Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-07
JAPANESE HOUSES.
Fragile Structures Easy Prey to Wind
and Fire.

From the Chicago News.
A Japanese house consists in the main OF
a. post at each corner and roof. The roof
may or may not be covered with heavy
channeled purplish tiles-it makes little diff
ference in the long run whether it is or is
not for if it is not tiled the first typhoon
that comes along removes it into some
body's garden anything up to quarter OF
a mile away, and if it is tiled heavily
enough to resist the typhoon SO much this
worse for the people underneath it wheI
the first genuine earthquake arrives. But
the odds are that it will be burned down
before either happens as the Japanese use
very cheap lamps and very fiery petroleum,
and are regular children about fires. OF
course. something else is done to the TOUR
posts and the roof before they become
house in which births, marriages and
deaths can take place. But really remark
ably little is necessary. Cross beams are
naturally added to support the weight of
the roof grooves are made in the cross
beams, and in the platform raised a foot or
two above the ground which constitutes the
floor A Japanese house is all on one floor
generally; in fact, one might say It is all
one floor. Between the grooves In this
floor and the grooves in the crossbeams are
run shutters with paper panels to divide
the houses into whatever number of rooms
the owner may choose, which depends on
the number of bed rooms he may require.
There are no doors or passages in TYPICAL
Japanese house. In It every room acts as
a passage into the room beyond it. and for
the door you slide back the panel that hap
pens to be nearest to you. For this sliding
there are little bronze sunk handles in the
wooden frames of the panels. The outside
paper shutters do not come quite to the
edge of the platform floor, the grooves
along the edges are filled at night or in
severe weather with wooden shutters, each
of which is held in its place by the one
that follows it. the last one being secured
with fimsy wooden bolt
japanese are SO iona of flowers that in
the case of fruit trees they are willing to
sacrifice the fruit to the blossom. They
grow some fruit trees, such as the double
blossomed cherry, entirely for flowers. They
cut the blossoms off the fruit trees for sale.
They will travel immense distances to see
a garden famous for a particular kind OF
blossom in its prime, such as the park at
Nara when the scarlet azaleas are in their
glory, or the temple of Kameido when the
gnarled old plum trees of the sleeping
dragon are covered with their living snow.
In the same way they will travel immense
distances to see some famous piece of
scenery generally occupied by a temple or
tea house, or both. The shores of Lake
Biwa, the largest sheet of fresh water in
the country, which is within riksha drive
of kioto, especially popular with sight
seers. Among their favorte sights is the
largest tree in Japan 1000 years old.
Very many Japanese houses have beauti-
full gardens. The Japanese excel in gar
dening, and even in Toxic, where space is
very valuable. they contrive to have some
picturesque adjunct. Over a bamboo trel-
lis, for instance, will hang the marvelousy
picturesque Japanese gourd, which forms a
favorte subject for the decoration of metal
work, especially the antimony metal work
thinly sivefed over with which the Japa-
nese' flood the western market. These
gourds, with a pinch in the middle like a
lady's waist, when dried and followed are
fitted with shoppers for pilgrims water bot
ties, and are very frequently exported If
he can do nothing more, every Japanese
who can afford it will have his row of
earthenware jars containing dwarfed bios
soming fruit trees or tiny Japanese frs,
which are made to grow smaller as they
grow older.