. Japan, a record in colour . ough, of course,its quaint curious form is merely accident. No—noaccident at all, he replied. Do you know, it has beena matter of great care, this placing of the plant in theroom in relation to other objects? I was afterwardsinformed that in many a household in Japan the childrenare trained in the method of placing a branch or apiece of blossom, and they have books with diagramsillustrating the proper way of disposing flowers ina pot. The outsides as well as the insides of their houses aredecorated in the harmonious principle, even to the paint-ing of signs in the
. Japan, a record in colour . ough, of course,its quaint curious form is merely accident. No—noaccident at all, he replied. Do you know, it has beena matter of great care, this placing of the plant in theroom in relation to other objects? I was afterwardsinformed that in many a household in Japan the childrenare trained in the method of placing a branch or apiece of blossom, and they have books with diagramsillustrating the proper way of disposing flowers ina pot. The outsides as well as the insides of their houses aredecorated in the harmonious principle, even to the paint-ing of signs in the street. They are most particularabout placing their richly coloured sign duly in relationto its surroundings. In the same way—whether thesubject may be done in a string of lanterns or what not—whatever is done is done harmoniously, and in nocase is decoration the result of accident. The sum ofit all is that every shop in an ordinary street is a perfectpicture. At first you are amazed at the beauty of 78 THE RED CURTAIN. Placing everything. How in the world is it, you ask your-self, that by a series of apparent accidents everythingappears beautiful? You cannot imagine until youknow that even the common man has acquired thescientific placing of his things, and that the feelingpermeates all classes. Perhaps, however, one of themost curious experiences I had of the native artisticinstinct of Japan occurred in this way. I had got anumber of fanholders and was busying myself one after-noon in arranging them upon the walls. My littleJapanese servant boy was in the room, and as I wenton with my work I caught an expression on his facefrom time to time which showed that he was not over-pleased with my performance. After a while, as thisdissatisfied expression seemed to deepen, I asked himwhat the matter was. Then he frankly confessed thathe did not like the way in which I was arranging myfanholders. Why did you not tell me so at once ? Iasked. You are an artist from England, he re
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