and in the winter a
blacksmith. (The cost of putting on four shoes is 60 sen.) All these
artisans own their own houses and all have land.

As to the health of the village there are two doctors who come every
other day. One was qualified at Chiba and the other at Sendai. They
make no charge for advice and the price of medicine is only 10 sen
unless the materials are expensive. I suppose they may receive
presents. They also probably have a piece of land. There is no
veterinary surgeon, but one is to be found in the village which
composes the other half of the commune.

A physician who had been born in the village and was staying for a few
days with the Buddhist priest who was my host, thought that 90 per
cent. of the villagers ate no meat whatever and that only 50 or 60 per
cent. ate fish, and then only ceremonially, that is at particular
times in the year when it is the custom in Japan to eat fish. The
villagers who did eat meat or fish did not take it oftener than twice
or thrice a month. The canned meat and canned fish in the
shops--Japanese brands--were used almost entirely for guests. The
doctor expressed the opinion of most Japanese that "people who do not
eat meat are better tempered and can endure more." I have heard
Japanese say that "foreigners are short-tempered because they eat so
much meat."

We spoke of the considerable consumption of pickles, highly salted or
fermented. For example, in the ordinary 25-sen _bento_ (lunch) box
there are three or four different kinds of pickles. The doctor said
that pickles were not only a means of taking salt and so appetisers to
help the rice down, but digestives; fermented pickles supplied
diastase which enabled the stomach to deal promptly with the large
quantities of rice swallowed.

I asked for the doctor's opinion as to the prevalence of tumours,
displacements and cancer among women who labour in the fields and have
to bring up children and do all the housework of a peasant's dwelling.
The doctor replied that he was disposed to think that cases of the
ailments I spoke of were not numerous. Cancer was certainly rare. He
knew that in Japan rickets, goitre and gout were all less common than
in the West. He expressed the opinion that childbirth was easier than
in the West. It was a delight to see the fine carriage of the women
and girls astride on the high saddles of the horses.[197] Both sexes
in the district wear over their kimonos blue cotton trousers,
something l