Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1877-05-31
A JAUNT IL JAPAN.
From KiOta 20 Toxic aud the TaV-
erns on the Way,

Geographical Magazine.l
We found accommodation, never
so very bad, in all the villages of
any size, and the Japanese hotels
are as good (according to Japanese
ideas Of comfort) as those in any
other country. The rooms are
clean, and a warm bath is always to
be obtained. The natives sleep
rolled in quilts of cotton, and from
these a fairly comfortable Euro
pean bed can be easily extempo-
rized, by spreading one fora mat
tress, rolling up another for a pill
low, and using a third as coverlet.
We always found the people at the
inns civil and attentive in the ex-
treme. During the whole journey
of fourteen days, from Kiota to
Toxic, we lived on Japanese food,
with the exception Of four small
pots of Liebig's extract of beef, and
some spirits and tobacco. Eggs
and rice are always to be obtained,
and occasionally fish, with other
dishes, the origin of which the Eu-
ropean traveller would do we'll not
to ask. If accepted on trust, some
of them are by no means bad.
The Japanese appear to travel a
great deal about their own country,
and to shift their residences fre-
Quently. Native guide-books and
itineraries are to be obtained along
the roads Of any importance. They
usually give the distance between
the towns and villages, and a list
Of the best inns at each place. On
leaving the inn, it is the custom, in
some parts of the country, for the
landlord to ask you where you in
tend to stop the next night, and he
will then give you an introduction
to some lnn'keeper at the place you
mention, with whom he presuma.
bly, has some understanding. These
introductions are often useful, il
one arrives at an out-of- the-way
place late at night, in which case
the traveller might be looked on with
suspicion. Sometimes, too, the inns
may be crowded, and then the
bearer Of an introduction will find
the landlord inclined to make more
than usual efforts to accommodate
him. In the hill-country the rooms
were usually in sets Of three, one
behind the other, rising in steps,
the highest being furthest from the
road. These inns had chiefly been
built to accommodate the trains OF
Daimios in their progresses to the
capital. The Yakonins," or off.
GERS, occupied the highest rooms
their "Samauri," or soldiers, the
next, and the coolies and servants
the lower. The highest rooms still
appear to be kept for the most dis
tinguished guests. AS we carried
papers stating that we were English
officers - Yakonins, the country
people called US we were always
shown into the highest rooms, and
in some cases it even appeared as
if the landlord turned guests whom
he considered of inferior social
rank into the lower rooms to ac-
commodate us. Nearer the large
towns, however, they appeared to
have grown much more republican
in their ideas, and no distinction
appeared to be made.
The landlady will often wait on
those whom she considers import
ant guests in person. This, how
ever, is but a doubtful advantage,
for it usually means that your
viands, ETC., are handed to you by
a creature with black teeth and
shaven eyebrows according to the
hideous custom of married women
in Japan, instead of a trim little
musmie" Ii. e., girl), who watches
you all the time with mingled aston
ishment ard curiosity.
On the whole one may travel in
Japan with comparative comfort,
and without encountering the filth
and squalor which those who leave
the beaten track of Europeans gem
orally meet with in the far East,
If the traveller makes up his mind
to rough it and castaside European
habits and adopt those of the ma
tives he will travel with economy
and speed. TO some men, how
ever, this would be simple misery,
and such :. one must make up his
mind to carry the impediments OF
occidental civilization with him.
His progress, however, would be
slow, and each additional coolie he
| found il necessary to employ would