I  have  quoted  these  tables,  which  may  seem  dry
to  some  people  and  absurd  to  others,  because  it  is
from  a  nation's  holidays  that  one  can  best  judge
its  character.  Compare  the  Italian  festa  with  the
English  bank-holiday,  and  you  have  in  a  nut-
shell the  strongest  contrast  between  the  two
nations.  With  this  I  shall  pass  on,  to  give  the
Queer  Things  about  Japan  which  came  under
my  own  observation.
XXXV


Queer  Things  about  Japan

CHAPTER  I

HOW    THE    JAPANESE    LIVE

A  Japanese  house  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the
world.  It  consists  of  a  post  at  each  corner  and  a
roof.  The  roof  may  or  may  not  be  covered  with
enormous  purple  tiles.  It  makes  little  difference
in  the  long  run.  For  if  it  is  not,  the  first  typhoon
that  comes  along  transfers  it  to  somebody's  garden
quarter  of  a  mile  away ;  and  if  it  is,  it  may  resist
the  typhoon  ;  but  woe  betide  its  inhabitants  when
the  first  genuine  earthquake  happens.  They  will
be  caught  like  sparrows  under  a  sieve,  only  more  so.
But  the  odds  are  that  it  will  be  burnt  down  before
either  happens,  as  the  Japanese  use  very  cheap
lamps  and  very  nasty  petroleum,  and  are  regular
children  about  fires.
Of  course  something  else  is   done   for  the  four
posts  and  the  roof  before  they  become  a  house  in

1  1


QUEER   THINGS   ABOUT   JAPAN

which  births,  deaths,  and  marriages  can  take  place.
