The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1859-02-24

J.P..ess Ma..srs So C..se.s.
A good deal Of curious information is communica-
ted in the letters from Japan 1t the present time re-
tative to the peculiarites Of the japanese nation.
The opening Of Japan to the commercial nations OF
the world has furnished to obseryant travellers an
opportunity to study human nature under new cir
tcumstances, and to investigate the in6uence which
seclusion from the rest Of the world for . long period
has upon . nation. At present We have nothing but
glimpses at the outward life ~ the Japanese. yet these
are very interesting. A correspondent Of the New
York Herald gives the following account OF the man
ner Of doing business with foreigners ct Nagasaki
"The manner Of doing business in this place IL odd
and very troublesome. In the first place, no one but
government officers ara allowed to take any gold or
silver money from . foreigner. under penalty OF being
disemboweled- All the specie that comes into the
place Is taken possession Of by the government and
custom house officers, and BY them 1t Is transferred to
the imperial government officers At the seat Of govern
ment. To purchase any articles on shore you must
specie. In return, he gives you the currency Of the
country, which consists Of pieces Of thick paper about
an inch wide and four inches long, and they are
marked taels, h~alf-taels, one-hundredthso f q tael. &c.
They have the Dutch and japanese characters upon
them. A tael is twenty-three cents With your
pockets filed with this trash you can proceed to make
such little purchases as you may wish. fou enter
one Of the splendid bazaars. filled with the rich works
before YOU; you turn q little to the left or right, and
close TO your heels You perceive . Japanese Manda-
rim, or high official, with book, ink and pencil in
hand On inquiry. you hnd this individual to De q
government officer, who Is standing by to take down
all sales, the articles sold. the price paid; the object
Of which is that q correct account Of all goods leaving
the place may be accounted for at the Custom House.
If il rs not more than . tael's worth; also that the
government shall not be deprived Of it's export duties.
For the first time since Nagasaki has been q seaport.
bumboats have been permitted by the Japan govern
ment to comes off alongside Of this ship, pretty well
supplied with fowls. fish. eggs, fruits. SC, all Of
Lit L.r. hoor old AZ lou uricoa-OOo6 fat OWla
81 50 per dozen; Eggs six and eight cents per dozen;
fine fresh fish two cents per pound; nice good Japan
coffee, which is Of 9 very fne quality, only three cents
per pound In each boat came . government officer.
who kept q strict account Of all rates, &C."
The japanese received our people on their recent
visit in a very cordial manner, and manifested a
hberality in extending to them courteous attentions,
allowing officers and men perfect liberty to 60 on
sh ore and ramble about, &C., that is certainly re-
markable for q people whose national policy has
hitherto been marked by an excessive jealousy Of
foreigners. EFs
The Japanese dwellings are mostly Of one or two
stories, oddly formed and unattractive in appearance.
They have neither doors nor windows upon the street
side, but open in the rear upon handsome gardens or
courtyards. Consequently the streets, which are
wide and neat, have quite q lonely appearance. The
population keep housed up until towards night, and
to o stranger it looks like a deserted city. The
Japanese men are generally stout and we'll built;
nearly all of them have fine black hair; they shave
the upper front part Of the head, the rest of their hair
being nicely combed to the top of the head. where it
is tied up into q sort of wig, which looks very odd,
but neat Many of them wear nothing but q sack or
cloth, which is secured just above the hips. leaving
the rest Of their person, above their hips and below
their knees, exposed. The wealthy portion of them
dress very neat in silks, grapes, &c., in their native
costume, which sometime consists Of the large frow-
sers, hat, gown and scarf"
Professional wrestlers are numerous Some of the
Japanese women are very handsome, and it is said
would create q { sensation even in New York. The
Japanese pay great respect to their dead, and their
burial places are beautiful enclosures. Elegant and
expressive monuments and grave-stones abound In
them. The correspondent above quoted says they are
the handsomest he ever beheld in any part Of the
world. Some of them have human figures sculptured
in has relief on their front others had Inscriptions
and images of rare beauty elegantly carved upon
them The graves are not more than four feet long.
for the reason that they bury all their dead in q sit
ting position. Around the monuments and graves
are to be seen beautiful trees. shruhbery and other
choice plants, growing up, hiding almost from view
the little mound of earth beneath which some loved
one is sleeping. In this connection we copy q de-
~scription Of the :" feast Of lanterns"@ tribute to the
departed-from a letter in the Newark Advertiser: q
"I must not forget to tell you something about the
Feast of Lanterns which we were fortunate enough
to witness. 1t is n feast in honor Of the dead. For
three days all business is suspended. In the evenings
all the graveyards on the hillsides are illuminated by
candles in different colored lanterns, hung by thou
sands on the shrubs and trees. The graveyards are
the most beautiful parts Of the city, and very extern
sive, reaching from the termination Of the city on the
hill sides nearly to their SUBMITS On the evening
of the feast, Just as the moon was rising above the
hills to the n~orthward, the sides of the hills tc the
southwark were bathed in a soft glow Of fire, and now
and then a rocket would shoot up from the midst,
producing a beautiful effect
The second day seemed to be the principal one of
the feast. On the evening Of that day. small fanci-
fully decorated boats were pushed-off from the shore,
each containing one or more lanterns, a small guam
tity Of choice food, a bottle Of sakee.' and a slip Of
paper with the sailing directions Of the little vessel.
OF the number Of these boats thus sent out alone
upon the waters, 1 cannot attempt to make an esti-
mate, though 1 know there must have been thou
sands
These boats are expected to meet the departed
friend in some unknown place, and them with
food for their long journey to some land Of bliss. One
Of these little messengers came floating 90 near our
ship that we picked it up to satisfy our curiosity. 1t
was made Of closely bound straw, and in it were
pretty little porcelain dishes, filed with presents, &C.,
and q bottle of 'sakee.' On q strip of paper was writ
ten the name Of the deceased, and Steer to the South
ward After reading the sailing directions, we i'm
mediately launched the little craft again, for fear the
poor fellow might be pining for her arrival. But |
fear many q lost one tainted on his long journey, if
he depended alone on his vessels cargo, for the next
morning the harbor was covered with wrecked boats
All accounts agree in representing the japanese as
q very acute and intelligent race, showing themselves
very apt scholars. At the Dutch machine shop at
Nagasaki, the natives are said to be the best work.
men, manifesting remarkable ~quickness and skill.
While the Mississippi lay at Nagasaki, japanese
craftsmen went on board and took q sketch of her
engines and spars. and of the vessel herself. Three
days after this visit, there was to lie seen, in what is
called the Russian factory, q beautiful miniature of
the Mississippi. The hull was OF ~lacquered wood;
the rigging was Of twisted glass; her warehouses,
smoke stack, and boats hanging to their daSits were
as complete rs if it was the ship herself 1t was adj
mitted by all to be a masterpiece. The annexed de-
~scription is given of their workshops
"We visited several Of the workshops of all trades,
and we found that all work was carried on in an en-
tirely different way from that in our own country.
The carpenters and cabinetmakers all sit down to saw
or plane their stock We entered q blacksmith's
shop. Here we found the forge in blast, while two
men were sitting down. one on each side Of the anvil.
h~ammeriug out q large piece Of iron. The one with
the sledge hammer seemed to sling it as easy in the
sitting posture as our own smiths do standing. While
thaz hat their irnn they hang To a hook In the roof