoon, in 
the evening, and up to a late hour at night, the 
bath is in full operation. Those who can afford 
it have baths in their own houses for the use of 
themselves and their families ; the poorer classes, 
