ghly grounding the scholars in the Japanese language
and literature, and also to making them skillful in the art of composing
poetry. At the head of the school, in the highest position held by any
woman in the employ of the government, is a former court lady, who is
second to none in the kingdom, not only in her knowledge of all that
belongs to court etiquette, but in her study of the history and
literature of her own people, and in her skill in the composition of
these dainty poems. A year or two ago, when one of the scholars in the
school died after a brief decline, her schoolmates, teachers, and school
friends wrote poems upon her death, which they sent to the bereaved
parents.

It is difficult for any Japanese, much more so for a foreigner, to
penetrate into the seclusion of the palace and see anything of the life
there, except what is shown to the public in the occasional
entertainments given at court, such as formal receptions and dinner
parties. In 1889, the new palace, built on the site of the old Tokugawa
Castle, burnt seventeen years ago, was finally completed; and it was my
privilege to see, before the removal of the court, not only the grand
reception rooms, throne-room, and dining-room, but also the private
apartments of the Emperor and Empress. The palace is built in Japanese
style, surrounded by the old castle moats, but there are many foreign
additions to the palace and grounds. It is heated and lighted in foreign
style, and the larger rooms are all furnished after the magnificent
manner of European palaces; while the lacquer work, carvings, and
gorgeous paneled ceilings remind one of the finest of Japanese temples.
The private apartments of the Emperor and Empress are, on the other
hand, most simple, and in thorough Japanese style; and though the
woodwork and polished floors of the corridors are very beautiful, the
paintings and lacquer work most exquisite, there is little in this
simplicity to denote the abode of royalty. It seems that their
majesties, though outwardly conforming to many European customs, and to
the European manner of dress, prefer to live in Japanese ways, on
matted, not carpeted floors, reposing on them rather than on chairs and
bedsteads.[*152]

Their apartments are not large; each suite consisting of three rooms
opening out of each other, the Empress's rooms being slightly smaller
than the Emperor's, and those of the young Prince Haru, the heir
apparent, again a little smaller. T