National Republican., 1883-11-27
QUEER JApANEsE CUSTOMS.
How the Fortune Teller. and shop
keepers DO Business.
Tiinra. n1nnnc.ni

How the Fortune Te1lers and shop
keepers DO business.
Times Democrat.
But wo hurry along, anxious TO SEQ more
of the city and OF this curious people. Our
attention is attracted by bargain which Is in
progress in one Of the native ourio.shops,
kept by Japafiesewith d1imitcd capital Of
pigeon English" and a seemingly unlim.
ited capital of articles OF bric-a-brac, all Of
which we arc anxious 10 purchase for tho
friends at homo. There arc articles Of lac
quered ware, bronzes, fans, embroidered
tides, and articles Of yertu reaching far back
into the farthest rocesses Of the store. Tho
dealer responded 20 an interrogation as TO
the price of cabinet. Ten yen" The
customer laughs out right. Tho dealer Is OK
cessively polite, but seemingly not over
eight yen, but the purchaser is indifferent
Seven yon," says the dealer.
Still the purchaser shakes his head, and
moves about the store examining other goods
Five yen," at length ventures the dealer
At this tho customer looks up, examines
the cabinet critically, and says
"1'll give you four yen."
This makes tho dealer put on very pen-
sive expression, and turning to a rude count
ing machine, something like the beaded
frames used In primary schools In the United
States he goes through process Of calcula-
tion. The Japanese resort TO these machines
in the simplest and most complicated business
matters. They count Off q dozen articles by
means of these wooden buttons when called
upon to mako a calculation that our 10-Yoar-
old boys would perform mentally. or course,
there are noteworthy exceptions to this rule.
Az length the proprietor sorrowfully says yes,
and takes the four yen in exchange for the
cabinet.
rs that the customary formula in making
purchaser" We query of the man as he is
about to quit the shop
'That5 the general method" replied the
gentleman, smiling, Except in perhaps two
or three of the stores. 1t is tacitly understood
that there are two prices, one for foreigners
and one for natives"
There are sake shops, the liquor establish
ments of Japan; dried fish stores; shoe shops,
where the wooden geta or clogs are piled to
The very ceiling; cook shops, where fish arc
being slowed in oil, and sweetmeat shops,
where rice, seaweed, and an apology for sugar
are being rolled into sticky pellets. There
are fortune tellers divining the future by
means of magic sticks; wrestlers, who go
through imaginary combats with invisible
foes; jugglers and story tellers, who seek to
gather crowds about them by jingling bells
and other strategies, very much like those
employed by the nocturnal patent medicine
man on the street corners in America.
If you have an obstreperous tooth there is
o travelling dentist who is anxious to ease
your pain. In the basket which he carries
are not only ferocious looking instruments
for removing teeth, but charms for affecting
cures. Mis- medical learning, if he has any,
must certainly tell him that this practicing
upon the superstition and credulity of the
people is 'unprofessional" but it is quite
common to resort to such methods. The
dentist also has his skill in slight of hand,
which he frequently calls into play for the
amusement of the multitude, simply as an
advertisement, which is not'an un-American
practice, l believe.