Every season of the year has its flowers, wild or cultivated, from the plum-trees in February to the deep, red-leaved maples in November, and every district has some particular spot celebrated for the beauty and abundance of this or that flower. Thither the whole neighbourhood goes in gay crowds to enjoy and admire them. In that season of the year when they have less to do, the peasants, who are indefatigable walkers, under the pretext of a pilgrimage, go incredible distances to visit some beautiful site, or a famous temple, usually surrounded by magnificent trees. Then, again, their domestic industries supply them with a great deal of light work, which tends to render their existence less monotonous than it otherwise might be. In order to give my readers an idea of the cost of living in Japan, I copy from the _Japan Times_ the following table of the expenses of the family of a schoolmaster in the province of Rikuzen, in the north of the principal island. EXPENSES FOR THREE PERSONS—HUSBAND, WIFE, AND INFANT OF FROM SIX TO SEVEN YEARS OF AGE. │ £ │_s._│_d._ 3 _to_ (1 _to_ = 4 gallons) 3rd quality rice │ 0│ 9│ 2 Vegetables and fish │ 0│ 3│ 0 House linen │ 0│ 3│ 0 Rent of house │ 0│ 1│ 7½ Lighting and heating │ 0│ 1│ 6 3 _sho_ (1 _sho_ = ⅖ gallon) 2nd quality soy (sauce) │ 0│ 0│ 10½ Tea │ 0│ 0│ 7 Writing materials │ 0│ 0│ 7 Education of child │ 0│ 0│ 5 Baths every three days │ 0│ 0│ 5 Taxes │ 0│ 0│ 3½ Footgear │ 0│ 0│ 3½ Extras │ 0│ 0│ 11 │ ———│ ———│ ——— Total │ 1│ 2│ 8 │ ===│ ===│ === Or, in other words, about £1 3s. for the month. To this must be added £1 10s. a year for clothing, making a total of £15 2s. for the year. These figures were compiled in 1897, when the price of provisions had considerably increased. It must, however, be stated that they exceeded the salary of the unfortunate teacher, which has not been raised, and is only £1 a month.