Kanaya and his sister often pay me an evening visit, and, with
Brunton's map on the floor, we project astonishing routes to
Niigata, which are usually abruptly abandoned on finding a
mountain-chain in the way with never a road over it. The life of
these people seems to pass easily enough, but Kanaya deplores the
want of money; he would like to be rich, and intends to build a
hotel for foreigners.
The only vestige of religion in his house is the kamidana, or god-
shelf, on which stands a wooden shrine like a Shinto temple, which
contains the memorial tablets to deceased relations. Each morning
a sprig of evergreen and a little rice and sake are placed before
it, and every evening a lighted lamp.
LETTER X - (Continued)
Darkness visible - Nikko Shops - Girls and Matrons - Night and Sleep -
Parental Love - Childish Docility - Hair-dressing - Skin Diseases.
I don't wonder that the Japanese rise early, for their evenings are
cheerless, owing to the dismal illumination. In this and other
houses the lamp consists of a square or circular lacquer stand,
with four uprights, 2.5 feet high, and panes of white paper.
