The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-09-03
LETTER FROM JAPAN.

hOBE, Japan, July l. 1875.
DEAR FRIENDS: Our mission has f.
same time. been d.-lirous nf opening som
t,s, or three new stations That nigI
z, ni,d view tie gr"u"ds. obtained
Is,ss in travel iii the interior. through III
kindmf>s pf j \. Bingham, e. y \ Con
sui. On this pass Travelled more liza
coo miles in tie inferior Of JnpnII, nn'
lrtvt. seen more of the interior than al
the other members of our mission.
/ shall give n brief account of nay tour
that those who wish to read may ad,
something TO their knowledge of rh'
country and customs of the people q
this, ''The land of the rising sun
''The land of the rising sun, so called
a. ! suppose, from the ensign OH the ia
tionaI flag of Japan-a large, red sun,
painted on a white background, to re-
present the sun rising up out of the
ocean. 1t strikes you as presumptive,
yet it is literally true. For, day by day,
the first land lighted up by the returning
rays of the golden sun, is the Empire of
Japan. She, of all nations, receives the
first light of the newborn day, though
among the last to receive the true Light
which came down from heaven
/ left home on the 18th of April, and
made IA tour in the province of Banshu
forty miles TO the west of Kobe. spent
ten days seeing the sick Our mission
has two hospitals and one dispensary in
this province. BY means of medical
work We have been permitted to carry
the gospel to these people fornow more
than year. We generally make one
tour every two months During the last
year | have made five tours alone, and
one in connection with DIR. Berry. We
always take Bible helper along, and
sometimes a medical assistant. During
the tour, We spend from an hour TO an
hour and a half, every morning and eve
ming, reading the Bible, and giving ex-
plantations to the physicians and patients
who may be present. These exercises
are generally pretty well attended, and
sometimes very largely attended. There
has now been some eighty or eighty-ive
sermons, if such you may call them,
preached to this people during the year.
Much seed has been sown, mnch light
carried to them, and encouraging results
manifested in many cases.
This letter is to consist of notes by the
way, hence logical connection is wanting.
WORKING ROADS.
To within a few years only few broad
national roads have been made in Japan.
Most of the roads are only winding, mar
row sheep paths, though sheep never
travel them; wide enough only for one
man. Now some very respectable roads
are being constructed in various parts
of the empire. On these little, narrow
foot-paths, with hut few exceptions, all
the produce of the land is carried on the
backs of men and few small cows
Now aud then small horses are used.
Farmers carry their seed and fertilizers
to the fields, the grain and straw to the
go-down (barn) when harvested, and the
grain and wood, etc, to market, all on
the back. The farming and cooIie class
e. are, literally, beasts of burden.
When the roads are to he worked, all
the farming class, tsomstimes including
the coolie class all along the rof;d, are
summoned out. They sometimes line
the road as thick as ants. have seen
from two TO three hundred Oh every mile
for miles along the road. They will Sc
lect some small hataki (feld, garden
patch) that can be sunk foot or eigh-
teen inches belQW jts presrnt level with
out interfering with IFS irrigation. Then
they remove the surface soil, and carry
the sub soil to make the roads Soms
times this liatakl Is II quarter Of a mile
from the road, and then they will carry
the dirt for another quarter of lpile
along the road, They fofn line along
which they tFot as busy as ants. Yet it
is not much they accomplish in a day
They spend one-half, snla6 times two.
thirds at their tine lying down smOk
ing. You feel provoked and like ehas-
tising them for the way they do business.
When they have taken all the dirt they
wish, they level of tie plat OF ground,
and replace the surface soil
We left Himeii, myself and medical
assistant CAP. of HanshuJ for okayama,
in the province of Bizene, GO miles fur
ther west, and one hundred miles west Of
Kobe, on tile aftefnoon OF the 22nd of
April. We went ten mil les that evening,
and went forty miles the neXt day. For
ty miles travel Ia one day, in a iinlrikisli,
especially if the roads are rough, is
pretty good days travel. The ride was
pleasant one, The country is made up
of low hills and narrow valleys. The
road, for the most part, wound along
the valleys, near the foot of the hills, suf
ficiently elevated TO give You a good
view Of tue valley, and yet did not wind
so much as to make the way feel tedious.
Some of the valleys we passed through
were indeed beautiful.
We passed ssTsFai slate quarries. Ia
pan is now filled full of states and pen
ellis, just such as you see at home. We
also passed large tale quarry of beautl-
full stone, Of YarioHs eolprs. This stone
is cut into the various forms of different
animals, true to life, which make beau
tiful parlOr ornaments, and they are quite
cheap. The skill displayed in this kind
of sculpture 10y some of the natives is
truly wonderful
Just before reaching Okayama the val
ley widens ont to some four TO six miles.
The road passes through the centre of
the valley here. On either side of the
valley, in every recess of the mills. and all
along the road, are villages. For fertility
of soil, thOroughness of cultivation, and
beauty of rural scenery, this valley sur
passes any have yet seen in Japan. You
enter the city at once, then the curtain
falls, and the scene changes. You are in
a dirty Japanese town; old, diIapidated
houses, narrow streets, filed with dirty,
ragged, half-elad Japs
The population of the place is about