In a narrow hall in an old house near Uyeno, in Tokio, I got the accompanying sketch of a shoe-closet ([fig. 223]). The briefest examination of the various clogs it contained revealed the same idiosyncrasies of walking as with us,—some were down at the heel, others were worn at the sides. There were clogs of many sizes and kinds,—common clogs of the school-children, with the dried mud of the street still clinging to them, and the best clogs with lacquered sides and finely-matted soles. At one side hung a set of shoe-cords ready for emergency.
Fig. 223.—Shoe-closet.
In another house, just within the vestibule, I noticed a shelf-rack above the fusuma, designed for holding the family lanterns ([fig. 224]). It may as well be stated here,—a fact which is [pg 240] probably well known to most of our readers,—that the Japanese almost invariably carry lighted lanterns when they walk out at night. Upon the outside of these lanterns is painted the crest, or mon, of the family, or the name of the house: a man with an eye to business may advertise it on his lantern by some quaint design. So persistent is this habit of carrying lanterns, that on bright moonlight nights the lantern is brought into requisition; and nothing strikes a foreigner as so ludicrous as the sight of a number of firemen on the top of a burning building, holding lighted lanterns in their hands! The lanterns fold up into a small compass; and on the lantern-shelf which we have shown were a number of thick pasteboard boxes in which were [pg 241] stowed away the lanterns. On each box was painted a design corresponding to the design of the lantern within. In this case the name of the family, or the crest, was indicated.
Fig. 224.—Lantern-shelf in hall.
In this vestibule the fusuma, instead of being covered with thick paper, consisted of panels of dark cedar. The effect was very rich.
In the houses of the Daimios the entrance is always grandly marked by a special roof, and by a massive structure of carved beams supporting it,—brilliantly colored oftentimes, and the surroundings in keeping with the dignity of this important region.