The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1859-10-08
JAPANESE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS,

n good deal Of curious information is
communicated in the letters from Japan at
the rr sent time relative to the peculiar
itcs Of the Janpanese nation. The open
Ing Of japan to the commercial nations
travellers an opportunity to study human
nat Ire under new circumstances, and to
investigate the influence which sccu-
sion from the rest of the world for long
period has upon nation. At present
we have nothing but giimpscs at the out
ward life Of the japanese, yet these are
very interesting. A correspondent OF
the New York XrraM gives the following
account of the manner Of doing business
with foreigners at Nayasaki:
"The manner of doing business 10 this
place is odd aud very troublesome. In
the first place, no one but government
officers are allowed to take any gold or
silver money from foreigner, under
penalty of being disemboweled. All the
specie that comes into that place is taken
possession Of by the government and
custom house officers, aud by them trans
terred to the imperial government officers
a. the seat Of government. To purchase
any articles on shore you must first pro-
cced to the proper officer end give him
your price. In return, he gives you the
currency Of the country, which consists
cf pieces of thick paper about an inch
vide and four inches long, aud they are
marked tels, halftals, one, hundredths
of .al, &c They have the Dutch and
japanese characters upon them. A
tsl is twenty-three cents. With your
pockets filed with this trash you can pro-
ceed to make such purchases as you may
wish. You enter one Of the splendid
bazars, filled with the rich works ofthese
people; you commence pricing the ar
ticles before you you turn little to the
left or right, and close to your heels you
perceive a japanese Mandarin, or high
official, with book, ink and pencil in
baud. On inquiry, you find this indirid-
nal to be govern I'm .pt officer, who is
standing to take down all sales, the artic-
les sold, the price paid the object Of
which is that correct account OF all goods
leaving the public may be accounted for
at the Custom House, if it is not more
than tpl's worth; also that the govern
ment shall not be deprived Of its export
'-.ies. For the FIRST time since Nagas-
a.. Ten seaport, bumboats have
ak, ssa, has nsrw;,.sa the Japan government
to come of alongside OF = r, r fruits,
we'll supplied with fowls, fish, egs- :,
&c all Of which have been sold at iowprlo.
es-good fat fowls 81, 80 per dozen; eggs
six and eight cents per dozen; fine fresh
6.h two cents per pound; nice good ia
nan coffee, which is q very 6ne quality,
only three cents per pound. La each
host came a government afhcer, who
Kent strict account Of all rates, &C.
The japanese received our people on
their recen. visit in very cordial man
nor and manifested libcrality ia extend
IN. "a them courteous attentions, allow
inc off;cers and men perfect liberty to 60
On shore and ramble about, &c., that Is
certainly remarkable for people whose
national policy has hitherto been marked
by an excessive jealousy OF foreigners.
The Japanesc dwellings are mostly Q,
ooe or two stories, oddly formed and
,,,,,r,,,,,s in appearances. The nave ave
asi.her doors nor w.naso"s upo' .on
street side, but open in ths ,ess ~ ~.
handsome gardens and courtyaros. ~ "a
.anrently the streets, which are vloe s''
i, have quite lonely appearance
T,a' Ths 'nopulation keep housed NJ nn'iI 70 %.
raros war night, and 70 stranger It 'oos. ~sn
,;Le . deserted city. The japanese .',. ,nI.
r' are generally stout and well built; o,1r,y ,hsy
al Of them have fine black mar AT hs.d y
shave II the upper front part Of ,' Inc ."%L' nsaI'
the res. Of their hair being n,o';y !, is Sos tied
ID to the top Of the head, vhe,s n y " ,e,, -
into short Mig Wig " .h'ss ,ssu '1". "s., moth
ing but sack Of cloth, ..;ne vn,oo y. 4 res. o
ssss ss,... Hi .ss1s Up" ,ss aud