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26 HONDA THE SAMURAI. are the characteristics of the people in the Mikado's empire. Paint is rarely used on the woodwork, the delicate grain and fragrance of the native woods being too highly appreciated. After one has lived even for a short time in Japan he wonders why people in other countries spoil so much beauty by smearing it over with oil pigments ; but where we paint, the Japanese lacquer, using the juice of the varnish-bearing sumach. This substance, laid on as varnish, leaves a hard, lustrous surface difficult to scratch. Woe be to him who touches or approaches it when it is fresh ! Lacquer-poisoning is a tempo- rary purgatory of itch, rash, and swelling. Respectable ladies and gentlemen soon look like prize- fighters. In aggravated cases, the eyes close entirely and the nose bursts into fiery bloom. The misery lasts a week or more; but some persons are never affected by the sap. The floor is laid with tatami, or rice straw, two inches thick, made into mats six feet long, and bound by an inch border of black cloth. The face of the mat is of fine smooth grass, like that in the best matting, but the inside is of coarse rice straw. Being so closely laid, the floor reminds one of a colossal chessboard. The joints are so tight that there are no draughts ; and the air at the floor is of a singularly warm temperature. The ceiling is of thin boards of wood, grained like watered silk, crossed by black lacquered strips of wood or colored bamboo. Plaster on the ceiling is decidedly unpopular on account of earthquakes.
A JAPANESE HOME. 27 The Japanese are not so passionately fond of knowl- edge as to wish to see the law of gravity illustrated at every chill of Mother Earth by having their skulls cracked by falling lirne. On the walls, after priming of pulp made of common waste, the ornamented or gilt paper is pasted. Here we see that Japan is the original home of wall paper, and that the designs are quiet and elegant. The ceiling is rarely so covered. Closets, chimneys, glass windows, or sashed casements are unknown in the city, except where some one has brought a pane of glass from the Dutchmen of Nagasaki, and, as a mere curiosity, has set it in a door, calling it giyamon (diamond). Cuddy-holes for small articles are made and often exquisitely adorned. Cabinets and chests of drawers have their place. Charcoal, which is used for warmth, is smokeless and odorless. One would suppose the use of this fuel to be dangerous, but one never hears of a native losing his life by it. The openness of the houses prevents ill effects. The partitions, which occupy three sides of nearly every room, the fourth side being the wall, slide in grooves. The tops of the frames are not quite six feet high from the floor, and it is plain that there are not as many tall men in this country as in some others, else they would surely often bump their heads. Over the partition frame is a space of two feet to the ceiling, in which is set a handsome lattice of white-pine or camphor or Iteaki wood watered like silk ; or perforated land- scapes, or mountain outlines, or flocks of birds in
- Page 1 and 2: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN D EGO
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- Page 11 and 12: efcicatum. TO THE NOBLE BAND OF MIS
- Page 13 and 14: PREFACE. THIS story owes its origin
- Page 15 and 16: CONTENTS. I. THE CITY OF THE HAPPY
- Page 19 and 20: HONDA THE SAMURAI. CHAPTER I. THE C
- Page 21 and 22: THE CITY OF THE HAPPY WELL. 11 All
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- Page 29 and 30: THE CITY OF TEE HAPPY WELL. 19 wors
- Page 31 and 32: THE CITY OF THE HAPPY WELL. 21 [of
- Page 33 and 34: A JAPANESE HOME. 23 and smirks up t
- Page 35: A JAPANESE HOME. 25 a tiny tea-pot,
- Page 39 and 40: A JAPANESE HOVE. 29 or laid on grid
- Page 41 and 42: A JAPANESE HOME. 31 In summer when
- Page 43 and 44: CHAPTER III. THE BEGINNING OF ART.
- Page 45 and 46: THE BEGINNING OF ART. 35 and legal
- Page 47 and 48: THE BEGINNING OF ART. 37 the origin
- Page 49 and 50: THE BEGINNING OF ART. 39 determined
- Page 51 and 52: THE BEGINNING OF ART. 41 " Graduall
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- Page 55 and 56: THE DREAM-WOULD. 45 flowers coverin
- Page 57: THK FAITHFUL CAT AT FUKUI. See pa$r
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- Page 62 and 63: 50 HONDA THE SAMUSAL After the firs
- Page 64 and 65: 52 HONDA THE SAMUBAI. " Yes, yes !
- Page 66 and 67: 54 HONDA THE SAMUEAI. and looked ac
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- Page 70 and 71: 58 HONDA THE SAMURAI. about to land
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- Page 78 and 79: 66 HONDA THE SAMUEAL nanuahi, or ma
- Page 80 and 81: 68 HONDA THE SAMURAI. The four kago
- Page 82 and 83: CHAPTER VI. A BOY BABY'S LIFE. T~ E
- Page 84 and 85: 72 HONDA THE SAMURAI. and black eye
A JAPANESE HOME. 27<br />
The Japanese are not so passionately fond of knowl-<br />
edge as to wish to see the law of gravity illustrated<br />
at every chill of Mother Earth by having their skulls<br />
cracked by falling lirne. On the walls, after priming<br />
of pulp made of common waste, the ornamented or<br />
gilt paper is pasted. Here we see that Japan is the<br />
original home of wall paper, and that the designs<br />
are quiet and elegant. The ceiling is rarely so<br />
covered.<br />
Closets, chimneys, glass windows, or sashed casements<br />
are unknown in the city, except where some<br />
one has brought a pane of glass from the Dutchmen<br />
of Nagasaki, and, as a mere curiosity, has set it in a<br />
door, calling it giyamon (diamond). Cuddy-holes<br />
for small articles are made and often exquisitely<br />
adorned. Cabinets and chests of drawers have their<br />
place. Charcoal, which is used for warmth, is smokeless<br />
and odorless. One would suppose the use of<br />
this fuel to be dangerous, but one never hears of a<br />
native losing his life by it. The openness of the<br />
houses prevents ill effects. The partitions, which<br />
occupy three sides of nearly every room, the fourth<br />
side being the wall, slide in grooves. The tops of<br />
the frames are not quite six feet high from the floor,<br />
and it is plain that there are not as many tall men in<br />
this country as in some others, else they would surely<br />
often bump their heads. Over the partition frame<br />
is a space of two feet to the ceiling, in which is set<br />
a handsome lattice of white-pine or camphor or<br />
Iteaki wood watered like silk ; or perforated land-<br />
scapes, or mountain outlines, or flocks of birds in