THIS book is based on a series of popular lec-
tures given at the Fogg Museum of Harvard
University years ago. It had been left unfin-
ished, with the thought of later adding a chap-
ter on contemporary life and art in Japan. But
the author, living in the midst of changes and
commotion, has found it difficult to obtain a
proper perspective on the situation. Now, ac-
cepting the kind offer of the Japan Society of
New York to publish this volume for the com-
memoration of its twenty-fifth anniversary, the
author ventures to offer it, slightly modified, to
the public, with a short statement on the chang-
ing situation, together with a chapter on deca-
dent sentimentalism.

When one lives in Tokyo and observes the
changes, both physical and moral, that have
taken place, one feels that old Japan has gone;
but when a city like Kyoto, or some rural dis-
trict, is visited, the changes seem rather super-

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