The Japanese wear no linen, but they bathe, as we have said, every other day. The women wear an under-garment of red silk crape.
In summer, the peasants, the fishermen, the mechanics and the Indian coolies follow their calling in a state of almost complete nudity, and the women only wear a skirt from the waist downwards. When it rains they cover themselves with capes made of straw, or oiled paper, and with hats made, shield shape, of cane bark. In winter the men of the lower classes wear, beneath their _kirimon_ or dressing-gown, a tight fitting vest and pair of trousers of blue cotton stuff, and the women one or more wadded cloaks. The middle classes always wear a vest and trousers out of doors.
Figs. 138, 139, 140, and 141 represent different Japanese types.
Their costume generally differs only in the material of which it is made. The nobility alone have the right to wear silk. They only wear their costlier dresses on the occasions of their going to court or when they pay ceremonial visits. All classes wear linen socks and sandals of plaited straw, or wooden shoes fastened by a string looped round the big toe. They all, on their return to their own house, or when entering that of a stranger, take off their shoes, and leave them at the threshold.
The floors of Japanese dwellings are covered with mattings, which take the place of every other kind of furniture.
The Japanese have a taste for science and art, and are fond of music and pageants. Their manufactures are largely developed. They make all sorts of fine stuffs, work skilfully in iron and copper, make capital sword-blades, and their wood carvings, their lacquer-work, and their china, enjoy a wide reputation.
Political power is divided between an hereditary and despotic governor, the _Taïcoon_, and a spiritual chief, the _Mikado_.
The creed of Buddhism, that of the _Kamis_, and the doctrines of Confucius equally divide the religious tendencies of the Japanese.
We will give a few details on the interesting inhabitants of Japan, from the account of a visit to that country written by M. Humbert, the Swiss plenipotentiary there, which was published in 1870 under the title of "Japan."
M. Humbert was present at the ceremonies which took place on the occasion of an official visit paid by the Taïcoon to the Mikado, and he gives the following account of it:--