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26 HONDA THE SAMURAI.
are the characteristics of the people in the Mikado's
empire. Paint is rarely used on the woodwork, the
delicate grain and fragrance of the native woods
being too highly appreciated. After one has lived
even for a short time in Japan he wonders why
people in other countries spoil so much beauty by
smearing it over with oil pigments but where we
;
paint, the Japanese lacquer, using the juice of the
varnish-bearing sumach. This substance, laid on
as varnish, leaves a hard, lustrous surface difficult to
scratch. Woe be to him who touches or approaches
it when it is fresh !
Lacquer-poisoning is a temporary
purgatory of itch, rash, and swelling. Respectable
ladies and gentlemen soon look like prizefighters.
In aggravated cases, the eyes close entirely
and the nose bursts into fiery bloom. The misery
lasts a week or more; but some persons are never
affected by the sap.
The floor is laid with tatami, or rice straw, two
inches thick, made into mats six feet long, and
bound by an inch border of black cloth. The face
of the mat is of fine smooth grass, like that in the
best matting, but the inside is of coarse rice straw.
Being so closely laid, the floor reminds one of a
colossal chessboard. The joints are so tight that
there are no draughts ;
and the air at the floor is of
a singularly warm temperature.
The ceiling is of thin boards of wood, grained like
watered silk, crossed by black lacquered strips of
wood or colored bamboo. Plaster on the ceiling is
decidedly unpopular on account of earthquakes.