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Japanese lighthouses rest are constructed with this joint, but they have been found to be unsuitable for the reason I have just stated, viz. that, when touched or trod upon they shake and roll too much. It is quite possible, however, that some alterations might be effected on the design to obviate this difficulty, and if this were accomplished there can be no doubt that it would afford great immunity from earthquakes shocks. Any scheme which will afford this should be welcomed in Japan, but at the same time it is in my opinion a great mistake to sacrifice the whole comfort and the safety of dwellings from their dread enemies fire and wind to a supposed protection from so remote a contingency as a severe earthquake is in Japan. The building most truly suitable is one which to the fullest extent provides a protection from both these disturbances.
Wooden houses, on the supposition that they are best during earthquakes, are not well fitted to withstand the other disturbances to which they are much more frequently exposed—and solidly constructed houses, while they are less inflammable, and less liable to damage from bad weather, whether they are well calculated to resist an earthquake shock or not, at all events have this advantage that they will always afford their inmates time to escape. The more solidly constructed a building is the longer it will remain standing, even though solidity is no perfect protection against the rage of an earthquake.
The matter of cost is an important one in regard to works of this kind, and there is not an unreasonable fear that to erect a solid building means a large expenditure. This, wader present circumstances in Japan, is probably the case, though not to that extent which might be imagined. The present want of good material and the dearth of efficient workmen enhance the cost of good work, but we must hope that these hindrances will soon be removed, and that in a short space the towns of Japan will consist of something better than rows of tinder-boxes.
