The Houses Have Very Steep Roofs Of Shingle, Weighted With Stones,
And, As They Are Of Very Irregular Heights, And All Turn The Steep
Gables Of The Upper Stories Streetwards, The Town Has A
Picturesqueness Very Unusual In Japan.
The deep verandahs are
connected all along the streets, so as to form a sheltered
promenade when the snow lies deep in winter.
With its canals with
their avenues of trees, its fine public gardens, and clean,
picturesque streets, it is a really attractive town; but its
improvements are recent, and were only lately completed by Mr.
Masakata Kusumoto, now Governor of Tokiyo. There is no appearance
of poverty in any part of the town, but if there be wealth, it is
carefully concealed. One marked feature of the city is the number
of streets of dwelling-houses with projecting windows of wooden
slats, through which the people can see without being seen, though
at night, when the andons are lit, we saw, as we walked from Dr.
Palm's, that in most cases families were sitting round the hibachi
in a deshabille of the scantiest kind.
The fronts are very narrow, and the houses extend backwards to an
amazing length, with gardens in which flowers, shrubs, and
mosquitoes are grown, and bridges are several times repeated, so as
to give the effect of fairyland as you look through from the
street. The principal apartments in all Japanese houses are at the
back, looking out on these miniature landscapes, for a landscape is
skilfully dwarfed into a space often not more than 30 feet square.
A lake, a rock-work, a bridge, a stone lantern, and a deformed
pine, are indispensable; but whenever circumstances and means admit
of it, quaintnesses of all kinds are introduced.
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