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 72 frequently washed away, so the Japanese claims there can be no perfection of health. It would seem that our own American idea that frequent bathing is weakening is wholly disproved by the results obtained by our little brown neighbours of the Orient. It matters not how many baths a Japanese has taken in a day, he is not afraid, when he wants it, to add another to the list.

While, in America, the latest tendency is all toward the cold bath for restorative effect, the staple item in the Japanese bath is hot water. In fact, the water is so hot that most Occidentals would call it boiling. In summer this hot bath is taken in a hogshead out in the back yard. The people of Japan are not in the least ashamed to have it known that they bathe frequently. The Caucasian passer-by on the street often glances into a back yard in time to see one of the daughters of the house leave the dwelling and cross over to where the barrel of hot water awaits her. The young Japanese woman wears, at such a time, no clothing at all, but if she espies the stranger she smiles, bows, and offers the prettily spoken greeting