Blue waters and green and the Far East today . ke Manitou, lies along a narrow gorge inthe mountains, down which tumbles and foams andbabbles a clear mountain stream. It is just a longstreet lined on each side with One-story buildings,shop in front, living-room in the rear, and each witha little garden behind. The shop-fronts are allopen, and you may look through and into the living-room and through that into the gardens, where thefive oclock bath is going on. At five oclock everyone in Old Japan takes a hot bath in the back gossips to neighbor across the line. If acustomer comes
Blue waters and green and the Far East today . ke Manitou, lies along a narrow gorge inthe mountains, down which tumbles and foams andbabbles a clear mountain stream. It is just a longstreet lined on each side with One-story buildings,shop in front, living-room in the rear, and each witha little garden behind. The shop-fronts are allopen, and you may look through and into the living-room and through that into the gardens, where thefive oclock bath is going on. At five oclock everyone in Old Japan takes a hot bath in the back gossips to neighbor across the line. If acustomer comes into the shop, the man wraps atowel around his loins and eomes in to wait on is somewhat startling at first to see the mother ofa family emerge from a tub and coolly dry herselfin plain view from the street, and girls in the cos-tume of Eve before the Fall chase each other acrossthe tiny yards. Of course I blushed a proper Ameri-can blush and turned my face the other way, but itwas just the same on the other side, and the street [274]. JAPAN. was unfortunately so narrow that I could not quiteconfine my eyes to it. That I did not, this chronicleconfesses, but it was all very innocent, and none ofthem realized for a moment how shocking it was,therefore I ceased to be shocked, if I ever was. At the head of the street another gorge comes in,up which half a mile lies my hotel, the Nikko Hotel,and just there is the sacred bridge, some fifty feetlong, all of priceless red lacquer, across which nonebut the Imperial family may pass. When you payten dollars for a red lacquer tray you may fancy whatthis bridge is worth nowadays. A tiny tramway runs along the stream, comingfrom a copper mine farther up, and a huge bullockwith a tent of thatch over his back to keep off thesun, paces statelily along, drawing a little car, loaded,not with copper, but with girls just back from apicnic somewhere in the hills. As F. is not with me I fear I neglected the are several, things I
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