Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-06-27
Letter from Japan.
The sacred City Open 10 FOreiEHers-A
Pedestrian TOur-The Valley Of the
YOdo-Tea CuIure-Japanese Hotels
Great Exhibition.
IooRREsroxDEycE OF THE srY.I
KOBE, May 18th, 1872.

1t is perhaps known to most readers of the
Spy that during the last few weeks the city of
Kioto has been opened for the first time to un-
official foreigners.
As the residence of so sacred a parsonage as
the mikado, the religious centre of the country,
as well of Buddhism as Of Shintooism, it has been
looked upon by foreigners, and professedly also
by the Japanese themselves, as the stronghold
of conservatism; and even since the mikado
transferred his residence to Yedo, it has been
supposed that the prevailing feeling was not
less hostile to outside barbarians-the Ijins, as
they are in the habit Of calling us. The Japan
csc government has, however, thought worse of
its citizens in this respect than the foreign resi-
dents, who have for the most part become rather
skeptcal as to the existence of any wide spread
feeling of hostility toward themselves, for it is
seldom indeed that any evidence of it in violent
acts appears. Almost every instance in which
foreigners have been molested of late may be
traced directly TO some act of cruelty or folly
on the part of the man who suffers. Still one
reason which was often given for refusing TO
allow visits to Kioto, has been that the govern
ment feared it might be difficult to protect those
who might go, without special guards, which
they did not care to appoint.
1t was decided, however, some months ago, to
open an exhibition in Kioto, of such objects of
interest, both Japanese and foreign, as they
might be able to collect, and to continue this
exhibition or fair for fifty days, during which
time any foreigner, for whose good conduct
his consul was willing to stand security, might
20 and come at pleasure.
OF course we all looked forward with much
pleasure to the trip, not so much because of the
exhibition as of the city and the scenery along
the way, which alone we knew would well repay
any for all the trouble which the expedition
might cost. With this view we concluded to
walk from Osaka, a distance of rather more than
thirty five miles.
Accordingly we hired sort of chaise, drawn
by one or TWO men, and called jinriesha, for
our baggage, and started from Osaka at about
two o'clock one afternoon, planning to sleep that
night at Moriguchi, a considerable village
about seven miles away.
After getting fairly out of the city we struck
the bank of the Yodo river, along which lay the
Travelled road, until within some eight miles Of
Kioto.
The valley OF the Yodo spread out on both
sides of us, and could hardly be less than twenty
miles wide, embracing some of the finest land in
the country, and covered then with immense
fields of rape the pods of which were just filling
out. 1t covered the ground completely, so that
the whole plain was one dense mass Of green, ex-
cepting as here and there you could see the lines
of the canals and bitches, by means of which the
whole plain was irrigated.
The surface of the ground was hardly more
than foot above the water, which renders the
cultivation of rice, which in six weeks more
will follow the rape, comparatively easy mat
ter. The hills beyond were just far enough, so
that their beauty might be heightened, while
they were not seriously obscured by the haze
which is so common in Japan at this season.
The slope of the hills appeared less abrupt than
at Kobe, and was cultivated to some extent.
We passed through several villages, which
generally consisted of one line of houses on the
high strong dyke which protected the fields from
the freshets to which the river is liable
On reaching Moriguchi we were somewhat an
noyed to find that we must report ourselves to
the Yakouins of the place before we could Sc.
cure lodgings. | say annoyed, for to an Ameri-
can who has always been in the habit of regard
ing this as simply a matter of bargain between
himself and the inn-keeper, it is exceedingly
vexatious TO be continually obliged to call in the
aid of the government.
In this case, however, it was the principle of
the thing only which we disliked for the officers
were as polite possible and almost i'm mediate
ately found place for us to spend the night.
At our first sight of the house we feared it was
TO be but sorry place, but there was in store
for us one Of those pleasant surprises which are
so common in Japan. The front of the house,
opening directly from the street. looked dark
and uninviting, but we were led through side
door into very neat little garden, filled with
trees and shrubbery, and on one side of this was
a house with three rooms, attached by one cor
ner to the main house in front. Here we passed |
a very comfortable night after having received |
formal call from our official friends, who PROM
ised to help us all they could about starting in |
the morning.
1t would astonish any one not acquainted with |
the country or the people to sec how comlorta-
bic these Japanese hotels are. For summer
travellers they are not inferior to the ordinary
country hotels in America. You have little
furniture, but the floor is covered with clean
mats made ofrice straw closely sewed together,
and covered on top with mating similar to that
sold in America. These mats are always three
feet by six, and about two inches thick. The
edges are cut perfectly square so that they fit
nicely together, and the result is an even floor,
sufficiently soft for comfort in sitting, but need
ing TO be supplemented at night by the thick
wadded comfortables which are furnished in
abundance.
The next morning we went on TO place called
| Hlraka.a, where we took dinner At this point
| we decided TO leave the main road, and take a
narrow foot-path across bend in the river that
we might visit vi, the place which gives
name to the finest teas in Japan. TWAS a long
walk, and we were obliged to pass over several
ridges which divided the valley at this point.
We supposed we had but about ten miles before
us, but we found out that the length OF the Jap
anese ri is different in the country through
which we were passing, and that our walk was
really fourteen miles. We were a little too
heavily loaded to accomplish this easily, and
were tired enough before we reached our stop
ping-place in Vii. The last three or four miles
of this walk the fields on both sides of Us were
largely devoted to the raising Of tea, and a large
proportion % this was grown under cover OF
mats, so closely Joined that hardly stray sun
beam could find its way to the plants below,
though the air could have free circulation. We
were told that the best tea is always grown in
this way. Sometimes as a partial substitute
for the mats, trees were planted between the
rows Of tea and their branches trained to shield
the plants from the hot sun. These were always
fruit trees, and generally pears. The higher
lands which cannot be irrigated are generally
the ones selected for the tea plantations, and
even where the soil looks quite poor the plants
seem to thrive, but we noticed that they were
well MANFRED with the refuse of the rape seed
after the oil is pressed out The morning after
our arrival we met japanese acquaintance who
was largely interested in the tea trade, who in
yited US to his house where he treated us,to some
most delicious tea, and then took us round to
see the process of curing, which is very simple.
The freshly picked leaves are first thoroughly
wilted by steaming, after which they are dried