The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-21


fertilizing purposes. The chief crops
are rice. barley. beans mfllet, wheat,
buckN heat. potatoes. radishes. tea and
tobacco. Not having rye they make
their liquor out of rice, cali it sake and
drink it hot
The chief occupation is agriculture.
The farms are very small. Ten acres
of land in one piece is looked upon
as vast estate. A tWo-acre farm is
considered large enough for one fam
lily There are silk and cotton mills,
some good mines and a big fishing pop
ula tion. Japan is also famous for its
porcelain and pottery.
Japanese at Home.
The Japanese DO not have any great
material comforts, unless. one believes,
as some persons persist in believing,
that a bath is a comfort. The Jap
anese battle several times q day If
they get a chance. and every re-
spectacle person is supposed TO battle
at least on5s a day. The main bath
of the day is a hot one It begins
at p. m. when papa takes his, and
then on in succession every member
of the household takes a boil in the
big tub. the hired help coming last.
This bathing process is not remarkable
for the privacy in which IL is con-
Quoted. Frequently the bathroom is
in the parfor. and although Martha or
Phyllis may have ofgpaHy that night
an hands are supposed 30 he polite
enough 20 look in the other corner Of
the room and refrain from humorous
comment when the old gentleman leads
the procession to the tub
she japanese houses are generally
low and the roof is the solid part. From
nrI IN Wit b
mud or waffle. after the roof is hoist
ed on poles. and the other side or sides
left open. with 4 narrow veTanda, sep
arated from the. house by paper shut
ters which slide I'm grooves. Often the
four walls are paper. Wooden shut
tiers are kept in reserve 10 be fitted
i'm when il rains. The floors are COW
cred by thick mats, which are chairs,
tables. divans. ottomans and beds for
the JAMS The rest OF the furniture
comprises q charcoal stove and one
picture of autumn or something Ike
that. Shoes are removed at the door
and all walk about in cotton socks
inside Everybody uses tobacco. ladies
and gentlemen alike They use metal
pine. put in about One-eightieth Of a
/ dose for an American smoker. light II
with coal. take three or four pulls
at IT and dump out the ashes
! The government makes its employees
wear European dress while on duty,
I but the official puts on something COM
! Portable as soon 8s he gets home. This
I is a big. loose gown made in one piece
and held on by a big girdle The wo-
mans dress is about the same. only
/ there is trifie more to it. naturally.
! Her girdlc, called obi, IS not less than
! eight inches wide. and it is on TINS
/ p;rdle that she fools away most of
+ her papa's or husbands money. 10
( cold weather the ladies merely add
more robes ike the one they already
! have on. and they manage to keen
comfortable if the wardrobe does not
PLAY out The Japanese women wear
no jewelTy.
Poor Folks Eat Hay.
Some Of the people have TO live on
/ hav in japan the poorer classes oIteh
/ having nothing but miiiet or other
grains 10 satisfy their hunger. Rice
+ is the staple national diet, however
! Dried seaweed is often used as basis
for soup and is also eaten in other
! forms. Vegetables. fi-h. etc. are used
/ bat generally cooked I'D into mess
that makes a foreigner sorry he ever
! let home.
/ The Japauese drink a lot of tea. The
/ ferred 10. made from rice. fermented
and insidious: mugi-yu, made from
/ roasted barley, and a brandy known as
/ shocku. warranted to do the work.
J Japanese art is mostly borrowed from
/ China and Korea. with both Of which
/ countries the Japs were closely assO-
ciated centuries ago The first great
/ painter in Japan was Kanaoka. who
I lived in the ninth century and pictured
/ interior views by thOughtfully remov-
/ ing the roof from the house in his
/ picture. The big painter of them all
though. was Kan0. who lived ninety
six years from i424 and turned out
some mighty funny things. although
/ he was a serious man by nature The
work of all Japanese painters lacks
/ ideality. and. as Japan has no sudden
/ rich class, patronage. The japanese
! artists do not like oil painting, intro
/ duced from abroad. but stick to water
colors and paint on silk or paper.
The Japanese print lots of books
/ yearly and publish many newspapers
/ but their literary persons are handi
/ capped by the language. They fakee
| In a lot Of words from the Chinese
! mixed them with japanese and so eou-
! pied them up that while it IS easy e
! read il is not possible TO speak q gooc
I bit of the matter published This mad.
| 81 Impossible 70 give select readings
/ from the poets and 50 the poets nov
( eon6ne themselves mostly 10 gentle
little things like iullabyg ard haying
eime stunts The introduction Of TIT
/ Chinese element into the language hur
/ conversation, as well as literature il
/ Japan For instance. fifty diferen
/ words are pronounced So and NOR.
than 100 different words are pronounced
/ -sho which. as enc cans readily uE
derstand might lead to hosfihties avhel
a person only meant to be pleasant.