demands for the mastery of spirit over matter, recognized the
house only as a temporary refuge for the body. The body
itself was but as a hut in the wilderness, a flimsy shelter made
by tying together the grasses that grew around,--when these
ceased to be bound together they again became resolved into
the original waste. In the tea-room fugitiveness is suggested
in the thatched roof, frailty in the slender pillars, lightness in
the bamboo support, apparent carelessness in the use of
commonplace materials. The eternal is to be found only in the
spirit which, embodied in these simple surroundings, beautifies
them with the subtle light of its refinement.

That the tea-room should be built to suit some individual taste
is an enforcement of the principle of vitality in art. Art, to be
fully appreciated, must be true to contemporaneous life. It is
not that we should ignore the claims of posterity, but that we
should seek to enjoy the present more. It is not that we should
disregard the creations of the past, but that we should try to
assimilate them into our consciousness. Slavish conformity to
traditions and formulas fetters the expression of individuality
in architecture. We can but weep over the senseless imitations
of European buildings which one beholds in modern Japan.
We marvel why, among the most progressive Western nations,
architecture should be so devoid of originality, so replete with
repetitions of obsolete styles. Perhaps we are passing through an
age of democratisation in art, while awaiting the rise of some
princely master who shall establish a new dynasty. Would that we
loved the ancients more and copied them less! It has been said that
the Greeks were great because they never drew from the antique.