The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1859-12-17
WHOLE NO. 1885,.
THE JAPANESE.

| There has been such rush of traders to,
Japan that almost everything that could be
bough, has been carried of. Nearly q hun
dred ships have already been to Nagasaki; !;
there were twenty FIVE in port when we ar
rived, including the war steamers. Such an,
influx OF trade as this upon a people entire
iy unused and unprepared for it, has Of
course, cleaned them out and carried prices
up rapidly. The japanese are a very inter-
esting people, and have moro life, vivacity
and expression than the Chinese. Thew
don't look at you with that peculiarly Chi~
nese vacant and wooden manner but ore,
fuil OF interest and curiosity, and are al.
ways polite and good natured. OF course,
except the government officials, for they,
like officials of every country and raoe, have
the faculty of making themselves disagree.
able, and ought to be counted out Of the.
the pale of humanity. The people are vsrv
inquisitive, and ask all manner Of questions
In the shops they always want to know
whether We are Americans, English, Rus
slams or Dutch. They examine very care.
| fully all articles of clothing, and alxays say
"Eproka" (good) when they 6nd anything:
which particularly pleases their fancy.
AS you walk along the streets you are sa-
luted on every side BY the children with
"Ohlo'' how are you,( and "Boson Kasie,o
| (giVe me button.) They hare great pas.
sion for brass buttons, aud the naval officers.
have almost stripped their coats N makipg
presents. If | had only known of it before,
would have brought. few gross from Shang-
han 1t would have made me the mos popular
man in Nagssak. have cut off all that
could be spared, bat my supply is exhausted
and | have nothing left to answer the de-
mand of '.Boton Kasie." There are mapy
strange sights to be met with in Nagasakl.
| The admirers of the japanese say that thev
are as yet Il perfectly innocent race and free
from all vice. This may be so, but in some
respects their innocence is Of such an aygra-
waited character, that to our eyes it looks
very much like vice. And in intercourse
with foreigners they will undoubtedly learn
more that is bad than good. Now that the
non-intercourse policy has been given up
they will soon find that their days of peace
and quiet are at an end.
In point of cleanliness the Japanese are
far ahead of the Chinese. The streets are
well paved and kept in good order, and they
are as particular about their houses as If they
had all come from Holland. They a,ways
take OF their shoes before entering hoase,
and we often have to do the same before wo
| az aAihittSOs 1uS ICOIo CONpEeu Wl0
nice, clean mats. The rooms are entirely
destitute of furniture, the mats answering
for bed, table, chair and everything else. Is
is very simple arrangement, and saves =
vast deal of uouble. All the inside pa1ti-
tions are made Of thin, sliding screens, eoy-
cred With paper so that the whole Of enc
! floor can be thrown into one room-a good
convenience when you want to give party.
The lower classes 60 about as scantlly dress
ed as their houses are furnished. In our
afternoon walks about the hills We often en-
counter the ladies of u house taking a bath
. in tub By the door. They salute US with
the customary "Ohio," and We of course
always stop for few moments to pass the
compliments Of the day, and then pass on
with a"Sonaru (good bye). They al
ways seem rather pleased with any little
delicate attention of this kind, and are not
at all interrupted in their additions by our
| presence. Many of their words sound like
Italian, and after hearing Chinese the Ian
guage sounds very musical. We have pick
ed up enough of it to get on iu the shops
without much trouble, although We have to
resort to good many natural signs. ia
pan lac9uered narc is all the rage now, par
ticularly the old Mzoka ware. IL isvery
hard to get, as the town has prot,y thor
oughly EaDsacked for it long ago.