CHAPTER VII
FRESH AIR AS A VITALISER—THE USE OF STIMULANTS AND OF NARCOTICS
Any subject of the Mikado would smile at the notion that fresh air, in any form, could be harmful. The Japanese eat fresh air with even more gusto than they do food. It has been stated in an earlier chapter that the samurai of old rose in the morning to pass out into the outer air, there to take a number of deep breaths. The time of the morning chosen was just as the sun was coming up. At this hour the air is purest. When not engaged in marches the samurai rested through the middle of the day, keeping generally out of the sun in summer, though often courting the rays of warmth in winter.
In Japan there is no patience with the American superstition that night air of any kind is harmful. Nature, these people say,
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