patrols of the village were young fellows chosen in turn by the
constable from the fire-prevention parties, made up by the youths of
the village. There stood up in every village a high perpendicular
ladder with a bell or wooden clapper at the top to give the alarm. The
emblem of the fire brigade, a pole with white paper streamers
attached, was sometimes distinguished by a yellow paper streamer
awarded by the prefecture.

On a sweltering July day it was difficult to realise that the villages
we passed through, now half hidden in foliage, might be under 7 ft. of
snow in winter. In travelling in this hillier region one has an extra
_kurumaya_, who pushes behind or acts as brakeman.

At the "place of the seven peaks" we found a stone dedicated to the
worship of the stars which form the Plough. Again and again I noticed
shrines which had before them two tall trees, one larger than the
other, called "man and wife." It was explained to me that "there
cannot be a more sacred place than where husband and wife stand
together." A small tract of cryptomeria on the lower slopes of a hill
belonged to the school. The children had planted it in honour of the
marriage of the Emperor when he was Crown Prince.

Often the burial-grounds, the stones of which are seldom more than
about 2 ft. high by 6 ins. wide, are on narrow strips of roadside
waste. (The coffin is commonly square, and the body is placed in it in
the kneeling position so often assumed in life.) Here, as elsewhere,
there seemed to be rice fields in every spot where rice fields could
possibly be made.

On approaching a village the traveller is flattered by receiving the