58 JAPAN

Isn’t this a queer bed? Should you like to
crawl into one of the wadded quilts, and rest your

AND ITS PEOPLE.

Peep into this workshop. Here is a man who
is making~beautiful vases of clay. Another is

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

carving pretty figures in ivory. A third is

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spreading fine varnish over wood. Near by
there is a room in which soft silk is being
woven into costly cloth.

Now let us leave the city and take a trip”
into the country. Climb into this light cart
and away we will go. ‘There are ponies in
Japan, but most people prefer to travel in the
way shown in the picture.

What is this tall grass with feathery tops
and long sharp leaves ? It looks like corn
but it is many times as tall. ‘This is bam-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Japanese Village.

head upon the wooden pillow? This girl will
soon wake and drink a cup of tea. Can you see
the pretty tea set?

There are no chairs in the house. The Japanese
sit on mats of wadded cloth or of straw. Sit
on a mat, and your little friends will bring you a
lunch. There is no table, but the boiled rice and
steaming tea will be served on a dainty tray that
stands on short legs. In some houses you would
see meat, fish, beans and a grain called millet.

It would amuse you to see the people of Japan
eatrice. Two slender chopsticks of wood or of ivory

 
 
 
 
 
 

‘Street Scene in China.

take the place of a spoon or
a fork. . You would find it
hard to get the rice to your
mouth, but see the skill of
the little yellow people...

A Chinese Village.

boo, of which many of the houses-are made.

We know what grows on the flat land, for
we have seen pictures of fields of rice in our own
country. But what
is this shrub with
white flowers and
green leaves? Oh,
yes, it is tea, like
that we saw on the
plains of China.

Here is a puzzle !
What are these lit-
tle white and yellow
rolls? They look like
birds’ eggs, but they
are soft and silky.

Have you ever seen a spider spin its web?

These soft rolls were spun by silkworms. They
made the fine thread, and then wound themselves
in these glossy prisons. It took about three days
to wind each silken case, or cocoon, and
if the thread were unwound it would
reach more than two miles. Now you
know where the people get the silk
from which they make thread and
cloth.

Some of the sports of the girls and
boys of Japan are like your own.
They spin tops, walk on stilts, fly
kites and sometimes roll snowballs.

-Most of-the Japanese children are

 

Rain Coats.