There are now many gentlemen of old Samurai families who are reduced to abject poverty. Many sad star of ruin are told of them. Some, like General Nogi (who like Hideyoshi began life as a groom), have risen to high positions through sheer ability. Some have even been obliged to enter business which is employment that formerly they despised, (Amongst vanished parks and monuments my diary mentions the famous cherry avenue upon the left bank of the Sumida River). It extends for miles,.and Japanese poems warn the people against wasting too much time in Sumida:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.