The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-01-21

The public buildings are now being constructed of brick and stone. and modelled after the buildings of Amer l lea and Europe. But returning to the ! native archftecture-the house is really
 little more than q frame for the divid- ing walls are sliding screens, and the outside walls are taken out during the l day. The rooms open into each other. l the hallway extending around the l outside instead of going through the center Frail sliding partitions cov- cred with paper separate the rooms | from the hall. glass being almost un- known. The floor is covered with a heavy mating two inches thick. and | as these mats are of uniform size,
 six feet by three, the rooms are made
 to fit the mats 12 feet square being the common size. As the walls of the l room are not stationary, there is no place for the hanging of pictures, al- though the sliding walls are often
 richly decorated. Such pictures as the house contains are painted on silk or paper, and are rolled up when not on exhibition. At one end of the room used for company there is generally d raised platform upon which a pot of flowers or other ornament is placed, and above this there are one or two shelves, the upper one being inclosed In sliding doors. There are no bedsteads, the beds being made upon the floor and rolled up during the day. There is usu- ally a diminutive desk about a foot high upon which writing material is placed. The writing is done with a brush, and the writing case or box containing the brush, ink, etc. has furnished the lacquer industry with one of the most popular articles for ornamentatlon. The people sit upon cushions upon the floor and their meals are served upon trays.
 Japanese food is so different from American food that it takes the visitor some time to acquire a fondness for II. more time than the tourist usually has at his disposal With the masses rice is the staple article of diet, and Is the most palatable native dish that the foreigner finds here. The white rice raised in Japan Is superior in quality to some of the rice raised in china, and the farmers are often com pelled to. sell the good rice and buy the poorer quality. Millet, which is even cheaper. Is used as substitute for rice
 As might be expected in a seagirt land, fish. lobster, crab, shrimp, etc, take the place of meat, the fish being often served raw. As a matter of fact it is sometimes brought to the table alive and carved in the presence of the guests. Sweet potatoes, pickIed rad ishes. mushrooms, seaweed, barley and fruit give variety to the diet Tho radishes are while and enormous In size. I saw some which were two feet long and two and half inches In diam eter. Another variety is conical in form, and six or eight inches in diem eter. I heard of kind of turnip that grows so large that two of them make load for the small Japanese horses. The chicken Is found generally throughout the country but Is small like the fighting breeds or the Leg horns. Ducks, also, are plentiful Milk is seldom used, except in case of sick ness, and butter is almost unknown among the masses.
 But the subject of food led me away from the house. No description would be complete which did not mention the little gate through which the tiny dooryard Is entered; the low doorway upon which the foreigner constantly humps his head, and the little garden at the rear of the house, with its fish pond. It's miniature mountains. it's climbing vines, and fragrant flowers. The dwarf. trees are cultivated here, and they are a delight to the eve; gnarled and knotted pines two feet high and 80 or 40 years old are not un- common. Little maple trees are seen here 50 years old and looking all of their age, but only 12 inches in height We saw a collection of these dwarf trees several hundred in number. and one could almost imagine himself transported to the home of the brown les. Some of these trees bear fruit ludicrously large for the size of the tree. The houses are heated by char coal fires in open urns or braziers but an American would not be satisfied with the amount of heat supplied These braziers are moved about the room as convenience requires, and supply heat for the inevitable tea.
 But have reached the limit of this