ty of the drinker and to take enough of this finely
powdered tea to make three and one-half mouthfuls exactly. They do
it by taking a rare bit of porcelain and holding it in their hands,
turn it about and talk learnedly of the various, wonderful arts
of pottery and how many years they have had this certain piece of
fine porcelain, turning it about in the meantime in their hands
as they comment on its beauties and qualities, and then take three
large swallows of the tea and one small sip and then go on talking
about the wonders of the cup. These cups are anything but what we
should call tea cups. They are really large bowls, sometimes with
a cover but more often without. But it is refreshing to drink their
tea even if one cannot do it a la Jap. Everywhere in Japan you are
asked to take a cup of tea, in the steam cars, in the shops and by
the wayside. A Japanese told me that he could tell whether a person
was educated or not by the manner in which he drank tea. They take
lessons in tea drinking as we do in any accomplishment we wish to
acquire. One friend could not resist buying tea pots and pretty cups;
she had a grand collection after one day of sight-seeing.

Their potteries are not like ours, huge factories, but household
things. Here and there in a family is an artist who can make a bit
of porcelain, a few cups, plates, or saucers stamped with his own
individual mark. The quality varies, of course, with the skill of
the maker, but the poorest work is beautiful; and one develops an
insatiate greed to possess this and this and just one more.

The ancient Imari, Satsuma, and the old bits of pottery that have
been kept in the older families for centuries are, to my mind, the
most wonderful works of art of the kind in the world; they look with
pride on the articles of virtu as almost sacred.

JAPAN IN GENERAL.

CHAPTER FIVE.

One of the many objects to attract the eyes of one traveling in
Japan is the "Torii" or sacred gateway. It is said that once a bird
from Heaven flew down and alighted upon the earth. Here the first
gate was erected, the gate of heaven. Its construction, whether it
be of wood, stone or metal, is ever the same, two columns slightly
inclined toward each other, supporting a horizontal cross-beam with
widely projecting ends, and beneath this another beam with its ends
fitted into the columns; the whole forming a singularly graceful
construction, illustrating how the Japanese produce the