But there are equally striking illustrations of an opposite nature.  The farmers and mechanics and carpenters, among regular laborers, and the entire life of the common people in their homes, give an impression of indifference to the flight of time, if not of absolute laziness.  The workers seem ready to sit down for a smoke and a chat at any hour of the day.  In the home and in ordinary social life, the loss of time seems to be a matter of no consequence whatever.  Polite palaver takes unstinted hours, and the sauntering of the people through the street emphasizes the impression that no business calls oppress them.

In my opinion these characteristics, also, are due to the conditions of society, past and present, rather than to the inherent nature of the people.  The old civilization was easy-going; it had no clocks; it hardly knew the time of day; it never hastened.  The hour was estimated and was twice as long as the modern hour.  The structure of society demanded the constant observance of the forms of etiquette; this, with its numberless genuflections and strikings of the head on the floor, always demanded time.  Furthermore, the very character of the footgear compelled and still compels a shuffling, ambling gait when walking the streets.  The clog is a well-named hindrance to civilization in the waste of time it compels.  The slow-going, time-ignoring characteristics of New Japan are social inheritances from feudal times, characteristics which are still hampering its development.  The industrious spirit that is to be found in so many quarters to-day is largely the gift of the new civilization.  Shoes are taking the place of clogs.  The army and all the police, on ordinary duty, wear shoes.  Even the industry of the students is largely due to the new conditions of student life.  The way in which the Japanese are working to-day, and the feverish haste that some of them evince in their work, shows that they are as capable as Occidentals of acquiring the rush of civilization.

The home life of the people gives an impression of listlessness that is in marked contrast to that of the West.  This is partly due to the fact that the house work is relatively light, there being no furniture to speak of, the rooms small, and the cooking arrangements quite simple.  Housewives go about their work with restful deliberation, which is trying, however, to one in haste.  It is the experience of the housekeepers from the West that one Japanese domestic is able to accomplish from a third to a half of what is done by a girl in America.  This is not wholly due to slowness of movement, however, but also to smallness of stature and corresponding lack of strength.  On the other hand, the long hours of work required of women in the majority of Japanese homes is something appalling.  The wife is expected to be up before the husband, to prepare his meals, and to wait patiently till his return at night, however late that may be.  In all except the higher ranks