--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Selected collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 5 number: 7 published: 1902-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Selected, "Know Thyself," *Improvement Era* 5, no. 7 (May 1902): 522–527.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0507unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0507unse start_page: 522 end_page: 527 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1902-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0507unse publication_year: 1902 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1902, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Know Thyself 522 IMPROVEMENT ERA. tinctly doom them to the everlasting torments of hell — let us pray." A shudder went through Harald. He stood ^rfectly still, staring straight at the preacher, hearing every word of that prayer, which was: " We thank thee, Lord, that we know there is no salvation for the dead; that in this life only, we have hope of salvation; that now is the accepted time of grace; that the gates oj heaven are now open day and night —yea, wide open and the sinner may freely come to thee. Yea, Lord, we thank thee that we are not tempted to sin now, by believing that there is hope beyond the grave. Help us, Lord, to and give thy name the praise and honor. Amen." love thee for this, Some deep feeling of the heart was touched in Harald Einer- sen. He could not analyse it. He could not describe it, but he knew its chief element was resentment. All else was chaos. He hardly knew how he reached home that night. f To be continued.) KNOW THYSELF. We live in a superficial age, and hurry along in a happy-go-lucky way, ignorant or heedless of the capacities of our minds and bodies. The precocious youth, the boy or girl of average intelligence, or the dunce, should alike study his own strength, his weakness, his likes, his dislikes, his bent. "Know thyself," was spoken of old at Delphi; and, though the oracle has long been mute, the words are of eternal significance. No better advice was ever given to man. Philosophy finds its highest province in the study of our own natures. Knowledge thus gained, and that alone, will teach the round boy to avoid the square holes as he would shun falsehood and dishonor. It has been well said thatno man ever made an ill figure who understood his own talents, nor a good one who mistook them. Success. SOME FEATURES OF JAPANESE LIFE. BY ELDER ALMA 0. TAYLOR, MISSIONARY TO JAPAN. {Concluded.) Being left alone for some hours, we had a chance to reflect a little on the change that had come to us, and to observe more closely the pecuUar arrangement of our room. The presence of a table and three chairs robbed our apartment of the typical ap- pearance of an ideal Japanese room; and a large carpet, lying loosely on the floor, concealed from view the grass mats so com- mon in every house. In one corner of the room, stood a small clothes-chest, not more than three feet high, containing two shelves and one drawer, which we found insufficient to hold our clothing, let alone the books and other trinkets belonging to our list of chattels. Add to this a small fire-box, and a set of tea dishes, and the furniture is complete. A white linen cloth cov- ered the table, and in the centre there was a beautiful boquet of chrysanthemums, the flower for which Japan is famous. The door and window frames were very low, and, in fact, the ceiling was only about nine feet from the floor, which height is quite sufficient for the Japanese, but so odd to us that we felt almost like we were in a child's play-house, or in the land of the Lilliputs. The Japanese idea of decorative art is very simple, and, to the eyes of the foreigner, plain and uninteresting. Pictures have little faci- nation as wall ornaments, consequently framed paintings and enlarged photographs are seldom used to give attractiveness to the interior view. A poetic sentiment written on a plain piece cf white paper, by a Chinese pen artist, and a roll of silk cloth whereon is painted two quarreling birds, were the only adornments on our walls. But in spite of the absence of those things which make foreign homes attractive, we were content and happy, for everything was new and clean. The warm rays of the midday sun 524 IMPROVEMENT ERA. streamed in through the window and cheered our hearts until we felt to thank God for directing us to so favorable a place. It is the custom in our hotel to provide the baths in the afternoon at two or three o'clock, and as the Japanese are very particular about the cleanliness of their own persons, they also take a great interest in providing for their guests. There is only one bath connected with this place. As the man is the nobler sex, he generally takes his bath first, according to his rank or dignity. Evidently, we were looked upon as the most dignified persons in the hotel, as the maid came to our room at about three o'clock and informed us by signs and motions, (for we could not understand what she said) that the water was now hot, and would we please bathe first? I had heard considerable about Japanese baths, and, in fact, while in Yokohama, bathed in one a time or two. In my estima- tion, the bath-rooms in first-class Japanese houses are far superior to those found in American or Europeon homes, not because of the costliness of the tubs or the elaborate finish of the rooms, but be- cause of their simplicity and convenience. Were I asked to name one luxury in Japanese life, I should- say, without exception, the bath stands foremost. Out of the few bathing apartments that I have seen, the one connected with this place is the best. It is divided by sliding- doors into two sections, one for a dressing-room and the other for the tub and bathing utensils. The tub is square, and perhaps four feet long, three feet wide, and three feet deep; made of two inch plank, and scrubbed so thoroughly that it always looks as if the carpenter had just finished its construction. In one end, there is an oblong copper stove which occupies about a foot of space, thus making the bather's portion three feet square. The stove is surrounded by wooden slats to protect the bather's body from coming in contact with the heated metal. The tub is first filled with cold water, then a charcoal fire is started in the stove, which heats the water to whatever temperature is desired. The tub is built in the corner of the room, and the mouth of the stove opens in the adjoining room where a servant is stationed to regulate the fire. It requires from an hour to an hour and a half to heat the water to the temperature used by the natives — about one hundred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit, at any rate, so hot SOME FEATURES OF JAPANESE LIFE. 525 that we are unable to endure it without first turning in considerable cold water. There is one other small tub, and several wooden vessels, in the room, all of which come in handy during the bath. The floor is of wood, and so constructed that it drains the water into a small trough, through which it is conducted into one of the drainage ditches so common in Japan. The floor of the dressing- room is covered with matting, and, as hooks are scarce, the floor is also used as a clothes-rack. The window is of glass, and without stain or curtain; consequently, the bather is more or less exposed to the view of the servants who are continually passing along the path just outside. But nudeness has no attraction in Japan, being, as one writer has expressed it, "seen, but not looked at." Families of the high and middle classes keep a special female servant to look after the bath-room, and they consider it quite impossible to bathe successfully without the assistance of this servant, who waits on the men as well as the women. The feelings of the ''Mormon" elders regarding this habit, are too well-known to need mention here; suffice it to say, that we gave orders, through Mr. Hiroi, to the landlord and servants that we must be allowed to bathe alone. The perplexed look that came over the landlord's face, when we made this announcement, was, indeed, amusing. Having had a maid wash his back all his life, he did not see how we would be able to get ourselves clean without assistance, but we told him that we had been educated in such matters, so it was proclaimed on the house-tops that the foreigners could wash their own backs. Though rid of this evil, the thoughts of appearing before an open window in a nude condition, were not the most pleasant, and, at my first trial, I paused for a moment, feeling half inclined to back out, but knowing that I would have to come to it, sooner or later, I undressed, trusting to good luck to keep anyone from pas- ing while I was thus engaged. The fates, however were against me, for the maids passed to and fro in rapid succession, keeping me continually on the dodge to get out of sight. A time or two, I lay down on the floor, from which position I arose cautiously for fear of coming in contact with the stray glances of someone else. These recurring interruptions prevented me from enjoying myself as I have done since, overcoming the timidity that characterized my first attempt. 526 IMPROVEMENT ERA. As the same water is used by all the bathers, it is quite neces- sary that a different system to the one used in European lands be adopted. The bather ladles his body with soap and water, washing himself thoroughly before getting into the tub; thus each person enters the bath already clean, to enjoy what may well be called "the luxury of a good boiling." Here the bather soaks for some minutes, after which, if he desires, he cools off by using the hose attached to the tap to spray the cold water over his body. Step- ping from the main floor onto an elevated platform, near the entrance to the dressing-room, he dries himself, after enjoying, what I consider, one of the best home baths known to mankind. It is a recreation and sport to which I now look forward with con- siderable pleasure. The room being built as it is, there is no restriction as to how the water is splashed, or how much of it is used, and all objections to so many bathing in the same water are removed, when the above system of washing is observed; and it is known that the Japanese take a great pride in the appearance of their skin, bathing every day, and, in some districts, two, three^ and even four times a day, until it is truthfully said, "A Japanese crowd is the sweetest in the world." When I had finished bath- ing, and reported to my companion the difficulty 1 had had trying to wash and keep out of sight at the same time, he decided to defer this feature of his initiation till the following day. Towards evening, we began to feel drowsy, and our heads had a peculiar tight feeling, as if we were going to have the headache. An investigation as to what caused the same sensations to be felt by us both, led us to notice the gassy smell coming from our charcoal stoves. The system of heating in Japanese houses is very crude. One of the first things noticed by a foreigner, is the absence of chimneys on the houses. The fires make no smoke, consequently piping is not used to conduct to the outside the fumes arising from the burning fuel. The stoves used are nothing more than small boxes, or jars; some made of wood, lined with metal, others of metal entirely, and still others of potter's clay. In these stoves, or "hibachi" as they are called, a fire is made con- sisting of four or five small pieces of charcoal which slowly smoulder away to ashes; and, as the top of the stoves are entirely open, the gas from the coal passes freely into the room. The art SOME FEATURES OF JAPANESE LIFE. 527 of arranging the charcoal so that from a tiny spark a good fire will result, is one that requires experience and skill. The colder the day, the more "hibachi" have to be used, and the more gas the people inhale into their lungs. There are forty million people in Japan, and it is practicable to say, that they all use this same heating apparatus, and still enjoy health, in spite of the general idea among foreigners that the charcoal stoves are productive of evil. Perhaps the reason more sickness does not result from such a thing is, that the houses are open nearly all day, both summer and winter, and the abundance of fresh air overcomes the poisons in the gas. It is quite an odd sight to see six or eight persons squatted on the floor, around one of these fire-boxes, holding their hands over the glowing coals, yet never thinking of the cold breeze blowing in on their backs. Not being accustomed to the exposure to which the people here are used, we cannot endure, at this time of the year, the large amount of fresh air allowed to come into the rooms of the natives. Again, not having grown up with coal fumes surrounding us continually, we experience disagreeable effects from the gas, not noticed by those around us. Although, at this writing, we have become more accustomed to the gas, yet, if confined to our rooms for many hours at a time, we suflFer from slight headaches as at first. The peculiar feelings that we noticed coming over us, con- tinued to increase until our eyelids grew heavy and our heads throbbed slightly. The gas was slowly putting us to sleep. As the evening was nearly gone, we rang for beds in which to rest our weary bones, and dream of how we used to live. The Japanese bed is very simple, and needs but litttle descrip- tion. The floor is the bedstead; the grass mats, the spring; and, in place of mattresses, two "footons" (bedding that resembles ordinary quilts only that the "footon" is much thicker) form the under structure; while a little round sack, perhaps a foot long and six inches thick, stuffed with rice husks, and not much softer than a block of wood, serves as a pillow. An addition of as many "footons" as the temperature may require for the comfort of the occupant, completes the bed. The first "footon," used as a cover- ing, is made after the style of a kimono, with sleeves and velvet collar. By wrapping up well in this, and then drawing the top