to Japan the dominant colors of male costume were dark,--especially dark blue; any crowd of men usually presenting a mass of this shade. To-day the tones are lighter; and greys--warm greys, steel greys, bluish greys, purplish greys--seem to predominate. But there are also many pleasing variations,--bronze-colors, gold-browns, "tea-colors," for example. Women's costumes are of course more varied; but the character of the fashions for adults of either sex indicates no tendency to abandon the rules of severe good taste;--gay colors appearing only in the attire of children and of dancing-girls,--to whom are granted the privileges of perpetual youth. I may observe that the latest fashion in the silk upper-dress, or haori, of geisha, is a burning sky-blue,--a tropical color that makes the profession of the wearer distinguishable miles away. The higher-class geisha, however, affect sobriety in dress. I must also speak of the long overcoats or overcloaks worn out-of-doors in cold weather by both sexes. That of the men looks like an adaptation and modification of our "ulster," and has a little cape attached to it: the material

is wool, and the color usually light brown or grey. That of the ladies, which has no cape, is usually of black broadcloth, with much silk binding, and a collar cut low in front. It is buttoned from throat to feet, and looks decidedly genteel, though left very wide and loose at the back to accommodate the bow of the great heavy silk girdle beneath.

Architecturally not less than fashionably, Osaka remains almost as Japanese as anybody could wish. Although some wide thoroughfares exist, most of the streets are very narrow,--even more narrow than those of Kyoto. There are streets of three-story houses and streets of two-story houses; but there are square miles of houses one story high. The great mass of the city is an agglomeration of low wooden buildings with tiled roofs. Nevertheless the streets are more interesting, brighter, quainter in their signs and sign-painting, than the streets of Tokyo; and the city as a whole is more picturesque than Tokyo because of its waterways. It has not inaptly been termed the Venice of Japan; for it is traversed in all directions by canals, besides

being separated into several large portions by the branchings of the Yodogawa. The streets facing the river are, however, much less interesting than the narrow canals.