. Old and new Japan . ous absence of pleasant and adequatehomes, and a lack of the comforts and necessities of lifewhich are found in the towns. The rich farmers are veryfew ; and the labourers who work in the rice fields canhardly, though toiling from sunrise to sunset, earn thelittle which will provide the simplest living for themselvesand their families. For one thing, the use of agriculturalmachinery has made very little advance as yet in Japan,and the rude implements with which most of the peoplestill labour are a distinct handicap. But notwithstanding the heavy burden of taxes, a lifeof
. Old and new Japan . ous absence of pleasant and adequatehomes, and a lack of the comforts and necessities of lifewhich are found in the towns. The rich farmers are veryfew ; and the labourers who work in the rice fields canhardly, though toiling from sunrise to sunset, earn thelittle which will provide the simplest living for themselvesand their families. For one thing, the use of agriculturalmachinery has made very little advance as yet in Japan,and the rude implements with which most of the peoplestill labour are a distinct handicap. But notwithstanding the heavy burden of taxes, a lifeof unceasing toil, frequent floods, and threatening if for-tunately not always realised famine, even the poorestpeasants are by no means an unhappy or discouragedclass; they seem very ready to seek for the silver liningof the cloud, and though toil and anxiety leave their markupon them, there is an underlying and submissive spiritwhich serves to carry them over rough places and toinspire them with hope for happier o M o o M w o > w< U P*h -r* COUNTRY FOLK 163 Occasionally the labourer will be tempted from thefields to the streets of the city, and will take up the workof a kurumaya, or coolie. But the town will not rob themof their independence, and whether it provides them witha living or not, they will ask and expect no man to assistthem in their necessities out of his charity. Thus it isthat one finds few beggars in Japan, although there ismuch poverty ; for strong and weak are sure to find someemployment which will provide the little that is requiredto keep soul and body together, and so long as theypossess this they are light-hearted, hopeful, and evenhappy. This spirit affects all classes alike—from the richfarmer who, by the tillage of many an acre, taking thefat years with the lean, provides a home for himself andhis family which compares favourably with the homes ofthe well-to-do in the cities, down to the poor little seller oftoys, or the man around whose
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