ere there are young girls in the family and open the door.
Sometimes they bring cucumbers. Cucumbers are symbols. Some do this
out of fun and some sincerely to express their feelings. If the young
men who do such a thing do it out of fun they are given a good knock
by members of that house when discovered. If they are sincere the
members of the family will smile. There are in our village of 6,000
inhabitants only four illegitimate children."

As to the influences exerted for the betterment of the people the
follower of St. Francis was convinced that "when Buddhist influence,
Shintoism, Confucianism and the good customs of our race are all mixed
together so that you cannot discern one from the other we have some
living power." His own religion was "that of St. Francis combined with
Buddhism."

Speaking generally of rural people my visitor said: "They are falling
into miserable conditions, are in effect spending what was accumulated
by their ancestors. Their houses are not so practical and cost more.
They think they live better but their physical condition is not
better. The number who cannot earn much is increasing." I was told of
a growing habit among village boys of running off to Tokyo without
their parents' permission. And bands of girls came to the district to
help in the silk-worm season "often without their parents' approval."

Many villagers consulted my visitor on all sorts of subjects until he
had almost no leisure. Some wanted counsel about the future of their
children, some desired advice about the family debt, some wanted to
know how to put an end to quarrels and some asked "how a man will be
able to be easy-minded." The ordinary result of the primary school
system was "a mass of many informations in young brains and they
cannot tell wisdom from knowledge. The result is that they are
discontented with their hard lot. They grow up wishing to rob each
other within the bounds of the law. They want to live comfortably
without hard work. Good customs which were the crystallisation of the
experience of our race are dying away."

My visitor had met an old woman on the road clad miserably. She earned
as a labourer on a farm, beside her board and lodging, 25 sen daily.
Of this sum she handed to a fellow-villager whom she trusted 20 sen.
He gave away many clothes to the poor and her contribution was used
with the money he expended. "If," said she, "one shall give to God a
small thing in darkness then it is accepte