proprietors a great deal of leisure on their hands, which they wisely employ in making those countless pretty things that in Europe go by the name of ‘Japanese fancy goods.’ These small workshops now carry on nearly all the art industries of the country, but no Japanese city is now without its tall chimneys, rising quite as conspicuously and unpicturesquely in their suburbs as they do in Europe. Northward of the cyclopean stone ramparts of the old castle of Osaka stands the enormous Mint, one of the finest establishments of the sort in the world, to the east of which is the Arsenal, where the Japanese turn out all the cannon and guns necessary for the use of their army. At night the horizon is crimson with the ruddy glow of the cotton-mills and other numerous factories. Most of these industries have only been lately introduced into the country, and the fathers of many of those who are engaged in them had no idea even of their existence. The Japanese, for instance, until quite recently, had no conception of the art of glass-blowing. To-day there are several very important glass factories doing a first-class trade at Osaka, glass being now much needed on account of the prevailing use of petroleum lamps, and many people are beginning to use glass in place of the paper screens which have hitherto served the Japanese as windows. Breweries have been established in various parts of the country, and the principal at Osaka produces admirable beer, largely exported, even as far as Vladivostok and Singapore. Brushes of every description, too, are now manufactured in Japan, and exported in great quantities to the United States. I had the pleasure of inspecting one of these brush manufactories at Osaka, which employed 300 men, women and children on the premises, and 900 others in its various branches in the suburbs. I experienced some little difficulty at first in gaining admittance on account of my nationality, and I had even to take an oath that I would not divulge any of the secrets of the trade. This precaution was due to some fear that I might possibly introduce their economical system into France, and thereby do them considerable mischief in the way of competition. A curious fact connected with this particular trade of brushmaking is, that the necessary pigs’ bristles and bone have to be imported, for the excellent reason that St. Anthony’s pet animal is practically non-existent in any part of the Empire, so that the Japanese confine themselves to carving the handles for the infinite number of brushes which they manufacture, and in putting the bristles into the variety of objects that require them. Osaka likewise contains a number of iron-foundries and ship-yards, in which nearly all the small steamers which ply between the islands are constructed. Unfortunately the harbour of Osaka is a very bad one, and, indeed, might almost be described as non-existent, the entrance to the river being very sandy, and the exit seaward hopelessly narrow and