THREE ROLLING STONES IN JAPAN.
Three Rolling Stones in Japan. By Gilbert Watson. (E. Arnold. 12s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Watson has evidently felt the charm and faseina- tion of the Japanese character, and, what is more, he has been able to express it. He and his two companions "took the people to their heart," it might be said, and were prepared to see life through Japanese spectacles. Thus they gained an insight into Japanese life which is not vouchsafed to the unsympathetic. Our author, by describing in some detail many of the days spent in travelling, or in watching life in the towns, neglecting, indeed, none of those little touches which help to finish a picture, has succeeded in giving us something resembling the atmosphere of Japan. He wisely eschews elaborate descriptions of temples or bric-h-brac, but gives us his impressions of rickshaw travelling, of an old ruined Daimio castle, of a wet day, of the varied colouring of the town roofs. We have a little word-painting now and again. As a rule he uses his pen with discretion, and certainly describes Japanese women with considerable skill and delicacy of touch, There is plenty of humour among these three travellers. The daughter of a rickshaw man travels as their guide, an uncon- ventional proceeding, but handled with perfect tact and taste. This is only a slight impression of travel, but it deserves praise and imitation, as showing no mean skill with the pen, and a sympathetic touch that the average globe-trotter sadly lacks.
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