ere, indeed, you passed a
woman huddled up in a corner muttering and screaming, but only because
her mind had become unhinged by the loss of her home, or probably
village, and every relation she possessed. No Japanese in his senses
would amid the same circumstances be guilty of so much as a murmur or a
tear.

The Japanese are a brave people--not only the men, but the women too. In
fact, the women more especially are brave. Many women destroyed
themselves during the China-Japanese war, because their husbands had
been killed in battle. There was one Japanese woman in Tokio who felt so
deeply the disgrace placed upon her country by the attempt on the life
of the present Emperor of Russia some years ago by a common coolie, that
she committed suicide. She felt that this great European prince had
visited her country as a guest, and that before Japan could raise its
head once more the nation must make some great sacrifice. Day after day
she visited the Legation, and begged to be allowed admission to some of
the high officials--in vain: they were too busy to see her. At last,
after some weeks of fruitless effort, she went home in despair and
killed herself, leaving a pathetic little letter to the Minister stating
that she hoped that the sacrifice of her life might in some way help to
cleanse her country from its disgrace.

[Illustration: LOOKERS-ON]

Patriotism is a strong trait in the character of the Japanese; but
perhaps their imagination and their love of Nature are even stronger,
and at all events will cause them to bound forward and become a
first-rate power. This universal force of the imagination is a quality
that no other nation possesses, and it is a quality that will cause her,
not so very many years hence, to dominate the world. All the Japanese
possess imagination, from the highest to the lowest; it is shown in
every action and detail of their daily life. There is no one of them,
even to the poorest coolie, who has not some little collection of
exquisite works of the art that he loves. Your jinricksha man, if you
were ever allowed the privilege of visiting his house, would in all
probability be able to show you one or two choice specimens, either in
china or in bronze, of his household gods. And so strongly is the love
of Nature impressed within him that he cannot pass a beautiful scene--a
hillside of blossom, or a sunset--without stopping his ricksha to allow
you also the privilege of enjoying it. Often when ta