Why the Japanese Are Hardy
MR. H. IRVING HANCOCK in his little book entitled “Japanese Physical Training” says:— “The Japanese are noted for possessing the sweetest dispositions to be found anywhere in the world. Politeness and good nature seem inborn with the Japanese baby. As time goes on and the child reaches adult age, kindly disposition appears to have increased in geometrical ratio. When a Caucasian applies for physical training under a Japanese teacher, he is required to furnish satisfactory proof as to the evenness of his disposition. Even after he has been admitted to the school, if the white man shows too great a tendency to sudden temper, he is politely requested to seek instruction elsewhere.” “The commonest Japanese laborer — the one who has to spend the greater part of his working hours in hard manual labor — is in the habit of cleansing his body twice daily. If he does not, and the fact becomes known, he is looked upon by his associates as being something of a pariah. During the warmer portion of the year the more leisurely classes of the mikado’s people take three baths a day.” “The Japanese eat fresh air with even more gusto than they do food. The samurai of old, rose in the morning to11pass out into the open air, there to take a number of deep breaths. The time of the morning chosen was just as the sun was coming up. At this hour the air is purest. . . . In the coldest nights of winter, air circulates through the native house without interference. If the sleeper feels chilled, he adds more bed clothing. But the passage of fresh air through the entire house is never prevented.” “When a Japanese suffers from insomnia, he gets up and goes out into the open night air, and if there is a hill near, he climbs to the top of it. But insomnia is very rare in the mikado’s kingdom.—Life.