IMPKESSIONS OF JAPAN 
145 
We were lucky in seeing that grand climber, the Wistaria , in per¬ 
fection. In its wild state it frequently fails to hold its own, but 
when it has succeeded—when it has climbed 80 to 100 feet up a 
suitable tree, and its flowers hang in a very waterfall of lavender- 
coloured blossom, it is truly a glorious sight. The white species, 
whose countless racemes are often seen hanging from light bamboo 
frameworks about houses and gardens, is equally beautiful. Then 
there are the Azaleas on the mountains, white, or every shade of red, 
so that the very woods glow with the warm colour. A shrubby 
Potentilla is as common as it is decorative; the Japanese Bramble 
is as beautiful as it is singular. To these may be added the Solomon’s- 
Seal, a magenta-coloured Lucerne, several ferns allied to Osmunda , 
a fine wild Strawberry which is unfortunately quite tasteless, and 
the now quite familiar Ampelopsis veitchii. Lastly, while there 
are white roses the size of sixpences, there are others as big as 
teacups. 
The Japanese artists conventionalize in such a masterful manner 
that it is always possible to tell the genus of a decorative insect, 
often (especially with the Swallow-tails) even the actual species, so 
well are the essential characters caught and fixed. 
Lastly, while the form of Fuji-no-yama is now almost as familiar 
in Europe as in Japan, it is probably not so well known that the 
fantastic outlines of other mountains in their pictures are largely based 
on the weird, almost grotesque forms of the crags of Myogi-san, 
between Karuizawa and Tokyo. Indeed the Japanese have an almost 
child-like love of anything approaching the grotesque in Nature. 
Japanese poetical feeling was well shown by the congratulatory 
telegram sent by the Mikado to Edward VII. on his coronation:— 
“ The Emperor of the Land of the Kising Sun congratulates the 
Emperor of the Kealm on which the Sun never sets.” 
The Japanese are the most polite people that I have as yet come 
across; they are also by far the cleanest, and constantly put one to 
shame in that respect. Japanese crowds have justly been described 
as the sweetest in the world. This reminds me of a piece of advice 
that I would give to any European travelling in Japan. At the 
port of debarkation supply yourself with socks constructed to 
accommodate the great toe by itself, and have a pair of house 
sandals made to your own size (which, whatever your stature, will 
probably be far bigger than any kept in stock). These may be 
carried in a small cotton bag and worn whenever a house, or shop, 
or temple is entered. It is cold to walk with only stockinged feet, 
boots are out of the question, and the best form of sandal, with a 
