ABSTRACT
The community center was the tansan spring where charged water, clear as crystal, came up as from a living fountain out of the heart of the mountain. From four o'clock on the people came to drink at the spring, and fill their bottles. As small boys our delight was to catch a great bubble in the dipper, and to pour it into a glass containing sugar purchased for one sen. One cannot know Japan without knowing tanson. It is sold in bottled form at every tea-house and hotel. A few drink it straight I
Arima women could be seen pounding green maple leaves on cloth with wooden mallets. The cloth was then dipped into the natural hot water of a spring, which had an unusual iron content, thus making the stain fast. In this way cotton cloth was decorated with a deep reddish brown pattern of maple leaves. Japanese think so much of maples that they always refer to the leaves as flowers. The starshaped leaves are reproduced in many forms of decorative art.
