Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/107

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Water, Nature's Remedy
71

or cold. The abstinence from meat diet adds to this immunity. They regard meat as a stimulant, and claim that abstinence from all forms of stimulants will inure one to cold, dampness, and "draughts."

Bathing is a branch of hygiene in which the Japanese must be recognised as the greatest adepts in the world. The commonest Japanese labourer—the one who has to spend the greater part of his working hours in hard, manual labour—is in the habit of cleansing his body twice daily. If he does not, and the fact becomes known, he is looked upon, by his associates, as being something of a pariah. During the warmer portion of the year the more leisurely classes of the Mikado's people take three baths a day. Even three baths a day is by no means the limit. Sir Edwin Arnold cites the statement of a Frenchman to the effect that the Japanese devote to bathing so many of their waking hours that it is a mystery where the time comes in for eating and labour.

Frequent bathing is one of the essential principles of jiu-jitsu. If all of the impure matter that is exuded through the skin is not