the ‘Tea Ceremonies’ came into vogue, in the time of the Ashikaga Shoguns, there are said to have been twenty-five different kinds invented.” But with the many slight differences there are, and the many possible combinations, one can bring the number up to a figure enormously greater. Of these wooden fences, except in the rare case of those very highly decorated ones, ornés de dragons bleus et de bizarres fleurs, for temple grounds, the wood is always left unpainted. In a land which can boast a hundred and eighty-six varieties of forest trees alone, there is naturally a wonderful choice of material. While those with the most beautiful grain, and best marked, are certainly not used for fences, one who pauses to examine them wonders if they can be less than the finest, so satin-smooth the highly finished ones are, so strikingly marked is the wood of the middle grade of fence and finish, so rough and picturesque are those surrounding the more rural style of garden (for it is hardly necessary to say that these people’s railings are made to conform in style, size, finish, and character to the gardens they surround). Of course it is unnecessary to add that they also look old, and rather worn. The slabs of some of the fences are like grey ‘watered’ silk, and others again like bands of striped ribbon, fair and smooth. The delicate shading, purple, green, and bronze, that water-stained wood acquires, is greatly prized, so old boats
