Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/106

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Japanese Physical Training

winter these same men have always been able to sleep in snow-covered fields. When bivouacking in the snow the modern Japanese soldier sets up a shelter tent when it is possible so to do. The samurai of ancient Japan used brushwood and available articles of clothing in the place of the tiny tents of to-day. Both the modern soldier and the old-time samurai have one practice in common when camping on a snow-clad field. The ground on which the men are to camp is scraped as nearly bare as possible, and the snow so taken up is piled in a bank that will shield the men from the prevailing breeze.

Rheumatism is comparatively unknown among the two younger generations of the Japanese. Only the oldest people are afflicted with this disease. Even among the aged rheumatism does not occur with sufficient frequency to make such an illness greatly dreaded by the grandfathers. The Japanese attribute their remarkable comparative immunity from rheumatism to the fact that they use water very freely, both inside and outside, and they are not afraid of any kind of fresh air or of damp