Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/413

Rh cheap—very cheap—little object was as perfectly made as if it had been a priceless cabinet. Tiny models of almost everything in Japan are to be found in the toy-shops. I spent days amongst these things, and if I had given way to my inclination would have had to carry home a whole shopful of things. Equally interesting were the other shops, with people at work in them on this or that, sitting or squatting beside a brazier with a bit of charcoal in it—the only way they had of warming themselves. But the brazier was often desirable in itself. Then always, in the poorest shop, the one perfect vase with its one beautiful flower or plant—there to satisfy the inborn artistic soul of its owner!

The floor of the shop is a couple of feet or so above the level of the street outside—that is of the real Japanese shop, not the up-to-date, Europeanised ones. The floor, of course, covered with the beautiful matting, cannot be walked on by our clumsy boots, as it is sat on by every one, and is even their dining-table. But I used to sit on the edge of the floor with my feet in the street outside and chat to the inmates for hours. In Yokohama almost every one knew a little English, and many knew it well. But essays at each other's languages and funny mistakes always produced delighted laughter. These people were so perfectly courteous, so cheery and cordial that I never could go by, and hour after hour would find me sitting here or there. People say the Japanese are not sincere, that all this is merely manner. It is certainly very charming manner. Why should it not be sincere? You are asking nothing of them, and they nothing of you—they are cheery, sociable, and charmingly mannered, seem to enjoy friendly chatting. I think them the most perfect-mannered people in the world. If you 21