chapter viii
. for further considerations regarding the matter.
16 A correspondent in the “Pall Mall Gazette,” in protesting against the attempt to impose European clothing on those people who are accustomed to go without any, says: “In many parts of India there is a profound suspicion of the irreligiousness of clothing. The fakir is distressed even by the regulation rag upon which the Government modestly insists, and a fully dressed fakir would be scouted. The late Brahmo minister, Chesub Chunder Sen, expressed the belief that India would never accept a Christ in hat and boots. The missionary should remember that clothes‐morality is climatic, and that if a certain degree of covering of the body has gradually become in the Northwest associated with morality and piety, the traditions of tropical countries may have equally connected elaborate dress rather with the sensualities of Solomon in his glory than with the purity of the lily as clothed by Nature.”
17 Rein says: “The cleanliness of the Japanese is one of his most commendable qualities. It is apparent in his body, in his house, in his workshop, and no less in the great carefulness and exemplary exactness with which he looks after his fields.”
18 From the name _tokonoma,_ which means “bed‐place,” literally “bed of floor,” it is supposed that in ancient times the bed was made or placed in this recess.
19 In this connection it may be interesting to mention the various names applied to the privy by the Japanese, with a free translation of the same as given me by Mr. A. S. Mihara: _Setsu‐in,_ “snow‐ hide;” _Chodsu‐ba,_“place to wash hands” (the _chōdzu‐bachi,_ a convenience for washing the hands, being always near the privy); _Benjo_ and _Yo‐ba,_“place for business;” _Ko‐ka,_“ back‐frame.” _Habakari_ is a very common name for this place; the word _Yen‐ riyo,_ though not applied to this place, has the same meaning, it implies reserve.
These words with their meanings certainly indicate a great degree of refinement an delicacy in the terms applied to the privy.
20 The ordinary form of verandah is called _yen,_ or _yen‐gawa._ In Kishiu it is called simply _yen,_ while in Tokio it is called _yen‐ gawa._ A low platform is called an _ochi‐yen;_ a platform that can be raised or lowered is called an _age‐yen._ When the platform has no groove for the rain‐doors on the outer edge, it is called a _nuri‐yen,—nuri_ meaning wet, the rain in this case beating in and wetting the verandah. A little platform made of bamboo, which may be used as a shelf for plants, is called _sunoko._
21 A gate‐like structure seen in front of all shrines and temples.
22 This legend is from a work entitled “Chikusan Teizoden.”
23 Professor Atkinson, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. vi.
## part i.; Dr. Geerts, ibid., vol. vii. part iii.
Dr. O. Korschelt has made an extremely valuable contribution to the Asiatic Society of Japan, on the water‐supply of Tokio. Aided by Japanese students, he has made many analyses of well‐waters and waters from the city supply, and shows that, contrary to the conclusions of Professor Atkinson, the high‐ground wells are on the whole much purer than those on lower ground. Dr. Korschelt also calls attention to the great number of artesian wells sunk in Tokio, by means of bamboo tubes driven into the ground. The ordinary form of well is carried down thirty or forty feet in the usual way, and then at the bottom bamboo tubes are driven to great depths, ranging from one hundred to two hundred feet and more. He speaks of a number of these wells in Tokio and the suburbs as overflowing. There is one well not far from the Tokio Daigaku which overflows; and a very remarkable sight it is to see the water pouring over a high well‐ curb and flooding the ground in the vicinity. He shows that pure water may be reached in most parts of Tokio by means of artesian wells; and to this source the city must ultimately look for its water‐supply.
For further particulars concerning this subject, the reader is referred to Dr. Korschelt’s valuable paper in the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. xii. part iii., p. 143.
24 The pier‐glaas is happily unknown in Japan; a small disk of polished metal represents the mirror, and is wisely kept in a box till needed!
25 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. i. p. 20.
26 Owing to the sensible civil service of England, scholars and diplomates are appointed to these duties in the East; and as a natural result all the honors,—political, commercial, and literary,—have, with few exceptions, been won by Englishmen.
27 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. ix. part ii. p. 191.
28 Ibid., vol. x. Supplement.
29 Ibid., vol. iii. part ii. p. 131.
30 In Anam I noticed that the bed‐rooms were indicated by hanging cloth
## partition as well as by those made of matting.
31 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi. part i. p. 109.
32 Satow gives quite a different rendering of this passage.
33 Translations of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. ii. p. 119.
34 Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. iii. part ii.
35 In Mr. Aston’s translation this word is printed “heart,” but evidently this must be a misprint.
36 It is lamentable to reflect how many monstrous designs have been perpetrated under the general name of Gothic, which are neither in spirit nor letter realized the character of Mediaeval art. In London these extraordinary ebullitions of uneducated taste generally appear in the form of meeting‐houses, music‐halls, and similar places of popular resort. Showy in their general effect, and usually overloaded with meretricious ornament, they are likely enough to impose upon an uninformed judgment, which is incapable of discriminating between what Mr. Ruskin has called the “Lamp of Sacrifice,”—one of the glories of ancient art,—and the lust of profusion which is the bane of modern design.—_Eastlake’s Hints on Household Taste,_ p. 21.
37 Notes of a visit to Hachijô, in 1878. By F. V. Dickins and Ernest Satow. Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, vol. vi. part iii. p. 435.
38 Vol. iv. p. 68.