have a new experience,
the hotel being strictly Japanese, with not a word of English spoken.
First, we were asked to remove our shoes and put on slippers, the
alternative being cotton coverings for our own shoes. I preferred the
latter. The house was quite large, consisting of two stories. The first
floor was, however, occupied by the family. The second floor was
entirely devoted to our party, whose suite included several rooms with
movable screens so arranged that one large room could be converted into
two. There were sliding windows, paper taking the place of glass.

[Illustration: _The fort and castle at Osaka_]

Our beds were the futons, composed of dark red comforters, one below and
one above us, with another hard roll for the head. There were no chairs
in the sleeping-rooms, but washstands had been improvised, there being
dressing-rooms outside of some of the rooms. Concession was made us in
the improvised dining-room, a table and chairs being reserved for our
special use. On one side of this room there was a slightly raised floor,
and here were pretty little side tables and bronze ornaments. Our guide
had very considerately brought some canned goods with him and also some
bread; the family, however, furnished us with eggs and tea. The mother
and two daughters were bright and sunny, as were the little Japanese
maids who attended to the menial work. It was altogether a novel
experience. The next morning, however, the rain was coming down in
torrents, and there was no possibility of our taking a steamer for a
trip of several hours to the sacred island of Miyajima, so we
reluctantly boarded the morning train for Osaka, arriving there late in
the afternoon.

* * * * *

OSAKA, _April 13th_: The next morning dawned brightly, and we left in
jinrikishas for a general tour, first visiting the fort where stands a
noted castle, very picturesque in appearance. We then visited the
Exposition of Industrial Arts, which did not seem unlike an exposition
at home in its general arrangements. The goods displayed, however, were
very different. Then we had a ride along Cherry Blossom Avenue, the
trees being laden with the pale pink flower. We visited bazars and noted
the general aspect of the place, canals being a dominant characteristic
of the landscape. We saw a particularly fine temple among many others.
Osaka is a commercial city of great wealth and is more celebrated from a
business point of vi