ay get closer to the
real heart of Nature than any Occidental can ever hope to reach.

It is this capacity to get close to Nature that the Japanese possess
beyond any other Oriental people--and this capacity is not limited to
those of means or leisure or education. The poor man, who has a daily
struggle to get enough rice to satisfy his moderate wants, is as open to
these influences as the rich man who is not worried by any material
wants. There is no distinction of classes in this universal worship of
beauty--this passion for all that is lovely in nature. It was not my
good fortune to be in Japan at the time of the cherry-blossom
festival--but these fetes merely serve to bring out this national
passion for beauty and color, which finds expression not only in the
gardens throughout the empire but in painting, drawing and in working on
silks and other fabrics. The same instinctive art sense is seen in the
work of the cabinet-maker and even in the designs of gateways and the
doors of houses. The eye and the hand of the common worker in wood and
metal is as sure as the hand of the great artist. Such is the influence
of this constant study of beauty in nature and art.

When you watch a busy Japanese artisan you get a good idea of the spirit
that animates his work. He regards himself as an artist, and he shows
the same sureness of hand and the same sense of form and color as the
designer in colors or the painter of portraits or landscapes. All the
beautiful gateways or torii, as they are called, are works of art. They
have one stereotyped form, but the artists embellish these in many ways
and the result is that every entrance to a large estate or a public
ground is pleasing to the eye. As these gateways are generally lacquered
in black or red or gold, they add much to the beauty and color of each
scene. The ornamental lattice over nearly every door also adds
enormously to the effectiveness of even a simple interior.

Watch a worker on cloissone enamel and you will be amazed at the
rapidity and the accuracy with which he paints designs on this beautiful
ware. Without any pattern he proceeds to sketch with his brush an
intricate design of flowers, birds or insects, and he develops this with
an unerring touch that is little short of marvelous, when one considers
that he has never had any regular training in drawing but has grown up
in the shop and has gained all his skill from watching and imitating the
work of his master on