ash, is an indispensable article of furniture in every sitting-room, whether it be shop or kitchen. The pipe, made of metal, has a bowl about as broad and deep as the nail of the little finger. It holds sufficient tobacco to afford the gratification of three whiffs. These taken, the ashes are knocked out, and the pipe laid down with as much satisfaction as if the owner had had an honest smoke of an hour's duration. Out of doors the Japanese carries his pipe in a leathern case, which, together with his tobacco-pouch, is fastened at his girdle. Many, even among the poorer classes, have at the end of the cord on which pipe and pouch are slung, a piece of carved ivory or bone. The tobacco smoked by the Japanese is home-grown, and to the British taste flavourless save for a soupçon of chopped hay. Tiny whiffs of smoke were going up from many of the groups squatted on the shop floors waiting for custom.

The street was full of pictures. Here was a woman washing vegetables in water drawn from the street well, with barrel top and pulley and rope overhead to haul up the bucket. Next door was a cooper's shop, with an attractive store of the buckets and dippers, which abound in Japanese households. Further on was a man mending tins. On the

opposite side of the road a woman was spreading out rice to dry on mats. Her neighbour, equally industrious, was carefully stretching on a board the blouse she had been washing for her husband. Here was a butcher's shop with chrysanthemums blooming among the shoulders of mutton and ribs of beef. Many of the joints had attached to them long strips of paper, on which Japanese characters were traced in a bold hand. They probably stated the price and recommended the quality of the meat; but to the new-comer there was a strange incongruity between this learned-looking caligraphy and a plate of mutton chops. The tailors in the shop next door seemed familiar enough as they sat cross-legged on the floor busily stitching. Of course

the

sixteen-shilling trouser is unknown in Japan; but the Japanese when fully dressed wears a surprising number of garments, the making of which keeps the tailors busy.

Another thing that had a home-look was the fruit shops, which, as in many parts of London, were open to the street; but in the fruit shops, as in all the others, the floor is raised only a few inches from the pavement, which gives the general idea that the people are sitting in the street itself. There was a grocer's shop with father, mother, and three

children squatted round the hibaichi, each with a hand over the glowing charcoal, for though the sun was up the morning air was keen. The man pounding rice next door had no need of artificial means to keep him warm, nor had the man carrying water in two tubs slung on on a bamboo pole and carried across his shoulder. This seems an uncom

fortable way of getting along with portable property; but it is an ancient habit with the Japanese, and he makes light of it. If the weight be unusually heavy, he eases the burden on his shoulder by thrusting a smaller bamboo under the larger one, using it as a lever which rests on his other shoulder, the end being held in his hand. All kinds of things are carried in this way. There passed us in the street what seemed like a bed of chrysanthemums, but was really a coolie carrying innumerable pots on two trays slung from bamboo in the manner described.

There were several cake and sweet shops, whose contents were more curious than toothsome. But they had attractions for the countless double-head children who stood around ; the larger head looked longingly at the bountiful stores, whilst the smaller one stared out into space, its owner not yet having reached

the age when it could covet sweetmeats. Through this bright and bustling scene the jinrikisha men ran to and fro, laughing and chattering as if it were rather fun than otherwise to be beasts of burden.

CHAPTER XIV.

FÊTE DAY AT ASAKUSA.

TOKIO, the present capital of Japan, is eighteen miles from Yokohama, the two towns being connected by a line of railway that takes fifty minutes to do the journey. On the other hand the fare charged is very high, being four shillings for a first-class ticket, and all luggage must be paid for. The railway, like most of the public works in Japan, was constructed by Englishmen, and all the material came from England. It is odd in crossing bridges spanning rivers in one of the oldest empires in the world to find familiar English names from Birmingham or Sheffield. The carriages are comfortable and well appointed, forming a kind of compromise between the English and American system. The first and second-class open from end to end, the seats being placed longitudinally; but in the first-class carriages a party of six can shut