The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-03-03

take ship instead, and we therefore re-
turned to Kobe by boat and thence by rail
tothat interesting city. Kioto is about
% miles from Kobe in the interior and
was formerly the seat of government.
Here are the old palace buildings and
grounds which, through the kind Off
.ces of the American minister, we were
permitted to visit. The buildings are
simply interesting from an historical
point of view, being very plain, barn
like structures but with tapestries,
bronzes, carving and paintings OIL the
walls, no one knows of how ancient q
date. In Kioto we had better chance
to see and judge the Japanese as peo-
pie, their customs, etc., for being in the
interior, everything was more distinct
ly japanese, without the undermining
influences of contact with Europeans
that makes the natives of the coast
cities so disagreeable. We were, or ap-
peared to be at least. veritable curiosi-
ties to most of the inhabitants and
were followed 10y gaping, jabbering
horde of men, women and children
whenever we took stroll through the
streets. After one or two attempts we
stuck TO our rickshas closely. The
climate of that portion we visited is
delightful; it is neither very cold in
winter nor unpleasantly warm in sum-
mer, but health-giving and invigorat-
ing. The coast is occasionally visited
by the much dreaded and very destruc-
tive typhoons, and earthquakes are al
so more or less frequent, but the latter
are not as severe as in former years.
WONDERFUL ARTISTS,
The japanese are intelligent, bright,
active, industrious and we'll behaved,
neat in their dress and habits, method
ical in their ways, amenable to their
laws, easily governed and a happy and
contented people. They have great
confidence in, and love and respect for,
their emperor and believe their nation
to be the peer of any nation on
earth. Their homes are scrupuIous-
ly neat and clean, and their family re-
lations very happy. They are indefati-
gatle workers, good providers, fair
business men and many are marvellous
artisans and artists. Much of their
work in the curio line and also in art.
icles of practical usefulness is as near
perfection as is possible for man to at
tain. In pottery and china and its
decoration their work is exquisite, the
satsnma and cloisonne ware being fa-
nous the world over. Such dainty and
frail objects! And then again others
strong and massive, and always per-
fection in detail, design and coloringl
saw one little bowl in which were
painted thousand butterflies, many
different kinds, large and small, some
so small that you could scarcely make
out the form, and yet when this bowl
was studied through strong magnify
ing glass, each butterfly was perfec-
tion itself. There were urns and vases
as tall as /, but still the same perfec-
tion of design and dainty coioring.
Embroidering in silk and gold, drawn
work in linen, all beautifully done as
many of our American lady experts
will testify. The work in bronze and
carving in wood and ivory is unsur-
passed. have bamboo cane around
which, is carved serpent that twines
in and out of holes in the wood as a
serpent would naturally through a
worm eaten log, and the colorlng is so
natural and the work so near life, that
it almost sends shudder over one to
look at it. In Yokohama an Ameri-
can eagle was shown me. 1t was four
feet from tip to tip of its outstretched
wings and was made Of beautifully
carved ivory, deftly put together and
of exquisite workmanship. IF / had
the time / would like to describe to
you the different processes in the man
ufacture and decoration of different
articles that [.saW in their workshops,
to demonstrate to you the remarkable
ingenuity, skill, patience and care dis
played by these wonderful little work
men.
There were very few miles of rail-
roads in operation at that time. The
cars were the English style of compart-
Eent cars, LIST, End and 3rd class. /
saw one trolley line in Kioto, but do
not think il was in operation.