Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1877-09-05
Circulating Libraries in Japan

Circulating Libraries i'm Japan
The circulating library is of prehis-
toric origin among the japanese people,
who long ago devised this means 10 OBJ
tain knowledge of this copious litera-
ture OF their language in convenient
and economical manner. At present
there are many of these libraries in
TOkiO-sOme put the number as high
as a thousand-Of which those of ID.
lsey and NagatOya are the principal.
A few facts concerning the business of
the former gentleman may be interest
ing as indicating its scope and extent.
The library contains about $4,000
volumes, mostly treating of light and
popular themes, narratives of the heroes
of history and romance, tales of love
and murder, sprinkled with few books
on science and other more solid sub
jects. The works most sought after are
among others, the 'Sangokushi," or
narratives of battles of the three cOun-
tries, in seventy-five volumes; 'TaikO-
ki," or Life of Hideyoshi, in 320 vol
umes; "Sanada Sandalki," or Life OF
Iyeyasu, in 80 volumes; "Stukoden,"
or the Story of One Hundred and eight
Balls, in seventy five volumes; "Hak-
ken-den," or the Story of Eight Dogs,
in 1876 volumes, and "Nanba Senki," or
the Battle of Osaka, in sixty-fOur vol
umes. OF the novels, which are here
as predOminantly love stories as in all
nations on the face of the globe, as far
as heard from, "Umego yomi," "Mu-
sumo setsuyo" and .'Yanagino yokogu-
shi," are the most esteemed. The first
of these three is the longest, the woes
and joys being drawn out in that work
to the almost insupportable extent of
sixty volumes
These books are distributed through
out the city by the proprietor, if the
library be small affair, or by appren-
tees if of large proportions. The liter
airy itinerants may be easily distin-
guished by the high pile of books borne
on the back and wrapped in cloth
cOyerlet, forming grotesque bundle
which the artists and carvers never tire
of depicting in all kinds of ludicrous
exaggeration. The customers of Mr..
Iseya are about two hundred in number
though it is TO be presumed that each
of the units that make up this aggregate
is, so TO speak, collective noun, re-
presenting a large reading circle The
prices paid by the borrowers vary from
three mills to three cents and two mills
u volume, the rates being very equal,
through the operation of long cOmpeti-
ton between the libraries. The most
costly books are not necessarily the
largest nor those packed with the most
useful information, for in this depart
ment of human activity, as in others,
the demand for, not the merit of, a work
regulates the market price. The
cheapest, strange as it may seem at first
sight, are the bulkiest, which are
generally manuscripts. These are written
as desiredby the patrons, at the cost of
one mill and half page A good pen
man can cover one hundreds pages
day, at compensation therefor of fif-
teen cents. This labor is performed by
the proprietor in the intervals of busi-
ness. or by his clerks.
The Government, recognizing the
usefulness of the libraries and the ina
bility of their customers, who are
mostly found among the lower classes
of society, to bear any unnecessary
burdens, subjects these institution to no
tax. In return, they are forbidden TO
sell any volumes, unless at auctions
which are held twice or three year, at
which times the used-up books are
sold or exchanged for what they fetch. I
These discarded volumes make their |
way, step after step, TO the pavement
dealers, whose stock of secondhand /.
literature is often as curious of its kind 4
as any to be found in the by-ways of I
New York or London. What becomes 4
of them finally, as what becomes of the 4
pins, is a mystery. But we may be sure .
that before they find themselves in the .
paper mill deposits, or are entirely an
initiated by simple attrition, they have .
carried from home TO home an aggre-
gate sum Of information or delight .
which it would be hard TO estimate
Toxic Times.