The Hawaiian gazette., 1876-01-26

waking through lONcnau1A nc perceive Ol th'
strong smell that the principal business IS done II
tea. In Aes taerc arr sone ,ea-dsiag godowns Ii
the main street and wafer street. the tive prinelPa
loroushfaTes ofthe foreign settlement, Ga inQuiTl
we will soon be able to that not much bust
meas even In this particular branch Of trade is done
though the japanese tea BY eonnoissenrs, Is pro
nouneed Of superior quality 10 the Chnese. anu bs-
gins to Be appreciated in ioreisu markets. The he
is that good quality oCJspanese tea Is very dear
several natives informed Us that the very best quality
sud at seven dollars pound Tea does not sell al
very high prices in foreign markets, especially
kiud OF Tea, the qualities Of which not geaerslN
known. The japanese themselves though anxiou:
10 sell when they eau have their own price, would
rather let their merchandise rot than sell 1T
lie under the price. With them II Is not the guap.
tlty that they SELL bat the price each little parcel
I makes that has Its Importance. We are Informed
I by gentleman whose vencity IS beyond doubt,
that some two years asu, during the sllkworm sea-
son, OF which hereafter, some japanese merchants
formed corporation 10 keep prices ap and that, as
( the staple was overloaded. they burued some ten
thousand cartons to reduce the quantity for sale
aud it only at the urgent demand OF the italian
Minister that merchants who bad not joined this
corporation Nere allowed by those Of the corpora.
alton 10 sell their cards at their own prices. Tue
japanese consume very nearly their own produce o:
tea aud arr, 10 BE- indifferent about inereas-
ing the amount Of their export. The piineips pro-
duee OF Japan rice, which indeed is OF very snpe-
rior quality NAV not be exported but With peruiis
sion OF the Government. The treaties with western
nations permit the rulers Of Japan 10 prohibit Its ex
poratlnn; aud as II ieIms The principal food Of The
natives, its price is sish Foreign merchants used
to import quantities OF Saigon rice, which beiug OF
aQualty far below the Japan rice sold much cheaper
and len fair profit 10 the Importer
But We perceive distinctly that busi0esS Is dull.
First the few foreign vessels in harb0r prove tins
sufficiently but the streets In Yokohama nearly
deserted. Here aud there you see = car ON two
wheels evidently home mads, drawn aud pushed BY
coolies under their mOuoJonOus d" no haka-ho
hska." and containing some merchandise. Tue
English papers the " japan Gazette aud the " ia.
pan Herald with their advertisements Of GOdONns
to let" AuG valuable property for sale, also show
this clearly, or these tue Japan Herald seems
10 enjoy the best reputation Among the foreign resi-.
dents though the connection OF the "JSpau Gszeite'
With the "Niehi,nichi Shimbun" 4 Semiuffcial
pSpvr published IN Toxic In the native language
ought 10 yOuschsic au early aud reliable eommuul-
cation Of news Before gaiug to the native town,
let Us have walk on tue BluH We will take the
water street aud cross the bridge which leads to
Homura lmura means yillagvl Japanese settle
ment which seems got 10 have prOhtrd much from
its proximity to the fOrviSu settlement. Narruw
STREETS scarcely six feet wide, stoTicd houses
Uaue from MuNu, uailuuu Atl Gay. uiftN loOkiuE
shops aud dirier looking children give you no high
opinion Of japanese domestic lie. Do you that
little urchin there Perhaps 0uly tour years Old
We would call il baby-it jogs along with another
baby perhaps or months did tied on its back.
Il IS 4 Erl-you can that by the manner in which
the hair is dressed tue front hair covers the fore
head; in the middle 81 the head is 4 bald place as
large as i dollar; the back hair is tied up ia knot
With rci paper cotton string: the side hair Is
hanging down. Here Is boy. You see his head is
shaved except tue hair on the crown OF tue head
which is tied up as TO form the cue the old ia
pSneSe tashiOn Of wearing tie hair You thought
that the japanese wore thelr hair in western style
Tue better classes do, but remember that you see
here tue lowest aud poorest grade Of nalives.-lrs
you are right; skin diseases do prevail among ia
panese children, but mOrU especially among those
Of Tie lower classes. You scarcely see a child with
oct its head covered With blisers, and think the
reason IS, that here the old Japanese custom Of
Women aud children bathing Ia the same place aud
at the tine, still prevails In regard 10 this the
presence Ot foreign ladies has been very benefcent
Ii is difficult to explain all the wonderful changes
that have taken place within the last i've years.
Then coolies Wefe in the Summer At least, entirely
naked, with the exception OF girde around their I
waist. Now no cOoiie may show himself in places I
open 10 Foreigners but with his kimOno long gown
hanging down TO the ankles, or paT OF inexpresSi
blrs. Those general bathing houses are also pro-
hbted, though We have said before they still
used hv the poorest classes. THIS Homara bears
III reputation among foreigners tire place where
thieves sell stolen goods. There are times when the
seems strange, considering Yokohama has very ef-
eetive police corps This may perhaps be accounted
for in this way: When japan was first opened to
foreigners, the country was on tue eve OF great
the government OF the ShOgOOu CTyeOOn)
cit certain uneasiuess which very soon was par
ieipited in by the whole country. The great south
.rn feudal Lords, Saisums, Bizen and Nsgato, were
itseOntented with the ShogOou, aud so was the Dali
MO of Mito- The ShOg0On being ehidesS, adopted
son OF the last tanned ieudal Chief him who was
iiterWard known By the name OF StOtsbashi, hoping
HFn - H. IL -.
opening Of the country was against the laws of ia
IAN, which most vigorously prohibited the residence
u foreigners 10 the empire. And when the repre-
entstiyes OF the treaty powers insisted upon the
;ikadO, whose residence wss in kiO0 ratiiying the
TeatieS, the council of this emperor most probably
Il the iustigatiOn OF Satsuma, hatIy refused. SsngO
aneyoshi, The present DayO Daijin (prime minister
nd president OF the council Of siate) and IWakura
be present Udaijiu, so well knOwhas the head of
he embasSade that went TO America and Europe in
be autumn of ISL at that time the leaders Of
be opposition against the ShOgOOn's government
'0th were NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Oi former hkadOs
who, though poor, ranked higher than the proud
st feudal chiefs. But We will speak more about this
evolution in another chapter, our object being
imply 10 state here that the spirit of the nation
gaiust the admitiance OF foreigners and that these
litter were only protected By government that be-
SINE dSiy more pOwerless or had to rely for pro-
ection on their own governments Under these
circumstances the servants, foreigners could hire,
we're Of the very lowest degree Of japanese society,"
erhaps its scum and not much required to spoil
lem entirely. japanese gentleman pays his ser
ant perhaps 80 cents or dollar q month, and
cards him, and their food consists mainly of rice
nd hsh, both of which are very cheap, the cost Of
ais may be set down al another 30 cents per month
'nee year, by way Of 4 New Years present, the
sryaut receives new kim0no. Foreigners began
wing their servants 81 and s. per month, and
ticking up tie japanese language as they heard il
poken, fell IN very grave error. The japanese
uguage has three different manners Of address one
a superior, another 10 an equal, and Third form
an Interior. So tor Instance the verb TO De or to
ave IS aru speaking to an Inferior asking for some
alter, one would say, Mizu sruka: to an equal,
liz1 NO a[IuIss 'ka TO n superior, MiZu goziri-
"a Sa- The foreigners being dcspised By all the
itTes were addressed If not interiors Of least as
luas, and they, not understanding the difference,
ID picking up the language they heard il spoken,
ls|errd in the same FORM Even yet, you hear
me foreigners out OF ten addressing japanese
'olle as an equsi The respect that should exist
tween master and servant, existed affection
III less; and the native servants understanding
lstoms and manners entirely strange to them, aud
metimes even directly opposite to what they con-
der politeness their greatest vTtue) despise the
jim (man from the East) At the time that The
'uniry opened itself 10 limited intercourse With
her nations, there was another principle Japa
Sc could understand By the laws of Iyeyas' a .
nourai Soldier or retainer Of some D1mio, the
ntiih0mme Of FraDce, OF the 18th and 10th CEN
~ was highly elevated above the merchant and 7
owed even TO kill the latter, Il lie should forget
{ respect due to the bearer OF two swords. The
reiguers who first entered kanagawa or rather &
Okohama were merchants-pe0ple Of the despised
ass Of the same rank their servants In the eye =,
= native Respect for them the native servants
uld not have But foreigners insisted upon being =
eyed bE those whom they paid, aud, as they en-
reed their orders TO their SERVANTS sometimes by
Tcioie Arguments, they were hated accordingly.