Which means about as follows:--"On fine moonlight-nights, repeating the Nembutsu, I play the belly-drum." The flower-vases are in the form of sake-bottles. Artificial rock-work supports the monument; and here and there,

[1. That is, a bottle containing one sho,--about a quart and a half.]

among the rocks, are smaller figures of badgers, dressed like Buddhist priests (tanuki-bozu). My readers probably know that the Japanese tanuki[1] is credited with the power of assuming human shape, and of making musical sounds like the booming of a hand-drum by tapping upon its belly. It is said often to disguise itself as a Buddhist priest for mischievous purposes, and to be very fond of sake. Of course, such images in a cemetery represent nothing more than eccentricities, and are judged to be in bad taste. One is reminded of certain jocose paintings and inscriptions upon Greek and Roman tombs, expressing in regard to death--or rather in regard to life--a sentiment, or an affectation of sentiment, repellent to modern feeling.

V

I said in a former essay that a Japanese city is little more than a wilderness of wooden sheds, and Osaka is no exception.

[1. Although tanuki is commonly translated by "badger," the creature so called is not a real badger, but a kind of fruit-fox. It is also termed the "raccoon-faced dog." The true badger is, however, also found in Japan.]

But interiorly a very large number of the frail wooden dwellings of any Japanese city are works of art; and perhaps no city possesses more charming homes than Osaka. Kyoto is, indeed, much richer in gardens,--there being comparatively little space for gardens in Osaka; but I am speaking of the houses only. Exteriorly a Japanese street may appear little better than a row of wooden barns or stables, but the interior of any dwelling in it may be a wonder of beauty. Usually the outside of a Japanese house is not at all beautiful, though it may have a certain pleasing oddity of form; and in many cases the walls of the rear or sides are covered. with charred boards, of which the blackened and hardened surfaces are said to resist heat and damp better than any coating of paint or stucco could do. Except, perhaps, the outside of a coal-shed, nothing dingier-looking could be imagined. But the other side of the black walls may be an aesthetic delight. The comparative cheapness of the residence does not much affect this possibility;--for the Japanese excel all nations in obtaining the maximum of beauty with the minimum of cost;